“Be glad you are unknown, for when you are known, you would wish you weren't.” African Proverb
Shem Hotep ("I go in peace").
"If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated."
Dr. Carter G. Woodson 1875-1950
A Mother`s Love Determines How!
A mother`s love determines how we love ourselves and others. There is no sky we`ll ever see not lit by that first love. Stripped of love, the universe would drive us mad with pain; But we are born into a world
That greets our cries with joy. How much I owe you for the kiss that told me who I was! The greatest gift--a love of life-- lay laughing in your eyes. Because of you my world still has the soft grace of your smile; And every wind of fortune bears the scent of your caress.
Remembering `Precious Doe`
Precious Doe was shy of her fourth birthday when she died. Officers were searching for a missing elderly man when they found her body in a wooded area near a church April 28, 2001. Her head, wrapped in a trash bag, was found nearby a few days later. Police, unable to identify the child, named her Precious Doe.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Hundreds of mourners gathered Saturday, May 7, 2005 for a memorial service to remember the little girl once known only as "Precious Doe," She was dubbed "Precious Doe" while authorities sought her identity and her killers. Police identified the child as Erica Michelle Marie Green, who was nearly 4, and charged her mother and her mother`s husband with murder.
Michelle and Harrell Johnson.
(Erica Michelle Marie Green, may you be at peace, here is a poem for you)
Dreamland!
There`s a land that I have heard about, so faracross the sea. To have you on, my dreamland would be like heaven to me. We`ll get our breakfast from the tree. We`ll get our honey from the bees. We`ll take a ride on the waterfalls, and all the glories, we`ll have them all.
And we`ll live together on that dreamland, and have so much fun.
Oh, what a time that will be,
Oh yes, wait and see. We`ll count the stars up in the sky....And surely we`ll never die.
What in the blue hell is going on?
I was in denial about some brother`s being on the down low until I was at a friend’s party last month. She informed me that 2 brothers that were also at the party were on the down low together, and both were married to female.
JL King`s On The Down Low: A Journey into the Lives of "Straight" Black Men who Sleep with Men.
(Mrs. Browder was just out to get paid.) I read this book along with my bookclub and we were totally disappointed with the stories that were told by Mrs. Browder, she never fulfilled any topic for which she was talking about. It was almost as if she was reading on the down low and responding to that book without giving any true feelings or emotions of her own. The book offered no survival skills for women in this situation. My book club members have all returned the books to the store for a full refund.
Hands off cell phones, while driving in my home town of Chicago. (ABOUT TIME)
Multitasking motorists who yak away on their cell phones will be required to use a hands-free device while driving in Chicago -- even if they`re just passing through -- under an ordinance that sneaked through the City Council. Beginning July 8, 2005 Chicago will become the nation`s largest city to prohibit motorists from using cell phones without a hands-free device, which allows the driver to keep both hands on the wheel. Only three exceptions will be permitted: law enforcement officers and operators of emergency vehicles "on duty and acting in their official capacities," motorists calling 911 or other emergency numbers, and drivers using their cell phones while parked.
Everybody else using a cell phone while driving will face a $50 fine. If the violation happens "at the time of a traffic accident," the fine will quadruple -- to $200.
Leonard Jeffries When the first models of the Statue of Liberty were built, they were an Afrikan woman holding the chains of enslavement in her hand and at her feet.
A Lesson in Black History: The Statue of Liberty It is hard to believe that after my many years of schooling (secondary and post) the following facts about the Statue of Liberty were never taught.
Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people have visited the Statue of Liberty over the years but yet I`m unable to find one person who knows the true history behind the Statue...amazing!
Yes, amazing that so much important Black history (such as this) is hidden from us (Black and White). What makes this even worse is the fact that the current twist on history perpetuates and promotes white supremacy at the expense of Black Pride!
The Statue of Liberty was originally a Black woman. But, as memory serves,it was because the model was Black. In a book called "The Journey of The Songhai People," as Dr. Jim Haskins (a member of the National Education Advisory Committee of the Liberty-Ellis Island Committee, professor of English at the University of Florida, and prolific Black author) points out that is what stimulated the original idea for that 151 foot statue in the harbor. He says that the idea for the creation of the statue initially was to acknowledge the part that Black soldiers played in the ending of Black African Bondage in the United States. Abolitionist Society, the gift of a Statue of Liberty in recognition of the fact that Black soldiers won the Civil War in the United States. It was widely known then that it was Black soldiers who played the pivotal role in winning the war, and this gift would be a tribute to their prowess.
