oliver - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub
2024-03-29T10:46:00Z
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/oliver
Louis Reyes Rivera: A Death In the Family
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/louis-reyes-rivera-a-death-in-the-family
2012-03-06T19:52:10.000Z
2012-03-06T19:52:10.000Z
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
https://www.theblacklist.net/members/GloriaDulanWilson
<div><div class="navbar section" id="navbar"><div class="widget Navbar" id="Navbar1"></div></div><div id="outer-wrapper"><div id="wrap2"><div id="wrap3"><div class="header section" id="header"><div class="widget Header" id="Header1"><div id="header-inner"><div class="titlewrapper"><h1 class="title"><a href="http://gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com/">Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog</a></h1></div></div></div></div><div id="sidebar-wrapper"><div class="sidebar section" id="sidebar"><div class="widget HTML" id="HTML3"><div class="widget-content"><a target="_blank" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/GloriaDulan-WilsonBlog/~6/1"><img alt="Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog" style="border:0pt none;" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/GloriaDulan-WilsonBlog.1.gif" /></a> <br /> <br /><p><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/GloriaDulan-WilsonBlog"><img style="border:0pt none;" alt="" src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~fc/GloriaDulan-WilsonBlog?bg=993300&fg=444444&anim=1" height="26" width="88" /></a></p></div><span class="widget-item-control"><span class="item-control blog-admin"><a class="quickedit" href="http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=8661755859413500477&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML3&action=editWidget&sectionId=sidebar" title="Edit"><img alt="" src="http://img1.blogblog.com/img/icon18_wrench_allbkg.png" height="18" width="18" /></a></span></span></div><div class="widget Profile" id="Profile1"><h2>About Gloria Dulan-Wilson</h2><div class="widget-content"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697937958373924179"><img alt="My Photo" class="profile-img" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9HiRqRhD2pk/S5rhtBSaC9I/AAAAAAAAAC8/AUlXfdUVyGo/S220/Gloria+Dulan-Wilson" height="60" width="80" /></a><dl class="profile-datablock"><dt class="profile-data"><a class="profile-name-link" href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697937958373924179"></a></dt></dl><a class="profile-link" href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697937958373924179">View my complete profile</a> <span class="widget-item-control"><span class="item-control blog-admin"><a class="quickedit" href="http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=8661755859413500477&widgetType=Profile&widgetId=Profile1&action=editWidget&sectionId=sidebar" title="Edit"><img alt="" src="http://img1.blogblog.com/img/icon18_wrench_allbkg.png" height="18" width="18" /></a></span></span></div></div><div class="widget LinkList" id="LinkList1"></div><div class="widget Followers" id="Followers1"><h2 class="title"><span style="color:#800000;">Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog</span></h2><h2 class="title"><span style="color:#800000;">Eclectically Black News: VIP - Views/Interests/Perspectives</span></h2></div></div></div><div class="main section" id="main"><div class="widget Blog" id="Blog1"><div class="blog-posts hfeed"><div class="date-outer"><h2 class="date-header"><span>Tuesday, March 6, 2012</span></h2><div class="date-posts"><div class="post-outer"><div class="post hentry uncustomized-post-template"><a></a><h3 class="post-title entry-title">Louis Reyes Rivera: A Death In The Family</h3><div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-9205218336318339313">By Gloria Dulan-Wilson<br /><br />You will pardon the rather somber tone of this post, but I've -we - the Black and Puerto Rican Community - have had a death in the family, and I'm having a very difficult time processing it. You may have heard about it – I'm sure my screams could be heard as far north as the Canadian Border, and clear up to Heaven - when the news of our dear brother <span style="font-weight:bold;">Louis Reyes Rivera</span> flashed across my computer screen.<br /><br />Funny thing about modern technology – it has no way of breaking things to you gently; no way of having you sit down and take a deep breath so that you have some means of absorbing the shock. No, our computerized communication can be rather blunt, abrupt, in your face with bad news. And this, to me, was indeed, bad news.