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.

Black Survival part 4: Behavior codes- Do we need one set in stone?

I know what you're thinking. After all that talk I did about respectability politics, all of a sudden I think I have the ultimate code FOR respectability, right?

No. That's not what I'm talking about. Not in the least bit. I'm talking about solutions to help us further our cause without worrying about who is "worth" respect.  Somebody said I should produce 10 Black Commandments so I'll attempt to do so.  I'm going to outline it by using pieces of my life and what I've learned and or applied over time.


1. Never, EVER talk down to or mistreat those who you aren't as fortunate as you regardless. This works mostly on a material level.  Remember, regardless of that person's situation, they are still a person. No matter what they look like, they still deserve to be treated as such. This is essentially the idea of what equality was supposed to look like, but unfortunately, that idea was written by slave owners, so we mustn't let folks who idealize those men get the chance to dictate what equality looks like and what it is. All they did was enforce supremacy. That's it. And talking down to other people is another way to enforce it. That's their thing. They invented it.

On another note,  I've noticed there is a lot of insecurity placed on said lesser person as if one should stand next to them or be seen with said person, it makes them look bad. One must remember, "I am the only person who can make myself self look bad. Another person should never be able to have that power over me." 

2. Ask for help. Now I've had a lot of issues with this myself. I blame my toxic relationship with American Individualism for that. American Individualism is the "I got mine, what's wrong with you? mentality".  But I recognise it for what it is, and I'm willing to do what it takes to divorce myself from the idea.  This idea is not limited to yourself as a solitary person. This can be used in familial relationships as well. For example, I really like the idea of extended family, where aunts,uncles, cousins, etc can stay with you (and vice versa) for a period of time. This will allow them to get back on their feet if needed, it can also help a student fresh out of high school to the point where they could go to a state college, have a free place to live, and they could work while in high school as long as they keep their grades up and adhere to house rules. This could allow them to save up some funds for a decent vehicle to get them to school, and run errands.  Not only that, the kid will most likely not end up in debt.

If you have aunts and uncles living with you and everyone is working, the rent/mortgage could be split up evenly between the adults. This will allow each adult to pad their bank account and save more money for any other expenses like purchasing a home, starting a business, etc.  As a result, this can happen. I'm sure some of you have seen this video floating around facebook, but if not, this is an example:

3.  Money over everything is NOT the business. That mantra belongs to America, and history has proven time and time again, that America doesn't include Black people. Sure, we need money to exist in this capitalistic society, but "at what cost"?   Now I don't really watch Key and Peele like that, but the Slave Auction skit comes to mind:

Look at it closely. They start off being glad they aren't getting sold because, "Fuck that!". But then they start talking bad about the guys getting bought from Lot A. They start to belittle those on Lot A as they continue to get passed over. Then they start feeling "left out". They start looking at Lot A as the better slot. They want to be on Lot A. That could be read as wanting to be accepted. Then they get mad. They start talking to the crowd about their choices as if they had no idea what they were looking for. And then they sell themselves all the way out. They start saying they're docile, they can sleep in a bucket, they're strong, magic, etc.

And that's the entire problem right there. These dudes just summed up what it looks like being Black in America. We're not accepted until it starts to bother us. When it bothers us,some of us will sell all the way out regardless if we're all in the media or going about our private lives. Some will get accepted until mainstream America is done with us, and some won't. In this instance, the auctioneers left and they were never accepted.

But in reality, Key and Peele are on TV and are widely accepted for a lot of offensive skits where Black people are the butts of the jokes, one of which is the one I'm referring to. In fact, people became so offended by these guys to the point where Huffington Post picked up on it. And when the comedy team were confronted about their skits, they pointed to the fact they were half Black in order to distance themselves from the whole thing.
The skits look like the mirror they're holding up to themselves, and a lot of Blacks, on and off screen which shows why respectability politics are detrimental.  In fact, respectability politics run so deep that after watching the skit, I wondered if the creators even knew the depth of what they were doing as a whole, and whether or not they know exactly what it looks like. Anyway, on to number 4.

4.  A person has to learn to grow. One isn't simply born knowing everything. Everybody is dumb to somebody else. We must teach each other all day everyday in order to prevent the same mistakes from happening. See number 1 in this list, and my post on being woke to get the gist of the full concept, which leads me into number 5.

