Wednesday, June 06, 2018

News about our World.



Fundamentally, in order for freedom to occur, we have to fight poverty and build more of our institutions. In other words, if you can't defend the rights of the poor, how can you call yourself a revolutionary or a freedom lover? You can't unless you show the same compassion and respect to the poor as to anyone else regardless of income. You fight poverty by promoting living wages, organizing strikes, working with labor rights groups, investing in charities, and promoting economic justice as the late Dr. King has advocated more than 50 years ago in Memphis, Tennessee. We are in this together. We don't want authoritarianism. We want men and women working side by side in establishing the solutions and the justice that we all seek. Also, another solution deals with growing our infrastructure. Hospitals, schools, religious locations, businesses, media institutions, land, food, and other resources are key to developing justice. That is why many black heroes for years and decades have advocated more people in our community to grow our own infrastructure that we own and control.

You can't be free without controlling your own housing, food, and other resources. Also, we should never scapegoat single families since I know tons of single families (including some of my relatives) raising powerful families. Whether a family is single, extended, or nuclear, those families have equal value and must be respected. Another point is that we should allow both men and women to be leaders. Leadership is not limited by sex. People, regardless of sex, can be strong leaders. Great leadership deals with transparency, accountability, standing on real principles, and telling the truth in season and out of season. This means that we should call out those who bash women and respect the contributions of both men and women who are developing solutions, raising their families, and are doing great work. Individual achievement is great, but individual achievement alone can't save us completely. Collective solutions always build up the black community collectively. One example is the the Montgomery Bus Boycott was headed mostly by black people and collectively it ended bus segregation in that Southern city. Therefore, collective power makes a great difference within the confines of our society.


A lot of news are happening in the world. Bill Clinton made his sick comments about lacking regrets of the mistakes that he made during his scandal. We know what that scandal was. Bill Clinton is a notoriously centrist who was a leader of the DLC movement which shifted from old school liberalism (that brought us the blessings of 40 hours week, Social Security, Medicare, environmental protections, civil rights legislation, voting rights legislation, etc.) to the neoliberal agenda of austerity, compromise, and other reactionary policies. We have the Supreme Court issuing illogical, reactionary decisions. There is a massive civil war in Yemeni that some see the U.S. having more intervention in. We witness more massive Internet censorship under the guise of "transparency." We live in more than 50 years after the Paris strike and the 50th year anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. Robert Kennedy evolved from a pro-McCarthyite man (who was hostile to the Freedom Riders, Lorraine Hansberry, and other heroes for justice) into a more progressive man who opposed injustices like racism, poverty, labor exploitation, and the conduct of the Vietnam War. There are many children split from their families based on immigration status. Also, trade tensions are high. We see these news as signs of the times. Also, we recognize it is our responsibility to know what is going on and fight for solutions. Solutions include the following: to read information, to build in our families, to respect women, to fight racism, to promote more black unity, to work plus help in our communities, to promote integrity (i.e. following the principles of respect, collaboration, and fighting evil), to promote pan-African unity, to fight for economic justice (i.e. strikes, protests, and labor organizing), and to advance social justice.


A trailblazer describes her accurately. Before Rihanna, before Madonna, before Lady Gaga, before Iman, before Patti Labelle, before Grace Jones, and before other artists, there was Josephine Baker. It was her birthday days ago and it is important to reflect on her life. She was born in the poor areas of St. Louis, Missouri. She worked hard to pursue her talents of singing and dancing. She was a natural born entertainer and she had a great sense of humor too. Also, Josephine Baker was a victim of racism. Back during those days, black people suffered pogroms (i.e. massive race riots done by white racists), lynchings, and massive discrimination. That is why she heavily lived in France because many in France treated her with dignity and with respect. She always came back into America to fight Jim Crow tyranny and advocate for racial justice. During World War II, she fought the Nazis as part of the French Resistance. She preformed during WWII in front of black and white audiences. She worked heavily in the Civil Rights Movement to demand not only change, but justice. She lived long enough to witness the end of Jim Crow completely. We are in this fight not only to change laws. We want the whole of society to change, so justice is made a reality for our people. Justice precisely means us having the right to live our lives without discrimination and without oppression. She adopted children of numerous backgrounds and promoted the principles of tolerance and human togetherness (as any child is born equal regardless of his or her skin color). She knew of the imperfections of society comprehensively, but she never wavered in her commitment to human equality. She was in the 1963 March on Washington (she was a friend to Lena Horne and Coretta Scott King) and she loved the truth. She passed away in April of 1975 at the age of 68 in Paris, France. Her legacy lives onward triumphantly. Our cause of black liberation is also just too.
Elle a vécu une vie de courage et nous continuerons à nous battre pour la justice.
Rest in Power Sister Josephine Baker.

One of the greatest actors of our generation is Keith David. It was his Birthday days ago. He is now 62 years old and he was born in Harlem, NYC (and he was raised in Corona, Queens, NYC). For decades, he has been in thrillers, action movies, comedies, suspense films, and other genres. He was part of the famous Julliard School, which educated tons of legendary actors and actresses. Recently, he has a big role in Greenleaf, which is a TV show about African American megachurches and black spirituality in general. It's found in the OWN Network. He is a narrator. He narrated Ken Burns' documentaries like the War and Jazz. He was the voice found in many children's cartoons like Goliath from Gargoyles, the title character in the Spawn animated series and Lemuel Kane in Archer. He has been a part of many famous movies like Crash, There's Something About Mary, Barbershop, and Men at Work. He had a role in Ma Death and the Vietnam war movie of Platoon. He has a great wife and 3 children. His voice, his contributions in acting, and his spirit of determination definitely inspire present and future generations. I wish Brother Keith David more blessings.

By Timothy

No comments: