washington - Blogs - TheBlackList Pub
2024-03-19T09:05:53Z
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/washington
The Quick Scan by Mike Ramey
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/the-quick-scan-by-mike-ramey-10
2023-02-02T04:15:44.000Z
2023-02-02T04:15:44.000Z
Mike Ramey
https://www.theblacklist.net/members/MikeRamey
<div><p> </p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"><u>THE RIGHT KIND OF BLACK HISTORY</u></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> I usually attempt to put forth a Black History Month column annually for one simple reason: I am Black History. How can I make a statement such as this? Anyone of African descent who is over the age of 50 has reached the age of elder status, meaning that they have seen enough, done enough, and learned enough to be counted as a resource to the next two generations behind us. While some of our youth would think our achievements to be ‘historical’, those of my age group would just praise God and count our accomplishments as our ‘reasonable service’ to our God, and our people.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> I also write this column as there are people who ‘get upset’ when they approach yet ‘another’ Black History month…but somehow don’t get that upset when the Alphabet Mafia uses Black folk to ‘give cover’ to the problems in their OWN neighborhoods and families. Somehow, we of the darker hue never seem to see the folk who are against Black History turn thumbs down on the ‘rise’ of the ‘other’ history months through the years. We can’t have anything for ourselves?</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> I also write this column to challenge the annual elimination of Black men from consideration as ‘relevant’ to the survival of the Black home, the Black church, and the Black race. Where did we get this ‘gumption’ from? Black History. For, as one sage has put it across many time zones and color lines: “If you know your history; if you understand where you have come from…you have a marker as to where you are liable to be going.”</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> This is the<em> right</em> kind of Black History that is needed in our present day. Not the ‘woke’ variety of Black achievement: Not the made up ‘Kwanzaa’ historical footnotes that ‘showed up’ just a few decades ago. I’m talking about REAL Black History that made it possible for the young men of today to stand on the shoulders of Black men from the past—Black brothers who sacrificed in the face of recession, depression, REAL racism, and ostracism. Young Black men—and women—who are out in the streets and suites trying to get out their number two pencils and erase our achievements (spurred on by the Alphabet Mafia who cheer their ignorance) and magnify our defeats don’t have a true clue as to who THEY are, or WHERE they come from. </span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> First, the BEST source of Black History is contained in the historical record of the King James Bible. The Egyptians were not the only ‘stop’ in the expansion of the Hebrew nation.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> Further, many of the REAL Black heroes of days past had a FIRM connection to Jesus Christ. That’s right…Booker T. Washington, Dr. George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass the 761<sup>st</sup> Tank Battalion, the Tuskegee Airmen, the Negro Baseball League and 1776 Unites all had a root in that same KJV Bible that Antifa, BLM, the World Economic Forum and the socialists would—and have--mocked and burned over the past few years. Again, the reason I lift up God is simple. IF God is on your side, and you are on His side—you will achieve the right things. IF you are not on God’s side—whatever you are plotting will ultimately fail. We still marvel at what Carver did with the peanut and saved the economy of the same South that enslaved him. Washington built Tuskegee brick by brick and taught and wrote about how a person’s character must also be built the same way with God as his (or her) foundation.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> Lastly, for the Black Millennials, Generation Z and Generation A who are trying to go steady with socialism, communism, CRT and BLM. I would invite you to take those tech devices that you are so fond of and look around the world. Eight out of ten people on this planet are NOT of the Caucasian persuasion. Further, since life BEGAN in Africa, there is more of Africa in the world, than the world is in Africa.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> Young Black folk—use some of that passion to get REAL reparations owed to our people. As last word, Randall Robinson estimated in his book <em>The Debt</em> that the total price tag due us from Uncle Sam was in the neighborhood of between $3 to 15 Trillion dollars. <u>Everyone else</u> who was wronged by the federal government over the centuries were paid off…except us! What got Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. assassinated in 1968? If you knew your history Black Lives Matter, you would know that he was murdered because he was going to have a SECOND march on Washington on the Reparations issue. King was going to have the march later in 1968. He was murdered in April 1968.