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Wednesday News in August 31, 2016

Taking a stand is important in life. Courage is a virtue. Colin Kaepernick has every right to protest by not standing up for the singing of the national anthem in the NFL. The right to protest and to resist injustice is a human right and a value that is universally sacrosanct. He is promoting the truth that the epidemic of police terrorism continues to exist in America and in the world. Innocent black people are being shot and killed by crooked police and lax accountability exists not only for crooked cops, but for the police institution who perpetrates the status quo. I am a fan of the game of football. It's a great sport, but there are things more important than sports. Our lives and our humanity are more important than athletics. He is setting an example whereby we not only oppose evil, but we promote solutions. The solution is not bashing black people collectively in an inappropriate, evil way everyday as the sellouts do. Solutions include the elimination of structures of oppression and enacting policies to make sure that cops who do evil are held accountable for real. The haters (who lecture us on "political correctness" but hate anyone promoting justice for black people in an unapologetic fashion) are burning his jerseys without understanding the great points that he is making. Also, another point must be made. Yes, I will go there. You know what that point is. The author of the national anthem is Francis Scott Key (who opposed the abolitionist movement). He not only was a proponent of slavery. He was a slave owner too. Therefore, as a black person, I can never respect Francis Scott Key. We should never be forced to praise an anthem created by a reprehensible person as American society has been filled with injustice and abhorrent hypocrisy. Colin has said that he is willing to risk his money in order for him to stand on his principles. We salute him on his actions. Some folks act like refusing to stand for the national anthem is equivalent to assaulting someone. The author of that anthem was basically a slave owner who wrote the song in the midst of the War of 1812 and there are secret lyrics of the song talking about slaves. It was not the official national anthem until 1933. Francis also wrote racist words about black people and he opposed the abolitionist movement. So, Francis Scott Key was a brutish male. In every movement of black liberation from the Maroons to the abolitionist movement, people sacrificed, people fought, and people developed strategies of resisting tyranny. Our ancestors are a strong people and they fought. We not only want our rights. In order for change to transpire substantially, we have to fight for it by any legitimate means necessary. Freedom comes not by pledging allegiance to a flag. It comes by fighting evil and standing up for what is right.We want justice.


One issue is about the tragic murder of Nykea Aldridge. She was only 32 years old. She was the niece of Dwayne Wade. I echo Wade's sentiments. Enough is Enough. First, I send condolences and prayers to Aldridge's family and friends. There is no excuse for murder or unjust violence at any circumstance period. We are all sadden at this tragedy. 2 suspects have been arrested and I hope that the murderers are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and have justice. The violence in Chicago is more than a problem in Chicago. This is a national problem. When one innocent person dies, it is an attack on all of the human race. Nykea Aldridge's family have shown the grace, love, and the compassion that ought to be duplicated in our society. It is cliche, but the solution to this problem is never going to be one thing. It requires the actions of all levels of government, communities, businesses, organizations, and us the people. Without the support and activism of the people, nothing can be done. We have a shrinking of resources in poorer communities nationwide. That should change in Chicago and throughout the nation. Therefore, I believe in more investments in Chicago that deals with jobs, after school programs, and intervention groups that are working to end conflicts. There is no solution unless poverty is fought against for real. Chicago is one of the most segregated cities in America with schools being readily closed down and even qualified, excellent teachers being laid off. I read the stories of this. Also, many home foreclosures have existed which harms communities. There should also be a policy to address gun violence and violent gangs. Likewise, there should be policies to oppose police brutality, economic injustices, the War on Drugs, unjust sentencing, and any injustice in Chicago too. The system of racism/white supremacy is vicious and we want it to be ended, so the system of justice can exist for black people and the rest of the human race.

First, the essence of manhood has been distorted and lied about not only by sexists (who believe that all men must act like a bunch of brutes), but by racists too. Toxic masculinity precisely means in essence a sick philosophy that men must act brutish, callous, and nihilistic to prove their manhood. Therefore, toxic masculinity is a detriment to social progress and justice. The lie that black men collectively have a collective, genetic pathology for violence, rape, and murder must be condemned just like the lie that feminism is equivalent to misandry (we must condemn the lie that black women expressing their concerns and issues are trying to "emasculate" black men). In the final analysis, we want men and women to be free and to have equality. Part of enacting that goal is to end structures of oppression which harms women, black people, and other human beings. Also, I do believe that more black men should go & act as mentors to teach black male youths about the importance of human autonomy, respect for black women, and promoting healthy relationships among black people. There is an epidemic of domestic violence, abuse, rape, and harassment in the black community that we must confront. In the final analysis, we want any black person, regardless of sex or nationality, to achieve excellence and greatness in their own lives. Also, part of the solution is for us to continue to condemn and oppose rape, domestic violence, racism, economic inequality, and discrimination in the world. Social activism is crucial in getting us into a world filled with equality and justice. I don't believe in blaming every black woman or blaming every black man for all problems in our community. Not only is that inaccurate, but it plays into the agenda of racists (and ultimately the agenda of white supremacy) who love to collectively blame black people for every problem under the sun anyway. What we should do is acknowledge the problems of misogynoir, toxic masculinity, and other injustices and form strategies to end such evils. Without community, communication, and action, nothing changes. We (as in black people) have to do the work.

This story reaches into many issues. First, we all congratulate the young girls in the high school (called Pretoria High School for Girls) for their courage, honesty, and strength. They are telling the truth that there is absolutely nothing wrong with their hair. Their hair is a reflection of their black identity. The racist white teachers, who did wrong there, should be immediately fired for their reprehensible, evil conduct toward children. Black children in South Africa have every right to speak non-English in their own nation. This story is why pan-African solidarity is so important. After apartheid ended, the neoliberal capitalists (as found in various corporations, the World Bank, etc.) used means to control the majority of the wealth of South Africa. Even some ANC members are allied in that compromising, neoliberal movement. The Marikana Massacre in South Africa (in August 16, 2012) was about workers fighting for their economic rights, but some cops killed mining workers in a savage way. That is why independent political groups in South Africa want to make a change, end class oppression, and end racism in South Africa. In America, black women and black girls have been mistreated because of their hair. Black people make up the majority of the population in South Africa and the black girls in South Africa are making it very clear that they will never tolerate mistreatment or disrespect from anyone period. Black is always beautiful and we are in solidarity with the young Sisters in South Africa.