5. Be able and ready to accept constructive feedback, and know the difference between constructive feedback versus somebody talking a bunch of foolishness. For example: If I'm at work, and I get told that I did something wrong that could jeopardize the company, then my job is to find out exactly what I did wrong, know what I need to do to make it right, make it right , and then not make the same mistake again. Or, if I want feedback on a track that was poorly mixed, and someone informed me of that shortcoming, then I have to learn how to mix it properly or have it done professionally. I can't just say, "YOU'RE JUST A HATER! FUCK YOU THEN!" and leave it at that.

Now if someone said something along the lines of, "Your teeth are crooked. You should get that fixed." Then that would be foolishness. A person could get their teeth fixed, but that's a matter of appearance and personal preference, which doesn't affect the quality of work nor does it jeopardize anybody or anything in particular, nor does it make them "credible" or "respectable" (there's that respectability politics again!).

6. Do you and own it completely. When I say this, I mean, don't worry so much about what other people are doing. Be yourself. For example, if you make music, don't worry about what sound is hot right now. Make you come out of that mic and own it. Own the style, own the sound, and personalize the hell out of it. I don't just mean yell your name throughout the track, or watermark the beat (the latter half should still be done for business purposes), but I mean create something that only you can produce. Do it through all aspects of your life, (home, work, school, etc).

7.  Ask questions. One must be objective and be willing to ask themselves, "who, what, when, where, why, how and which" throughout all aspects of our lives. 

8. Seek different approaches, and apply that to everything you do . This goes back to the story about learning math in my "woke" post, and why seeking different approaches is important. :

One of my parents tried to beat the lesson into me, and the other was able to successfully teach me in five minutes. I learned two lessons: I learned math, BUT I also learned to never ask the abusive parent for help ever again. The same thing happened with learning how to read. These methods could be used to teach anybody regardless of whether they are a child or a senior citizen as long as they are open to it. Teach them while they are young for best results, but always remember that grasping concepts is not something that should be limited to children. They will grow and their foundation will be strong, or they would be able to strengthen and repair that which is faulty. Make the lesson fun. Learn from each other. Accept questions. Look for answers together and share them with each other.

9. Always be solution oriented. Be prepared for anybody and everybody who says, "Okay, now what do we do since you have all of the answers?" This right here is why all of my blog entries have solutions in them even though I admittingly talk a lot of shit. 

10. Always think about everything. Critical thinking is a must. First, Let's take a look at that definition of "critical thinking" Definition 2c is as follows: 

c :  exercising or involving careful judgment or judicious evaluation <critical thinking>

This way you know which questions to ask and how to find solutions in the first place. A person can't ask for help, learn, seek different approaches, accept constructive feedback, be objective or solution oriented if they don't have the critical thinking skills needed to do so in the first place.

How to use these and do we need someone to guide us:

The short answer to whether or not we need someone to lead us is NO! We are not a monolithic people. We are our own selves, we just happen to share similar skin tones. To imply that we need a leader is to imply that we can not think for ourselves. If you look at American history and Black people, the leaders have been sabotaged, from Malcolm, Martin, Marcus, and to the current people who claim themselves to be leaders of the so called "Black community" such as DeRay Mckesson, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

Can this be used as the base to create another religion for Black people?

No. Because all it'll do is create divisions between those who worship differently (as if there wasn't enough of a division between Christians, Atheists, Baptists,Hebrew Israelites, and NOI members as is). BUT if a person wanted to take these commandments into consideration and add them to their core beliefs, then by all means, feel free to do so.

As usual, I'm open to constructive feedback, solutions, and questions. Let me know what you think, or whether or not you'd like to see these expanded and more fleshed out.

As always, thank you for reading. 

Expanding on Random Thought #6- On Being "woke" and solutions

I saw this on my feed yesterday and I felt the need to say something about stuff like this:



My heart broke in several pieces, and I was in shock. I was in shock because the person who posted this picture used this woman's situation to shame her for her situation. The person who took this pic did NOT try to help that woman. They didn't try to find out who she was, nor tried to find out what's going on with her case, nor tried to get something set up so she'd be able to get her babies out of the street. But I know this picture is out here like that, and so is her business for the sake of shaming her and her situation. The person who took this picture is the problem. On top of that, somebody took this picture to put out a self serving meme to make them look like they're doing good. Instead, they got this woman's business out here like this. In the comments, some people went so far as to shame her for being pregnant as well.  I went through as many shares as I could in order to find out some information on this woman to see if anybody knew who she was. I found nothing, so, I took it upon myself to do a Google image search  (where you can save an image to your computer, and then drag and drop it into the Google image bar)and it turns out the picture is from the Dominican republic. She is Hatian and has been forced out of her country. But the person who took the time to type that caption over the pic for the purpose of shaming folks and getting likes is problematic.

