Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
On December 19th, the black Brazilian and Diasporic African struggle lost a great warrior: Thereza Santos. Most won't know her because she was Brazilian. But this woman created theater pieces about the black Brazilian situation, was exiled during Brazil's brutal dictatorship, fought for African liberation with Amilcar Cabral and wrote trailblazing works on the place of black women in Brazil. In the spirit of Fannie Lou Hammer, Assata Shakur and Angela Davis, please add this woman to your list of important black women. Read her story here: Black Women of Brazil: In memoriam: Thereza Santos (1930-2012) - The life of a warrior
Quote:
School is really important: Reading, writing, arithmetic. But what they tend to do is teach you reading, writing, arithmetic… then teach you reading, writing, arithmetic again. Then again, then again, just making it harder and harder just to keep you busy. And that’s where I think they messed up. There should be a class on drugs. There should be a class on sex education. No, REAL sex education class, not just pictures and illogical terms…There should be a class on scams, there should be a class on religious cults, there should be a class on police brutality, there should be a class on apartheid, there should be a class on racism in America, there should be a class on why people are hungry, but there not, their class is on…gym….Their class is like Algebra. we have yet to go a store and said, “Can I have X Y + 2 and give me my Y change back, thank you.” You know?…Like foreign languages. I think that they are important, but I don’t think it should be required. Actually, they should be teaching you English, and then teach you how to understand double talk, politician’s double talk. Not teaching you how to understand French and Spanish and GERMAN. When am I going to Germany? I can’t afford to pay my rent in America! How am I going to Germany? — Tupac, Age 17 On the Topic of Education, 1988.
Quote:
Neck Stretching/Culture Assimilation
Long Neck Tribes
Although women of the Ndebele tribe of South Africa once wore brass and copper rings ("iindzila") around their necks, they no longer commonly do so. However, many African tribes still wear various types of rings and beads around their necks that can give the appearance of stretching the neck. In many African cultures, the amount of beads worn is a measure of wealth and social status. In addition, wearing neck ornaments and beads is thought to give one strong ritual power, in addition to enhancing the women’s esthetics and beauty. Presently, the Kayan (Karen) tribe from Burma and Thailand use a series of rings to give the appearance of neck stretching. The appearance of neck stretching is mostly an illusion, as the neck rings act to displace the collar bones and ribs. Although various tribes traditionally used neck stretching for cultural reasons, presently many individuals wear neck rings for tourism rather than as a native ritual. Interestingly, the explorer Marco Polo was the first Westerner to observe neck stretching during his 14th century journey to the East. African neck stretching is just one form of body sculpting. Another example is cranial shaping, in which the shape of the head is elongated and made more conical or alternatively, flattened and made wider. Cranial deformation was widely practiced in various American tribes, including the Pueblo Indians and the Incas. Unlike cranial shaping, African neck stretching is reversible and once the neck rings are removed, the neck and body returns to its natural form.
Quote:
free·dom
/ˈfrēdəm/
Noun
The power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.
Are we still falling for the hype?
<joli>
Quote:
Black Panther party launched the Free Breakfast for Children Program. Their motto was “Serve the People, Body and Soul.”
Why have we stopped serving our community? What will it take to bring unity and awarness? We should continue to keep the motto going in the 21st century lets continue to "Serve the people, Body and Soul"! 2013 is near, time to work!~G.H
For those who believe in G.O.D. Know thy meaning...
Quote:
Science book, 1884
This is what people were taught back then...but what do we think/know Now? How long are we going to allow ourselves to be "crowded out"?
university of makerere launches their fully ugandan made electric car, now available by order
uganda
Quote:
Alprentice "Buncy" Carter Bunchy" was an African born in American who was killed on January 17, 1969. He is celebrated by his supporters as a martyr in the Black Power movement in the United States.
In early 1968 Carter formed the Southern California chapter of the Black Panthers and became a leader in the group. Like all Black Panther chapters, the Southern California chapter studied politics, read BPP literature, and received training in firearms and first aid. They also began the "Free Breakfast for Children" program which provided meals to the poor in the community. The chapter was very successful, gaining 50–100 new members each week by April 1968. Notable members included Elaine Brown, and Geronimo Pratt.
Jayne Cortez went to John C. Fremont High School in Los Angeles. Fremont also produced Charles Burnett, Don Cherry, and Alprentice "Buncy" Carter also attended Fremont.