Yesterday was the birthday of the late, great Brother Fred Hampton. He was a revolutionary in every sense of the word and he was ahead of his time. He was born in Summit, Illinois in 1948. Summit is to the west of Chicago. When he was growing up, he was a strong lover of learning and he graduated from high school. As a youth, he also worked for the NAACP to call for civil rights and human justice. He joined the Black Panther Party in Chicago in the late 1960's. He worked constantly and relentlessly to oppose imperialism, to stand up for community development, and to advance unity. In fact, by his great leadership skills, he organized truces among Chicago gangs and made them politicized. He worked hard to promote opposition to capitalist exploitation and police brutality. It was Fred Hampton who strengthened the BPP in Chicago. Yes, Chaka Khan was a Panther too. Chaka Khan is from Chicago. We know that so many revolutionary Brothers and Sisters are from Chicago (with areas like the North Side, the South Side, the Loop, etc. The Loop is the commercial district of Chicago). Fred Hampton was only in his early 20's when he did great work to help our community. The Chicago police and the FBI joined forces to not only slander the Panthers, but to cause division, and infiltration. O'Neal was an FBI informant (he later committed suicide) who gave the FBI and the Chicago police information on the whereabouts and activities of Fred Hampton. Later, in December of 1969, the Chicago police unjustly murdered Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in cold blood. The murder was so unjust, that the local Chicago authorities had to pay the families of Clark and Hampton monetary compensation. Fred Hampton loved his wife and his son is also a revolutionary too. The same brutality, which was enacted against Fred Hampton, continues in our generation. We know that the struggle continues, but I don't lose hope. We are part of the same struggle for liberation and the drum still beats. The drum is part of our souls and we honor the sacrifice of Fred Hampton by working together, by loving our Blackness, and by making solutions a reality. That is how he lived and this is how we should always live. We are blessed to live in the 21st century and we are motivated to do our part to end this vicious system of racism/white supremacy, so a real system of justice is made real for all. Rest in Power Brother Fred Hampton.

By Timothy

Monday Information (in August 29, 2016)



Medgar Evers was a black man who was a hero. He stood up against white racism and he desired freedom and justice for all black people. He was a great father and an excellent husband to his wife Myrlie Evers. He not only wanted social justice and voting rights. He worked with organizations involved in the civil rights movement like the NAACP. He worked hard to promote voting rights and registration, economic opportunity, access to public facilities, and an end to Jim Crow apartheid completely. His wife Myrlie Evers is still an activist for justice. She once was the national chair of the NAACP. His brother Charles Evers was the first African American mayor elected in Mississippi in the post-Reconstruction era when he won in 1969 in Fayette. Medgar Evers was born in July 2, 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi. He was the third of the give children. His older brother was Charlie Evers. The Evers family owned a small farm. James Evers or his father worked at a sawmill. Medgar Evers walked 12 miles to attend segregated schools and he earned his high school diploma. Medgar Evers was a World War II veteran. He was in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945. He was sent to the European Theater and he fought in the Battle of Normandy in June of 1944. After the end of the war, Evers was honorably discharged as a sergeant. In 1948, Evers enrolled at Alcorn College (a historically black college, now Alcorn State University) majoring in business administration. He also competed on the debate, football, and track teams, sang in the choir, and was junior class president. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1952. On December 24, 1951, he married classmate Myrlie Beasley. Together they had three children: Darrell Kenyatta, Reena Denise, and James Van Dyke Evers. The couple moved to Mound Bayou, Mississippi. This was a town developed by African Americans, where Evers became a salesman for T.R.M. Howard’s Magnolia Mutual Life Insurance Company. Howard was also president of the Regional Council of Negro Leadership (RCNL). Evers helped to organize the RCNL’s boycott of gasoline stations that denied black people the use of the stations’ restroom. Evers and his brother Charles also attended the RCNL's annual conferences in Mound Bayou between 1952 and 1954, which drew crowds of ten thousand or more. In 1954, Evers applied to the segregated University of Mississippi Law School, but his application was rejected because of his race. He submitted to the NAACP as a test case. During that year, the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled that segregation of public school (which included state universities) was unconstitutional. In late 1954, Evers was named the NAACP's first field secretary for Mississippi.

