The Pantheon of the Option-less

As yet, the Negroes themselves do not fully appreciate these old slave songs.

- James Weldon Johnson

Through a stroke of good fortune, I once met the late, great playwright August Wilson years ago in Minnesota while volunteering as an usher in exchange for free tickets to a fund-raising event. Wilson's magic first entered my life via the 1995 screen adaption of The Piano Lesson and later by virtue of the Penumbra Theatre Company in Saint Paul. The scene residually active in my imagination is when Charles Dutton, Carl Gordon, Lou Myers and Courtney B. Vance delivered Berta Berta.

Mesmerized, I researched the Parchman Farm so brilliantly and tragi-comically lamented by Wilson's characters. Results quickly yielded that Brandford Marsalis had also paid tribute to this same forgotten culture in 1992, several years prior to the film.

Everyone should view the aforementioned video to grasp these chains forged for a specific people so long ago but which now shackle all Americans psychologically via the proliferated sociopathy of the race construct.

Meanwhile, the Idiot Box (TV) programs into our skulls more pressing concerns such as Oil Spill 2010 but don't chickens come home to roost in the strangest of ways? Is Black Gold still Texas Tea or A Spoiled Sea? Aren't we all now cooped in the same holding pen, slaving and fighting each other for less but hoping for more?

The slave had many means of resisting the dehumanizing effects of slavery. Religion became one of them. And through religious songs they made up from Biblical stories, they expressed their real feelings.

- Julius Lester

Singing was liquefied religion. We sang because it temporarily freed our spirits from torturous states of involuntary servitude while synchronizing our bodies with the exercise of brutal labor mandated by the framers of this society. We sang to maintain our humanity. We sang to resist. Most importantly, we sang to keep it real and steel our psyches for hell on the horizon.

Don't forget to remember those who were railroaded into building the infrastructure of this nation. From Birmingham, I share a final brief video in tribute to these people, our Pantheon of the Option-less.

Posted by: Zeal
[R Bettis]

Human's Passionate Desire

“Most of our troubles are due to our passionate desire for and attachment to things that we misapprehend as enduring entities.” ~Dalai Lama

I have a big heart, and I've often confused a big heart with being filled or over capacity with love. You know the phrase, "love hard," yea, I have that "problem." Truthfully though, when I read that quote it was like a light blub went off in my head onto where I have placed myself with people I've grown to love, respect, & honor. Now, at first glance of reading the quote I understood it to translate:

:: the reason you cannot let go is because you put your passion and energy into a physical, life-like form, than giving it reason to 'stay alive'::

But after reading it over and over again, I understood it as:

:: Don't confuse passion with power. You are in control of what has a soul, spirit, and live when it comes to what you give. You give water to a planet so it can grow, not so it can stay a seed::

Now we can agree to disagree, but I do want to know what you think it means!

---------------------------------

When it is all said and done, we are what we want to see in people. Often in times we get into relationships with partners, {romantically or just platonic, and even when handling business} and respect what others say but we secretly want things to go our way. That same limited thinking is the energy that charges or discharges the relationship. People get drained from being passionate about something to only have it transpired into an entity that has no soul or spirit!

That leads to confusion and attachment to WANT to make things work between the two {three, four, five, etc.}; which then leads to people feeling like they GIVE too much, or they don't get ENOUGH in return. Attachment to things & people with no sense of lust just makes you feel empty because lust itself is a blind factor of love.

Love is mutual and it is the root to everything you desire, materialistically or not. You love money right? You love the expensive life right? You love to feel wanted right? Than don't put your passions into the result you want, but rather YOUR OWN ENERGY to achieve everything you desire.

What others think of you is none of your business anyway, so be passionate. Love hard, Laugh often but remember, be the best version of yourself. People will only treat you as good as you treat yourself.

Peace.Love.Happiness

HonduranQueen

.::They're Only Kids!::.

