2016: New Year, New hopes, New Life

TL;DR: Another New Years Post.

What can I say. This year has been hectic. So many things have happened to me to the point where I don't know what's going to happen between now and the summer. I have no idea where I'll be. I hope to be in a better place financially, and become grounded, since I have been recently uprooted. I'm reinventing my life. I've had the chance to ask myself what I needed to do to change myself for the better. I looked really deep into myself and I found ugly subconscious things that explained my past self. It explained my thinking, and it lead me to where I'm at today, and I'm so grateful for the experience because its making me a better person. But don't get it twisted. I'm not recanting anything I wrote in these blog entries. There's no way in hell I should be sorry or remorseful for any of it, and I will not let anybody tell me otherwise.

Now that I got that out of the way:

I'm glad for what I learned because it enables me to help others. My goal is to be able to break everything down in a way that anybody could understand as long as they learn, and actually think about what they are told regardless if was written by somebody with multiple academic accolades. I want to be able to clearly explain it to someone without said accolades and not have them miss a beat. Once I could effectively do that, then I will teach others (that is if I haven't already because I have no idea who is reading this blog or not).

However, I can't say I know all because that is impossible. I keep finding out new stuff everyday, and to be honest, that new stuff keeps me grounded and on my toes. I like it that way because once a person gets stagnant, then that's how a person becomes a "big fish in a little pond" which is also known as falling victim to supremacy. And I can't go out like that. Not after all I've been through.

Anyway, What do you have in store for the New Year? What have you learned in 2015?

Random Thought #9 On Blindingly Bright Optimisim

I know what you're thinking. You're probably thinking that I'm starting to falter a bit. Well, yes and no. Yes, because I've often wondered if people actually think that I just might be stupid for having such hope for Black people and the situation we're in.  Some of us are still marching, and still praying. Some of us even want to vote for Donald Trump after all of the fuckery we've been through. I've had the misfortune of speaking to one person who was a supporter of his, and one who seemed to let on like he was going to say he'd vote for him.  I couldn't let either one of them go. I've decided to make it my goal to wake them up.


I had been thinking about this for some time, and I've asked myself, "Am I doing too much and asking too much of  myself?  Am I doing the unthinkable? Am I straight up stupid for even trying to go there?  Am I too optimistic for trying to wake up people like this?"


I waffled with the following thoughts:

The Black folks who fall into this group range from the solitary Black employee of (insert any company) to college student, or any Black person registered to vote. Hell, as far as I'm concerned, I could be trying to wake up Clarence Thomas or Ben Carson themselves, and we know some of us see them fools look like they're so asleep that they might as well be flat-lined.


 It's like people are more interested in using Harriet Tubman's quote, “I freed a thousand slaves. I could have freed a thousand more if only they knew they were slaves.” just to provide themselves with the quick ability to throw away the Black person who just doesn't "get it".  


But that's the problem.  People are so quick to claim each other as "lost" that it seems like they're just itching to wash their hands clean of the so called "lost ones" and move on.  And that's not really moving on. That's wanting to be slathered in validation, which is something I can't get behind. So still I push on.  Again, am I stupid for doing so?  Am I opening myself to be hurt? Am I opening myself up to more stress?  Am I causing more damage to  my health?


I don't know. But I can say that it is a luxury to put my feelings before anything here. But my health is very important to me, so I've got to get it better. In order to do that, I've got to get my New Years goals in order as well.  I'm going to have to put all of my multitasking skills to the test, that's for sure. This means less sleep than before, which affects my health.


Do you see what I'm going through, LOL!


Anyway. I'm going to keep going. Nobody said this was going to be extra easy. Oh well. I'm already off to a good start. I've got to keep my head up despite how bleak things can look, and I hope you can too. 

Thanksgiving Post

Yeah. Thanksgiving. One of America's favorite holidays. It's where people have to endure their families, put on appearances, and avoid politics just so they could be guaranteed a spot at the next gathering.

To be honest, it's just a big exercise in phoniness while you're surrounded by food. That's it. People have asked me if I was doing anything for Thanksgiving. I've said the following in return:
"Why do I need to celebrate Thanksgiving? What is there to be thankful for as a Black person in America? We could die just going about our daily business and people expect us to be thankful? For what?! What kind of lunacy is that?

Anybody who says otherwise can kindly GET..(see photo below)

It's batshit crazy. Are we supposed to be thankful for being alive? Should those of us who are alive be thankful some rabid White terrorist didn't shoot us or beat us while protesting?  That sounds like some (to borrow the language from our beloved #WokeCommunity) 'slave foolishness'."

That's why I've been really happy about the backlash regarding the astoundingly hypocritical American reactions towards people not wanting to accept refugees or people perceived as "others"in reference towards Christmas as well as anti Thanksgiving related articles such as, 

Manning: Thanksgiving Myth Creates Fairytale of Land Theft, Betrayal, Genocide,

The Truth About Thanksgiving: What They Never Taught You in School


or what United American Indians call it, the "National Day of Mourning" , which is actually observed as such in Plymouth Mass.

All of the anti Thanksgiving articles, and memes that laugh at Americans refusing to accept Syrian refugees because of "ISIS" have given me life.

And I'll never ever forget this gem:


If there is  something to be thankful for, I'll thank those who are dedicated towards telling the entire truth and not letting their presence get erased. And no. That doesn't include White people because (let history tell it,) they destroyed, looted, pillaged, murdered, raped, stole,beat, and forced their way into everybody else's faces to the point of being considered the so called norm on their terms, and then threw violent, and or insufferable tantrums when people got tired of their shit. 


That is all.

Oh, and also Boycott Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas and any commerce driven holiday and put that money towards Black businesses.

