Black folks with nothing better to do were up in arms for a day about Kellyanne Conway’s feet buried in the Oval Office sofa messing with her phone while the presidents and chancellors of historically black colleges and universities crowded around Donald Trump’s desk. Some others have written about Betsy DeVos’s note on HBCUs, which revealed her stunning and self-serving ignorance of their history and origin. But pointing out how disrespectful or stupid key members of the Trump administration is partisan BS that won’t not save a single college education, let alone remedy the desperate situation of our historically black colleges and universities.
Right now, the heads of HBCUs have an historic opportunity to save their institutions by stirring up a movement from below for free tuition for HBCUs and for all public colleges and universities, for loan forgiveness for students at public universities, interest reductions for all students and for getting the federal government out of the student loan business.
Free college tuition is not an impractical pie in the sky. Germany does it. France does it. Norway and a dozen other countries do it. State universities in California and Louisiana did it for decades in the 20th century. It was a cornerstone demand of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign that earned him millions of votes. Free college education is what modern human societies do when they recognize that education is a public good not a private privilege. A nominal tax on Wall Street and reallocation of federal funds that now go to student lenders would easily pay for free tuition.
HBCUs were founded with white philanthropy beginning in the 1860s because the newly freed black population urgently needed teachers and other professionals, and because white colleges rarely admitted black students. Black student access was still being litigated in the US nine decades later, and to this day HBCUs produce a far greater percentage of highly competent black college grads than other institutions.
But the leaders of our HBCUs have largely failed to envision ways to fund their institutions outside of white philanthropy and occasional special government funding directed exclusively at them. The United Negro College Fund has even accepted Koch Brothers money with many nasty strings attached. It’s time to stop digging that hole deeper.
There are historic currents in motion right now. Millions of college grads, not just black ones, are crushed by unpayable student debt and lack of opportunities and they have proven receptive to the idea of free college tuition. It’s a movement waiting to be galvanized. The Trump administration won’t much like it, any more than Hillary did. But free college tuition for HBCUs and public institutions is something that can be accomplished in a decade or so of agitation and struggle. If our HBCU college presidents are truly leaders and not followers, this is the current they can tap into.
Of course the common wisdom is that nobody is more conservative than a black college president. It’s a stereotype some of them will have to violate to save their institutions, and to save the very idea of education as a public good not a private privilege. If the first black president did not save HBCUs, nothing Donald Trump is willing to give out will do the trick either. It’s time to really bargain, to demand what is not being offered. And if our historically black college presidents lack the political vision and intestinal fortitude to do it, maybe we need to start this movement without them.
Man oh man! I’m sure some of you have known about this for quite some time but it’s definitely news to me. I surely don’t want to become that person who believes that EVERYTHING was created and ultimately stolen from Blac…I’m sorry, Melanin-Dominant people. But the more I learn each day that’s the conclusion I’m coming to.
I shouldn’t be surprised at this point in the game that if you’re a Caucasia…oops, Melanin-Recessive individual, hailed as an master creator/innovator specifically in the entertainment industry, especially in HOLLYWEIRD, there should be an entire 52-story building dedicated for all sorts of doubt.
Just how much input did they have in the “masterpieces” they produce?
The 99% of us don’t really know what going behind those scenes, behind those credits we see on the screen or even in written literature. We’re just believing the word of our Massa, the powers-that-be. Seems like everything we consume on the entertainment realm is a psyop. Literally I can’t watch that idiot box anymore just for my entertainment, unless I’m decoding it, without having to go through a deprogramming ritual to rid myself of the madness.
But anyway, for those of you who may not know about this, this may capture your interest. Please read it:
Laurence Fishburne and Sophia Stewart It looks like ANOTHER example in a long, long history of WHITE THEFT of black intellectual property, which includes inventions, music, dance, and, yes, novels …
I had cut back on eggs myself, maybe an omelet here and there every blue moon. I’m very familiar with the cruelty of animals so this doesn’t surprises me at all. But that’s one more treat I can cut off of my list. I’m DONE with eggs. I’m gonna end not eating anything after awhile lol. -The Melanated Man
Eggs: A classic, vegetarian breakfast food with just the right amount of protein and fat… At least, that’s what the corporations want you to think. In reality, the protein and fat found in eggs are linked to multiple diseases, including heart disease, and the processes involved with producing eggs are so far from humane, I wouldn’t consider them a “vegetarian” food.
Do you truly know how eggs are produced in the first place? Fair warning: The content in this article is graphic and, after learning how eggs are really made, you may never eat them again.