"...there is no single, simple word in Japanese for "girl" or "boy." The correct way to say "girl" is onna no ko and "boy" is otoko no ko (literally, "woman-child"/"man-child")..."

I'm currently learning Japanese, so in my studies, I came across that information. I want you to read it again and take that in. "no word for boy or girl... only woman-child and man-child." Language plays a huge part in the way people think. Languages shapes how we view and define our world. For example, the English language is a "male dominated" language. So is any culture that speaks English.

[excerpt] "Through its history the English language evolved in a patriarchal or male-dominated society and, as a result, its vocabulary and grammar tend to exclude women."

"...Male-based generics are another indicator—and, more importantly, a reinforcer—of a system in which "man" in the abstract and men in the flesh are privileged over women..."

These are just a few examples of the point I'm getting to. Now, in our culture (here in North America) we think of children as children, babies... Beings not able to think for themselves or care for themselves, at all. I feel that our way of thinking towards children leads to children who are unprepared for adulthood, once they find it upon them. This leads to adults who still think and function as children. 

Perhaps if we thought of children more as a man in child form or a woman in child form, they'd be better prepared for life and adulthood. Too often we think that our children need to be sheltered from all. It is true that they need protection, love, guidance and support, but they do not need a crutch, a wheelchair... We tend to cripple their growth. Rather than prepare them for reality, we shield them with make believe and fairytales. Then when the harsh reality sinks in, they're unable to cope in healthy ways. They're unable to function. 

Perhaps we should spend less time trying to keep them "innocent" (gullible, naive, etc) and focus on raising them to be productive, healthy, functioning men and women. Perhaps we should treat them less like "children" and more like our future. 

That's all for now. More to come on this.

Written by: Genesis/Queen Tiye

Quick Financial Reads

Bob Doll is Vice Chairman and Chief Equity Strategist at BlackRock (BlackRock is well known for global investment management). He gives weekly updates of what's going on in the market, economy, and about good investments. Of course opinionated, but from a smart man in finance. EASY TO READ. That's why I posted it. If you would like to start somewhere this is good -->

Bob Doll Weekly Investment Commentary
(you can also get weekly emails sent to you)

Also a good site to use to understand financial literacy --> www.investopedia.com


Posted by: Aylin
[Leen Marie]

.::Lost In Time...Lost In History::.

"...A haunting 150-year-old photo found in a North Carolina attic shows a young, black child named John, barefoot and wearing ragged clothes, perched on a barrel next to another unidentified young boy. In April, the photo was found at a moving sale in Charlotte, accompanied by a document detailing the sale of John for $1,150..."

This is a part of our history that so many try to trivialize, try to write away and say "Oh, you should just get over that! Forget about that. Time to move on."

But how can we? How can we move on when our ancestors blood, sweat and tears have been poured into this land... Yet they receive no recognition. They receive no honor. We, their children, do not honor them.

Look at the faces of these two, little boys. A tragic scene of two black children, frozen in this moment forever. When I look at the boy on the right, I see a dull look in his eye that a child should NEVER have. I see child ready to burst into tears.

On the little boy on the left, I see pain. I see anger. I see a face already aging and hardening...

These children are unknown and shall forever remain so. They could be brothers... But we will never know. One of us could be the descendant of one of these beautiful, black children... But we will never know.

Their story--our story--goes untold, unwritten... And we have those who attempt to "water-down" the truth of what our ancestors went through. Those who want to wipe out history... More than they already have. They would remove ALL signs of these two, black children and all signs of what they went through.

We read about the horrors of the slavery and we live the psychological effects of it... But these two children LIVED the horrors we read about. We don't know how they died, if they lived long, if they loved... This is the only record of their existence. A photograph and a slave name. "John."

So much of our history is gone. Millions of stories like this that will never be told...

Slaves weren't important. They weren't human. Records of their births, their names, their marriages, etc, etc wasn't important enough to keep up with or even record.