Here's some links, names/websites of businesses, and a Google search result for you in order to get started*:

http://www.blackenterprise.com/lists/be-100s-2014

Some Etsy shop owners:
http://www.blacketsy.com

Beauty Supplies:
http://www.buzzfeed.com/arabellesicardi/blackout-beauty-friday#.lg0WkXvZ6

Black women owned online stores:
http://www.mycoloures.com/2014/12/30-black-woman-owned-online-stores-to.html?m=1

Black Business Network
http://www.blackbusinessnetwork.com/Home/

NOIMOA staple goods
http://noimoa.com/staple-goods-10-ordering-will-begin-november-1-2015/

Clothing:
http://www.blackownedclothing.com

Black Opal Cosmetics

Magnolia Cosmetics

Black Radiance

Iman Cosmetics

a blog

http://blackownedbusiness.me/

headwraps and clothing

100 Black-Owned Restaurants and Bars in New York City and Brooklyn

Sex shop

Organic hand made soaps and bath oils

Negash Apparel and Footwear

Skin and Hair products


 We've still got this. We can do it.
*No, none of these are mine, nor am I getting commission (I wish). I did this because it's necessary.

France, Syria, ISIS, etc

I had to wait on this one because I was so flustered. Well, maybe flustered was the wrong word. To tell you the truth, I can't condense my feelings into one word. I've had a combination of feelings ranging from depressed, angry irritated, giddy like a lunatic, anxious, sad, and reflective.

As you know, people have been upset about seeing Black people with the France flag over their profile pictures. I've had a few in my friends list. That list has been shortened quite a bit, but it doesn't do me any good because there are a lot of friends who have friends who have friends with that flag over their profile picture anyway, so if I truly wanted to delete it from my page, I'd have to get rid of facebook entirely. But since I need it for the nature of my work, I'd have to keep it up. 

Sigh.

But that's not all. Black people are really pissed at those who have that flag over their profile pictures.

That's completely understandable.

But what's really killing me is Black people worrying about the refugees. They say things like, "People swear you can only be concerned about one thing." or "Multitask, it can be done and it does not negate the hard work we must do to change our reality in America nor the compassion we should feel!"  <<<< -_-

 Here's why:

How are people going to be concerned about what's going on over there. Black people stand the chance of dying just by doing day to day activities, be it by cops or some deranged idiots threatening to shoot them while going to school, or a movie theatre, or while going anywhere. Somebody could call in a false call while we're shopping and POW! You life could be over because somebody called the police to say you had a gun when you didn't. And the caller could say they were "just messing around". 

I'm saying we need to work on what's going on in order to preserve our lives first, then we can think global. Americans have this drive that tells us that we really need to put everybody's situations above ours regardless if we stand the chance of dying. 

But if you notice, America will do whatever it takes to save themselves first and foremost. 

When a plane is crashing and the oxygen masks come down, the flight attendant tells you to use the mask first and then help the others. 

We stand the chance of dying. But we want to help others and be concerned for others before making sure we don't die first.   -_-


Let me say it again:
When a plane is crashing and the oxygen masks come down, the flight attendant tells you to use the mask first and then help the others. 

We stand the chance of dying. But we want to help others and be concerned for others before making sure we don't die first. 

Think about that for a second.

Does anybody see what I'm trying to say here?

Somebody brought up the idea of welcoming the Syrians because they feel they could make them into allies for the Black cause. But here's the thing:
Why are we constantly looking for others to "help" us? Why can't we do this on our own? It's clear that not many "others" in this country want to help us already. In fact, a lot of "others" are very anti- black. Whose to say that Syrians don't harbor any anti-blackness? And if they did, who would want to have to start all over in order to educate them and persuade them to do the right thing? We'd just be starting all over again and not working with what we have already. 

Yeah. Standing up against police brutality and oppression in America IS doing the right thing so we can live. I'm just saying we've got to secure our lives first before we do anything else. 

Besides, this is up to the American government to decide whether or not THEY want to receive refugees or not. What good does it do US? 

I ask them this:

What would you guys say if America actually did receive Syrian refugees. 

And the first thing they did was shit on Black people?

What would you say then? Would you act surprised? Would you pray for them some more? What would you do? And I'm dead serious with these questions. Dead. Serious.

As for me, I don't really care whether this country takes them in or not. I'd rather secure my life and not complain about the media about how every time something horrible happens to us, they don't portray us in a good light or downplay the incidents when they made it painfully obvious they fucking hate us and will show the world that we are to be hated every chance they get.

How many times do people need the media to tell them in so many words before they get the point? How many?

Another question I asked was:

Does anybody remember Hurricane Katrina? Do they remember how the media called all of the relocated Black people refugees? Do they remember how they were treated the entire way through? Does anybody remember the paraphrased respectability and morality rhetoric the media pushed while the people were dying? Do they remember how people were saying things like, "Well, they should have had hurricaine insurance. Why were they living there in the first place? Were they too lazy to work harder so they could get out of there? They were just too lazy to get out of there in the first place. Those people are always looking for handouts. I don't want them in my state! It's called responsibility folks!"

I remember that very well because I started a new job, and I was concerned about how Hurricane Katrina was handled, BUT I had enough sense to just sit back and listen to what people were saying so I could get a good feel about the workplace and the people in it. Somebody straight up said, "I don't care about those people. They should have had insurance."

Meanwhile, they themselves currently live in an area on an earthquake fault where the earthquake is overdue by five hundred years. And earthquake insurance is separate from regular home owner's insurance, and is also much more expensive to get.  -_-

Think about that.

As for me, I'm just going to watch people act crazy, get paranoid over ISIS and talk shit about how they aren't going to let refugees come over here, and how they're going to protect America. It's comedy. Pure comedy

Random thought #8: On Safe Spaces

We all know how there are safe spaces for domestic violence victims, folks who are LGBTQ, ex religious people, victims of child abuse/child molestation, sexual assault victims, etc right?

And we all know that the safe places are there to provide a space where they won't get shamed for being LGBTQ, harassed for leaving their religions, being abused/molested as children, or being shamed or harassed for being sexually assaulted, etc, right?

We know how anti LGBTQ, extremely religious people, child abusers/pedophiles and committers of sexual assault, etc aren't allowed in these groups, right? What would someone think if people of that caliber tried to enter those safe spaces for validation or infiltration purposes? What would those people look like if they tried to infiltrate said spaces?