Maybe, just maybe if people would quit doing this type of shit (taking pictures just to shame Black people instead of trying to help said people) something great could happen. But naw. People want to take pictures and put people's business out there like that under the guise of being "woke". On that note, today, somebody asked me the following: When did I first become "woke"?

That term is something I struggle with. Here's why:

I guess I could say it was in 2006. And it was a very slow and steady awakening. And I still can't say that I am actually "woke" because back then, I found out some stuff, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. I had no idea about what I didn't know. Looking back, I thought I was BIG. But now, I feel even smaller than before, and if I fast forward several years down the road and look back at 2015, I might say I was still asleep then, and I might say that I'm dumb now. I can't really call it.

These past few years have been very scary for me. They have left me feeling like the literary description of a person detoxifying off of hard drugs after many years of use. They have left me sick. They have left me tired, dried up, beat up, confused, angry, and a host of other feelings. I've been questioning a lot of so called "woke" people and the methods they've been using in order to try to wake people up. I've been feeling pissed off, irritated and depressed for a while now. And then this showed up on my feed:




I have to remember this myself. And it's a lonely road as well. And the more I learn, the more trouble I have.

BUT I think the problem could be with people who call themselves "woke" most of all. 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 that right there is what we're dealing with.

This is the very same problem with the school system. They present this teacher, pupil , woke/sleep superior/inferior, subordinate/insubordinate model that we emulate unknowingly. We can all learn from each other. And we can learn from different approaches. We can ask questions, not to be mistaken as being contrarian, but to gain another approach or find a way to approach something from another angle especially due to the complexity of the topic. Now one must be careful not get that confused with someone who just wants to debate and not learn anything. Those situations are easy to spot, and can be weeded out.

 Google "Concern Trolling" to see what I'm talking about. Basically, it's when somebody asks a question or presents a situation they really don't want to know the answer to for the sake of feeling "right". A great example of that is, "Why can't there be a White only television channel? Black people have one. If we had one it would be racist."  

Or it could come in the form of a backhanded comment or post. It could come in the form of passive aggressiveness. These are tools used to keep any real conversation or action from happening.  As far as the first picture goes, not only does it enforce Supremacy, but it's a method of concern trolling because a bunch of people shared it but nobody tried to find out anything else about her.

For those who ask me what I'm going to do about this I'll tell them the following:

There are solutions sprinkled throughout this writing. Change the teaching method and people will learn better. I use this to teach children, and I learned it when both of my parents tried teaching me math. One of my parents tried to beat the lesson into me, and the other was able to successfully teach me in five minutes. I learned two lessons: I learned math, BUT I also learned to never ask the abusive parent for help ever again. The same thing happened with learning how to read. These methods could be used to teach anybody regardless of whether they are a child or a senior citizen as long as they are open to it. Teach them while they are young for best results, but always remember that grasping concepts is not something that should be limited to children. They will grow and their foundation will be strong, or they would be able to strengthen and repair that which is faulty. Make the lesson fun. Learn from each other. Accept questions. Look for answers together and share them with each other.

And for God's sake, whenever you see some posts like the first pic shown, do a Google Image search. Try to find out who they are and what's going on with said person. Don't shame them, and also find out any information you possibly can to help said person and to raise awareness. Relaying information and taking action could save several lives. If we all did this, the possibilities would be better than where we're sitting right now.

As far as the family in the first picture's situation goes,  I'm not sure what we can do over there, when we have a lot of problems over here in The States. There's an old saying that if a plane is crashing and the oxygen mask comes down, we need to breathe oxygen first and then let other people use it. We've got to save ourselves before we can save others because we have to be alive to do it.

We also say it takes a village. We need the village back. And once we rebuild the village, we need the town, and the city. THEN we might be able to pool our resources together to build other countries, because we're hurting over here. We can't follow America's model. They run around without fixing their own shit first. Once we fix ours, then we can do that. Until then, we'll always be scattered and running around.