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> Knowing your history, young Black people makes you dangerous. It will make you a threat to the power brokers. It WILL mark you for cancellation—or, in some cases—assassination. Those involved in the power structure first tried to make us inferior. Now, they have flipped the script and to neutralize young Black folk, they are ‘held’ to be ‘special’. People are not scared of an ignorant Black protester or social justice warrior. People FEAR Black folk who know their history—and how to apply it!</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> Does this sound like we are inferior stock? Why is BLM helping the oppressor? Money, baby, money—and lots of it! Same thing was done by Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood. The same thing is done every day on CNN, <em>The View</em>, and MTV. Only now we have Black sports, entertainment and education clowns who are more than willing to trick young Black folk (and a few older Black folk) into throwing their history under the bus for ‘gender equity studies’. In the words of Aretha Franklin: “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?”</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> Black people built societies without government grants or social handouts. Sure, some idiots burned them to the ground—but then we rebuilt. Further, just over a hundred thirty years ago, it was forbidden—under the pain of death—for Black people to be taught how to read and write English. Nevertheless, many Blacks did learn how to accomplish those tasks. They used KJV Bibles as their schoolbook. That’s why our fore parents were wise enough to invent things beneficial to the world without ‘Affirmative Action handouts’.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> So, my young brother, the issue is not Black History is so slow to study. The true issue is—with all the technology and toys you have at your disposal, how come you can’t keep up with your OWN history? As a good friend of mine said: “We don’t need ‘hand me down heroes.’” All we need to do is study the REAL history of our people in REAL history books. Plenty of REAL heroes exist. Then apply what you have learned. The results will amaze you—and many others! Who knows? You may even be considered ‘Armed and Dangerous’ to the ignorant.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size:12pt;"> <em>Mike Ramey is a Retired Minister, KJV Bible Teacher, syndicated columnist and Bible Prophecy Specialist who lives in Indianapolis, Indiana. “The Quick Scan” is one of a variety of his columns appearing and abounding in print and cyberspace, written from a biblical, business, and common-sense perspective since 1996. To drop him a line—or a whine—the address is still the same: </em><a href="mailto:mgmikeramey@yahoo.com"><em>mgmikeramey@yahoo.com</em></a><em>. ©2023 Barnstorm Communications International.</em></span></p><p><span style="font-size:12pt;"> </span></p></div>
Why the Historic Women's March Was Controversial for Some Black Women - Atlanta Black Star
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/why-the-historic-women-s-march-was-controversial-for-some-black
2017-01-27T00:30:00.000Z
2017-01-27T00:30:00.000Z
Nana Baakan Agyiriwah
https://www.theblacklist.net/members/NanaBaakanAgyiriwah
<div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align:left;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5b-q1MixoM/WHOqPbj_SII/AAAAAAACjBA/KyUGrQCyv_UM2fM0uk0fkL3xAuxpAja0QCPcB/s1600/2016-04-04b%2BNana%2BBaakan-6.PNG" style="clear:left;float:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b5b-q1MixoM/WHOqPbj_SII/AAAAAAACjBA/KyUGrQCyv_UM2fM0uk0fkL3xAuxpAja0QCPcB/s320/2016-04-04b%2BNana%2BBaakan-6.PNG" width="130" alt="2016-04-04b%2BNana%2BBaakan-6.PNG" /></a></div><h3 style="text-align:left;">NB Commentary: <span style="font-weight:normal;">Sharing this article from Atlanta Black Star. A must read speaks to the disparity between the needs that vary between White and Black Feminism movements. <a href="http://nanas-rants.blogspot.com/2017/01/why-historic-womens-march-was.html" target="_blank">SOURCE</a></span></h3><h2 style="text-align:left;"></h2><h2 style="text-align:left;">Why the Historic Women's March Was Controversial for Some Black Women - Atlanta Black Star</h2><span style="color:#444444;font-family:'open sans';font-size:8.25pt;">By </span><span style="font-family:'open sans';font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://atlantablackstar.com/author/tanasia/" style="font-family:'open sans';">Tanasia Kenney</a> </span><span style="color:#444444;font-family:'open sans';"> - </span><span style="color:#444444;font-family:'open sans';">January </span><span style="color:#444444;font-family:'open sans';">24, 2017</span><br /><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="color:#222222;font-family:cambria;margin:0in;"><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2AfLrMRv9JE/WIqVATRKIbI/AAAAAAACjfQ/yWvg8WmkfEYBgNHBkR6JycDB2LXPAxWrgCLcB/s1600/WOC-e1485198077408-300x220.jpg" style="clear:left;float:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img border="0" height="293" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-2AfLrMRv9JE/WIqVATRKIbI/AAAAAAACjfQ/yWvg8WmkfEYBgNHBkR6JycDB2LXPAxWrgCLcB/s400/WOC-e1485198077408-300x220.jpg" width="400" alt="WOC-e1485198077408-300x220.jpg" /></a></div>Just one day after the inauguration of President Donald Trump, an estimated 470,000 people (and millions more across the United States and the world) flooded the streets of Washington, D.C., for the first Women’s March on Washington.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Men, women and children — but mostly women — turned out for the historic march on Saturday, Jan. 21, to stand up for women’s rights but also to protest against newly inaugurated President Donald Trump, who made a series of overtly misogynistic remarks during his campaign.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Millions ultimately gathered to unify <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/584086c7be6594762f5ec56e/t/587e843f6b8f5b0c2fb20a45/1484686400188/WMW+Guiding+Vision+%26+Definition+of+Principles.pdf">under the umbrella</a> of feminism, civil rights, immigration and environmental activism, among other issues. However, many Black female organizers and intellectuals had their doubts about the march meeting the needs and concerns of Black women.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Old rifts between Black women organizers and the white feminist movement began to arise soon after the idea for the Women’s March on Washington was announced. <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/culture/jia-tolentino/the-somehow-controversial-womens-march-on-washington"><span style="font-style:italic;">The New Yorker</span> reported</a> that the idea for the march was credited to Teresa Shook, a retired white lawyer who resides in Hawaii. After Trump’s surprising presidential win, Shook launched a Facebook event page suggesting a protest. Word of her anti-Trump idea quickly spread, garnering more than 10,000 supporters overnight.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Shook initially called her event the Million Woman March, a moniker originally attributed to a massive protest for Black sisterhood and self-determination held in Philadelphia in 1997<span style="font-style:italic;">.</span> The retired attorney eventually changed the name of her rally, but some Black women still weren’t convinced and accused white women’s rights advocates of appropriating movements started by Black women.<br /> <br /><table cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float:left;margin-right:1em;text-align:left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-51gDRQ4w-j4/WIqUzcEBQcI/AAAAAAACjfM/1_IoXSVeSBARacOQDZvxF577J-KI85kFgCLcB/s1600/MWM%2BAP_1997-10-26%2B0309.jpg" style="clear:left;margin-bottom:1em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-51gDRQ4w-j4/WIqUzcEBQcI/AAAAAAACjfM/1_IoXSVeSBARacOQDZvxF577J-KI85kFgCLcB/s320/MWM%2BAP_1997-10-26%2B0309.jpg" width="224" alt="MWM%2BAP_1997-10-26%2B0309.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align:center;">MWM 10-25-1997 Philadelphia, PA</td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align:justify;"><span style="font-size:14pt;text-align:left;">“The many mistakes inherent at all levels of organizing the Women’s March event from very early on demonstrate the very problematic nature of ‘white feminism,’ ” Jalessah Jackson, a Gender and Cultural Studies major working on her master’s at Simmons College in Boston told </span><span style="font-size:14pt;font-style:italic;text-align:left;">Atlanta Black Star</span><span style="font-size:14pt;text-align:left;">. “That is, white feminists’ tendency [historically] to align themselves with white supremacy to achieve their own goals.”</span></div></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">“What we see happening is white women tokenizing and using women of color to advance their own agenda,” Jackson continued. “I don’t think that’s genuinely intersectional. I’m not interested in faux solidarity or intersectionality being merely an afterthought.”</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">The “intersectionality” Jackson spoke of is a term coined by African-American feminist and legal scholar Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989 and is the concept of inextricably linked facets of race, sex, gender identity and economic status.