It’s Not Just Incumbency, It’s The System…
There has been a group of conservative activist voters—they have been called tea baggers by the mass media. They have made their wishes and their disgruntlement know at the poles by voting in more conservatives. They are voting out people connected with the ``problems’’ in Washington and they are particularly angry about just about everything President Obama has tried. What they fail to realize is that President Obama took hold of D.C. and the country when it was left practically destroyed financially and ethically, and spiritually bankrupt by one George Bush Jr.—a Republican. They are failing to see the corporate interest’s influence on our political system and the corrupting influence of same. The Republican Party has always been closer to the so-called ``business community’’ then the Democrats—but plenty of Democrats have taken a great shine to the corporate establishment as well. Especially the more conservative Blue Dog Democrats Down South. The problem is multifaceted, but not that hard to understand. The problem is that money influences in Washington are too predominating and the interest of the people has largely gone out the window with yesterday’s newspapers.
Non-profits like ``Common Cause’’ have decried the massive and powerful influence of money on our political system for years. So have many other more partisan, left leaning organizations. Being an incumbent makes you inherently closer and more connected to the influences of money and raw power in Washington. More thinking people need to come together and find ways to root out the influences in Washington that are NOT connected to the real needs of the people.
The Tea Baggers are misleading and being misled. They are being covered by the mass media, which in turn is part and parcel of the problem. The mass media itself, which has always been connected to Big Money interests, looks at the Tea Baggers, but fails to cover the righteous indignation of other, more progressive grass roots concerns. The media itself is a large part of the problem. The mass media itself is headed by mostly conservative White males, largely of Jewish origin. They have an undue and unwarranted say in how North Americans think and how we interpret the news, the events of the day and reality in general. Not just the news media, but those who make & distribute movies and fiction TV programming. There are very few real progressives and fewer still Black people among the top decision makers in this elite group of people.
Back in the 1970’s there was a small and purposefully ineffective attempt to bring more Black people into the decision-making process in America’s newsrooms. There was a limited push for Affirmative Action and more ``color’’ in the news rooms for TV and print media. This ``limited push’’ never reached into movie-making much, at least not for an extended period of time. Even during the Black Exploitation Era in Hollywood, most White movie producers, White Movie Moguls and White distributors of film remained at the helm and turned the reigns of power over to other Whites. The media and especially movie making is an extremely lucrative industry. It is also extremely Jewish… You can make a very bad film, but if you can get it distributed internationally, you can still make millions of dollars off of it...
America is controlled by image. If you have a bad image in corporate America and you don’t do something to clean it up, you will lose business and be dragged into red ink and bankruptcy. If you can maintain a ``good’’ media image—even if you are doing bad thing—(Like let’s say Wal-Mart for example) you will continue to maintain market share and keep your bottom line floating.
Many people say that we had to bail out the banking system, or everything would have gone under. Well, just about everything HAS gone under. The impact of the 43rd President of the United States giving billion upon billions of dollars to his rich friends through a costly tax cut has not even reverberated through the system completely at this point. Still, President Obama is getting all the blame now. It is no time to fall back into Republicanism (See related articles on the Republican Party in Chapter 13).
Voting for Republicans now is like giving the keys to your house that was destroyed by arson fire to the arsonist and asking him to fix it. The Republicans will smile at you, take your keys and gladly go about the business of doing you in further. So what can be done?
• There is a great and real need for term limits for politicians. Then, when the corrupting influences of money and power take hold, it is time for another face. Congress People should get three, two-year terms, Senators should get two, six-year terms. Governors should stay at two, four-year terms as well as two, four-year terms for Presidents. That is it. There will be no going back into office once you leave. This will cut back on the creation of the Good Old Boys’ Network effect and stop the circles of incumbency, corruption and old-line power that never seems to get anything done, but costs the tax-payers billions of dollars. Mayors, especially for Big Cities, don’t need more than two terms either…
• There needs to be an effective system for National Referendums. Handing our votes and the power over to elected officials is like giving the roosters the keys to the Hen House. You are bound to get taken. Media polling and public opinion is swayed by the media itself each and every day. If we had National Referendums that became law, we could effectively overshoot and Passover the wide and undue influence of Big Money, corrupt politicians, and the media itself.
• More people need to have the opportunity to vote. Voting in National elections for President should take place over a weekend so people who work get their vote in or, at least, we should get the day off from work. There should also be other incentives to vote such as a few bucks off at the local grocery store on election day if you show proof of having voted, or other such incentives.
• Advertising dollars for politicians should be given at a discount if you have shown some grass roots support. Have you ever seen the financial numbers in dollars, of the amount of money that the TV networks make during a Presidential election? The numbers are staggering. This in itself shuts out many people who are patriotic, progressive, grass roots, concerned individuals who want to get in there and fight and make the system work better for the average working JOE. The money influence on TV and the networks is nasty and growing. It overshadows popular candidates and corrupts the whole process. Cheaper ads would be a firs step to help…
• There needs to be an open Constitutional Convention to reshape and reformate how our government operates as we move into a new era and experience the coming paradigm shift and its global implications on world economies and the world’s people, including Black people who are the most poor and the most left out of the process....
+++
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Escaping Poverty!!!
Escaping Poverty: How Do We Do it?...1) Don’t think like a poor person. Go to some nice stores once in a while—even if you are just window shopping--and say to yourself that you deserve a few nice things.
2) Look in the mirror each morning and say. ``I am not always going to be poor,’’ and really mean it!!
3) Find a mentor who has made it out of poverty and keep in touch with them through mail or e-mail.
4) Trust in GOD that one day you will not be poor.
5) Always be willing to learn new things. Take your children to the library instead of just letting them sit around the house and vegetate by watching TV.
6) Be an ``IDEA’’ person. Think of things and ideas that can move you into making money. Talk to friends and family members and ask for suggested books, videos and financial seminars to go to…
7) If you can afford to get a computer and get on the inter net, by all means do so.
8) Don’t trip about being poor. There are always roads out of difficult places.
9) Take books out of the library about subjects that interest you and read, read, read… (Skim a few books on finance and economics as well).
10) Think about going back to school and getting that first or second degree. It will upgrade your income. I know it may be hard, but look into tutoring before you even start. Ask your academic counselor at school…
11) Remember Poverty is also a mind set, not just the amount of money you have or make.
12) Watch more PBS and Discover Channel instead of the typical drivel on commercial TV and read the Black Enterprise Magazine from cover to cover each month. The fact that you ``can’’ and we ``can’’ will start to sink in……
13) Try desperately to own and maintain ownership of property. Then learn how to manage it well…
14) DON’T PLAY THE LOTERY!!! (It will evaporate what little disposable income you have and make it that much harder to get out of debt).
15) No matter what your income is, you may be beholding to a head of household for every penny you have. This is not a good situation. If you find yourself in a position or situation where you are oppressed by a head of household, be they a parent, guardian, wife or husband and you want to maintain custody and guardianship of your children—no matter how many children you have—there is a way to do this. You will need to secretly call the Red Cross, Children’s Services or another social service agency and let them know the situation. You will have to trust a friend and get out of the house at an appointed time and seek shelter. There are many such shelters (especially for women & children) in large cities, but even if you live in a smaller town or a rural area, you should be able to find the help you need. I know this takes courage, but you don’t want to stay in that situation another month. You may well have to start over from scratch, but at least you won’t have the family ogre to deal with. In five years you will be a different person, but not if you don’t take those first scary steps. Think of yourself as a mini Rosa Parks or a mini Harriet Tubman… I say this because I know that for you the act of escaping from a household oppressor (from a spouse or parent or even a child who may well have been beating and kicking and hitting you or threatening you with a knife or gun or using some other means of harassment or interrogation including just verbal and or mental abuse) is very real…But you deserve better…Take the chance in 2010 and GET OUT!!! GET AWAY!!
16) Go to the Self Help Section of your neighborhood book store or the library and find something that empowers or interests you. I guarantee that if you do this something of interest will jump out from the shelf and scream for you to take that book home with you. Remember you can request books at the Library, if you only see it at the store, but can’t afford it…
17) DON’T Support stores like Wal-Mart that don’t treat poor and oppressed people and women correctly as employees. You are just supporting your own oppression when you do this. I don’t care how cheap the prices are. The cost in human blood and humane ethics and humane principles is way too much, way too high….. Shop at Target which gives a few dollars back to the community in support programs & community programs for the poor and needy…Or support local Black-owned stores in your area… You will feel much better about yourself in the long run…
18) Oh, and by the way, don’t forget to laugh and smile every day…It is an important part of your financial brief and your recovery from poverty……..Remember levity is the spice of the rich…..
2) Look in the mirror each morning and say. ``I am not always going to be poor,’’ and really mean it!!
3) Find a mentor who has made it out of poverty and keep in touch with them through mail or e-mail.
4) Trust in GOD that one day you will not be poor.
5) Always be willing to learn new things. Take your children to the library instead of just letting them sit around the house and vegetate by watching TV.
6) Be an ``IDEA’’ person. Think of things and ideas that can move you into making money. Talk to friends and family members and ask for suggested books, videos and financial seminars to go to…
7) If you can afford to get a computer and get on the inter net, by all means do so.
8) Don’t trip about being poor. There are always roads out of difficult places.
9) Take books out of the library about subjects that interest you and read, read, read… (Skim a few books on finance and economics as well).
10) Think about going back to school and getting that first or second degree. It will upgrade your income. I know it may be hard, but look into tutoring before you even start. Ask your academic counselor at school…
11) Remember Poverty is also a mind set, not just the amount of money you have or make.
12) Watch more PBS and Discover Channel instead of the typical drivel on commercial TV and read the Black Enterprise Magazine from cover to cover each month. The fact that you ``can’’ and we ``can’’ will start to sink in……
13) Try desperately to own and maintain ownership of property. Then learn how to manage it well…
14) DON’T PLAY THE LOTERY!!! (It will evaporate what little disposable income you have and make it that much harder to get out of debt).
15) No matter what your income is, you may be beholding to a head of household for every penny you have. This is not a good situation. If you find yourself in a position or situation where you are oppressed by a head of household, be they a parent, guardian, wife or husband and you want to maintain custody and guardianship of your children—no matter how many children you have—there is a way to do this. You will need to secretly call the Red Cross, Children’s Services or another social service agency and let them know the situation. You will have to trust a friend and get out of the house at an appointed time and seek shelter. There are many such shelters (especially for women & children) in large cities, but even if you live in a smaller town or a rural area, you should be able to find the help you need. I know this takes courage, but you don’t want to stay in that situation another month. You may well have to start over from scratch, but at least you won’t have the family ogre to deal with. In five years you will be a different person, but not if you don’t take those first scary steps. Think of yourself as a mini Rosa Parks or a mini Harriet Tubman… I say this because I know that for you the act of escaping from a household oppressor (from a spouse or parent or even a child who may well have been beating and kicking and hitting you or threatening you with a knife or gun or using some other means of harassment or interrogation including just verbal and or mental abuse) is very real…But you deserve better…Take the chance in 2010 and GET OUT!!! GET AWAY!!
16) Go to the Self Help Section of your neighborhood book store or the library and find something that empowers or interests you. I guarantee that if you do this something of interest will jump out from the shelf and scream for you to take that book home with you. Remember you can request books at the Library, if you only see it at the store, but can’t afford it…
17) DON’T Support stores like Wal-Mart that don’t treat poor and oppressed people and women correctly as employees. You are just supporting your own oppression when you do this. I don’t care how cheap the prices are. The cost in human blood and humane ethics and humane principles is way too much, way too high….. Shop at Target which gives a few dollars back to the community in support programs & community programs for the poor and needy…Or support local Black-owned stores in your area… You will feel much better about yourself in the long run…
18) Oh, and by the way, don’t forget to laugh and smile every day…It is an important part of your financial brief and your recovery from poverty……..Remember levity is the spice of the rich…..
Proposal For The Middle East...
Proposal:
The Coalition to Find Sane Solutions for the Middle EastThe concept is to create a National organization of Friends who can examine the many issues and facets of the Middle East in a more organized and open fashion, where people of everyday life, not just politicians, journalists and educators, are allowed to come together and not just express views, but add to policy creation and give broader media consideration on more far reaching aspects of the issues concerning the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, the Middle East and it’s volatility in general.
WHY: Forging Ahead
This issue cost us as tax payers Billions of American Dollars every year and the politicians and the Pentagon have been able to do little to resolve or move the issue ahead much over the last 61 years since the creation of the State of Israel. This issue has, more than once, brought the world to the brink of nuclear war and remains one of the most volatile political, economic, and fairness issues facing mankind on the planet. It is both unwise and unfair to only have the Pro-American, Pro Israel side of the issue in the media so much and in the school books so consistently and repeatedly. (This opinion itself is something that is just my opinion and needs to be discussed, debated and all points and all sides of contention need to be heard.) It is important to point out that their needs to be more than just the three groups heard from (Jewish people, Arab people and African Americans). This issue is an international one. Latino, East Indian, Native American, Asian and all races (men & women) should have access to the Society so a more general name may be appropriate & in order. High oil prices, long held ethnic hatreds, economic exploitation, terrorism, the U.S. military’s economic sustainability, nuclear war, and torture are just some of the issues that surround the issues and considerations of the Middle East. Many Black intellectuals say they never get asked to express their views on this important international issue that impacts the Black community systemically & directly. (For example many Black intellectuals say the whole geographic formation of the region should NOT be called the Middle East at all. [Don’t ask me what they want to call it. I have to check that with Reggie Bryant., currently of WURD Radio.]) Many Black intellectuals also represent the view that quells up from the Black community in general—and that is one of feeling exploited by Jewish merchants and business owners, but never getting asked to give their opinions on the issues of the Middle East and how they are impacted by the taxes they have to pay for our bloated defense mechanism and ``National Security’’ the U.S. feels obligated to sustain. For example: Some eight to ten Billion Dollars a year goes to the tiny State of Israel while the entire CONTINENT of Africa only get the same amount or a bit more in U.S. Aid (That’s over some 50 African countries!!) Radio Commentator Reggie Bryant and a few others have championed the idea that the Palestinian ``Terrorists’’ or ``Bombers’’ are actually sacrifice bombers, NOT suicide bombers as they are called by the major American media because they are sacrificing themselves for what they perceive as a real cause, not just committing suicide. Also: The true issues of the ``terrorists’’ are never really examined by the National Major Media such as: who invaded who and when; who started out as terrorists and are now considered National Jewish Heroes; Why do the Arabs bomb (Is it just historic hatred or are there substantive reasons for what they do such as racism, economic exploitation, not having a say in their own governing, having had ``their’’ land taken away and ``their’ houses destroyed; seeing Israeli privilege and not being able to have a voice and expose what is happening to them as Palestinian people through any other substantive and meaningful process, etc.) Many of these aspects of the story are almost totally ignored by the Major American media’s portrayal of the saga of the Middle East. Many people are fatigued at the TV coverage because they see it as so Pro-American and Pro-Israeli and too extensive while ignoring other more progressive, Peace-oriented aspects of the issue. (For example, many Israeli Peace groups have NEVER even been interviewed by the National media and many Americans don’t even know what these groups are or how they operate and what they do. There is a humongous vacuum in the National American media coverage that is so incredibly pervasive in determining American and world opinion on the subject of the Middle East.) For example, the views and work of Jewish people like activist and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein are rarely ever explored and examined by the major American media.