But where is the village?  At this moment, it looks like our villages are online. But how do we make self sustainable physical brick and mortar villages without succumbing to: being priced out by overcharging for utilities and using that to seize property, absent landlords buying up property and letting it fall into disrepair so a big developer could buy it for cheap, driving up the taxes and push the original residents out? 

That sort of thing has been done in several cities including Baltimore, Philadelphia, Detroit, and St. Louis. I think that right there is our biggest hurdle.

Random Thought #6

On Being "Woke"

I ran across this poem, and it brought up some feelings. Some feelings I've had for a bit of time, but have become extra apparent these past two years. Take a listen and then continue reading:

A few days ago, I had a conversation about the idea of being "woke" with a friend of mine. I noticed things about people who say they're "woke" and I paid attention. In fact, I paid so close attention, I started seeing things that didn't really make sense to me. I noticed a lot of people actually think they're kicking knowlege,but in reality, they're just regurgitating stuff.

Stay with me here, trust me:

 If those who say they're "woke" really do some research beyond youtube videos and conscious facebook pages, they'd find out some crazy stuff. Stuff that'll scare the shit out of themselves. They'll find out that White supremacy is so invasive that even the most so called conscious person will echo the same sentiments and not even notice. They'll find out the extent of it, the depths in which people have gone to defend it, and they'll find out their role. And they'll be confused. Confused because of what they thought they knew is a lie. They'll be mad, they'll be anxiety ridden, tired, and depressed. And when they think they're done feeling like that, they'd find out that's just the beginning.

Waking up isn't fun. It's very scary. It's a hard road to hoe, and it's a long dark road. And there is no finite depth to it. And they'd have to really untangle themselves from the fuckery. And that's not easy. And when they think they're finished, they're still just waking up from that particular sleep. There is no turning back.

A lot of people who think they're "woke" just want an echo chamber to spread vague concepts of what they think being "woke" looks like. That's not what "woke" is. That's a circle jerk.

For the record, I am not proclaiming myself to be "woke". However, I will say that I will always be learning,paying attention to my surroundings and people. I'm learning some really cool stuff, but I'm also learning stuff that's horrible. Stuff so horrible that I can't even begin to explain the depth of it because I'm still trying to figure out where I sit in it and what I'm going to do about it.

That being said, I can not call a person a sheep. Because everybody is and was there at some point. I'm just a sheep whose done a bit more research through reading, as well as internal reflection. I can't proclaim to be fully knowledgeable and grown without knowing exactly what to do in this framework I'm stuck working with. I'm not sure I even want to work within this framework anymore.

I can't say where I'm going, or where is up. But I can say that something different is needed.

But what, where, when , how, and which will need to change? I think I have a very firm grasp on what needs to change, but the how is killing me because each solution I come up with, I'm met with an obstacle that I'm not sure I could make my way over. I don't think it's possible, to be honest.

Obligatory 9/11 post

I can not feel bad for The United States. I feel bad for all of the people who died because they were sacrificial lambs in a hoax. I feel bad for Muslims because they get treated like shit everywhere they go because of what the women wear, and for them not worshipping Jesus. I feel bad because a douchebag somewhere out there has to parade a Muslim apologist to denounce what happened on 9/11 even though it really was an excuse for the states to go to war. I feel bad for brown men with long beards because some dumbass can't tell the difference between someone who happens to be Brown vs someone whose Muslim. I feel bad for the soldiers who were duped into hating people and fighting for a circumstance that really had nothing to do with them. I feel bad they were used as bodies in order to obtain oil.

The patriotic circlejerk disgusts me. I can't be sympathetic at all for the US government and any supporters of it. As far as I'm concerned, 9/11 marks the day the citizens of an entire country got punked.

I started not to write anything about this fake ass holiday but after all of the hell that has been going on these past two years people have the nerve to still be playing fake patriot after the fact. They need to GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT. For real. The police can kill Black people with reckless abandon and justify it with bullshit like, " they were too mouthy", "they ate and smoked marijuana while in jail", or any other bullshit they see fit while crying wolf about Black Lives Matter being a terrorist group while organizing go fund me pages in the name of bigotry, and people want to kumbaya their way into feeling American?!