Category Archives: Randomness…

a repost: A Community Under Attack: How the Gullah/Geechee Nations Are Fighting Against Culture Vultures Keen on Destroying Them

by in Politics from a Black-Concious Perspective, Randomness..., Reposts | 3 Comments
Article posted on Atlanta Blackstar (click link for original)
gullah1gullah
By: Feathers Scott-December 17, 2016

The Gullah/Geechee Nation, whose population spans the southern Atlantic coastline in rural communities, is the only group of African-Americans that have retained West African culture as it was when Africans were first brought to the United States as slaves.

Unfortunately for people of Gullah/Geechee descent, however, the deep satisfaction of holding on to their rich heritage and direct African connection has come with twice as much despair.

 

In the past few decades, both the Gullah/Geechee’s culture and their land have become a bull’s-eye target for gentrifiers, real estate developers, large corporate entities and culture vultures alike. To make matters worse, Gullah/Geechee coastline communities also are being adversely affected by climate-change issues such as hurricanes and rising sea levels. Community leaders have been working tirelessly to safeguard what remains of their land and culture from these disasters — both natural and man-made — but it is proving to be an uphill battle on all fronts.

I had the opportunity to speak with the nation’s Matriarch, Marquetta Goodwine — also known as “Queen Quet”  — on how the Gullah/Geechee are being impacted by all of these issues, as well as the fallout from the recent Revelry Brewing Co. scandal.

First, Queen Quet made it clear that when referencing the nation, always cite it as “Gullah/Geechee.” She said using only “Gullah” or “Geechee” or using “Gullah Geechee” without the slash negates the solidarity of the group as a whole. This is one of the reasons members of the Gullah/Geechee community consider the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor a “mock” organization of academics and politicians, many of whom have no blood ties to the Gullah/Geechee. There also is empirical evidence that this organization has been the catalyst for some troubles that the Gullah/Geechee face, such as the Revelry Brewing Co. scandal.

In late September of this year, a Charleston, S.C., company, Revelry Brewing Co., came under fire from the Gullah/Geechee nation for its “Gullah Creme Ale” beer. Unbeknownst to nation, the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor had given the company permission to use the name in exchange for passing out their brochures.

Dr. J. Herman Blake, executive director of the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, had this to say in response to criticism of the group’s actions: “The word ‘Gullah’ is not owned by anybody.”

Blake met with Revelry Brew Co. before the product was finalized and claimed the company had good intentions, according to CBS News Charleston.

Though he is the executive director of the GGCHC, Blake is originally from Mount Vernon, New York, and, according to many academic sources, only began studying the Gullah/Geechee in college. He also has no Gullah/Geechee ancestry. This holds true for other executive members of the organization, as well. Most of them are transplants and not of Gullah/Geechee descent, according to the website. That fact confirms at least some of the claims and suspicions about the organization made by Gullah/Geechee community members.

Revelry’s website says that proceeds from Gullah Creme Ale will go toward the Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor and other awareness initiatives, but, according to Gullah/Geechee members, the initiative has not benefited their particular community in any way.

Queen Quet said Revelry Brewing Co. officials wrote her a letter in which they apologized and expressed regret for working with the GGCHC. However, they did not rebrand the beer, as Queen Quet and the Gullah/Geechee nation’s Wisdom Circle Council of Elders had advised.

Heirs’ Property and Heritage Loss

The beer scandal, however, pales in comparison to the ongoing deluge of legal battles the Gullah/Geechee have faced concerning what is known as “heirs’ property,” which is mostly rural land that was bought during the Civil War and passed down through the years, often with no formal documentation like a will or deed.

South Carolina lawmakers claim that heirs’ property owners were given 10 years to resolve the issues and further their ownership, but most of the Gullah/Geechee were either uninformed, unable to financially afford the legal counsel or just flat-out distrustful of the legal system itself. Although Gullah/Geechee descendants without documentation can buy their land, it must go up for auction first and when it does, a third party can step in and buy the heirs’ interest. This is known as a “land grab” and many of the Gullah/Geechee have lost acres of heirs’ property for less than $1,000 through this process.

In lieu of this heirs’ property issue, many bandits have been able to take advantage of the forever-expanding loopholes of heirs’ property ownership, according to the Center for Heirs’ Property.

Hilton Head Island real estate developer Adolf D. Brown is the founder of Heirsproperty.com, which purports to help people with heirs’ property matters “realize its full potential,” according to the website. According to VICE, his dealings in the Gullah/Geechee communities aren’t living up to those promises. Brown moved to South Carolina from New York City after finding out that he had inherited heirs’ property from his mother’s side of the family. Since then, he has helped to make way for gentrification and development in the area.