MANY MYTHS:
There are many, many myths about the so-called Middle East that need to be dragged out from under the bed, exposed and discussed. For example, I read in the National Geographic, in a recent article about Saudi Arabia, that there are many, many poor Arabs living in Saudi Arabia who are barely making enough to live on. All we often hear about Saudi Arabia is that there are all these sheiks running around with, not Millions of dollars, but Billions of Dollars dripping from their clothing. Where is the truth? The belief that all Arabs are wealthy is a major myth about the region and its’ people. There are poor Arabs, unemployed Arabs, hard working Arabs and Arabs who just want to live in peace and harmony with man, woman, child and nature. Where are their stories? Not all Arab children are throwing rocks, and some that are aren’t crazy children, but frustrated children seeing no other route to take. They see their parents dragged from their homes, beaten, tortured and or killed. What choices have been left them? One other myth about Jewish people this time also concerns money and economics. I know for a fact that there are poor Jewish and or Israeli people within the U.S. and overseas. Not every Jewish person is a Harvard educated lawyer living in a Penthouse near Wall Street (A typical stereotype we may have of Jewish Americans.) The truth must be unearthed and soon. This is part of our Mission.
Something Else!!
I have a strong conviction that some Jews who are peace-loving and progressive should be left an option to live safely outside of Israel and out side of the U.S. if they want and so choose. I thought of the idea of land being given to progressive, forward-thinking Jewish people only and that this land could be In Africa—if said people are willing to dedicate their lives to helping African people (Sub-Saharan) with their economic, health and social justice issues. (Research for such a project could allow us all to finally figure out just how much land the Jewish people already own in Africa in the first place and what their full present influence is on the continent of Africa.) The Jewish progressives would be governed mostly by African people and would relate to African people who wanted to learn more and concern themselves with Jewish issues in regards to being more progressive and forward thinking. Africa is land rich, but economically poor in many regions. An influx of Jewish people with progressive backgrounds could help tremendously if handled in a forward thinking and progressive manner!!
HOW:
Through town hall meetings, meetings with alternative news sources, networking between and among racial and ethnic groups, sponsoring public events and having major media coverage and major events when and where possible and necessary. Also: We will formulate links between groups who have traditionally worked on the issue with more people oriented and progressive groups outside of the traditional institutions that have formulated opinion and policy on the issue e.g. the National American news media, Academia, the State Department and the traditional Jewish/Israeli lobby organizations and the traditional Pro Palestinian groups and organizations. Of course all this is treading on thin ice in the eyes of many because of the ``terrorists’’ factor. There are some elements that one doesn’t want to talk to, according to the recent (BUSH) Administration in D.C. However, the fact is that unless some more substantive discussion and more open and progressive media attention is not forthcoming on this issue, it could well continue to blossom into another full scale war that could drag in the Soviet Union—which has been more aggressive recently, and China, which has its’ own ethnic issues and contentions internationally. Of course the United States has tried to play both sides of the fence because we get so much oil from the region and have a great many Jewish Americans and Jewish and Israeli business interests within the U.S.’s borders, as well as major Arab holdings here also. Americans are, generally speaking, deprived of substantive, consistent, progressive information on the subject of the so-called Middle East.
We Don’t Want to Reinvent the Wheel:
This information is being shared with Opinion leaders of many ethnic backgrounds because we don’t want to reinvent the wheel and create something that is already being done. From what I can tell there is no one organization that is designed to bring the many issues and concerns of the Middle East together—Zionists and Pro-Palestinian forces, Peace Keepers and war Generals, State Department Representatives as well as a host of intellectuals and other ethnic groups who are or should be concerned about the region and the conflicts therein. Poor people and the uneducated need a seat at this table as well. This seems to be a wheel that has not been invented as yet.
For some substantive views on the issues of the day, we hope you will visit the Web Page of the individual who wrote this position paper, Brother Tracy Gibson, at (WWW.btganda.com)
Our feeling is that if we keep ignoring this festering problem it will not only NOT go away, it will fester more and more and need, in some brilliant power leader’s opinion, an amputation (in the form of nuclear strikes) as opposed to a good, down to earth chicken-soup-&-pot-stickers discussion with more and more progressive and alternative media attention.
Updated on11-11-09
What you can do:
1) Call us & give us the name of your representative who is concerned about this issue
2) Give us the names of any and all groups that you know of that are concerned about the Middle East and reaching a better understanding and resolving conflicts in the region.
3) Make a contribution, no matter how small, to the work we are doing.
4) Donate objects, cash or unwanted property to the cause of making progressive change in the region.
5) Endorse the concept of the creation of an organization that will listen to ALL sides and create a People’s Viewpoint that can be leveraged in Washington, D.C. and utilized to create positive media portrayals on the issue.
6) Adopt Palestinian, Pakistani or Afghan children who have been abandoned or left parentless because of the Middle East crisis violence.
Contact Information:
Brother Tracy Gibson
302.276.2755
BrotherTracy11@GMail.Com
Check out other articles at: WWW.BTGANDA.COM
Building Community Through Strength
Advocacy, Black Media Relations, Public Relations, Marketing & Promotions…
The Coalition to Find Sane Solutions for the Middle EastThe concept is to create a National organization of Friends who can examine the many issues and facets of the Middle East in a more organized and open fashion, where people of everyday life, not just politicians, journalists and educators, are allowed to come together and not just express views, but add to policy creation and give broader media consideration on more far reaching aspects of the issues concerning the Israeli / Palestinian conflict, the Middle East and it’s volatility in general.
WHY: Forging Ahead
This issue cost us as tax payers Billions of American Dollars every year and the politicians and the Pentagon have been able to do little to resolve or move the issue ahead much over the last 61 years since the creation of the State of Israel. This issue has, more than once, brought the world to the brink of nuclear war and remains one of the most volatile political, economic, and fairness issues facing mankind on the planet. It is both unwise and unfair to only have the Pro-American, Pro Israel side of the issue in the media so much and in the school books so consistently and repeatedly. (This opinion itself is something that is just my opinion and needs to be discussed, debated and all points and all sides of contention need to be heard.) It is important to point out that their needs to be more than just the three groups heard from (Jewish people, Arab people and African Americans). This issue is an international one. Latino, East Indian, Native American, Asian and all races (men & women) should have access to the Society so a more general name may be appropriate & in order. High oil prices, long held ethnic hatreds, economic exploitation, terrorism, the U.S. military’s economic sustainability, nuclear war, and torture are just some of the issues that surround the issues and considerations of the Middle East. Many Black intellectuals say they never get asked to express their views on this important international issue that impacts the Black community systemically & directly. (For example many Black intellectuals say the whole geographic formation of the region should NOT be called the Middle East at all. [Don’t ask me what they want to call it. I have to check that with Reggie Bryant., currently of WURD Radio.]) Many Black intellectuals also represent the view that quells up from the Black community in general—and that is one of feeling exploited by Jewish merchants and business owners, but never getting asked to give their opinions on the issues of the Middle East and how they are impacted by the taxes they have to pay for our bloated defense mechanism and ``National Security’’ the U.S. feels obligated to sustain. For example: Some eight to ten Billion Dollars a year goes to the tiny State of Israel while the entire CONTINENT of Africa only get the same amount or a bit more in U.S. Aid (That’s over some 50 African countries!!) Radio Commentator Reggie Bryant and a few others have championed the idea that the Palestinian ``Terrorists’’ or ``Bombers’’ are actually sacrifice bombers, NOT suicide bombers as they are called by the major American media because they are sacrificing themselves for what they perceive as a real cause, not just committing suicide. Also: The true issues of the ``terrorists’’ are never really examined by the National Major Media such as: who invaded who and when; who started out as terrorists and are now considered National Jewish Heroes; Why do the Arabs bomb (Is it just historic hatred or are there substantive reasons for what they do such as racism, economic exploitation, not having a say in their own governing, having had ``their’’ land taken away and ``their’ houses destroyed; seeing Israeli privilege and not being able to have a voice and expose what is happening to them as Palestinian people through any other substantive and meaningful process, etc.) Many of these aspects of the story are almost totally ignored by the Major American media’s portrayal of the saga of the Middle East. Many people are fatigued at the TV coverage because they see it as so Pro-American and Pro-Israeli and too extensive while ignoring other more progressive, Peace-oriented aspects of the issue. (For example, many Israeli Peace groups have NEVER even been interviewed by the National media and many Americans don’t even know what these groups are or how they operate and what they do. There is a humongous vacuum in the National American media coverage that is so incredibly pervasive in determining American and world opinion on the subject of the Middle East.) For example, the views and work of Jewish people like activist and Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein are rarely ever explored and examined by the major American media.
MANY MYTHS:
There are many, many myths about the so-called Middle East that need to be dragged out from under the bed, exposed and discussed. For example, I read in the National Geographic, in a recent article about Saudi Arabia, that there are many, many poor Arabs living in Saudi Arabia who are barely making enough to live on. All we often hear about Saudi Arabia is that there are all these sheiks running around with, not Millions of dollars, but Billions of Dollars dripping from their clothing. Where is the truth? The belief that all Arabs are wealthy is a major myth about the region and its’ people. There are poor Arabs, unemployed Arabs, hard working Arabs and Arabs who just want to live in peace and harmony with man, woman, child and nature. Where are their stories? Not all Arab children are throwing rocks, and some that are aren’t crazy children, but frustrated children seeing no other route to take. They see their parents dragged from their homes, beaten, tortured and or killed. What choices have been left them? One other myth about Jewish people this time also concerns money and economics. I know for a fact that there are poor Jewish and or Israeli people within the U.S. and overseas. Not every Jewish person is a Harvard educated lawyer living in a Penthouse near Wall Street (A typical stereotype we may have of Jewish Americans.) The truth must be unearthed and soon. This is part of our Mission.
Something Else!!
I have a strong conviction that some Jews who are peace-loving and progressive should be left an option to live safely outside of Israel and out side of the U.S. if they want and so choose. I thought of the idea of land being given to progressive, forward-thinking Jewish people only and that this land could be In Africa—if said people are willing to dedicate their lives to helping African people (Sub-Saharan) with their economic, health and social justice issues. (Research for such a project could allow us all to finally figure out just how much land the Jewish people already own in Africa in the first place and what their full present influence is on the continent of Africa.) The Jewish progressives would be governed mostly by African people and would relate to African people who wanted to learn more and concern themselves with Jewish issues in regards to being more progressive and forward thinking. Africa is land rich, but economically poor in many regions. An influx of Jewish people with progressive backgrounds could help tremendously if handled in a forward thinking and progressive manner!!
HOW:
Through town hall meetings, meetings with alternative news sources, networking between and among racial and ethnic groups, sponsoring public events and having major media coverage and major events when and where possible and necessary. Also: We will formulate links between groups who have traditionally worked on the issue with more people oriented and progressive groups outside of the traditional institutions that have formulated opinion and policy on the issue e.g. the National American news media, Academia, the State Department and the traditional Jewish/Israeli lobby organizations and the traditional Pro Palestinian groups and organizations. Of course all this is treading on thin ice in the eyes of many because of the ``terrorists’’ factor. There are some elements that one doesn’t want to talk to, according to the recent (BUSH) Administration in D.C. However, the fact is that unless some more substantive discussion and more open and progressive media attention is not forthcoming on this issue, it could well continue to blossom into another full scale war that could drag in the Soviet Union—which has been more aggressive recently, and China, which has its’ own ethnic issues and contentions internationally. Of course the United States has tried to play both sides of the fence because we get so much oil from the region and have a great many Jewish Americans and Jewish and Israeli business interests within the U.S.’s borders, as well as major Arab holdings here also. Americans are, generally speaking, deprived of substantive, consistent, progressive information on the subject of the so-called Middle East.
We Don’t Want to Reinvent the Wheel:
This information is being shared with Opinion leaders of many ethnic backgrounds because we don’t want to reinvent the wheel and create something that is already being done. From what I can tell there is no one organization that is designed to bring the many issues and concerns of the Middle East together—Zionists and Pro-Palestinian forces, Peace Keepers and war Generals, State Department Representatives as well as a host of intellectuals and other ethnic groups who are or should be concerned about the region and the conflicts therein. Poor people and the uneducated need a seat at this table as well. This seems to be a wheel that has not been invented as yet.
For some substantive views on the issues of the day, we hope you will visit the Web Page of the individual who wrote this position paper, Brother Tracy Gibson, at (WWW.btganda.com)
Our feeling is that if we keep ignoring this festering problem it will not only NOT go away, it will fester more and more and need, in some brilliant power leader’s opinion, an amputation (in the form of nuclear strikes) as opposed to a good, down to earth chicken-soup-&-pot-stickers discussion with more and more progressive and alternative media attention.
Updated on11-11-09
What you can do:
1) Call us & give us the name of your representative who is concerned about this issue
2) Give us the names of any and all groups that you know of that are concerned about the Middle East and reaching a better understanding and resolving conflicts in the region.
3) Make a contribution, no matter how small, to the work we are doing.
4) Donate objects, cash or unwanted property to the cause of making progressive change in the region.
5) Endorse the concept of the creation of an organization that will listen to ALL sides and create a People’s Viewpoint that can be leveraged in Washington, D.C. and utilized to create positive media portrayals on the issue.
6) Adopt Palestinian, Pakistani or Afghan children who have been abandoned or left parentless because of the Middle East crisis violence.
Contact Information:
Brother Tracy Gibson
302.276.2755
BrotherTracy11@GMail.Com
Check out other articles at: WWW.BTGANDA.COM
Building Community Through Strength
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Leadership in the Black Community.....
Leadership in the Black Community: No Half Steppin!!
If you want to be a true and authentic leader in the Black community, don’t come half stepping. This is not an easy job. You will need training, patience, courage, fortitude, goodwill, an ability to effectively strategize, an ability to create good fellowship & unity and an ability to draw the best out of people you might not like or agree with on all the issues all the time. To be really successful and effective in helping your people you will also need an uncanny ability to NOT be self centered, egomaniacal or egotistical. (Ultimately it is not about you or how popular you are. It is about how many people you were able t help and what you helped that at doing.) Were you able to build some bridges and roads, were you able to build some wells, were you able to raise some money, feed some people or stop someone’s foreclosure? These are not just leadership characteristics I made up out of thin air. They are real requirements that I have assessed one needs to be truly helpful to your people through years of working with and helping Black people on the front lines... As my sister says, this ain’t no joke. Your people REALLY NEED YOU!! Then you will also need the ability to make it all work together. A good sense of humor and an ability to not take yourself or others too seriously will also help. Like I said, this is not an easy task, but guess what—we need more and better leaders all the time. It doesn’t matter where they come from. What matters is that you can effectively implement the broad changes that our community needs in a non-condescending and upbeat manner. You will often have to do this while considering that our community has diverse, ever-changing and sometimes conflicting interests. Do you qualify as a Black leader? There are any number of Black elected officials who DON’T qualify... That’s right, in my humble opinion, being an elected official DOESN’T NECESSARILY QUALIFY YOU AS A BLACK LEADER!! It is more than just getting elected, Mr. Obama!! Who qualifies?