Well. That's the exact reason why Black people seek safe spaces. They want to have a place where they don't get abused for existing, or letting their hair down. They want a space where they can talk about their experiences in the world they live in and exist. That is all. And when people go to those safe spaces for the sole reason of trying to infiltrate or be validated, then what kind of people are they?

Anyway, that's what I was thinking about lately.

On Constructive Criticism, Combativeness,and Learning

I've learned something. We must not get combative whenever another Black person is critical of another. The reason why is because we have to learn to know the difference between constructive criticism vs trying to start something. For example, if someone posts something that questions Black people's relationship with Jesus Christ, it doesn't mean they're trying to start something. It means they're trying to engage dialogue. However, if they posted something that was meant to castigate and throw stones at those who believe in Christianity and happen to be black in the form of " Hey Black people! (insert disparaging thing here followed up with insults)," someone counters that with a sensible comment, or a question, then I believe it should be looked at as a chance to bring dialogue as long as the conversation doesn't devolve into argument.  There is also a difference between asking a real question vs a fake one. For example, a fake question is "Why do Black people get BET and there is no WET... If I did something like that, I'd be racist".

VS a real question: It has become increasingly apparent that we won't exactly know who and what we're voting for because politicians have a tendency to "put their best face forward", so to speak. That being said,
Is there any way Black people could completely disengage from this current system we're stuck in if we should choose to?"


That being said, there are 2 definitions of the word "argument" (as cited by Google) since the word may be subjective depending on the person. :

1. an exchange of diverging or opposite views, typically a heated or angry one.
"I've had an argument with my father"
synonyms: quarrel, disagreement, squabble, fight, dispute, wrangle, clash, altercation, feud, contretemps, disputation, falling-out;  informal tiff, row, blowup, rhubarb; vulgar slangshitstorm
"he had an argument with Tony"

2. a reason or set of reasons given with the aim of persuading others that an action or idea is right or wrong.
"there is a strong argument for submitting a formal appeal"
synonyms: reasoning, justification, explanation, rationalization; case, defense, vindication; evidence, reasons, grounds; counter argument
"arguments for the existence of God"

Sure, the fake questions mentioned above would definitely fall into definition number 2, BUT the trick is knowing which are real and which are fake, and how the questions are framed. I believe one must need to know how to spot said questions and  respond accordingly.  In order to do so, I have gone to the African American or the Black People categories on Quora (a website where people can ask questions and get educated answers), and I found so many obviously fake questions that range from the ones mentioned above, to those littered with multiple syllabic vocabulary words.  Here are a few examples complete with like responses:


What are some good arguments against the idea that a pathological black culture is to blame for problems in the black community?


Which minority races enjoy affirmative action in the United States today? All non-whites or a selected few?

Why don't African-Americans find a better way to protest?

Why are black on black shootings not protested as much as police involved shootings?

Why do black people in the US get angry so quickly?

This approach could be used with media as well. For example, this Fox News video had been circulating around where Glenn Beck openly admitted that the founding fathers are indeed Black:

Note the sly implications in the video. They try to low key excuse themselves from the entire thing and then tell White people that today's Black people have no excuse for being bitter and not excelling in The States since the founding fathers were able to do so. They gloss over all of that while claiming Blacks adopt the "victim narrative," but they conveniently forget about all of the rules that were put in place in order to keep Black people in the perceived status: Please see the following: The One Drop Rule, Jim Crow, and everything that happened during the reconstruction. Some tactics include "whitecapping" which was the taking of Black farmers land and selling it to White farmers. It was essentially, the trail of tears for Blacks.  

This begs the following questions:

Why do the KKK still exist and why aren't they dealt with the same way we deal with so called terrorists in other countries?  Is it because "the losers" (as Glenn Beck put it) sought revenge against Black people after all and more of these uncovered pieces of history involving them  or no?  Is this why Black history was hidden and not taught in schools?  It seems to me that  ALLL of that was done because of manufactured supremacy.  That being said, focusing on "merit" might not work in their favor because that "merit" is rooted in manufactured supremacy. All of the laws put in place in order to keep supremacy alive means that so called "merit" wasn't earned. It was given. 

So what's to be done with that merit based on manufactured supremacy, perse?

And the fact they mentioned how those who speak Spanish are being intentionally kept (paraphrasing) from learning English and comparing it to modern day slave times without the whips was interesting. Modern day slavery could not be based on whether or not people learn English. They're solely speaking on assimilation as if that would magically fix things because if we all learned exactly what they're trying to say, they wouldn't like it at all. In fact, whenever we question them and or take charge, they'll be the first to balk and sully our names and character through various means. The video is another form of respectability politics and vouching for Republicans nestled snugly into some divulged truth they fancied themselves as so fortunate in giving to their audience and viewers that was neatly packaged with Fox News approved books to purchase. 

Think about that for a second.Honestly, all I could do is take everything in that video, laugh at the agenda and file it away in my mind because I think once we really hone our craft, while learning to recognise every meaning behind their words and actions, and moving accordingly, doing so might be something every Black person could use to train themselves to understand, see, and properly respond to foolishness in a complete and thorough manner on and offline.

We've got this.

Ferguson Church Burnings..A Few Questions

So far, there have been five churches in the Ferguson area that have been burned*, and they've declared that arson is the culprit.  That's a good thing, right? But most of the media has been silent on the matter. This doesn't exactly surprise me due to how the media has been as of lately, however I have a few questions:

Why don't these churches have security cameras? Churches are sprinkled throughout Black communities all across the country, but the ones that got burned don't seem to have any video footage of the folks who burned them. One would think that they would want their patrons and their buildings to be safe. However, I get the fact that churches are supposed to be open, sacred and safe on their own because of "Jesus" and whatnot, but these church burnings are proof that Jesus isn't really looking out for them like that. Now I can understand why the church buildings in the 50s and 60s not having any because they didn't actually have the technology for video cameras and such, but now? 

I know I sound like an asshole right now, but I'm serious. All that money devoted to Jesus and they don't have the ability to provide security for their buildings?! This raises a question I've been asking since 1992, when I was first invited (read as 'forced') to go to church as a kid:  Where is all of the money going? 

When I was going to church, I noticed some of these pastors and their wives show up to service decked out in stuff I know my family couldn't afford.  And some of these church members have to choose between Jesus, food, and medicine after all the bills are "caught up".  What kind of bullshit is that?!  They mean to tell me that the church can't help those members? After all of the money they gave, they can't extend a hand back to the people they serve?  No matter how you slice it, these are some serious and grave failings.  The church is supposed to serve the people. They're supposed to be able to help members who fall on hard times. They're supposed to care for the elderly, the sick, and alleviate impoverished conditions of the neighborhood in which they serve.  But no. Like many Christian organizations in the United States, they want to retrieve revenue, and lead people into giving it to them.  That being said, I don't exactly know the status of these particular churches, all I know is that none of them have presented any video evidence of the churches in the process of being burned.

I know what you're thinking... How can they show video if the building had been burned down? Well, there are many security options that would allow a person to view their property while away from the building. It could be viewed by using software on a computer, and they could be viewed using a cell phone. In fact many have services where you could log into a website designated for your security system and you could view the information any time, day or night. I wonder if anybody had anything like that set up, I mean after all that happened in the 50s and 60s, you'd think that would have been the route they would have taken in order to protect those particular Houses of God.

Now I understand what good comes out of the churches, and all churches aren't corrupt. And I know the majority of church members aren't using them for personal luxuries. BUT I'm just saying the churches should have some sort of video surveillance in order to make sure the churches continue to be safe havens for the people at the very least. As for me, I'll be waiting to see if there is any actual video footage. If not, then I can't really feel bad for the churches because they've bilked so many dollars from poor Black people only to finance themselves that I just don't have the energy to give a damn about the churches like that. If anything, this should cause a lot of Black people to drop out of Christianity all together because Jesus really isn't on their side if he doesn't want them to be safe, in good health, and spirit while worshiping him. I'm just saying...

*Update. The number of church burnings has increased to seven since this blog entry was written.

Random thought #7 I Don't Get Outraged Anymore

I keep seeing articles about how (insert Black person was treated/discriminated against/killed by cops/media slanting, etc) and I don't feel anything anymore. If anything, all of these situations tell me the following:

where not to buy from

where not to live

how we really need our own media outlets

how we need to change our standards regarding what makes a quality product/where my money should go

how we need our own schools so we could change our own learning requirements

how we need to stop looking for jobs through White controlled companies

so on and so forth.

I have learned the following. These "rage porn" articles only keep us angry and frazzled because as long as a people are angered and frazzled, we can only be reactionary. If we stay in reactionary mode, nothing could get done in an organized fashion. Real change can't happen. All we'll keep doing is the same thing that has proven ineffective. We need to look at this in a logical manner and apply our tactics as such.

Don't get me wrong. We have every right to be angry, but what good is straight and constant anger going to do for us? It only baits us into behaving accordingly. I could see why people choose to look away from all of this. It is exhausting,  infuriating, depressing and dehumanizing all around.

However, I don't want people to keep their head out of it. I mean that it inspires me to find solutions in order to counter all of the bad, such as learning to keep your money and spend it where it counts,watching what you've learned and knowing how to constructively teach those lessons. Changing standards regarding what we've been taught and how to re-direct what mainstream has suggested.

I seriously believe we've got this, and this is just the beginning. The future is blindingly bright for us, and they know it, which is why they spend so much time worrying about us.

We are doing beautiful things. All of us.


We've got to keep going.

#JusticeOrElse- The Good, The Bad and everything in between #FergusonTaughtMe

I know what you're thinking. Here come this Negro ready to hate on all this Unity without having a plan their damn self.  

I understand that sentiment.

However, I am not that Negro. I like the idea of Black people coming together no matter which way. That's a good thing. BUT in the past, I've noticed these mass methods of coming together (as in being present and accounted for via marches,commissions, and groups,etc) can result in infiltration. And nothing's easier to infiltrate more than marches. Just look at the Civil Rights Movements, Occupy, Black Lives Matter, Ferguson and the current police brutality themed marches out there at this current moment.   But the key difference lies in our current access to technology. It's easier to start a movement, gain momentum, and make things better. But it's also easier for people to infiltrate with the click of a button.

As someone who has been active during all of this police brutality mess, I have seen what it looks like. I know how people move try to gain influence. I've mentioned several of the different ways throughout this blog. BUT there is one specific thing that I haven't really touched on. 

Apparently, people are texting "unity" to 99000 in order to follow the #JusticeOrElse movement.

Let me repeat that. "People are texting "unity" to 99000 in order to follow the #JusticeOrElse movement."

Now to the average person, it looks like an attempt at solidarity and networking. But to the infiltrator, it's a paper trail. It could be used to tap into people's phone calls and keep track of them and what they are doing. Take a look at what happened with Ferguson. People were signing up to receive the Darren Wilson verdict before the rest of the people were to receive it. They were joining commissions and were putting their faces out there. Look at how many people have been arrested since then. They've started watching Black people more than before, to the point where a woman claiming she was a Black Lives Matter activist was arrested for threatening to kill White people on youtube. Please note where the author credits a website called No Thiefs Allowed for turning her in to the FBI at the end of the article.

These people have dedicated time, effort and money into investigating us. Please check out the following screenshot where several people from Ferguson were arrested and their records have been compiled:  The source is from a website called "random topics" dot org, which appears to be in working in conjunction with No thiefs dot com. Please pay attention to all of the case numbers and files they have. This means they have access to police records and are archiving them for their own purposes.

Page 2  from Random Topics even shows they have access to mail coming from other people, in particular, Heather DeMian from Ferguson*. Please note the very first image is a letter from the Ferguson County Clerk named, Christine  Lanfersieck.  <<Click the archived link for a closer look. 

I'm telling you... They aren't playing around. They are watching us. When I say "they" I'm not just including the random person. They have contacts with the FBI (as seen with Eye Empress's situation) as well as local politicians. Not only that, it is possible they've contacted Eric Holder, which could explain why the DOJ report only focused on traffic tickets and not the rampant corruption in the region.