In his defense, Brown told VICE News,“The world changes. You have to be progressive or you will get run over.” He also told VICE that he felt the only real solution for the Gullah/Geechee communities was for them to develop the land.

Larger entities also have used heirs’ property loopholes to force individual heirs to sell their shares, since each family member usually has a share and an heirs’ property could be divided into tens or hundreds of shares, based upon family size. According to the Center for Heirs’ Property, many of the Gullah/Geechee rely too much on legal morality and goodwill and come into the center believing they are the rightful owners of the property when, in reality, they’re not. Resolving these legal issues can take months, sometimes years, to accomplish, according to the center.

The Closing of Gullah/Geechee Waterways

Khetnu Nefer, a Johns Island, S.C., native, has witnessed firsthand the slow but relentless destruction of her community. Her grandmother was the community herbalist, which inspired Nefer to start her own wellness practice, A Soulful Touch.

“We were solely reliant upon the land,” she recalled. She admitted she often reminisces about her youth, when her Gullah/Geechee family had full access to the waterways that are now being used as resorts. She says they were able to feed their entire community for months at a time with the food they caught.

According to Nefer, the gentrification and development of South Carolina’s Sea Island region is so devastating that people are now forced to travel more than 5 miles to the nearest supermarket. She lamented that many of the fishing areas are now gated waterfront properties or golf courses.

Nefer despaired that so very many people have been displaced and that real estate developers have knowingly built properties over graveyards that contain both enslaved people and their Gullah/Geechee descendants.

How the Gullah/Geechee Are Planning to Move Forward

The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition has been working tirelessly for over 20 years to preserve its West African heritage by any means necessary. The coalition’s head, Queen Quet has been traveling the world to educate about Gullah/Geechee culture and has attended many United Nations conferences addressing their concerns, as well. She recently attended a Human Rights UN conference in Marrakech, Morocco, that addressed the climate change issues in South Carolina’s Low Country.

In the meantime, she encourages everyone to support authentic communities, tours and activities to know the true wonder that is the Gullah/Geechee experience. (Community members have expressed outrage that the GGCHC and other similar organizations hire Black Americans who aren’t a part of the Gullah/Geechee nation to perform as if they are members when they host events and tourism campaigns.)

Queen Quet: “We da binya an ain da gwine nowhey!”

Christmas, Spare me your Good Wishes — ~Burning Woman~

by in Randomness..., Reposts | 2 Comments

[thoughts from ~burning woman~ by Sha’Tara] I was born and raised in a very Christian environment. It wasn’t American, even Canadian, it was European, actually, Breton. That’s a conquered Celtic province in the northwest of France that was once an independent […]

via Christmas, Spare me your Good Wishes — ~Burning Woman~

The Origins of Santa Claus(Satan Claws) — Kushite Kingdom

by in Food for Thought, Randomness..., Reposts | 5 Comments

This grotesque-looking creature is the real spirit of Santa Claus unmasked, and he is a demon spirit known in Germany as “Krampus.” This demon (according to folklore), is supposed to be the evil side-kick of Santa Claus himself or his “alter ego.” Krampus’ role is to scare children into being good. All year long children are taught that if they […]

via The Origins of Santa Claus(Satan Claws) — Kushite Kingdom

a repost: The Dark Side of Christmas: The Impact on Sweatshops

by in Randomness..., Reposts | 5 Comments

Article posted on New Internationalist Blog (click link for original)

07-12-2016-xmas-590.jpg [Related Image]

By Amoge Ukaegbu

It’s not elves, but underpaid Chinese workers working around the clock that will enable you to unwrap your presents, writes Amoge Ukaegbu.

Television screens are filled with Christmas advertising, propagating the apparent need to buy something, and above all electronics, apparel, toys – the most popular Christmas gifts. The festive countdown is well underway.

Three points specifically define the ‘festive’ season: advertisements and commercialisation, shopping and spending, and increased revenue for the Western economy. Data from Capgemini and new in the UK’s industry association for e-retail, the Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG), reveal that in 2015, British retailers took in over £24 billion (roughly $30 billion) during the Christmas period alone, more than the entire GDP of countries like Nepal or Honduras. This spending craze is linked with advertisement and the increasing consumerism promoted by mass-, and now social media.

US discount events, hyperbolically labelled ‘Black Friday’ and Cyber Monday’, have been transposed across Europe, with the periods before Christmas and between Christmas and New Year’s Day becoming the busiest spending times in our annual calendars.

Christmas consumerism undoubtedly fuels sweatshop labour, but to place blame on consumers is misguided, landing us in the old trap of blaming individuals for a problem ultimately systemic

Over last year’s discount weekend, British consumers spent a whopping £3.3 billion ($4.16 billion). Masses took to the internet to buy, spending £968 million on Cyber Monday alone, causing the websites of large UK retailers, including Argos, Tesco and John Lewis, to crash. Struggling to cope with the surge of online purchased goods, courier firms imposed daily caps on the number of orders accepted from online retailers.