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">The galvanizing issue behind the march was the election of President Trump, who walked to victory with <a href="http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/20/14061660/women-march-washington-vote-trump">53 percent of the white female vote</a>. But could white women who couldn’t convince other white women to vote against Trump now center themselves in the “resistance” against his policies?</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Many African-American women questioned why they should respond to white women’s call for human rights when they felt their own calls had gone unanswered. Historically, African-American women’s rights advocates have taken issue with the feminist movement overall, highlighting its sometimes racist and exclusionary practices. Was this present-day equality march tumbling down the same rabbit hole? Was it catering to the anxiety of white women over Trump’s victory, while bypassing the real concerns Black women (and communities) have been organizing around for centuries without the resources or support from the people now jumping in front of the line?</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Lastly, if Hillary Clinton had won the election and broken the glass ceiling, would there still not be a need for a march to make sure Clinton was clued in that women, particularly Black women, would still be facing income and wealth gabs, police and incarceration issues, terrible public education policies, as well as reproductive rights issues?</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Columnist Jamilah Lemieux addressed these concerns in an <a href="https://www.colorlines.com/articles/why-im-skipping-womens-march-washington-opinion">op-ed piece for <span style="font-style:italic;">ColorLines</span> </a>on Tuesday, Jan. 17. In it, Lemieux explained that she wouldn’t be participating in the Women’s March because she didn’t see the point in “putting my body on the line to feign solidarity with women who, by and large, didn’t have my back prior to November.”</div><div style="font-family:cambria;margin:0in;"><div style="font-size:14pt;">“When I learned that some of those women had decided to channel their disappointment into a ‘Million Women March,’ my twisted moment of pleasure quickly gave way to a familiar sense of annoyance,” she wrote. “Once again, the labors of Black folks (in this case, the 1995 Million Man March and the 1997 Million Woman March organized by Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam) were being co-opted and erased by clueless White ones.</div><div style="font-size:14pt;"></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><i><b>Correction</b>: <span style="font-family:cambria;">The Million Women’s March grassroots approach to organizing involved Black women sharing information through groups such as Alpha Kappa Alpha, Black media and word of mouth. <b>Organized by Phile Chionesu and Asia Coney,</b> that march focused on the idea of Black women supporting each other. Speakers had included Jada Pinkett Smith, Sistah Souljah and the daughters of Malcolm X. Assata Shakur also read a message from Cuba. People marching held signs that read “I am one in a million,” and “Black Women: No more AIDS, abuse, addiction,” according to CNN. </span><a href="http://www.phillytrib.com/news/local-women-to-rally-for-women-s-march-in-d/article_850a3906-51da-53cc-84de-93fed0a4587e.html" style="font-family:Cambria;">http://www.phillytrib.com/news/local-women-to-rally-for-women-s-march-in-d/article_850a3906-51da-53cc-84de-93fed0a4587e.html</a></i></blockquote><div style="font-size:14pt;"></div></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">“Will the Women’s March on Washington be a space filled primarily with participants who believe that Black lives matter?” Lemieux added. “I’m not sure.”</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Black women’s rights advocates like Lemieux and others who spoke out against the march’s lack of intersectionality and called for more inclusivity were quickly deemed “divisive” and destructive to the vision of feminist solidarity. White feminists condemned African-American, LGBTQ, and Muslim activists who dared to speak up when their interests were forgotten or ignored, creating what critics called “conflict.”</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">“The attempted hijacking of the march’s agenda and all the nasty tit-for-tat between white vs. black/queer/Muslim/trans and other identities tells a very disturbing story about the divided state of feminism today,” contributor Emma-Kate Symons wrote in an opinion piece for <span style="font-style:italic;">Women in the World.</span> “It saddens me to see the inclusive liberal feminism I grew up with reduced to a grab bag of competing victimhood narratives and individualist identities jostling for most oppressed status.”</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Jackson countered Symons’ argument, however, by pointing out how white feminists who supposedly care about the rights of ALL women failed to rally behind Black female victims of police brutality. She added that white women’s rights advocates have a tendency to pick and choose whose female rights they care about.