Quote:
The way to change the world is to change people's minds. As more and more people openly discuss the fact that "God" is completely imaginary, the world becomes a better place. The people who believe in "religion" look sillier and sillier. Eventually, religion becomes a fringe activity that is meaningless. Here's were your 10 Commandments stolen from.. We have the fact that all of the gods of the past truly were imaginary. We all know with certainty that the Egyptian gods, the Roman gods and the Aztec gods were completely fictitious. Otherwise we would not have started to worship Jesus. We would be worshiping Ra or Zeus rather than Jesus if Ra or Zeus were real.
Quote:
You could always deny who you are; your background, the level of oppression you've faced in your lifetime, and even your ethnicity; inflate your standing in the public eye, your successes, your status, your level of colorblindness, and your honorable position of rising above the hate. But Officer Miles is about to bring your Black ass back to reality.
Quote:
"Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well.” ― Frantz Fanon
The black masses reject the Uncle Tom approach of the Negro leadership that has been handpicked by the white man. These Uncle Tom leaders don’t speak for the Negro majority, they don’t speak for the black masses. They speak for the black bourgeoisie, the brainwashed white minded, middle class minority. Who are ashamed of black and don’t want to be identified with the black masses --- Malcolm X (from his speech called, God’s Judgment of White America)
Quote:
Chinese Scientist Proves The First Inhabitants Of China Were Black!
Out Of Africa
Copyright 2012 VVeasey Publishing
10/21/12
For many years Black historians and Afrocentrists have said that the first inhabitants of China were black Africans.
"The first inhabitants of China seem also to have been the Negritos. Unmixed Negroes with no connection with Africa still live in Southern China"
(J.A. Rogers, Sex And Race, Volume 1)
The Negroid races peopled at some time all the South of India, Indo-China and China. The South of Indo-China actually has now pure Negritos as the Semangs and mixed as the Malays and the Sakais."
( H. Imbert, "Les Negritos de la Chine").
“Even the sacred Manchu dynasty shows this Negro strain. The lower part of the face of the Emperor Pu-yi of Manchukuo, direct descendant of the Manchu rulers of China, is most distinctly Negroid. Chinese chroniclers report that a Negro Empire existed in the South of China at the dawn of that country's history.
( Professor Chang Hsing-Lang , "The importation of Negro Slaves to China under the Tang Dynasty A.D. 618-907)
“There is evidence of substantial populations of Blacks in early China. Archaeological studies have located a black substratum in the earliest periods of Chinese history, and reports of major kingdom ruled by Blacks are frequently in Chinese documents."
(Kwang-Chih Chang, The Archaeology of Ancient China, (Yale University Press) and Irwin Graham, Africans Abroad (Columbia University Press).
But after hundreds of years of the worldwide spread of the doctrine of white superiority and the inferiority of black Africans and their descendants. This notion was poo, pooed by white scientists and others and even by some blacks.
But in 2005, a Chinese DNA specialist, Jin Li, leading a team of Chinese and other scientists, proved through DNA tests that indeed the first inhabitants of China were black Africans.
Li said he was trying to prove that the Chinese evolved from homo erectus independently of all other humans. He collected DNA samples from 165 different ethnic groups and over 12000 samples in China and Asia to test his theory.
Li said he was taught through China’s education system that there was something special about Chinese. And because he was Chinese, he was hoping to prove that the Chinese developed independently of all other humans.
But surprise, surprise, surprise, surprise!
Li’s team focused on a single genetic marker that appeared about 80,000 years ago in Africa. Anyone carrying that marker would have recent African ancestors and could not be descended from the more ancient Homo Erectus.
Li and his team found that early humans belonged to different species but modern humans descended from the East Africans species.
Li Hui, a scientist on Li’s team, said, that 100,000 years ago groups of humans started leaving Africa moving through South and Southeast Asia into China, and that 65 branches of the Chinese groups studied carry similar DNA mutations as the people of Southeast Asia.
Jin Li said “we did not see even one single individual that could be considered as a descendant of the homo erectus in China, rather, everybody was a descendant of our ancestors from Africa."
Li was asked how he as a Chinese felt about what he found.
He said “after I saw the evidence generated in my laboratory. I think we should all be happy with that. Because after all, modern humans from different parts of the world are not so different from each other and we are very close relatives.” (Amen Brother!)
Li’s team was composed of an international group of scientist from China, Russia, India, Brazil and other nations. This was a 5 year project to study the geographic and genealogical routes tracing the spread and settlements of ancient and modern humans.