Real world elves

The imagery of cheerful elves making gifts in Santa’s workshop is far from the reality, and contributes to hide from our sight the conditions of workers in the factories that make what we so enthusiastically buy. Some 80 per cent of the world’s toys are manufactured in China, with just about every popular children’s toy bearing a ‘made in China’ label on its underbelly. The harsh reality is that long before Christmas songs are blasting from every department store in the West, these ‘elves’ who are in fact, real, living Chinese workers, are forced to work around the clock to churn out millions of products, ready for arrival in western stores for the festive season.

In the UK alone, Chinese toy factories serve a market worth of £2.8 billion ($3.53 billion) a year, yet the big brands for which these products are made – including Lego and Disney – pay factories only a fraction of the shop price, with the social and environmental costs not reflected in the price of these toys. Exploitation is the only term to adequately describe this phenomenon.

Of course, sweatshop labour is not limited to toys, also including electronics and apparel. Topping many Christmas wish-lists are Apple, Amazon and Samsung gadgets, companies all found to be complicit in worker rights violations within their supply chains, in the company of notable high street brands such as Nike and Topshop. Samsung have come under criticism for exposing their workers to toxic chemicals and for their ‘no union’ policy in Asia, and Apple for working conditions that have forced workers to suicide. Conflict minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo end up in more than 50 per cent of all battery powered equipment.

To cope with this, workers are forced to endure inhumane treatment, working excessively long hours for unethically low wages, in unsafe conditions, facing verbal, and often physical or sexual abuse. All in complete violation of their fundamental human rights.

This is the gruelling monotonous life endured by millions of factory workers across the world, to meet the increased consumer demand of the Christmas shopping period.

A call to action

Christmas consumerism undoubtedly fuels sweatshop labour, but to place blame on consumers is misguided, landing us in the old trap of blaming individuals for a problem ultimately systemic. For many consumers facing stagnating wages and increasing product prices, the mainstream goods are the most, if not only, affordable options. Products like the Fairphone are expensive, and no such alternatives exist for the common laptop or desktop.

Arguments that sweatshops increase gender empowerment for women who work in factories, or increase the wealth of individuals previously impoverished, fail to accept one harsh reality: in some places sweatshop employment is akin to slavery. Benefiting while wronging is exploitation at its core.

On the other hand, to abandon the global industry in favour of only ‘buying local’ or accepting the existence of sweatshops as an ‘escalator out of poverty’, is to abandon workers in the Global South. Many workers have been made to work in sweatshops because they have no alternatives for making a living.

It is the structure that leaves workers with poor ‘choices’, if any, that must be questioned.

It is unacceptable that a century after 146 died perished in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, after which public outcry brought US workers basic rights and protections, we are still advocating for the same basic rights and protections

Genuine worker participation remains the key for making real progress in the fight to abolish sweatshops in supply chains. As consumers, the best approach to the injustice of sweatshops is to support the unionisation of workers, highlight the resistance from workers themselves, and provide opportunities for their voices to be heard, supporting campaigns for better wages and conditions, despite their often slow and incremental progress.

Critics argue that campaigns for higher standards often translate to factory closures, but there are two reasons to doubt this claim. Firstly, the gap in pay and conditions between the Global South and the Global North is so large that significant improvements can be made without removing the incentive for companies to remain invested in the Global South. Secondly, in fact major progress has already been made by labour activists challenging the status quo, yielding promising results.

Bangladesh is an important example. The disturbing collapse of the Rana Plaza building in 2013 killed over a thousand workers. After that, over 200 apparel brands (such as Adidas and Primark), retailers and importers (from over 20 countries across four continents) have signed up to the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh. A total of 1,592 factories are now covered under the Accord inspection programme.

In addition, although Bangladesh still has the lowest minimum wage in the world, this has increased significantly from $38 per month to $68. This change can be attributed to labour unrest and public protest.

Bangladesh remains very much open for business. Undoubtedly, this is a reason more and more workers around the globe are coming out in their thousands, braving unemployment, reprisals, and police brutality, to press for better pay and conditions.

Despite their courage, sweatshop labour persists. We need to show solidarity. It is unacceptable that a century after 146 workers perished in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, after which public outcry brought US workers basic rights and protections, we are still advocating for the same basic rights and protections in the Global South.

