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.

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.

Gays and The Civil Rights Movement

First things first. Let me say that I believe gay people should have the right to marry anyone they want, they should be able to enjoy the tax benefits of marriage, be able to choose the better medical benefit package that works out for them.  They shouldn't be denied a place to stay based on their relationship status, and I feel that anybody who feels that a certain group of people should be denied these things must have some deep seated issues they need to work out.

That being said, here's the scoop.

Gay people need to stop bastardizing the Civil Rights Movement. Stop hiding behind the Negro spirituals, and using Dr Martin Luther King's legacy to support their agenda.

I can hear the anger and vitriol right now, so let me state my case:
Gay people have the luxury to hide their sexuality if they want to. In some cases, no one knows they're gay until they open their mouth. Granted there are some cases where a person can tell if another person is gay, and someone may be nosy enough to ask. In that situation it is pure speculation, and hearsay. Even if someone is gay or not, that doesn't make it mine or anyone else's business.  I can't hide the fact that I'm Black when I walk around town.  Making a decision to come out of the closet and tell my parents that I'm Black is not going to make them disown me. I can't tell my best friend that I'm Black, and have her hug me, and tell me that she still loves me anyway, or lose her friendship because of her stance about my sudden Blackness. In fact, she's most likely to laugh at me, and say I was stoopid for that.

Don't get me wrong, it is dangerous to be gay right now. People can end up losing their jobs once the employer finds out that the employee is gay.  Matthew Shepard was killed in Wyoming (The Equality State, no less) for being gay.  The gay person doesn't lose these privileges until someone finds out they are gay. Many successful people were gay all throughout history, and that didn't stop them from gaining success. Black people wouldn't get hired, or were forced to take low paying jobs, or got paid less than other workers who held the same job title  and were being killed based on their skin color alone even if there was a hint of Black blood present in their lineage.  Sure, no one wants to hide who they are regardless of who they are. I get it. Love is universal and should be between two consenting adults. Again, let gay people do the activities that other straight people could do, plain and simple, but they need to stop equating their struggle to that of Black people because they want to have sex whomever they want to. Blacks were killed and denied for just for existing even when they were having sex with their own race and not bothering anybody. Nobody was burning down the homes of two men or two women living in a place of residence. They would get treated as room mates and left alone. Black families had their homes burned down because they had the audacity of living in the area while being Black at the same time.

Hey, at least a gay person has the option to decide if they want to let the world know if they are gay or not. I guess that's what it really means to come "out of the closet". I can't go in my closet and say, "Hmm, I'm finna be Japanese today, Mexican tomorrow, and White the day after that. If I were to come out of the closet (if I were gay for real), and I decided to date outside my race, I would still get flack just for being Black in an interracial relationship.Get the fuck outta here with that bullshit.

And for god's sake, let gay people adopt kids if they want too and stop using that sorry, stale argument by saying that it messes up the child if they have two mothers or two fathers. What? All of these fucked up people that came out of straight families don't exist? All of these serial killers, rapists and child molesters aren't real?  I wonder how  many of them had straight, or so called "normal" parents.  Go somewhere with that "having two parents of the same sex could turn a child gay" mess.  I guess straight families could never, ever produce a gay child, because the straight family is the best environment a kid could ever ask for.  Where did gay people come from then? Did they just drop out of the sky?  Did aliens come down and probe them in their sleep with some sort of  gay inducing technology?! Is gayness the result of a genetic mutation or something like that?! < Some folks have got to be crazy if they think this kind of stuff is true. And get the fuck outta here with that 'sanctity of marriage' bullshit. People need to stop acting like they don't know that marriage was considered a business transaction back in the day, and that people who married for love were classified as stupid.  Why do people think parents of the bride to be would ask, "What does he do for a living?" They wanted to insure that the daughter would be taken care of and that the children would be in a seemingly secure environment.

And fuck Westbro Baptist Church.  That is all.

Mexican Immigration- Whoa! Hold Up! Hear Me Out First, and Help Me Answer These Questions.

I am FOR immigration. In fact, I am happy to get the chance to taste all of this delicious food that Mexican immigrants bring over with them. My tastebuds have been blessed with the experiences of the molcajetes, tacos de lengua, the Mexican shrimp cocktails, and various beers, like El Modelo Negro,Tecate, and Dos Equis.  It doesn't matter what kind of immigrants come over in my eyes, all I care about is getting the chance to eat all of that good food. I want my refrigerator and my cupboards to look like a UN convention, hands down.  Why hasn't North America been trading with everyone on the continent first? Why are we just now getting the chance to enjoy all of that yummy-ness? All of those goods are in very close proximity to North America. I would think it would be cheaper to ship on this continent than to get stuff from overseas, but I digress.