In this position, he helped organize boycotts and set up new local chapters of the NAACP. He was involved with James Meredith's efforts to enroll in the University of Mississippi in the early 1960's. Evers also helped Dr. Gilbert Mason, Sr., organize the Biloxi wade-ins, protests against segregation of public beaches on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. His civil rights leadership and investigative work made him a target of evil white supremacists.  The Council was founded in Mississippi, with numerous local chapters, to resist integration of schools and civil rights goals. In the weeks before Evers' death, the leader encountered new levels of hostility. His public investigations into the 1955 lynching of teenaged Emmett Till and his vocal support of Clyde Kennard had made him a prominent black leader. On May 28, 1963, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the carport of his home. On June 7, 1963, Evers was nearly run down by a car after he emerged from the NAACP office in Jackson. In the early morning of June 12, 1963, just hours after President John F. Kennedy’s famous nationally televised Civil Rights Address, Evers pulled into his driveway after returning from a meeting with NAACP lawyers. After he left his car and carrying NAACP T-shirt read “Jim Crow Must Go,” he was shot in the back with a bullet fired from an Enfield 1917 rifle; the bullet ripped through his heart. He staggered 30 feet (9.1 meters) before collapsing. He was taken to the local hospital in Jackson, Mississippi where he was initially refused entry because of his race. His family explained who he was and he was admitted; he died in the hospital 50 minutes later. After Evers was assassinated, an estimated 5,000 people marched from the Masonic Temple on Lynch Street to the Collins Funeral Home on North Farish Street in Jackson, Mississippi. Allen Johnson, Reverend Martin Luther King and other civil rights leaders led the procession. His passing was mourned nationally. Medgar Evers was buried on June 19, 1963 in Arlington National Cemetery where he received full military honors before a crowd of more than 3,000. On June 21, 1963, Byron De La Beckwith, a fertilizer salesman and member of the White Citizens' Council (and later of the Ku Klux Klan), was arrested for Evers' murder. District Attorney and future governor Bill Waller prosecuted De La Beckwith. All-white juries twice that year deadlocked on De La Beckwith's guilt and failed to reach a verdict. At the time, most blacks were disenfranchised by Mississippi's constitution and voter registration practices; this meant they were also excluded from juries, which were based on registered voters. In 1994, De La Beckwith was prosecuted by the state based on new evidence. Bobby DeLaughter was the prosecutor. During the trial, the body of Evers was exhumed from his grave for an autopsy. De La Beckwith was convicted of murder on February 5, 1994, after having lived without long term prison time for much of the three decades following the killing. (He had been imprisoned from 1977 to 1980 on separate charges: conspiring to murder A.I. Botnick). De La Beckwith appealed his conviction in the Evers' case, but died at age 80 in prison in January 2001. Medgar Evers have been remembered and memorized by Mississippi and national authors (they include Eudora Wetty, James Baldwin, Margaret Walker, and Anne Moody).  In 1963, he was awarded the Spingarn Medal from the NAACP. In 1969, College was established in Brooklyn, New York, as part of the City University of New York.


Evers's widow, Myrlie Evers co-wrote the book For Us, the Living with William Peters in 1967. In 1983, a movie was made based on the book. Celebrating Evers's life and career, it starred Howard Rollins Jr. and Irene Cara as Medgar and Myrlie Evers, airing on PBS. The film won the Writers Guild of America award for Best Adapted Drama. On June 28, 1992, the city of Jackson, Mississippi, erected a statue in honor of Evers. All of Delta Drive (part of U.S. Highway 49) in Jackson was renamed in Evers' honor. In December 2004, the Jackson City Council changed the name of the city's airport to "Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport" (Jackson-Evers International Airport) in his honor. Mylie Evers continues to be a civil rights activist to this very day. In June 2013, a statue of Evers was erected at his alma mater, Alcorn State University, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death. Alumni and guests from around the world gathered to recognize his contributions to American society. Evers' widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, spoke on his contributions to the advancement of civil rights: "Medgar was a man who never wanted adoration, who never wanted to be in the limelight. He was a man who saw a job that needed to be done and he answered the call and the fight for freedom, dignity and justice not just for his people but all people." RIP Brother Medgar Evers.


The end of the Black Panther Party started in 1972 and the BPP ended completely in 1982. Its ending was tragic, sad, and filled with changes in American society. By 1972, Huey P. Newton called for the end of chapters nationwide. He wanted all efforts to be focused in Oakland. Newton rejects insurrectionary violence and focused on creating survival programs in Oakland in order for revolutionary change to come in a step by step process. This begins an overt push on the part of the Black Panther Party to be involved in reformist politics. Many people disagreed with this action like the BLA who wanted more militancy in order for black people to have justice. By mid-1972, many BPP members and its supporters win a number of minor offices in the Oakland city elections. Elaine Brown increased her power in the Black Panther Party during the time. She runs for city council while Bobby Seale runs for mayor of Oakland in the Democratic Party. They both lose their respective elections. By 1974, many Black Panther Party people left the party. Bobby and John Seale are expelled by Huey P. Newton in 1974. David and June Hillard were expelled. Chicago BPP members left too. A teenager named Kathleen Smith was murdered. Debates continue on whether Huey P. Newton was involved in her murder or not. One thing is true. That is that murder is wrong and we send condolences to the family of Kathleen Smith. Kathleen Smith was 19 years old when she was murdered. Huey P. Newton fled to Cuba to escape criminal prosecution. Elaine Brown stays and runs the Black Panther Party in his absence. During this time, Elaine Brown did do many great things in helping the community of Oakland, California. In December 1974: accountant Betty van Patter is murdered, after threatening to disclose irregularities in the Party's finances. I send condolences to the family and friends of Betty van Patter. When Huey P. Newton, returns from Cuba, he goes into a personal downward spiral of drug addiction, violence, rumored mental health issues, and internal discord. Minister of Education Ray "Masai" Hewitt created the Buddha Samurai, the party's underground security cadre in Oakland. Newton expelled Hewitt from the party later in 1972, but the security cadre remained in operation under the leadership of Flores Forbes. One of the cadre's main functions was to extort and rob drug dealers and after-hours clubs. Newton was also indicted for pistol-whipping his tailor, Preston Callins.  He shows his writing skills by having his Ph.D., being in interviews, and writing eloquently. Yet, his imperfections persisted and his imperfections have no justification. There is no justification for unjust assault or murder. The Party supported Lionel Wilson in his successful election as the first black mayor of Oakland, in exchange for Wilson's assistance in having criminal charges dropped against Party member Flores Forbes, leader of the Buddha Samurai cadre.