Current laws prohibiting sweatshop labour within countries are largely ineffective, inadequately enforced and are too often circumvented or ignored. The absence of effective policy action and legal frameworks to ensure worker rights, together with the lack of sanctions against these abuses, represents state complicity and neglect of the UN Declaration of Human Rights. This applies to states in which manufacturing occurs, and states that benefit from the imports. So, governments and businesses are jointly to blame. The persistence of sweatshops directly reflects the failure of the collective global responsibility to protect the human rights of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Eradicating sweatshop labour is daunting, but possible. It requires political will, pro-active multifaceted approaches at the community, national and international levels , and relentless pressure from workers, stakeholders, governments and consumers.

In a complex global economy, with supply chain webs, transparency is the first step to accountability. By supporting campaigns by groups like Maquila Solidarity Network, the Worker Rights Consortium, Electronics Watch and SweatFree communities, consumers can show solidarity with those on the frontlines fighting to ensure that the gifts under our Christmas trees are sweatshop free.

 

 

a repost: The Downsides Of Working For Bigots In Corporate America.

by in Randomness..., Reposts | 5 Comments

Article posted on ThyBlackman.com (click link for original)

 

This brother did a good job listing the reasons why the corporate environment is killing us spiritually and physically and of course I’ve dibbled and dabbled with it in the past myself. Fam, we need to exit stage left on this foolishness with the quickness, in huge droves. There’s no legacy, culture, nor tradition being passed down through our continued participation in another man’s (Massa’s!)game. I’m serious on that one.

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Many of us have an extreme mental illness of depending on bigots to give us jobs and opportunities because Many of us are economically vulnerable to mistreatment, discrimination, and disrespect by bigots in Corporate America. And the thought of even relying on them to take care of us and pay our bills is a very unhealthy way to live.

Too many of us are basically putting our kids in harm’s way by teaching them to be an economic slave for Corporate America instead of teaching them how to be an entrepreneur, investor, and being their own boss so that they won’t have to deal with bigots in Corporate America.

Intro: Here are the downsides of working for bigots in Corporate America.

1. Creates Tremendous Stress – It’s no secret that Corporate America is a modern day haven for bigotry, stress, and depression because the many black people that work in Corporate America have done what they were supposed to do, but they are very unhappy, stressed out, and depressed for several reasons.

1) getting up early in the morning and going to work for bigots everyday

2) coming back home after a long 12 hour day on the job and going to sleep

3) not being able to spend as much time with the people they love and care about

4) feeling that they have no other options to escape Corporate America and building their own business.

2. Bigotry – Most of us have experienced some form of bigotry during a particular period or are currently experiencing it right now. Many of us are told to endure the psychological abuse on the job because if we get out of line or even speaking truth by calling out bigotry, we get fired from Corporate America in most cases. Enduring so much bigotry from the bigots themselves on the job has caused so many of us to become stressed out, depressed, and angry to the point of always complaining whenever bigots direspect us in Corporate America and it’s really sad.

3. Unable To Spend Time With Family – One of the biggest downsides for working for bigots in Corporate America is that they don’t allow you to get much time off at all to spend with your family when they still want you to come and slave for them everyday on the economic plantation.

Example: There’s an older sister who says that her mother was dying and her corporate bosses refused to grant her time off to be with her mother at the hospital and they still wanted her to come to work despite her mother being in the hospital.

It’s a very scary feeling to know that your mom is on her hospital bed and bigots in Corporate America won’t even let you have time off to spend with her. I would’ve told those bigots “I Quit” if I was in her position so that I can not only be with my mother in the hospital, but also create different streams of income from multiple sources.

4. Various Forms Of Discrimination – There are more than several forms of discrimination that exists in Corporate America.

A) Wage Discrimination is when you get paid let’s say $7.50 an hour, but the corporate boss from the suburbs gets paid more than $15 an hour.

B) Hair discrimination is when the false standard of beauty (aka caucasoid woman) wears a certain hair style that is deemed “appropriate and professional“, but when a melanated queen wears a certain hairstyle like afros, curls, or even love, they are deemed “nappy, ugly, and unprofessional” and are often told to change their hairstyle to one that is “more appropriate” for Corporate America or they get fired for refusing to do so.

C) Hiring Only Certain Black Men – They are mostly comfortable with hiring a demasculinized black man than a intellectual strong black man because like Chris Rock said a long time ago “You’ll have a much easier time in Hollywood as a demasculinized black man than a straight black man” and this is true today because a demasculinized black man like Lee Daniels can get easy funding and opportunities for his garbage he wants to put out.

5. You Can Never Pass Down A Corporate Job To Your Kids And Grandkids – Many black people that work for Corporate America fail to truly understand that you can never pass that corporate job down to their kids and grandkids and like an O.G. once said back in the day “They’ll find a new guy next year“.

