Mental Illness

I've been gone a long time. I haven't forgotten my readers. Ive been dealing with some mental issues lately, and dealing with them is very difficult and can be a lonely road for some people.

Sometimes a person has to step back and leave the external and focus on the internal. In a world where external is everything, its really easy to forget about the internal at times. When I say internal, I mean what's inside you. Whats going on can be really hard to understand. And I am struggling with that. Medication, therapist and all. Its difficult. Im holding on very tightly. At times everything gets away from me and I cant retrieve it. This caused anxiety and depression on top of other things Im dealing with. Plus others may not be receptive to whats going on with you either. I have to remind myself there are people out there who understand. Sometimes I feel so alienated that I fear that no one does.

If you know somebody who has been battling mental illness, let them know that I understand. Show them this entry. Don't tell them to pray about it. Please. Don't tell them that. Try talking to them about whats going on. It might be really hard, but please don't give up on them.

Black survival- What would it take?

Over the course of...  well..., forever, we've seen

• Black deaths by the hands of police

• Black deaths by the hands of citizens crying wolf from Rosewood to Emmitt Till, to Escambia County, Florida

• Black deaths at the hands of vigilantes (Michael Dunn and George Zimmerman)

• Acts of terrorism inflicted upon Black people due to the forceful removal of the Confederate Flag in South Carolina (see Dylan Roof, and the case where a Black family was threatened while celebrating their child's birthday party)

• The commodification of Black culture

• Cultural appropriation

• Manipulation of the masses via photoshop and fake articles

•  Land grabs initiated by mob justice.

• Extortion.

And since I've blogged about a lot of what's mentioned for over one hundred entries, the questions everybody would ask are, "You got any solutions? What are we going to do about it?"

Here's my answer.

Sometimes I think Black people need our own gated communities.* 

Communities with businesses as well as:

• private police

• hospitals

•  infrastructure (solar panel electricity, heating and cooling, control over our own sewer systems, collecting rain water if necessary. However collecting rainwater is illegal in some states, so a person might want to check with their state to see what they can find.

• private judges, lawyers, prosecutors, etc (an entire judicial system)

• post office

• media outlets (TV, radio, newspaper)

• grocery stores

• farmers

• psychiatrists

• grief counselors 

• credit unions (since banks charge a lot of fees)

• Private tax funds for infrastructure maintenance (roads, etc)

• a national legal team

ALLL located inside the gate, and operating without outside influence. That way the entire economy is controlled by Black people and for Black people. And there's only one way in and out and that's the locked gate.

It sounds extra crazy, but I think that's the only way we'll be able to be protected against White supremacy. We must also make our own laws and everybody must live in the community as well.  An armed private police officer must be present at the entrance at all times, and each and every member of the community has to live in that community. This means if somebody is embezzling money from somewhere, we will know where they live. If votes get rigged, we will know and actual justice will be served.

Where will we go you ask? Well, there are places to start. Any place where there is a high concentration of Black people would work, however, many of those areas are under very crooked local governments that don't have the people in mind, let alone private officers available to make sure justice is handled appropriately. Detroit looks like a great proving ground for such an endeavor. They already have their own private police force so why not start there? Check out this video. Aside from the "Cop Block" advertisement, this video is about starting a private police force, and how to do it successfully. People pay into the service. Those who can't afford it get free service. They can do this because affluent people pay a premium for their service since they're doing such a great job, which means there is a surplus in funds.

I recommend we start in the areas with the highest crime or the most blighted. The reason why I say that is because those are the areas the public police won't go during certain hours. Not only that, but a person could find a lot of vacant lots that could be used for farming and as long as the lot isn't squatted on by an absentee landlord, it could be bought for cheap. A person could put a tiny house on it, equip it with solar panels, and voila! a house with a farm on it that grows vegetables to sell to the local grocery store.

I know what you're thinking. That sounds like a reservation of sorts. Yeah. You're right. It does. But what the Native Americans don't have is complete control over their own economy. Black businesses exist, and we collectively have the buying power of  one trillion dollars. What would happen if we took that out of the current economy?