Now I know there are still many people and probably some of you reading this hub who would be horrified, upset, disgusted, in disbelief etc, etc, if you found that you had any genetic connection to a black person.
And I can feel your pain, because at one time in American history, as a result of all of the negative racial propaganda published about blacks to justify slavery for 400 years.
Many black people didn't want to be black either.
Right up until the civil rights movement, the "I'm black and I'm proud" and the "Black Is Beautiful" movements.
Many black Americans were happy to tout that they were part Indian. part white or part any other ethnic group other than just being only black.
Many black men and women straighten their hair and used skin lighting creams to make themselves look more white than black.
This is understandable, because all of the movies stars and other esteemed images of Americans were white and mostly all of the images of black Americans were ugly, buffoonish and how shall we say it, aesthetically not pleasing.
But the DNA is the DNA and that shows that all modern human orginated in some part of the African continent.
Believe It Or Not
Or read em and weep
"If you get to the stage where you can persuade people on the evidence, that it's solid, that we are all African, that color is superficial, that stages of development of culture are all interactive, then I think we have a chance of a world that will respond better to global challenges." Richard Leaky, Paleoanthropologist
One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential... Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency, we can't be kind, true, merciful, generous or honest...
~Maya Angelou~
Quote:
Scholarly perspectives on the mixed race experience.
White Supremacy is an historically based, institutionally perpetuated system of exploitation and oppression of continents, nations, and peoples classified as “non-White” by continents, nations, and peoples who, by virtue of their white (light) skin pigmentation and/or ancestral origin from Europe, classify themselves as “White.” Although history illuminates the fabrication, changeability, and contingencies of Whiteness (e.g. the case of Irish and Italians once being denied entry into the White “race”), it is important to note that this global power system is structured and maintained not for the purpose of legitimizing racial categories as much as it is for the purpose of maintaining and defending a system of wealth, power, and privilege. Thus, it has been Whites who have constructed racial categories based on the economic, political, and social aspirations of Whites, for the benefits of Whites (L. Ross, 1995). In this way, Whites define who is White; a definition that has changed and will likely continue to change based upon the particular economic, political, and social conditions of the moment (e.g. the case of Egyptians now being classified as White when they were once classified as Arab, and previously as Black). It is clear then that White supremacy is based less on racial Whiteness (as evidenced by skin color) than it is on ideological Whiteness—the exclusive value assigned that involves “a series of immunities, privileges, rights, and assumptions…” This [value is] not inherent, natural, or biologically determined. Rather [it reflects] artificial beliefs created by social, economic, and political conditions” (L. Ross, 1995).
Yaba Amgborale Blay, “Skin Bleaching and Global White Supremacy: By Way of Introduction,” The Journal of Pan African Studies, (Volume 4, Number 4, June 2011): 6-7.
<joli>
Quote:
White Privilege is the fact we call it white privilege instead of “The oppression of people of colour”.
Quote:
Photos like this are being spread across the internet lately, and they are dangerous for a few reasons. If you’re too lazy to read below; basically ignorant Americans are blaming other people, governments, and religions for problems their own nation caused.
First, here is a history lesson on Afghanistan. From 1933 until 1973, Afghanistan was ruled under a man named Mohammed Zahir Shah. While he was a devout Muslim, he had a Western education in France. His reign marked four decades of peace and stability. With the introduction of a constitution Afghanistan progressively developed into a modern democratic state with free elections and a parliament, as well as a massive push for women’s rights, universal suffrage, education, worker’s rights, and civil rights. So yes, Afghanistan was doing well in the 60’s as this photo suggests. However, the photo doesn’t give you context for what went wrong.
During this period in time the Soviet Union had a strong influence in Afghanistan. They supported modernization and education in the Afghan state. The United States, not wanting to risk their hegemony in the region, clearly had a major problem with this. They were terrified of the spread of Communism and quickly developed a plan. Afghanistan would become the Cold War’s chessboard. In the late 80’s, the Saudis, Pakistanis, and the Americans brought in radical Islamists from around the world. They armed, trained, and directed them into a militant force, and they were called the mujahideen. They became the US’ main offense against the Soviets. It wasn’t to defend the Afghans against the Soviets who were ready to pull out, but to deliver as much harm against them imaginable. Carter wanted Afghanistan to be the Soviet’s “Vietnam”. And it was. When they finally retreated Afghanistan spun into chaos and a civil war ensued under the militant mujahideen warriors. Within this framework we saw the rise of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, and of course Osama bin Laden. All under the auspices of the United States security forces and American tax-payer monies. Clinton’s bombing of Sudan and Afghanistan was directly responsible for their rise. Oh, and then in what was most likely the greatest immoral injustice of the 21st century the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001 only further driving the besieged nation further into turmoil.