<br /><br />Now, I know my metaphysical, philosophical friends are going to say that Louis isn't dead – his spirit is still with us. True that – but small comfort, when I'm walking through Brooklyn, or at a Jazz Concert, or at the Harlem Book Fair, or one of the many thousands of places we were likely to run across each other, and he's not there to say hi! To give me an overview; to tell me of his latest activity, or his writer's workshop (which, unfortunately I never attended. All those years of broken promises to do so – too late now). <br /><br />I could go into Louis' bio, but Google, Black Fax, BlackList.net, and so many others have done more than ample jobs of doing so. In fact, I highly recommend you read all about his prodigious career, even if you think you already know everything about him. Because with Louis Reyes Rivera, you could never really know everything. That brother was always growing, evolving, creating, initiating. It was impossible to say you knew the definitive Louis Reyes Rivera – but the Rivera you knew was definitely always joined, heart and soul with his culture, his people, and his quest bring the truth through, dispel the lies, and teach others to do likewise vis a vis their writing, speaking and action.<br /><br />Being a history buff, myself, I always admired the way he could cut through the propaganda and distortions, using his creativity and is poetic sensibilities in a way that the message was embedded indelibly on your mind. He truly deserved every accolade he received, and a great many more that may have passed him over under some mistaken motive to be politically correct.<br /><br />It has been said that Louis Reyes Rivera was a giant in Black literature second only unto Amiri Baraka. I say those two giants, contemporaries who have dedicated their lives and their work to Black people are leaders in their own right, and can easily share equal billing. Their contributions complement each other.<br /><br />I loved and admired the rare times Louis, his wife Barbara and I spent together, whether listening to some jazz great, such as Pharoah Sanders when he made his triumphant return to Brooklyn; or at the Black Writers Workshop at Medgar Evers, or at the Schomburg Library in Harlem, or just out and about. We always managed to laugh, joke, poke fun at the establishment, and maintain our ongoing mutual admiration society. For the most part, though, we kept it light hearted and up beat, not allowing the meanstream to permeate our friendship. <br /><br />Poet that he was/is even his name had rhythm and rolled off the tongue with ease: <span style="font-weight:bold;">Lou-is rey-yes ree-ver-ah</span> – it was such a fun name to say, particularly when you said it with soul and sassiness. I used to tease him and tell him that he should put it to music.<br /><br />His famous dad-in-law, the great John Oliver Killens, had been writer in residence at Lincoln University when I was a student, still green and wet behind the years. I always felt like I was in a privileged space at LU because these wonderful ensamples of Black greatness would come and spend time with us. <br /><br />It was actually Mr. Killens who introduced me and, possibly, the rest of the world to Louis Reyes Rivera. It was almost like he was anointed from the beginning. When you got Killens' blessing, you must be something special indeed – and truly Louis was more than special. It could also have been the fact that at the time Louis was also aspiring to marry his daughter, Barbara; but beyond that, those two men, icons of Black literature, had formed a bond that lasted well beyond Killens' passing. <br /><br />It is also a testament to the depth of Louis' and Barbara's capacity to love that their marriage succeeded where others have failed miserably, only to be ended by his untimely transition to the realm of the ancestors. <br /><br />My condolences to Barbara and the family, and to the extended family at Sistah Place, the Jazzoets, the conscious (and unconscious) Black community – we've lost a major voice in the community. But thank goodness for the prodigious body of work that is his legacy. We can tap in to that genius at any time and clarify our consciousnesses. We have to say "thank you" to Louis Reyes Rivera for caring enough to make it happen over and over again. <br /><br />I'm not saying good bye, though. It's like they say: “the song has ended, but the melody lingers on...” <br /><br />Louis Reyes Rivera's legacy to us will last a lifetime.<br /><br />Stay Blessed &<br />ECLECTICALLY BLACK<br />Gloria Dulan-Wilson</div><div class="post-body entry-content"></div><div class="post-body entry-content">Footnote: There will be a community celebration of Louis Reyes Rivera's live at the Brooklyn Museum, March 8, 2012 from 6:30 pm.