Example: I had watched a video today of a sista named Adeea Rogers revealing when she used to work at Eastern Carolina University back in the day, she remembered a sista had literally died on her job, she had died in her office and shortly after the sister died on that Monday, the university had posted the job that had died on and that is very scary.

The Conclusion – When you create your own business and bigots try to come in and move your furniture, you kick them out and that is a wonderful feeling to have your own business so that you won’t have to deal with bigots in Corporate America.

Staff Writer; Joe Davis

a repost: Homeless Activists Go Organic, Feed an Entire Shelter with Rooftop Garden

by in Eating to Die vs. Eating to Live, Reposts | 3 Comments

 

Very Inspiring.

Article posted on Waking Times (click link for original)

 

Steven Maxwell, Contributor
Waking Times

Every activist has read the increasing number of stories where homelessness is being criminalized, as if simply being homeless isn’t punishment enough. However, there is a rising tide among all walks of life that is beginning to view homelessness in a very different light.

As a sinking economy and the criminal actions of the banking elite are leading many middle class, stable families into abject poverty, it is becoming much easier to identify with the less fortunate the closer their plight appears to be.  Defenders of the homeless are becoming much more vocal now. We have seen some amazing examples recently of people moved to help those in need through programs such as an artist who paints and sells portraits of the homeless and gives them the profits; a former homeless man who gives back to the homeless by selling book reviews and buying food to share; or the inspiring story of a community organizer who used his own faith to connect with those from other faiths in a common cause of feeding those in need.

We are even seeing people of conscience openly defying oppressive laws to draw a line in the sand that says: if it becomes illegal to help one another on our own terms, we simply have no freedom left to celebrate.

Feeding the homeless has also gone from the concept of a “handout” of money to allow people to buy whatever meager sustenance they can find, to realizing that if people are going to have any chance of turning their financial situation around, they must be physically and mentally fit to do so. A key  cornerstone to building oneself back up again is nutrition … and if it’s “free” nutrition, then all the better!

An organization in Atlanta is calling themselves Task Force For the Homeless and should be highlighted for their message and their tactics to restore dignity and prosperity to those who have fallen on hard times. They have chosen to combine two essential approaches to reverse the conditions which afflict the homeless the most: not having access to healthy food, and not being able to connect with others who are working in structured way to engage in practical solutions.

Enter the organic community rooftop garden.

Residents of the homeless shelter are now engaged in community building while providing for themselves food that only costs what their own efforts naturally produce.

Instead of processed foods given through donation, their rooftop garden has 80 beds of the most diverse range of vegetables, fruits and herbs that can be produced on site.

Now, instead of waiting for their next meal, they have taken action to ensure that each and every day they are well fed and well nourished.

Best of all, this group of homeless has now gained something that goes beyond even the food itself – the skills required to produce, manage, distribute and plan for the future – a future which too often exists as minute-by-minute sacrifice instead of days of abundance.

Steven Maxwell writes for ActivistPost.com. This article may be shared in its entirety with author attribution and source link.

a repost: House Passes Bill Allowing Government to Microchip Citizens With “Mental Disabilities”

by in Politics from a Black-Concious Perspective, Randomness..., Reposts | 21 Comments

Article posted on Activist Post (click link for original)

 

Is this shit serious??? I may have to turn my “U.S. citizenship” verrryyy soon (I’ve been contemplating that anyways.) I be damned if I ever have a microchip placed on me. Wake up, fam!

 

microchip-true-activist

By Whitney Webb

Six years ago, NBC Nightly News boldly predicted that all Americans would be fitted with RFID microchips by the year 2017. Though, at the time, NBC’s prediction seemed far-fetched, the House recently passed a bill that would bring a microchipped populace closer to reality before year’s end.

Last Thursday, the House passed HR 4919, also known as Kevin and Avonte’s Law, which would allow the US attorney general to award grants to law enforcement for the creation and operation of “locative tracking technology programs.” Though the program’s mission is to find “individuals with forms of dementia or children with developmental disabilities who have wandered from safe environments,” it provides no restriction on the tracking program’s inclusion of other individuals. The bill would also require the attorney general to work with the secretary of health and human services and unnamed health organizations to establish the “best practices” for the use of tracking devices.

Those in support of the legislation maintain that such programs could prevent tragedies where those with mental or cognitive disabilities wandered into dangerous circumstances. Yet, others have called these good intentions a “Trojan horse” for the expansion of a North American police state as the bill’s language could be very broadly interpreted.

“While this initiative may have noble intentions, ‘small and temporary’ programs in the name of safety and security often evolve into permanent and enlarged bureaucracies that infringe on the American people’s freedoms. That is exactly what we have here. A safety problem exists for people with Alzheimer’s, autism and other mental health issues, so the fix, we are told, is to have the Department of Justice, start a tracking program so we can use some device or method to track these individuals 24/7,” Representative Louie Gohmert (R-TX) said in a floor speech opposing the bill.