I know I don’t, but guess what, I try to lead anyway. The reason: none of us are perfect. While I’m trying to reach for that gold star of true and authentic Black leadership, I’ll provide the support and inspiration I can through whatever channels I can right now, every day... I will, of course, step on some toes and do the wrong things from time to time, but I will learn in the process. What I’m trying to say is don’t give up and don’t give up on our leadership that you might perceive as imperfect or even mean-spirited and wrong headed at times. Keep telling them, in what ever ways you can, to do their best and to do the right things. Tell them to think positively & proactively and never give up hope for Black people… Tell them to be directed and goal oriented. Tell them not to make promises that they know full well they cannot keep…
Keep reminding our leaders that they can’t half step. This is not a half-way house. We need whole steppers. Whole spirits. Whole people. We need spiritually connected and loving people. But be sure, at some point, to tell people they are doing a good job at some things. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Highlight the positive and if you have to be critical, try to be constructive in your criticism…
Sometimes the Established Order tries to choose our leaders for us. More often than not, this doesn’t work. The best leaders for us are ones that come up from the grass roots who have cut there teeth through involvement with some local organization, movement or endeavor...They represent the true struggling nature or the community and are guided and motivated by a real and authentic love for Black people. They don’t often point the finger at wrong doers within our community, but choose instead to see the potential in all of us and give positive guidance, direction and purpose to people who have at least mustered the courage to try.
I think our leaders can be men or women. They can be straight or Same Gender Loving—just be honest and do the best you can. One important think is to listen. Listen to the poorest among us and the most powerful too… But while you do, consider the source of information you are listening to. What have they been through? What is their track record?
There are any number of organizations in the Philadelphia area that can utilize Black leadership, but like I said, this is not a job for the weak minded, the weak spirited or those seeking only personal gain. The community has a way of seeking out & exposing phonies very quickly. But don’t be discouraged. Take on a mentor and go full steam ahead. Your leadership abilities can be honed and crafted over a number of years and eventually you will be a force to be reckoned with. Always try to keep your head above water ethically and financially. Always try to be honest and have integrity as your focal point. You will go far. If you are young there are many young Black people walking around with no hope & feeling left out, distraught and angry. They need the gift of your leadership. It will give them sustenance and purpose. With a little help they can begin to have hope and inspiration. But always remember to be as authentic and real as possible with what you are doing, saying and projecting to our people... Good luck and God’s speed if you choose to take on this mission… You will need both…
If you want to be a true and authentic leader in the Black community, don’t come half stepping. This is not an easy job. You will need training, patience, courage, fortitude, goodwill, an ability to effectively strategize, an ability to create good fellowship & unity and an ability to draw the best out of people you might not like or agree with on all the issues all the time. To be really successful and effective in helping your people you will also need an uncanny ability to NOT be self centered, egomaniacal or egotistical. (Ultimately it is not about you or how popular you are. It is about how many people you were able t help and what you helped that at doing.) Were you able to build some bridges and roads, were you able to build some wells, were you able to raise some money, feed some people or stop someone’s foreclosure? These are not just leadership characteristics I made up out of thin air. They are real requirements that I have assessed one needs to be truly helpful to your people through years of working with and helping Black people on the front lines... As my sister says, this ain’t no joke. Your people REALLY NEED YOU!! Then you will also need the ability to make it all work together. A good sense of humor and an ability to not take yourself or others too seriously will also help. Like I said, this is not an easy task, but guess what—we need more and better leaders all the time. It doesn’t matter where they come from. What matters is that you can effectively implement the broad changes that our community needs in a non-condescending and upbeat manner. You will often have to do this while considering that our community has diverse, ever-changing and sometimes conflicting interests. Do you qualify as a Black leader? There are any number of Black elected officials who DON’T qualify... That’s right, in my humble opinion, being an elected official DOESN’T NECESSARILY QUALIFY YOU AS A BLACK LEADER!! It is more than just getting elected, Mr. Obama!! Who qualifies?
I know I don’t, but guess what, I try to lead anyway. The reason: none of us are perfect. While I’m trying to reach for that gold star of true and authentic Black leadership, I’ll provide the support and inspiration I can through whatever channels I can right now, every day... I will, of course, step on some toes and do the wrong things from time to time, but I will learn in the process. What I’m trying to say is don’t give up and don’t give up on our leadership that you might perceive as imperfect or even mean-spirited and wrong headed at times. Keep telling them, in what ever ways you can, to do their best and to do the right things. Tell them to think positively & proactively and never give up hope for Black people… Tell them to be directed and goal oriented. Tell them not to make promises that they know full well they cannot keep…
Keep reminding our leaders that they can’t half step. This is not a half-way house. We need whole steppers. Whole spirits. Whole people. We need spiritually connected and loving people. But be sure, at some point, to tell people they are doing a good job at some things. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Highlight the positive and if you have to be critical, try to be constructive in your criticism…
Sometimes the Established Order tries to choose our leaders for us. More often than not, this doesn’t work. The best leaders for us are ones that come up from the grass roots who have cut there teeth through involvement with some local organization, movement or endeavor...They represent the true struggling nature or the community and are guided and motivated by a real and authentic love for Black people. They don’t often point the finger at wrong doers within our community, but choose instead to see the potential in all of us and give positive guidance, direction and purpose to people who have at least mustered the courage to try.
I think our leaders can be men or women. They can be straight or Same Gender Loving—just be honest and do the best you can. One important think is to listen. Listen to the poorest among us and the most powerful too… But while you do, consider the source of information you are listening to. What have they been through? What is their track record?
There are any number of organizations in the Philadelphia area that can utilize Black leadership, but like I said, this is not a job for the weak minded, the weak spirited or those seeking only personal gain. The community has a way of seeking out & exposing phonies very quickly. But don’t be discouraged. Take on a mentor and go full steam ahead. Your leadership abilities can be honed and crafted over a number of years and eventually you will be a force to be reckoned with. Always try to keep your head above water ethically and financially. Always try to be honest and have integrity as your focal point. You will go far. If you are young there are many young Black people walking around with no hope & feeling left out, distraught and angry. They need the gift of your leadership. It will give them sustenance and purpose. With a little help they can begin to have hope and inspiration. But always remember to be as authentic and real as possible with what you are doing, saying and projecting to our people... Good luck and God’s speed if you choose to take on this mission… You will need both…
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Haiti Needs Help...
We Are NOT The United States of Haiti…But We Should Help...
With the horrendous earthquake that hit the tiny nation of Haiti in mid January of 2010, we need to remember our limits, but offer what help we can. It is also a fine time to read up on the history of this struggling Black nation—the first to throw off Western, European-centered colonialism—and discover the often ruthless North American policies that are responsible for the nation of Haiti being such a basket case in the first place. (These policies have existed right up until the present times with the actions and inactions of the Clinton Administration and the George Bush Jr. Administration as well.)
It is the United State that allowed Haitian leaders to escape from the former French colony with their pockets full of the people money; it is the United States that sat by (and sometimes even profited) while the French crushed the people’s will and exploited the people’s labor; it is the United States who did nothing while the people of Haiti starved and ate dirt pies to survive. If this had been a European nation we would have taken swift, accurate & intense actions to help. The Black nation of Haiti was allowed to linger like rotten fruit on the ground—forgotten and uncared about.
We are NOT the United States of Haiti. We are the United States of America, with devastating and vast problems of our own. That doesn’t mean we can’t offer Haiti, in such a trying and difficult time, a hand up, a means to survive and comfort.
So many Americans are going through tough times right now, it is as if GOD is testing North America and the rest of the world to take this small nation under its’ wing and try to help even as so many others are having difficulty.
Certainly there are many thousands of us who can offer financial support for the relief efforts. But I suggest we do some research there also. Before you open your checkbook or wallet to the Red Cross, remember the history of their efforts during the Katrina Storm and the fact that they dragged their feet, along with the United State, in getting the needed relief to the people worse hit by the storm. To this day all the money has not been allocated, people go without housing and food and, while the business districts in New Orleans have been revitalized, many children have no place to go for schooling and many have to do without jobs. Will this be their example in Haiti as well?
I suggest that people give money to the United Nations and the small NGO’s that are reaching out to Haiti also. www.YeleHaiti.com is a fine example (Look into their earthquake fund).
With the horrendous earthquake that hit the tiny nation of Haiti in mid January of 2010, we need to remember our limits, but offer what help we can. It is also a fine time to read up on the history of this struggling Black nation—the first to throw off Western, European-centered colonialism—and discover the often ruthless North American policies that are responsible for the nation of Haiti being such a basket case in the first place. (These policies have existed right up until the present times with the actions and inactions of the Clinton Administration and the George Bush Jr. Administration as well.)
It is the United State that allowed Haitian leaders to escape from the former French colony with their pockets full of the people money; it is the United States that sat by (and sometimes even profited) while the French crushed the people’s will and exploited the people’s labor; it is the United States who did nothing while the people of Haiti starved and ate dirt pies to survive. If this had been a European nation we would have taken swift, accurate & intense actions to help. The Black nation of Haiti was allowed to linger like rotten fruit on the ground—forgotten and uncared about.
We are NOT the United States of Haiti. We are the United States of America, with devastating and vast problems of our own. That doesn’t mean we can’t offer Haiti, in such a trying and difficult time, a hand up, a means to survive and comfort.
So many Americans are going through tough times right now, it is as if GOD is testing North America and the rest of the world to take this small nation under its’ wing and try to help even as so many others are having difficulty.
Certainly there are many thousands of us who can offer financial support for the relief efforts. But I suggest we do some research there also. Before you open your checkbook or wallet to the Red Cross, remember the history of their efforts during the Katrina Storm and the fact that they dragged their feet, along with the United State, in getting the needed relief to the people worse hit by the storm. To this day all the money has not been allocated, people go without housing and food and, while the business districts in New Orleans have been revitalized, many children have no place to go for schooling and many have to do without jobs. Will this be their example in Haiti as well?
I suggest that people give money to the United Nations and the small NGO’s that are reaching out to Haiti also. www.YeleHaiti.com is a fine example (Look into their earthquake fund).
Listen to the Quiet Godly Voice Inside...
Listen to that Quiet, Godly voice Inside—That Place Inside of You That Says--we are tired of waiting, move forward with your plans in a steady fashion, methodically, compound your victories, invest in success...…..
Stop vetoing GOD!! Before you pick up a gun or a knife or hit someone with a clinched fist, reach out to someone who needs help who is a lot worse off than yourself. You will heal the two of you. Listen to that quiet Godly place inside of you before you do the wrong thing and mess up a situation for yourself that will have a lasting and profound impact on your future and possibly the future of your family and close friends. Before you take that snort or hit of illegal drugs; before you break the law (they catch and kill criminals everyday in North America); before you have a careless affair; before you don’t use a condom; before you curse at your children and tell them you have no time for them; before you criticize--listen to God, truly, deeply inside and see what the sister or brother has to say to you personally. Talk to a pastor; a good friend; a lover; a mindful, thoughtful, respected relative—before you decide to do something desperate, silly, rash, ridiculous or empty-headed. Before you do something rash, get psychiatric help if you need it.... You will not be saying you are insane, you will be standing up and saying you want to deal with the insanity that surrounds you in our culture. There is no shame in it if it saves your life—and it might well save your life and someone else’s. There is always an alternative to doing something dumb, quick, off the cuff or hot tempered. Take your time and think before you do something. Think it over and REALLY look at some alternatives…You are worth the time… You are worth the wait… Think in terms of achieving, getting educated, taking the right path and the high road and being loving, caring and giving. Revenge, hatred, deceit and making ourselves and others suffer are NOT for real African people… You are mimicking something that really does not run in your African family line… Don’t just think of how to get over or get even, how to abuse others and how to bend and break the law. We can and will do better when we can begin to think more clearly as individuals and as a community of people. When we can take that positive attitude and put it into action we will really get somewhere!! We are already advanced—just look at our Presidential candidate as opposed to some of what has run and even won in the recent past!! Like Spike Lee says, do the right thing and instill the right things in your children and your grand children. Be ethical and upstanding. Not decadent, judgmental and hateful. Watch as the level of insanity around you increases because your path to justice and freedom becomes more clear. Don’t accept second rate in yourself or the people around you. Don’t accept second or third rate in your employees, in your family or in your friends. Expect the best. Get the best. Be the best!! We have come a long way and there is no turning back now. We are on the road to progress. We just need a little help from the God within to make us bolder, better, more courageous and more even-tempered and to make us think before we act… Get GOD on your side and keep Her or Him there…
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Republican Party...