</div><div class="post-footer"><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-1"><span class="post-author vcard">Posted by <span class="fn"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10697937958373924179" title="author profile">Gloria Dulan-Wilson</a></span></span> <span class="post-timestamp">at <a class="timestamp-link" href="http://gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com/2012/03/louis-reyes-rivera-death-in-family.html" title="permanent link"><abbr class="published" title="2012-03-06T14:10:00-05:00">2:10 PM</abbr></a></span> <span class="post-icons"><span class="item-action"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/email-post.g?blogID=8661755859413500477&postID=9205218336318339313" title="Email Post"><img alt="" class="icon-action" src="http://img1.blogblog.com/img/icon18_email.gif" height="13" width="18" /></a></span> <span class="item-control blog-admin pid-870342552"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=8661755859413500477&postID=9205218336318339313&from=pencil" title="Edit Post"><img alt="" class="icon-action" src="http://img2.blogblog.com/img/icon18_edit_allbkg.gif" height="18" width="18" /></a></span></span><div class="post-share-buttons goog-inline-block"></div></div><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-2"><span class="post-labels"> <a href="http://gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com/search/label/Amiri%20Baraka"></a></span></div><div class="post-footer-line post-footer-line-3"></div></div></div><div class="comments" id="comments"><a></a><h4>0 comments:</h4><div id="Blog1_comments-block-wrapper"></div><p class="comment-footer"></p><div class="comment-form"><a name="comment-form" id="comment-form"></a><h4 id="comment-post-message">Post a Comment</h4><p>Thank YOU For Visiting Gloria Dulan-Wilson Eclectic Black People VIP Blog. We Would Like Your Views, Interests And Perspectives. Please Leave A Comment Below.</p></div><div id="backlinks-container"><div id="Blog1_backlinks-container"><a name="links" id="links"></a><h4>Links to this post</h4><p class="comment-footer"><a class="comment-link" href="http://www.blogger.com/blog-this.g" id="Blog1_backlinks-create-link" target="_blank" name="Blog1_backlinks-create-link">Create a Link</a></p></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div class="blog-pager" id="blog-pager"><span id="blog-pager-older-link"><a class="blog-pager-older-link" href="http://gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com/2012/02/boycott-cnn-until-they-return-roland.html" id="Blog1_blog-pager-older-link" title="Older Post" name="Blog1_blog-pager-older-link">Older Post</a></span> <a class="home-link" href="http://gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com/">Home</a></div><div class="post-feeds"><div class="feed-links">Subscribe to: <a class="feed-link" href="http://gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com/feeds/9205218336318339313/comments/default" target="_blank">Post Comments (Atom)</a></div></div></div></div><div id="footer-wrapper"><div class="footer section" id="footer"><div class="widget HTML" id="HTML1"><h2 class="title">Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog</h2><div class="widget-content"><strong>Gloria Dulan-Wilson New York Author, Writer & Speaker</strong> <br /> <br /> <strong>Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog © 2009</strong> <br /> <br /> <strong>Copyright 2009 Gloria Dulan-Wilson Media, LLC</strong> <br /> <br /> <strong>Blog Creation By <a href="http://build-my-custom-blog.blogspot.com/">The Blogger BlogMaster</a></strong> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <a id="idSiteMeterHREF" href="http://www.sitemeter.com/stats.asp?site=s27gloriadulanwilson" name="idSiteMeterHREF"><img src="http://s27.sitemeter.com/meter.asp?site=s27gloriadulanwilson&refer=http%3A//www.blogger.com/publish-confirmation.g%3FblogID%3D8661755859413500477%26postID%3D9205218336318339313%26timestamp%3D1331061980919%26javascriptEnabled%3Dtrue&ip=173.114.51.185&w=1143&h=670&clr=24&tzo=300&lang=en-US&pg=http%3A//gloria-dulan-wilson.blogspot.com/2012/03/louis-reyes-rivera-death-in-family.html&js=1&rnd=0.9789692870178714" alt="Site Meter" border="0" /></a></div><span class="widget-item-control"><span class="item-control blog-admin"><a class="quickedit" href="http://www.blogger.com/rearrange?blogID=8661755859413500477&widgetType=HTML&widgetId=HTML1&action=editWidget&sectionId=footer" title="Edit"><img alt="" src="http://img1.blogblog.com/img/icon18_wrench_allbkg.png" height="18" width="18" /></a></span></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
What is the Constitutional citizenship status in America of persons of African-American descent?
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/what-is-the-constitutional
2010-05-12T04:21:42.000Z
2010-05-12T04:21:42.000Z
TheBlackList
https://www.theblacklist.net/members/TheBlackList
<div><div><p style="text-align:center;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;">Constitutional Citizenship in</span> America<br />By C. Herbert
Oliver<br /></span><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:8pt;">[<a href="http://banthenword.org/news/publish/CHerbertOliver/Constitutional_Citizenship_in_America.shtml"><span><font color="#0000FF">U.S.