Gohmert’s assessment is spot-on. Giving local police the authority to decide who is microchipped and who is not based on their mental soundness is a recipe for disaster. Though the bill specifically mentions those with Alzheimer’s and autism, how long before these tracking programs are extended to those with ADHD and bipolar disorder, among other officially recognized disorders.

Even the dislike of authority is considered a mental disorder known as “Oppositional Defiant Disorder,” which could also warrant microchipping in the future. If these programs expand unchecked, how long will it be before all Americans are told that mass microchipping is necessary so that law enforcement and the government can better “protect” them?

Many Americans have been content to trade their liberties for increased “security” in the post-9/11 world, particularly when the State uses these talking points. Yet, as Benjamin Franklin once said, “those who surrender freedom for security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.”

a repost: The Psychological Dimensions of Plantation Politics

by in Politics from a Black-Concious Perspective, Reposts | 2 Comments

Article posted on ThyBlackman.com (click link for original)

 

plantation-politics

 

Here’s a secret the white establishment will never tell you in the public: So-called American Negroes who attack and disparage their own, in order to seek social, political or economic favor, are regarded as nothing more than tools to be wielded by their handlers. By default, Blacks who eagerly disgrace themselves, out of hunger for a perceived benefit by doing so, have automatically disqualified themselves from such benefits, both morally and ethically. Not only because they have sold their souls for so cheap a price, but also because power does not respect what it bends, Black public figures claiming leadership, at the expense of truth, will never be respected by those to whom they have submitted and compromised their principles.

It doesn’t take much of an imagination to understand the competitive nature of human beings when faced with scarcity. When access to the mechanisms for survival are at stake, and cynically regulated by external forces, the once proud and principled may now find themselves reduced to the status of a beggar, and the once faithful public servant, pimped out like a political prostitute, will ultimately find himself with neither friend nor helper.

With that said, part of white elite’s century’s long war on Black self-determination, Black liberation, and Black personhood, has been a deliberate effort to create the non-threatening and defeated Black male image as a balm to placate white fears. Today, white America’s “approved” image of the Black man continues to be the docile, obedient and emasculated caricature of a faithful retainer and longsuffering plantation loyalist.

Such unrealistic, “Gone With the Wind,” interpretations of Black personhood are not only an insult to the memory of our enslaved ancestors, but also an assault upon the legacy of the Black struggle in the United States. Should those who endured the terror of lynching, the humiliation of economic exploitation and the intentional undermining of Black progress now become deferential to the white liberal, as they once were to the white conservative? Emphatically no!

Although the end of Black enslavement allegedly came with the December 6, 1865 ratification of the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, 151 years later, among both the Jews and the Gentiles of the white elite, a mentality of proprietorship still exists regarding the lives of Black people in American politics. While this is perhaps understandable, that the white elite prefer to not lose the power they have gained as masters over the land they conquered, what is indeed unfortunate is the eager willingness of some in Black leadership to collaborate as plantation politicians.

Trauma and the of conditioning Black leaders

Defined as a noun, trauma means: “a deeply distressing or disturbing experience.” Within this context, many examples of extreme trauma against Black Americans have been officially documented by historians and/or passed on as oral histories among Black families. As a society’s culture is subsequently shaped by geographic, social and psychological factors, the behaviors and interactions of a people among themselves and others is likewise influenced by the same.

Taking into account the 300 plus years history related to coercive motivation, or motivation by fear, on plantations, underground mines, and the slave breeding-farms of pre-Civil War America, life for millions of enslaved Black men, women and children was to toil under the systematic horrors of violence and terror on a daily basis. An environment where Blacks were legislatively reduced to the status of beasts of the field, the lash, sexual violence and the destruction of the family unit were all used as tools for control. Particularly in the wake of the Haitian Revolution between 1791 and 1804, that gave birth to the world’s first Black republic, the means and methods of suppressing Black resistance became more creative and brutal.

For enslaved American Blacks, the social contract in the United States demanded absolute obedience, recognition of the “inherent superiority of whites,” or death and other punitive measures as the consequence for refusing to comply. On the other hand, for Whites, the rule was for Blacks to obey them without question and to recognize the inherent inferiority of their “less than fully human chattel,” who had no legal or political rights whatsoever.

After the Compromise of February 26, 1877, which ended the deadlock between Samuel J. Tilden and Rutherford B. Hayes in the disputed 1876 elections for the US presidency, federal troops occupying southern states were removed and the protections previously afforded the formerly enslaved Black populations were withdrawn. Opening the doors to a second wave of terrorism, rape, lynching and murder, Blacks were driven from political office, imprisoned in large numbers and returned to the plantations as share-croppers relegated to peonage by racism and heavily weighted state’s rights legislation.