Here’s How Eggs Are Really Produced
Hens naturally lay eggs, so eating eggs is considered “natural,” right? Wrong. For starters, hens naturally only lay about 12 eggs per year in the wild, whereas hens living on factory farms are genetically mutated to lay between 250 and 300 eggs per year.
Egg laying isn’t a fun process for hens. It’s comparable to the human labour process and can take up to 26 hours to occur. In comparison, that’s like forcing women to be on their period every day for an entire year, just so another species could consume what’s coming out of them. Sounds pretty gross, right? It also takes a lot of calcium for hens to lay eggs in bulk, so many hens end up breaking bones, developing osteoporosis, or even becoming paralyzed.
The reason I don’t consider eggs a vegetarian food is because chickens do, in fact, die in the process. Since male chickens can’t lay eggs, thousands are disposed of all the time. These chickens are slaughtered en masse by either grinding them up alive, disposing of them in garbage bags where they suffocate to death, or throwing them directly into dumpsters where they’ll eventually die. Alternatively, sometimes these chickens get sold and turned into feed for other animals, or even to just hens!
Even though female chicks are the ones producing the eggs, they’re not treated very well, either. This is not only inhumane, it’s also illogical — it makes no sense from a financial perspective to mistreat the animals these corporations profit from. Most hens only live until they’re about a year and a half old because they face so many health risks and are then slaughtered.
The conditions on factory farms are extremely unhealthy, with typically 125,000 hens squeezed into one shed alone, which often leads to hens getting infections, especially because there’s fecal matter everywhere. It’s common for them toinjure or kill one another, too, and at any given time, 6 million hens are being starved in their cages.
This process obviously isn’t environmentally sound either. Since the conditions are so poor and eggs are mass produced, there’s a significant amount of land and water required, as a dozen eggs requires 2,400 liters of water to process.
The following video by Erin Janus perfectly depicts what’s wrong with the way eggs are mass produced:
What About Organic, Cage-Free Eggs?
Some people prefer to purchase cage-free or organic eggs because they’re branded as coming from “happy hens” living a more natural lifestyle. Although organic may be the healthier option, unfortunately, the “cage-free” label is merely a marketing scheme used by corporations to make you think you’re choosing the “cruelty-free” option.
In order to meet industry standards, organic and cage-free farms can keep 20,000 hens in one shed. This number is still large enough to allow for the same health hazards to threaten hens. These hens may not live in cages, but they are still crammed into a confined space without access to sunlight. Many of the birds die, their carcasses rot, some get diseases, and other birds fight each other to the death.
At organic chicken farms specifically, it’s standard practice for the hens’ beaks to be chopped off. And no, this isn’t a humane practice — their beaks contain many nerves and pain receptors. This practice is actually done because it prevents birds from plucking out their feathers, a natural response they have to stress and pain.
To address this issue, animal rights activist group Direct Action Everywhere released an undercover video exposing the poor conditions at a Costco egg farm in California that’s labelled as “cage-free.” The conditions are horrific and the video footage shows that many of the birds were covered in blood and feces and some were even plucked to death. You can watch the short video here:
You Probably Shouldn’t Be Eating Eggs Anyways
Many of you reading this may be saying, “Eggs are still a healthy source of protein and fat.” What you may not know is that the health risks associated with eggs far outweigh the benefits.
As Michelle McMacken, MD, explains, “Landmark studies have shown that when omnivores eat choline or carnitine (found in meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, and dairy), gut bacteria make a substance that is converted by our liver to a toxic product called TMAO. TMAO leads to worsening cholesterol plaques in our blood vessels and escalates the risk of heart attack and stroke.”
Harvard University researchers recently published a study in JAMA Internal Medicine that examined the association of animal and plant protein with mortality rates and causes as well as longevity of life. They studied approximately 130,000 people for 36 years, monitoring their diet, lifestyle, illness, and mortality.The study found that replacing eggs with plant-based protein led to a 19% reduction in death risk.
Eggs are clearly not conducive to living an environmentally sustainable, healthy, and cruelty-free lifestyle. So, I encourage you to reflect on this knowledge and ask yourself: Does it truly serve me and my body to eat eggs?
Article posted on Waking Times (click link for original post)
Pedro Aquila, Staff Writer
The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) is pushing to streamline the approval of 5G cell towers, overriding the little regulation that exists to legalize use of experimental high frequencies without extensive safety testing. Untested frequencies in the range of 28 gigahertz to 100 Ghz or more are set to be deployed all around us without our consent, emanating from an even greater number of new, smaller cell towers.
