Wednesday News on Conscious Issues

We must balance emotion with rationality. In other words, we must use our emotions in the right way to proclaim our demands while not acting in an unstable fashion. The old school Black Panthers, SNCC, the SCLC, and other groups showed much emotion. Some are right on talking about how we can invest in cameras. We have to advocate financial literacy. Regardless if someone is a capitalist, a socialist, a communist, etc. that person must have economic literacy if he or she wants justice. We have to know how the world works in order for us to build our infrastructure. Teaching someone the tools to live and allowing that person to live independently is a blessing. Likewise, the Golden Rule is superior to selfishness, non-compassion, and selfishness. We must promote self-determination, not selfish free market fundamentalism (that means that living wages, workers' rights, and true protections are needed). Since humans are created in the image of God, then human beings have intrinsic value which no dollar or coin can surpass. The struggle for liberation continues after Jim Crow apartheid was gone. Oppression is varied, so we must stand up for justice in our generation. There should be a balance between individual initiative and collective power. Economics is a means to an end. It is not a god. What I mean is that we should improve our resources, but material wealth never determines our character (for a man or a woman shall not live by bread alone).  There is nothing wrong with legitimately critiquing albums fairly. Yet, as others have said, the excessive disrespect of artists in vulgar, nihilistic, and slanderous ways is totally wrong and unjust. Some folks in our generation make it a sport to use certain memes to ridicule others in the most sick, hurtful ways possible. That is totally wrong. This is nothing new. It is just that social media today has made it more widespread than decades ago. Sister Ciara should never be disrespected like that (by the haters and the trolls) at all. Many of these artists struggle through a lot of adversity to just perform or to establish their albums. So, these artists don't need patronize. They need fairness and equity.


If it is true that Jay Z and Beyoncé gave money to bailout protesters in Baltimore and in Ferguson, then that is fine. There is nothing wrong with that. If the couple financially aided the Black Lives Matter movement, then I don’t have a problem with that either. Yet, there is an issue. You know the issue. Before the murder of Michael Brown, there was the Barney’s controversy. There were black victims of racial profiling in Barneys pleading for help from Jay Z and Jay Z didn’t do a (single) thing to help these victims. He also formed an economic partnership with Barneys. So, Jay Z has worked in charities (which should be acknowledged) and has involvement in social conscious issues in real life, but he a’int Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, or Harry Belafonte. When interviewed by CNN about the economic crisis, and the asymmetric recovery whereby rich people and corporations profit while “Main Street” does not, Jay-Z responded, “What we have to be really clear about is that America is built on free enterprise, so we don’t want to knock anyone for being successful in America…The things that were happened were unjust and we should talk about that.” America was built on the free enterprise system of slavery. I will also criticize a "successful person" if that person is a crook. Jay Z also would criticize the Occupy Wall Street movement in various terms. So, Jay Z needs to know that the capitalist system doesn’t care about him or all of us. We need revolutionary change.


As people in the world have mentioned, we have to break allegiance to the two capitalist mainstream political parties if we are to be free for real. The discussion was very interesting. Oppression is multifaceted. Black people, women, other people of color, immigrants, and all in the human family suffer oppression from the same one percent. Baltimore is one representation of the systematic problems which exist in Western society. So, we need to develop this movement into a higher level and resist evil. The immorality of monopoly capitalism is known throughout the world. Some people are driven more so by profit than the social betterment of people. We are opposed to the system of white supremacy 100%. We want males and females to unite and fight oppression. Black people will continue to stand up for liberation. We want freedom and justice. Ronald Nelson made a wise decision in going to Alabama. Since the beginning of the 21st century especially, student tuition has increased massively all over the country. There is more than one trillion dollars in student loan debt owed by all Americans. That is why many young people or anyone going into college are being strategic. Some are organizing their financial investments (in the forms of bonds, saving accounts, etc.) while not going into universities with excessive yearly tuitions. It is Roland’s choice at the end of the day. He seeking medical school is an excellent decision too. So many doctors and health care workers are unsung in their activities of saving human lives. Networking, finding real connections, participating in real community groups, saving money, and a determined mentality can help young people during this age.



Haiti has a long revolutionary history. Haitians stood up against French imperialism and defeated the forces of the French twice in order for them to establish the first black Republic in the Americas (by 1804). Haitians have suffered by being forced to unjustly pay European imperialists reparations. Also, the US for years illegally occupied Haitian territory during the 20th century. The U.S. also backed many dictators who oppressed the Haitian people. There are still UN peacekeepers in Haiti, who have oppressed the people in Haiti. I’m not going to sugarcoat this since many of these peacekeepers have committed sexual crimes against Haitians. There is now a Western occupation of Haiti with neoliberal leadership and corporate exploitation of Haitian resources (including its exports). Still, the Haitian people are warm, compassionate, and they want not only assistance, but respect. Any people want respect for their human aspirations. I have no problem with Beyoncé delivering food and water to the victims of the 2010 Earthquake. Beyoncé did a very sweet action in showing love to the Haitian people. The Haitian people need grants, more humanitarian aid, they need reparations (for European colonialism. France should definitely pay reparations to Haiti straight up), and political groups like Fanmi Lavalas need support and solidarity. France has done a lot of atrocities that many folks don't know about. We know about the crimes of the British Empire, but the crimes of France against Haitians were worse than a horror movie. I can't even mention some of the things that the French did to black Haitians on here. Also, we know that the Haitians always have that revolutionary spirit. They always inspire us as Brothers and Sisters. We all want Haiti to have democratic transformation and total liberation.

I have read lot of garbage, but the lies and slander about black people from “professor” Jerry Hough is some of the most stupid, historically inaccurate, racist, and offensive drivel that I have read in my life. In American history, black people suffered a lot worse than Asian Americans. Black people experienced the Maafa, slavery, discrimination, Jim Crow, the War on Drugs, peonage, and other forms of racial oppression. Also, African Americans have worked hard for centuries in America. We have worked in America without pay as slaves. There is nothing wrong with black people dating black people. That has nothing to do with hatred of others. In fact, many black people believe in not feeling sorry for themselves. He wrote about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when many white racists (like Hough) misinterpret what he said. Dr. King was never called for black people to disown their blackness or their black heritage. Dr. King gave numerous speeches in saying that Black is Beautiful (like in his speech in Cleveland during 1967). What Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed in was equal rights for all and justice. Therefore, we don’t need some colorblind, post-racial utopian society. I rather live in a color respectful society than a society that disregards any cultural identity. It is ironic that he writes about Asians when he doesn’t criticize Chinatowns or any Asian communities that express respect for their ethnic identity. He just wants to target blacks since many black people are waking up and realizing that white supremacist rhetoric is evil. Hough is a racist regardless of his denials. Who is he to define who can call themselves via names? African Americans have every right to name their children in a diversity of names. Some of the most racist people in the world are those found in academia not just a poor white racist from Mississippi. Black people have worked very hard in this nation. He also disrespected Malcolm X in his words when Malcolm X said that he didn’t hate anyone. Malcolm X was anti-capitalist, he believed in pan-African unity, and he wanted human rights for black people by his own words.


By Timothy