As the 19th century gave way to the 20th century, the psychology of fear continued to afflict America’s Black populace as many fled north and west seeking refuge. Only to find the cruelty of the white Southerner replaced by the exploitation and deception of the white Northerner, the new social contract of go-along-to-get-along politics and non-economic liberalism, as established and advocated by the white founders of the NAACP, other philanthropic whites and the federal government itself, began to dismantle the concept of industry, entrepreneurship, land ownership and nationhood among the Black masses.

Today, like in slavery and Jim Crow yesterday, strong and unapologetic Black leadership is once again feared, condemned and dismissed, and like the house Negro seeking to secure a more comfortable position within the established order, or Judas and his 30 pieces of silver, there is no depth to which the plantation politician will not stoop to seek nearness, favor, and recognition by his modern handlers. Instead of hoping for a good master to inherit the plantation, over a bad master that inherits the plantation, Black leadership must now recognize that day of nation building has arrived and that era of plantation politics is over.

Staff Writer; William P. Muhammad

To my Melanin-Dominant family, WE ARE THE TRUTH!!

by in Everything Melanin, Food for Thought, Having a Moment, Randomness... | 3 Comments

truth-dubstep

 

From the Melanated Man:

When we were in grade school, we were taught to references our sources for research papers, opinion pieces, etc. etc. etc.! First reason was to avoid any plagiarizing charges. The second reason was to provide credibility to the argument you were presenting. The third reason is sort of connected with the third reason: to give credit to those sources you have chosen to reference.

Well, where am I going to with this? 

Most of those sources I presume were written by mostly Europeans scholars, scientists, and philosophers who were groomed in the Western train of thought. If you were lucky to credit sources who were “P.O.C.” (people of color), nine times of ten they were probably groomed in the same train of thought as well.

So if your position/stance challenged the standard Western philosophy, you were hard pressed to find reinforcements (see: references, sources) to back up that position.

When it comes to African history in regards to the culture, health & wellness, the math and sciences, astrology+cosmology and cosmogony, melanin and much, much more, in this day and age it is viewed from the lens of the European/Western perspective. Any other perspective, specifically the African perspective, is met with ridicule and suspicion. If it doesn’t suit the agenda the-powers-that-be have created for the masses than it is considered “pseudo-sciences” or a “conspiracy theory.”

The evidence of  our rich African history, the history of the  Melanin-Dominant of this planet, has been trashed and/or stolen by those who seek to hide the truth from a people who have long to liberate themselves from the clutches of Massa. So it does appear that we can only trust, go off the word of the European/Caucasian, the Melanin-Recessive, P.O.V.

Keyword: appear

So what can we, first on an individual level and onward collectively, do to uncover the truths we know exist concerning our people? What’s that verse, it may be a Bible verse…

So above, as below…I think it’s Matthew 6:7-13 somewhere.

Simply put, WE ARE THE TRUTH! THE TRUTH LIES WITHIN US!

Memory moment: I remember my mom used to yell these words at me when she accused me of fibbing to her, “Boy, you a lie and the truth ain’t in ya!” I’m pretty sure some of your if not most of you have heard that before from your mom.

I hate to say this, Ma, but you didn’t know what the heck you were talking about haha! (sorry, Ma,  please don’t hurt your son!) The truth is in me.

And you, too, my fellow Melanin-Dominant friend!

We originated from a people who were the originators on this planet! We have the truth and knowledge encoded in our DNA, in our melanin, to move forward as a people and to bring balance on this planet, in every way imaginable. That’s the gift we’ve been fortunate enough to be endowed with.

They can shoot us down in streets, poison our food and water supply, regulate us to minority status, dilute and alter our DNA through race-mixing or whatnot.

“We’re not going ANYWHERE!!”

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge, tremendous responsibility to carry. But we wouldn’t have been gifted this gift if we couldn’t handle it. Most of us, of course, don’t realize what we have and we throw that gift, wasting our lives serving a Massa who leaches off that gift and our ignorance of it for its own survival. That quote by Ma, and probably many other mothers like her, should be directed towards Massa, Melanin-Recessive individuals who take pride and seek to protect this deadly parasitic white supremacist, capitalistic, consumerist…

(I can go on and on…)

…system and society that does not benefit anyone else but them! Just as I mentioned before, they have to steal/leach from others, us, to survive! Their actions speak for itself.

Once we understand the knowledge we contain, we prove it with our daily actions, ultimately our lives. What did Jesus (omg!) in the Bible?

I am the LIVING SACRIFICE!

WE ARE LIVING SACRIFICES! TO KEEP THIS PLANET IN BALANCE AND PEACE!