“To make this work, the 5G buildout is going to be very infrastructure intensive, requiring massive deployment of small cells.” ~Tom Wheeler, Former FCC Chairman and corporate lobbyist
Some are talking about using even higher frequencies, in the terahertz range, much higher than previous networks.
“US FCC wants to “streamline” the approval process for DAS (Distributed Antenna System) 4G/5G ubiquitous cell towers by exempting them from the 1996 Telecommunications Act!
And the US Senate will imminently be voting on S.19 and S.88, to expand DAS 4G/5G deployment!
If such efforts succeed, millions of small cell towers (on existing light poles/utility poles, or new ones) will be deployed everywhere, throughout residential neighborhoods. The millimeter microwave radiation deployed will produce horrific health effects, worsening EVERYONE’s health, and will remove the remaining pollinators. It’s THAT serious.The bees in particular will die off rapidly, per studies of bees and microwave radiation.”
“In essence, 5G will be the mobile networks, often referred to as cell phone towers, that power wireless technology. But get this: As we’re expected to start shifting toward 5G technology around the early 2020s, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler says we can expect to see a lot more of those mobile towers.
So while we may enjoy anywhere from 10 to 50 times faster connection speeds that help fuel better data consumption, we may in return get millions of new cell phone towers on our street corners. (Our current 4G LTE technology relies on about 200,000 cell phone towers around the U.S.) But 5G needs a much denser network, meaning many more cell towers of all sizes all over the place. (3) The fact that these things have never been proven safe — and that worrisome science is cropping up around wireless technology — is cause for concern.
And it seems this 5G plan is full speed ahead. On July 14, 2016, the FCC voted to approve Spectrum Frontiers, making the U.S. the first country in the world to open up higher-frequency millimeter wave spectrum for the development of 5G fifth-generation wireless cellular technology. Environmental Health Trust is voicing concerns because health, safety and environmental evaluations to understand the impact on humans, wildlife and the environment have not been done.
In fact, before the FCC gave 5G the green light, the agency was flooded with comments in opposition to 5G.”
5G is being presented as the next stage of evolution in communications technology, and being promoted with enthusiastic headlines, such as:
For background on 5G, watch this video from Take Back Your Power, featuring Tom Wheeler, Former FCC Chairman and corporate lobbyist, who delivers a rather intimidating and presumptuous speech praising this new technology.
But what about the people already suffering with symptoms of EMF radiation from wifi, smart phones, smart meters, and newer vehicles? The dangers of certain new technologies, as is the case with some biotech and toxic foods, represent a much more insidious reality: cancer causing, body disrupting frequencies.
The attitude of such technological innovators is perfectly represented in by Tom Wheeler’s statements, pushing for American exceptionalism, demanding 5G deployment as soon as possible with little to no testing of the effects on human beings or the natural environment. He says billions of dollars are ‘damn important,’ with the part mentioning billions of dollars mysteriously absent from the speech’s official transcsript.
“If the Commission approves my proposal next month, the United States will be the first country in the world to open up high-band spectrum for 5G networks and applications. And that’s damn important because it means U.S. companies will be first out of the gate.”
At events like this, people reasonably approaching the notion of danger are ostracized, while lobbyists like Tom Wheeler condescendingly say things like “talk to the medical people,” in response to genuine concerns.
For a deeper insight into the mainstream narrative of the splendors of cell technologies , this video is a sales pitch for the road 1G to 5G.
We’re already being steered in this direction, forced into a future of smart devices and the internet of things, and it could get so much worse from here. How many rising illnesses, how many symptoms, how many cases of salivary gland cancer, brain cancer, and EMF hypersensitivity will we discover along the way?
As Kevin Mottus said in the above video from Take Back Your Power, we need to fight this with much more persistence.
See the following links for information on the effects of cell technologies, as well as info on what you can do to protect yourself.
“Below is what I call my List of Irrefutability. We can soon reach a turning point, but our voices are each needed at this time. Please quote from and or share these links:” ~Kevin Mottus
The study of evolution is filled with controversies. Some scientists believe that mankind continues to move forward and this will always be the case, while others believe humanity has reached its final stage of evolution, and is now currently in an era of stagnation.
“I think that we’ve stopped evolving,” said English broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough.
Because if natural selection, as proposed by Darwin, is the main mechanism of evolution – there may be other things, but it does look as though that’s the case – then we’ve stopped natural selection.