But here's the shit I don't like:

I understand that half of this land belonged to Mexico at one point, and now they want it back. Sure, I understand where they are coming from, but what took them so long to come back? Is it because everything is developed and all they have to do is get the job since the infrastructure is already in place? I understand the need for money and the desire to raise a family in a better environment by any means necessary . This is a universal thing that everyone wants, but some come over and they are hella racist. How are they going to beg for a job from a White person, talk shit about them  to their face in Spanish, while shitting on the Blacks that work there as well?  Guatemalans come to Mexico for jobs just as Mexicans come to the US, but Guatemalans get called piojos, or lice by Mexicans in Mexico. Why do they expect to get treated special in the states, when they can't treat Guatemalans fairly in their own country?   << Get the Fuck Outta Here with that!  As far as relations go between Blacks and Mexicans in North America goes, maybe I'm naive.  I thought Blacks and Mexicans were one in the same because there are Black people in Mexico, and there are whole towns named after Black people. Some people even refer to themselves as "Negro" in Mexico. There are Afro Mexicans that exist today that are doing their thing, and have a unique culture. Thanks to history, many darker skinned Mexicans have African lineage due to the slaves that were left when the Spaniards left. That can be seen in the various skin tones, and African features a lot of Mexicans have to this day.  Some Mexicans have no problem championing their Spaniard or Aztec heritage, but when Black is mentioned, they'll look at me sideways. Needless to say, I was very confused when I came to these parts. When I first came out here, I interacted with very few  Mexicans. In fact, I grew up with a kid named Fernando, and he was just that, a kid. I didn't put any thought into the fact that his family spoke Spanish sometimes, and he did too. I just thought it was how his family worked.  I thought they were cool, and I figured we were similar because I happen to enjoy spicy food, and hot sauce. I thought hot sauce was a Black thing, but I was soooo wrong, lol.

Later in my life, I went to a Mexican restaurant in order to try some real Mexican food. I was the first one in the restaurant, and I ordered a smothered burrito.  A few other people came in, and I was seated with a glass of water with no ice. I didn't think too much of it until after a lot of the people made their orders, it was taking quite a while for me to receive mine.  I watched a White family get their meals before I received mine. I began to get impatient, because their meals were more elaborate and I thought it couldn't take that long to make my little order that costed no less than five dollars. I waited and waited. No silverware was placed at my table. When I finally got my meal, it was stone cold. The cheese had gotten stuck to the plate. I had to ask for silverware and a napkin.  I was as kind as I could have been. I have never been one of those people who act crazy in a restaurant or treat the servers wrong in any way, shape or form regardless of the type of restaurant I chose to go to.  I couldn't figure out what or why they treated me that way. I wrote a short note in Spanish that described how I felt about their service and I left, never to return.

I also worked in a production environment where I was treated horribly by a Mexican man and his Spanish speaking friends. Being the only Black person among mostly White and Spanish speaking men was terrible. The Spanish speaking men  were really derogatory and made jokes about me sucking their dicks (exactly in those words, but translated in Spanish). I had made it known that I could understand and communicate in Spanish at the time, so I knew everything they said. They would go out of their way to make my job harder than it had to be by sabotaging the equipment I was using, and say that I wanted to be Mexican since I knew Spanish.  I figured I had to win their respect, so I worked harder than anyone else in the area and became the best performer out of the whole group.  One person in particular went into my back pack and stole my work gloves, they rifled through my stuff on separate occasions, and when it came time to eat, all of them would occupy ALL of the microwaves in hopes that no one would else get the chance to use them. I started to get bold and I would put my food in the microwave with theirs. Just to be fair, they did the microwave thing to ALL of the non Spanish speaking people, not just me. After a particularly hard day, I decided I had enough of the harassment, and I told the instigator that I spoke Spanish and I knew exactly what he and his friends were doing. I took the issue to HR, and this person pretended they didn't know a lick of English.  Long story short, I was made out to be this huge racist, and rumors had been spread about me through three different buildings. People I never met were treating me like crap because this guy wanted to get even with me for not allowing him to treat me bad.  The HR department ended up adding a section to their handbook that everyone had to sign otherwise they would be fired. 

I decided I would tell no one that I knew Spanish, and I stopped speaking it all together.  I left the company after working there for five years. 

