The 44th President of the United States! Dear President Obama;

Dear President Barack Hussein Obama,

First and foremost congratulations! Many have waited for this day with bated breath, (FOR DECADES!!!) because in you, they feel a new day has dawned for African Americans. And maybe it will show Black people in a better light, than the mind numbing fodder spread around the world by today’s rappers. Mr. President, I must admit, I enjoy watching you move to the micro phone with that smooth stride that’s only produced here in Black America. You know that smooth, kind of stride/stroll we brothas can do, just maintaining cool. A real nice change, to the Caucasian stiff step we’ve been subjected to for the last 43 presidents. (Did I say change???…LOL)

But, Mr. President, cool stride aside, all the marketing hype does not impress me. I, unlike so many, was not surprised by your quick backing of giving the banksters billions of dollars. Its funny how they have done nothing but pocket the money since I don’t see many new home loans being granted. I know, you had to do what you had to do right? Ok, cool but, why so quiet on Gaza? This has many people upset. I mean, I can see why you’re quiet on Gaza, because I remember your speech to AIPAC and your selection of Rham Emanuel as Chief of Staff. Don’t his parents still live in Israel? Ok, but dang man how can you not talk about Oscar Grant??? That was some wicked something there Mr. President. And, what about Dymond Milburn? That was just plain ugly and you should be outraged by this, you should be insulted in how the main stream media hasn’t spoken of these cases. You should be offended to the depths of your immortal soul on how government agents treated that baby. Yeah, ok guess you’re being fair, huh? You’re silent on all of these events.

Anyhow Mr. President, what about the regular guy? Notice how I didn’t say us, since you might construe that to mean us Black people. But what about, you know, the wage earner as you and your friends like to refer to us. What about sending some scrilla our way? Don’t you want to stimulate the economy? It would be nice if you did sign an executive order to lower our payroll taxes RIGHT AWAY, like Tuesday evening!! Really though, how about giving us wage earners and people in business that don’t make 250 thousand a year a helping hand. Would it not help consumer confidence if you give each family, lets say $30 thousand, forgive any late or delinquent debts, bring them back as current, and reset everyone’s credit score, to let’s say, 625. You know consumer confidence would skyrocket and new loans may be granted to us wage earners. Look at what the banksters and the auto industry have done, nothing. At least you know the people would get out there and spend, spend, spend. Hey, the auto industry has been buying new commercials with their money, but who can buy cars President Obama? Put that money out there to each family and some new cars would be purchased.

One other thing Mr. President. I’ve heard you’re a constitutional scholar. So, when I heard this I figured that this would be a good thing since the constitution has been violated like whoa! A constitutional scholar in the white house might mean less eroding of it under your leadership. It gave me pause though, to learn about your decision to vote for and approve the extension of the Patriot Act, yet at the same time you would appear at news conferences with the national flag behind you. Here lately though, you have been appearing with the admiralty flag behind you. I guess I must have fell under the spell for a moment, but hey, I’m human, I can trip sometimes

Well Mr. President, I won‘t take too much more of your time. I know you gotta get out there and get your party on, its inauguration day and all. Besides that, I have to get busy myself getting the dirt ready for my garden this spring, still gotta feed myself and a few friends. I’m sure even with you in office, the price of tomatoes and food in general will still rise another 4-5% as some are predicting. So, just think about the things I mentioned, give it some thought and make it work. We just need a little incentive like the other industries, you know, us, the people.

I don’t expect miracles, I know you’re not Obama-ssiah. I don’t have the hope and dreams like most of these African Americans that somehow think you are the fruit that Dr. King and the “Movement” worked for, I know you are not. I have no illusions about who you are. I have no misguided, misconception about you simply because you have more melanin in your skin than the previous presidents. No, I know who you are, the President of the United States. And I know what that means. And if African Americans/Caribbeans and Africans from the continent weren’t drunk with Obama’ade they would see that all those pretty words don’t match your actions and are contrary to them.  Let us pray for the  best in your presidency, as we the citizen prepares for the worst.

Sincerely,

A U.S. citizen

Do you think of yourself as the image of God?

Oscar Grant killed by B.A.R.T. police in Oakland, CA.

Two thousand and nine has started with a bang as we see Israel invade “concentration camp” Gaza, to root out Hamas. We have witnessed the murder of Oscar Grant and the shooting of Robert Tolan by government agents misnomered peace officers or officers of the law, right here in the good ole U.S. of A., and countless other murders of nameless people by nameless people. Beyond Israel and Gaza, there are wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, The Congo, and even in the Philippines, not to mention the “conflicts” in South and Central America, Pakistan and Chechnya. There is also the war for the mind and body (a kind of) covert war that is being waged without notoriety, which is the most insidious of them all. This war is the war to control our senses and good sense, against wise counsel, against truth and right.

This war causes many concerned, to break down causes and effects of our ills into simple categories, like 70% illegitimate birth rate for black mothers, 50% black school student dropout rate, 45 percent of black women that have never married, 48% single parent black female households and the statistics go on and on. I have even read a statistic that 100% of black male prisoners are from the 48% single female household, I cannot attest to this as being accurate, but maybe worth discussion. Often when crimes are committed, or a crime against a young man has been committed the question is often asked, “where is the father?” This question alone could be construed as an attack on black women. So where is the father? In prison? At home unemployed (not recently laid off) lounging on the couch calling his girl on the side? Where is the father? Who is a father?

Raymond Gomez'15 year old son was shot while teaching him how to burgal homes

Questioning where the father is supposes the young black male wouldn’t have committed the crime or may not have been murdered by another black male or a “peace officer.” In my own personal experience in close contact with southern California gang members, this is not the case. I have known several black and Chicano gang members that come from two parent households, both parents involved in their lives, living in middle class to lower middle class families and still these young men decided to participate in and become deeply involved with gang life. Many of these young men have fathers that are ministers in the church, deacons, work daily and didn’t participate in teaching their sons how to be criminal minded. Yet, their sons participated in gang life, crime and prison

The question of where is the father suggests the father in the young male’s life, will be an upstanding citizen and a positive influence on the child‘s life, when I have seen fathers teach their sons how to be womanizers, how to become thieves, how to steal and shoplift. In many cases these fathers don’t work, they have children outside of their marriage or relationships and refuse to take care of the children when the working mother needs assistance with child care. Questioning where the father, supposes the mother cannot teach her son right from wrong, good from evil, and that burglary and murder are to be eschewed. It isn’t so much a father in the house to the rescue, as this didn’t stop the police from shooting Robert Tolan, and didn’t stop gang members from shooting my nephew. It’s good and wise parenting that should come to the rescue. Not just a father is needed in the household but, a good father biological or not. A good mother biological or not.

Robert Tolan shot in his drive way by a Bellaire, TX "peace officer."

Poor parenting is the issue here, not just the presence of a male in the household. Most of this thought process lends back to the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Report of 1965  which castigated (committed violence on) black women. Poor parenting seems to be linked to the ever present mindset of the “I got to get mine” concept of life so pervasive in our society. This “got to get mine” is a selfish concept that has been pushed in the war against our minds and bodies. Driving people towards a selfish way of being, of living. I have personally witnessed women that put their children’s needs, like time being spent with them on a positive level to seek out a personal “mating” relationship with a man that cares little about them or their child. So long as she can be gratified sexually, and mentally with the ability to say “I got a man”, who is most often far from a man, and they only have a façade of stability, even when the male “boxes her pretty good“ as one woman told me. I have explored by interviewing many of these females as to why they want such a person and the answer is most often the same. “I am trying to find someone for my son to be a role model.” Upon further questioning they reveal the male has children by other women that he has little or no contact with, yet they say they want him in their lives for their male child. This is illogical.

We are facing a barrage of concepts constantly pushed at us as a society, and the most appealing concept that has lead to this breakdown is the constant noise of “get this or have that material thing and it will set you free” even it cost your brother’s or sister’s life. In fact these people are not your sisters or brothers, so take what you want. The concept of me and I, have taken root so deeply over we and ours, even unto the depths of the life that holds the thing that the criminal wants, no longer has value. The person holding the thing that the depraved wants, is of less value than the thing. The belief that life is a present from God is no longer heeded. People no longer believe in God, therefore God doesn’t exist, therefore God cannot be dwelling in your brother and sister. If we truly believed that humans are the image of God or in fact that we are the God we seek, would it be so easy to kill another?

The attraction to “things” over human life has baffled me. Jamaica with a population of 2.7 million suffered 1600 murders in 2008, this doesn’t include police killings of the people, which included the death of well known Jamaican DJ Spragga Benz’ son in September. The islands of Trinidad and Tobago topped 550 murders with a population of only 1.3 million, by December 2008, many involving the stealing or robbery of people of the same class and economic stature.

Human life has lost it’s value to material life. Material life forces onto a weak, intimidated population the drive for the unattainable. The drive to attain the illusive material riches have been perpetuated by large corporations, and many Christian ministers putting emphasis on material wealth as a sign of being blessed. This coupled with the other monster called “I got to get mine’s” has created a very devastating cocktail of death and destruction. So, what can be done? What can we do?

We can begin again to see ourselves as God, or in the image of God, or Christ like or whatever suits your mentality and most importantly teach it to the children. We can begin by watching our speech, say the positive about yourself and others. Just stop gossiping, stop it. Begin to believe and know that we, humans make the “things” and they only have worth based on what we believe. Set aside time to spend alone and spend alone with your children, just to talk to them. All “things” and circumstances begin as a thoughts or concepts in the mind, and I think we can change the way society has lead this nation and world by beginning to observe our thought and speech as the first step in changing the world. A father and mother is present in a child’s life is very vital in gaining balance for a well rounded human being, but this must be tempered by a positive  mother or father. Not just father around or mother around, as bad parents make bad children.

Ground War Gaza!

Israel begins it's ground offensive against the people of Palestine. They say they are attacking Hamas, but the people of Gaza will sustain the most damage.

Immigrant Muslims Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!!

On Monday of this week Lisa Valentine was thrown in jail for refusing to remove her hijab in a Douglasville, GA courtroom.  She was sentenced to 10 days in jail on the charge of contempt of court by Municipal Court Judge Keith Rollins.  Mrs. Valentine was released on Tuesday after serving one day of the 10 day sentence.  According to Kelley Jackson, the spokesperson for the only Black attorney general in the U.S., Thurbert Baker said "the state law doesn't prohibit head scarfs, but it's at the discretion of the judge, the sheriffs and is up to the security officers in the court house to enforce their decision."  Obviously, the sheriff's deputies in the court had the option not to make the arrest.  Mrs. Valentine thinks that possibly the deputies put the handcuffs on her and made the arrest because she said the charge was bullsh*t and she admits she used the word in it's full sense, because she felt she was being stripped of her civil rights.

In her defense, anyone that felt as if they were attacked by the court may have reacted verbally as Mrs. Valentine did, but per Georgia law, the sheriff's deputies had the discretion to enforce the law or not.  Douglas County is going through what many counties in the Atlanta Metro Area are going through and that's a re-gentrification of it's outlying counties and suburbs with melanated people and often such legal reactions by the courts and law officers are quite common. This of course, is no excuse for the misuse of the law.  

On Friday, representatives of the "Christian community", The NAACP, The Nation of Islam and representatives from the Council of American-Islamic Relations held a rally and news conference in front of the court house in support of Mrs. Valentine.  Though CAIR sent representatives, there were no participants from the wider immigrant Muslim community.  I saw not one person of Arabic, Persian, Pakistani, or anyone that was present at the rally we could point to that was not what the U.S. would consider non African.  This is deeply troubling since immigrant Muslims choose to sit back and have the nerve to say they are being discriminated against more than Black people in the United States.  I had the opportunity to admonishone such person and explained to him that immigrant Muslims have had the chance to stand with Black people in the past to fight against racism and discrimination and they did nothing.

Now, the opportunity presents itself again in the case of Sister Lisa Valentine, and once again the immigrant Muslim community is silent.  This is not only a chance for the immigrant muslim community to stand with Black people to fight down injustice in the form of racism and religious discrimination, but for Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Moorish Science Temple members (who have suffered the same fate as Mrs. Valentine in a Douglas County courtroom previously) and anyone that stands for constitutional justice and the rights of the people to live correctly under the Constitution.  Especially to the immigrant Muslim community, here is your chance to stand up with us or shut up.

Hubris Incarnate

When I first saw this my immediate thought was Dubya is pretty good, he ducked the first shoe like a smooth boxer and he just smooth watched the second shoe fly over his head. I was like, check out ole George move. But, on my second or third time watching the video it happened upon my mind that this man is not afraid. I thought for a man so disliked by the world, has the lowest approval rating in U.S. presidential politics, sees a flying projectile coming his way and he merely ducks. Hubris!

President George W. Bush displayed in his action the literal definition of hubris. Hubris is defined as the overbearing pride, self confidence or arrogance. Behind the insult that many took from this display of that reporter's discontent, behind the agility of Dubya, behind any comedy one can ascertain from this, is the vulgar display of U.S. hubris. This is the very same arrogance that has created an air of dislike for the United States around the world. Despite garbage, that the U.S. is hated for it's way of life, that conservatives like Michael Savage, Rush Limbaugh, Jesse Lee Peterson, Bush and the neocons spew, the fact is, it's the hubris with which the U.S. government, the International Monetary fund and the World Bank has conducted business with developing nations.

As we stand on the verge of the historic inauguration of president elect Obama, we are also faced with the possibility of changing the image of the United States as an over aggressive bully, sending military force onto other lands to force a regime change suitable to the U.S. government's pallet. To a more caring nation sending more medical aide or aide to help rebuild the infrastructure of nations like Haiti or Zimbabwe. Let us pray incoming president Obama will be the change he spoke of. I am not holding my breath.