WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

I was watching old footage from Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in his last speech to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), “Where Do We Go from Here?” This was probably King’s most militant speech during the last year of his life and…the title of his posthumously published book. Ok, aside from it being a speech and a book title, I believe it’s something that our present-day Black society needs to consider strongly. No, this ain’t 1967, but in 2014, I think Dr. King is still pushin our asses to ask ourselves the difficult questions of not just how our society is being defined, but how we live in it, our future, and how we connect with each other. What do we value?

A dude I kinda like, Yasiin Bey (used to be Mos Def), best captures my point. In his creative come-back to Jay-Z and Kanye West’s cut, “Niggas in Paris” called, “Niggas in Poorest” he ends the song by begging us listeners, “Don’t get caught up in no throne,” and he says this shit nine times…hell, he shoulda said it nine more. Besides that bein a fine piece of artistic shit, Bey is doin more than just flippin Mr. Carter and Mr. West’s hit album on its head for the sake of what a lot of folks think is a ‘diss record.’ Bey is getting at the fact that many of us Black folk seek and are defined by the very trinkets and shiny things that are mentioned and celebrated in “Niggas in Paris.” Understand?

 Might as well keep goin…..what’s really fucked up and really damaging to us are the ones who have the ability to help, even on a small scale, but won’t because they want to protect their “alleged” class status like a goddamn government secret. I’ll give you an example. Remember back when it was a whole lot of folks signin petitions or writing letters in support of Trayvon Martin as a show of solidarity. I know of one group of Black men, who belong to an organization founded to help provide positive engagement within the Black community, who said they weren’t interested in writing any letters or signin no petitions because the Martin case had nothing to do with them.  Damn hypocrites!

 These types of Black folk are more dangerous than any racist. They suffer from the Pharisee Complex. They’re defined by their nearness to white power and perceived privilege, and to hell with us regular niggas who dare to compromise their happy little bullshit world. This is just one example of how time and time again; we turn our back to the voiceless, while watering down the integrity of our communities and any movement for justice. A lot of them fools want to be seen as “down for the cause” and “real,” but when you need just a lil bit of help, they start acting real white…….but one step better than that of their oppressors. In the Book of Luke, when Christ chastises the Pharisees he unequivocally mentions their love for the “uppermost seats and the synagogues and greetings in the markets,” which ain’t no different than them fake brothers and sisters who want to be recognized as “important” in church, in their communities, etc., but just ain’t willing to do the work required for the respect. The thought of servant leadership is lost on em.

 I now return to Dr. King’s question, “Where do we go from here?” We must first determine where we are. Hum? Then we need to beware of the ones who try to offer the new fangled illusion of hope, change, and empowerment, but only want to associate in the abstract. Yea, rhetoric is good for inspirin folks, but after the rallies are over, and the shit that’s important to our community are no longer part of the 24-hour news cycle, we need the brilliance, creativity, passion, and imagination of those brothers and sisters willing to do the work required to pick up where our ancestors left off. We need those who are ready to fight for justice for our people and our communities…but remember as Yasiin Bey says, “Don’t get caught up in no throne. I’m out!

My Appeal to Black America . . .

The media constantly bombards us with negative stereotypes of us Black folks….meanwhile….there are many Black folks doing and saying things to advance our race everyday, yet you hardly hear about that at all. Hum? We live in a culture that is transfixed and mesmerized with material gain and celebrity bullshit. Instead of striving to be citizens who can change the climate of these turbulent times, we seek to be idols of worship. We’ve been ignored for so long; we’re satisfied with just being heard—regardless of the message. Hum?

 It has become popular for Blacks to glorify this much distorted idea mainstream America sells back to the Black community.

Pre-Civil Rights Black entertainment had a very different vibe back then. The idea of the loveable Coon is what was celebrated. Black men were consigned to buffoonery and women were reduced to mammies if they were to be successful in the industry. Post-Blaxploitation led to a different type of Negro…the gangsta or the Black bitch!! This type of menacing depiction of us Black folk was not tolerated before integration. We Black men were often emasculated because the imagery of a strong Black man was way too threatening for the mainstream. Even our Black children had to subscribe to this bullshit.

The first two kids to play “Buckwheat” in Our Gang (The Little Rascals) were cast as female pickaninnies (Carlena Beard and Willie Mae Taylor). Even though the most popular Buckwheat (Willie “Billie” Thomas) was a boy, they initially still made him dress as a girl. Hum? At one time pop culture would only accept us Blacks happily finding thrills on Blueberry Hill; now Universal is releasing CD’s with that monkey Lil Wayne talking about beating pussy like Emmett Till.  Emmett Till is the 14-year-old child who was beaten to death in 1955 by a couple of rednecks for allegedly whistling at a white woman. How soon we forget our plight that now it’s commercially and socially acceptable for us to tarnish our legacy for a few pieces of fuckin silver. The gangsta or the Black bitch is allowed to channel their rage….at will…as a spectacle for the entire world to see. Damn!