The Republican Party: The party of the American RacistLook at the history of the Republican Party and you see a party of hatred, division, and disrespect towards all people of color and especially Black people. They voted heavily for the old segregationist George Wallace as Republican Southerners. They championed the causes of people like Bull Connor who stood in the way of Black progress for Civil Rights in the South. They were and still are against Affirmative Action, diversity, racial inclusion and progress of any kind for the Black race. Just look at the numbers of pathetic Black people at their conventions. The numbers are small because their representation among Black people is very small. There is a Black head of the party who sits there like the Trashier cat in Alice in Wonderland waiting to leap on any progressive thought that comes along. What he says makes about as much sense as the statements of a Trashier Cat. But wait a minute, there was only one Black Congressman who called himself a Republican in recent history—J.C. Watts who served his Oklahoma District from 1995 to 2002----but he left the party in discuss over their unwillingness to change and bring more color and openness into the fray. There are NO sitting Black Republican Governors, Congressional representatives, or Senators. NONE!! As of August 14, 2009!! Not One!! They do not speak to our needs, concerns and issues. The Republicans speak for the wealthy, the well-to-do, the White and the well healed. They represent business people who have largely turned their backs on people’s needs and are totally consumed with the quest for profits and the bottom line. Some day they will learn that the bottom line is gained and expanded BY taking care of people’s true needs, desires and expectations—not by ignoring those needs. For example, everybody wants good wages and good jobs to COME BACK to the United States. Where did the wages and good jobs go? Overseas so the robber barons and big business holders could exploit workers in foreign lands to increase their profits and provide cheap goods at a deeply competitive rate. (Yeah, I’m talking about Wal-Mart [which is being sued in one of the biggest discrimination suites in the history of the Nation by 1.5 Million women who say that women are not hired and promoted properly and have complaints about equal pay.] and many, many others including General Electric, Caterpillar [which sells machinery to Israel that is used to tear down Palestinian homes & destroy little Palestinian children’s lives], IBM, Dell, Sony, Exxon[which made &%_#& in profits during the first quarter of 2009], Shell, Magnavox, Dow Chemical, and even finally and sadly that good old San Francisco Founded American pants company that invented Blue Jeans--Levis. They have all gone overseas. Are these companies doing Americans any good? Did you make any of that money? The Billions and Billions they make goes to corporate expansion in foreign lands, corporate jets and corporate executive salaries. General Electric, for example, made $2.8 Billion Dollars during the first quarter of 2009—did you see any of that blood money? American corporate expansion in foreign lands from 1980 to 2009 threw thousands of people out of work in North America in the 1980’s, 1990’s and even recently. The Republicans are against union rights and all the efforts and blood shed it took to get us the five-day work week, decent wages in North American, vacation time, medical benefits, other hard-won labor rights such as Binding Arbitration, other contractual rights and even Child Labor Laws. People literally died in the streets—Black people, White people and Latino and Asian people as well--for these rights, but they are slipping away under President Bush and now even under President Obama. We have to be much more active and ever vigilant to maintain our labor rights in North America. The progressive struggle now is to win those jobs back and new Green jobs so we can put Americans back to work. The Republicans think deep cuts in taxes for the wealthy will put Americans back to work, but the recent Bush era was a referendum on that policy and it failed miserably and left our present President (Barack Obama) with more than his share of debt to restructure and erase as he tries to repair the deep damage from the Bush era and generate badly needed new jobs. The Republicans stand firm against Day Care for working women, against women’s rights and against Black economic Self Actualization & empowerment. Most bills, events and considerations that mean any kind of Black progress—economic or otherwise--are fought against tooth and nail by the Republican Party. And they gonna call Judge Sonia Sotomayor a racist? I don’t think so!! It was the Republican Party who road high with the KKK under the sheets during the times and days when over 2000 Black people where hung, castrated, murdered and beaten down South from 1820 to 1960. Most of the Black men they hung were castrated after being killed, whipped and or shot. The Republican Party—through their legislative efforts—hold many of the same old views that hold us back as Black people. The pathetic few of us that call themselves Republicans should be tried in the court of Black public opinion for treason, prudery, sedition, trickery, suspicious counter-revolutionary activities, libel, slander, race bating, racial legislative manipulation, race hating, racist reactionary rebellion and other high crimes against our people. While we sit quietly and watch ``American Idol,’’ enjoying our Wal-Mart-purchased food & other goods, the Republicans and their supporters are plotting--through their political operatives and their well-funded think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation—the continued degradation and exploitation of the planet and its people—especially Black, Latino and poor people throughout the world. President Richard Nixon and President Ronald Reagan had some of the Whitest Presidential Administrations in history. There was little room for Blacks at the top of such Administrations. While Nixon (Who surrounded himself with many people of German extraction by the way) championed Affirmative Action for a time, that was quickly eroded as Blacks made a few superficial gains. TV Host Bill Mare had it right when he said that the present administration in Washington D.C. (The Obama Administration) is more like the moderates and somewhat like the Republicans. The Republicans have pushed the argument and the envelope so far to the right that we are arguing for things that should be a given. For example, some form of REPARATIONS for Blacks is long overdue and should be a right. We should not have to spend 10 and 20 years arguing for a Bill in Congress that would ``Study’’ the issue of REPARATIONS. If Jewish Americans were fighting for damages received at the hands of American Nazis (and if the bloody history of the Nazi Party was American born instead of German) they would have gotten their money from the American White House and the American Congress a long time ago. But slavery was a Black-White thing and Blacks have to still sit on the back of the bus on this one. Why?--Because we don’t demand nearly enough in a consistent, organized and ongoing fashion. We wait and hope for the best from Obama and are just enthralled at the pageantry and images of a Black president and his family. Images and pageantry are not nearly enough. Well, you can’t eat pageantry and even those positive images don’t pay the bills. We have been fooled into believing our government can’t afford the programs and cash that is needed to pay for the advances we need as a race of Black people. We are lulled into believing these things by Republicans and Southern conservative Democrats—the Blue Dogs as they are known. The media plays right along by bringing us people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton (Instead of people like Claud Anderson, Cynthia McKinney, Brother Rob and Angela Davis). Sharpton and Jackson are getting to be worn out tires who demand a few things, but largely say little about the real systemic problems and how we need to tackle them ourselves while we also push for more rights, progressive and even radical representation in and outside of government, and real tooth and nail action on the part of our government and our community leaders. We need traction, not more talk--and worn out tires ain’t gonna get it!! Recently I was to host an event at my house to talk about Health Care and the Democrats didn’t even have the money to send a speaker after I made several phone calls to shore up the event—it had to be canceled. We don’t stand up and if we do the Blue Dogs and the Republicans are quick to make sure we get back in ``our places.’’ I have heard more brain washed Blacks talk about what Obama doesn’t need to talk about such as REPARATIONS and the many issues and concerns that face our Black youth. ``He has enough on his plate,’’ I have heard. Well, what I want to know is how we get on his plate as a people along with our youth’s issues because we may not get another chance for another 120 years. Some of that stuff on his plate needs to step aside such as that bloated and wasteful Pentagon Budget, the wars and all the international spying the U.S. is still, to this day, doing. We are paying through the nose for these things and they are mostly wasted dollars. The few Whites that voted President Obama in are now abandoning ship as the Republicans press the issue that things are just costing too much. Not one Radio or TV commentator I have heard says the Pentagon, the Defense budget and the Intelligence Network are costing too much!! Why is that? Because the military industrial complex is owned and paid for by not only the American tax dollar, but is a profit Mecca for the big oil companies, the military contractors and such—some of whom I mentioned earlier. And where do those corporations put their money, right in the pockets of the Big TV networks and the mega banking industry that continues to support and bank roll things, events, governments, government leaders, people , other venues and countries that are not about the best interests of Black people. In fact General Electric, a major aero-space & defense contractor, owns one of the major Networks!! I called General Electric personally and discovered that they own NBC. That is straight from the horses’ mouth on July 10, 2009!!
On another subject, isn’t it funny how former Congressman Newt Gingrich has the nerve to call Obama’s first nominee for the Supreme Court a racist—a Latina woman, Sonia Sotomayor from the projects in the Bronx--yes folks it actually came our his blithering, idiotic lips that SHE is the racist!! And our bold courageous President started looking over statements Sotomayor had made and said she could have chosen better words. Hugh??!!! What about showing the racism in the Republican Party and shoring up your support for Sotomayor!!…There are plenty of examples of Republican racism to go around. So many of us want to walk on egg shells with the Republicans on this one. Bull crap!! This is still a very, very racist nation and it needs to heal from this racism. President Obama seems unwilling and unable to reach out to his core constituency of Blacks, progressives, liberal and progressive Latinos, Gays and Lesbians and others who can, do and will think outside the box at least sometimes. We are shunned like bad meat at a wedding party. He will never get re-elected like that. We will never all heal if the main sick patient doesn’t want to take the medicine or even admit that the sickness exists—my contention is that that main sick patient is the Republican Party and ALL who vote for them. The Republicans championed the Bakke_Decision of June 28, 1978 which formalized and accepted reverse discrimination as a legal statute by allowing Allan Bakke acceptance into Medical School at the University of California at Davis. Bakke was allowed entrance and a special admissions program that tried to correct past discrimination and wrong doing against people of color was shelved. This was a Supreme Court decision. This happened during the Carter White House, but people like Ronald Reagan championed Bakke and loved the decision. (As you know Reagan, a Californian himself, went on to defeat President Jimmie Carter in 1980 and used such landmark conservative Supreme Court decisions as a spring board to power.) This case was an affront and a slap in the face to Black people the world over. It said that our continued pain and suffering means nothing to the highest court in the land, in North America. Never mind the fact that the numbers of Blacks in the top medical schools and law schools in this Nation remain few and far between even until today. And the fact that many, many Back people remain effectively locked in poverty with little access to scholarship money, good schooling and all the necessary avenues to attain these things. But new technologies and access to new and fresh information is cracking open the armor of controlled media in the U.S. and helping regular Americans see that monopoly-styled media ownership is really a threat to ALL our rights. How often did the regular established media ask the tough questions like why there are so few slots at good medical and law schools in the first place? Why can’t there be plenty of openings for the many who apply? Now, with more open media and the advent of the inner net these questions are being asked.
On another subject, isn’t it funny how former Congressman Newt Gingrich has the nerve to call Obama’s first nominee for the Supreme Court a racist—a Latina woman, Sonia Sotomayor from the projects in the Bronx--yes folks it actually came our his blithering, idiotic lips that SHE is the racist!! And our bold courageous President started looking over statements Sotomayor had made and said she could have chosen better words. Hugh??!!! What about showing the racism in the Republican Party and shoring up your support for Sotomayor!!…There are plenty of examples of Republican racism to go around. So many of us want to walk on egg shells with the Republicans on this one. Bull crap!! This is still a very, very racist nation and it needs to heal from this racism. President Obama seems unwilling and unable to reach out to his core constituency of Blacks, progressives, liberal and progressive Latinos, Gays and Lesbians and others who can, do and will think outside the box at least sometimes. We are shunned like bad meat at a wedding party. He will never get re-elected like that. We will never all heal if the main sick patient doesn’t want to take the medicine or even admit that the sickness exists—my contention is that that main sick patient is the Republican Party and ALL who vote for them. The Republicans championed the Bakke_Decision of June 28, 1978 which formalized and accepted reverse discrimination as a legal statute by allowing Allan Bakke acceptance into Medical School at the University of California at Davis. Bakke was allowed entrance and a special admissions program that tried to correct past discrimination and wrong doing against people of color was shelved. This was a Supreme Court decision. This happened during the Carter White House, but people like Ronald Reagan championed Bakke and loved the decision. (As you know Reagan, a Californian himself, went on to defeat President Jimmie Carter in 1980 and used such landmark conservative Supreme Court decisions as a spring board to power.) This case was an affront and a slap in the face to Black people the world over. It said that our continued pain and suffering means nothing to the highest court in the land, in North America. Never mind the fact that the numbers of Blacks in the top medical schools and law schools in this Nation remain few and far between even until today. And the fact that many, many Back people remain effectively locked in poverty with little access to scholarship money, good schooling and all the necessary avenues to attain these things. But new technologies and access to new and fresh information is cracking open the armor of controlled media in the U.S. and helping regular Americans see that monopoly-styled media ownership is really a threat to ALL our rights. How often did the regular established media ask the tough questions like why there are so few slots at good medical and law schools in the first place? Why can’t there be plenty of openings for the many who apply? Now, with more open media and the advent of the inner net these questions are being asked.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
BRECK GIRLS...
White Breck Girls Flicking Their Hair on TV
By Brother Tracy Gibson
Give me a break!! If I see another White Breck Girl flicking her hair on TV I think I’ll just have to flick the channel or turn the whole damned thing off... Has there ever been a Black Breck Girl? I don’t think so and our women and young ladies have been buying that shampoo for decades. The lack of Sisters (Black women) on TV commercials flicking their cornrows, lathering up their bushes and or washing their other natural hair configurations is appalling. I want to see some Black women with long natural kinky hair washing it on TV!! AND NOW!! I call on Sister Michelle Obama to stop pressing her hair, ware it natural and ask that more such natural hair styles for Black women be put on TV. I call on our Black actresses to do the same thing. I am a Black man, but I love natural hair. Where is it on TV? Many of our women who get on TV are too busy trying to look as White as possible and that includes how they wear their hair. . . We are continually White Washing our culture out of our hair, our school books and our minds. Michael Jackson, the proclaimed King of Pop, was even accused of bleaching his self white—although he denied it profusely before he died. He claimed he had a skin disease. Meanwhile, we demand to join the Bling Bling generation of often mindless drivel on the tellie. Come on Beyonce Knowles—Stop pressing and get real!! Your real natural beauty is yet to be realized. Check out old pictures of Angela Davis and the late, great Nina Simone. We need our successful Sisters to be real role models for our young girls—not plastered pressed, cookie-cuter images of our oppressors. Our real beauty & our real selves will be realized when we look to Africa and what is real and natural about the continent and ourselves, not through tryin’ hard to look like or be like Europeans. Maybe Breck and some of the other White Owned shampoo companies should be—dare I say it—BOYCOTTED until we see some better, more wholesome, kinky-haired, natural images of our Black women portrayed on TV and the movies!! I’m tired of the weaved, waved, straightened, conked or laid to the side look of our oppressors being slapped on Brown and Black heads. Where are the sisters on TV and in the Movies with cornrows, kinky hair or the natural look? I ask myself this every time I see a Breck Girl!!!
Read more interesting articles by Brother Gibson at WWW.BTGANDA.COM
By Brother Tracy Gibson
Give me a break!! If I see another White Breck Girl flicking her hair on TV I think I’ll just have to flick the channel or turn the whole damned thing off... Has there ever been a Black Breck Girl? I don’t think so and our women and young ladies have been buying that shampoo for decades. The lack of Sisters (Black women) on TV commercials flicking their cornrows, lathering up their bushes and or washing their other natural hair configurations is appalling. I want to see some Black women with long natural kinky hair washing it on TV!! AND NOW!! I call on Sister Michelle Obama to stop pressing her hair, ware it natural and ask that more such natural hair styles for Black women be put on TV. I call on our Black actresses to do the same thing. I am a Black man, but I love natural hair. Where is it on TV? Many of our women who get on TV are too busy trying to look as White as possible and that includes how they wear their hair. . . We are continually White Washing our culture out of our hair, our school books and our minds. Michael Jackson, the proclaimed King of Pop, was even accused of bleaching his self white—although he denied it profusely before he died. He claimed he had a skin disease. Meanwhile, we demand to join the Bling Bling generation of often mindless drivel on the tellie. Come on Beyonce Knowles—Stop pressing and get real!! Your real natural beauty is yet to be realized. Check out old pictures of Angela Davis and the late, great Nina Simone. We need our successful Sisters to be real role models for our young girls—not plastered pressed, cookie-cuter images of our oppressors. Our real beauty & our real selves will be realized when we look to Africa and what is real and natural about the continent and ourselves, not through tryin’ hard to look like or be like Europeans. Maybe Breck and some of the other White Owned shampoo companies should be—dare I say it—BOYCOTTED until we see some better, more wholesome, kinky-haired, natural images of our Black women portrayed on TV and the movies!! I’m tired of the weaved, waved, straightened, conked or laid to the side look of our oppressors being slapped on Brown and Black heads. Where are the sisters on TV and in the Movies with cornrows, kinky hair or the natural look? I ask myself this every time I see a Breck Girl!!!
Read more interesting articles by Brother Gibson at WWW.BTGANDA.COM
Liberty for Them, Liberation for US
Liberty for Them Vs. Liberation for US...
White people understand Liberty. They have the Statue of Liberty and they feel they are defending Liberty when they go off to war and die.
Black people, on the other hand, understand Liberation. They study the Liberation of Cuba and Haiti and understand that those countries fought against tyranny for their ``LIBERATION'' against undue Capitalist encroachment, racism, exploiters and the other horrors that can be represented by the West, but that most people of European descent would rather ignore, sweep under the rug or defend until their death.
The two concepts--a form of the same word--seem to never get put down and examined on the same page. I just did. How we come to some agreements and look at the reality of Liberty Vs. Liberation is something that needs to be worked on, no matter how many years or decades or generations it takes. It is important. It is often inherent in the differences that are represented by indigenous people Vs. ``invaders'' or ``settlers''. It needs to be explored widely by our thinking people, our politicians, our community-minded people, our organizers and our media on a National scale.
White people understand Liberty. They have the Statue of Liberty and they feel they are defending Liberty when they go off to war and die.
Black people, on the other hand, understand Liberation. They study the Liberation of Cuba and Haiti and understand that those countries fought against tyranny for their ``LIBERATION'' against undue Capitalist encroachment, racism, exploiters and the other horrors that can be represented by the West, but that most people of European descent would rather ignore, sweep under the rug or defend until their death.
The two concepts--a form of the same word--seem to never get put down and examined on the same page. I just did. How we come to some agreements and look at the reality of Liberty Vs. Liberation is something that needs to be worked on, no matter how many years or decades or generations it takes. It is important. It is often inherent in the differences that are represented by indigenous people Vs. ``invaders'' or ``settlers''. It needs to be explored widely by our thinking people, our politicians, our community-minded people, our organizers and our media on a National scale.
Book Promotion!!! From Brother Tracy Gibson...
Book Promotion !!
