Thursday, August 14, 2014

Brown vs. Black - A Story Started Way Before Ferguson

This situation is starting to become very redundant:

Black kid walking/running down the street...

Cop or some wanna-be alleged authority approaches said Black kid...

Some form of harassment occurs...

Black kid ends up dead!

Let's switch trains, something I will do throughout this post, for a few ticks. I have a love-hate for Hollywood because there is so much dysfunction there but they somehow seem to sneak a lot of truth into those movies. Denzel Washington, one of the greats, had a scene in The Great Debaters I would like to reference: The Great Debaters Clip

"Take the meanest...most restless nigger, strip him of his clothes in front of   the remaining male niggers, female niggers, and nigger infants. Tar and feather him. Tie each leg to a horse facing an opposite direction, set him on fire, and beat both horses until they tear him apart in front of the male,female,and nigger infants. Bullwhip and beat the remaining nigger males within an inch of their life. Do not kill them, but put the fear of God in them,for they can be useful for future breeding. Anybody know who Willie Lynch was? Anybody? Raise your hand. No one? He was a vicious slave owner in the West Indies. The slave-masters in the colony of Virginia were having trouble controlling their slaves, so they sent for Mr. Lynch to teach them his methods. The word ''lynching'' came from his last name. His methods were very simple,but they were diabolical. Keep the slave physically strong but psychologically weak and dependent on the slave master. Keep the body, take the mind."

The scary part about Michael Brown's murder is that after he was killed, his body lay in the street for hours uncovered for all to see. Denzel said it, "strip him of his clothes in front of the remaining male niggers, female niggers, and nigger infants....tar and feather him..." They killed that Black boy in front of all those people and left his body, putting the fear of God. 


Since 2011, a little over 7,500 people have been shot with 1442 murdered in the Chicago, mostly Southside. Since 2001, the War in Afghanistan has resulted in the deaths of 2,238 soldiers. In Washington DC, there have been 72 murders, all but 2 are Black or Hispanic deaths. Less than 5 miles outside of DC in Landover, Maryland, a 3-year old girl was shot, accidentally, by an 18-year old Black male. The killer, Davon Wallace, 25, became upset over a shirt and decided to shoot up the entire house, killing the baby girl. You can read the details here. Just so we are clear, Davon became upset over another man wearing his shirt so he pulls out an automatic weapon and shoots up an entire house.

Following the Rodney King incident in 1991, the Los Angeles riots of 1992 occurred after all the officers were acquitted. The riots tore apart the homes and businesses in the Black community even though it was White officers who beat up Rodney King. Twenty-two years later, Michael Brown is murdered and Blacks riot in the neighborhood where the shooting happened...their neighborhood. They do not riot in the neighborhood of the officer who pulled the trigger. Why?

"Keep the body, take the mind." Credibility and consistency are things, that quite honestly, the Black community lacks and it shows through our actions. There is a war going on, literally, in Southside Chicago where more people, on average, have been murdered than the War in Afghanistan. As a culture, what have we done significantly to stop this? Yes, there are individuals who have taken the initiative to do something about this genocide but what are we doing as a people? 

A baby, a 3-year old child is killed right outside the nation's capitol over a damn shirt and not a peep, not a soul said a thing. As of today, Davon Wallace has been apprehended for the murder of this child but no one seems to be "rioting" over this tragic and senseless death! Why?

Why do we (Black people) not get upset over Black-on-Black crime versus when a crime is committed against us by a White person? Why do we riot and destroy our own neighborhoods and businesses when a crime is committed against us by a White person?

BECAUSE WE DO NOT SEE THE VALUE IN OURSELVES! We do not see value because our culture has been diabolically and psychologically torn down so that we are weak and constantly dependent on the master? Who is the master? Giver you a hint, throw you a lifeline....

How are other cultures supposed to value our lives if we do not? If I am White and I am taking an objective perspective, I see Black people kill themselves without conscience and consequence but if someone else does it, it is a problem. Let's be clear, I am no way condoning murder in any way, shape, form or fashion but if we are going to riot, if we are going to demand change, let's do it with credibility and consistency. You cannot demand change in Ferguson if you do not take a stand in Chicago. You cannot demand the Stand-Your-Ground law be changed in Florida if you are not willing to do something about the bogus No Snitching "rule" that exists in our culture, in our neighborhoods. 

If a man walked up to you and called you a "nigger", would you punch yourself in the face? Well why would you destroy your own neighborhoods and burn down your own businesses when someone is killed? That makes absolutely no sense. I do not condone rioting and the destruction of anything, but if you are going to do it, let's not destroy our own but of those who trespass against us!

What is the solution? Where do we start? Our culture is psychologically weak, un-educated, and mentally under the control of others. What has to happen is a massive deprogramming that will start from the grassroots, it has to be intentional, and it has to be organized. I am talking about a major shift in the way we think, what we do, what we say, how we present ourselves, how we make and spend money, etc. 

Education - this does not just mean finishing high school, going to college, etc. We have to place an emphasis on the education of our culture and what we have done that has contributed to the success of the United States. We have to tell Nat Turner and Toussiant Louverture (Haiti) stories and how these men liberated Blacks and Haitians respectively, regular heroes. 

Presentation - grasping the concept of how we present ourselves to the world. First, PULL YOUR DAMN PANTS UP! Second, understand how you dress, how you look, how you present yourself to the world has a direct effect on how you are treated by others in the world. Is that fair, absolutely not. Is it reality, you are absolutely right! 

Media - understand how the media plays a strong role in how are culture is presented to others and how we can control what the media says about us. A great article on how the media treats White suspects and killers versus Black victims can be read here. Another example of how the media manipulates how we present ourselves can be seen here. The media manipulated the words of a four-year old! The point is, we have to understand that the media is as strong as any chain used to handcuff your wrists but, instead, they handcuff the mind. 

There are a number of areas that need to be addressed as part of the "deprogramming" process which will take years to complete. Michael Brown is one of many young men whose lives have been cut short for no reason. Why? How do we stop it? I am for one tired of all the speeches, marches, riots and articles that will continue until the next tragedy occurs. When will we attack the issue head-on and start re-building our culture so we can be consistent in our actions and methods while maintaining credibility in the eyes of others. We have to give the same attention to Southside Chicago as we do Michael Brown; we have to be as upset over the 3-year old girl in Landover as we were over Trayvon Martin. Our actions have to be, again, consistent and our message unified. 

We have to take back our minds and keep our bodies strong!