Constitution</font></span></a>]</span><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;"><br /></span><b><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:8pt;">April 30,
2010</span></b></font></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">What is the Constitutional citizenship status in America of persons of African-American descent?</span></em></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">Are we citizens? No, because the only part of the Constitution upon which our citizenship is supposed <br />
to be based – the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment – is itself unconstitutional. <br />
According to the Constitution of 1787, amendments must be proposed by two thirds of the states in Convention and ratified by three fourths of the states in Convention. Following this method of procedure, and after ratification, a <br />
proposed amendment becomes part of the Constitution. No such procedure was followed with reference to the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment. Twelve of the former Confederate states refused to ratify the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment, and three <br />
Northern states withdrew their ratification. This made the ratification of the 14<sup>th</sup> amendment impossible. But the Northern states ousted the former Confederate states by military power and installed new legislatures in those <br />
states, and those new “legislatures” ratified the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment. <br />
Since such a procedure is not provided for in the Constitution, it was all in violation of the Constitution. The Tenth Amendment states that: “ The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” <br />
The Constitution did not delegate to the United States <br />
the power to write and enforce amendments, nor to define citizenship. And since the United States, under the reconstruction Congress, usurped a power not delegated to it by the Constitution, and defined citizenship in the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment, such usurpation and definition are not <br />
Constitutional.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">It follows, then, that persons of African-American descent ARE NOT CONSTITUTIONAL CITIZENS OF THE <br />
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">1. Are we illegal citizens? No, because there is no such thing as an illegal citizen.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">2. Are we naturalized citizens? No, because naturalized citizens come willingly to these shores. We were brought here in chains.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">3. Are we immigrants? No, because immigrants come voluntarily.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">4. Are we illegal immigrants? No, because even illegal immigrants come voluntarily.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">5. Are we aliens? No, because aliens also come voluntarily.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">6. Are we illegal aliens? No, because illegal aliens come voluntarily.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">7. Are we domiciled aliens, or domiciled residents? No, because they are here voluntarily.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">8. Are we legal residents? No, because our residency in America has never been made legal. <br /></span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">9. Are we illegal residents? No, because we did not break any law by coming here.</span></p>
<p style="text-indent:-.3in;margin:0in 1.7in 12pt 2in;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">10. Are we just plain residents? Yes, in the sense that we reside on land originally belonging to the original inhabitants. <br />
We are without Constitutional citizenship in the nation created under the <br />
Constitution of 1787, the United States of America . <br /></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">What is the Constitutional citizenship of all other persons in America ?</span></em></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">Are they citizens in the Constitutional sense? In order to answer this question we must go back to the Constitution of 1787. That document does not define who citizens are, nor what a citizen is. The Declaration of Independence does say that “These United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, Free and Independent States,” but there is no definition of a citizen in either the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution of 1787. <br />
The word “citizen” is found eleven times in the Constitution of 1787, but there is no definition of a citizen. Please note that the Bill of Rights (the first ten Amendments to the Constitution) does not mention the word “citizen” at all. <br />
And in the remaining Amendments (11 through 27) the word citizen is used six times. The 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment was the first attempt of America to define a citizen, and it failed Constitutional procedures and Constitutional ratification. This leaves us with a most somber realization – that there is no Constitutional definition of who citizens are, not what a citizen is in this great country. <br /></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">IN FACT, CONSTITUTIONAL CITIZENSHIP DOES NOT EXIST FOR ANYONE IN AMERICA. <br /></span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">A closer look at the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment brings to light some observations overlooked by most historians. If the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment attempted to define citizenship as based on one’s being born in the United States, and if the 14<sup>th</sup><br />
Amendment is not constitutional, then there is no basis whatsoever for citizenship in America. It can only be said that American citizenship is not based on birth but on “assumption.” In reality, the 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment abolished the assumed “citizenship” of the founders of the country. That assumed citizenship was based on being born in the colonies, or in the states that were coming into existence, and not being conferred on them by a government not yet <br />
in existence. The 14<sup>th</sup> Amendment would make them citizens of the United States FIRST, and then citizens of the states in which they RESIDE, not in which they were born. That is a very strange twist indeed. It completely <br />
eradicated the assumed state citizenship of the founding fathers. Indeed the creature became the creator.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">By contrast, when one reads the French Constitution of 1791, one finds a most exhaustive definition of French citizenship outlined in detailed under 10 separate headings. Nothing was left to assumption, or even imagination.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><em><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">What is the Constitutional citizenship status of naturalized citizens of the United States?</span></em></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">Naturalization regulations require that those persons desiring to become citizens of the United States must be vouched for by two citizens of the United States . If there are no true Constitutional citizens of the United States, any such vouchers are not constitutionally valid.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">Could all of the above considerations mean that the “citizens” of the United States are not really citizens of a free country, but still subjects of the English monarchy? Was the break with the mother country complete, or in word only. The Treaty of Paris of 1783 brought a close to the Revolutionary War. But it was written by King George III. How does the “loser” in a war write the peace treaty <br />
to conclude that war?</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;">Nothing short of a Constitutional Convention can remedy the problems raised in the above <br />
observations.</span></p>
<p style="margin:0in 1.7in 12pt;background:#FFFFFF none repeat scroll 0% 0%;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:'Arial Narrow';font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;">Rev. C. Herbert Oliver</span><br style="font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;" />341 New York Avenue <br />Brooklyn, NY 11213<br style="font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;" /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-style:italic;">718.771.8314</span><br /><a href="beansx@aol.com">beansx@aol.com</a></span></p>
</div></div>