Sterling, Bundy, and Other News

Life is about choices. This man is a billionaire. He knows right from wrong. If he did not commit adultery, many of his problems would have disappeared completely. Any human has to have self-control. Marriage is a serious foundation. Many married people have been around for decades filled with love, compassion, and humility. Marriage can be fun, but it should not be a selfish game at all. Adultery has consequences and Karma will get folks who do it. Many people (among both genders) want to seek exploitation from others. It is our jobs to not only respect human life, but to utilize discernment to prevent ourselves from being taken advantage of. Donald Sterling for a long time have shown a legacy of intimidation, arrogance, bigotry, and perverted ideologies. He did not act real since he tried to present himself as a normal man when he was really a deceptive wealthy person. He has no reason to complain since he violated the vows with his wife and he tries to justify his evil deeds. He violated the rules of the NBA Constitution and federal laws. We should use this incident as a means to continue in the fight for justice. We should understanding the system of racism/white supremacy more and we should continue to help out our community. So, this punishment is unique and powerful. These are my first impressions of the decision made by the NBA commissioner. The league has a strong historical legacy with our people obviously. Some people are going to say disrespectful words, but these folks like Sterling will have to face the consequences of their words and discriminatory actions (as an NBA owner when owners determine the economic fate of so many people. Their biases can negatively and even illegally impact the economic opportunities of minorities). His prior actions also influenced the decision made by the NBA (as he is banned for life). Donald Sterling's life as a career racist has spanned decades. There is a moral code in the NBA since the NBA is a business (and children watch the games). The NBA has to set an example for the youth. It will difficult for him to do business in the sports industry from now on. I wonder if he will sell his team. That is an important question. Sterling was a married man and he committed adultery against his wife. Sterling executed policies that discriminated against human beings based on color. He had to pay a fine in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws. His anti-discrimination policies effected much more than one person economically & socially. These actions are worse than the acts of the woman. The woman should not be used as a scapegoat (she has nothing to do with his words or his discrimination against others) when one man is accountable for his own words and policies. Donald Sterling is much worst in character than the woman. Sterling had to pay money for violating federal laws that prevent housing discrimination. Bundy is wrong too. In these days, we as a people have every right to describe including outline courage.

I am sick and tired of Bill O'Reilly's lies. The truth is that black teenage pregnancy rates have gone down in America. Stereotypes about black people are played out. We see more and more black Sisters graduating from colleges, owning businesses, and working in other occupations. I know these Sisters in real life. Bill O'Reilly will not touch on these stories since he wants to blame black people for the evils found in society. Bill O'Reilly refuses to expose income inequality, Wall Street corruption, and touch on exposing the massive racial discrimination in the world. Teen pregnancies have existed along before Bill O'Reilly was ever born. We should have both moral development and economic justice as a means for us to improve ourselves. Also, he talks about the 72 percent of black children who grow up in single parent households. He forgets that not all single parent households are monolithic. Many single parent households exist, because of a diversity of reasons. This stat means that their parents are not married and it included single fathers and people who live together who are not married as well. According to the Department of Education, over 50-percent of Black women ages 18-24 are currently enrolled in college. Black women's graduation rates have improved steadily with over half now completing their degrees. So, it is not the end of the world in all sectors of the black community at all. We have issues of course, but we can overcome our issues with continued effort and legitimate actions. Teen pregnancy has been cut by 51%. The fastest single motherhood rate increase is in white not black women. More black girls are finishing school and graduating from college in record numbers. Black women are starting businesses at higher rates and our labor participation rate is one of the highest. One third of black working women are in management. Bill O’Reilly ignores how the Wisconsin court via its federal judge stroke down the Wisconsin Voter ID law. The court struck down the law as unconstitutional, which is a good thing. These laws are wrong since they restrict the times when citizens can vote, make a narrower requirement on voting requirement, and places on undue burden on minorities including the poor on voting in general. Actual voter fraud is very, very small. O’Reilly has used deceptive views on Sterling and Bundy to. Racism is generational and most racists in America are heavily older, white reactionary men. Also, racism is bigger than an individual problem. It is found in the system of modern society. The issue is that the ideological views from FOX News attract people like Cliven Bundy, Ted Nugent, George Zimmerman, etc. as a means for that network to cause political agitation. Bill O’Reilly ignores about how the 1978 Regents of the University of California v. Bakke decision, struck down the use of racial quotas, but also ruled that the use of race in admissions in the pursuit of a diverse student body is constitutional under the 14th Amendment. There is individual responsibility in the world (parents should do their jobs including other people) and O'Reilly is a coward for singing out Beyonce for the complex problems that we face as a people.

