Donde Estamos?

Tego Calderon (Puerto Rico)

In the coming years it’s projected that “Hispanics” will out spend Black people in the United States. I did say out spend, because the mainstream news is calling it “spending power”, which means to me the “Hispanics” will become the greater "minority" consumer in the U.S. But, who are they talking about when they, the media, say “Hispanics?” This has me a bit puzzled. A couple weeks ago I saw a special on PBS addressing how marketing is beginning to change to accommodate the consumerism of the “Hispanics

Dr Mayra Santos-Febres  (Puerto Rico)

Yet, each time they would show a face it would not be of people that I know for a fact are Spanish speaking Black people or Black Latino. So, where are the Latin people of indigenous or African descent?  They are certainley not protrayed when the "Hispanic" is being discussed on news programs and documentaries.  There seems to be an effort not to show people that look like my cousins from Panama since the market is changing toward “Hispanics.” Is “Hispanic” another one of the code words white America uses to continue a line of demarcation between Black and white?  The "white Hispanic" using this line here in the U.S. is the reason I believe Black people in the U.S. have hesitated to jump on the band wagon when it comes to coordinating with "Hispanic" civil rights organizations, is because "Hispanics" have not quickly joined the battle with us.  And, the Mexican, Guatamalan, and El Salvadoran's have later distanced themselves from the Black American and begin to associate themselves with white American society, often anglicizing their names, after they have won their "rights" with our help.  So then, is the influx of “Hispanics” a buffer of color since white people will become the minority on this particular continent in the coming years? I do find it strange that we do not see Black people when the “Hispanics” and white America are talking about “Hispanics” and “Latinos”  gaining power in the United States.

Merlin Santana (Dominican Republic)

Most of the Black Spanish speaking people live a life very similar to Black people in the United States.  You see, when the police officer comes to the car and he or she sees a black face, there is no distinction as to whether this person is a Black American or a Black Latino.  Delina D. Price, writer of the essay Black Latina, says many of the problems facing Black people in the United States are the same issues that Black people from  “Latin” America face. She says of her personal experience “I was born in Costa Rica, moved to Mexico when I was two years old, and have been living in Texas for almost fourteen years. Yes, my upbringing was unlike most of my black friends in the States. Still, I am more like them than I am like my Hispanic friends from various countries. We (Black people) listen to the same music, enjoy the same churches, use the same hair stylists, and experience the same strain of racism. In a lot of ways it's easier for my black friends to comprehend that there is an African Diaspora in "Latin" America. They see the fact that I speak Spanish as an asset ("Can you help me with my Spanish homework?").

However, she has a different experience with many people that are “ white Hispanic” she says “On the other hand, my Latino friends see my race as a liability. "You're not black, like the African Americans in the United States," one told me recently. It bothers me that to accept me they want to distance me from being black, which carries negative connotations in the Americas. Some even have the audacity to tell me why they despise "those black people."

                                                           

Dr. Kenneth Clark    (Panama) top                                                                       Juan Williams (Panama)

In the end it appears this last statement is what white America, and the “Hispanics” that consider themselves to be white are collaborating to do.  To remove the image of the Black person that is “Latino” or “Hispanic” from the minds of the American public.

I have put in quotes the words Latino, Hispanic and white Hispanic, as these terms are more a political term than racial.  The issues surrounding race in "Latin" America are numerous and quite desturctive for Black people.  Often in these countries there has been an effort to create a national mentality rather than a racial sense of mind.  For instance, many people of color in "Latin" America will see themselves more as Puerto Rican or Panamanian over being Black.  However, in most cases the Black people are under represented or not represented at all in the area of government and business.  In Panama, the Black population is 60% and the remaining 40% are split between the Chinese, Indians from India, whites and other so called indigenous peoples.  Yet, there are no Black people in the government.

If anyone has any updated facts about Black representation in the government of Panama please update us here.

Genarlow Wilson to be released today!!

Genarlow Wilson

The Georgia Supreme court in a split 4-3 vote, has determined that Genarlow Wilson will be released from prison.  Genarlow, 17 years old when he was arrested and convicted of aggrivated child molestation, was sentenced to 10 years for having consensual oral sex with a 15 1/2 year old girl at the time, in a state where the legal age of consent is 16. 

Super Bull to Super Bug!

Soldiers saving the U.S. dollar in Iraq!!

So where is the U.S. dollar going, other than down? I hope you’ve noticed the price of gold is up to $750 per ounce, oil is closing in on $90 per barrel and the U.S. government is selling wolf tickets on Iran once again louder than ever. The 4^th branch can yap all they want about Iran’s president being a mad man and Iran building nuclear weapons, but, so is North Korea and no noise there. Many of you may believe its because the North Korean army would be tough to tangle with at this time. But, the reality is that Iran is now selling oil to the world by only accepting the Euro as payment and not the once all mighty petrodollar, that’s the U.S. greenback. North Korea is not. By the way the Euro has surpassed the dollar at $1.43 to $1.00 U.S. dollar and the Canadian dollar is now $1.035 to the $1.00 U.S. dollar. The fact of the matter is inflation is looming over the U.S. economy at a massive rate. Though, most economist don’t consider the price of oil as part of the inflation index, it most certainly is. The increase in the price of gold is to hedge against inflation, thus as we notice the ever increasing price of gold we see inflation on the back end. But, here is the itch the government just can’t scratch, at least right now. In March 2006 Iran began it’s Oil Bourse, that being an exchange on the French stock market. Knowing this, Federal Reserve chairman Ben S. Bernake announced that the Federal Reserve would no longer publish the M-3 report, which it has done since the Fed’s awful inception in 1913. What does the M-3 report do? The M-3 report, keeps track of the amount of U.S. greenbacks with in the U.S. economy. Since March 2006 both China and Russia have been purchasing Iranian oil with the Euro. So, what happened to all those U.S. dollars that China and Russia were holding? They get flushed back into the U.S. economy. How many dollars you ask? We don’t know, remember the Fed no longer publishes the M-3 report!! Not a coincidence. So, today Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is on CNN announcing the U.S. has placed harsher sanctions on Iran. We in the U.S. are dealing with fiat money, no longer backed by a precious metal but guns and bombs. Watch out Iran! Until North Korea can sell oil on the world market for Euros they have nothing to worry about.

Speaking of worry, MRSA the super bug is out and some say at epidemic levels in the U.S. Methicillin-Resistant Staphlococcus Aureus or MRSA has killed a 14 year old boy in Virginia last week, and has now been contracted by 23 school age children in Georgia. Normally, this bacteria, is found in hospitals and passed on by the unsanitary practices of hospital staff who infect other patients. Now, somehow the germ is showing up in schools. The Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, GA USA reports that over 90,000 people contract the disease each year. MRSA is related to the flesh eating disease that ran rampant a few years ago in the U.S.. The washing of hands and over all good hygiene will help protect you against this dis-ease. More importantly, we have to work on strengthening our immune system. Eat more vegetables, raw and cooked. Eat as much fruit as you can and most importantly drink water. At the same time, cut the amount of meat you eat. We all should, at a minimum, drink 64 ounces of water per day, but another way to get the correct amount of water is to know your body weight. Divide your weight in half and drink that amount of water in ounces. For instance, if a person weighs 150 pounds, half of that would be 75 pounds, thus this person should drink 75 ounces of water per day. This is easy to do, and we should all work to make ourselves stronger against disease.

South African Reggae Super Star Lucky Dube Killed By Carjacker in Johannesburg!

We Keep killing eachother, even our own stars.  Another great taken away from us by a young Black man.  This hurts all of us reggae fans and fans of good music in general.  Lucky Dube will be deeply missed.

From AFP: SAfrica reggae star Lucky Dube shot dead in car hijack:



JOHANNESBURG (AFP) %u2014 South African reggae star Lucky Dube has been shot dead in front of his two children when robbers tried to hijack his car in Johannesburg, police said.

"He was in Rosettenville (a Johannesburg suburb) around 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) last night (Thursday) apparently dropping off his child. The child had just gone off the car when unknown men approached him trying to hijack him. He was shot and he died on the scene," police spokeswoman Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht told AFP.

The Star newspaper quoted a witness at the scene saying Dube tried to drive away but lost control after hitting another car and a tree.

The award-winning Dube, 43, was one of the first artists to introduce reggae music in the country, recording more than 20 albums in a career spanning more than two decades.