We stopped natural selection as soon as we started being able to rear 95–99 per cent of our babies that are born.
We are the only species to have put a halt to natural selection, of its own free will, as it were.
But John Hawks, an Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, disagrees:
We have evolved in our recent past, and we will continue to do so as long as we are around. If we take the more than seven million years since humans split from our last common ancestor with chimpanzees and convert it to a 24-hour day, the past 30,000 years would take about a mere six minutes. Yet much has unfolded during this last chapter of our evolution: vast migrations into new environments, dramatic changes in diet and a more than 1,000-fold increase in global population. All those new people added many unique mutations to the total population. The result was a pulse of rapid natural selection. Human evolution is not stopping. If anything, it is accelerating.
Thinking about evolution — whether it’s accelerating or stagnating — is both fascinating and mind boggling at the same time. But the controversy of it has led modern illustrators to present the subject at hand in a much different way than arguments on paper or in person. In fact, these illustrators are putting their imaginations to work to show these two opposing scientific assumptions in a satirical way, and honestly, it’s just as thought-provoking as the lengthy arguments on either side of the scientific table.
The following images will make you wonder: Have we gotten better or worse? Have we advanced technology, or has it simply overtaken us? Think of sitting down with your grandparents, and how your discussions on the world, and where we are, and who we are, differ. Many of us might find ourselves in a common argument. Grandparents believe younger generations have become mere robots, forgetting what hard work looks like and what the outdoors smells like. The younger generations may believe we have created so many advancements to better the world we live in that it’s a fair tradeoff. Of course, this is merely an example and cannot speak for everyone, but it’s interesting to see how generations apart can vary on outlook, such as scientists do.
Take a look at the following 15 illustrations and decide for yourself where you stand on the topic, or even just see what the images provoke your brain to think!
People tend to get wrapped up in the negatives of life. We find reasons to complain, we find reasons to be sad, we relish in the fact that misery loves company. It can be hard, as a journalist, to get stuck reporting on just the bad stuff, because there is a lot of work that must be done to improve the world we live in, and the bad news is valuable in prompting people to wake up and make a change for the better.
But to be collectively evolved for the better, we have to pave a path of light, and journalists have the wonderful opportunity to help create that journey.
Just like one story can disturb you, others can lift you up. Scrolling through social media you might suddenly be warmed by the simple sight of a puppy, and it reminds you how important it is to surround yourself with things that warm your soul, while also learning how the bad news has prompted good news to happen.
A general theme of 2016 was just how bad the year was. We harped on war, lost celebrities, deaths, political scandals, and more. But what about all of the amazing things that happened?
Last year may have had its downfalls, but so many wonderful things worth acknowledging happened, too. Here are 11 of those stories to put a dose of positivity in your life, and to remember that it’s not all bad. In fact, there’s so much beauty, and so much goodness too.
A zero-fuel plane completed a trip around the world
André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard were told by the aviation industry that flying day and night without any fuel was impossible, but the pilots proved them wrong, becoming the first of their kind to circumnavigate the globe in a solar-powered plane. Such news gives hope for a clean and sustainable future.
U.S. carbon dioxide emissions have drastically dropped
They are so low in fact, that they dropped to their lowest level since 1991, thanks to natural gas and hydro power gaining a greater share of the U.S. electricity mix.
For the first time since 1054, Leaders of the Roman Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches have met with each other
Pope Francis became the first pontiff to ever meet a patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church. The Christian leaders let go of centuries of division for the historic event that was held in a room at the Havana airport.
The plastic crisis could be over in the foreseeable future
With five trillion pieces of plastic currently in the ocean, it’s nice to hear that the Ocean Cleanup Project is working to remove 40 percent of it over the next 10 years by emulating a coastline. The operation runs on power generated from ocean currents.
Giant pandas are no longer endangered
The news was announced this past September by the International Union for Conservation. Currently, 67 reserves exist in China spanning 5,400 square miles for the pandas.
China put an end to the ivory trade
By the end of 2017, the country plans to have completely ended the ivory trade, ending a controversial business steeped in greed for a simple status symbol. The market being restricted in China will save about 20,000 elephants annually.
Twenty countries made a commitment to protect marine environments
Protected marine parks have now been implemented in various countries, including the U.S., who created the largest of them all just off the coast of Hawaii, spanning 1,140,000 square kilometers.
The manatee has been taken off the endangered species list
Though it is now considered “threatened,” which is still unfortunate, news that the species has flourished in recent years is certainly worthy of attention. In Florida alone, there has been a 500 percent increase in the manatee population.