Elaine Brown focused the Party more in an electoral direction. She allowed more women leadership in the BPP too. Elaine Brown’s leadership in the Party came from August 1974 to June 1977. During that time, the Party had embraced many social democratic policies and developed. Elaine Brown supported Jerry Brown for governor of California, which he won. Black Congressman Ron Dellum and organized labor supported Elaine Brown. The first black mayor of Oakland was Lionel Wilson. Elaine Brown and the Black Panther Party used their resources to help him to be elected. In May of 1977. Newton’s drug addiction was bad and he embezzled funds form the school to pay for his drug addiction. The Black Panther Party was about 27 in 1980 and its Panther sponsored school ended in 1982. The Black Panther Party in general ended in 1982. FBI/government infiltration and attacks (John Potash has written books that goes into great detail in accurately showing how the FBI used division, murder, and infiltration to attack the Black Panthers and other revolutionary organizations), internal disputes, murder, and other crisis caused the BPP to end. Huey P. Newton would continue to lecture and give interviews on television. Huey P. Newton would be murdered in 1989. I send condolences to Newton’s family and friends. The lesson here is that there is nothing wrong with revolutionary fervor, but revolutionary action must always be bounded in the realm of morality, integrity, and humane treatment. There is no excuse for murder, rape, harassment, assault, embellishment, bigotry, sexism, racism, xenophobia, and any injustice period. I believe in social and economic justice. I also believe in morality too. I do respect the Black Panthers who did the right thing and promoted excellence and helped others. We can be revolutionaries and treat our neighbors as ourselves at the same time.


By Timothy

Sunday, August 28, 2016

History and Culture

http://panafricannews.blogspot.com/

http://sfbayview.com/2013/02/claudia-jones-african-caribbean-communist-defied-racism-sexism-and-class-oppression/

https://blackmattersus.com/14675-chicago-cop-snubbed-rhymefest-as-he-reported-robbery-attack/?utm_source=service_worker&utm_medium=push&utm_campaign=push20160408 


https://www.pinterest.com/pin/4433299608700964/

http://www.essence.com/2016/08/28/police-pepper-spray-elderly-black-woman


http://atlantablackstar.com/2016/08/26/another-black-owned-bank-cements-over-1m-in-deposits-as-bankblack-movement-continues/


 http://blackbeat.topix.com/slideshow/16908?utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=16908&utm_term=MNK4B30MLDTPE4R1 

https://racismws.com/2016/03/31/what-are-black-parents-teaching-our-children-about-racism/#comments

http://time.com/4377951/free-state-of-jones-true-story/

http://www.chillyphilly.com/PhilaHist.html

https://www.facebook.com/civilrightsheroes/photos/a.182165741823351.40304.173008119405780/1210263232346925/?type=3&permPage=1

https://blackmainstreet.net/never-forget-devils-punchbowl-20000-freed-slaves-died-forced-post-slavery-concentration-camp/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/26/navy-natural-hair_n_5715265.html

http://www.theroot.com/articles/history/2016/07/star-spangled-bigotry-the-hidden-racist-history-of-the-national-anthem/

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/09/slavery_myths_seven_lies_half_truths_and_irrelevancies_people_trot_out_about.html

http://urbanintellectuals.com/2015/11/02/can-you-believe-she-started-on-foodstamps-now-leverages-a-24-billion-economic-powerhouse/

A New era of the 2016 Presidential Campaign (in late August 2016)

Today, we have a new phrase of the Presidential election with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, and third party candidates speaking, debating, and promoting their views. The hate rhetoric and hypocrisy of Donald Trump is very abhorrent. He has shifted his views on immigration in order to try to gain support, but tons of people see through his charade. Hillary Clinton gave a recent speech at a community college in Reno, Nevada and in other places to condemn Trump’s fascistic views. She said that Donald Trump has ultra-right ties, which is accurate. It is no secret that the most reactionary members of the alt right movement are supporting Donald Trump from members of Breitbart to Alex Jones. This is not new. Barry Goldwater’s 1964 campaign appealed to conservatives and Richard Nixon overtly tries to appealed to Southern white racists in 1968 (these racists left the Democratic Party during the civil rights struggles and they came into the GOP in high numbers). It was Ronald Reagan, still invoked today as the chief Republican deity, who began his 1980 presidential campaign with a rally in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the rural town where three young civil rights workers were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964. Before an all-white audience, Ronald Reagan pledged to defend “state’s rights,” the banner under which the segregationists had fought their losing battle. I don’t agree with Hillary Clinton on some issues, but it is important to expose white nationalism and the alt right movement in promoting racism, anti-Semitism, neo-Confederate lies, sexism, xenophobia, Islamophobia, and other evils. These far right extremists hate socialism when many socialists fought for workers’ rights and equality for generations. Donald Trump has called Mexican undocumented immigrants rapists and criminals. He has tweeted out false crime statistics (against black people) and he said that African Americans can’t walk in the streets without fear of being shot (which is a lie). White supremacists have overly promoted the Donald Trump campaign. Donald Trump’s once advisor Roger Stone co-hosted a rally with right wing radio talk show host Alex Jones that featured the alt right racist Milo Yiannopoulos of Breitbart News as a speaker. Mio was banned by Twitter for his racist attacks against Sister actor/comedian Leslie Jones. I stand with Leslie Jones. Stephen K. Bannon is Trump’s campaign chief. Bannon is from Breitbart News and that site promotes the lies that birth control makes women crazy and praising the Confederate flag (which is evil). Bannon also has been accused of domestic violence and he has allegations of voter fraud in Florida. Trump has not apologized for his bigoted comments or renounced the anti-Semitic trolling of journalists by his followers.