</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">“Most of the women who marched pat themselves on the back and go back to ignoring women who reside at the intersections of multiple identities,” Jackson told <span style="font-style:italic;">ABS</span>. “Identifying these issues is not being divisive. I believe that in order to affect social change, we must identify what hasn't been working in order to fix it.”</div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">Some of these issues were resolved or at least finagled by including experienced nonwhite women organizers and activists in the writing of the guiding vision of the march, including them in the list of speakers and having them help lead the organizing process after the rocky start.</div><div style="font-size:14pt;"></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;">The Women’s March was a historic success in bringing out the masses, with far more people turning out for the protest than for Trump’s inauguration, according to <span style="font-style:italic;">The New York Times</span>. But as the feminist movement struggles to become more diverse and open, many concerns need to be addressed, such as leadership, resources and the next steps in creating a viable “resistance” to Trump’s agenda. Moreover, there’s a need to tackle the liberalism of the historic feminist movement, which has too often fought for a place for white women at the expense of Black ones.<br /> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear:both;text-align:center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ktn92RM_wVk/VwqSetoDunI/AAAAAAACZCc/C_ag_xSVGCgMAWOIOKbY1njCBDmt4h4LgCPcB/s1600/divider-2.png" style="margin-left:1em;margin-right:1em;"><img border="0" height="14" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ktn92RM_wVk/VwqSetoDunI/AAAAAAACZCc/C_ag_xSVGCgMAWOIOKbY1njCBDmt4h4LgCPcB/s320/divider-2.png" width="320" alt="divider-2.png" /></a></div></div><div style="font-family:cambria;font-size:14pt;margin:0in;"></div></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:tahoma;margin:0in;"><a href="http://atlantablackstar.com/2017/01/24/historic-womens-march-controversial-black-women/?utm_content=bufferdfee8&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer">http://atlantablackstar.com/2017/01/24/historic-womens-march-controversial-black-women/</a></div><br /><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-weight:bold;margin:0in;">The original women’s march took place in Philly 20 years ago</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;font-style:italic;margin:0in;">Hundreds of thousands took to the Parkway</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;">BY <a href="http://philly.curbed.com/authors/melissa-romero">MELISSA ROMERO</a> JAN 19, 2017, 10:30AM EST</div><br /><div style="font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"><a href="http://philly.curbed.com/2017/1/19/14312658/original-philadelphia-million-woman-march-1997">http://philly.curbed.com/2017/1/19/14312658/original-philadelphia-million-woman-march-1997</a></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;">Two years after the Million Man March, two grassroots activists organized the Million Woman March in Philadelphia for black women to come together and address the ills in their communities. They walked for two miles past symbolic settings, including the Liberty Bell and City Hall, spilling onto the sidewalks of Benjamin Franklin Parkway and up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum.</div><div style="font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-womens-march-live-before-the-women-s-march-on-washington-1484942715-htmlstory.html">http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-pol-womens-march-live-before-the-women-s-march-on-washington-1484942715-htmlstory.html</a></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"></div><div style="font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;">Some also took issue with the name Shook had proposed, the Million Woman March, which was the name of a 1997 black women's march in Philadelphia. The racial concerns set off a heated conversation on the group's main Facebook page, with some African-American women especially taking umbrage.</div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"></div><div style="color:#666666;font-family:Cambria;margin:0in;"><a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/It-started-with-a-retiree-Now-the-Womens-March-could-be-the-biggest-inauguration-demonstration.html">http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/It-started-with-a-retiree-Now-the-Womens-March-could-be-the-biggest-inauguration-demonstration.html</a></div><div style="font-family:cambria;margin:0in;"></div></div></div>
50 Years After Martin Luther King's "I Have A Dream" Speech—Amerikkka Is Still A Goddamn Nightmare! 3 Points and a Challenge in Response to Obama's Speech!