We were stripped of our history, our heritage, names, our spirituality, our childhoods, our mothers, our fathers, our brothers, our sisters... Our very humanity was taken from us.

And they debt has yet to be repaid.

So don't you dare tell me to "just forget about it" or to "let it go." Until the sounds of my ancestors cries are heard by everyone and not just me, I cannot let it go. Until my ancestors have been honored... Until my people are TRULY free... I cannot, I will not let it go...

And I shall never, ever forget.

Written by: Genesis/Queen Tiye

Live Below Your Means

"The White man is holdin us down!"

"Niggas aint gon neva have shit!"

"Man when I get older, I'ma have a MANSION!"

Ever heard any of these phrases?

I have. Hear 'em all the time as a matter of fact. I've got three responses to those statements.

"No he's not. He's holdin them UP."

"Not if we make a change."

"True. But you need to read this blog first."

So as you know, we as a people have a problem with money. We make the least and we spend the most. Troy has mentioned it on this site before. Aylin wrote the amazing post under this one which tells precisely why wealth is so hard to acquire in the Black community. What we need to learn how to do is live below our means. Step one on a journey of a thousand.

The "black bourgeoisie". "Uppity Negroes". Both terms used to describe our middle class. Our middle class likes to show off. They like to "keep up with the Jones's". Well the other day at work (a financial services firm), I was having a conversation with one of the loan officers, and he told me something simple, yet truer than true. I tweeted it like right after he left my cubicle: "Most millionaires were typically working people who made good money, but emphasized saving." That's it. Most millionaires aren't CEO's, CFO's, and athletes. They're CPA's, doctors, and engineers.

I'll tell you a secret. You've probably been standing next to a millionaire at least 20 times before, and never had a clue. They're the most "regular looking" people ever. They drive Honda's. Us? Our people who make "decent money"? They drive Benzes. You see where I'm going with this?

At work, I've actually seen this wealth that our parents try and tell us about! I've seen doctors who have $2.5 million conservatively invested across a diverse range of categories, who's money MAKES HIM $85K a year on a bad year like '08. That's what he live's off of. He doesn't touch his $2.5 million. His life savings. That's for his kids. So they too can go to John's Hopkins. It's crazy.

If you're reading this, you're probably in college. You're probably within a year or two of graduation. You're gonna be in the real world soon. Just do me this favor. When you get finally get that salary you've worked oh so hard far, pretend nothing changed. Live with a roommate for a while. Bring your lunch to work. Because then you'll stack up. Like Leen said, screw corporate America for what it's good for. Start building some wealth for your future family.

This is step one towards the future.

-Sam

The Black Market

In between these past few weeks all three major indexes (DOW, NASDAQ, S&P 500) fell below 3%. The third worst slide of the year. The DOW closed under its 10,000 mark. This week it closed roughly 200 points above the 10,000 mark. One day WSJ reports the 300 point loss making it seem like the world is falling apart. Then the next week the DOW did an amazing 200 point jump, and the world is becoming better. The investors can stop pulling their hair. In my opinion, we don’t even know if we are in a bull or bear market.

No matter what major, there is probably only a hand full of African American students who could understand what I just said. And what I just said wasn’t even deep. At all.

I’ve been slowly reading up on the markets, figuring out how the market works and learning different investing tips. What it means to invest in mutual funds, bonds, and stocks. What will make me lose money, and what will make me some profit.
Reading up on the financial news sometimes gets me excited (nerd yes I know) but when I turn to find someone to talk to so I can get an opinion… I realize I have no one to talk to. We’ve become lazy in learning. If it isn’t in our books at school, why should I bother understanding anything else? I’m beginning to slowly learn that what has tortured us in this new generation is not the other races or our country, but ourselves. I don’t think we understand the fact that people who we think “get over on our race” do it with the strength of their minds. What they know. Using it against what we DON’T know. If you haven't learned, our nation and Wall Street work hand in hand. Whether we like it or not.