Trump is not sorry about his slander of the Central Park Five or an American judge who is of Mexican descent either. So, I will never vote for Trump.  Trump’s views are anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant, anti-women, and anti-black. The day before Clinton’s speech, he appeared at a campaign rally in Mississippi with ultra-right British politician Nigel Farage. The former head of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Farage spearheaded the successful “Leave” campaign in the recent referendum on continued British membership in the European Union, mounting a racist campaign against immigrant workers. Far right nationalist extremists are in England, Austria, etc. We are in a battle against fascism internationally. The GOP now is similar to the National Front in France, the Alternative for Germany, the Freedom Party in Austria, Farage’s UKIP, etc. Now, many Trump’s supporters are racists. Also, Trump’s support existed because of the economic struggles of working class people. We have a social crisis (caused by the right wing policies of the Democrats and the Republicans) where the poor and the working class feel desperate for survival. Some of the working class unfortunately ally with a bigot like Trump. Trump spokesman Rick Oltman of Novato, California had ties to white nationalist groups. Oltman has been a member of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), a white nationalist organization descended directly from the Jim Crow-era white Citizens Councils. He is adamantly anti-immigration. AltRight members readily send anti-Semitic messages and evil words to Jewish people. Reactionary nationalism comes about readily during social crisis in history. So, we have war and economic inequality in this administration and extremism promoted by Trump (who came about by the rise of a parasitic financial aristocracy whose fortunes are based on speculation rather than the development of industry). Trump has no plan to address the War on Drugs, poverty, immigration, racial discrimination, gender discrimination, and other important issues. Hillary Clinton’s weakness is that she is tied to Wall Street, imperial policies, she has real scandals with the Clinton Foundation including her email situation, plus contradictions yet she claims to be an economic progressive. Therefore, we have to have political independence. Regardless, I will not support Trump period. We, in America, are the most multi-ethnic and diverse nation culturally in human history. There is beauty in our diversity.


Any relationship should be based on reciprocity, respect, and commonalities. I have no problem with older people dating younger people as long as those people are consenting adults. People should be careful too as in some cases, the grass isn't always greener in every situation. Vetting should exist for those who are interesting in dating or marriage. In a marriage or any relationship, financial security should be discussed about. Yet, a true relationship is more than about money as we see many people who are wealthy experience breakups and dysfunction in their relationships. Regardless of how rich someone is, happiness in a relationship is caused by effort, sacrifice, respect, and caring for people. Without respect, there is no truly strong love connection. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with getting money legitimately, but we shouldn't be defined by the money. We can earn money, but the money shouldn't make us. That is why I reject materialism and deception. We want honesty, transparency, and cooperation in dealing with love. I have no problem with dating someone 5 years older than me. Likewise: No one is entitled to date anyone as dating should exist without coercion. No one is entitled to a woman's mind, body, or soul. Women and men should control their own bodies, minds, and souls. People are entitled to human rights. So, whether a younger woman dates an older man, a younger man dates an older woman, or people date within the same age bracket, everybody involved should be careful, vet, and make sure that romantic situations are healthy. People should have fun and use commonsense.

This is great point to be made. Despite the circumstances of life, we still rise. I am an African American and the record must be set straight about African Americans. The truth is that tons of African Americans not only have great intellectual curiosity, but we love our culture. Our culture exists in music, art, history, STEM fields, acting, dance, theater, and other diverse parts of the human experience. That is why African American museums readily show African American culture yearly. We should never forget about the Maafa and the experiences of our black ancestors. We know about the past, so we can be inspired to work in the present, and build a stronger future for our community. We are a spiritual people too and there is no shame in having faith. Also, we have to do the work in order to make our faith living. We are made up of great athletes like Serena Williams, excellent playwrights like Lorraine Hansberry, and excellent scholars like Paul Robeson. We include magnificent singers like Odetta and heroic freedom fighters like Fannie Lou Hamer. I believe in unity, but unity flourishes when we fight to end institutionalized racism, and other forms of structural oppression in the world. Unity builds strength and true unity is beautiful. Also, I will always show empathy towards black people. I am a black and Beautiful. Many people want to blame especially black poor people for everything under the sun and I don't get down like that. People should be treated with dignity and with respect. We will continue to fight for justice.
We still rise.

It has been 15 years since Aaliyah's passing in August 25, 2001. I remember the day like it was yesterday. I just came home from my grandmother's house. I was 17 years old when I heard news. I was stunned and shocked. Sister Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in January 16, 1979 in Brooklyn, NYC. She was raised of course in the great city of Detroit. She was a very intelligent person who had great maturity and made straight As in her school. She was a trailblazer (in terms of music, fashion, and culture) filled with life and beauty. Her beauty wasn't just found in her outer beauty. Her beauty was found in her gregarious personality, her smile, and her tender compassion for fellow people. She always respected and loved her fans. Many celebrities and friends always told the public that she was one of the most nicest, down to Earth people that they have ever encountered in their lives. Monica said that she was a shy Sister. Missy Elliot and Timbaland (who are from Virginia. I'm from Virginia, so Virginia is always in the building) loved Aayliah too as a musician and as a friend. We all love her and we all miss her. We know that Aaliyah danced and sing gloriously about her life and about love, relationships, hurt, joy, pain, happiness, and hope for the future. She is the epitome of a young woman who exemplifies human grace and honesty. She was an actress too and she did plays before. She loved many genres of music. Aaliyah was a kindhearted woman. She was more than a woman. She was a great human being and she has especially so many in the world. Aaliyah was amazing and she was very blessed. We honor her legacy by living in the realm of the Golden Rule, promoting excellence, and inspiring people to follow their dreams as she would want us to do diligently and enthusiastically. She was only 22 years old when she passed away, but her legacy lives onward forever.
Sweet Dreams Sister. Rest in Power Sister Aaliyah.

