Joy, struggle, perseverance, and strength encompass our history plus legacy as black people. Black History Month is not just about one month out of the year where we celebrate black cultural excellence. It is also a a time of the year where there is the hallowed renewal the bonds of love, camaraderie, and friendship among the black community worldwide. It is the time of the year when black men, black women, and black children come together to represent our Blackness and recognize that the goal of freedom is crucially part of our psyches. Life hasn't been a crystal stair for us. You can look at the Maafa, Jim Crow, police brutality, and other horrendous injustices to witness that. Yet, we also comprise of heroic Brothers and Sisters who not only spoke up for freedom, but they organized, sacrificed, and enacted social activism in order for constructive change to exist. Our Blackness is eternal and it is invulnerable. Before the Constitution was written, we were here. Before the existence of ancient Rome and ancient Greece, we were here. We will still be here to work together, to stand up together, and to reach the Promised Land that we justly deserve. Our contributions are lengthy from engineering greatness, scientific discoveries, mathematical ingenuity (as expressed by Annie Easley, Evelyn Boyd Granville, Fern Hunt, etc.), musical eminence, and to literary genius. We witness a new generation as we approach 2020. In this generation, the same issues of economic inequality, racism, and discrimination exist. Also, we see a new form of technologies found in social media, independent online streaming services, and advanced cell phone devices.
Likewise, regardless of what generation that we presently live in, the same goal of black liberation is etched in our consciousness. Nothing will turn us around, because the essence of our disposition is about freedom (which has been advocated by Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Ella Baker, Medgar Evers, etc). Our fashion, our style, our inventions, and our beauty can never be duplicated. Our soul is truly gorgeous and during this time on this Earth, we recognize our intrinsic value. Also, Black History Month is not just a national affair. Black History Month also deals with the contributions of black people globally. The Africans (Africa is the Motherland filled with advanced civilizations, diverse cultures, and cultural greatness), the Afro-Caribbeans, the Afro-Europeans, and other black people of the African Diaspora are our black Sisters and our black Brothers. We honor them too. Carter G. Woodson was the founder of Black History Month. I certainly remember singing Lift Every Voice and Sing (which was created by James Weldon Johnson) when I was in elementary school in Virginia to commemorate Black History Month. It was a special moment in my life. From the voice of Mahalia Jackson to the mathematical excellence of Marjorie Lee Brown, we continue to rise. Additionally, Black History is not a one month affair. It should be honored and studied year round 24/7 365. We are the origin of human life. Our cause for justice is just and our strength is certainly powerful. Black History Month is celebrated globally in Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and in other locations. During this 21st century era of time, we are definitely in support of the movement for social justice.
Trayvon Martin would have been 23 years old today. He was a young child whose life was extinguished by a coward (I won't mention his name here). Also, Trayvon Martin once again shown the world that we have a long way to go in eliminating racism and stopping violent vigilantes who care for nihilism instead of human dignity. Trayvon had friends and family who cared about him in Florida. He lived in a carefree fashion who wanted a long future. His passing deeply inspired his mother and father to fight not only police brutality, but fight gun violence, discrimination, racism, and all injustices. The Black Lives Matter movement itself existed after the acquittal of that murderer. Today, the movement of social change is very diverse and has expanded worldwide. This is a fight against the system of white supremacy (when we live with a current President who is an overt white racist and that President promotes fascist policies like a Muslim ban, ending the visa lottery, threatening North Korea with nuclear weapons, and wanting some nonsensical border wall), against imperialism, and also against sexism too. This is a fight to make sure that black women and black men including the black youth have the opportunity to live out their happiness without oppression. I was almost 30 when Trayvon Martin passed away. Today, I am 34 and I am totally committed to freedom during this Black History Month. We will continue to defend black lives.
Black Lives Matter.
Rest in Power Brother Trayvon Martin.
I like to respond to the radio host Charlemgagne da god silly response to Speech's courageous statements. First, Charlemange talked about Malcolm X. The truth is that Malcolm X had a past, but he repudiated that aspect of his life not only in his autobiography, but in real life. He has given speeches that condemned exploiting women and other evils. Malcolm X never endorsed songs that degraded black people in his later years of his life. Yet, many of those same rappers in that picture that Speech referenced never publicly repudiated the N word, misogyny, drug trafficking that harms communities, and the degradation of black people period. Charlemagne is the same person who lied and said that black women are not as active like Tomi Lahren (who is an overt far right extremist who demonizes protests against police brutality . Tomi had to apologize recently for her vulgar statements). Tons of black women are involved in social activism. So, Charlemange (who made the silly argument that since some rappers were born in a harsh environment then that gives them license to use all sorts of language to describe that environment. There are many poor people who don't use every word under the sun to describe their experiences) has no credibility. We have an epidemic of many musicians (across genres not just in one genre) degrading women, promoting vulgarity, and glamorizing other evils. No one is saying that any genre of music is responsible for every ill in society. People like Speech and Malcolm Jamar Warner are saying that some (not all) musicians spew total garbage that is anti-black and it ought to be criticized without apology. That garbage has nothing to do with uplifting black people, but slandering black people. That agenda of denigrating people is wrong and people have the right to speak up about it.
The stock market's Dow has decreased into over 1,100 points days ago. It is important to realize that no President can completely control the market and Trump has said that he wants to take credit to the economy. Trump is known for abhorrent economic policies like tax cuts for the super wealthy and getting rid of even legitimate regulations. The fact is that there is debate about whether this is a correction or part of a long trend. We do know that the FED is considering to increase interest rates (which means that you pay more for mortgages and other items). With our technology, recessions still happen. Right now, people are waiting to see what the economic trends are. The political environmental is heavily polarized. That is why a strong economy plainly requires living wages, investments, and international cooperation. Our economy is very global and we don't need trade wars, especially now. John Kelly (or the Chief of Staff. This is the same coward who disrespected a black woman) have said that some immigrants (who are eligible for DACA and are children) are "too lazy" which shows his xenophobia and disrespectful attitude. This doesn't surprise me, because the Trump administration have a hatred of progressive insights. Also, Trump said that Democrats who didn't clap when he spoke were un American and treasonous, which is heinous on his part. Trump has threatened another shutdown if people don't agree with his abhorrent immigration policy demands. History has been made about the launch of the world's biggest rocket (executed by SpaceX). It has 5.1 million pounds of thrust. That is a huge amount of power. SpaceX is run by a private billionaire. This represents the new era of space travel. Both rocket boosters landed on its target. It is a great engineering feat.
By Timothy
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