Yesterday’s tommin is today’s blingin. We too busy ballin’ and poppin’ bottles to elevate mindsets.

The desire to be a star took the place of any moral responsibility this ugly asshole showed towards a violently murdered child and his remaining family. While I know there is good to be found in almost any circumstance, I’m afraid this won’t inspire any youth not knowledgeable about Emmett Till or why making his beating similar to having sex with a woman is offensive to do anything but repeat or try to top this bullshit.

While the non-minority (the new white) corporate structure is behind funding such garbage, at this point, Black America is primarily to blame. We Black Americans have far more opportunities now than we used to, but for the most part, use them for entirely the wrong reasons. When we do have our own TV shows, record labels and radio stations, we tend to only enable the violence and ignorance.

The shackles of slavery have long come off, but we have yet to shake the vestiges of servitude.

Today, select members of the Black American community have enough money, power, influence and intelligence to really change the pattern, but most are too caught up in the system and their own personal fame to reflect on where they came from. This is what post-racial America looks like. Not only is it OK to pretend not to be Black in a country which never lets you forget, but you can actually desensitize yourself to the point that you no longer have a historical conscience. Hum?

The river of blood that washes the streets of our nation flows mostly from the bodies of our Black children. 

Black America doesn’t want its own houses. We want to be up in massa’s house. We only see ourselves through the lens of colonialism. We collectively have yet to figure out who we are outside of white supremacy. Black America only feels valid or successful if massa pats us on the head and tells us we done good. We measure our success by the same system that was designed to oppress and divide us.

Black America has been kept away from a piece of the pie for so long that all it takes is a corner of the crust to catapult us into a state of oppressive amnesia.

So, now that we have a lot more free time on our hands in an era where we stay attached to electronic devices that allow us to fetishize our fame on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, please take a few moments to think about what it is to be a Black American!!

Dear Mr. President, We Black Folks Want the Last Two Years!!!!

Dear President Obama:

I feel compelled to write you this letter because of various developments in your Presidency. A Presidency, which for the record, has been declared officially "over" by most folks on the right, and from the majority of white people. I know that you officially have almost two years left to go, but fuck it, most of those folks in America have already made up their minds about you, and, for whatever reason, they just ain’t feelin you anymore. Hope and changey…they ain’t. Shit, your approval rating stands at 41% and your disapproval ratings stand at 52%. Then there’s this number: 54%. That's the amount of people here in America who don’t believe you can do the job you were elected to do.

But enough of that shit!  I’m sure that you’re well aware of these numbers and the mood of the country. Personally, I don't think that you’ve been any worse than all of the other Presidents that led this country. The Dow is at record levels; unemployment is down; Osama is dead, home values are going up; you brought back an economy that was fucked up; we’re finally closer to having a better health care system; and you pulled the troops out of Iraq as promised. (Please don't go back.) But all of this means nothing to the typical American, the narrative has already been painted by the right-wingers, and most (not all) of the masses are buying into it.

But here’s the good news: Your approval rating is not below 13%. Why is this good news? Because that’s approximately the percentage of Black folks in this country, and I’m pretty goddamn sure that if you were to poll Blacks folks, your approval ratings would still be in the nineties. This is in spite of the fact that you’ve pretty much ignored us Black folks and tried to be the President for all of them other Americans. That was probably an honorable and well-meaning pursuit, but as I’m sure as hell that you should’ve learned by now, some people are just never satisfied, especially the right! Sadly, you’ve surrounded yourself with Ivy League bootlickers and Washington politicians, whose lives are lived in that crazy political fishbowl in and around Washington. These people don't care about the things that you should be caring about. They’re there to enhance their careers and move on to the next cushy ass job, so they would never tell you what I’m going to tell you now.

Again, the good news: You have almost two years left to work on issues that primarily concern us Black folks. This is the time to do the shit! Fuck the rest of America, they’ve already moved on from you. Time to serve the people who are pushing your approval ratings to 41%! And as bad as that seems, trust me when I tell you, it could be worse.  Mr. President, I need you to start using the White House to talk about things like an unfair justice system as it relates to Black folks in this country. Hell, Red Neck Rand Paul of all people is talking about it; it's time you do the same. I need you to start talking about the high unemployment rate for us Black folks, and the need to focus on job training in Black communities as well as investment dollars to start small businesses that can hire some of these folks once they get the proper training. You can't just give lip service to helping Black folks and have token meetings with the outta touch Congressional Black Caucus to address these issues.