The richest people in the world make money off of investments. It’s almost impossible (unless inherited) to make millions without investing. And as hard as our African-American community works to do better and provide for their families, why do I feel like not even 5% of our race is living the wealthy life.

You know how they say “If there’s something you don’t want the black person to know, put it in a book.”? Well if you don’t want the black race to build wealth, don’t let them learn about the market and financial industry. Now I am definitely a beginner. Sitting at the front seat in this Investment 101 course. But in the very short time that I’ve taught myself the ways of this system, I’ve made over a grand. Now the motivation for most is money. I’m not going to lie and say that I didn’t become interested in finance because of the money I can make. But in the middle of my researching I began to learn so much about our government, economy, and the businesses that literally control our nation. You begin to build your intellectual capacity about the country you live in. And just by understanding the American financial industry. The good, the bad, and the ugly.

What I plan to do about it? Since every criticism I chose to make should be put into action – I plan on obtaining my CPA while continually working for one of the top 4 accounting firms. So when I’m finished messing around with corporate America, I can come back and be of assistance to the black community. I plan on opening a private accounting and consulting firm for the middle class. Maybe even for the African-American upper class. Since many of the rappers, artists, and professional players we see have someone working their money for them… Which means they don’t know where in the world their cash is flowing.

I’ll continue this post after more research…

The link below is a research/survey done relating African American and their Financial Literacy level. Just a source to see how bad our race is against others in saving money, spending less, investing more, and even being knowledgeable in the field of money.

Financial Literacy of Young African-Americans



Written by: Aylin
[Leen Marie]

...From a Decent Man

1-2-1 w/jeffstaple feat. Futura from jeffstaple on Vimeo.

MOVING FORWARD-LK

Love.Energy.Knowledge.Time

.::I'm Afraid of Your Hair::.

"I'm afraid... It's your hair..."

Imagine being a child and hearing that from your teacher, as she escorts you out of your honors class. Then imagine being removed from honors classes and shoved into regular classes, as if you've done something wrong.

The only crime being that you're a natural hair having, black girl.

The 8-year-old girl had been in class, without problem, for half of the school year and suddenly (in the past 2 weeks) it's affecting the teacher's allergies. She's allergic to the girl's hair... I'm allergic to bullshit. Is this teacher allergic to the hair product, or is she allergic to blackness?

To add insult to injury, the school actually stood behind the teacher, by allowing this to go on and removing the child from her honors classes.

Natural hair tends to offend Caucasian people (not all, but a good portion). I have experienced this first hand time and time again. The stares, the glares, the dirty looks... Even rude comments. It's as if our natural hair is threatening or menacing.

Us embracing our blackness and our natural beauty is threatening to white supremacy and the eurocentric beauty standard/ideal. All throughout the media you see beautiful, black women who are pressing, perming, dying... And trying to be less than black. There aren't a lot of natural hair wearing women shown in media.

Even the commercials are full of black women with long, straight, relaxed hair blowing in the wind. I very rarely see (and it's only recently that I've seen it at all) any commercials of black women with beautiful, natural hair.

Top black movie actresses and entertainers? Straight, relaxed hair... Or wigs and weaves that are long, blonde, straight... No traces of natural hair.

A lot more of us are going natural. This is a beautiful thing... But there are even more of us who are giving into a standard of beauty that we can never meet.

"The relaxer makes white people relax."

To me, this is a sign or gesture meant to show our willingness to assimilate and to conform. It symbolizes us "renouncing our crowns" and rejecting our blackness. It shows how we, too, believe in the eurocentric ideal of beauty.

This 8-year-old little girl has had what is probably her first taste of discrimination and hatred of her blackness. We black women should be up in arms about this and any instance of a little girl being made to feel unpretty for who she is.

The message we are constantly sending to little black girls, is that they are not pretty and they are not good enough. We are not teaching them to value themselves or see that they are beautiful. They are queens! Yet no one tells them nor shows them this.