You're probably thinking that this is nothing new. They've been watching us forever. Yes they have, and there isn't much we could do to stop them. BUT we can't keep marching like this.

We gave their airline and travel companies our money to finance the travel to Washington DC

We booked reservations in their hotels.

We spent good money in their establishments in order to "demand" justice or else we'll stop spending our money with them.

|Let me say that again.  We spent good money in their establishments in order to demand justice or else we'll stop spending our money with them.

This took place after we gave it to them -_-

We've been "demanding" justice since the Civil Rights movement.

We flocked to Washington DC to hear Louis Farrakhan speak to us again. This could have been done without financing flight and bus rides. This should have been done using our own media outlets. I believe we should continue creating and building among each other as we have been doing. These mass conference calls through their companies which are designed to handle said calls (who knows if people could have these lines tapped) , and these get togethers are tired. And expensive, and costly to the psyche as well as our well being. It's as if we are marching right back into the system at every turn.  And the interesting thing is that even though Louis Farrakhan is correct on a lot of things, he also subscribes to respectability politics and supremacy. Supremacy and respectability politics are killing us. 

As for me. I've been building. I've also marched and I've come to a conclusion on the purpose of marching and why.  Please don't get me wrong. Marching and gathering in large public groups raises awareness to a certain point. That's it. After awareness is raised, something else should be brought to the table. Something different.  Marching is looking like the elixir that soothes the elderly and "God fearing" right now. It gets the elderly and those subscribing to supremacy to sit down somewhere by giving them jobs or something to do within a framework that was never designed for us in the first place (which is exactly what the Civil Rights movement did for some people). And adding your personal information to these things is not okay. That means we should always see subscriptions from outside sources and anything required to put our personal information into something as a red flag. This is not limited to reserving a flight, bus ticket , hotel accommodation and/or car rental to a high profile event that's being watched and viewed as terrorist activity with such intensity like this.

That being said, I am not trying to shame people for marching. I'm just trying to say that marching alone doesn't cut it. At least some of us should be doing other things like creating our own (insert empowering,uplifting thing here) and the intent should benefit US and only us because if we don't do that, then we will never have any power. We'll just be begging those who have no real interest in us for it. And marching alone actually takes us away from doing what we need to do by occupying precious time (and money) that could be used to further our causes when the funds could have been re-located to the outlets we've already started and are working to maintain. That's it.

TL;DR   Watch what you say on the internet. Watch what you do, and watch what they do. Keep grinding and do what you do with finesse. Make it foolproof and airtight. They are waiting with baited breath for you to slip up. They are itching to lock you up for anything and everything. And they are not above infiltrating your attempts to better yourself and your people. They killed Sandra Bland for being "uppity" and the whole 'thief' narrative is used to justify our deaths by the hands of the various branches of highly influential people they keep in touch with. They will not rest until everybody involved in wanting accountability for the corruption in St. Louis (as well as the rest of the country) is locked up and or killed for attempting to 'destroy our American way of life' (as noted in the mission statement of no thiefs dot com) ).

You have every right to be angry. But anger alone keeps us running and vulnerable. We have to learn and stay focused. Why do you think they spend so much time, effort and money into keeping us in the place they designated for us? They do it because they fear of losing their "American way of life." And what is their American way of life might I ask?  Supremacy. Supremacy is their way of life and it is threatened. If they could lock us all up, they will definitely try.

Stay safe. And please. Find a counsellor and or someone to speak to that has your best interests in mind. Don't listen to anybody who tries to trip you up in some foolishness. Eye Empress and Palmetto Star didn't get that, and it caused them to get caught up. Don't let anger manipulate you anymore. Swallow your pride and talk to someone so you can get that anger out of the way so you can make (or continue to make) something beautiful.

*updated and edited:   the picture of the document was taken by Heather to prove lies about not showing up to court.

Recovery and Healing

If you've read up to this point, then congratulations! You've made it.  That being said, I feel like I need to issue a disclaimer for you, because I get it:

I know what you're thinking. After reading my last few posts, you're probably mad. That's good, but not in a "fuck yo feelings" kind of way. It's good because you see what I'm talking about. The writing is on the wall, and you're mad about it.  I want you to know there's nothing wrong with being mad right now. Being mad is a normal response. I should know. But I must warn you further. If you are Black,or any person of color for that matter,  you will gradually experience several strong emotions. You will feel anxious, you will be nervous, you won't be able to sleep, you will have panic attacks. You won't be able to breathe. You will have nightmares. You will become nauseated. You will lash out at people closest to you.  Your head will hurt. Why? Because once you start to really think about it, you won't know which way is up. While I was compiling all of my research into this, I experienced all of those emotions. I also became very suspicious of the people around me. I became suspicious of their motives and I watched exactly what they said and how they said it. 

But here's the good news. You'll be able to see all of the fuckery. You will see each and every bit of it. You will be able to tell people how to get the fuck outta here with that mess. You will be able to teach them how to get the fuck outta here. You will find out that any White person who continues the fuckery will have no credibility whatsoever, and it is not your responsibility to teach them shit. In fact, many, many White people will lose all of their credibility. And you can call them on each and every bit of it if you should choose to engage with them after all of this. 

Consequently, this will make White people mad. They'll be mad in two ways: They will question their identity. Some will continue with the narrative because, "Can't no nigger tell them, NO!" (said in so many words).  They will get what they will get. They will bitch, and whine and be mad at you because the jig is all the way up but can't nobody tell them shit, and all of my posts as well as what they have done all across the entire world proves it!