I need you to go on “inner city hood” tours and spend time in places like Gary, Indianapolis, Detroit, Cleveland, Houston, Kansas City, New Orleans, and Memphis. Walk the streets of these cities (Trust me; you’ll be safe as hell! Gangbangers will assist the Secret Service if they need them to.) And let the main stream media follow you every step of the way. They need to see that there are parts of this country that could be mistaken for Baghdad or Damascus. (I’ve seen NBC’s Richard Engel in every war torn country in the Middle East, but I ain’t ever seen him in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood on a Saturday night.) It's time to start talking about gun violence and the killing of young Black men by other young Black men. It's not enough to get on television every time there’s a school shooting in the white population and wag your finger at the NRA and remain quiet at the bloodshed in the streets of our cities on any given weekend. I have a lot more, but I’ll stop now, because I know that you don't have the time to read everything that I want to say. Let's face it; you’ve been a little busy these days. Just think about what I said. These folks can't hate you anymore, and no matter what you do for them they won't be satisfied. Besides, what the hell are they going to do if you go Black? Impeach you?

Sincerely,

The Angry Black Man

Winning the Lottery & Reparations??

I’m still working through my thoughts on brother Ta-Nehisi Coates' piece on slavery reparations. If you haven’t seen the video, it’s on this blog.

As I wrote previously, I’m blown away by the comments that ‘The Case for Reparations’ has caused over at the Atlantic magazine and other sites across the Internet.

If you need any more verification that white supremacy remains a real force in American life, all you have to do is read the comments regarding ‘The Case for Reparations.’ The Internet is one part of what I call "the backstage" of modern American racism. It’s a space where people act out publicly what their (semi)private thoughts actually are.

Now, take the next giant step. Those racists are your neighbors, friends, colleagues, and possibly even your family members. Meditate on that motherfuckin fact for a hot second!  

For white folks, the above is a thought experiment. For us Black folks, it’s a matter of life and death. Most of the reaction to Coates’ essay is the old standard, white racist, "color blind" talking-points. As a result, they’re uninteresting, just an expose’ of what white folks really think in post civil rights America. Damn!

 But, and I said but…. There’s one up-and-coming thread in the comments against Coates' essay that deserves our attention. The racists are suggesting….be they active or passive, intentional or accidental, or just drunk on white privilege and the white racial frame….slavery reparations (or for the countless of other state sponsored crimes against Black people in America) are not a fuckin "lottery".

Reparations, in any form, really means acknowledging that a crime has taken place, and said victim (us Black folks) should be made whole, both materially and financially, as well as through the moral gesture of an apology. That ain’t gonna happen!

The lottery is a random win. The lottery is fun. The crimes against humanity that was hundreds of years of white on Black slavery across the Atlantic, more than one hundred years of Racial Apartheid in the United States under Jim and Jane Crow, and then decades more, into the present, of continued institutional white supremacy, is not fun for us Black folks. It’s more than slick. Using the word "lottery" to describe slavery reparations is really an act of violence through language against Black folk’s humanity.

When the justice claims of us Black Americans are compared to a damn game, and the money that can come with winning it, white racists and their allies are disrespectfully dancing on the graves of our recently dead, the long gone dead, and those of us in the present whose life chances continue to be depressingly impacted by white supremacy. I know white people don’t feel empathy towards Black people. And maybe that’s the point? If you don’t feel any sense of empathy or humanity with Black people then why would a person not spit in the face of their lived experiences by reducing their justice claims to a "lottery"?

WHITE DUDE KILLER…no hoodie for him

So if white folks are looking for the boogie-man, seems they need to stop looking at 'Home-boy' from the 'Hood', and first start looking across town in areas where this little rich kid Rodgers comes from, or even in their own homes! Think about it?

This Rodgers case is yet another example of how white male privilege allows white dudes like him to literally commit and get away with murder! Turns out this young Rodgers joker sent emails to his folks and posted You-Tube videos ranting and raving about his deadly intent. His folks were so concerned that they actually called the cops on his ass. Well…they went to his crib and interviewed him for a moment, but found him to be polite, clean-cut, and well-mannered…..meaning good white boy. So apparently, these same cops never got around to asking him if he had or owned any guns, and what were all of those crazy, ranting videos about! 