Celebrated writer and businessman
Brother Tracy Gibson of Philadelphia has a new book coming out in July of
2013 entitled: ``Writing in Wet Cement,'' The
Book takes a real look at why Black people are not as politically invested
astute, aware and involved as we should be and what the consequences of our
being ``ASLEEP’’ as a community of people are. It also works real hard at
setting a plan through which our Black Youth [especially males] can become more ethical and
responsible in their behavior and how we can teach them more respect through
being better role models ourselves. A look at how we can become more resilient
and stronger by reading The Ohio State University Graduate’s book includes the
following sections:
*Four New Poems.
* An Assessment of U.S. National Security.
* A look at Black Economics.
* A look at Religion and Spirituality Among Black People.
* Same Gender Loving People of African Descent as a Secret
Weapon NOT a detriment.
* The Vision and Work of a Black National Same-Gender-Loving-Friendly
Church in the U.S.
* A List of story ideas for Up-and-Coming Movies.
* An Extensive and Detailed Book list {with some 650
entries}.
* The Politics of U.S. Dynasties AND The King-Making
Process.
* The Dangerous Triangle.
* About 22 Letters written to Advocate for the Black
Community.
* A Rap on Race.
* Being Unemployed: The Truth And The Consequences.
* White Breck Girls AND Their Hair.
* An Open Letter to Mr. AND Mrs. White America.
* No White Trash Allowed.
* Moon Walker [about Michael Jackson].
* A Proposal: The Coalition to Find Sane, Lasting and
Coherent Solutions for Peace in the Middle East.
* Homophobia in the Back Community [and how to work around and through it].
* About the Jewish People.
*About the Muslim...
AND MUCH, MUCH MORE!! [For more Information about the book,
write Brother Gibson at BLockBoi75@Yahoo.Com or BrotherTracy11@GMail.Com...] To view parts of the book on Brother Gibson's
Blog, go to http:ThePoliticsofReal.Blogspot.Com/
Other suggested articles include: ``The Powerful Third
Eye,'' ``The Knowledge Hut Business Plan,'' ``The Letter to Quincy Jones,''
``The Letter about Murry's,'' and ``What we should Eat and What we Should NOT Eat.''
Sports AND The Black Man...
Sports AND The Black Man…
When I went away to Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio to college I hated sports and I hated Ohio State football. I took NO pride whatsoever in any of the many, many victories the outstanding football team under then coach Woody Hayes had at the time. I saw the players as exploited and I thought the young men should have been paid something because the school made millions of dollars off the team, yet the players were barely given a fresh drink of water for their troubles. The players may have gotten scholarships, but in my eyes then, that wasn’t nearly enough. The issue of whether college sports players should be paid something for the four years they play while in undergraduate school has been debated by many. But I had come to hate exploitation and I just saw the players, even though some of them went on to get millions of dollars to play for professional football teams, as exploited people.
All I can say right now is that I’m very happy for Terrell Pryor and the Ohio State team for winning THE Rose Bowl today, Friday, 1-1-2010—the first day of the year. They won the game soundly 27 to 17. This is a sea change for me. Usually I could care less about the Ohio State game, but recently I joined the Ohio State Alumni Association and I’m hoping on working with them on some positive, proactive projects to help poor veterans in our community in Delaware very soon. This victory gives me the heads up that things will work out for me in the coming year. It makes me feel proud as a Black man because there were so many great Black players on the team including their talented Quarter Back, Terrell Pryor and so many others. There is also a sense of pride because it was Ohio State—the school I graduated from in 1978—a long, long time ago—regardless of the color of the team’s players….
I don’t know any of the other players and I don’t even know who the current head coach is, but I am proud of this win. I just wanted to tell you this to let you know that people can change. It may take several years, but opinions can change and people can change for the better. They CAN get their heads out of the sand and listen to different view points and can even be won over. Like my USANA coach Anne Reid says, you have to keep dripping on them. Never give up on presenting me with an idea or your opinion… I am always willing to listen. You don’t have to agree with me all the time. That is the great thing about all the new technology and the electronic networking—everybody wants to share their opinion. As long as we can all act like civil human being, this is a great thing. Remember we can agree to disagree. Life is too short to fight over a difference of opinion. The important thing is to keep informed and to listen to more than one source for your information…
Again, my CONGRATULATIONS go out to Ohio State, their Coaches, ALL the players and fans, and their Quarter Back Terrell Pryor for their BIG VICTORY today!! Go Bucks!!!
When I went away to Ohio State University, in Columbus, Ohio to college I hated sports and I hated Ohio State football. I took NO pride whatsoever in any of the many, many victories the outstanding football team under then coach Woody Hayes had at the time. I saw the players as exploited and I thought the young men should have been paid something because the school made millions of dollars off the team, yet the players were barely given a fresh drink of water for their troubles. The players may have gotten scholarships, but in my eyes then, that wasn’t nearly enough. The issue of whether college sports players should be paid something for the four years they play while in undergraduate school has been debated by many. But I had come to hate exploitation and I just saw the players, even though some of them went on to get millions of dollars to play for professional football teams, as exploited people.
All I can say right now is that I’m very happy for Terrell Pryor and the Ohio State team for winning THE Rose Bowl today, Friday, 1-1-2010—the first day of the year. They won the game soundly 27 to 17. This is a sea change for me. Usually I could care less about the Ohio State game, but recently I joined the Ohio State Alumni Association and I’m hoping on working with them on some positive, proactive projects to help poor veterans in our community in Delaware very soon. This victory gives me the heads up that things will work out for me in the coming year. It makes me feel proud as a Black man because there were so many great Black players on the team including their talented Quarter Back, Terrell Pryor and so many others. There is also a sense of pride because it was Ohio State—the school I graduated from in 1978—a long, long time ago—regardless of the color of the team’s players….
I don’t know any of the other players and I don’t even know who the current head coach is, but I am proud of this win. I just wanted to tell you this to let you know that people can change. It may take several years, but opinions can change and people can change for the better. They CAN get their heads out of the sand and listen to different view points and can even be won over. Like my USANA coach Anne Reid says, you have to keep dripping on them. Never give up on presenting me with an idea or your opinion… I am always willing to listen. You don’t have to agree with me all the time. That is the great thing about all the new technology and the electronic networking—everybody wants to share their opinion. As long as we can all act like civil human being, this is a great thing. Remember we can agree to disagree. Life is too short to fight over a difference of opinion. The important thing is to keep informed and to listen to more than one source for your information…
Again, my CONGRATULATIONS go out to Ohio State, their Coaches, ALL the players and fans, and their Quarter Back Terrell Pryor for their BIG VICTORY today!! Go Bucks!!!
(A Poem) Pay Back's A Bitch.....
Pay Back’s A Bitch…..
For the continuing support of
Those international thugs, the Israelis…
For bombing Iraq into the stone age…
For installing the Shah of Iran and acting like
You did nothing…
For killing Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter and then only worrying about fuckin Lockerbie …
For continuing to solve all your problems with the gun instead of an Olive Branch…
For being another fuckin brainless, spineless REPUBLICAN Patriot-Bastard…
For crushing Black progressive businesses and small progressive businesses under tax attack, regulation, paperwork and bull shit…
For ignoring the Conference Against Racism in South Africa in 2000, just before 911
Blew your mind…
For waving that meaningless American blood-stained flag…
For continuing to let thousands of Blacks die
On city streets in your own country…
For robbing, murdering and raping the Native Americans…
For continuing to rip off the Third World BIG TIME everyday…
For taking ALL the fuckin diamonds, gold and uranium OUT of Africa and giving the people NOTHNG!!...
For hiding behind your Christian Conservative cloth and
Acting like you don’t know…
For Holding stock in Halliburton…
For Enslaving, hanging, murdering, raping, Jim Crowing and discriminating against the
Black man and the Black Woman….
For letting Black children eat ketchup as a fucking vegetable…
For the Murdered Sandinistas…
For vilifying, mentally castrating and criminalizing Same Gender Loving people….
For twisting your religion around a cocaine-soiled dollar bill and shoving it up my Black ass every fuckin day…
For doing nothing about the lynch mob attack on the Palestinian People…
For support of Israel at $ 5 Billion Dollars a pop annually in hard earned U.S. Dollars…
For letting the ruthless under cover mercenaries around the world get hard earned, tax driven Pentagon Dollars, Yes even under OBAMA…
For letting your schools crumble because only the poor and Black and Latin go to them anymore…
For the Katrina victims still living in shacks and tents or who died under your watch…..
For still continuing to take money from South Africa when they can’t feed, clothe and educate their children….
For Black children dead on the streets because you failed to pass gun control on the local level…
For owning ALL the Fucking parking lots in Manhattan…
For spending $50,000 on flowers for your fucking daughter’s wedding as millions starve…
For owning Wal-Marts…
For giving birth and power to imbeciles like Rush Limbaugh, George Will and Ann Coulter…
For propping up phony and fake governments through the work of
The CIA and the other dozen or so so-called intelligence agencies in the U.S. that operate everywhere and at taxpayer’s expense…
For just saying NO while thousands of people die from drug dependency as you make Billions of dollars of the illegal drug trade…
And then you wonder why the World is angry at you?.....
For ``American Idol’’…..
For sitting Back, & Maxing and Relaxing while all this continues to go on…..
How’s that caviar and Champaign tasting right about now…
You rich White Male Bitch of a Mother Fucker….
Happy Pay Back Day…..
Enjoy your 911 and choke on it…
Mother Fucker…..
For the continuing support of
Those international thugs, the Israelis…
For bombing Iraq into the stone age…
For installing the Shah of Iran and acting like
You did nothing…
For killing Muammar Gaddafi’s daughter and then only worrying about fuckin Lockerbie …
For continuing to solve all your problems with the gun instead of an Olive Branch…
For being another fuckin brainless, spineless REPUBLICAN Patriot-Bastard…
For crushing Black progressive businesses and small progressive businesses under tax attack, regulation, paperwork and bull shit…
For ignoring the Conference Against Racism in South Africa in 2000, just before 911
Blew your mind…
For waving that meaningless American blood-stained flag…
For continuing to let thousands of Blacks die
On city streets in your own country…
For robbing, murdering and raping the Native Americans…
For continuing to rip off the Third World BIG TIME everyday…
For taking ALL the fuckin diamonds, gold and uranium OUT of Africa and giving the people NOTHNG!!...
For hiding behind your Christian Conservative cloth and
Acting like you don’t know…
For Holding stock in Halliburton…
For Enslaving, hanging, murdering, raping, Jim Crowing and discriminating against the
Black man and the Black Woman….
For letting Black children eat ketchup as a fucking vegetable…
For the Murdered Sandinistas…
For vilifying, mentally castrating and criminalizing Same Gender Loving people….
For twisting your religion around a cocaine-soiled dollar bill and shoving it up my Black ass every fuckin day…
For doing nothing about the lynch mob attack on the Palestinian People…
For support of Israel at $ 5 Billion Dollars a pop annually in hard earned U.S. Dollars…
For letting the ruthless under cover mercenaries around the world get hard earned, tax driven Pentagon Dollars, Yes even under OBAMA…
For letting your schools crumble because only the poor and Black and Latin go to them anymore…
For the Katrina victims still living in shacks and tents or who died under your watch…..
For still continuing to take money from South Africa when they can’t feed, clothe and educate their children….
For Black children dead on the streets because you failed to pass gun control on the local level…
For owning ALL the Fucking parking lots in Manhattan…
For spending $50,000 on flowers for your fucking daughter’s wedding as millions starve…
For owning Wal-Marts…
For giving birth and power to imbeciles like Rush Limbaugh, George Will and Ann Coulter…
For propping up phony and fake governments through the work of
The CIA and the other dozen or so so-called intelligence agencies in the U.S. that operate everywhere and at taxpayer’s expense…
For just saying NO while thousands of people die from drug dependency as you make Billions of dollars of the illegal drug trade…
And then you wonder why the World is angry at you?.....
For ``American Idol’’…..
For sitting Back, & Maxing and Relaxing while all this continues to go on…..
How’s that caviar and Champaign tasting right about now…
You rich White Male Bitch of a Mother Fucker….
Happy Pay Back Day…..
Enjoy your 911 and choke on it…
Mother Fucker…..
Mo About the Big ``O'' Scam.....
Mo About the Big ``O’’ Scam…
All of us as Black people are often told by our White overseers that if Oprah Winfrey can make it in America, so can we. ``So stop complaining and get to work.’’ (Sounds like the voice of a 21st Century Taskmaster, doesn’t it!!) Let’s set the record straight right here and now. This Oprah stuff is a fallacy and a misnomer. Sure she has had success, but what Whites are doing in regards to Oprah isn’t just and borders on racism. There are not endless economic potentials for any people in the world, Black people included. Why, because most wealth is handed down from generation to generation—not really earned from the ground up. And the wealth goes mostly from White hands to White hands. Could the world’s market economies withstand the amount of growth that a tremendously massive expansion of wealth would require? That is if we, as Black people, all became as successful as an Oprah? Probably not, and White wealthy people make sure every day that this exchange and expansion of wealth never happens as they continue to vote Republican and exclude Blacks from the job market(s) and other National and international economic opportunities. Just ask Baby Boy George Bush (you know the Big W) who was born with a silver spoon, a double presidency (illegally gained in both instances) and plenty of wealth in his fat mouth—all because of Big Daddy George and Big Daddy George’s connections & friends. There are few billionaires who start with nothing and go on to create mountains of wealth because the North American economic system has a peculiar way of reinventing wealth for those who already have it—no matter how much education and often even connections one has. Keeping Blacks, especially Black youths, grasping for this brass Oprah ring is cruel & unrealistic and should be stopped by any and all decent, progressive thinking Whites on this planet earth—especially in North America. They should know better. Of course there are opportunities, but they continue to be limited by one’s race and economic standing. Whites walk through life on a cloud created by other Whites who give them walking papers and admission to the back rooms in D.C. and the Board Rooms on Madison Avenue and Wall Street where the real money changers and wealth creators & their ideas are often chiseled, created, polished, christened, groomed & launched. If they fail, they start over again and re-launch. Even the top notch business school graduates are not necessarily allowed to walk among the rich and powerful, if they don’t cut the right mustard with the right people—and more often than not those people remain White Anglo Saxton, White Protestant, White Episcopal, White Catholics and, oh yes, ``White’’ Jews. . . So stop with all the baloney & bellyaching about the ``great success’’ of Oprah. Those of us who know the real deal know she was granted success because she really doesn’t press the envelope much (if at all) about the desperately needed liberty of her people right here in America... She would really rather sit down and chat with a Black man in drag (Tyler Perry) than Farrakhan or even a progressive rapper like Common or a progressive R & B singer like John Legend. She is not interested in reshaping the lucrative Rap industry into something more humane, sane and Black-woman friendly--even though she could make a mountain of money doing so. But she will point the finger at a rap star (Chris Brown who is really just a child himself) who hits his beautiful Black Bashan girlfriend and say ``he will do it again’’ right on National TV. Has she ever looked very deeply into the gangster rap phenomenon-–with its worship of Black gangsters and insulting treatment of Black women--and how the rap industry steers and keys up Black children & youth (especially males) to often be like cruel and brutal robots, out of control and right in the midst of our Black community? And how the White record & CD companies and their corporate heads are the ones really making the BIG money off of the objectification of and violence towards Black women specifically? She has never really dealt with Black male-female relationships and the specific challenges Black men and Black women who are trying to make it together face in North America. The economic, social and political challenges they face as couples are not really examined, but the hot-button, sensationalized topics and subjects are covered lavishly. (The Chris Brown / Rihanna COVERAGE IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE).!! There is really Nothing revolutionary about doing a show that would talk about Black male-female relationships (or is there?). It just isn’t on Oprah’s radar because she is too busy coddling and cuddling up with White audiences, especially White middle aged, middle and upper income women. They might not take too kindly to such a show unless she used celebrities—but even that might be too much. This begins to show the real racism in American TV and other media and that Oprah is really on some levels a sham, a fraud and part of a game that is being played on Black people right here in North America by White media wizards (often Jewish). She is the lady with the brass ring that hires few Blacks (Michael Jackson did a lot better at finding professional Black people for his staff than Oprah Winfrey ever did or does--even today!!). She has a multitude of successes on just about every level, but has NOT been able to help many other Black people duplicate such success for themselves. Where are the Black Suzie Ormans, Black Doctor Phils and the Black Bob Greenes? The ruling class of White Americans have taken the Oprah phenomenon and made her a cottage industry for many reasons. The most prominent of which is to keep us as Blacks wanting more of the good life and grasping for the Oprah success ring while we remain mostly a poor and struggling consumer class for White-owned businesses that take our money and have dominated the Wall Street stock markets for generations. Unless we get our act together as a people, get informed and take decisive action they will continue to do so and we will continue to suffer. We desperately need to be more aware, involved and active on all levels. Especially on an economic level. Oprah, your slip is showing—and honey it isn’t pretty at all…
Editor’s Note: There is one thing I have to say for Oprah: She is running a school for girls in South Africa. This is an expensive and highly commendable thing. It may well be more than I will ever get to do for my people. I’m a bit jealous. I wish she could do something like that for young Black girls and boys stateside. We would be very appreciative. There are so many young Black children in need right here in North America. Maybe one day she will. Maybe that school could be right there in Chicago—a city so hard hit by crime and confusion among Blacks recently. I have been to South Africa and I know the specific type of oppression suffered under the Apartheid system there has left many people with some twisted minds and twisted ways of thinking about themselves as Black people. What they deserve as human beings is often forgotten under the hot light of such a cruel and hurtful past. It will take a lot of healing for those girls and ALL South Africans of any race to get past the hurt and grief that the Apartheid system inflicted on that entire Nation. Oprah has chosen to work with a small number of girls, but this is a very big undertaking and I wish her the best of success. If each of us could see that taking on a small thing can have a wonderful and long lasting impact, we would all be much better off. So I’m pleading with Oprah, stop letting you be used by the White Power elite and start that school in Chicago.