By Timothy

Vote Your Conscience


I heard of a lot of myths. One myth is that we, who are black people, must be Republicans unconditionally, because of 50 years of Democratic domination. That is a lie since Republicans and Democrats dominated the White House for 50 years. There is a known history of both parties in that span of time enacting austerity, the War on Drugs, deindustrialization, various unjust wars, and other reactionary policies. Ronald Reagan supported the racist Southern Strategy and the War on Drugs. The haters also omit history. From 1960 to the early 1970's, the poverty rate in America was cut in half and there was an expansion of human rights in America. When President Johnson declared war on poverty in 1964, the poverty rate was 19 percent. By 1973, this was cut to 11.1 percent, approximately where it stayed for the rest of the decade. Poverty grew massively during the sharp cutbacks in welfare benefits that occurred during the Reagan years. One of the sick and cowardly things that these far right extremists have done is to blame single mothers for the problems we face instead of the system of economic exploitation, racism, and lax investments. We know that single mothers are courageous and have defended human rights for thousands of years. These haters forget that Democrats are not monolithic. Many of them are very conservative on issues of welfare, foreign policy, etc. The DLC is not far left. You can make the case that progressive policies caused Social Security, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, the Clean Water Act, etc. to exist in the first place. That is why Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. supported economic and social justice. That is why Malcolm X believed in opposition to Western imperialism. So, just because we oppose GOP extremists like Donald Trump doesn’t mean that we lack political independence. Black people are a smart people. Standing up against a xenophobe and a bigot like Trump, etc. is righteous. Some people in our generation even are trying to shame black people into supporting policies that harm our voting rights, our civil liberties, and our fight against police brutality. I’m going to speak up and stand up for what’s right. I will never tell anyone who to vote for since that is a personal choice. As for me, I will never vote for Trump. I will vote my conscience.



The white extremists (who brandish weapons) in front of the NAACP office in Houston have shown lies, hate, and disrespect. I'm not surprised that many of the white people there wore pro-Trump hats as many Trump supporters love the Confederate flag and anti-black lies. For them to call a moderate organization like the NAACP as a group to condone violence is sick and reprehensible. BLM is not involved in the promotion of unjust violence against innocent human beings. These lying racists readily condone the Confederate flag (which was used by racists to oppress black people), which is a symbol of hatred. They embrace their phony 'persecution complex' where they promote the lie that whites collectively are not benefiting more in America than black people collectively. The reality is that racism and classism are realities in America and no justice will come unless racial and economic justice exist. These extremists want to scapegoat many black people for the problems that white racists have caused in the first place (which involve the War on Drugs, the Maafa, the Southern Strategy, etc.). This tactic of blaming black people collectively is a tactic common among the far right crowd. BLM has nothing to do with the killings of police officers. These bigots refuse to acknowledge white privilege, economic inequality, and the epidemic of police brutality in the world. Ken Reed is a deceiver, who is trying to instigate hatred and lies in America. Reed's defense of the Confederate flag is representative of his heinous character. We, as black people, will defend ourselves. Therefore, we are in a situation where we will defend our human rights. We believe in black liberation and we will stand up for our principles.

People have the right to their views. My thinking is that do we want inclusion to the machine or justice? Is their something wrong with diversity? I view nothing wrong with us as black people showing our diverse stories, ideologies, or views. I don't want to be included in a system that exploits my people. I want to see the current system change into a system of real justice for humanity. We are descendants of the first humans on Earth. We have the creative power to create our own institutions, inventions, and forms of expressions regardless if others like it or not. I certainly respect Ava DuVernay's research into Selma and her other endeavors. I already know about the Selma movement, but her film Selma certainly inspired me to research Selma into a higher level. Now, I have a higher level of understanding of the civil rights and black liberation movements in general. The interview focuses on debates (about the end goal) that we have in our community all of the time. My value, as a black people, shouldn't be dictated on how non-blacks include me. Our value is given to us by birthright and it ought to be never taken away. Also, it is important to note that Oprah and Ava DuVernay made many points in their interview that I do agree with, so people can read the interview and make up their own minds. We are black people. We won't agree on everything. Yet, we should desire the same goal, which is freedom and justice. As for me, I won't eliminate diversity from my vocabulary and that's my personal choice. I will say that when other ethnic groups focus on their own institutions, museums, enterprises, and cultural representations, they are praised by the mainstream society. Yet, black people are criticized unjustly by the haters for advocating the same promotion of the creation of our own institutions that we control. In the final analysis, we desire black liberation and part of liberation is having human autonomy and owning our own resources that we control and pass down to our descendants. Also, it is about the love and the promotion for pan-African solidarity.



The Olympics has ended and I congratulate the athletes who participated. and those athletes who won medals. Also, I want to make a great point too. The Closing ceremony of the Olympics have shown great graphics. Also, we know the next point that must be made. We know that point. Black women have done superbly in track and field, swimming, gymnastics, and other sports. We certainly realize that and honor that as black women are the Mothers of the Human race. Rio was the place where history has been made in so many ways and 2020 is soon to be here. I will be 37 by that time and the same commitment to justice will remain in my soul too. Mary McLeod Bethune was an educator, a civil rights worker, and the founder of Bethune-Cookman College. She was was born in Mayesville, SC, on July 10, 1875. She worked with our community greatly and she desired total justice. She worked in Daytona Beach, Florida to educate black children there. During the 1930's, she supported programs to give black men and black women employment opportunities, so they could get jobs. She publicly stated that she wanted all people to honor and respect the contributions that black people have made in world history. She has displayed great determination and she was in the front lines in advancing education, racial justice, and peace in the world. Her legacy will live on for all of eternity.
Rest in Power Sister Mary McLeod Bethune.