This sounds just like Jeffery Dahmer, who two Black women called the cops on, explaining that a young, very injured Asian kid, just 16, was running butt naked down the street trying to escape. So what did the white cops do when they stumble upon Dahmer? They let him tell some bullshit story about some imaginary lovers quarrel. Damn! But, we know what those cops would have done, if Dahmer been Black and the running kid was white! 

And they let child-killer Zimmerman buy guns even after he kicked his ex-girlfriends ass and even assaulted a lady cop. Damn! And then let him keep the same gun he murdered Trayvon with, which he used just a couple of months later to threaten his ex-wife. 

The powers that be apparently got a heads-up about Virginia Tech killer Cho, even from well known Black Prof Nikky Giovanni. But he was still able to just walk across the street from campus and buy (2) two hi-capacity Glocks, and a shit-load of ammo! Damn, again!

And then there's the KKK racist dude that just shot and killed (3) white Christians thinking they were Jews. Hum? This dude was convicted in connection of an infamous murder beef in which some of the victims were white. How in the fuck can a dude who is effectively a damn convicted murderer of white people even, able to buy guns & ammo??! Hum again?

 Yet too often time and again, our young Black boys can't even walk out the damn house and down their own street to school or the grocery store without the cops throwing them up against the wall to be stopped and frisked. I've got my own stories of being stopped by the cops…both as a teenager and a grown ass man, with their hands on their guns. A few times they even pulled their guns and made me get down on my knees. Yet not once was I committing, or even about to commit a crime. (Not that time)

WE BLACK MEN ARE GOOD!

A couple of weeks ago I ran into I ran into an old retired professor friend of mine who I’ve always loved and respected. Whenever we see each other, we always talk about how students nowadays are not as engaged in politics, and how they have a different level of respect for their professors, and also how they have higher expectations of themselves. As usual I agreed and probably threw some random statistic that was swirling around in my big head at her to explain, possibly, how we found ourselves in this situation. I recently mentioned a murder in my building (something I’m still trying to figure out two weeks later) and how it really didn’t surprise me that this happened within the confines of my “nice” building.  And then she made the jump to talk about Black-on Black crime and “why it’s always the Blacks against Blacks.”

Lately, I’ve grown weary have to explain my hyper-Blackness to people. Dammit, can I just be?

Meanwhile…………the main story line for Black males in this country is you are under a certain age is that you are guilty until proven innocent and that you are automatically presumed less than and are required to defend your humanity and your citizenship at all times.  Remember the conversation regarding the Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman as it relates to race? Throw in him being a brown skinned dude, with dreadlocks, and he was loud as hell.... that made him a threat?  Richard Sherman’s loud mouth to the wrong white dude could have easily gotten him killed just as Jordan Davis’ loud music got him killed….literally!

This has also to do with the problem white society has with historically Black colleges and universities.  Nobody has a problem or even cares about historically Black public schools…the Thurgood Marshall’s, the Martin Luther Kings, the Adam Clayton Powell’s,  and Frederick Douglass elementary and high schools that occupy our dark inner cities. Wonder why there have never been questions about the need for their existence?  Likewise, nobody questioned the need for the Mormons to create Brigham Young University or why Jews send their children to Brandeis. But let somebody talk up for historically Black colleges and universities, then suddenly all hell breaks loose in this supposedly post-racial society and you’re accused of being a reverse racist.

BUT PLEASE NOTE THE PATTERN HERE……
Now, all of a sudden, there’s a problem with Black colleges: historically Black colleges and universities; why do you need Black only television networks: Black Entertainment Television; Black power movement; Black liberation theology….it’s the fact that it says Black. Tell the truth, it makes some white people uncomfortable, no matter how liberal they say they are, to see us Black people self-identify as Black. I’m Black.  Deal with it.

It’s bothersome as hell to me because no one person raises an eyebrow on St. Patrick’s Day when everybody of Irish heritage comes out of the woodwork. Even still beyond nationalities, no one raises a funk about folk of Latin descent celebrating their own, but as soon as the actual word “Black” has to be attached to a name, a title, or anything then suddenly society shifts the narrative placing a negative association to it, and if it is a Black male, criminalizing it. This shit is illustrated by my old professor friend when I disproved just that because you see Blacks on the news committing crime doesn’t mean whites aren’t.  She didn’t even want to accept that as even a possibility, only wanting to focus on the fact that these were violent crimes, murders and drug related crimes. She even said to me, “well hasn’t it been long enough” when I attempted to trace some of these problems back to Reconstruction.  Really, I didn’t even know where to start.