All of us as Black people are often told by our White overseers that if Oprah Winfrey can make it in America, so can we. ``So stop complaining and get to work.’’ (Sounds like the voice of a 21st Century Taskmaster, doesn’t it!!) Let’s set the record straight right here and now. This Oprah stuff is a fallacy and a misnomer. Sure she has had success, but what Whites are doing in regards to Oprah isn’t just and borders on racism. There are not endless economic potentials for any people in the world, Black people included. Why, because most wealth is handed down from generation to generation—not really earned from the ground up. And the wealth goes mostly from White hands to White hands. Could the world’s market economies withstand the amount of growth that a tremendously massive expansion of wealth would require? That is if we, as Black people, all became as successful as an Oprah? Probably not, and White wealthy people make sure every day that this exchange and expansion of wealth never happens as they continue to vote Republican and exclude Blacks from the job market(s) and other National and international economic opportunities. Just ask Baby Boy George Bush (you know the Big W) who was born with a silver spoon, a double presidency (illegally gained in both instances) and plenty of wealth in his fat mouth—all because of Big Daddy George and Big Daddy George’s connections & friends. There are few billionaires who start with nothing and go on to create mountains of wealth because the North American economic system has a peculiar way of reinventing wealth for those who already have it—no matter how much education and often even connections one has. Keeping Blacks, especially Black youths, grasping for this brass Oprah ring is cruel & unrealistic and should be stopped by any and all decent, progressive thinking Whites on this planet earth—especially in North America. They should know better. Of course there are opportunities, but they continue to be limited by one’s race and economic standing. Whites walk through life on a cloud created by other Whites who give them walking papers and admission to the back rooms in D.C. and the Board Rooms on Madison Avenue and Wall Street where the real money changers and wealth creators & their ideas are often chiseled, created, polished, christened, groomed & launched. If they fail, they start over again and re-launch. Even the top notch business school graduates are not necessarily allowed to walk among the rich and powerful, if they don’t cut the right mustard with the right people—and more often than not those people remain White Anglo Saxton, White Protestant, White Episcopal, White Catholics and, oh yes, ``White’’ Jews. . . So stop with all the baloney & bellyaching about the ``great success’’ of Oprah. Those of us who know the real deal know she was granted success because she really doesn’t press the envelope much (if at all) about the desperately needed liberty of her people right here in America... She would really rather sit down and chat with a Black man in drag (Tyler Perry) than Farrakhan or even a progressive rapper like Common or a progressive R & B singer like John Legend. She is not interested in reshaping the lucrative Rap industry into something more humane, sane and Black-woman friendly--even though she could make a mountain of money doing so. But she will point the finger at a rap star (Chris Brown who is really just a child himself) who hits his beautiful Black Bashan girlfriend and say ``he will do it again’’ right on National TV. Has she ever looked very deeply into the gangster rap phenomenon-–with its worship of Black gangsters and insulting treatment of Black women--and how the rap industry steers and keys up Black children & youth (especially males) to often be like cruel and brutal robots, out of control and right in the midst of our Black community? And how the White record & CD companies and their corporate heads are the ones really making the BIG money off of the objectification of and violence towards Black women specifically? She has never really dealt with Black male-female relationships and the specific challenges Black men and Black women who are trying to make it together face in North America. The economic, social and political challenges they face as couples are not really examined, but the hot-button, sensationalized topics and subjects are covered lavishly. (The Chris Brown / Rihanna COVERAGE IS A CLASSIC EXAMPLE).!! There is really Nothing revolutionary about doing a show that would talk about Black male-female relationships (or is there?). It just isn’t on Oprah’s radar because she is too busy coddling and cuddling up with White audiences, especially White middle aged, middle and upper income women. They might not take too kindly to such a show unless she used celebrities—but even that might be too much. This begins to show the real racism in American TV and other media and that Oprah is really on some levels a sham, a fraud and part of a game that is being played on Black people right here in North America by White media wizards (often Jewish). She is the lady with the brass ring that hires few Blacks (Michael Jackson did a lot better at finding professional Black people for his staff than Oprah Winfrey ever did or does--even today!!). She has a multitude of successes on just about every level, but has NOT been able to help many other Black people duplicate such success for themselves. Where are the Black Suzie Ormans, Black Doctor Phils and the Black Bob Greenes? The ruling class of White Americans have taken the Oprah phenomenon and made her a cottage industry for many reasons. The most prominent of which is to keep us as Blacks wanting more of the good life and grasping for the Oprah success ring while we remain mostly a poor and struggling consumer class for White-owned businesses that take our money and have dominated the Wall Street stock markets for generations. Unless we get our act together as a people, get informed and take decisive action they will continue to do so and we will continue to suffer. We desperately need to be more aware, involved and active on all levels. Especially on an economic level. Oprah, your slip is showing—and honey it isn’t pretty at all…
Editor’s Note: There is one thing I have to say for Oprah: She is running a school for girls in South Africa. This is an expensive and highly commendable thing. It may well be more than I will ever get to do for my people. I’m a bit jealous. I wish she could do something like that for young Black girls and boys stateside. We would be very appreciative. There are so many young Black children in need right here in North America. Maybe one day she will. Maybe that school could be right there in Chicago—a city so hard hit by crime and confusion among Blacks recently. I have been to South Africa and I know the specific type of oppression suffered under the Apartheid system there has left many people with some twisted minds and twisted ways of thinking about themselves as Black people. What they deserve as human beings is often forgotten under the hot light of such a cruel and hurtful past. It will take a lot of healing for those girls and ALL South Africans of any race to get past the hurt and grief that the Apartheid system inflicted on that entire Nation. Oprah has chosen to work with a small number of girls, but this is a very big undertaking and I wish her the best of success. If each of us could see that taking on a small thing can have a wonderful and long lasting impact, we would all be much better off. So I’m pleading with Oprah, stop letting you be used by the White Power elite and start that school in Chicago.
...about the Jewish People...
About The Jewish People…
Some of us as Black people don’t like or even hate Jewish people. Most of us who feel this way are falling into lock step with some of our National and International leaders who we perceive of as progressive or who we perceive of as having the best interest of the Black community at heart. Some Blacks who feel this way are also coming up with their own reasons, justifications and judgments for the way they feel. Some Black leaders seem misguided on this issue. I ask for a voice and patience. Some Black leaders may well have our best interests at heart as Black people in many ways, but hating Jewish people is not a solution. And certainly NOT a final solution… !!! What we need to do is analyze why these people are hated throughout the world, especially within the Muslim and Islamic world, and come to some conclusions as to how we can improve relations with Jewish people and help them to see the error of their ways. We also need to do this WITHOUT spending too much time and Capital on this because the problems of Black people should and must be our main concern. The reason for this is that we are a vastly poorer and less enfranchised people than just about every race on the planet and all of us—as Black people--need to take a hand in helping other Black people. God helps those who help themselves. I have made a proposal here that I think can help Black and Jewish people at the same time..., but working TOGETHER is crucial…
Jewish people are seen by many of us as a people of means. Wealthy, rich, established, successful business owners, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, profiteers, Wall Street executives, stock brokers, wealthy and connected lawyers, men and women of medicine, real estate tycoons, property owners, landlords, diamond mine owners, movie moguls, movie directors, movie producers, record company owners and producers, talent managers, TV executives, over-paid actors, successful advertising executives, merchants, accountants, money changers and bankers. These are the jobs that we envision Jewish people as having. (Certainly there are various other jobs of stature and merit that Jewish people also have such as teacher, mail carrier and so forth.) We as Black people, also have a tendency to envision Jewish people as running rough shod over the rest of us through the jobs they hold and how they maintain money for themselves and how they manage & control money. This perception is often at the root of why we hate, dislike, resent, feel jealous of or otherwise have distain for the Jewish people.
I have to say that the perceptions we have of Jewish people and money are largely correct. They do own a lot of businesses and manage money well. It is not an empty stereotype. Walter Annenberg died one of the richest people in the world. He disavowed his Jewish religion, but he was born a Jewish person. DeBeers is a family of diamond merchants who literally took billions of dollars in diamonds out of Africa and found ways exploit African labor and to merchandise these diamonds throughout the world. There are several other Jewish families that have gone into business and done very well—very, very well indeed. Does this mean we should resent them and not wish them well? No, not necessarily. Does it mean that we should be more like them? I say a definite NO to that also. So what’s the problem? Many of us have thrown our hands up and not taken a close look at the situation.
(I have to admit here that I have a different view of Jewish people than most Black people have. I have a tendency to find Jewish people very friendly and even funny. For example I think the humor of a Mel Brooks or a Woody Alan is phenomenal. I feel that if we can’t laugh in this world once in a while, what the heck are we here for anyway!! I like their culture and food. I have ALWAYS had Jewish friends. An older Jewish man who had befriended my father loaned me $800.00 when my father had NO MONEY to do so. I was able to take that $800.00 and parlay it into home ownership. It was the first home, an investment property, I had ever owned. I was 26 years old at the time. The income from my history of home ownership, which started from that loan, has brought me some $300,000.00 over about 25 years. I have no reason to hate Jewish people and am forever thankful for what they have done for me and for other Black people.)
Upon closer analysis, one can see that the Jewish people have done some homework we, as Black people, haven’t done. At the same time, however, we have certain innate mechanisms within us that don’t allow us, in mass, to exploit other people the way some Jewish people have done and continue to do to many poor and working people throughout the world... We are a more giving people and we have paid a dear price for that. But, we don’t have to continue to be walked on by so many of the other races & religions on the planet as we move forward into a New Year and a new decade. We can stand up for ourselves economically, face the music & learn how to love ourselves and be proud of the hard earned achievements we have made and will continue to make in America and elsewhere. And we can also expect better for ourselves as Black people…
Including Jewish people in on solutions for Africans—especially considering the new influence that Islam has among Blacks—makes this statement very controversial. But some clear and forthright thinking is needed here.
I am NOT saying that all Jewish people walk on Black people economically--far from it. Many Jewish people love to give back to the less fortunate. And they have given back to Blacks while giving back to the less fortunate on many occasions. What I am saying is that they don’t go out of their way to make sure that we get what we need economically. (Ultimately making sure we as Black people have what we need is up to us as Black people, not the government or any other group, religion or entity). Jewish people basically teach their children to take care of the family businesses and what happens is that all their money basically remains in the hands of other future Jewish generations. To ask them to do much else would be for them to perform a herculean task because most people look out for themselves. Black people are some of the last people on earth to understand & learn that this is a good way to survive and thrive into the future—by looking out for number one—you and your family, your friends and your people.
Certainly there are some people among us who have learned this lesson long ago such as Marcus Garvey, the Black Muslims and some Black millionaires and a few Black billionaires. They have learned to give back to the Black community while helping themselves. They have started progressive programs to re-build our people and our community and give back to the Black community. People like Danny Glover and Kenny Gamble come to mind also…
So we are learning. One thing we are learning is what Spike Lee learned before he went into filmmaking school. That is that if we as Black people concentrate ourselves in more of the lucrative & pervasive fields of study we will make out better as a people. Spike went into filmmaking school at New York University because he saw an opportunity to make money and to have some influence over what people do and think. The film industry creates images of people here in North America that are shared & seen throughout the world. This was a good reason to go into filmmaking. But with that decision comes the responsibility to make good products. He has done that and we could use another one hundred & fifty Spike Lees, both male and female. We can use more Spike Lees & people like him to help promote and advance the race, the progressive point of view and to give hope and more love to all of humanity…
Even through there are many other such examples, we are behind the eight ball right now as Black people. We need to not only learn new fields of study that are new, lucrative & pervasive, we also need to gain more influence with people who have, in some instances, turned their backs to us and let us dry up and die like dead fruit on the vine. There was some good relations between Jewish people and Black people through the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s, (Some Jewish People, in fact died right along side of us) but for the most part the Jewish people have tended in the most recent past, to take care of their own and not worry so much about us. (The real truth is that many Jewish people made advances through Civil Rights and then turned their backs on the Black cause). The fact that Jewish people have concentrated themselves in the fields that make a great deal of money, ergo. Wall Street, advertising, the movie industry, accounting, record companies, corporate management, the legal profession, medicine and banking—is both a curse and a blessing. It is a curse because other ethnic groups look on in envy and, if they are not informed, may be out for blood.* [A little nasty secret about the rise of Adolph Hitler in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s was the fact that Jewish People were observed as having undue control & influence over much of the German economy when Hitler came to power. Hitler capitalized on this and made Jewish People scapegoats. A similar economic situation—with Jewish people in positions of controlling economic power—is presently taking hold in North America, I am afraid to say. This is of great concern to me as a progressive thinker and as a writer]. The blessings of having a lot of economic power & money are obvious—the Jewish people have the cash to make the positive changes and exert the influence & leverage as they see fit to do. This is one of the reasons why the United States has such staunch support for the State of Israel and on the other hand the Black community’s lack of influence is why the entire continent of Africa gets lit service and crumbs from the table. Certainly Black people could benefit from taking on fields of study that are more lucrative, but I feel our hearts have to be in the work. While Blacks in America are in many lucrative fields and just about all fields of study, many Black men and Black women find a calling in the study of theology and a dedication to Jesus Christ. Maybe such study could be augmented and mixed with other more lucrative study. Some Black preachers, male and female, have also made Big Bucks and have produced what has been come to be called ``Mega Churches’’…. I would be interested to know what you think of Black people taking up fields of study that are perceived as being more lucrative. If you write me at BrotherTracy11@GMail.Com, remember, sometimes it is not what you know but who you know. Include an assessment of that statement with your analysis & messages to me as well…
Moreover, one might ask: why have Blacks and Jews not gotten along recently & how do we work ourselves past this roadblock? Calling Jewish People Zionists and alienating ourselves from their community is not going to get us any play any time soon. Unfortunately, this is what many Black Nationalists do. They feel Mo Better about themselves the more they call Jewish people who want a homeland Zionists and point an ever-threatening finger at them. This isn’t helping their community or ours. I have many Jewish friends and most of them are stanch anti-Zionists. I want more Jewish friends. I want to help Jewish people who want another Homeland to work with me at getting a Homeland outside of Israel and, in fact, I want their new Homeland to be in Africa. I know I’ll catch Hell from many Black friends for saying that, but I think it is a solution for Black Africans and for Jewish people alike.
