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This is the first time that I have written on the Bundy incident. Cliven Bundy is not a domestic terrorist as many establishment liberals have called him. He is not some super patriot as the establishment Right have called him too. After much research, Cliven Bundy is a reactionary, wealthy oligarch who exploited the concerns of many as an excuse to advance neoliberalism. He is a vicious racist and bigot too. Bundy is a multimillionaire oligarch with 14 kids and many grandchildren. He allowed his cattle to graze on publicly owned land without paying feeds to the federal government. He has talked and allied with reactionary Alex Jones. Bundy claimed that his family “settled” the land over a century ago, so he has claim to it. He claims that the federal government has no legitimately. His argument is moot, because if the fed has no legitimacy, no legitimate claim to that land exists for him due to his family taking it 100 plus years ago. He should pay his fees to the Native Americans since his prior to being there using his logic. Many of the Mormons back then killed innocent people in the Mountain Meadows Massacre of 1857. Bundy claims that he is fighting over regulation, but he is really fighting any regulation that costs to multimillionaires. He is refusing to pay the same fees that 16,000 public land ranchers do each year. Many people are shilling for oligarchs who want to make more money. Even the BLM disagrees with his efforts. Alex Jones claims that this cause is some blue collar call to arms when it is not. Jones is silent with one Canadian company was grabbing land for the XL pipeline from the Texas and other blue collar Americans across the Midwest. There are sincere activists who are opposed nonviolently to the KXL Pipeline. These people include ranchers, Native Americans, environmentalists, and Mustang preservationists. So, this agenda of Bundy, Rand Paul, the Kocah Brothers, and others is all about privatization. One businessman is angering people in blaming “government” when the government has been infiltrated by oligarchical interests not all of the people. Fascism is where select millionaires and billionaires are against any regulation and work with the government to harm the people. So, it is about big, select companies buying government agencies to do the work for them. Alex Jones has not explicitly condemned neoliberalism as a philosophy at all. Bundy is not a poor, suffering man. He is a rich bourgeoisie person. We see fascism in the world that we must defeat. This Tea Party/Koch Brothers agenda is truly obvious. You can’t be a true liberty lover and shill for the select interests of multimillionaires and multibillionaires at all. I do believe in disagreeing with Monsanto, and any corrupt policies from Big Business, but the general welfare ought to be advanced. Ron Paul wants all federal land holdings to end, which will harm the environment and cause corporate exploitation further. No regulation in any aspect of society is immoral. That is why Tea Partiers are hypocrites on issues on liberty. They lecture folks on liberty, but many of them refuse to oppose Stop and frisk in Brooklyn.

I agree some folks 100 percent on the issue of black people having the right to defend themselves. I studied this history for years. During the days of American slavery, racists enacted laws to restrict or ban black people from owning guns (as a means to prevent rebellions and revolutions). The Haitian Revolution was a product of armed black people fighting back against a brutal French empire. In America, the Civil War came about and armed black people in the Union side fought valiantly against rebels. During Reconstruction, black people owned weapons to defend themselves against Klan attacks. Even the Freeman Bureau outlined this right. The Federal Freedmen’s Bureau widely distributed circulars that read in part, “All men, without distinction of color, have the right to keep arms to defend their homes, families, or themselves.” We see that the Black Codes prevented in many cases law abiding black citizens from owning weapons. There were the Deacons of Defense who had guns to protect civil rights activists throughout the South. The Black Panthers back in the 1960's armed themselves to battle oppression and discrimination. They executed a progressive policy of free health clinics, educational services, monitoring police action, and they opposed imperialism directly. Now, of course, we should oppose violent crime with guns. Guns are not toys. Guns should be taken seriously. We are opposed to wanton, senseless violence against anyone in any location on Earth. Yet, innocent law abiding human beings should never be equated to criminals. That is precisely the point. We need economic justice (there should be more job training and job creation programs too) and other solutions to address issues in our community. There can be no real immigration policy without addressing the socioeconomic interests of African Americans. That is a truism. The current President has deported millions upon millions of undocumented human beings (and in 2010, he has ordered National Guard troops to be at the border, so he is not a total progressive on this issue at all. IJS). Anyone saying the millions of undocumented workers in America will have no impact on the lives of African Americans is naive. That is why we should advocate definitely execute punishment against illegal immigrants who have done felonious crimes. There should be a fair, equitable, and just immigration policy, but it should not harm the rights of African Americans though. There should be border enforcement, the improvement of workers' rights, and an increase of the minimum wage (as a means to decrease illegal immigration). There should be policies of preventing unfair discrimination against black people in construction and other industry jobs too. There should be fair trade rules (as we know that NAFTA has harmed America and even Mexico) and any immigrant should not be mistreated or abused of their human rights too. Immigrants should never be scapegoated for imperialism or the crimes of Wall Street (including the rest of the Western elite) at all. That is important, because human rights are human rights. HUMAN RIGHTS ARE SUPERIOR TO STATES' RIGHTS. Dr. Ron Daniels wrote a great article on this issue that I agree with him. 

The solution to the violence in Chicago is not monolithic. There should be increased vigilance against illegal gun usage (and increased punishment for those who do crimes with guns). There should be more collaboration between authorities and community leaders. Nothing changes unless the community takes a significant role in the solution. Also, the Great Sister Courtney (who is a Great Friend) made an interesting point about people protecting their areas. That is an excellent point. :) . Malcolm X and the old school BPP advocated self-defense units to protect our communities. Such independent organizations are needed today to protect the streets of Chicago. I have no issue with that at all. Also, we have to address poverty and lax infrastructure the poor communities of Chicago. When you have massive school closures, high unemployment, and austerity, then those problems are what we need to address too. We want have job training and job creation programs, a moratorium on evictions including foreclosures, and increased services sent to the people (like hospitals, recreational facilities, etc.). We should treat this situation as a national emergency, because it is. The situation is complicated. Without families being improved upon, nothing massive will change. Both genders of adult age have a responsibility to assist the youth. This situation is a blatant emergency and we should treat it as such. Also, it is important to note that many Brothers and Sisters are working day in and day out to battle against the violence in Chicago too. Their efforts ought not to be ignored. Far too often, the youth are readily treated with disrespect and neglect. I think the point about caring, monitoring, and encouraging the youth is a very important point. This neglect of the the youth can't be the case permanently, because if we don't care about the youth, we don't care for ourselves (since we were once youths). Young people should be guided into the right direction. There has to be massive task forces to address violent, criminal gangs and drug running. Also, the social & economic conditions have to be addressed as well. Neoliberalism has damaged Chicago and the 2008 Great Recession exacerbated the problems. So, both family development strategies, radical solutions to address crime, and socio-economic policies can go a long way to help solve this issue. It is obvious that nothing can be solved comprehensively unless poverty is greatly addressed. We know about racism and discrimination. We know about the many economic disparities that exist in the United States (and places globally, because the Oxfam report further documents financial disparities between the super-rich and the rest of humanity globally). That is why we should use self-determination and develop further our own infrastructure (in terms of educating our people, building in our community, and developing unique ways to grow the strength of our families). People should not whine in an immoral fashion, but demanding change (and being active to do something about problems) is not equivalent to whining at all. Not to mention that black people have the right to live in America. Black people built up a lot of America and we have the right to improve our own lives. Without strong families, there is no strong community. Not to mention that human beings need economic justice and raising the minimum wage (eliminating bad trade deals including eliminating fiat currency filled privatized central banking) is one solution out of many that can address poverty. 

First, the students from the Committee have every right to make their grievances known. That is part of their free speech rights. I don’t know how successful their movement will be since that university is a private institution. Yet, their demands are not extreme at all, because it would be in the best interest of the University to appeal to as many people as possible among many backgrounds (especially because of the demographic changes in America. 2043 is coming). If one student feels uncomfortable with a school glamorizing the crimes of traitors, slave owners, and white supremacists, then the whole student body is disrespected. So, I do wish the Committee members the best, but I do believe that we as black people should strengthen HBCUs too. Many of our greatest leaders came from HBCUs and we should not ignore their huge contributions in the power of the black community. The decision is typical since we have a heavily reactionary Supreme Court. Many who whine about affirmative action refuse to expose legacies (or granting relatives of alumni access to go into universities even if they are not qualified for it), the Homestead Act, and other privileges granted to certain people. There are many misconceptions of affirmative action. Inequalities and racism can't be solved by private power alone or waiting for change. Folks have to use private and public power as a means to address legitimate grievances. Inequalities must be addressed by revolutionary policies, not post racial rhetoric. Affirmative action is a method to address class and racial injustices. Affirmative action can be used among equally qualified candidates too. Times certainly are changing. 2043 will be an interesting year to say the least. Obviously, Bruce Shepard wanted to spark debate. He mentioned no slurs or issued some massive policy change in his statement. Debates on this issue are fine, because we need to address problems of diversity in our educational system. Real people want qualified people of every color or background to have fair access to universities if people want to go into universities. A poor citizen on average (who is very intelligent) will not have the same opportunities as a rich person of equal intelligence (and qualifications). So, we have to address structural issues in our nation as a means to make the nation experience true justice. We (who are authentic) all want justice at the end of the day. There is nothing wrong with universities seeking better diversity in a legitimate fashion. Education is diverse as well and it is more than just universities (since real education can be found in trade schools, apprenticeships, internships, and other areas). Black people for eons have talked about real issues too from police brutality, TPP, our civil liberties, anti-imperialism issues, corporate corruption, the FED, QE, austerity, bad trade deals, AFRICOM, etc. We are opposed to fascism (since there are certainly wrong people who want our waters and air polluted, our rights suppressed, and our heritage to be bashed). Us calling for an increase of the minimum wage, the elimination of voter suppression laws, an end to the war on terror, Wall Street criminals to be fully prosecuted, the banning of corporate personhood (as shown via the Citizens United decision), the ending of QE, our black heritage to be respected, and other solutions are BOLD, SPECIFIC DECLARATIONS. So, Brothers and Sisters should keep on showing the truth. Brothers and Sisters have every right to speak truth to power. So, black people have great intellectual curiosity and we will continue to proclaim the truth. Unfortunately, some black people have self-hatred. Some black people will wake up and others will be left behind. The handwriting is on the wall. Events like the death of Aiyana Jones and the mistreatment of our people globally by barbarians show us what time it is. White racists have shown their love of a corrupt system and their hatred of us. We should use our energy to embrace TRUTH, LIGHT, AND DEVELOPING OUR COMMUNITIES. I believe in treating my neighbor as myself, but I don't believe in bowing before injustice. When we stand up, we won't bow. We just stand.

There is nothing wrong with communities improving. Yet, we have to be careful with one thing. We should always reject a “black capitalism” that many so-called nationalists (not all nationalists support). They believe that businesses alone can liberate us. They can’t. There is nothing wrong with enterprises, but we have to make sure that workers are treated right as well. We should embrace real success and not the right wrong success. The right success is allowing workers to have a living wage (some want at least $15 an hour), to have affordable medical benefits, etc. Managers should not steal hours and wages from workers. We have to deal with the fact that black child poverty is increasing, black unemployment is in double digit levels, and there is a wage crisis in our community. We want justice and justice is beyond individualized pursuit of wealth and status. A collective effort and collective actions can only create liberation for us as a people. Collective struggle is certainly necessary for us to witness the revolutionary change that we all desire. The scourge of neoliberalism is a threat. The prison industrial complex is another threat too. Not to mention that we have to improve our health. Too much junk food has contributed to cancers, diabetes, etc. We need more organic farming and organic foods in poorer communities (not just in the middle class or rich areas of the nation). There should be universal health care in America or at least Medicare for all. So, the rich of our people should understand these things. They should be encourages to fund homeless shelters, black media or arts festivals, tech-savvy programs, and other black sponsored events. Many Brothers and Sisters are doing what is right, so their actions ought to be commended. We should never degrade our people. We should be honest and speak truth to power though. So, we need our financial, health, educational, and cultural powerbases to be strengthen. We need justice and liberation point blank period. 

By Timothy