I hope you don't think I'm crazy for mentioning this. But I am desperate for solutions. I didn't want to wait on someone else to come up with one, so I came up with one the best I could. In a world where we keep getting killed and our lives are in the hands of people who really don't care for our existence anyway, what did I have to lose by trying to find a solution?

Long story short. We've got to survive. People say the whole thing is about class and not race. Well it appears otherwise. And before I protest about something like climate change, and animals getting killed by police or illegal poachers pressed to prove their manhood, I will say the following to those who feel otherwise. :

GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE, SIT YOUR CALLOUS, IGNORANT ASS DOWN, AND GET THE HELL AWAY FROM ME WITH THAT FUCKERY. For real. I have to secure my life before I can do any of that.

I'm not interested in becoming the next hashtag, or mural to be defaced with "All Lives Matter."

We are literally trying to stay alive. And when I use the term "literally" I'm not speaking figuratively.

That is all for now.

We'll see. 

We'll see.

*Updated: 9/28/15 okay, maybe not a literal gated community per se, but we would need our community to be as tight as one without all of the ridiculousness of HOA restrictions.  We can police the areas we already have. We have already created several villages of sorts. We have online presence, and we've linked up with Black owned businesses. All we need is distribution companies, the things mentioned above, and a way to keep funds in Black hands longer (because we know we're subject to city and state tax, water, and utility bills.  As a result, there would be no way of stopping them from raising taxes and or utility costs in order to drive us out like they did in Baltimore, St. Louis, and Detroit).). 

Black Survival- What would it take part 2 (concerns and solutions)

I've privately vetted this idea to a bunch of different people, and they had several questions and concerns, so I decided I'd answer them in another blog entry:

When it comes to biracial people and non-white spouses and stuff like that, how would that be handled?

That's the biggest obstacle I've come across. I am not sure how to handle that, BUT Detroit could serve as a proving ground to see if the idea works. If it works, then people could follow that model and create cities like that all across the country (with a few tweaks of course). 

Imagining the black community as a network, and participants as nodes in that network wherever they are, rather than requiring us all to be in the same place, is very workable in the current environment (given the internet, etc.) and already happening to a certain extent. Efforts that work to build on that community and empower it can find lots of support.

This could definitely work. I think it would be crazy to uproot everybody in the country and send them to Detroit. However these nodes can work if tied together through. I believe if we get Black distribution companies that cater to us by air, rail and truck then those nodes can work to our advantage.

My one worry is that it would go down exactly like all of our other attempts to build something for ourselves. Every Black Wall Street and business district and university has been burned to the ground at least once. And with the new paradigm of anti-"terrorist" rhetoric and legislation, as well as the resurgence of white supremacy, I could see us realistically getting nuked into the Stone Age.

That was my worry as well, BUT if we use Detroit as a proving ground just to see if it will work, then it could be implemented all across the country! We could have black hubs everywhere.
But whatever we do, we need an organization with 501c3 status. This will give rich people the incentive of donating to us and making it tax free for everybody. From there, we could control what the money goes to and where. We will need chapters of this group all over the country. This would be used to fund hospitals, infrastructure, social services, and any other functional elements that require a large amount of capital.  We may also need to do this in secret, meaning no press releases, no going to mainstream media outlets in order to further the cause. We have to do this through conferences, through natural hair expos, etc since these sorts of events are examples of current Black spaces we have at the moment. If we do go to a media outlet, it must be one hundred percent ours. For example, The Final Call is a media one hundred percent Black owned media, and is one of the oldest in the country. Even though some of us might not identify with NOI, we must look past that sort of thing and ask ourselves, "What kind of good do they do, and how can we use that to our advantage?" The same goes with any other outlet ,organization, or group.

Get Oprah and other people to help invest in some type of industry/factory that can employ a bunch of black people and fulfill some type of market niche in the US. There would need to be investors for nice housing developments near the factory.