I want to mention this. One big lie shown by the far right crowd and the haters of the BLM is that George Soros funds every aspect of the BLM. Usually, I won't talk about this issue, because it isn't necessary. Now, it is time to address this issue though. BLM was created by 3 black people. People have the right to agree or disagree with their views, but to lie about them is wrong. Soros is a neoliberal financial person. He is an international financier and billionaire. Therefore, he isn't a socialist or a Communist. I don't support George Soros or his agenda at all. Many people have used the Communist slander against civil rights heroes from Dr. King to other human beings. Communism is an economic system that is diverse not monolithic. What these haters omit is that Claudia Jones was a Communist. Paul Robeson and WEB DuBois were Communists. Fred Hampton was a socialist. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. praised democratic socialism by his own words. Malcolm X criticized capitalism in 1965. Therefore, many of our people had diverse ideological views, but they didn't lack their love for black people and their commitment to justice remained strong. Even America has a mixed economy where the public and private sectors are intertwined. We are in a class struggle and there is nothing wrong with the poor and the working class fighting against capitalist exploitation. Therefore, we are against right wing attacks against the BLM. We believe in help for the victims of flooding in Louisiana, an end to police brutality, and economic justice. I will never be ashamed of believing in universal health care and believing in compassion for humanity. Yes, Black Lives Matter. We should never be ashamed of what we stand for. Many people want to shame people who believe in social justice, but we ought to tell the world that we love social justice. I believe in helping the environment. I believe in expanding health care. I don't agree with imperialism. I honor economic justice and I believe in the protection of civil liberties. I also believe in the defense of the human rights of black people, especially of black women. So, we have every right to stand up for these principles. I'm always inspired to carry forward with this audacious journey. Now, the torch has been passed to a new generation of people who are not in support of the status quo, but want a transformation of society whereby justice is made real and wisdom is maintained. She is one of the great heroes of our generation. She is Leymah Gbowee. She is a peace activist of Liberia. She has helped women also in Africa. Her work helped to end the Second Liberian Civil War in 2003. She, along with Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Tawakkul Karman, were awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize "for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work." She is involved in programs to cause more reconciliation and hope for the citizens of Liberia too. She has assisted children and others who have suffered injustice. She is a praying woman. She has earned numerous degrees, she has tons of awards, and she is a living example of courage, honor, and grace.
Bless Sister Leymah Gbowee.


By Timothy


Late August 2016 Information on History



Ella Baker was a heroic icon. She stood up from the truth and believed in justice for all. In order for us to understand the past, the present, and fight for a better future, then we must understand the life story of the courageous Sister Ella Baker. Ella Baker promoted leadership based on consensus, community organizing, strategy, and democratic power sharing. She didn’t want a hierarchal system where one person dominated people. She wanted bottom up development of power and she always respected the youth. She encouraged the youth to form their own independent organizations. That is why she is the Mother of SNCC or the Student Non-violent Coordinating SNCC from April of 1960. She is one of the Mothers of the Civil Rights Movement in general. For over 50 years, she organized, developed strategies, and gave eloquent speeches that gave hope, inspiration, and guidance to humanity. She worked with some of the famous civil rights leaders from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to A. Philip Randolph, but she was also key in helping unsung heroes as well. She was a mentor to many activists like Diane Nash, Rosa Parks, Bob Moses, Kwame Ture, etc. She is without question the most influential woman of the Civil Rights Movement. She was born in December 13, 1903 in Norfolk, Virginia. Her parents were Georgiana and Blake Baker. By the age of 7, her family moved into Littleton, North Carolina, which was her mother’s hometown. It was a rural area. As a girl, Baker listened to her grandmother tell stories about slave revolts. Baker's maternal grandmother Josephine Elizabeth "Bet" Ross, had been enslaved and was whipped for refusing to marry a man chosen for her by the slave master. Ella Baker always questioned and opposed unjust authority. She graduated from Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina as valedictorian in 1927 at the age of 24. She fought against unfair school policies. She moved to New York City after her graduation. She was an editorial staff member of the American West Indian News from 1929-1930. She also was the editorial assistant at the Negro National News. Ella Baker joined the YNCL or the Young Negroes’ Cooperative League to promote black economic power via collective planning. She became a friend of George Schuyler (or the founder of the YNCL in 1930). Later, Schulyer would be an arch conservative. Ella Baker was the group’s national director. She also involved herself with several women's organizations. She was committed to economic justice for all people and once said, "People cannot be free until there is enough work in this land to give everybody a job."

Shirley Chisholm was a great hero of black people and of humanity in general. For decades, she fought for freedom and justice. Now, in our generation, we give honor to her life and legacy. She was not only a political person. She was an educator and an author. She was the first African American woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968. She represented New York’s 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1973. She was born in November 30, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York City. Her parents were immigrants from the Caribbean. She had three younger sisters. Two of them were born within three years after Shirley, one later. His mother was Ruby Seale from Barbados. His father was Charles Christopher St. Hill and he was born in British Guiana and lived in Barbados for a while. Shirley Chisholm lived in Barbados at the age of 5 to live with her material grandmother’s farm. Her name was Emaline Seale. They lived on the grandmother's farm in the Vauxhall village in Christ Church, where she attended a one-room schoolhouse that took education seriously. She returned to New York on May 19, 1934 from the SS Nerissa. She spoke with a West Indian accent throughout her life. Shirley Chisholm would consider herself a Barbadian American. She talked about her grandmother in glowing terms. She attended Girls’ High School in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1939. The school was an integrated school that girls from throughout Brooklyn attended. She earned her Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in 1946, where she won prizes for her debating skills. During the late 1940’s, she met Conrad O. Chisholm. He came to America from Jamaica in 1946 and he would later be a private investigator. He worked in negligence-based lawsuits. Shirley Chisholm and Conrad O. Chisholm married in 1949 in a West-Indian style wedding. Shirley Chisholm taught in a nursery school while furthering her education, learning her MA in elementary education from Teachers at Columbia University in 1952. She loved education. That is why from 1953 to 1959, she was the director of the Friends Day Nursery in Brownsville, Brooklyn and of the Hamiliton-Madison Child Care Center in lower Manhattan. From 1959 to 1964, she was an educational consultant on issues involving early education and child welfare. She was interested in politics too. She worked in political clubs as a volunteer in Brooklyn. She worked with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Political League and the League of Women Voters. Shirley Chisholm later was the Democratic member of the New York State Assembly from 1965 to 1968. She was in the 175th, 176th, and 177th New York State Legislatures. She was successful in the legislature to get unemployment benefits extended to domestic workers. She also sponsored the introduction of a SEEK program (Search for Education, Elevation and Knowledge) to the state, which provided disadvantaged students the chance to enter college while receiving intensive remedial education.
In August 1968, she was elected as the Democratic National Committeewoman from New York State,