He has toured Europe and Africa and is the only South African artist to have a record signed to Motown Records, according to his website Luckydubemusic.com.

Fellow musician Mzwakhe Mbuli, one of the first people on the scene, said the music industry has been robbed of a legend.

"I am devastated ... out of words," Mbuli told AFP. "Lucky Dube's music internationally was a great success story. He was a legend."

"For me its cold blooded murder until investigation proves me otherwise. Crime is out of control. Where is this country heading to? We really need divine intervention," he said.

Lucky Philip Dube was in August 1964. Giving birth to a boy was considered a blessing and his mother considered his birth so fortunate that she named him "Lucky", according to his website.

He started his career in 1982 with the release of a mbaqanga (a Zulu music tradition) album before his transition to reggae in 1985.

South Africa is one of the world's most crime-ridden countries, with nearly 20,000 murders recorded in the last year.

Engelbrecht said the hijackers were still at large.

Some Thoughts On Bill Cosby and Meet The Press

Bill Cosby and Dr. Alvin Poussaint, were guest on Meet the Press with Tim Russert this past Sunday speaking on Mr. Cosby and Dr. Poussaint’s new book Come On People. A couple things stood out to me during the interview. Mr. Cosby defended himself concerning the accusation of airing our “dirty laundry” in the public and again he told us the “dirty laundry” hits the streets, buses and rail systems every day at 2:30. I know I see and hear the “dirty laundry” chattin away on my daily commute, but I must say the wheat and the tares do travel together, so not all I see of our youth is the “dirty laundry.” He also, said that if “you’re Black and you are studying you will be told by your peers you’re acting white. So lets examine this. When this is said what are you saying about Black people?” Its amazing how, children say this (I have heard them myself) without realizing what they are saying on the converse about themselves!!

At any rate the, near the end of the program, they also said along with all the other ills people on the “lower echelon of the economic ladder” are facing that many fathers are not in the home. Man, I have heard many comments on this situation and the one I hate the most is “a woman can’t raise as boy to be a man”, but I digress. The thought came to me that the so called “majority society” has passed down to us, their mores and norms and many of us have accepted their way of life. For instance, Mr. Cosby told a story of a friend of his that's now a minister in North Carolina, but was previously in prison. The minister has spoken of a “shake down” that goes on in prisons where the inmates have to disrobe and the correctional officers will search all the inmate’s belongings. Mr. Cosby told parents to go to your child’s room and take it back, perform a “shake down” in your child’s room. I wondered, when did this change for Black people? I know in my parents house, my room was not “my room” but "their house" and they would check all parts of their house whenever the spirit hit them.

The “majority society” tells us the reason for much of our ills (and they may have a point, possibly coming from the Moynihan Report of 1965) stem from no dads at home or at least no dads active in their children’s lives. Now, if they truly believe this they surely pass a poor message along via their mind altering drug called television sitcoms. In one episode of the King of Queens, the wife of the main character baby sits the 4 year old son of her boss, to make brownie points in hopes of getting a promotion. In the scene she asks the father of the child, what are some of the things the child enjoys and the father says “I don’t know his mother runs the day to day care of the child” strange comment of a man that lives in the house with his child. The next instance I saw was on another one of their beloved sitcoms, Everybody Loves Raymond, his wife decides to run for PTA president. Ray is at home with the three children and the house is a mess, he can’t control the children and he feeds them some of the worst food. In both instances these are men live in the home with their children and know absolutely nothing about their children. Tell me white folk what's the point?  Living in the home and know nothing about your child is somehow better than Black men that don't live with their child?  Lastly, on the sitcom Two and a Half Men, the one divorced father who is attempting to be in touch with is child is portrayed in a light of having homosexual tendencies!!! What are they saying? If you are a real man you know nothing about your child? If you try and know your child you’re effeminate?

The so called “majority society” has poison fruit to give. And, many Black men and women have bitten into their fruit/social norms. Black men run away from their children and the responsibilities towards them, similar to their white counter parts. Are they afraid of being labeled homosexual by the society they unconsciously look up to? Many Black women do not strive for the best in their children, no less themselves. “She was raped, big deal…” says a woman living in the Dunbar Village Projects of West Palm Beach, Florida. A woman, raising a son. What has happened? There seems to be a sense of ultimate defeat in some Black people.