What does this mean? The mujahideen, the Taliban, and Al Qaeda do not represent thousands of years of Afghan culture and Islam. They are a direct reaction to Western imperialism. The root cause for the disparity between the two pictures is foreign intervention. Not Islam, and certainly not Arabs.
Second, here is a history on Iran. Before 1953, Iran was ruled under a democratically elected man called Mohammad Mosaddegh. Under his reign Iran saw a progressive movement of social and political reforms. During this time Britain tried to establish an oil company (British Petroleum) on Iranian soil, and promised to share profit and technology with the Iranian government. However the British, as usual, didn’t honor their agreement. They, and the United States, began to steal Iran’s oil. Prime Minister Mosaddegh would not stand for this and demanded the seizure of the oil fields and the ouster of the British. In response, the British and the United States overthrew him in a coup and installed the Shah who was a brutal tyrant and ruled the nation under an absolute monarchy. The women in this picture did live well, but that was because they were members of a very small minority and in the Shah’s social circle. Everyone else in Iran lived under harsh conditions. The economy was failing, education was abysmal, and the entire nation was rural and very religious.
Today, Iran’s health care is better. They have more political freedom. Education is improving, and the country is slowly globalizing. The economy is slightly better off, however that is quickly changing with the Western world’s sanctions against Iran in midst of their nuclear propaganda campaign at the behest of Israel.
What does this mean? Essentially, the Islamic Revolution had little to do with the rise of an Islamic state; rather the resistance of Western imperialism. Almost every social and political group was united in resisting the Shah, from the communists to the secularists to the Islamists. They demanded Iranian sovereignty and political freedoms. Is the current regime in Iran perfect? Absolutely not, and I’m passionately against it. But this picture is extremely distortive of the truth.
Unfortunately, we have gone full circle. Today, the United States is supporting terrorist cells in Iran in an attempt to oust the current Iranian regime. They want to establish another pro-Western government like the Shah and “try again” where they failed. They have been doing this for decades and it hasn’t been working well. That is why we are now seeing media hysteria against Iran, and their false quest to achieve nuclear power and bomb Israel. Iran is a peaceful nation, and always has been. They have never attacked another nation, and have absolutely no intention of attacking Israel or anyone else for that matter. The United States’ war against Iran is rooted solely to seek revenge for their failed foreign policy in the 70’s and to once again take control of their natural resources.
In conclusion, if you think you can understand decades of history in the Middle East, or anywhere for that matter, by looking at a photograph you are a fu*king idiot who has no right to engage in intellectual discussion or give your opinion on anything other than what you watched on Nick Minaj last night.
65% of kids missing are white compared to 72% white in the general population
16% of kids missing are Black compared to 13% Black in the general population
18% of kids missing are Hispanic/Latino compared to 15% Hispanic/Latino in the general population
These may seem like small differences, but when you consider the fact that the majority of youth and "http://www.pewhispanic.org/2008/02/11/us-population-projections-2005-2050/ projected population growth" in the United States is non-white, it’s clear that this disproportionately affects white people less and PoC more.
Quote:
Respect!! No assimilation, African culture first!!
Quote:
Tell me..... What is the difference?
Quote:
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode? - Langston Hughes
Quote:
"Forgotten Rebellion: Black Seminoles and the Largest Slave Revolt in U.S. History"
"The story of John Horse and the Black Seminoles has been largely untold, but they deserve to be remembered for a number of reasons:
- They created the largest haven in the U.S. South for runaway slaves.
- They led the largest slave revolt in U.S. history.
- They secured the only emancipation of rebellious slaves prior to the U.S. Civil War.
- The formed the largest mass exodus of slaves across the United States and, ultimately, to Mexico.
Learn more about this remarkable story that has been overlooked by Hollywood, popular culture, and even historians. This group of freedom fighters—who ultimately found peace, liberty, and prosperity—is worth remembering."
“We had to learn that we’re beautiful. We had to relearn something forcefully taken from us. We had to learn about Black power. People have power if we unite. We learned the importance of coming together and being active. ” — Assata Shakur
These are sum of lil things we Invented but there's more.... "Like Sky Scrappers, Boats and e.t.c."
Quote:
“We(Black People)are serious about everything that is silly, and silly about everything that is serious. - Neely Fuller Jr.”
Quote:
The destruction of black families can be traced back as early as 4000 years ago in the East
What is now called India there existed Black civilizations the Mohenjo Dara and Harrapa civilizations amongst others were highly developed devoid of warfare spiritually based until their attack by Aryan whites from the North.
The people have been under constant attack since that time having been pushed off their land to the South of India demonized by the Hindu religion that preaches hate of black peoples and deifies whites in the scriptures.
When the Colonizers invaded they systematically killed off most of the men and stole the women as slaves for themselves and used the girls as slaves sexually and domestically this is the origin of the pushing the black man out of the black family the forcing of the black woman to attend to the Colonizers males wants and the exploitation of black children. This style of destruction was employed for thousands of years by Colonizers against Afrikan peoples and to this day it is still being used.
We must deal with the crimes against our people that go back thousands of years to defeat the enemies of our people. Else we will continue to be huckstered into thinking this behavior began in the sixties.
We must reinstill the warrior aspect of our beings into our black boys lives at the earliest age and continue it for their lifetime else this unguided aspect of our being will continue to self inflict our people ignoring our enemy.
Doing Intelligence and Spiritual readings is key to determining the purpose of each childs coming into this world enabling community to make this purpose be realized.
Im with Shaka Zulu who said never let your enemy live else they will return to fly at your neck we gotta annihilate that which hates us
Justice gotta be served up for peace order harmony balance to take root
Hotep
Black Power
Baba Yaw
Quote:
The Forgotten Holocaust:
The Eastern Slave Trade
The Arab Slave Trade is the longest yet least discussed of the two major trades. It begins in the 7th century AD as Arabs and other Asians poured into Northern and Eastern Africa under the banner of Islam, either converting or subjugating the African societies they came upon. In the beginning there was some level of mutual respect between the Blacks and the more Caucasian-Semitic Arabs. Mihdja, a Black man, is said to be the first Muslim killed in battle while another, Bilal, is regarded as a "third of the faith." Dhu'l-Nun al-Misri, born in Upper Egypt near Sudan, is regarded as the founder of Sufism. Today Sufism's greatest stronghold is in Southern Egypt and Sudan. Islamic prosperity was based upon Black as well as Arabic genius.
The children of a stinking Nubian black---God put no light in their complexion! - Arab Poet, late 600AD,
But as Islamic prosperity grew, so did an air of hostility towards many Blacks, Muslims or otherwise. Some Arabs complained about having to work next to Blacks in high positions. After the Prophet's death, even the descendants of Bilal received negative treatment. Arabic writings became laced with anti-Black sentiment. This reaction of Blacks at the time to this can be seen in the writings of a contemporary 9th Century Black scholar in residence at Baghdad by the name of Abu 'Uthman' Amr Ibn Bahr Al-Jahiz. Al-Jahiz, to confront a growing tide of anti-black sentiment in the Muslim world, published a highly controversial work at the time titled, Kitab Fakhr As-Sudan 'Ala Al-Bidan, "The Book of Glory of the Blacks over the Whites." Al-Jahiz in his work contended that even the Prophet Mohammad's father may have been of African lineage.
These new attitudes towards Blacks by Arabs marked the beginning of African enslavement. Though not based solely on race, the Arab Slave Trade did focus heavily upon Africans whom Arabs now saw as inferior to themselves. At first these Arabs raided African villages themselves seeking humans for sale. This not being always successful, they soon enlisted the aid of fellow African Muslims or recently converted Blacks. Wrapping themselves within Islam, these converts rationalized the slavery of their non Muslim brethren as the selling of "unbelievers." At other times the Arabs would demand tribute in the form of human bodies from Africans weary of the fight against Arabic-Islamic incursions.
The Arabs took advantage of regional wars in Africa to buy captives from the victor. They also used the old divide-and-conquer technique. They worked one group against the other and took or killed the best and strongest.
S.E. Anderson, The Black Holocaust for Beginners
Slave Raids and Markets
The Arab slavers raided at nightfall, during the dinner time. Africans who resisted or tried to run were shot and killed. Most adult men were killed as the Arabs favored women and children for sale. The captives then endured a long and torturous march through the African countryside as the slavers searched and gathered more captives. Young men, women, and children were bound by hand and by neck throughout this journey, enduring beatings and rapes along the way. Those who fell sick or dead were left behind. Others remained bound to living captives.
