Thursday, February 25, 2010

Is Our Kids Learning?


Yeah, I know the title, but I was having a little Deja Vu and for a minute thought about George W. Bush. So, I decided to dedicate this article in honor of him. Anyway, I came across an article that made me wonder if this is why our kids are not learning?

Nowadays, with all the budgets cuts school is almost non-existence...for those that are not rich that is. Well, at least that is the direction we're heading in out here in good ole sunny California(BTW, Sunny California is a myth). Arnold has our schools on life support and possibly dying of that closing down schools death in the future here in California. Nevertheless, we have enough problems in California schools due to the budget axe that keeps on chopping, chopping, and chopping away. In fact, I believe Arnold missed his calling as lumberjack the way he is hacking away at all of our vital programs.

Although, this topic is about a school it is not about a school in California. Therefore,I can say...Thank you Jesus! I say that with a little prayer thrown in for good measure, a rabbit's foot, and fingers crossed because you never can tell what might happen at schools nowadays. Keeping hope alive is getting harder by the day. Anyway, I'm glad that far as I know none of our teachers have went this far that is yet. You never know what the recession might bring.

I understand and know that we have a crisis going on with funding for schools these days. But hey! Are we lacking books in sex education too? Apparently, some schools these days are offering hands on experience in sex education. I guess it is cheaper than buying books. Some teachers are improvising and letting their creativity shine through in a way that is not making them look too bright upstairs, which is another price we have to pay for lack of money.

This particular teacher must have gotten her teaching credentials at "Shorty Johnson's Fool and His Money Club" because she wasn't exactly teaching any of those type of courses you learn at a higher learning institute to teach the younger minds. Well, I bet that school never has to worry about male absentees or dropouts, especially, if they have her for a teacher.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Why Do We Have White And Black Boundary Lines?


Okay, golf was always known as a white's only sport before Tiger won the championship. It always had recognition in mainstream. However, it was not a sport that black people paid much attention to until Tiger won. It was the same with tennis before Arthur Ashe and the two sisters broke the color barrier. African Americans entered into what is deemed as whites only sports under different conditions and were not exactly welcomed into them.

Yet and still, a white person can participate in a recreational activity or music genre that is created, participated in, and traditionally only an African American thing that is not recognized by the mainstream and all of a sudden it gets recognition. And why do whites have to participate in it before it gets any type of recognition in mainstream?

Why are blacks considered American citizens but not part of mainstream? We pay taxes, we vote, some of us are in decision making positions, we own businesses, etc., but yet we're still not consided part of mainstream America.

I was reading an article where some white sorority girls won the Sprite Step-Off competition. The prize was $100,000. For years, historically, Step-Off contest have been traditionally an African American thing. In fact, for years Step-Offs were hardly noticed except by HBCU and blacks. All a sudden, some white chicks win and Step-Offs make the news and are given recognition. Nonetheless, the white chicks were good, but now, will they be giving them credit for creating Step-Offs in the future? Because that seems to be the way it usually works out.

Back some years ago, Bo Derek, decided to wear a hairstyle that black women had worn for years called "cornrows" or "French Braids". Black women had been wearing that style before Bo Derek was even born. However, when she decided to get her hair done in them, they gave that white woman the credit for creating a style that originated in Africa among African women. In other words, it was created by blacks, but a white had to wear the style for it to be recognized in mainstream. Not only that, she was given credit for creating them but she didn't.

There have been many things created by black that whites adopted in the main stream and were given the credit and recognition for starting. For instance, Blacks created Rock & Roll music long before whites even thought about it, but whites were given the credit and most will argue you down that they started it. Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and many other black musicians before them can tell you about many of their songs being ripped off by many white musicians back in the day. Before Elvis sung "You Ain't Nothing but a Hounddog," Big Momma Thorton had sung it.

There is nothing wrong with the white chicks winning in a contest that was created by and traditionally participated in by blacks only. More power to them. That is as long as they don't try to revise the history of where it originated.

Black people, whether whites want to admit it or not are very creative and unique trend setters and others do copy our styles, music, some of our hip words, etc. However, we don't always get credit for what we create or either it is played down or dismissed as mediocre that is until someone white mimics it. Blacks have broken into sports traditionally participated by whites only but they have never claimed that those sports originated with them and taken credit for them. Not saying that these white girls who won the "step-offs have done that either because they haven't.

Nevertheless, why do we have these imaginary black and white boundary lines in sports, music, and other recreational activities that black and whites tend to claim as their own? Shouldn't anything created be for the benefit of all, recognized by main stream and credit given to whom credit is due?