I want more Jewish People to settle into parts of Africa, preferably into the area around Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I have no contact with the governments there at this time and this is only on paper now, but I think it can work. Why do I think this can work? Some adventurous Jewish people could vow to work with the indigenous people of this African region and teach them management skills for business, learn the language, and help them as doctors and lawyers and so forth. Certainly the indigenous peoples would have something to teach the Jewish people also. Certainly there are Jewish people who want OUT of the current stranglehold and desperate situation they find themselves in with the Palestinian people and other Muslims in Israel and the surrounding states & regions. (The Middle East crisis probably won’t be totally solved by anything I propose here, but I think tensions can be lessened and the whole picture can be made clearer.) There would have to be certain regulations put into place that made sure that the incoming Jewish people would relinquish their rights to self govern for a number of years until they could set up a stable state. This state would be governed by Black Africans with the minority holding a MINORITY share of power—that would be for progressive Jewish people. I am NOT talking about an influx of the right wing kind of Jewish people taking hold as there are in Israel right now... So don’t get me wrong… That would never work. There would need to be all kinds of regulations and balances for power to be shared & to make sure that Black Africans, indigenous to the area, held most of the power for quite some time. This region could become a Mecca for development as more and more lives were saved as indigenous peoples overcame the diseases that are in that area right now. This could also have a positive impact on famine, lack of water and other problems in the region. Also: as more professionals came in who are of Jewish descent they could lend their professions to stabilizing the region. The whole project would get great media attention and be seen as a solution & a constructive alternative to some of the strife and violence in that region….
One thing that would have to take place for this to work is for a real study to be done to find out just how much land is already owned by Jewish people in all the African countries in the first place. I know they have land holdings in many regions, but especially in South Africa.
I also think there is a big need for more input and help from African Americans and other Black people throughout the world to make such a build up & reconstruction work. It would also be very important for any building to be green and sustainable. There would have to be provisions for wild life and any such development, as we have said, would HAVE to be eco-friendly. This is a small part of my developing proposal on the Middle East (A Sane Solution for the Middle East) included in Chapter 14 of this book.
There are other considerations. This project would take decades and would need a legal and economic foundation as well as governmental support from Africans, the U.S. government, the United Nations and from some progressive factions in Israel and many Muslim Nations. One of the other considerations is the fact that there is a strong and growing Muslim stream of influence running through the Black community both within Africa and other parts of the world including in the U.S. This would have to be dealt with in an inclusive, positive and proactive way. I feel other factions could help in this development of Africa. Any leadership among Africans (and Jewish people also) who will control this project would have to be in rotation to help avoid corruption and undue influence of too many powerful individuals. The African Union, I would hope, would want to take part, even though they will possibly not understand or be very suspicious of the effort at first.
What I’m saying is that this Jewish Development, may end up being an International Mecca for all people to find a refuge of peace, stability and solace—not just Jewish or African people. I envision this happening and plan to work towards it’s fruition in the very near future… All dreams start with a vision…
Some of us as Black people don’t like or even hate Jewish people. Most of us who feel this way are falling into lock step with some of our National and International leaders who we perceive of as progressive or who we perceive of as having the best interest of the Black community at heart. Some Blacks who feel this way are also coming up with their own reasons, justifications and judgments for the way they feel. Some Black leaders seem misguided on this issue. I ask for a voice and patience. Some Black leaders may well have our best interests at heart as Black people in many ways, but hating Jewish people is not a solution. And certainly NOT a final solution… !!! What we need to do is analyze why these people are hated throughout the world, especially within the Muslim and Islamic world, and come to some conclusions as to how we can improve relations with Jewish people and help them to see the error of their ways. We also need to do this WITHOUT spending too much time and Capital on this because the problems of Black people should and must be our main concern. The reason for this is that we are a vastly poorer and less enfranchised people than just about every race on the planet and all of us—as Black people--need to take a hand in helping other Black people. God helps those who help themselves. I have made a proposal here that I think can help Black and Jewish people at the same time..., but working TOGETHER is crucial…
Jewish people are seen by many of us as a people of means. Wealthy, rich, established, successful business owners, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, profiteers, Wall Street executives, stock brokers, wealthy and connected lawyers, men and women of medicine, real estate tycoons, property owners, landlords, diamond mine owners, movie moguls, movie directors, movie producers, record company owners and producers, talent managers, TV executives, over-paid actors, successful advertising executives, merchants, accountants, money changers and bankers. These are the jobs that we envision Jewish people as having. (Certainly there are various other jobs of stature and merit that Jewish people also have such as teacher, mail carrier and so forth.) We as Black people, also have a tendency to envision Jewish people as running rough shod over the rest of us through the jobs they hold and how they maintain money for themselves and how they manage & control money. This perception is often at the root of why we hate, dislike, resent, feel jealous of or otherwise have distain for the Jewish people.
I have to say that the perceptions we have of Jewish people and money are largely correct. They do own a lot of businesses and manage money well. It is not an empty stereotype. Walter Annenberg died one of the richest people in the world. He disavowed his Jewish religion, but he was born a Jewish person. DeBeers is a family of diamond merchants who literally took billions of dollars in diamonds out of Africa and found ways exploit African labor and to merchandise these diamonds throughout the world. There are several other Jewish families that have gone into business and done very well—very, very well indeed. Does this mean we should resent them and not wish them well? No, not necessarily. Does it mean that we should be more like them? I say a definite NO to that also. So what’s the problem? Many of us have thrown our hands up and not taken a close look at the situation.
(I have to admit here that I have a different view of Jewish people than most Black people have. I have a tendency to find Jewish people very friendly and even funny. For example I think the humor of a Mel Brooks or a Woody Alan is phenomenal. I feel that if we can’t laugh in this world once in a while, what the heck are we here for anyway!! I like their culture and food. I have ALWAYS had Jewish friends. An older Jewish man who had befriended my father loaned me $800.00 when my father had NO MONEY to do so. I was able to take that $800.00 and parlay it into home ownership. It was the first home, an investment property, I had ever owned. I was 26 years old at the time. The income from my history of home ownership, which started from that loan, has brought me some $300,000.00 over about 25 years. I have no reason to hate Jewish people and am forever thankful for what they have done for me and for other Black people.)
Upon closer analysis, one can see that the Jewish people have done some homework we, as Black people, haven’t done. At the same time, however, we have certain innate mechanisms within us that don’t allow us, in mass, to exploit other people the way some Jewish people have done and continue to do to many poor and working people throughout the world... We are a more giving people and we have paid a dear price for that. But, we don’t have to continue to be walked on by so many of the other races & religions on the planet as we move forward into a New Year and a new decade. We can stand up for ourselves economically, face the music & learn how to love ourselves and be proud of the hard earned achievements we have made and will continue to make in America and elsewhere. And we can also expect better for ourselves as Black people…
Including Jewish people in on solutions for Africans—especially considering the new influence that Islam has among Blacks—makes this statement very controversial. But some clear and forthright thinking is needed here.
I am NOT saying that all Jewish people walk on Black people economically--far from it. Many Jewish people love to give back to the less fortunate. And they have given back to Blacks while giving back to the less fortunate on many occasions. What I am saying is that they don’t go out of their way to make sure that we get what we need economically. (Ultimately making sure we as Black people have what we need is up to us as Black people, not the government or any other group, religion or entity). Jewish people basically teach their children to take care of the family businesses and what happens is that all their money basically remains in the hands of other future Jewish generations. To ask them to do much else would be for them to perform a herculean task because most people look out for themselves. Black people are some of the last people on earth to understand & learn that this is a good way to survive and thrive into the future—by looking out for number one—you and your family, your friends and your people.
Certainly there are some people among us who have learned this lesson long ago such as Marcus Garvey, the Black Muslims and some Black millionaires and a few Black billionaires. They have learned to give back to the Black community while helping themselves. They have started progressive programs to re-build our people and our community and give back to the Black community. People like Danny Glover and Kenny Gamble come to mind also…
So we are learning. One thing we are learning is what Spike Lee learned before he went into filmmaking school. That is that if we as Black people concentrate ourselves in more of the lucrative & pervasive fields of study we will make out better as a people. Spike went into filmmaking school at New York University because he saw an opportunity to make money and to have some influence over what people do and think. The film industry creates images of people here in North America that are shared & seen throughout the world. This was a good reason to go into filmmaking. But with that decision comes the responsibility to make good products. He has done that and we could use another one hundred & fifty Spike Lees, both male and female. We can use more Spike Lees & people like him to help promote and advance the race, the progressive point of view and to give hope and more love to all of humanity…
Even through there are many other such examples, we are behind the eight ball right now as Black people. We need to not only learn new fields of study that are new, lucrative & pervasive, we also need to gain more influence with people who have, in some instances, turned their backs to us and let us dry up and die like dead fruit on the vine. There was some good relations between Jewish people and Black people through the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s, (Some Jewish People, in fact died right along side of us) but for the most part the Jewish people have tended in the most recent past, to take care of their own and not worry so much about us. (The real truth is that many Jewish people made advances through Civil Rights and then turned their backs on the Black cause). The fact that Jewish people have concentrated themselves in the fields that make a great deal of money, ergo. Wall Street, advertising, the movie industry, accounting, record companies, corporate management, the legal profession, medicine and banking—is both a curse and a blessing. It is a curse because other ethnic groups look on in envy and, if they are not informed, may be out for blood.* [A little nasty secret about the rise of Adolph Hitler in Nazi Germany in the 1930’s was the fact that Jewish People were observed as having undue control & influence over much of the German economy when Hitler came to power. Hitler capitalized on this and made Jewish People scapegoats. A similar economic situation—with Jewish people in positions of controlling economic power—is presently taking hold in North America, I am afraid to say. This is of great concern to me as a progressive thinker and as a writer]. The blessings of having a lot of economic power & money are obvious—the Jewish people have the cash to make the positive changes and exert the influence & leverage as they see fit to do. This is one of the reasons why the United States has such staunch support for the State of Israel and on the other hand the Black community’s lack of influence is why the entire continent of Africa gets lit service and crumbs from the table. Certainly Black people could benefit from taking on fields of study that are more lucrative, but I feel our hearts have to be in the work. While Blacks in America are in many lucrative fields and just about all fields of study, many Black men and Black women find a calling in the study of theology and a dedication to Jesus Christ. Maybe such study could be augmented and mixed with other more lucrative study. Some Black preachers, male and female, have also made Big Bucks and have produced what has been come to be called ``Mega Churches’’…. I would be interested to know what you think of Black people taking up fields of study that are perceived as being more lucrative. If you write me at BrotherTracy11@GMail.Com, remember, sometimes it is not what you know but who you know. Include an assessment of that statement with your analysis & messages to me as well…
Moreover, one might ask: why have Blacks and Jews not gotten along recently & how do we work ourselves past this roadblock? Calling Jewish People Zionists and alienating ourselves from their community is not going to get us any play any time soon. Unfortunately, this is what many Black Nationalists do. They feel Mo Better about themselves the more they call Jewish people who want a homeland Zionists and point an ever-threatening finger at them. This isn’t helping their community or ours. I have many Jewish friends and most of them are stanch anti-Zionists. I want more Jewish friends. I want to help Jewish people who want another Homeland to work with me at getting a Homeland outside of Israel and, in fact, I want their new Homeland to be in Africa. I know I’ll catch Hell from many Black friends for saying that, but I think it is a solution for Black Africans and for Jewish people alike.
I want more Jewish People to settle into parts of Africa, preferably into the area around Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. I have no contact with the governments there at this time and this is only on paper now, but I think it can work. Why do I think this can work? Some adventurous Jewish people could vow to work with the indigenous people of this African region and teach them management skills for business, learn the language, and help them as doctors and lawyers and so forth. Certainly the indigenous peoples would have something to teach the Jewish people also. Certainly there are Jewish people who want OUT of the current stranglehold and desperate situation they find themselves in with the Palestinian people and other Muslims in Israel and the surrounding states & regions. (The Middle East crisis probably won’t be totally solved by anything I propose here, but I think tensions can be lessened and the whole picture can be made clearer.) There would have to be certain regulations put into place that made sure that the incoming Jewish people would relinquish their rights to self govern for a number of years until they could set up a stable state. This state would be governed by Black Africans with the minority holding a MINORITY share of power—that would be for progressive Jewish people. I am NOT talking about an influx of the right wing kind of Jewish people taking hold as there are in Israel right now... So don’t get me wrong… That would never work. There would need to be all kinds of regulations and balances for power to be shared & to make sure that Black Africans, indigenous to the area, held most of the power for quite some time. This region could become a Mecca for development as more and more lives were saved as indigenous peoples overcame the diseases that are in that area right now. This could also have a positive impact on famine, lack of water and other problems in the region. Also: as more professionals came in who are of Jewish descent they could lend their professions to stabilizing the region. The whole project would get great media attention and be seen as a solution & a constructive alternative to some of the strife and violence in that region….
One thing that would have to take place for this to work is for a real study to be done to find out just how much land is already owned by Jewish people in all the African countries in the first place. I know they have land holdings in many regions, but especially in South Africa.
I also think there is a big need for more input and help from African Americans and other Black people throughout the world to make such a build up & reconstruction work. It would also be very important for any building to be green and sustainable. There would have to be provisions for wild life and any such development, as we have said, would HAVE to be eco-friendly. This is a small part of my developing proposal on the Middle East (A Sane Solution for the Middle East) included in Chapter 14 of this book.
There are other considerations. This project would take decades and would need a legal and economic foundation as well as governmental support from Africans, the U.S. government, the United Nations and from some progressive factions in Israel and many Muslim Nations. One of the other considerations is the fact that there is a strong and growing Muslim stream of influence running through the Black community both within Africa and other parts of the world including in the U.S. This would have to be dealt with in an inclusive, positive and proactive way. I feel other factions could help in this development of Africa. Any leadership among Africans (and Jewish people also) who will control this project would have to be in rotation to help avoid corruption and undue influence of too many powerful individuals. The African Union, I would hope, would want to take part, even though they will possibly not understand or be very suspicious of the effort at first.