Now if you're White and you take this blog and think it means "kill whitey" then I don't know what to tell you. Actually, I change my mind. I know what to tell you: Your basic reading comprehension skills are shit, and you're dry snitching on yourselves. You think Pro Blackness means Anti-White, and that's not our thing. That's yours. You own that narrative and have shown it time and time again through various media outlets, and devious methods. And you will kill anybody to preserve that bullshit. You're the spin doctors of racism and you accuse everyone else as race baiting. Pro White looks like this when White people talk to everybody else:

You're all scum! White power! Here's why (insert race based statistics and tales of White victimhood )
Everyone else:  We disagree!
White people: OMG WHY ARE YOU SO RACIST! IF I SAID WHITE POWER,THEN I'D BE RACIST. YOU GUYS ARE TAKING AWAY MY FREE SPEECH!!
Everyone else: Well, you did tell your story the way you wanted to tell it all the while pointing to yourselves and making yourselves to be the default everywhere you went. You did oversee and insert yourselves everywhere you could, especially through violence, be it physical or mental, through extortion, racketeering, and looting,up to and including murder, and you've done it to entire tribes under your own confirmed social construct. And if you're reading this blog in the first place, that's proof of your desire to oversee everything we do and insert yourself into it. That's kinda your thing, so keep owning it. No free speech was taken. There's no turning back. You've recorded hundreds of years of proof of your own legacy.  Donald Trump's popularity during his presidential run in 2016 is today's testament to all of that.
White people: But Bernie...
Everyone else: Progressives play progressive, but refuse to acknowledge race because colorblind. Progressive means cultural appropriation. OR it means, "I supported MLK" as if MLK equals Black people, and his legacy is their buzzword. And why is it that people who claim to be progressive don't really like Black people they just want to own something? In Bernie's case, he wants to own votes. Because that's what politicians try to do. They try to own votes and in their eyes,we are nothing but.
White people: But dialogue and education.
Everyone else: But bullshit!   Bullshit! , Bullshit!
White people: Solution?
Everyone else: Your reading comprehension skills are still shit because you didn't even read this fully. 

The end.

Black people:

Look at our struggle. Look at all of it. Look at how you've survived. Yes, much blood has been spilled, but you made it. We have lost friends, we have lost family. We're used to losing,in some way, shape or form but you made it through. And you can tell your stories through your own lens using your own media formats. We don't need the involvement or approval of White people to do so. We've been doing it, but we've been looking through the wrong lens. We've been looking at Lot A the whole time without even knowing it, be it watching awards shows and being mad because your actor or artist didn't get the award, or the praises when someone is getting accepted to do anything at Yale or any IVY league institution, and everything in between. We've been "thinking global" in the same ways White people look at climate change and saving animals. We've stayed scattered in our thinking (which is not bad, but one must organize it in order to form something concrete). We stayed hidden long enough, and we shall surface, and that surfacing is a part of the recovery. 

So:

Handle your emotions, make sure you use the 10 Black Commandments when it comes to dealing with people who look like you, and situations you come across. Examine your role in this supremacy shit. Feel angry, sad, start sweating and trembling, shake it off. You might even cry. All of it is okay. This is normal, and anybody who says there is something wrong with you for doing so will be someone to be heavily watched, and if they look like you, teach them otherwise.  I know you can do it. Remember being 'woke'  is a long haul thing. Once you're in, that's it. There's no turning back.

View the following entries:
Black Survival part 1.

Part 2:

Part 3: 

Then jump back and kiss yourself every once in a while. Kiss your people. This is the most important part. We've dealt with so much from everywhere. We owe it to ourselves, but we must remember not to parrot supremacy and know what it is in all forms. Because again. That's theirs. Not ours. They gave it to us in the form of "respectability politics" and we have to reject ALLLLLLL of it in every way, shape and form. Look at all of the ways you'd like to seek out Lot A. Remember what it means, and then slap yourself when you catch yourself looking for it, recognize what you did and work at stopping it. You'll see yourself laughing at a lot of stuff in between all of the sweat, the anger, and ill feelings. Not laughing out of spite or ugliness, but laughing about the extent of the fuckery, and why it was implemented in the first place. And just remember: If they genuinely wanted things to be different, they shouldn't have fucked with us all throughout the Reconstruction after the slaves were freed. I mean, (let them tell it) if they want to go all the way back, they shouldn't have been so lazy that they brought Black people to various parts of the world just to do the work they didn't want to do because money. America could have been better, but nah. They were to busy playing.  And you will see how hilarious this laziness really is. 

Keep pushing on, y'all. Keep pushing on. We are our own support group. All of us. We've got this.

Recovery and Healing part 2: How

We must remember, they are the ones who dictate all trends and fashions. They try to appeal to US in order to get us to part with our money. They create an artificial value on all of their things in order to get us to buy them:

That Michael Kors bag? Worthless. 

Diamonds? Worthless.
Those shoes? Worthless.

Those viral videos telling us about the new musical sensation? Worthless. 

All things required to achieve mainstream appeal? Worthless.

Etc...You get the point.

We are doing this right now. We have spent a lot of money with Black businesses these past two years, and that's wonderful. We've done it consistently. And that's a beautiful thing.

We have to drop these mainstream standards and create our own. All of these are respectability politics in one way, shape or form. We have to look deeper. All that "glitters" is not gold. And that's one of the sayings they use to tell us what's good. And the real question is "What's good?" Nikki Minaj told us that, but some of us were looking at her package through supremacist eyes.  

I'm not mad at anybody for doing so, nor do I think I'm better than anybody for recognizing what I saw. I can not stress that enough. We can't help it.  I said separating oneself from the supremacy is going to be hard. But it is necessary. I'm still learning, and I know I am not perfect. I am conditioned in ways I haven't even begun to figure out. As far as I know, I might have just scratched the surface because each day, I find out something new. We have to accept the fact that we are not better or worse than anybody else regardless of economic situation, appearance, "intelligence", etc. I've been surprised by homeless people, by prostitutes, rich people, drug addicts, thugs, so called middle class,and poor people throughout every way possible. We as Black people are all in the same boat, or barrel, as the saying goes (Crabs in a barrel).  We know who built the barrel. We must go ahead and leave it. I know we can. We've got this. As I said, once we understand supremacy, all we have to do is jump out of it.  The easiest way to jump from it is through your mind. But you have to know what you're reading, and what you're learning, and how to learn and apply it first. I'm not saying disregard your degree from a primarily White institution because of "tricknology". Go ahead and keep that. You've earned it. You worked hard for that, and hard work should be recognised as such, no matter where it came from. But I'm saying reevaluate yourself, and mold yourself into something that doesn't engage in supremacy.  There will be no shaming about how you receive your education, be it by running the streets, trade or community college, online or brick and mortar four year university. All education is good education and I believe the sooner we recognise it, the better we will be. 

