Important Issues in Late September 2017

On the residents of Puerto Rico, they are American citizens, but they have no Congressional representation as in votes in Congress and they have no electoral votes in determining who is President (which is a disgraceful paradox). Trump has made a disgraceful response involving Maria's destruction by saying that Puerto Rico must pay its debt to Wall Street when the Puerto Rican people aren't responsible for the $72 billion+ debt, but Wall Street and other entities themselves are responsible. For a long time, U.S. imperialists conquered Puerto Rico after Spanish imperialists oppressed the Puerto Rican people (after the 1898 Spanish-American war). 3.5 million of the population of the Puerto Rican location are experiencing a total humanitarian disaster. A lot of the electrical grid has been destroyed as a product of the hurricane mixed with 90 degree weather during September. Many people with oxygen tanks are suffering and people are experiencing unimaginable pain. Food is lacking and about 60 percent of the population doesn't have clean drinking water. 80 percent of its agricultural crops are destroyed. For Trump to say that Florida and Texas are doing great is the height of absurdity and the anti-intellectualism that encompasses the thinking of the White House. Trump said that the Puerto Rico location is surrounded by a large ocean, so a delay in response is inevitable, which is totally ludicrous. The US-appointed Fiscal Supervisory Board (JSF) has used austerity measures for years, which has harmed the lives of the people of Puerto Rico. These disasters prove once again that the poor, working class, and anybody else deserve adequate housing, education, health care, a powerful infrastructure, living wages, and other resources in order for human beings to live a life filled with egalitarianism. Puerto Rico is certainly owed much more respect than what Trump has said. Puerto Rico certainly deserves massive federal funding in rebuilding its communities.

The protests in NFL stadiums and in sports arenas nationwide present the powerful message that social activism didn't end during the 1960's. They continue in a heroic fashion today. We know precisely what Trump is all about. He is overt in his racism, sexism, and xenophobia. He is arrogant in his constant sensitive attitude about anyone criticizing his retrograde policies. He is persistent to desire cuts to Medicaid expansion and to promoting Jeff Sessions. The seeds of our political divisions in my opinion didn't start with the Vietnam War. They existed for centuries in America. Yet, these divisions certainly continued greatly as a product of the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was the most emotional war in American history since World War II. Trump has advanced a calculated policy of promoting cuts to social programs, the building of a wall, the ignoring of massive police brutality, and the expression of vulgar rhetoric against people (with whom he disagrees with). The people kneeling didn't do it because they wanted to look "cool" or they wanted to disrespect people. They diligently wanted to oppose police brutality and racial injustice. They wanted a progressive social transformation of society whereby humanity (whether they are immigrants, black people, women, etc.) can exist in a land filled with real freedom and justice. That is the total purpose of the kneeling. Trump's bigotry and even defense of neo-Confederate protesters are blatantly indefensible. So, we should keep the faith. Part of keeping the faith is precisely helping our neighbors, volunteering, studying events, loving to learn, standing up for our human rights, and doing altruism which is beneficial in developing our society. Trump's authoritarian desire to see players fired for protesting via a kneel represents his evil extremism. We won't back down. We will defend Kaepernick and his allies. We will promote social justice and we will always believe in the right of people to oppose injustice by any means necessary.

While North Korea tests missiles, Donald Trump has continuously threatened North Korea with military attack if it doesn't submit to his aims. Trump warned: “We are totally prepared for the [military] option. Not a preferred option. If we take that option, it will be devastating. I can tell you that. Devastating for North Korea. That’s called the military option. If we have to take it we will.” On Monday, Trump bluntly warned the North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho that he and the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un, “won’t be around for much longer.” Trump has executed policies that promotes embargoes and cutting off funding from banks to North Korea. China is North Korea's largest trading partner. Russia also helps North Korean guest workers. It has been over 60 years after the Korean War and many issues remain unresolved. The Korean War existed as a product of disputes during the Cold War over capitalism and communism (among other factors). After World War II, the Allied powers divided the Korean peninsula in North and South. Since the end of the Korean War, American and North Korean troops regularly face each other in the border between North and South Korea. China wants a peaceful resolution among Washington and Pyongyang, because a total war in the Korean peninsula will have no winners as millions of people could be killed in such a configuration. Russia and China has done joint military exercises on the Pacific while America has done military exercises too in South Korea, Japan, etc. So, we continue to have this crisis. We want a peaceful resolution and we have a resident in the White House more obsessed with ego than a cogent plan to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.

I saw much of the Vietnam War documentary on PBS and it showed how many Americans haven't gone over it. It documented evidence that LBJ and McNamara knew that it would be extremely difficult for America to have a victory (and that the war was a virtual stalemate during the 1960's). Every time Americans would bomb a section of the Ho Chi Minh trial, North Vietnamese troops would rebuild it. Also, by the late 1960's, the anti-war movement grew heavily and the majority of Americans opposed the Vietnam War by the end of the 1960's. When the war ended, almost 60,000 Americans died including much more Vietnamese human beings. It was a very brutal war. Many Vietnamese people experienced hamlets burned, torture, and death. Many American soldiers were tortured. A lot of people didn't realize the complexities of the war and how the Vietnam War shaped heavily on how we feel about government and society in general. It showed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. heroically speaking out against the Vietnam war and desiring a peaceful resolution to the conflict. It is important to learn lessons from that time period and to fight for justice.


In every generation, we have witnessed people who have personified excellence. Sister Serena Williams is one black woman who is the greatest athlete of the 21st century period. Yesterday was her Birthday and she is 36 years old. For decades, she has shown the world that she is the greatest woman tennis player in history. She now has a child. Her story is a long story from Compton, California to places worldwide. She has inspired girls and women to excel in their own fields. She has inspired young black people to pursue their dreams regardless of what those dreams are. She has worked hard including her sister, Venus Williams. Serena's father and mother taught her about hard work, dedication, and the spirit of performing at the highest level in order to achieve magnanimous success. When the doubters questioned her, she refuted them. When the haters called her names, she ignored them. Her life is her own. We know of her accolades which are achieved by her own merit and glorious talent. She has won 4 Gold medals in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and the 2012 Olympics in London. She holds the most Grand Slam titles in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles combined amongst active players. Her record of 39 Grand Slam titles puts her third on the all-time list and second in the open era: 23 in singles, 14 in women's doubles, and 2 in mixed doubles. She is the most recent female player to have held all four Grand Slam singles titles simultaneously (2002–03 and 2014–15). As of the 2017 Australian Open, she is the only player, male or female, to win 10+ grand slam singles titles in two separate decades (10 in the 2000's and 12 in the 2010's). She has won an all-time record of 13 Grand Slam singles titles on hard court. Her beauty is about her intellect, her radiant, gorgeous black African phenotype, and her inspirational qualities that inspire us in our daily lives. She is a living legend. I wish Sister Serena Williams more blessings in her life.




By Timothy