After surviving the torturous ride aboard the Arab slave ships, Africans were taken to the slave markets. Here Muslim men would inspect their intended purchases. Women and young girls were degradingly probed by these men in public or private stalls to test their sexual worth. Those that did not survive their time in these markets were left out to rot. It is said that that hyenas, very numerous in the region, "gorged themselves on human flesh..." Pictured here is a slave market in East Africa.
Concubines and Eunuchs
Pictured here is an African trader (possibly an Egyptian)with two Sudanese slave girls for sale. The African is a Muslim while the girls are not. The Eastern Slave Trade dealt primarily with African women: a ratio of two women for each man. These women and young girls were used by Arabs and other Asians as concubines. Filling the harems of wealthy Arabs, they often bore them a host of children. This sexual abuse of African women would continue for nearly 1200 years.
The Eastern Slave Trade also dealt in the sale of castrated male slaves: Aghas or eunuchs. Used as guards and tutors, these slaves were central to familial peace, protection and order in many wealthy Muslim households. Eunuchs were created by completely amputating the ******* and penis of 8-to-12-year-old African boys. Hundreds of thousands of young boys may have been subjected to this genital mutilation. Many bled to death during the gory procedure. The survival rate of this process ranged from 1 in 10 to 1 in 30.
Holocaust: The Numbers
Due to the enormous length of the Arab Slave Trade, from 700 to 1911AD, it is impossible to be certain of the numbers of Africans sold in this system. Estimates place the numbers somewhere around 14 million: at least 9.6 million African women and 4.4 African men.
It has been estimated that in all, at least 14 to 20 MILLION African men, women and children died throughout this trade. (Photos and Information courtesy of The Black Holocaust for Beginners by SE Anderson, A Pictorial History of the Slave Trade, Slave Trade of Eastern Africa by Beachy, Slavery in the Arab World by Gordon Murray and Africa in History by Basil Davidson)
Quote:
Dr. Frances Cress Welsing
Standards and codes to convert self hatred into self respect:
1. Stop name calling one another
2. Stop cursing at one another
3. Stop squabbling with one another
4. Stop gossiping about one another
5. Stop snitching on one another
6. Stop being discourteous and disrespectful towards one another
7. Stop robbing one another
8. Stop fighting one another
9. Stop killing one another
10.Stop stealing from one another
11.Stop using and selling drugs to one another
12.Stop throwing trash and dirt on the streets and places where Black people live, work, and learn
All of these malevolent behaviors are manifestations of the local,national, and global system of white supremacy/racism.
"The mere breaking of the chains of bondage only free an individual or a people mentally and physically. What is done from that point on determines whether or not they are actually free. For freedom depends on the mind and character. Those with weak wills and dependent mentalities are never free. Freedom means standing on your own feet and assuming responsibilities. Bluntly, this puts a stop to everlastingly leaning on the white man's shoulders, and being, like a child, fearful of venturing forth without his guidance. Even among some of the most brilliant Negro intellectuals nothing is true until the white man has pronounced it to be true." - Chancellor Williams
(The Re-Birth of African Civilization)
Quote:
“We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, it doesn’t matter. We know we are beautiful. And ugly too. The tom-tom cries and the tom-tom laughs. If colored people are pleased we are glad. If they are not, their displeasure doesn’t matter either. We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.” — Langston Hughes, “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”
Quote:
Looking at the society as opposed to just the family and individual units when it comes to our problems
Not using knowledge for the greater good of Afrikan people
Wrong definition of freedom
Using eurocentric psychology to solve problems of Afrikan people(no no)
"Add these books in your READING list." Thanx!!
Quote:
"We can understand Europeans culturally as yurugu, the incomplete and forever immature being.” - Marimba Ani (Yurugu, pg 284)
Quote:
“Rather than house vs. field, it is fraternities, sororities, schools, churches, white-collar, blue-collar, republican, democrat, neighborhoods and hundreds of other bases of division. The root is simple, but the basis for the separation is the same: that is, to keep the community divided. The origin of the classes, clubs, and groups still come from the same source- an outsider who still profits from our division.” - Dr. Na’im Akbar
On June 25, a cadre of Black owned ad agencies launched a full scale campaign to create awareness about the $1.2 trillion in buying power we as people possess. Translation: Let’s show White folk and every other ethnic group how to effectively put their hands in our pockets.