The French treatment of the Haitian slaves was horrible. It was so bad that the black Haitians couldn't take it anymore and legitimately fought for their liberation. The French and Spanish mistreatment of Afro-Caribbean slaves in the rest of the Caribbean was horrible as well (just like in the States). There were racist Jim Crow policies in Cuba during the early 20th century (which was supported by U.S. imperialist interests). There are many in that region that unfortunately deny their black heritage. The good news is that plenty of Afro-Latinos love their black African heritage. Massive discrimination by color existed in the Caribbean including Latin America back then and even today. Afro-Caribbeans should never embrace a superiority complex and falsely view themselves as superior to African Americans. African Americans likewise should never embrace a superiority complex and view themselves superior to Afro-Caribbeans either. In the final analysis, the struggle is still the same. WE ARE ONE PEOPLE. WE ARE ONE BLOOD. IT'S ONE LOVE. If we continue to get on our grown folk vibe and fight injustice, we will be fine. Among all of us, regardless if we Diaspora Africans are found in the States or the Caribbean, we can learn from each other. There are things that bind us together and we can we should oppose the ideology of denying ones heritage. Also, we have to respect diverse cultural dynamics. I am a black American man, but a Brother or a Sister from the Caribbean will have different cultural realities than me. I have to understand their cultural diversities (and vice versa) as a means for all of us to build better understandings among each other as human beings. Our struggle for black liberation is international. That is why strong, legitimate Afro-Cuban activists are in Cuba now legitimately fought for their human rights (against racism and discrimination). We just have to keep on fighting and keep on working to combat prejudice including ignorance in the world. I think that one positive involving this situation is how Lupita gave a great speech exposing how beauty is diverse and dark skinned people have as much value as any other human being in the world. Lupita's great intellect, courage, beauty, and resiliency can inspire black youth to continue forward in expressing their dreams and aspirations. Beauty is also about treating your neighbor as yourself, it is about compassion, and it is about human dignity too. The Caribbean has great natural beauty. :) I learned that many tourists are viewed positively and negatively by Caribbeans for a variety of reasons (like some Caribbeans welcome visitors and others view some tourists as exploitative. That is why we should learn the culture and social mores of any nation that we plan on going. In that sense, we can be prepared to express a progressive attitude toward our neighbors in another location). One beautiful item of information that I learned is how so much black African cultural influence impacted Caribbean food, music, cuisine, etc. then and now. Family is a concept that is not just about familial relations. It is about loving people in our community as friends not as adversaries. Family is about all of us as humans realizing our common human value and promoting care for people. That is about advancing a true family too. You made great points about children. If children witness more people caring about each and solving problems diplomatically, then society is further enriched. Our infrastructure must grow too. We need more building, manufacturing, parks, great grocery stores, etc. We have to assist the elderly too. It is always a blessing to witness the growth of our communities.

The TransCanada is using an insidious PR campaign to promote their Keystone XL pipeline. They are using their “Good Neighbor” Charm offensive. TransAmerica is using a public relations charm offensive in Texas. This was similar to when FDR utilized the good neighbor policy that wanted U.S. foreign policy practitioners — to curry favor in Latin America and win over its public. Recently, TransCanada announced it would do something similar in Texas with its newly formed TransCanada Charitable Fund. The difference was that FDR never wanted such a pipeline to be created in the first place. TransCanada has pledged $125,000 to 18 Texas counties over the next four years. It funds channeled via the East Texas Communities Foundation. In February, the company announced the first non-profit recipients of its initial $50,000 grant cycle. “The fund is designed to help improve East Texas communities and the lives of their residents through grants to qualifying non-profit organizations in the counties where TransCanada pipeline operations and projects exist,” explained a press release. “All funded projects and programs fall within three charitable categories: community, safety, and the environment.” They want to use more positive language as a means to justify their policies. This fund came about, because the Public Citizen published its November 2013 report. The report discovered that there are safety issues during the construction phrase of the Keystone XL’s southern leg. The report found faulty welding, dents, and parts patched up including other anomalies. The pipeline is made up of many hundreds of miles. Julia Trigg Crawford, a Lamar County resident (one of the counties eligible for TransCanada’s grants) best known as the landowner who filed a major eminent domain lawsuit against TransCanada for Keystone XL South, told DeSmogBlog she believes the timing of the fund’s launch is suspect. “Texans are smart enough to see what’s going on here,” Crawford said. “Before the heat got turned up with the Public Citizen report, TransCanada’s community involvement consisted of half-page newspaper ads across Northeast Texas saying, ‘We want to be more than just a pipeline company. We want to be a trusted neighbor.’” There are ecological and safety issues with the pipeline too. The cost for the Keystone XL South and Houston Lateral can be as high as 3 billion dollars according to its 2013 Annual Report. The pipeline wants to send tar sands oil into Texas refineries in a daily basis. These refineries are found in Port Arthur and Houston. This can harm the environment of both cities too.

Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were converging ideologically. Before Malcolm X was unfortunately assassinated, he came into Selma in 1965 to ally with Dr. King's efforts to fight for voting rights among black people. Malcolm X said that Dr. King was right in desiring voting rights. I saw Malcolm X on video saying this and he allied with the late Coretta Scott King on this effort. Both agreed with fighting for justice, both advancing the dignity of black people, both loved Africa, both critiqued capitalism, both were going into a more progressive direction as time on, and both were blatantly anti-imperialist. They had a difference on the issue of nonviolence/self-defense, but they wanted the same goal. We all want the same goal. The powers that be hated Malcolm X and Dr. King. We are stronger when we are more unified. The BPP and so many others unified in common cause that could make our country so much better (and radically transformed America). That is why they divided such groups. Today, we will continue onward. Also, we are also we are battling against reactionary views and extremists. They are fascists. These extremists (including not only the Bundy types, but some even those calling themselves “libertarians”) worship the free market, hate immigrants, refuse to advocate true revolutionary change, harbor hatred of compassion, want armed militias on the border, and desire to destroy all social programs which people have won for themselves. We know about civil rights history. The era of 1954 to 1968 was in the midst of the Cold War. The bourgeoisie permitted the gradual abolition of legal segregation and a little upward mobility of a select number of black people, but they also allowed the racist white backlash, which deals with police terror (including the fact that the FBI and local police agencies killed 38 Black Panthers. Others were railroaded into prison) & other policies that suppressed heavily the struggle for black freedom. Police repression continues today. The bipartisan war on crime existed as far back as 1968 and it has harmed the black community in many ways. We have to ally with the poor, the homeless, and the working class as a means for us to create real change comprehensively in our nation. That means that we have to advocate a living wage, real unions, and the modernization of industry. We have to condemn imperialism, colonialism, and neo-colonialism no matter who executes it. 

By Timothy