Collectively as a group, that is our God-given purpose and mission. Plain and simple.

Despite its many, many flaws (propagated by King James and those of his ilk obviously) that Bible does contain a whole lot of truth in it.

This post may sound like a long-winded way of saying everyone has their own truth; trust me it’s not. At the end of the day the truth of our lives should ultimately be in line, in accordance with the truths of the universe set by the Almighty Creator, the God and the Goddess.

So when you, those in my Melanin-Dominant family who understand  truth of it all, run into individuals and a system trained in the Western/Europeans philosophy of thought that seek to cause confusion and strife in this plane of existence for you, stand tall and grounded always and remember this quote…

“I am the way, the truth, and the life….”

John 14:6

…and to my non-Bible readers…

“Be true to yourself at all times!”

“The truth will set you free!”

 

It’s too, simple isn’t it?!

 

Peace and Love to my melanated family,

The Melanin Man

 

Also check out:

When Consumption Changes, “The Matrix” Will Fall

More Melanin, brought to you by “The Melanated Man”

“There is no such thing as race…just Melanin baby!”

a repost: Study: African-Americans Have Stronger Immune Systems Than Whites

 

 

 

 

a repost: Gucci Mane 2016 was something to remember

by in Did You know?, Eating to Die vs. Eating to Live, Randomness..., Reposts | 3 Comments

 

Article posted on ThyBlackMan.com (click link for original)

I’m not a big rap fan nor do I even keep with the current state of the genre (or ANY genre for that matter in this day in age), but I found this very inspiring. I was impressed not with the change Gucci Mane made detailed by the article, but also the change the writer made himself. I can relate 1000 times over! It’s good to see others like myself, and maybe some you reading this, have struggles that mirror my very own and overcome them with huge success. 

Makes me tear up a little…

 

123gucci-mane-2016

 

In 2015, I was a 23 year old workaholic who was 274-78 pounds and quite unhealthy. I ate out at least four times a week and didn’t get any sleep because of anxiety issues. I relied on food as a coping mechanism to deal with the rigors of working 11 hours a day. While of course it tasted good, I didn’t realized the effect it was having on my body mentally and physically. A trip to the doctor on June 13th 2015 changed me, as I realized I was unhealthy and unfit. I went on a rampage that summer, working out every single day while eliminating processed foods every day but Saturday. 20 pounds slowly turned into 30, 30 into 50 and 50 into where I sit today, 211 pounds with 60 plus pounds lost altogether. I changed my life physically, which altered my dynamics mentally. Looking back, I would do it all again if I could see how I’ve impacted the lives of others.

Which is why Gucci Mane’s weight loss, a number one record in Black Beatles with rap duo Rae Sremmurd and abandonment of drug and alcohol use is a testament of how far he’s come in rehabbing his body and his mind. There was a time Gucci Mane posed as a 280 pound behemoth; frightening, scary, diluted and drugged out. He had classic records and the pop culture vultures who roam websites such as Complex, Noisey and Pitchfork were fascinated by him.

But inside, he was a wreck; relying on drugs and alcohol to stimulate his mind and spirit for 17 years. He readily admitted he was a drug addict, marijuana, alcohol, ecstasy, prescription pills and cough syrup were his drugs of a choice. It made him numb, non existent. Rap’s boogieman made a fortune not being true to himself. The drugs and his erratic behavior landed him in prison for his longest stint; two-and-a-half years starting in 2013.

Gucci Mane used prison to rehab his mind and body. The withdrawals from drugs hurt him at first, but soon, his mind would get stronger. He worked out, read and prayed, shedding the weight and getting rid of the belligerent rapper tag that preceded him previously. When he was released in May of this year, his drastically different appearance made fans question whether or not Gucci was cloned. What comes off as a insult, was taken as a testimony of the power of self-help, therapeutic resources by Gucci Mane.

The moral of this article, is that we all have the power to change ourselves if we really wanted to. It’s easy to stay in a comfort zone where our reality is filled with feel-good, easy and no challenges. It’s hard to look yourself in the mirror and say you need to change. With change comes with being uncomfortable and being uncomfortable brings over-thinking and self-doubt. But once you break through those self-imposed walls, the road to change begins. Gucci Mane could have been the rapper we loved when he was released in May; an overweight druggie whose erratic behavior was a byproduct of his addictions.

He could have still been the rapper whose insecurities were clouded by his tough-man act. Instead, he decided to change and reinforce a new identity. One who works out, eats healthy, reads and speaks English so fluent he sounds Harvard-educated. He decided he was going to change his mind to change his life. And if you’re struggling with addictions and vices you feel you can’t break, remember that Gucci Mane did it. So you can, too.

Music Editor; Brad Washington