I don’t feel the need to defend my gender, my race, my ethnicity, or my Blackness.  I shouldn’t have to hear victims family members automatically go into defense mode when a Black boy gets killed.  It’s something fundamentally wrong when young Black boys have to get two “The Talks” when being raised in this country.  While white boys are being told about the birds and the bees by their parents, Black parents are telling their Black sons about how to act when pulled over by the police, or how to be unassuming when you walk into the store so that you don’t get accused of shoplifting just because you “look” suspicious.  My black skin alone makes me a suspect.

Let that sink in for a moment: my black skin automatically qualifies me as suspicious when I walk into a store.

When I started riding the bus by myself for the first time, one of the first things my mother told me was that I need to be careful how I carry myself because I was big enough that people might think I’m older than what I really am.  That was my mother’s code word for saying “You’re a black kid who’s 11, but you could pass for 15 and people may automatically criminalize you for no reason just because you’re a Black boy”, in 1968!  This is a reality for many Black folks in this country. This is a second America that white privilege has wondrously insulated many from having to ever visit or live. Hum?

I am Black and beautiful–at the same time.  To be Black in this country is being seen as “other” at best, and “less than” at worse, but ultimately such a self-identification automatically marginalizes our existence. But I ask the question, why do we live in a country where being pro-Black is seen as being anti-anything else?  Why does one’s self-determination, self-identification and self-definition as Black become something negative and even criminal at times?

This is what racism has produced.  Systems were in place for so long that there is no author of racism.  None! There is no wizard behind the curtain operating the levers on some of this de facto racism. While I do honestly believe there are members of the 1% that make these power play moves that directly affect us Blacks when it comes to for-profit management of the education system as well as the prison industrial complex, and the likes of the Koch Brothers and Rupert Murdoch’s owning large news media, they are merely responding to the sentiments that many white people hold. They feed on those fears to generate large profits from the fear-mongering.(FOX NEWS)

The parallel with the character Radio Raheem and Jordan Davis are almost scary!  Radio Raheem, the character from Spike Lee’s “Do the Right Thing,” through a series a  unfortunate events ended up killed by the police in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood on a hot summer day because he didn’t turn down his music.

HEY LADIES..YOU CAN'T BE FINE ALL OF THE TIME!

I know that Beyoncé is a talented ass multitasker. How do I know this? Who else can sell over 1 million records without one fuckin ounce of promotion while at the same time being a mother and wife? Yeah, me either. Through the recent events captured on an elevator security camera and released to the word, we caught a quick peep of the less-than-fabulous part of her life, or maybe just the real part. Hum? In the video seen around the world, we saw her younger sister, Solange, attacking and yelling at her husband, Jay Z. A security guard has to hold back a deliriously mad Solange, while Beyoncé barely attempts to do any damn thing. 
This lil fight ended with Beyoncé leaving the event with her sister, and Jay Z taking a different car, and a whole lot of unanswered questions. But to some folk, the strangest part of the whole scene wasn't the brother-in-law/sister-in-law feud, but the fact that Beyoncé just stood her ass right there. It was the fact that a couple of minutes after the fight seen around the world, she walked out like nothing had happened.

 And in the days following the fight, Beyoncé was sittin courtside at a Brooklyn Nets game with her husband, happily in love. I’m really not a huge fan of Beyoncé, but I found it odd as hell!  In the middle of all of this shit, she just sat there and pretended that everything was OK? Now let me be perfectly clear: B never said "I'm fine," but in my opinion, her sexy ass smile did. So what the fuck is really goin on here? Was this just a random family feud that ended with hugs and kisses, or was that video a personal look into a larger issue that is cunningly being covered up for the sake of the family and their image? Hum, again! I think the family has other issues. 

In a world where celebrities and fakers sell their souls for a few dollars and Instagram "likes," Queen Beyoncé has always set herself apart by keeping her private life private! With her fame, and her music telling girls to "run the world," and her partaking in initiatives such as "Ban Bossy," she has calculated to empower women and mothers. Sayin that, at what point does keeping her life private and saving face in the midst of all of this turmoil stain her message to women? I believe it does, since it tells women everywhere that no matter how messy your life may be, you must act like you got this down…. as usual. As women and mothers, you Black women are expected to deal with issues at home, privately, and never let the world know the truth, because you fear being looked upon as weak or pitiful. 

Were you too tired to feed your children that meal of whole-wheat pasta that you promised yourself you’d make, so you bought pizza instead?

 Did you leave your iPhone on top of the car (again) because your brain ain’t workin today? 

Did you go to work and pretend you hadn't just had a fight with your man?

 Are you seeing a therapist, but lying about where you are from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesdays?