The campaign, entitled INTHEBLACK, was designed to help corporations successfully expand their market share at the expense of the African American population. Every press release and article pertaining to the campaign highlights repeatedly how we heavily consume to the tune of $957 billion and the need for corporate giants to recognize this “feat”. Essentially, they are boasting about how much money we waste. In bold letters they proudly proclaim that we are mega-consumers and how gullible we are to advertising. What’s even more insulting is the fact that they labeled the coalition a revolutionary occurrence. I can understand coming together under a common cause, but to show corporations how to take advantage of our consumption habits constitutes as a very counterproductive measure. The power does not rest in consumption, but in the ownership of the means of production.
Based on our history and the false values that we have internalized concerning our inability to successfully run businesses, support each other and to relate to one another on the basis of trust, it would have been more befitting if these ad agencies took on the tasks of conducting a research and marketing campaign that would have dispelled these myths and revolutionized the way Black consumers and Black businesses interacted with one another. A national Black economic revival so to speak. Black businesses could have been briefed on the information and a process on how to better relate and communicate to their customers could have been implemented. Funds could have been set up for black businesses to place a percentage of their income into so that institution building could commence. Our collective mindsets could have been transformed and we could have been one step closer to dismissing the myth that everyone else’s ice is colder. Our perceptions of Black businesses could have drastically improved if the coalition’s intentions were different. Instead of touting how easily accessible our $1.2 trillion is, emphasize the need for that money to remain in the communities and how to make it difficult for anyone to waltz in and take it from us. We allow other people in our markets while they systematically lock us out of their’s and rightfully so. If we thought of ourselves as a nation, we would have one hell of a trade imbalance.
What baffles me is the rhetoric used in the campaign. They want to create a “sense of urgency” and place heavy emphasis on how we are an “overlooked” market. Has it ever occurred to them that maybe we are overlooked on purpose? That maybe they know based off of our past consumption habits and our motivations for consumption(status, buying our way into America, running from an inferiority complex)guarantees our money? They know damn well that most of us will knock each other down to get into these white establishments.They also utilize or at the very least depend on other mediums to disseminate information about their products. They use our own cultural creations,i.e. hip hop, to push their products onto the masses attached with the values necessary to make the buyer feel useless without it.
I was watching Byron Lewis, the pioneer CEO and Chairman of Uniworld, talk about how White companies did not allocate marketing dollars to targeting Black consumers simply because they already have our business. Hello!!! Why are we spending our time appealing to the consciousness of Corporate America when our Black businesses are in need of some expertise. They take our money for granted and here we are begging them to deplete our potential wealth. Then we have the audacity to blame the younger generation for criminal activity and a lack of values when we give our money away to people who use it to further their agenda. That money could have been used to create jobs and build institutions that would curtail the amount of maladjusted behavior that plagues our neighborhoods.
An economy is not merely based on money or fiat, but the way people relate to one another.
In other words, people must develop a sense of common identity and trust in order for an economy to flourish. This present campaign could have accomplished just that. I applaud Black ad agencies for taking the steps to be business owners,blaze trails, and for the most part garnering success, but we have to deal with our current socioeconomic reality. These same agencies are responsible for either training companies on how to capitalize on our buying power, or taking the reigns themselves in siphoning our resources out of the community. This is what happens when we depend on outside resources to finance our well being as opposed to looking inward for solutions. The “sense of urgency” should have been focused on aggregating our markets so that a large portion of that $1.2 trillion would stay within the Afrikan community. Is our money not good enough to stay in our pockets? We have to learn how to discriminate to some degree if we plan on surviving as a people. Too much brotherly love can lead us to an early demise. Our consumer mindset must transition into a mindset of production.
Take a look at the campaign and the companies involved. It shouldn’t surprise you once you see the companies that were summoned to participate.
This pic is from the war in vietnam, Martin Luther King, Jr. and many of our other leaders were against the war in vietnam, so how would they feel today knowing the wars we face as a nation, thoughts anyone?
~Shared by Karen Hicks/Photo Source Unknown~
Enter code "Blackknowledge" at checkout to save 10!!!