Friday, February 19, 2010

Just Another Unhinged Day In America

A habitual occurrence of violence is taking place in schools, at the workplace, in homes, on public transportation, and now even in churches all across America. It was ironic that three teenagers picked Valentine's Day to boldly walk into a Sunday church service and shoot it up. Then there was the professor who killed her co-workers over tenure. No place is safe these days, not even the church which used to be off limits and sacred ground and even the hardest of gangsters abided by that unspoken rule. Not anymore!

Yet and still, there is more brewing on the horizon besides those acts of violence that is not being taken serious enough and apparently dismissed as just some loonies acting up...no big deal. Well, I hate to be the one to tell ya but loonies can be violent too and usually they commit mass violence. Those loonies are gonna be instrumental in tearing the fabric of this country totally apart and ripping it to shreds believe it or not. Just don't say I didn't warn you.

Yesterday, a man flew his private airplane into the I.R.S. office building in protest of government and taxes. Don't overlook the fact that he hurt and endangered innocent people's lives behind his differences with the government and almost caused another 9/ll disaster. In addition to his deranged mind,there are different groups with his derange mindset springing up who are determined to start a civil war in America. Furthermore, there are those who are openly threating the President of the USA. Has America become uncivilized because we have a black man for President?

While checking out various news and blog Web Sites, I came across an article regarding another threat made on the President. Why am I not surprise? Nor am I surprised that the perpetrator is a white supremacist. Nope, not at all! I mean it is not like they've been hiding their intentions from anyone. Nor have the teabaggers, Fox News, or any of the other folks belonging to hate groups. They've made it plain as day, they don't want a black man in the sacred White House. These people are insane and they haven't changed their mind in wanting to harm the President.

In addition, it seems that the John Birch Society is back. The Southern Poverty Center labeled them a "Patriot" and in my honest opinion, the Southern Poverty Center was off target on their evaluation of the John Birch Society. The John Birch Society was against civil rights. In addition, Ben Klassen at one time belonged to the John Birch Society. Klassen hated nonwhites and Jewish folks with a passion

Ben Klassen was the author of "The White Man's Bible" and also was a Republican State House Representative in 1966. He lost that seat when he ran for State Senate in a special elections. He was, also, the campaign manager for George Wallace, but he turned on Wallace because Wallace had failed to mentioned segregation in one of his speeches after he had promised segregation always and forever and that ticked Klassen off and he fell out with Wallace over that. Klassen committed suicide later on.

What is troubling is that all of these different hate groups such as the neo-nazi, neo-cons, neo-McVeighs, the Palin's secessionist group, and John Birch Society have been forming allegiances with each other in the teabaggers coalition. They claim that the teabagger's coalition is about taxes and smaller government. However, anyone paying attention and with eyes can see that it really is about that black man in the sacred WHITE HOUSE.

The Presidential election is over with and the people's decision was to put Barack Obama in the White House. Now, we might not agree with some of the policies he is making or not making. And it appears that we expect more out of him than any other President we've had in history? Truthfully speaking, we've made him our "Scapegoat President."

Saturday, February 13, 2010

White Privilege Real Life Monopoly Game!


Only in America can white folks kill their brother, police record vanish, serve no jail sentence, graduate from Harvard, work as a teacher at Alabama University, and kill three faculty members. Is white privilege the reason the justice scales lean more to one side?

Lady Justice is known to Black folks as "JUST US". The reason is that the law is, mostly, followed and practiced on "JUST US". JUST US Black folks that is. When Blacks commit a crime, we're labeled animals, scum of the earth, etc. However, when whites commit a crime they're labeled the "good neighbor" or all of a sudden, it is time for a newly discovered mental disorder to come out.

In America, if a black person had killed their brother whether an accident or on purpose, they would have gotten life or a death sentence. We would have been bombarded with pictures of that black person dressed in jail attire until they lock them up. Not only that, their whole family would have been interviewed, as well as researched all the way back to the 1800s. There is nothing about them and their family you would not know.

Of course, by now, we would be having a court of opinion trial. Naturally, the verdict would be guilty before proven innocent. A couple of days later they would be serving their time in prison and the key would be thrown away. School records all the way back to kindergarten or preschool would have been picked with a fine tooth comb. Only in America can a white person kill someone in their family, serve no jail sentence, case is dismissed, and not even a referral to a probation officer is made.

Black folks had better not have so much as a traffic ticket in their past. If they do they can hang it up, kiss freedom goodbye, and make their burial plans in prison because it will be a "until death do us part" prison sentence. Forget about second chances if you do manage to get a sentence less than life as far as employment goes. Only white folks can get a job when they get out of prison. When Black folks get out of prison, they will still be doing life prison sentences on an "installment prison plan". In other words, they will be reincarcerated for not securing a job. Nevermind, the part about employers refusing to hire Black folks with a record. They only hire white folks with a record. That is the golden practice here in America. BTW, those same rules that apply to Blacks, apply to all nonwhite folks.