 Do you have no problem pretending in public that you don't care about what you weigh, when in reality every time you take a bite, you think about how you need to stop taking bites?

Why are you ladies like this? Like it or not, I don't know why you women are shocked. You all do the same thing Beyoncé did. And you do it every day. She has her image, her family and her career to maintain. You other ladies ain’t any different. 
You women are constantly surrounded by examples of "perfect" women feeding you false examples that are impossible to achieve. In reality, shit happens, and life is full of failures and lessons learned. How are you supposed to look up to a celebrity like Beyoncé who brushes these life lessons under the rug and walks away with a forced smile?

It's conflicting that all of you women shout "girl power" from the rooftops while at the same time wearin the same fake smiles. 
You know what I would've fuckin loved? If Beyoncé had gone off! Completely off! Boy, if we'd been able to hear that damn audio. If Beyoncé had cursed out Solange or Jay Z or, better yet, the press waitin outside! I would've said, "Finally!" In "Pretty Hurts," a song on her newest album, Beyoncé sings, "We try to fix something, but you can't fix what you can't see. It's the soul that needs the surgery."  Damn!! The question is: When do women drop the frontin and admit what's really wrong? OK, in the real world, that might mean talkin about your less-than-perfect marriage or a less-than-perfect career or just admitting, "No, everything ain’t fine, actually." 

When was the last time you heard that from a friend? Probably never, because as much as folks look in awe as Beyoncé pretends that everything in her life is fine, most people do the same thing every day, programmed to just keep going and keep smiling your ass off. Why do you women feel like you have to maintain perfection, especially Black women? Is it the media comparisons to keep up with? Is it the fact that you were taught to always hold it together, even when it's all falling apart? When do you Black women drop the pretense? When do you Black women stop thinking that allowing yourselves to feel is weakness? When do you stop saying "I'm fine"?

#BRING OUR GIRLS BACK ……..IT JUST AIN’T FOR ME…..here’s why!!

All of you who read my posts and follow my blog (www.phillipnorton.blogspot.com) know that I’m not against online activism. In fact, I believe in it, and have always been moved by the power it wields. Yea, I have played a part in various Internet campaigns and have seen the power that lies in us Black Americans when we’re aligned to create change from behind our computers. It felt good to lend a hand and to know that my small financial contributions made a difference sometimes.
 But I think (hash-tag) activism should be used with caution, especially when it comes to issues affecting our beloved Black community. Sometimes, it risks contributing to a false sense of accomplishment while hiding the full picture of what’s really taking place in the hood. That's why, after one post, I stopped participating in the crusade, which was designed to draw attention to the dilemma of the 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram (I like that name for some reason?) last month.
 I worried that this was becoming one of those situations in which folk feel an unfounded sense of accomplishment. This campaign has been going on for weeks, and it's become agonizingly clear to me that while the hash-tag has drawn out all kinds of attention, the news coverage ain’t enough to make a difference to the people at the center of this sickening story….the Nigerian girls who have not been brought back and who, despite all of the hash-tag tweets, remain in severe danger. The kidnappings are still an international focus of discussion, but the focus of America’s reporting on the plight of the girls has fallen off quite a bit. In fact, by the time all of the fake ass celebrity attention and major media outlets got on board with the story, more than two weeks had passed. A popular attitude in the Black community is that we have to work twice as hard for equal results. 
I think a version of that idea really applies here. When it comes to pushing for justice we have to be especially deliberate. Social media activism might not be as powerful as you think it is when it comes to concrete results, when we Black folks are dealing with situations that call for more than just raising awareness. Get it?
  My crazy and selfish concern isn't that it's hopeless, but that it’s making us feel as if the job is done; therefore keeping us from taking a course of action that may be more effective in the long run. I particularly worry about how the #BringBackOurGirls campaign will turn out when I think of some examples from the past: The United States Supreme Court has torn apart Affirmative Action, and George Zimmerman got off. Hum? Considering these outcomes, I had to make sure I was honest with myself about the fact that a hash-tag might not do too much to help with the return of the girls. But what the hell would help? What are our options? That's a question I challenged the Angry Black Man to answer. Doing "something else" don’t mean picking up and moving to Nigeria or sleeping outside the embassy. One quick ass way to make a difference in the conditions that led to this calamity would be to take some time to learning more about abductions in Nigeria and in other areas of the world, so that those silly comments and tweets are based on your personal research, not just second hand demands.
 I'd personally rather see real social change in Nigeria than temporary, hash-tag attention. We know that never lasts long, don’t we? Plus, the other remarkable thing about the Internet is that we don't need the main stream media to be our middleman. Hum again! I'm very concerned that this cause…..the value of the lives of girls, is now being even further watered down, with the Twitter discussion going off into who gets the credit for the campaign. And credit should be the furthest thing from anyone's mind. I do congratulate Twitter users for getting the media's attention, and I’m thankful that so many folks care about this issue. 
But I'm also careful not to let myself become satisfied. For me, that means skipping the hash-tag and focusing on understanding and learning about why this shit happened, what is essential to fix it, and how we can make sure it doesn't happen again. I’m out!!

