Taking Back Martin Luther King Jr's Legacy

Every time January 18th comes around, I often wonder what kind of Black shaming articles will surface, and to what degree will they be spread throughout the internet.

Now to the majority, this will be another year where we endure the money draped gossip spread against us through a person many of us have revered.
This year is different. I am compelled to discuss how we were effective in taking back his legacy.

During the aftermath surrounding Mike Brown's shooting in Ferguson, we endured people using MLK's legacy from people trying to shame us into behaving how they thought we should behave. If a person wasn't careful in recognizing this pattern, one would believe that would have been the point of celebrating Martin Luther King's legacy to the point where white nationalists have gone so far as to buy a domain geared solely for the demonization of Martin Luther King and his legacy.  Even after the website in question had been outed as an illegitimate source, they will still take their time trying to defame him.  But not anymore. During the unrest in Ferguson,  so many people clapped back with his quote "A riot is the language of the unheard" to the point where articles like this one was created, claiming that his image has been corrupted by social media.

Even though his legacy is still undergoing attempts at being tarnished by those who are anti Black, it has become evident that people are still neglecting the reasons why he had to protest in the first place. 

This lead me to believe the same people who decry the corruption of his legacy by social media are the same ones who failed to recognize the cause of the violence in Ferguson. 

These are the same people who believe the turbulence happened out of the clear blue. These are the same people who thought everything was fine until "they" brought up race. 

These are the same people who view themselves and people who look like them as innocent and could do no wrong.  

These are the same people who glossed over the violence of White people during Martin Luther King's peaceful protests.  

Long story short, if the documented violence of the state and the violence of White people past and present didn't exist, Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and many other noted Black activists would not have needed to protest because the issues would have been non existent. 

And the Ferguson unrest would have not happened because the environment there, and many other places in the United States would not have taken place. 

And that is what Martin Luther King really meant when he said that non violence would be the greatest weapon of the Negro. Because all of the violence that White people had inflicted upon them past and present would be glaringly strong. And it is strong, but many of us haven't been looking at it from a different angle due to justified anger and frustration of the whole thing.  (Please remember I'm not saying roll over and take that violence that has been given to us.I'm just saying they'll never be able to use his legacy against us again because the evidence regarding White violence is all there.)

After seeing this and making all of the pieces of the past fit with the present, I came to this conclusion:

Martin Luther King to anti Black people is like Jesus for conservative politicians. They like the idea of him, but don't actually advocate for the things he actually said or taught and would more than likely hate the actual person.

That being said, Happy Martin Luther King day. Take this time to celebrate any way you see fit. And also, please remember to financially boycott that day, and re-divert your dollars to Black owned businesses. 

And remember. Watch this video and pay special attention to what Martin Luther King says at the 3:15 mark. Aside from Martin Luther King dressing 'properly' and being non violent, this is why it won't keep you from getting arrested or murdered. I see you, RZA.

I Don't Understand Why (insert racist thing) is Racist, Why don't You Clue Me In? < Are you for real?

 0_____O < Insert giant side eye here.  Here's why:

Every so often, a White person will ask this question in some way shape or form, and they never cease to amaze me. I decided I'd write a default response:

I think it's crazy for Black people to have to be their teachers on this subject. Why do we need to teach grown ass adults about how to act around different people and races? This is something they should be conscious of. They are the ones who spread the idea that America is a melting pot and that we should all get along. It is up to them to act like they have some sense, and learn on their own. They can google everything under the sun, so why is it that when something racist pops up they want to ask us what the problem is? Did their google ninja skills all of a sudden fail to function? Are their fingers broke? I think not. They need to be accountable for their actions, and stop using other races as a scapegoat for their fuck ups (for lack of a better phrase). That means no more saying things like, "But my Black friend said..." or" I'm 1/16th Cherokee" or "Why do Black people get to ..." and so on and so forth. Stop the foolishness and be accountable for their actions and stay out of Black folks's business (I'm looking at those who always want to say, "But black on black crime....but statistics, but numbers..." and other various talking points and confirmation bias based data, they may want to present to state their so called case. And stop with that oh so convenient, "But we're all American" mess, when they sit up there and want to talk about "Black on Black crime, but never refer to crime committed by Whites as "White on White crime" because then and only then crime is treated as a default or American problem", and crime by Blacks is some mystical phenomenon that must be shamed ,scrutinized, and looked at with disdain. Stop following up with paternalistic tripe whenever pretending to open up dialogue pertaining to Black issues. Long story short, we are not their teachers, and we can't expect them to learn anything about us and how things are when they can't even begin to accept the what when where why and how things got to be the way they are. They better read some books, use their google fu and do real research instead of coming up with voyeuristic things to stroke their own ego and confirm their biases and for gods sake take responsibility instead of blaming everybody else and telling them stuff like "get over it" or "everyone doesn't have the same opinion as you" after they don't like what is said when their questions are answered.