Again. We have to define what's good, and not use their standards as the benchmark because each time we've done so, we got burned.

The second way to jump out of it is through action. Again, this goes back to kissing yourself, but catching yourself in the act is the real trick. You won't see it, but when you do, you'll be mad.

And that's still okay. It's part of the process. You will be mad over and over and over again. But as long as we keep looking forward,acting with our money, and creating our own standards,we will be able to fully disengage. 

That's how.

Supremacy: Our Role and How We Play Along

I've gone in on respectability politics in several blog entries. I mentioned what respectability politics look like in detail (See the Key and Peele skit under number 3 in this link), but I never went in on what they are and where they come from.

That answer is in the title, and I'll tell you what it looks like. I already touched on what it looks like in the form of teaching:

Because they want to be the teacher in some cases, but don't want to learn anything new. They want to be the all knowing one, but won't expand on it at times. I think those are the people I have the most trouble with. I think we need to learn to teach each other instead of going for the student/teacher role, which I feel may be a bit Eurocentric at best, because some of those who use that model will find a way to talk down to people they don't think that fit the description of awake. They look at those who aren't awake as "sheep" or "lesser than" and it shows in their teachings . That outlook is essentially enforcing Supremacy once a person gets right down to it because they want to reach down from their podium or pedestal and give to those they feel are "lesser" than them.

And the self proclaimed teachers aren't willing to accept questions raised by the pupils, should they decide to ask questions in the first place. It's like they just want the pupil to absorb information and agree with them for fear of making the teacher feel or look dumb because the pupil forced them to think as well. As a result, the teacher gets irritated with the student, and says something mean. They might cuss them out. As a result, nobody learns. The teacher thinks the pupils are dumb, and the student is left feeling like, "Fuck all of this. I'm through." And they tune out. Or should I say "drop out".

And respectability.  This is why so called "conscious" folks will be quick to call other people "coons" if they parrot something they think that sounds like enforcing White supremacy, but will neglect to recognize supremacy within themselves.

If you listen real close, or read closely (in this case) some of what they say sounds like the stuff rich White republicans will say when it comes to women. They're fine with throwing women under the bus, but will discount that Black women have stood up for Black men in every instance, even in the Civil rights movement up until current times. Whole movements have been pushed to the forefront in order to tell people that Black men are not a monolith to the point of creating Youtube videos, but there are entire Youtube channels created by Black men that are devoted to shaming Black women and throwing them under the bus.  

Sandra Bland died by the hands of police brutality and she was a BLM supporter, but Black men were saying that she had an attitude. Nobody could pony up five hundred dollars to make bail for her in the first place, but she DIED in the jail cell because of it. They might as well have said, "She was too uppity."

In fact, during the Civil Rights movement, there was a person by the name of Claudette Colvins who was the first to deny her seat to a White person in the south. But because she didn't fit the respectability narrative, she was ignored after it was brought to the Civil Rights leaders of that era. Since Rosa Parks fit the narrative, she was the one who sparked the bus boycott. 

I've also seen posts of men complaining about Black women being the breadwinners in relationships. Somebody actually said that Black women are taking all of the jobs, and should be married and raising families, as if they actually believe the filth being slung about Black women is truth.

So let me get this straight. The problem is that the Black women are successful? That's the problem? One would think there would be no problem because I've seen many,many posts about Black men graduating college, inventing new procedures, and all kinds of accomplishments, but when it comes time for Black women to do a bit of shining, all of a sudden they should be raising families?!   Really? -_- 

And then when someone voices their concern about some things pertaining to Black men, somebody comes out of the woodwork to say "#NotAllMen" , which is the same as saying, "#NotAllWhitePeople" as if that needed to be said in the first place. It's the equivalent to saying #AllLivesMatter in response to #BlackLivesMatter. 

And when the issue is brought up, here comes the "What about us? What are you going to do for us?" Which looks like the following, " Heeeey!, White people die by the hands of police too. Where's our rally?" As if it is Black people's (or women's) job to organize a rally just so you don't have to feel left out. Start your own. Figure out what's wrong and go for it, and the people will come, or in this instance, figure out what's wrong and fix your own shit.  

But they left Sandra Bland high and dry, called her "uppity." ,which leads me into the next example:

If a woman doesn't wear enough clothes, you get this: 

and if she does, she gets this. Please read the caption under the pic to see what I'm talking about:



Sometimes, it seems a lot of Black men stay talking shit about women. It doesn't matter what we do. If we did do all they asked us to do, then they'd still complain. They'd say we think were 'too good' or 'not ghetto enough' (Yes. Unfortunately I've heard the second one before.). One of those instances is shaming a woman for enjoying sex, but they say they want a freak in the sheets and a lady in the street. Do they know that in order to become a freak in the sheets, one has to gain experience by having sex?

And we can't forget the complicity of folks who defended Rachael Dolezal, and how nobody brought up her husband's stake in the entire thing.  Here's an excerpt of the blog where I mentioned those who allowed this as well as those who ignored it:

The same people who defend her are the same ones who:

1. Believe that those were Michael Jackson's biological kids.
2. Gave such a pass to Bill Clinton because he "got head" under the desk of his White House office while he was president.
3. Let their White and other non Black friends say "Nigga" because they were the ones who gave them permission.
4. Didn't feel "Black enough" in the first place because other kids called them "sell out", "oreo", etc "because smart equals 'wanna be White'."
5. Married a light skinned person in hopes their children wouldn't be dark skinned like themselves.
6. Have a complex about Black women, but have voiced it through various negative behaviors towards them.
7. The ones who want to be accepted so bad by White people that they use the "black on the inside" argument to appease them.
8. The ones who secretly believe that White women are fragile and need to be coddled, cared for and protected.