CHILD SUPPORT...the long and winding road!!

No matter where I’m at or whomever I speak to, when I bring up the subject of ........child support, this always leads to some hot ass conversation no matter how calm we address the shit! If you speak with fifty people about this emotional and very personal subject, you will probably get fifty genuine responses where each person feels theirs is right. In addition, if truth were told, they’re all probably right according to their personal situation and bad experiences. Hum ya say!

This is what makes this subject that has raged across the beauty shops, barbershops, and bootlegs all around the country, flaming hot! Everyone should agree that our children need to be supported on so many levels; money has to be there as the oil in the engine of their lives.

The real problems come when some State employee must decide how much money is sufficient to provide for our children’s upbringing and basic care. You see….since everybody’s financial situation is completely different, all of these factors will definitely influence everybody involved… money agreements and lines in the sand will be drawn. Not only is this shit very complicated, but also it’s some very emotional stuff to say the least. Perceptions have a lot to do with how much heat is presented into the legal proceedings.

 I’m gonna play around with a few possible scenarios to let you get an idea of how deep this shit can go as if you really don’t know!

Let me first state that all of our children are innocent no matter what situation brought them into this world, and by no means am I saying that one child is to be favored over the other! I am merely trying to paint a picture of the hidden agendas and viciousness that happens in the name of getting a decent amount of money to give that child a fair shot at a good life. Whew! Now that I got that shit off my chest, I’m gonna get down to the nitty- fuckin -gritty…

you have some mothers who rant and rave non-stop about how their baby daddy is a no good, sorry ass motherfucker right in front of the children. The very same children that she is attempting to turn against their father.

You have some dead-beat/sorry ass dads that because of some silly hatred refuse to work because they don’t even want to pay one damn dime of child support to his children’s mother.

Now we are to the notorious ex, the same ex who can’t stand the fact that her child’s father has moved on with another woman, which most times is an upgrade for him, and is using every legal trick to punish him because of her jealousy of his new life without her.

You also have the brother who is mad as hell that his ex has moved on and will try to influence his children psychologically in order to get back at her because everybody knew he was an abusive control freak!

Then you have the hoochie mama who has now become an independent booty contractor who will bring a life into this world expecting to get paid by the government and the unwilling father who didn’t have a problem being a sperm donor who just got caught up cause he wasn’t planning on sticking around anyway! You know, it gets crazier and crazier!!

 But all the while the children are made to feel like a commodity in the hustle game, a game that their little minds just can’t understand, but they can pick up the clues and they just know something ain’t right about it. Remember, our children are not stupid! No matter what the personal internal shit of a person’s child support case, I can imagine that it’s not only painful as hell, but also damn embarrassing if the child’s parents don’t act in a dignified manner. I believe what creates a lot of the hate between former lovers is that both feel that their best years were wasted on a lot of bullshit! Being horny as hell and having a shot or two of yak can turn two people into mortal enemies after promising each other the world while deeply engaged in sex! That’s right! Sex is really a drug, and there are a lot of sex heads out here! Believe that! Trust me, everyone who is down at the child support court at each others necks used to get along quite fine! Don’t they have a child or two…….or three? We all need to take a little more time to know each other and really make sure that we are ready to start a family because at the end of the day the main one that should not have to deal with our bullshit is your child. We sometimes seem to forget this and actually compound the problems for them because when they look back on their childhood the only thing they will remember are the nasty words shouted over their heads back and forth that robbed them of their childhood. Have a little more consideration about how you communicate in front of your child! The effects can be downright devastating and set them back at having a shot at a successful life. Not that they couldn’t achieve a prosperous future regardless of the circumstances because many have overcome, but it would be so much better if they didn’t have to deal with your collective issues in the first place!

MY ONE MAN WAR AGAINST FOX NEWS

I know FOX NEWS just don’t outright spout KKK shit and white supremacist racism…..but, its lame ass anchors and their racist opinions, as well as the way the channel structures its stories, just reinforces the status quo, of America as a white/Christian nation. Hum? 