That sounds like a great idea. It would create reasonable paying jobs and housing for those who want to migrate. A variety of jobs to choose from would definitely be necessary. This may also be where the 501c3 organization would come in. If she donated to it, the tax write off would work for her benefit.

Who is going to be in charge? Police force, judicial system etc. are well and good but who are you suggesting for leadership? 

I think the members of the 501c3 organization will be made up of said people. I'd like it to include a lawyer, a judge, an accountant, a doctor, etc. Basically representatives from each city would work. For example if there are 2 hospitals in each city, then a board member of each hospital will be appointed to meet up wherever the meeting will take place. The accountant from each 501c3 organization will have to go as well.

What happens if people do something corrupt?

Complete transparency is a must! Meaning everybody will receive a quarterly notice of all expenses, including how much everyone makes. This way, all citizens know where the money went, who it went to, why, what, when, which and how it was spent. And they have to live in the city. Once they move, away, they relinquish their position, and another person will be voted in.

I'm interested in this idea of transparency, not so sure about the lack of privacy. When you say 'how much everyone makes etc.' are you saying the council or everyone in the community? You don't think that this type of information will cause problems? 

The Council would be subject to that. The rest of the citizens would be exempt. 

What about non leaders who commit a crime--will they be expected to leave?

However if they compromised the integrity of the community via corruption, fraud and or embezzlement, then they would have to leave,but not before paying the funds back. Otherwise, they may be subject to trial, hearing etc in order to figure out how they will pay the funds back.



So far, these are the main concerns and issues that have been brought to the surface. Surely, there will be more, and I'll keep adding responses and solutions.



*Update: 9/28/15  I figured that we would not be able to make this work if we excluded people. That being said, the "gated community" idea will have to be scrapped, BUT the cohesion would be kept. This means we don't have to have an armed guard available. The community could still function without, but we will still need to make sure our resources stay in Black hands. 

Ethnic Minorities Deserve Safe Spaces Without White People

Alright, here we go. This article with the same title of this blog entry, was put on my radar a couple of days ago. I left it alone because it stated the obvious for me, but here's the thing.
People (as you could probably see in any discussion where this article pops up) have a problem with the idea.


Yes. People have a problem with the idea that ethnic minorities should have a space for them. They think this article is pro segregation and is divisive to the so called 'melting pot' that is America.

Well, as predicted, I'm going to tell them to GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT AND SIT AAAALL THE WAY DOWN. My target audience already knows why, but I'll tell anyone else who may be reading this in case they don't know.:

Any time a minority seeks to belong to a group that caters to their interests, lo and behold, some "well  meaning" White person has to interject, and say something like :

"If White people did this, it would be considered racist. Why can't White people deserve to have safe spaces without minorities?"

Here's why:

There are many places that cater towards a White only audience. White is considered a general norm. They can turn on any television show and feel represented in many lights. There are restaurants that serve food targeted for White audiences that exist (Irish pubs for example), and they can feel at ease whenever they go anywhere.


But what they fail to realize is that anybody could go and spend money in any establishment geared towards another ethnicity.
It seems the only time they have problems is when Black people seek safe spaces. 

Here's the thing:

Nobody is forcing White people to visit clubs, business, etc that cater towards Black people. No one is forcing them to tune in to BET (which serves as a go to argument for those who want a White Entertainment Television channel). In fact, Telemundo is a channel geared towards people who speak Spanish. If I wanted to brush up on my Spanish, I am free to watch it. Again, nobody is forcing people to watch Telemundo against their will.  All of these things, and spaces are optional.

And that's the point. 

In a country where a person may be made to feel isolated, it feels nice to have your own "safe space" where you can let your hair down so to speak. This is a luxury afforded by many White people. They can go anywhere and feel invited because their whiteness in the United States has been set as the norm. However, this luxury had been denied time and time again when it came to the needs of Black people.