World hunger reached a 25-year low
In 2010, there were 821 malnourished people in the world. Today, however, there are now 795 million. Though that number is still devastatingly too high, the extreme drop of 26 million people no longer being starving provides hope, and proof we are moving in the right direction to correct the problem.
After 100 years, tiger populations are finally coming back
One hundred years ago, tigers were endangered, but they are finally starting to see a slight increase once again. A global survey from the WWF revealed that the wild tiger population has increased to 3,890. Since 2010, an increase of 690 tigers have boosted the population. The rise is largely in part due to conservation successes in India, Russia, and Nepal.
Costa Rica’s electrical grid can now power on renewable energy
Thanks to its small size, and utilizing low-energy industries, Costa Rica was able to run on 100 percent renewable energy for 76 days straight, making it the second time it’s done so in a row. The news proves that drawing on multiple energy sources both at a regional and local level can permit for major cut downs on fossil fuels.
Also, there is a shift in overall global consciousness that is helping to raise our awareness and see the truth of what’s going on in our world so we can make real, lasting and drastic change that will allow us to thrive on earth together. It’s a time to be optimistic and centre ourselves in love. You can watch our latest feature documentary all about it here.
The Italian government is considering a new policy that may force African migrants to perform free labor as a condition for asylum, underscoring the harsh reality — even modern-day enslavement — facing Black people in the European country.
Under a proposal introduced by Marco Minniti, Italy’s Interior Minister, thousands of Black migrants will be required to engage in “socially useful” work as their asylum claims are processed, The Times reported. The plan also would expedite the expulsions of economic migrants.
Last year, a record 181,000 migrants arrived in Italy via the Mediterranean Sea, and between January and October of last year, nearly 100,000 Black people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa, applied for asylum. They live in crowded migrant centers and are allowed to work while they wait for their applications to process, typically for pennies in the fields. Italy has attracted migrants from all over, Eastern Europeans as well, due to the agriculture industry and the conditions they face at home. For Africans, Southern Italy has been a popular destination due to its proximity to the North African coast.
Some towns already ask refugees to perform “community service” in the form of street sweeping and cleaning parks and gardens, according to The Telegraph. “It allows people to get to know the foreigners and understand they are not just people you see on street corners,” said Luca Menesini, the mayor of Capannori in Tuscany. Up until now, those efforts have been voluntary. However, under the new government plan to be proposed by Minniti, labor would be mandatory, possibly as a requirement to receive a weekly living allowance.
According to a 2012 report from Amnesty International, Italy’s agricultural sector is highly reliant on migrant labor, which accounts for a quarter of the days worked and probably amounts to even more. Amnesty has criticized Italy for its criminalization of undocumented migrants, which it says allows this labor exploitation to thrive. The report also found that exploitation of migrant labor is widespread, particularly in Southern Italy. As was reported by the American Sociological Association.
Southern Italian agriculture is known for low wages, where farm workers who harvest tomatoes are made to live in ghettos, shantytowns and abandoned houses. According to Amnesty, these migrants, who are paid as little as €25 a day, ($27) “live in derelict buildings and makeshift shelters without running water, electricity or heating.” Further, 86 percent of workers do not have an employment contract and are paid under the table, according to the Italian aid group Doctors for Human Rights. “We were working from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening, every day of the week, for 20 euros a day,” ($21) said Kojo, a migrant worker from Togo, in the Amnesty report. “We could not take breaks, not even for eating. We used to eat the oranges on the trees.”
The exploitation is not limited to agriculture but extends also to construction, where gangs and mafia-type criminal organizations maintain an oppressive contract-labor system that has become known as caporalato. Though illegal, the practice is common. Italian trade unions estimate that between 300,000 and 400,000 mostly African laborers are subjected to caporalato conditions, according to AFP. Further, Amnesty notes that nonpayment of wages is common, and the Italian justice system has failed to protect the victims of these labor abuses.
The abuse of African migrants also extends to children. The UN refugee agency found that nearly 26,000 unaccompanied minors came to Italy last year, more than twice the number from 2015, The Telegraph reported. Most were from Eritrea, Nigeria, Gambia and Egypt, and are especially susceptible to abuse and exploitation. Many are forced into prostitution.
In addition, African asylum seekers are subjected to deplorable living conditions in the detention facilities. According to The Local, protests broke out in the Cona migrant center in the Veneto region of Italy following the death of a 25-year-old woman named Sandrine Bakayoko, an Ivory Coast native, from a blood clot on January 4. Workers at the facility reportedly waited several hours before calling an ambulance. Asylum seekers reportedly cut the electricity to the facility and set fire to furniture and other items. Meanwhile, 25 staff members barricaded themselves inside a room overnight, according to The Local.