Fast forward to 2011

I thought I needed a CPU for my PC. I searched high and low for one even online and they were talking about $64.00 plus for it. I wanted to see if I could get it local, so I combed all of the PC shops in my area. Almost all of the shops in my area would have had to order it online. I needed it at that moment, so I didn't order it. My last stop was a Mexican owned shop which had the item on display. There weren't any prices on any of the merchandise, so the lady at the register called her husband to see what the price was. She didn't know that I still knew Spanish, so she asked her husband the price. He said something on the other end, and his wife looked at me and said "Negro". Then the price was given to me: $95.00. Ninety five dollars?!  Really?!  I bought it because I thought I needed it right at that moment, and then after carefully assessing the situation I returned it because it turned out I didn't need a CPU. The funds were credited back to my account, but not after the package was carefully scrutinized. 

2012

I went to a different, and much classier restaurant in hopes of not receiving the same treatment I experienced long ago. By then, I had made more Mexican friends, and I began to feel better about my previous encounters. Similar treatment ensued. This time, I was given a dirty plate instead of a clean one, and instead of being by myself, I was with 3 other people (none of which were Black), who received clean dishes the first time. I politely asked the waitress to bring me a clean plate, which she did.  I went to that restaurant again with one other person who wasn't Black. I made my order, which was a $24.00 molcajete dish which contained crab legs. I was given the lower end dish(the one without the crab legs), but charged the higher end price. Another instance at the same restaurant, I made my order and no guacamole was added, even though the menu and the picture of the dish said it came with it.  My companion had no problems with his order.  I hardly think that was a coincidence. My question is Why make a restaurant that serves their country's food in another country, and then treat the patrons stupidly because they don't look like them or share a similar variation in skin tone? If they don't want Black people or people who don't look like them to enter their establishments, then don't create them, plain and simple. << Get The Fuck Outta Here With That Bullshit.  But wait, there's more.

They need to stop with the over charging, passive aggressiveness, silly tactics, and run the business with some respect. Stop talking all that mess and stirring it up when they get called out. Man or woman up and deal with the fact that shit won't slide. Don't act all innocent and crazy and tell the boss that "I just want to work hard" when they talked all that mess behind their backs, calling them pinche gueros (which means 'fucking white people'), and whatever filth they can think of because it's funny since the White people don't know Spanish. Stop making children in the states just so they can stay in the country, and then using the child as a commodity by saying. "Oh, but I have a kid. You can't take me away from my kid". They knew that if they have a child in this country, they can increase their chances of staying here. That child is a human being and for somebody to put the child in front of the camera and parade them for the sake of their selfishness, is straight up ugly. It sends the message that the child is a thing, or a means to an end and not a person. Stop playing dumb.<<Get the fuck outta here with that!  It is no different than using a pregnancy against a significant other in order to obtain child support. The same goes with arranging fake marriages in North America to gain citizenship (I know the fake marriages and using the kid as an object is a straight up immigration tactic that applies to ALL immigrants, and not just Mexicans, so I'll cut some slack for now). Stop marching and using Dr. Martin Luther King and the Black Civil Rights Movement to represent their cause when y'all know damn well, that people who look like him are "pinche mayates" in some of their eyes (which is strange because like I mentioned before, there are Blacks all up in Mexico  and everybody who is born and raised in Mexico is considered Mexican regardless of color). They can't act like they don't know what I'm talking about. Wait until their kid brings home a Black person and then watch the family react. Lip service in the form of excuses will be made. Things like "Oh, that's just how some people are, and that we are all people anyway...bla bla bla.."  will be said to excuse said behavior and make it okay. It is not okay nor will it ever be.<<Get the fuck on.  They need to stop using hip hop to further the unwarranted hate they have for Black people.<I'm looking at  the cholos. That being said, working with the Aryan Nation is not in their best interest. They don't care about them. Why don't they look at how these people treat them in North America? There is a reason why their parents get hired to do cheap labor. It isn't because they want to make sure their parents do well, it's because they want to keep as much money for themselves as they can. They don't care if the immigrant's family is starving. They only care about maximizing profit for them and only them. There is a reason why most of the people locked up are Black and Brown. They are trying to keep us fighting so they can continue doing their dirt. They are using the immigrants as their mules, and they are getting laughed at, plain and simple.  That being said, I'm probably about to have La Raza all up in my ass for this post. This pinche mayate puta madre might have a green light put on her by Mexican mafia members and previously incarcerated gang members.  I'm not saying this applies to all Mexicans or all immigrants regardless of where they come from. I've met some awesome people that originate from Mexico and other countries who have made North America their home.  All I ask is that they treat me, and people who look like me with respect as long as we do the same to them. Now if somebody who looks like me decides to act like a first class moron with them for no reason, all I can say is that I'm sorry. I can't control how they act, but if an immigrant act likes that with someone who looks like me for no apparent reason, then they deserve any and all wrath that will fall upon them within good reason. All I can do is treat them the way they want to be treated as long as they do the same for myself and others who feel that every human deserves to be treated as such.  ¿Comprende?