Is Condoleezza Rice President Bush`s Pet Negro? (HELL YEAH)
One African cultural attribute that lives on in this country’s Black community is the unlimited willingness of the village to attempt to defend and protect its own. Back in 1984, personalities as diverse as Vanessa Williams and Louis Farrakhan became targets of the larger society for wildly different reasons. Williams, as the first Black Miss America, was dethroned because explicit nude photographs of her were made public. Farrakhan was universally attacked because of allegations of anti-Semitism. Notwithstanding the controversies, America’s Africans opened their arms and embraced these celebrities, providing them with enough love and support for each to re-group and move on to face new challenges.
Historically, there have been no articulated rules for this practice.
Our willingness to embrace our prodigal sons and daughters is perhaps one of the most endearing qualities of African people. However, our survival depends upon our ability to distinguish members of the village who have erred from those (like Clarence Thomas) who have made a conscious decision to do everything possible to destroy the village. As Condoleezza Rice basks in the world’s spotlight, we have been faced yet again with the issue of whether to defend a controversial African.
Back in January, Rice jumped on the George Bush/Tony Blair bandwagon by characterizing Zimbabwe,Cuba, Belarus, Iran, Burma and North Korea as "outposts of tyranny." Zimbabwe’s
President Robert Mugabe responded by saying: "That girl born out of the slave ancestry, who should know from the history of slavery in America, from the present situation of Blacks in America, that the white man is not a friend. She says Zimbabwe is one of the five or six outposts of tyranny. Ah, well, she has got to echo her master’s voice. The white man is the slave master to her." Mugabe went on to point out that in the aftermath of his country’s war of liberation, the new government allowed the former brutal, racist white Prime Minister Ian Smith to not only keep his life, but to live in comfort, participate in political life, and routinely criticize the government. "How many [tyrannical] countries would have done what we did?" Mugabe asked. More than a few Blacks in America have gone on record as having taken great offense at Mugabe’s remarks. Once again, they have instinctively perceived that one of our own has been disrespected, and it is the duty of the village to rally to her defense.
As we consider this latest incident, we cannot allow the questions of whether Mugabe’s style was appropriate, or whether his comments are valid, to become the issue. The real issue is whether Rice is deserving of our community’s support regardless of how, and by whom she might be attacked now, or in the future. In general, is she simply confused about her racial obligations, while retaining her potential for redemption, or has she crossed the line and become a conscious and willing agent of the enemies of our community?
Rice has, for the most part, avoided making comments that specifically concern racial matters. With respect to reparations, she did comment that: "In order for us to get along [in America’s diverse society, some of us] will have to forget [about what happened in the past]." When affirmative action was considered by the Supreme Court, her "support" for the practice was not even lukewarm. Such views alone are not enough to make Rice an "enemy." There are many Africans in this country who share Rice’s opinions on these matters, and sincerely believe that such are in our collective best interest. Even Rice has spoken of her African ancestors with reverence and love. To understand the danger that Rice poses, it is more useful to examine how she approaches her "job."
Bush policies for her community. The war in Iraq is not a "race issue" in the usual sense, but Rice should know that the consequences of that aggression include the deaths of many Black soldiers, and the intensification of military recruiting in Black communities. Putting aside the issue of Zimbabwe, she should know that while she is attacking Cuba as an "outpost of tyranny," that tiny island has sent perhaps more doctors to sent perhaps more doctors to troubled regions of Africa than any other country. It also has allowed young Black people from the U.S. to train in its medical schools free of charge and return to this country to provide health care to under-served communities.
Rice’s crime is that she is so eager to please her boss that she not only carries out his plans, but she also initiates and orchestrates projects that further his objectives, even if Africans are unnecessarily harmed in the process. The relationship between Bush and Rice may not be as between master and slave, as Mugabe suggests. Rather, it may be more akin to the relationship between master and pet. Bush says "fetch" and Rice runs as fast as she can. Bush says "sic ‘em" and Rice doesn’t pause, even if the identified victim is from her community. Should our village protect such a person? In the same way that the world assumes a pet’s master will care for his animal, perhaps we are best served by allowing Bush to take care of his pet Negro while we Africans focus on the more important task of struggling for our liberation.
Edward Frazier stood solidly by his argument that conspicuous consumption, wish fulfillment, and a world of make-believe marked the black middle class. (Black Bourgeoisie)
Edward Franklin Frazier 1894-1962