Usually, the response goes:  That's bullshit and you know it. You're racist and you people are impossible. You should be thankful you're brought into this country. It's the best country for your people, and if you don't like it, you should go back to Africa. I'm sure they'd take you.

Really?  Really. Are you sure you want to take the argument there? Naw, I take that back. I read this article that eloquently explains what White America has been feeling as of late. The title leaves much to be desired, but they wrote nothing but truth. For those who don't really like to read and want the TL;DR version of the article in question, I'd like to say : GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT!  Reading is something that is required  when a person has a computer or tries to communicate by using one. People have time to look up things like "What Does The Fox Say?", and shit like this  but don't have time to find out the answers to their questions?!  That's very telling indeed.  If one is actually willing to seek that knowledge, they will do what it takes to learn it, but I'll go ahead and humor folks and post the short version:

Long story short,  they refuse to recognize the accountability of their great grandparents for losing the farms, or making it so minorities would end up taking their jobs, I mean, that's what they voted for, and because of the treatment of Blacks by their ancestors for so long, the so called minority would probably be of no threat to them because they would be doing their own thing away from Whites. But no, they had to keep those Blacks under their thumb by any means necessary, and now things are the way they are because of that. I'm going to say that maybe they should have educated themselves and voted accordingly instead of voting based on party. Maybe they should have read their contracts carefully before signing up for those loans. Maybe they should have worked harder to pay them off. No one told them to take the shortcut and sell their land to pay off the debt. It's called fiscal responsibility and accountability folks! The rest of us are fiscally responsible and are accountable for what we spend and what we do, so why do they think they can get a pass? Plus the media who happens to be controlled by people like them were also telling everybody that having 2.5 kids was the "ideal' for the American family while others were making babies. This unsolicited advice was given for a very long time, I might add, so it isn't our fault that they blindly followed it. Now they are in the minority, so what do they think would happen next over a couple of years? They can't blame other minorities for their loss in income. They need to take a good hard look in the mirror, and look at what their actions have caused them over the years. 

That being said, They ought to face it, America is the country where they can exercise their freedoms more than every other country and they pay the least amount of taxes when compared to those in the European union. And since the Native Americans were there first in the US, newsflash, Whites don't own it, as much as they want to think they do and cry about what they see themselves entitled to.  If they don't like it they can leave or just shut up and deal with it. /s

What? they mad? To be continued...

“South Side” Woman Writes Martin Luther King Inspired Letter To White Republicans- Someone Please Call 9-11 (In My Wyclef Jean voice)

Something told me that sooner or later all of the fools would flock to the internet to take their stabs at Blacks after the commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.   I just wondered how long it would actually take. I began to imagine how many so called "well rounded" White people have decided to replay that infamous Boondocks episode where MLK came out of his coma so they could wait with baited breath to hear him cuss out Black people just like they dreamed of doing but never dared to out of fear.  Now they have the luxury to watch it again and again, and say things like, "See? I was right." while showing it off to their frat brothers and like minded progressive friends who have missed the point yet again.   By then, I was angry before, but I had started to get mad, so I consciously tried to erase that image out of my head so I could continue working towards something positive.

After reading and listening to Joe Walsh spit his predictable bullshit, and revisiting my anger,  I was pleasantly surprised to see this letter written by Kathy Henry.

Oh. My. God.  Oh Lawd Jesus it's a fire!

All I can say is that I don't think I could have said it better myself. From the looks of it, there are no comments yet, so I could imagine what would happen next. Heads will explode when they read this letter. Shrapnel will be everywhere. People will be stammering in their speech, and left feeling flabbergasted, and they will be left looking red in the face.  Now I have never heard of this woman, and I don't know what she does, but she was very on point with it. I salute her. In fact, I'm going to drink a bit of wine and celebrate what she said because she straight up ROASTED them.

And if that doesn't take the cake, Joe Walsh's ignant ass had the NERVE to owe $117,437 in child support.  <<This mutha fucka here..... was talking big shit on Black families not having fathers, and he can't even pay child support?!  I don't know about you guys, but I don't know anybody who ever owed that much money in back child support in their entire lives up to this point. Looks like somebody's projecting a bit.  And this fool made a lot of money (and probably still does).    Check the 7:25 mark on this video.  He almost lost his mind when Martin Bashir put him on blast, lol!

I just had to throw that out there.

As for the woman who fired shots at White Republicans, more power to you. Not only did you touch White republicans, you touched everybody who wants to throw Blacks under the bus whenever they see fit.   I'm looking at  Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reiley, Howard Stern (and don't give me that 'he's Jewish so he doesn't count' crap,) Bobby Jindal and anybody else who loves to share those sentiments, especially if they are Brown, Yellow, or Black.

Kathy Henry, I raise my glass to thee.

I Can't Call It.....