They give an open voice to, and tolerate bullshit offensive comments that expose a naturally racist, ignorant mindset. They always tend to characterize us Black folks and Hispanics as lazy and greedy, and always get real defensive when the subject of institutionalized racism comes up! Yea, they do!  Check this out:  they take the side of George Zimmerman in the Trayvon Martin case, sayin its reverse racism.

 They see the statistic showing that marijuana use among whites and Blacks are the same, yet us Black folk are more likely to be arrested for drug use, and good ol FOX NEWS changes the direction of the debate to ignore the reality of a system that is stacked against Black people. FOX NEWS intentionally mischaracterizes Muslims and will always jump to talking about terrorism whenever a story involving a person who happens to be Muslim is brought up.

They believe that Barack Obama is not an American citizen, and continually refuse to acknowledge that their suspicion was not based on anything substantial but his skin color; a subject no other President had to put the hell up with! Shit, there are plenty of other examples that would take me forever to go into. But consider this shit: FOX NEWS so-called 'liberal' Bob Beckel, a panelist on the most racist show on television (The Five) says the most racist shit too, and FOX NEWS allows it. Hell, I’m pretty sure they encourage it.

THEIR WHOLE NETWORK BUSINESS IS THEIR TOTAL DISLIKE OF BLACK PEOPLE

Just take the time to watch FOX NEWS, and not just the foolishly simple ass minded talk shows that downright lie to their own audience everyday about anything having to do with Black people, always judging us harshly and unfairly. Then there is of course the hatred for the President, it’s great to disagree politically but the personal stuff is way too much, and I know the conservative people out there know this to be true!!!

EDUCATION IS NOT THE ANSWER

Black folk say: “We need to get more educated, that’s our problem! We don’t get the resources the white schools get….but if our children would only study harder….if we would do a better job at turning off the television more often…. then they could learn and get ahead.” To me, this mixes up some important truths with some very wrong conclusions.

The truth is that this system has consistently denied a good education to Black children and continues to do so today, just like the execution of slaves who taught other slaves to read.

Today, the majority (remember, I said majority) of our Black children in public education are confined to prison-like inner city schools which get much fewer resources, the true history and dynamics of our society are covered up, and this leads to little or no attempt to instill critical or creative thinking.

These schools send Black children the message, in ways spoken and unspoken, that there is no real future for them in this society. And the real crime is that many Black youth then end up buying into the system’s lies that they’re inferior, leading our kids to turn off their own potential to learn, and in doing so, turn away from the wider world of knowledge and science.

Suppose every single Black child somehow got an education that enabled them to think critically and to master the skills involved in different kinds of mental labor.

 Would millions of today’s Black’s then be able to get good jobs and climb out of poverty? Hell no! Even if you could somehow eliminate discrimination, so long as the system of capitalism is in effect, people are employed only if some capitalist can make money off their employment. See what I’m sayin?

 By that standard, when there is a demand for technical jobs, those jobs are being shifted to you know where….where people work for next to nothin. The capitalists know this shit of course, and that’s one big reason that they’re not providing a good education for the Black children in the inner cities.

 In essence, they don’t want to raise the expectations of Black people too high. They fear the hell out of a world in which millions of Black people have knowledge and skills, and therefore expect to get a decent job and a better life.

Many old school political operatives of the ruling class recall very well the experience of the 60’s, when Black people’s hopes and expectations were raised, and then dismissed. This resulted in the massive explosion of righteous anger and rebellion among Black people, particularly our youth, and today the ruling class has a deep fear that again raising expectations would be far too socially explosive.

 Still, unless and until there is a concentrated effort, backed up by Federal power, to actually overcome inequality and white supremacy in every scope of life, not only will educational systems themselves continue to reinforce this shit, but no amount of education will overcome and destroy it.

Even today, when somebody Black succeeds against all odds in getting a good education, the discrimination remains in full effect. Education alone is not enough; it will take a revolution, in which the rule of the exploiters and oppressors is broken and state power is put into the hands of our people, to thoroughly uproot white supremacy. 

One of the key features, and necessities, of our new society will be to encourage this creativity and critical thinking among our people, developing their potential and enabling them to increasingly contribute, in many diverse ways, to the development of society, and the emancipation of humanity. As part of building the revolutionary movement, we must fight non-stop against the savage inequalities of today’s education system.

 And the revolutionary movement itself must educate our people in the real history and dynamics of society, in science, and in the scientific method of critical thinking. But education alone, of whatever kind, cannot solve the problem. Education as “the way out” turns people’s eyes away from the real problem and even leads them to blame themselves when it turns out to be yet another false hope. Don’t be mad at me.