Always Advocate for Justice.

I have to mention this too. Donald Trump made a racist tweet in insulting the intellect of Lebron James. His Tweet proves Lebron James correct that Trump is using his words to promote division by exploiting sports. Lebron James has been an upstanding role model for black people and all people. He has used his own money to not only fund a great school in Akron, Ohio. He has promoted free foods, free bicycles, and scholarships for any students who graduates from high school. Lebron James is the greatest basketball player of our generation winning 2 Olympic Gold Medals, 4 NBA MVP awards, and 3 NBA Championships by his own merit. He has a great wife and great children. Also, he has worked in charities for years in helping his own community. Lebron James is the living representation of a great black man. Who is Trump? Trump is the one who admitted on tape that he sexually assaults women.

He or Trump is the one who is permitting the splitting up of immigrant families and his lazy, coward self wants the ACLU to do the job that it is his own responsibility to do. Trump used racist invective to question Maxine Waters' intelligence too. White racists always used disgusting language to question the integrity of black people. Therefore, we have to continue in this journey for freedom and advocate for justice. Trump wants to bring Michael Jordan (who I admire as a basketball player and is the greatest NBA player in history in my opinion, but acts too apolitical on some occasions and talked about legitimate political issues on other occasions in a honest, honorable way) into it when Jordan has nothing to do with this issue. Michael Jordan has supported Lebron James' efforts also. The issue is that Lebron James took the time and the effort to save the lives of hundreds of children in his own community and that is admirable. Trump has made it known where he stands. Right now, any Trump supporter is a racist or a supporter of racism. Lebron James does deserve great respect for his contributions to humanity.

One of the biggest lies from white racists and Hoteps is that black people are doing nothing to deal with racism, miseducation, poverty, police brutality, prisons, gang violence, unemployment, etc. The truth is that black people for decades and centuries have worked in fighting against many evils. The black crime rate in America has declined massively in since 1980. There is the growth of black owned businesses among especially black women. There is a massive decline in the teen pregnancy rate in the black community since 1992. There is a decline in black men and black women in federal prison. There is an increase of the life expectancy of the black community. Those facts refutes the lies from racists and Hoteps who care more for capitalism and anti-black scapegoating than black liberation. Black people have organized intervention programs to combat gang violence for years and decades. Meetings have occurred all of the time to fight police brutality and evils. It is the expression of self-hatred for any black person who wants to deny the fighting spirit of black people to solve problems. That is why I stand up for truth. I'm a debater by nature. I've refuted racists and Hoteps for over 10 years. I'm not new to this. Therefore, when someone lies about black people, we will defend our black people.

The Gilded Age saw a further expression of American culture. Mark Twain was a satirist who satirized American life in his 1873 novel called the Gilded Age. He viewed American society covered with gold but rotten to the core. Americans saw a middle class development in many arenas. There were shopping, sports, and magazines. Newspapers showed the news. A consumerism manifested itself that allowed people to buy new products on the market. More people worked for wages. Rowland H. Macy opened a department store in New York in 1858 which advertised clothing and other products. Such department stores were made like Jordan Marsh in Boston, Marshall Field in Chicago, and Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia. John Wanamaker used new ways to get customers like a money back guarantee. He used advertisements in newspapers in order to attract buyers. He delivered to rural areas and the mail order catalog business boomed. Many Americans had a higher standard of living, better sanitation, and better health. This caused a higher life expectancy than previous years. The richer were richer, the middle class grew, and the poor suffered also. Indoor plumbing was more common. Public transportation allowed families to live long distances. Many men and women left early in the morning and returned late in the evening. Joseph Pulitzer or a Hungarian immigrant who fought in the Civil War expanded newspapers. William Randolph Heart also promoted many stories in newspapers too. African Americans had their own newspapers as well. Literature flourished with authors like Mark Twain, Stephen Crane, Henry James, Edith Wharton, Horatio Alger, and other people. Thomas Eakins wore novels too. Yet, no one can be naive. Back then, there was massive racism, sexism, and xenophobia. Black people experienced lynchings and pogroms. Black people were deprived of many basic human rights dealing with housing, voting, educational opportunities in many cases, etc.

Public schools developed in higher numbers and the literacy rate was nearly 90 percent by 1900. Amusement parks were modernized with Lamarcus Thompson, who created the world’s first roller coaster in 1884. It was at Coney Island. Cody had his Western shows that promoted a romantic notion of the American West. The show had Annie Oakley being a markswoman and Sioux leader Sitting Bull. Vaudeville shows and other exhibitions of new entertainment were common. Baseball in its modern form was invented in America. During this period, baseball stadiums seated thousands like Boston’s Fenway Park. Until 1887, early baseball teams had African Americans in teams. Separate African American teams developed by 1900. Horse racing, football, boxing, and other sports flourished. James Naismith invented basketball at Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 at the YMCA. Henry Ford used the assembly line in developing automobiles more rapidly. The Wright Brothers made an airplane fly in 1903. Washing machines, electric stoves, and water pumps made households more efficient. Building codes, skyscrapers, city planning, electric lights, public health departments, movie theaters, an increasing urban population, the Chautauqua Circuit, and a growth of immigrant populations definitely characterize the Gilded Age.

By Timothy