This goes back to what I've said before regarding Black businesses:

No one balks about other nationalities starting businesses that cater to them. No one balks when people of Asian descent start up their own businesses. In fact New York has a prominent Hadisic Jewish neighborhood that caters to the needs of Hadisic Jews. And yet, no one has called any of them racist. In fact, these neighborhoods are looked at as tales to tell the rest of the world that they too, can make it in America. It's just that when Black people want a taste of the American dream, they get deemed as racist and chided for wanting to cater to their own people. And that includes the feelings towards the desire for Black people to want our own safe spaces. 

Even when Black people expressed outrage regarding excessive killings by police, someone somewhere decided that #AllLivesMatter instead of #BlackLivesMatter.  

Really?  

Really. 

It's like they're saying the following, "We really need to stop their little protest and correct them because ALL lives matter, and not just Black lives! Why are they not acknowledging us too?" 

And you're left standing there looking at them like this.

And whenever Black people go online, faceless users decide it's okay to hurl racial slurs when playing video games, send death and or rape threats, and hack into their computers to obtain personal information, in hopes they can expose you and maybe find out where you live. Or they'll just do the old fashioned thing and troll their spaces with racism, and/or by asking deliberately obtuse questions that reflect their biases. Reddit's blackladies forum experienced that on many many occasions, and it could be seen in other fine sections of reddit. One of which is called "The Chimpire", which is plethora of subreddits * dedicated towards the hatred of Black people. I mean, they even took the time to create mock subreddits with similar layouts of the original Black subreddits they were mocking in the first place. They even troll the internet in order to fabricate Black stories as well as pretend they're Black in order to disguise their slander.

Now if all that doesn't make a race or subset of people feel unsafe among the majority race or subset, then I don't know what to tell you. 

Why don't they just go ahead and admit that anything centered towards Black people will be met with hostility and the fact that its possible for such spaces to exist makes them feel nervous and they'll be forced to deal with some issues they are too afraid to touch.

And that's really why they're uncomfortable with the idea in the first place.

But then if they admit it, they'll look like a "bunch of pussies", so their only option is to keep the fuckery alive instead of address those underlying issues, I guess, which makes them well... look like a "bunch of pussies".

Maybe that's the Catch  22.

*As of 8/21/15, The Chimpire has gone private, meaning one must sign up in order to make posts or become a member. This change has been brought to us by reddit's quarantine program. It's where the formerly public subreddits have been given a "safe space" on reddit.  Meanwhile, r/blackladies, whose motto is literally "a safe space" enjoys the treat of more harassment.

Black Women, Depression and the "Strong Black Woman" trope.

Okay. I saw this article regarding how Black women are pressured into being superwoman all the time and how it affects us. One of those ways it affects us is that it shows up in the form of depression. It doesn't explain why we become depressed, so I'll tell you.

America created the "Strong Black Woman".  We have to endure, thrive and live. We face a lot of obstacles while living in this country. We have to navigate everything and everywhere, and deal with a lot of foolishness. Some days, it's like, "What kind of bullshit I'm going to have to deal with today?" So we act accordingly. We lose our tempers, we get cagey. We try to ‪survive‬. Now, the "Strong Black Woman" has turned into a racist trope. You can see the trope online and on tv. They're trying to make us look like crazy hoodrat type people. They mock us, and when they talk to us, they start rolling their eyes and necks. And they put on this "voice" they think we all sound like. That's a bunch of bullshit right there. They wonder why we are mad. Well, if we didn't have to deal with a bunch of straight up ignorance then we wouldn't be mad. And now this article comes out.

As a person who has to deal with depression, I understand this article. BUT one has to examine why a lot of us experience depression and anxiety. It's because of the world we live in. Our hairstyles, names, and addresses determine whether we get the job interview. We're lucky when we get the job in the first place. And when we get the job, we have to deal with ‪fuckery‬. Sometimes the work environment can get hostile, so we get depressed because it happens everywhere we go. It's supposed to be a joke that we should be able to take. We are tired. We are tired of the bullshit we have to endure because somebody wants to make jokes.

We can disagree with someone and all of a sudden we're aggressive, or rude. The same thing happens when we bring up different ways to handle something. They expect us to smile and nod. We are only there for the background. And if we look good enough (where "enough" is subjective), they might take a picture for their pamphlets. This happens everywhere. And it weighs down on you.

I should know.

For those who have turned the "Strong Black Woman" into an online meme and or trope, I 'd have to tell them to GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT.

That goes for all and any media outlets out there who wish to make fools of us for trying to exist in a circumstance THEY created.

All Dogs Matter- Another police brutality post

Ok. In my area, there is a large concentration of White people vs any minority. I've noticed some stuff that occurs in my area in regards to police brutality. They are against police brutality in theory, but only if their dogs are involved. That's right. 

Dogs.

Yes, dogs. Because dogs are considered family members.

Lets be clear. I love dogs. I've had a total of 6 dogs in my life. I've trained them as well.

I'd be upset if the police shot my dog. BUT if they shot my dog and overlooked me, then I would be okay with that.

I can live without a dog. But there's no guarantee the dog would have a good life without me because I don't know where the dog would go, or how they would take care of it.

But why come (I have to say it like that) when the subject of police brutality against minorites comes up, all of a sudden I hear," Yeah, but dogs too. They get killed. They are shot for no reason, and I'm sick of it. They wouldn't want anybody to shoot their family member, and my dog is family. (Dog or dogs) is/are my baby/babies. (Dog or dogs) is/are like my kids." ?

All Black people want is to be treated like humans. That's it.

And then this real not satirical article came out with the following title:

Black Baltimore Residents Aren't "Animals", We Punish People for Killing Animals

I've seen people at anti police brutality rallies holding signs about killing their dogs. Most of these people were White and some were Brown.


I have to tell them to GET ALL THE WAY THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT!


Let me say, it's a goddamn shame that article had to be written in the first place. Really? Placing dogs above Black people is just inhumane. But anecdotes don't count as proof of what I'm talking about, so let me show you another article.

Apparently in Wykoff NJ police shot a five year old German shepard named "Otto" and now they're rallying against it.

Now the question I'd like to ask is, will the "pro police" crowd create something to counter the #AllDogsMatter rallies?  Would they come up with  t-shirts that say "All Dogs Go To Heaven" instead of the "I Can Breathe" t-shirts the NYPD wore so shamelessly? Or the "I Support Darren Wilson bracelets, and t-shirts." worn by the Ferguson, Missouri Police Department. Will they race to their pocketbooks in order to fund the officers that shot the dogs with the same fervor and zeal they showed for Darren Wilson?

Something tells me that I already know the answer to that question.

 Maybe that "All Dogs Go to Heaven" t-shirt would be just what people need in order to get them to stop killing us.

But nope, if anything gets done, I think they'll just stop shooting dogs instead.

Where Do We Go From Here?

Thanks to the events leading up to today, I have wondered where do we go from here, and how do we get there.  First we must realize what we are fighting against. I've come to the following conclusion:

We are up against an unethical immoral people consumed with money and power. They will do ANYTHING for it, which includes enslaving people, committing genocide, etc while creating laws to protect themselves, and they will stop at NOTHING in order to maintain the status quo. They control the police,politics and the media. 

It seems that people speak of unity, but we want to work within a framework that doesn't have us in their best interest. If it did, then we wouldn't be where we are right now. Cliquing up with organizations will not fix this. I feel this was the same mistake that was made during the Civil Rights Movement. 

From where I'm sitting, that movement only got us jobs, and I still get looked at funny for sitting in the front of the bus. And even when we go to job interviews, we get discriminated based on our names,addresses and whether or not a Black woman has natural hair. I've even heard of natural women wearing wigs to job interviews just so they could get that job. What kind of progress is that? Sure, we make a bit more money at the expense of something, but monetary progression alone seems a bit non fulfilling. 

How can one exist in a country that was never EVER meant for them? Aside from withdrawing our money from it, and re directing where it goes, we still pay taxes. I believe we must figure out what we need to do to get out of this situation we are forced to be in.

I'm working on coming up with solutions, but they will not be posted for obvious reasons. Until then, we'll see.