August 25 marked the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's famous "I Have A Dream" speech.
This is a grand time for folks to get a chance to point at Black people and say things like, "Look, they still can't get it together! It's been fifty years and they are worse than before, lol."<< Get the Fuck Outta Here With That!

Now that I've got that out of the way. Here's how I really feel about it.

There have been so many blatant in your face gratuitous 'fuck yous' given to Black people over the years it's been ridiculous. It's not just White people giving them, but it's every immigrant who dares to move to the US has engaged in such sports (Bobby Jindal, cough) . We have a Black man who was elected for president twice, considering it was hell for a certain cross section of people to vote due to all of the obstacles presented in 2012, due to wait times, and changing the poll locations in the first place. Aside from that, Obama is not doing his job, and the same people who were mad about him being president the first time are still mad, while conveniently ignoring the fact that Congress had no interest in cooperating with the president.  I won't go into too much detail because I already covered the president's treatment in a previous blog, so I won't waste your time, but as you can see in all of my blogs, race relations are at an all time low.

Honestly, I am really glad race relations have gone completely downhill right now. This way, all of the crap that people were desperately and not so desperately trying so hard to hide can no longer be hidden and we can call them on their bullshit. Unfortunately sometimes their behavior looks like it's bringing us back into the 50s again (read as right where we left off before MLK Jr left this world).  Maybe it goes to show you that you really can't drag the ignorant kicking and screaming into a so called bright future. They will resist, and make sure it doesn't happen (read as you can't make a bunch of people like you regardless of how well you dress, how poised you are, or how beautiful you appear so stop trying).<< Boy were they correct on that one, but I digress.

As a result, I've been thinking a lot about what The States are going to look like in the future. I also think about what American history is going to look like. Things are looking really really bleak right now, so I have no idea what to expect, however as a result, I have had many dreams related to this and what may come out of it:

I can definitely see The States breaking away and forming their own countries later down the road. That may not necessarily be a bad thing. I honestly don't think this country could continue to be run by a group of people in a small district on one side of the country like it has been. I believe strongly that once the states secede, things will be easier for the citizens of said countries because they can govern themselves and have  more say in what's going on where they live. Big government is bad, it has been said and seen time and time again and it is also seen to the same effect in overcrowded schools. A teacher can't effectively teach 27 children, the classrooms have to be smaller in order to create a better experience.  On a brighter note, I can also see that Black people are killing it with technology right now. We have all of these online radio stations, blogs YouTube channels, and it's wonderful!  We have access to BandCamp and SoundCoud so we can put out meaningful music without being subject to a greedy record label whose only interest is to pimp so called "urban" images as a means to exploit 'what's hot' right now. This technological movement among Black people has me wondering, "What will go down in history? Is it possible that our future generations will read about the pioneers who made a way when the future was looking rather dim? Will the blogs be used as an archive to represent the latter part of Black history, with all of their sources tied in a neat (or not so neat) package?  Will our rants, raves, critiques, photos and events be looked at in several African -American Studies classes in the future?  How will our presence shape the North American continent? How will we be viewed all across the world?

I think  people overseas will eventually see what Black people have created and they will flock to those places like people in The States currently flock to various places in the Eastern Hemisphere. The North American continent will have it's own version of Black Rome (Detroit), people will study the Motown Era of Black music, and what caused the empire of Detroit to fall. Chicago will be visited for it's variation of blues,  1520 Sedgewick Ave in The Bronx will be the Hip Hop Motherland where all cultures interested in the music would flock just to get a taste of where it all began.  People will visit various places where early hip hop took place, they will dissect and be interested in what factors in said area influenced the rappers from that particular region, their style and what regional sounds influenced their production.  Watts and Compton will be the go to areas for California, people will want to know where and how Afro punk fits into Black culture as well, and will be enthusiastic about searching for its history.   They will examine our fashion, regional vernacular, and influences in other genres of hip hop and other art forms created by us, and people will search high and low to come up with obscure pieces of work done by early African Americans. Honestly, I think Blacks will be seen in a great light.  It may even be possible that others will see what's going on over here right now and American Whites  will end up being the ones who get treated like crap based on their history, and how they warped so many minds to think otherwise. Maybe they'll have to watch their Ps and Qs and be required to bend over backwards to prove they can spend time in a foreign country without attempting to destroy  every other culture in some random way that had been witnessed throughout American history.

Sometimes I wonder. Each generation says something to the effect of "I don't know what's wrong with kids today", or "This world is gone very bad. What happened?"  I can't tell if it's gotten worse, or if it's just our turn to see the same stuff.  The only difference is that our media scope is far greater than that of our grandparents. Hopefully we can use it to our fullest so others can read our stories and learn from them.  As of right now, I get very discouraged, but it was fun to dream about what greatness Blacks hold in their future.

I just hope I get to be alive and well enough to see and experience it, and maybe be a part of it.