An explosive, award-winning novel in the black literary tradition, "The Spook Who Sat by the Door" is both a satire of the civil rights problems in the United States in the late 1960s and a serious attempt to focus on the issue of black militancy. Dan Freeman, the "spook who sat by the door," is enlisted in the CIA's elitist espionage program. Upon mastering agency tactics, however, he drops out to train young Chicago blacks as "Freedom Fighters." As a story of one man's reaction to ruling-class hypocrisy, the book is autobiographical and personal. As a tale of a man's reaction to oppression, it is universal.
Quote:
Stagger Lee (African American)
Stagger” Lee Sheldon was a black cab driver who in 1895 shot another dude named Billy Lyons after they had been drunkenly arguing and Billy had, “snatched Sheldon’s hat from his head.” According to the newspaper, after plugging Billy in the gut with his revolver, Stagger Lee, “picked up his hat and coolly walked away.”
Immortalized in song, Stagger Lee has become an archetype, the embodiment of a tough black man; one who is sly, streetwise, cool, lawless, amoral, potentially violent, and who defies white authority.[4] Within thirty years of Shelton’s death, Benjamin Botkin records stories of his having been born with a caul over his face (signifying one with the power to see spirits and destined for trouble), or of having sold his soul to the Devil (in exchange for the hat, said to be magic, over which he killed Billy Lyons). Additional legends credit him with the ability to transform himself into animals, of having caused the San Francisco Earthquake, and of having fought a duel with Jesse James
It was mentioned that even the devil himself was afraid of him and somehow he managed to kick the devil out for a time and ruled hell itself.
Quote:
"If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country."-Malcolm X
Peace
~G.H
"Have courage. Timidity and cowardice are for men who can see safety at their backs or retreat without molestation and find refuge in the familiar fields of their native lands but they are not for you. You must be brave."
Hannibal Barca
<King Shango>
Quote:
Walter Rodney (23 March 1942 – 13 June 1980) was a prominent Guyanese historian, political activist, Marxistand Pan-African scholar who was assassinated in Guyana in 1980.
By the summer of 1968 Rodney’s “groundings with the working poor of Jamaica had begun to attract the attention of the government. So, when he attended a Black Writers’ Conference in Montreal, Canada, in October 1968, the Hugh Shearer-led Jamaican Labor Party Government banned him from re-entering the country.
This action sparked widespread riots, known as the Rodney Riots and revolts in Kingston in which several people were killed and injured by the police and security forces, and millions of dollars worth of property destroyed.
Rodney’s encounters with the Rastafarians were published in a pamphlet entitled “Grounding with My Brothers,” that became a bible for the Caribbean Black Power Movement.
Today on Hot 97, we're asking whether the promotion of drug use in hip-hop causes kids to want to try it. That's like asking if advertising nikes causes teens to want to go out and buy them. The drug in question is Ecstacy:
Ecstacy causes (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) and dopamine to flood the brain. Both are neurotransmitters which influence the flow of information throughout the brain. Changing the balance between the two changes your mood. Ecstasy gives you a glow of well-being, happiness, empathy, euphoria, increases your sensitivity to rhythmic music, and makes you want to dance.
The latest studies show that Ecstasy use can impair the serotonin system and memory performance. Research conducted on subjects who had used E on a couple of hundred occasions showed that people who use the drug had suffered brain damage. The level of brain damage users experience is directly proportional to the number of times the drug was used.
The brain damage found among X-TC users involved the cells responsible for releasing serotonin in the brain. An imaging technique known as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) was used to study the brains of a group of Ecstasy users. Researchers found that the number of healthy serotonin cells in the participants' brains was between 20-60 percent lower than normal. This type of change in the normal level of cells in the brain accounts for the memory loss that long-term users of E may experience.
Quote:
List of Scholarships for African American Students
AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ARE NOT APPLYING FOR SCHOLARSHIPS:
Even if you do not have a college-aged child at home, please share this with someone who does, and anyone who comes to mind. There are a number of companies and organizations who have donated money for scholarships to African Americans, but a great deal of the money is being returned because of a lack of interest or awareness. No one is going to knock on our doors and ask if we can use a scholarship.
Take the initiative to get your children involved. Money shouldn't be returned to donating companies because we fail to apply for it. Please pass this information on to family members, nieces, nephews, friends with children, etc. We must get the word out that money is available. If you are a college student or getting ready to become one, you probably already know how useful additional money can be.
Though some of these links may have currently become inoperable, Keep Searching by The Names and Maybe You'll Find The Sources Can Be Researched that Leads to the funds.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