Members of parliament who visited the center last November denounced the “serious structural deficiencies” they witnessed. One MP condemned the poor living conditions, including lack of water and light, calling the facility a “ticking time bomb.” More than 1,400 people were housed in an area meant for only 15 people.
Italy is now using the revolt as grounds to speed up the deportations of Africans. “We have saved many lives, but we cannot accept rule-breaking. We need to speed up deportations,” Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said in an interview with La Stampa daily.
“When I’m in government, there will be mass expulsions, center closures and the Navy ships will send people back after saving them,” far-right leader Matteo Salvini of the Northern League wrote on Facebook. “Enough! 2017 will be the year of sending them back.”
Why do the Africans come in the first place? Thousands are crossing the Mediterranean to Europe through Libya, often risking their lives, in order to find a better life. The toppling of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi created a power vacuum, rendering the country’s 1,100-mile coastline an open border and allowing gangs to smuggle migrants in overcrowded sea vessels, as MSNBC reported. Unlike Syrian refugees who are fleeing a catastrophic civil war, those who arrive in Italy from sub-Saharan Africa are leaving due to extreme economic deprivation, oppressive governments and terrorist groups.
Eritrea, for example, accounted for the largest number of migrants at 40,000 in 2015. The country is not at war but rather is known for having one of the worst human rights records in the world. It was included in the 12 “Worst of the Worst” nations for civil liberties and political rights by the 2015 Freedom House report. For those living in these countries, stories on social media of family members making it to Europe and even sending remittances back home create a sense of hope and encourage people to continue to make the treacherous journey that has cost thousands of lives.
For those living in these countries, stories on social media of family members making it to Europe and even sending remittances back home create a sense of hope and encourage people to continue to make the treacherous journey that has cost thousands of lives.
Meanwhile, these types of deplorable conditions and attitudes against African migrants and asylum seekers are increasing across Europe, causing Africans to face a bitter new wave of exploitation, criminalization and modern-day enslavement in a country that does not want them.
Most restaurant goers see tipping as a courteous practice to thank waiters for their service. But what many may not know is that the practice of giving your server a few extra bucks is actually rooted in racism.
During a recent interview on food-lovers podcast “The Sporkful with Dan Pashman,” Shake Shack founder and restaurateur Danny Meyer spoke about the racist history of tipping and why he finally decided to ban the practice in his restaurants back in 2015.
“Tipping is actually one of the biggest hoaxes ever pulled on an entire culture,” Meyer said.
He went on to explain that the age-old custom came about after the abolition of slavery, as restaurant owners and the railroad industry, which mainly employed formerly enslaved Black Americans, used abolition as an excuse to make them work for tips rather than paying them actual wages.
“It wasn’t considered slavery because we [the restaurant industry] would ask our customers to pay tips, and therefore, no one could say they were being enslaved,” Meyer explained.
“That’s the history of how it started in this country,” he added. “You don’t see it in Asia. You don’t see it primarily in most European countries. But that’s what it was — and it created a completely false economy.”
The Shake Shack founder also pointed out that tipping is essentially a “multiplier of menu prices.” As menu prices have increased over the past three decades, so have tip amounts, with tip-eligible employees, who usually work the front of restaurants, enjoying an income increase of 300 percent. However, tip-ineligible employees, such as cooks and dishwashers, have seen their incomes increase only 20 percent in the same time period. Meyer said that was ultimately what moved him to eliminate tipping from a number of his restaurants.
Podcast host Dan Pashman also highlighted the racial dynamic of many restaurants, noting that as you walk from the front of a restaurant to the back, the complexions of the people tend to get darker. He noted the income disparity between restaurant workers of different races, as well.
“In a tip-based system, studies have shown that nonwhite servers make less than their white peers for equal work,” Pashman said. A similar study published in the scientific journal Sociological Inquiry in 2014, also found that white servers are tipped better than nonwhite servers.
“There’s just nothing good about that,” Meyer said.
So how has the anti-tipping restaurateur managed to succeed after eliminating the common practice from his eateries? Attn: reported that Meyer has since increased menu prices marginally and started paying his employees a higher hourly wage.
“As with anything in life, if you want to make change, you have to make change in that,” Meyer said.
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.)
[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 […]
Expressions from the writer formerly known as The Melanin Man 