     9. The ones who are afraid of White backlash against them. (job, etc)

... They want to compare her with Black women wearing blonde weave, skin bleaching, and straightening their hair. But this argument goes back to how they didn't fabricate entire racial identities to live lives as White people, nor did they fabricate hate crimes.

And that last bit was actually used as a legitimate argument as if they were making a valid point.

What is the root cause you ask? Here it is:

I think they battle between wanting to be seen as men, and Black men, so they adopt supremacy to the point of throwing black women under the bus. But only when they just want to be seen as men...like they want to put their color down just to be accepted. I see that attitude in corporate settings especially. 

And Black women do this to men as well. I see it in those "bitches and niggas be like" posts. I hear it whenever they describe somebody as "rachet" or "basic".  I hear it whenever they critique someone's appearance. I'll share with you a piece I wrote in a very early blog entry pertaining to this idea and you'll see how it works with supremacy. Fair warning, this entry is not as structured as the blogs have been lately. I was new to blogging and the main goal was to get these thoughts out of my head and in print. It basically goes into detail on how America loves to ascribe ratchetness to Black people, when the country itself was founded on being proud of ratchetness:

First, lets take a look at some of the various definitions of the word, "ratchet".  I was under the impression that it came from a rapper by the name of Hurricaine Chris back in 2009, but I found no actual definitions that traced it back to him even though that's where I thought I first heard the term.  However, I did find two interesting  definitions, listed on a blog which explored where the writer thought it came from. The blogger mentions that it may be possible that the first use of the word came from a character in the book "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". The character's name was "Nurse Ratchet". For those who hadn't read the book or need their memory refreshed, Nurse Ratchet was described as not a very nice woman. She was cold, calculating, manipulative, and controlling especially when things didn't go her way.  Some may go out of their way to describe her as a "bitch" but I'll get to that term a bit later.

The second idea the blogger had was that it came from the word "wretched", which can be described as deplorably bad , miserable or distressing.  It seems that the author was on to something here.

I looked a bit further and I couldn't help but start to see a pattern. Urban Dictionary.Com, Ny Mag.com, YahooAnswers, all imply that ratchet is a term meant to be applied to "ghetto",or "urban" people,(read Black people) in particular.  When I saw that, I said, "Get the fuck outta here!". One must not simply deem a whole section of people as "ratchet" just because the term was heard in a couple of songs by a particular group of people within said group who coined the term to describe generally tacky behavior. If all Black people are ratchet based on that, what does that make everyone else?  The real difference is what each sub culture calls this type of behavior, and how it is presented. For example, many movies have been centered around that behavior. Some television shows often have mean girls (or women in this case) nicely tucked into the story to keep things going.  In these cases, we are likely to watch these kinds of shows and are quick to give the character with ratchet behavior the title of "bitch" if she's a woman, or "mean girl" if she's not classified as a woman yet. Do we go around and label all women in the subculture represented here as ratchet ass females, or ratchet hoes? No, they get to be called mean girls, or bitches. And what about the guys? If they are ratchet, we call them douchebags, assholes,dicks (see 2nd definition) or alpha males. Don't front like this behavior is not celebrated in America by one sub culture of people verses the majority.  Not taking the time to look at both sides of the coin in attempts to demonize an entire culture is ratchet in itself.  America as a whole LOVES that crap. Why do some people reward this behavior? Why does the ratchet person get rooted for in the movies by some people? Why are people getting rewarded with the chance to be on a reality tv show with the promise of fame and money as long as they act as sorry as possible?  Why do we have ratchet cartoons? I can't act like I'm not guilty of enjoying a bit of ratchetness, in fact, that cartoon I listed is something I watch in small doses when I'm in the mood. Others watch Family Guy, South Park (which has some good social commentary sometimes), and many more. I just find it very interesting when Black people came up with the term, all of a sudden, all Black people get assigned to being ratchet.  Get the fuck outta here with that.

Not only can ratchet behavior be celebrated on TV, but it is also lauded as a sign of leadership in some circles (hence the alpha male title).  I already mentioned the Washington Post article  about what happens when mean girls grow up. The article also points out ratchetness in the work place and how the behavior may not necessarily be a bad thing. Let's be honest, we have all had a boss or co workers (male or female) who acted crazy from time to time. That behavior may include passive aggressiveness, snarkiness disguised as sarcasm,general bitchiness, and quite possibly verbal abuse. Last time I checked, that kind of behavior makes for a caustic workplace environment, and yet, some people can still get ahead using those tactics and are seen as straight forward, assertive and bold.

Maybe it really isn't like that for some people. Maybe we can blame their ratchet behavior on genes rather than poor parenting. Maybe they had O.D.D as kids and didn't grow out of it. Maybe we can come up with all kinds of euphemisms to describe otherwise tasteless behavior while ignoring the fact that it exists in this country. This way, we can sit on our high horses and call every Black person ratchet all day and every day while turning a blind eye to The Dunkin' Doughnuts incident sort of thing, this lady going batshit crazy over Obama's re election, the Huntington Beach Riots, the entire cast of Jersey Shore, Lindsy Lohan, Cory Monteith's death, and Heath Ledger's death. But waaaait. Celebrities don't coooouuunnnt. They're entertaaaaainers, and some of them are troooooubled. It's really haaaard to be a star. They have so much pressure put on them and some handle it better than others.  <<Get the fuck outta here and tell that to Whitney Houston especially after reading all of the comments on any article pertaining to her eventual death after the discovery of her drug use that was strewn all across the internet. Let Amy Winehouse know about it also. I guess she was different since people judged her anyway because she was White and from the UK. I just never heard anybody refer to her as ratchet.

By now, you're probably asking, "What's the reason why Black women talk that shit? There are two reasons :

Supremacy (read as, "Gotta get that Lot A slot on them other bitches and hoes by any means necessary."). 

And they're just plain tired. (Read as "That's why them niggas ain't shit")*. 

But that's just my interpretation of the situation.

* Added disclaimer. Those are not my views, but interpretations. I would not disrespect Black men in any instance in order to further my agenda. I see that attitude as more supremacy. Again, that's not US. That's THEM. I advocate that we don't copy them. That's all.