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/50-years-after-martin-luther-king-s-i-have-a-dream-speech
2013-08-30T16:16:02.000Z
2013-08-30T16:16:02.000Z
Carl Dix
https://www.theblacklist.net/members/CarlDix
<div><p><span><strong>1)</strong></span> Barack Obama stepped to the mic and spoke of the importance of non-violence … for oppressed people. When any representative of the U.S. ruling class preaches non-violence, they mean non-violence for those who might get in the way of their empire. Obama was referring to people who had suffered under Jim Crow segregation and lynch-mob terror. This from the commander-in-chief of the global Amerikkkan empire, who has presided over more than 280 drone missile strikes, maintains a torture chamber prison at Guantánamo Bay and presides over a criminal injustice system that is carrying out a slow genocide aimed at Blacks and Latinos. There might as well have been blood dripping from his jaws as he spoke.</p><p><span><strong>2)</strong></span> Obama said: "If we're honest with ourselves, we'll admit that during the course of 50 years, there were times when some of us, claiming to push for change, lost our way. The anguish of assassinations set off self-defeating riots." That's Bull Shit! People didn't lose their way in the '60s: In fact, they were beginning to find their way, coming to see that the horrors they were up against were built into the very fabric of this set-up and couldn't be reformed away. But they were met with vicious repression—leaders assassinated, activists dragged into court on trumped-up charges, and railroaded off to prison and more. In the face of all that, the movement of that period wasn't able to develop the understanding needed to do what was needed: make revolution and end the horrors Amerikkka enforced on humanity then and continues to enforce today.</p><p><span><strong>3)</strong></span> Many, many people are asking big questions about the unjust nature of this system, and this has forced Obama to speak to some of the problems Black people face today. But he doesn't get into the depths of these problems or what to do about them, except to say rely on him to work on them. For example, he didn't say a fucking word about the more than two million people warehoused in prison. He did say that the unemployment rate for African-Americans has consistently been about twice that of whites and that the wealth gap between Blacks and whites has GROWN over the past decades. But he talked about this like it had nothing to do with the system he presides over.</p><p><span><strong>THE CHALLENGE</strong></span>—There is a way to uproot all these horrors. It'll take Revolution—Nothing Less! I speak to this in depth in a recent talk: "<a href="http://www.vimeo.com/73295340" target="_blank">We Don't Need a New Civil Rights Movement—We Need Revolution!</a>" Watch that talk at <a href="http://www.revcom.us/revolution/current-en.html">revcom.us</a>. And dig into <a href="http://www.revcom.us/movement-for-revolution/BAE/film.html"><em>BA Speaks: REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!</em></a></p></div>
The Real H U
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/the-real-h-u
2011-10-07T13:55:46.000Z
2011-10-07T13:55:46.000Z
Raynard Jackson
https://www.theblacklist.net/members/RaynardJackson
<div><p>October 6, 2011</p><p> </p><p>Raynard Jackson</p><p> </p><p>Howard University, in Washington, DC, is one of the elite Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) in the U.S. Howard students are quick to call their school the “real H U!” The reason is so they won’t be confused with another well know HBCU—Hampton University.</p><p> </p><p>But after years of frustrating experiences with Howard University, I have come to the conclusion that they are truly the “real H U.” But, in this case, the H U stands for “<b>Horrible University</b>.”</p><p> </p><p>Over the years, I have regularly presented Howard and its student’s opportunities to make money and to further the mission of their school—to educate Black students.