Some people think that hair isn't a big issue. I argue that it is a big issue. It may not be the largest obstacle we face, but it is an important issue, none-the-less. It is one way that we act out our oppression on ourselves. Sistahs not being able to find the beauty in themselves is a very big issue.

Furthermore, I consider the outward appearance a reflection of what is going on within the person. If I wear blue contacts, dye my hair blonde, try to make my nose thinner, relax my hair... What am I saying to the world about what beauty really is? What am I saying my ideas of beauty are? (Read my blog on natural hair HERE)

My thoughts on the teacher: She should be fired. She needs a job where she doesn’t have to be around people and their “chemicals” (melanin). This doesn’t just need to be “looked into,” as the school said. This needs action. Why would we trust the school to “look into it,” when they’re the ones who allowed this to go on?!

In closing, let me say, kudos to the mother. I have never seen a caucasian and black mixed child that had a caucasian mother who knew the importance of natural hair. So, give thanks for that. That will be one less bit of confusion for the young girl.

Peace, Love and Elevation.

Written by: Genesis/Queen Tiye

Apple is Raping Us: & We Like It :-)

Written By: Sam Floyd

As you all know, Steve Jobs unveiled Apple's next "big thing" on Monday: the iPhone 4. Personally I'm stoked about the thing, and plan on getting it the day it comes out. (smiley face). This is one of the those times that Apple actually releases something that's actually different enough for people to actually run out and go get it. Other times...eh, not so much.
How much cash do you think Apple has at it's disposal? Around...uhhh $40 Billion -ish. Do you know how they acquired so much capital? RAPE. Good, clean, old-fashioned rape. They lube us up real good with their awesome "trendy" commercials, then give it to us in the rear with their high prices (paying for the brand) and new releases.

...and you know what's crazy?

We like it.

I'm a total Apple freak (a part of their small, but loyal, market share), and don't know what I'd do without my MacBook Pro or my iPod. Their stuff is damn good and is the epitome of the word "functional". Simple, yet great technology.

But the reason Apple's revenues are so high isn't planned obsolescence, but planned upgrades. They take advantage of their loyal fan base, which they know is gonna go out and buy whatever new thing they come out with, by strategically planning when and what to put out next, while it's already developed. (just my opinion, course)

Take the iPhone for example.

First it was the regular iPhone. Then they add 3G capabilities and GPS, lower the price, and release the iPhone 3G. Then, they add video recording and voice control (which many other phones had by then), make it faster, and you have the iPhone 3Gs. Now we have the amazing iPhone 4, which in my opinion as stated earlier, is actually an upgrade.

Rape.

Like the video feature...come on. I don't believe for one second that the geniuses over at Apple's lab couldn't figure out how to put video recording on the freakin ORIGINAL iPhone. These guys are pioneers. They're always the first. But, they want the $$$, so they PLAN to just add that feature on later so they can make even MORE money off of you. Simple. (Like I said in my last post, "gotta get the dollas, baby!")

There's ALWAYS a new iPod, a new MacBook, a new iMac, a new whatever. It's just the way they do it. (rape). And it's always little, yet important shit. Like adding more gigs of memory, or making them faster while keeping the price the same. (rape).

And don't even get me started on the freakin iPad. They gave us an amazing super-portable labtop, an amazing phone that does absolutely EVERYTHING, and then gave us something in between. There is no need at ALL for an iPad, yet they're selling 1 every 3 seconds. 2 million in 2 months. (rape.) And think about this. That new amazing screen that the iPhone 4 has, the iPad doesn't. So look for a new one coming sooner than later. ;-)

They're only being released about 3 months apart. Is that long enough to develop THAT kind of amazing screen? Hmm...(rape.)

I'm not writing this to bash Apple, but to give my opinion. I love that company, I'd invest in their stock, and I buy their stuff. But I'm also AWARE of their evil ways. (and you should be too!)

...but like I said, I DON'T CARE. Because the stuff they make is awesome, to say the least.