While I am sort of glad that the woman who killed her white supremacist husband case was dismissed. I can't help but suspect that if she had been black or any other minority that would not have happened. The rule, "You still broke the law" and "You still have to pay for your crime" of premeditated murder would have came in to play. No exceptions to the rule unless your white of course.

It is sort of a rigged game to keep the prison stats all black. The object of the game is for white employers to refuse to hire Blacks with a record, which activates parole violation, and results in a return trip to prison to put in some more time on that "life in prison installment plan" tailored just for nonwhite folks. Like the game "Monopoly" you need a get out of jail card. The only thing is that those are whites only cards.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

So Much For Post-Racial America


The night Barack Obama was elected President of the Divided States of America, we kept hearing now that the people have elected the first African American in history to the highest office in the land that we were now living in Post-Racial America. Yup, that's what we were told. What I want to know is how can I tell?

In all honesty, America is beginning to resemble the Jim Crow era little by little, only difference is African Americans are allowed access to public places, no longer do they have to sit at the back of bus, we can vote...or maybe, I should say we can vote for now. Because Tancredo believes that would be one way to keep those black folks out of the White House. I am willing to bet that he is not the only one thinking that. The mobs of the past are like the teabaggers of today using different terms but the meaning is the same.

Anyway, back to what I was commenting on regarding the subtle and not so subtle similarities of Post-Racial America. During the Jim Crow era, blacks folks were beaten and lynched. It didn't matter if the victims was a man, woman, or child. The only criteria required was the victim's skin color. Has much changed in Post-Racial America? Not really, the criteria for their victims hasn't changed and nor has the number of villians it takes to pull it off. No, not at all! Those whose job it is to serve and protect has not changed that much either from the days of the Jim Crow era either.

What about MSM is there any difference in how they present their views of the news? Nope! They are still as biases and non-objective as ever. Only they've taken it to a new level and attack the President of the USA with threats openly and without restraint and no one holds them accountable. The treason laws are still in place but in America they only apply if the President is not a black man. Even the President faces discrimination on a daily basis with Congress working against him and not with him because of the color of his skin.

We had black folks who would sell-out their own people back during Jim Crow if the price was right. Nothing has changed in that aspect either. We still have them. There are female and male sellouts who would sell their own momma out if the price is right. Their only concern was always looking out for number and forget everyone else.

We can just continue to shirk it off and dismiss the writing on the wall which is in plain view for all to see. Nevertheless, don't celebrate just yet because we haven't arrived at post-racial America. And and the way things are shaping up it appears that history is trying very hard to repeat itself. After all, poisonous snakes breed poisonous snakes!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Does Help Mean Exploitation?


We live in a country that likes to boast on its humanitarianism and good will efforts towards other countries. Our country is touted as a country with a magnanimous heart when disaster hits other countries. Nevertheless, can for once, America help a country with a majority black population in need instead of exploiting them?

While surfing the Internet, I ran across a few articles that are quite disturbing. But then, I believe that most of us had suspected some of it or at least had a few question marks in our head concerning the so-called aid relief efforts in Haiti. Like that old saying goes "All that glitters is not gold" and that saying is proving to be in the case of Haiti's aid relief efforts the truth and nothing but the truth.

A few of us had some concerns about the children in Haiti being adopted by so many white folks. Those few were wondering where did all of this newfound love for black children come from since here in America love for black folks is not exactly being shown according to our past and present history. Yet and still, my own biggest concern was children being kidnapped for child slavery which was already going on in Haiti. In addition, children dying of injuries, infections,and losing their limbs behind untreated injuries or delays in treatment.

Why is it that America thinks that helping in disasters in which the majority of the victims are black means:

"More recently, Clinton has been busy setting up investment opportunities for Wall Street corporations to further exploit Haitian labor." ~~Kiilu Nyasha-Poor People Magazine~~

"Haitians need real help trying to dig out victims who may still be alive, not opportunistic posturing and photo ops." ~~Kiilu Nyasha-Poor People Magazine~~

Oh well, hopefully, the real goodwill humanitarian bug will really hit Clinton and Bush and they'll be healed from that spirit of oppressor. At the present, it does not look like that is the case. It seems that smaller countries seem to always outshine us when it comes to real humanitarism and get less credit for it or hardly noticed. But then, if you think about it, it is always those with less who give the most and have a genuine humanitarian spirit.