What I’m saying is that this Jewish Development, may end up being an International Mecca for all people to find a refuge of peace, stability and solace—not just Jewish or African people. I envision this happening and plan to work towards it’s fruition in the very near future… All dreams start with a vision…
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Mental Health: No More Heads in the Sand...
Mental Health—No More Heads in the Sand…..
I have been hospitalized for depression, nervous upsets and bipolar illness about seven (7) times. Each hospitalization was a journey to another place in my development as a human being. It still isn’t easy to talk about after ten years of NOT being hospitalized…
One thing is for sure, I know I’m not alone. I know there are millions of Americans and thousands upon thousands of Black Americans who have a mental illness. It is funny, or not so funny, how other people don’t understand mental illness. They see you and think you can work at a regular job. They don’t know the pain and anguish that goes with being hospitalized and having to take medicine and go to therapy for over 30 years. It all grates on the soul and takes a toll on the spirit, but it also saves the spirit and leads to a path of renewal and survival. There are many, many rewards for taking your head out of the sand and dealing with your issues as a person with some seemingly insurmountable problems that only a therapist can help you work through. There are a lot of people in the world who say to themselves each and every day ``I’m OK, I don’t need a psychiatrist!!’’ Well let me tell you EVERYBODY on the planet can benefit from therapy and many millions of people NEED to be in therapy.
Don’t let someone else’s ideas about a ``stigma’’ stop you from getting the help you need. It seems like only about a month ago that my sister sat with me at a hospital reception area (in West Philadelphia) and tried to convince me for about an hour to sign myself in for that first time evaluative stay. I would have none of it. I wasn’t cooperating because I had bought into the significant and lasting ``stigma’’ that is berried in each American’s head about therapy and getting psychiatric help. Lucky for me my Brother-in-law is a doctor and had just met a Black psychiatrist on a plane ride who ended up being my first psychiatrist. He was a Black psychiatrist who I would be seeing once a week for quite some time and then once every other week. (He ended up being my psychiatrist for about 10 years and he helped me through some of the toughest days of my adult life)…. He diagnosed me with bipolar illness after the first two months. It was hard because he knew about the depression, but it wasn’t until I went off the deep end with laughter that he saw the manifestation of the Manic or (UP) side of the equation. After that he knew about both sides of the coin—the too up and the too down side.
It took years of crying & agony in therapy to work through what I felt was my emotional mistreatment and emotional abuse as a child to come to grips with the fact that my parents did the best they could do and that I had had a very happy and fairly stable childhood for a Black child growing up with the American inner city experience…. What was really the problem was a chemical imbalance that could, thank GOD, be treated with medication and therapy. I have met people in hospital stays who could NOT be helped with medication. I remember having a very sobering feeling at meeting a White gentleman who was like that. I remember feeling like the luckiest person in the world just because there was medicine to treat what was wrong with me—even though it made me gain weight and have some other fairly minor side effects. I can’t begin to tell you how bad I felt for the White gentleman who was losing hope fast because his medicine didn’t seem to be working…
How did it all happen? I remember the long train ride from New York to Philadelphia. My mind was on fire. Burning up with what I would discover in about six months as being bipolar illness. I had lost it all in New York. One day I went to work at my job at TV Guide Magazine and I just couldn’t cope. I couldn’t sit still. I was antsy all day and my Boss, well he knew something was wrong. I took off in the afternoon… I don’t even remember if I ate lunch or not. I left work and walked to Harlem from Midtown Manhattan. I WALKED to 135th street to see my sister. I walked all the way to her apartment building, or what I thought was her apartment building. I went up stairs and knocked on her door. Things looked strange. There was a lady I talked with as I walked through Harlem who I said would have been ``my wife’’. I said this to her, a complete stranger… She looked at me and saw the fire in my eyes and moved away quickly. I knocked on my sister’s door and I had the wrong door. I knocked on another door and it was still not right. I was in the WRONG BUILDING… My mind and my head were almost literally spinning with the heat of depression, anger and the impending mental illness I would struggle with for a generation. I walked back to midtown Manhattan and made it somehow to my small railroad apartment near the Better Days Night spot. I had my roommate, a White man from West Virginia, call my sister and my brother-in-law. I was reeling with instability, anger and depression. It seemed to take them only minutes to get there, but it was more like an hour. I believe they had already been alerted by my boss that something was dreadfully wrong with me that day at work.
Then there was the frantic train ride to Philadelphia. My Mother and my Sister took me to Philadelphia with just the clothing on my back. It must have been the next day. Again I am not sure. We stopped along the way, as the local trains do. I tried to get off the damned train!! Didn’t I realize what that did to these two women who had seen me through all my life until now? They were frightened to death at having this 6’ 4’’ Black man trying to leave them when he was in such a state. Somehow they convinced me to sit down and take it easy until we got back to Philly. I must have been talking some gibberish and laughing a bit also. They must have been wondering what in God’s name had gotten into me. What was wrong with me…
I stayed overnight at my Mother’s house on 49th street in Philly. It was a totally restless night. My sister slept in the bed with me because my Mom and sister were both very afraid I would go off again somewhere. I had terrible dreams. I was up and out of the bed and to the bathroom and frightened out of my mind all night... I was not on medicine yet and had NEVER seen a therapist at that point except one family therapy session with the entire family. I was going mad. Through a process of what seemed like osmosis I had an orgasm, fully dressed and without ANY sexual closeness or manipulation from anyone including myself. Now that was really crazy!! I was almost possessed with some spirit or GOD or Voodoo or some African villager I had never met. What the Hell was going on with me? Only GOD knew! Maybe it was the Devil or something worse. It seemed worse than anything I had ever experienced in my 24 years of life up until that point or really ever since then. I am now 53 and it was the most fearsome & frightening experience I have ever had.
My sister got me to The Hospital (Now Mercy Hospital) in West Philly. Naturally, being totally out of my mind, I didn’t want to sign myself in. My sister, GOD bless her, she sat there and argued and cajoled with me for an hour or two begging me to get the help I needed. I finally signed the papers. She took the time and had the GOD-like patience to see that this was best for me… She did not 302 me or try to sign me in without my permission. My mind continued to race faster than Malcolm X could spit out his words of fire in the 1960’s. I saw some workmen across the street as they fixed the roof on a building. I thought of my Father because he was always fixing buildings and climbing ladders and walking on roofs as a landlord in West Philly…. I wondered where Dad was. I didn’t know. Maybe he just didn’t understand this aspect about his son either. I know that he cared deeply about me, but that he didn’t really know what to do to show that he cared or how to show that caring side of himself… The workmen’s work was not unlike the way Dad and I had probably done a few times before I moved to New York or when I was younger. They gave me some cogenten and some other medication called haldol. I would be taking such medicine for the rest of my life up until right now, this very second, anti-depressants are in my system.
The Hospital ambulance took me from THE HOSPITAL to another facility that dealt solely with mental illness. The word stung me as bad as the disease did. You are now mentally ill. You will never amount to anything. You will be helpless as a jellyfish on a hot stove. You ain’t shit Nigger!! Go to HELL. The voices were not only in my head, but in my thinking as well. We made it to Fairmount Institute and my life began a long journey towards healing and of processing what had happened. I was in group sessions and individual therapy where I talked about my hatreds and my passions and my fears and my paranoid feelings and I took medicine and I grew stronger mentally every day... I also read some books and made some new friends and did some drawings. This all helped cool down and slow down my thinking. In three months I would start a job at TV Guide in Radnor, Pennsylvania... That was the beginning of another journey—one filled with potholes, hills and valleys, rewards, oddities, friends, strange kooky people, and various friendly and not so friendly relations with people of every ethnic stripe. I was thankful to GOD & my family that at least another segment of my life would begin. GOD had other plans for me and other work that would take me into the future. I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t. I had made it through a vortex, but there was more to come.
I have been hospitalized for depression, nervous upsets and bipolar illness about seven (7) times. Each hospitalization was a journey to another place in my development as a human being. It still isn’t easy to talk about after ten years of NOT being hospitalized…
One thing is for sure, I know I’m not alone. I know there are millions of Americans and thousands upon thousands of Black Americans who have a mental illness. It is funny, or not so funny, how other people don’t understand mental illness. They see you and think you can work at a regular job. They don’t know the pain and anguish that goes with being hospitalized and having to take medicine and go to therapy for over 30 years. It all grates on the soul and takes a toll on the spirit, but it also saves the spirit and leads to a path of renewal and survival. There are many, many rewards for taking your head out of the sand and dealing with your issues as a person with some seemingly insurmountable problems that only a therapist can help you work through. There are a lot of people in the world who say to themselves each and every day ``I’m OK, I don’t need a psychiatrist!!’’ Well let me tell you EVERYBODY on the planet can benefit from therapy and many millions of people NEED to be in therapy.
Don’t let someone else’s ideas about a ``stigma’’ stop you from getting the help you need. It seems like only about a month ago that my sister sat with me at a hospital reception area (in West Philadelphia) and tried to convince me for about an hour to sign myself in for that first time evaluative stay. I would have none of it. I wasn’t cooperating because I had bought into the significant and lasting ``stigma’’ that is berried in each American’s head about therapy and getting psychiatric help. Lucky for me my Brother-in-law is a doctor and had just met a Black psychiatrist on a plane ride who ended up being my first psychiatrist. He was a Black psychiatrist who I would be seeing once a week for quite some time and then once every other week. (He ended up being my psychiatrist for about 10 years and he helped me through some of the toughest days of my adult life)…. He diagnosed me with bipolar illness after the first two months. It was hard because he knew about the depression, but it wasn’t until I went off the deep end with laughter that he saw the manifestation of the Manic or (UP) side of the equation. After that he knew about both sides of the coin—the too up and the too down side.
It took years of crying & agony in therapy to work through what I felt was my emotional mistreatment and emotional abuse as a child to come to grips with the fact that my parents did the best they could do and that I had had a very happy and fairly stable childhood for a Black child growing up with the American inner city experience…. What was really the problem was a chemical imbalance that could, thank GOD, be treated with medication and therapy. I have met people in hospital stays who could NOT be helped with medication. I remember having a very sobering feeling at meeting a White gentleman who was like that. I remember feeling like the luckiest person in the world just because there was medicine to treat what was wrong with me—even though it made me gain weight and have some other fairly minor side effects. I can’t begin to tell you how bad I felt for the White gentleman who was losing hope fast because his medicine didn’t seem to be working…
How did it all happen? I remember the long train ride from New York to Philadelphia. My mind was on fire. Burning up with what I would discover in about six months as being bipolar illness. I had lost it all in New York. One day I went to work at my job at TV Guide Magazine and I just couldn’t cope. I couldn’t sit still. I was antsy all day and my Boss, well he knew something was wrong. I took off in the afternoon… I don’t even remember if I ate lunch or not. I left work and walked to Harlem from Midtown Manhattan. I WALKED to 135th street to see my sister. I walked all the way to her apartment building, or what I thought was her apartment building. I went up stairs and knocked on her door. Things looked strange. There was a lady I talked with as I walked through Harlem who I said would have been ``my wife’’. I said this to her, a complete stranger… She looked at me and saw the fire in my eyes and moved away quickly. I knocked on my sister’s door and I had the wrong door. I knocked on another door and it was still not right. I was in the WRONG BUILDING… My mind and my head were almost literally spinning with the heat of depression, anger and the impending mental illness I would struggle with for a generation. I walked back to midtown Manhattan and made it somehow to my small railroad apartment near the Better Days Night spot. I had my roommate, a White man from West Virginia, call my sister and my brother-in-law. I was reeling with instability, anger and depression. It seemed to take them only minutes to get there, but it was more like an hour. I believe they had already been alerted by my boss that something was dreadfully wrong with me that day at work.
Then there was the frantic train ride to Philadelphia. My Mother and my Sister took me to Philadelphia with just the clothing on my back. It must have been the next day. Again I am not sure. We stopped along the way, as the local trains do. I tried to get off the damned train!! Didn’t I realize what that did to these two women who had seen me through all my life until now? They were frightened to death at having this 6’ 4’’ Black man trying to leave them when he was in such a state. Somehow they convinced me to sit down and take it easy until we got back to Philly. I must have been talking some gibberish and laughing a bit also. They must have been wondering what in God’s name had gotten into me. What was wrong with me…
I stayed overnight at my Mother’s house on 49th street in Philly. It was a totally restless night. My sister slept in the bed with me because my Mom and sister were both very afraid I would go off again somewhere. I had terrible dreams. I was up and out of the bed and to the bathroom and frightened out of my mind all night... I was not on medicine yet and had NEVER seen a therapist at that point except one family therapy session with the entire family. I was going mad. Through a process of what seemed like osmosis I had an orgasm, fully dressed and without ANY sexual closeness or manipulation from anyone including myself. Now that was really crazy!! I was almost possessed with some spirit or GOD or Voodoo or some African villager I had never met. What the Hell was going on with me? Only GOD knew! Maybe it was the Devil or something worse. It seemed worse than anything I had ever experienced in my 24 years of life up until that point or really ever since then. I am now 53 and it was the most fearsome & frightening experience I have ever had.
My sister got me to The Hospital (Now Mercy Hospital) in West Philly. Naturally, being totally out of my mind, I didn’t want to sign myself in. My sister, GOD bless her, she sat there and argued and cajoled with me for an hour or two begging me to get the help I needed. I finally signed the papers. She took the time and had the GOD-like patience to see that this was best for me… She did not 302 me or try to sign me in without my permission. My mind continued to race faster than Malcolm X could spit out his words of fire in the 1960’s. I saw some workmen across the street as they fixed the roof on a building. I thought of my Father because he was always fixing buildings and climbing ladders and walking on roofs as a landlord in West Philly…. I wondered where Dad was. I didn’t know. Maybe he just didn’t understand this aspect about his son either. I know that he cared deeply about me, but that he didn’t really know what to do to show that he cared or how to show that caring side of himself… The workmen’s work was not unlike the way Dad and I had probably done a few times before I moved to New York or when I was younger. They gave me some cogenten and some other medication called haldol. I would be taking such medicine for the rest of my life up until right now, this very second, anti-depressants are in my system.
The Hospital ambulance took me from THE HOSPITAL to another facility that dealt solely with mental illness. The word stung me as bad as the disease did. You are now mentally ill. You will never amount to anything. You will be helpless as a jellyfish on a hot stove. You ain’t shit Nigger!! Go to HELL. The voices were not only in my head, but in my thinking as well. We made it to Fairmount Institute and my life began a long journey towards healing and of processing what had happened. I was in group sessions and individual therapy where I talked about my hatreds and my passions and my fears and my paranoid feelings and I took medicine and I grew stronger mentally every day... I also read some books and made some new friends and did some drawings. This all helped cool down and slow down my thinking. In three months I would start a job at TV Guide in Radnor, Pennsylvania... That was the beginning of another journey—one filled with potholes, hills and valleys, rewards, oddities, friends, strange kooky people, and various friendly and not so friendly relations with people of every ethnic stripe. I was thankful to GOD & my family that at least another segment of my life would begin. GOD had other plans for me and other work that would take me into the future. I thought I was going to die, but I didn’t. I had made it through a vortex, but there was more to come.
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