The Armenian Genocide killed tons of people and ruined lives forever. Many members of the Ottoman Empire were complicit in it. After World War I, the Ottoman Empire would soon end. Many people spoke out against the genocide like Alice Stone Blackwell, Rabbi Stephen Wise, and even former President Theodore Roosevelt. In memoirs that he completed during 1918, Morgenthau wrote, "When the Turkish authorities gave the orders for these deportations, they were merely giving the death warrant to a whole race; they understood this well, and, in their conversations with me, they made no particular attempt to conceal the fact ..." The memoirs and reports vividly described the methods used by Ottoman forces and documented numerous instances of atrocities committed against the Christian minority. Germany was an ally of the Ottoman Empire using WWI. Many people have accused some Germans of witnessing Armenians being exterminated and doing nothing about it. According to Bat Ye'or, an Israeli historian, the Germans also witnessed Armenians being burned to death. She writes: "The Germans, allies of the Turks in the First World War ... saw how civil populations were shut up in churches and burned, or gathered en masse in camps, tortured to death, and reduced to ashes.” Other Germans openly supported the Ottoman policy against the Armenians.  In a genocide conference held in 2001, Professor Wolfgang Wipperman of the Free University of Berlin introduced documents evidencing that the German High Command was aware of the mass killings at the time but chose not to interfere or speak out. In his reports to Berlin in 1917, General Hans von Seeckt supported the reforming efforts of the Young Turks, writing that "the inner weakness of Turkey in their entirety, call for the history and custom of the new Turkish empire to be written." Seeckt added that "Only a few moments of the destruction are still mentioned. The upper levels of society had become unwarlike, the main reason being the increasing mixing with foreign elements of a long standing unculture." Seeckt blamed all of the problems of the Ottoman Empire on the Jewish people and the Armenians, whom he portrayed as a fifth column working for the Allies. The evil of anti-Semitism is still in existence today during the early 21st century. In July 1918, Seeckt sent a message to Berlin stating that "It is an impossible state of affairs to be allied with the Turks and to stand up for the Armenians. In my view any consideration, Christian, sentimental, and political should be eclipsed by a hard, but clear necessity for war." One photograph shows two unidentified German army officers, in company of three Turkish soldiers and a Kurdish man, standing amidst human remains. Most Germans weren’t involved in the Armenian Genocide, but some of the German witnesses to the Armenian holocaust would play a later role in the Nazi regime. For example, Konstantin Freiherr von Neurath, who was attached to the Turkish 4th Army in 1915 with instructions to monitor "operations" against the Armenians, later became Hitler's foreign minister and "Protector of Bohemia and Moravia" during Reinhard Heydrich's terror in Czechoslovakia. What happened to the Armenians consists of genocide. Twenty-nine countries and forty-three U.S. states have adopted resolutions acknowledging the Armenian Genocide as a bona fide historical event.

The African Diaspora is an important part of our identity as human beings. It is always important for anyone who wants to understand Africa more comprehensively to study the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora includes the communities worldwide that are made up of people of black African descent. Therefore, as a black American, I am a member of the African Diaspora. The African Diaspora is found in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and other areas across the Earth. Many people of the African Diaspora are descendants of West and Central Africans who were enslaved by evil people and shipped to the Americas during the Maafa from the 16th century to the 19th centuries. During the 1990’s, the African Diaspora was coined. Also, the African Diaspora existed before the 16th century as African migrations out of Africa existed thousands of years ago.  People of the African Diaspora have made key roles in shaping world history. Historians, scholars, and anthropologists document the impact of the African Diaspora in music, science, politics, athletics, and other aspects of human cultural development. The African Diaspora is huge too. In Brazil, there are over 55 million black and multiracial people. In the United States of America, there are over 42 million black people, in Haiti, there is almost 9 million black people. There are millions of people of black African descent in the Dominican Republic, Colombia, France, Jamaica, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Cuba, Italy, Puerto Rico, Peru, Germany, Canada, Spain, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, etc. People of black African descent also live in Pakistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Iran, etc. The more that we study about the African Diaspora, the more that we find out about ourselves since all peoples are descended from human beings from Africa thousands of years ago.

Africa is the homeland of my ancestors. It is the Motherland. It is made up of diverse peoples, languages, ethnic groups, cultures, and nations. Throughout my life, I have researched many facts about Africa in great detail. It is the second largest continent on Earth in land and in population. It has 11.7 million square miles. Right now, Africa has more than 1.1 billion people, therefore, Africa accounts for about 15% of the world’s population. Some of its largest cities are Lagos, Cairo, Kinshasa, Johannesburg, Khartoum, Dar es Salaam, Alexandria, Abidjan, Kano, and Casablanca. The north of the continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. There is the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, and the Sinai Peninsula along the northeast of Africa. The Indian Ocean is found in the southeast of Africa. The Atlantic Ocean borders on the West of Africa. Africa has the youngest population of any continent in the world. Algeria is the largest country of Africa in land size. Nigeria has the largest population of Africa. Nigeria also has the most amount of people of black African descent than any nation in the world. Africa is the origin of human beings. Modern Homo sapiens sapiens migrated out of Africa and populated the rest of the globe. Once, the Sahara was a green fertile valley. After the Ice Age and by 5,000 B.C., the Sahara region became more dry and warm. The rapid desertification of the Sahara came about in ca. 3,500 B.C. due to a tilt in the Earth’s orbit. Today, many African nations are growing rapidly economically in the 21st century. There are issues of democratic rights, economic development, trade, and other issues that are discussed and debated in our generation. We see massive improvements and problems in Africa. One thing is certainly true. Tons of Africans are fighting for justice and are dedicated to the liberation of Africa in 2016 and beyond.