</p><p> </p><p>Last week, I was called by a friend and asked to find 2 law students she could interview for internships in her government agency. I told her I would call Howard’s law school and have them call her. I talked with a woman in their career placement office and she said she would call my friend. A week later and my friend still has not heard from the school.</p><p> </p><p>So, 2 days ago, I decided to call George Washington University’s Law School (GW)—a predominantly white school in Washington, DC. I told them I needed two Black law students to consider for internships. Less than an hour later, my friend was contacted by GW and 2 lucky students are on the verge of getting an internship!</p><p> </p><p>If my negative experience with Howard was an isolated incident, then I could shrug it off to a thing called life—sometimes things happen. But, this is not the case.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Earlier this year, I called the president of Howard University and offered the school a chance to be the venue for a series of Republican presidential candidates town hall forums. I am still waiting for them to give me an answer. </p><p> </p><p>Several years ago, a friend of mine who owned all the Dominoes Pizzas in this area, offered to give the school a free franchise that the students could run. The only stipulation was that the school donates the space. According to our calculations, each student would have earned about $ 10,000 per year. I have yet to get a response from the school, almost 10 years later!</p><p> </p><p>So, yes Howard, you are the “real H U--” horrible university! So, Howard, you win. I will not attempt to provide any further opportunities to the school, nor its students.</p><p> </p><p>Howard University has a storied past, but not such a storied present. Howard has got to be the worst run HBCU in the country. I had this conversation with a current student at Howard yesterday at a restaurant and she agreed with me 100%.</p><p> </p><p>To Howard and its students, why can I never seem to get a simple response when I try to present opportunities to you? Even if you are not interested, a definitive response would have been appreciated. But that seems too much to ask. Yet, white institutions seem to respond immediately to any offer I present to them.</p><p> </p><p>God has blessed me in many ways, so my only obligation is to reach out my hand, not attempt to make someone take my hand. </p><p> </p><p>In the immortal words of Sir Winston Churchill, “To everyman (or organization) there comes a time when he is figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a great and might work; unique to him and fitted to his talents; what a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for the moment that could be his finest hour.” Unfortunately, Howard University has been found both unprepared and unqualified!</p><p> </p><p><i>Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC., a D.C.-public relations/government affairs firm. He is also a contributing editor for ExcellStyle Magazine (</i><a href="http://www.excellstyle.com/"><i>www.excellstyle.com</i></a><i>), Freedom’s Journal Magazine (</i><a href="http://www.freedomsjournal.net/"><i>www.freedomsjournal.net</i></a><i>), and U.S. Africa Magazine (</i><a href="http://www.usafricaonline.com/"><i>www.usafricaonline.com</i></a><i>).</i></p></div>
Response To Chicago Sun Times Columnist Laura Washington's May 9, 2011 Column
https://www.theblacklist.net/profiles/blogs/response-to-chicago-sun-times
2011-05-10T03:58:14.000Z
2011-05-10T03:58:14.000Z
Mark S. Allen
https://www.theblacklist.net/members/MarkSAllen
<div><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:14pt;"><div><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:12pt;"><div align="center"><strong><font size="4">Response To Chicago Sun Times Columnist Laura Washington's May 9, 2011 Column on</font></strong></div><div align="center"><strong><font size="4">Black leaders</font></strong> <strong><font size="4">have 'fair share' issues</font></strong></div><p align="center"><font size="4"><em><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304997729_0" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;">Rev Al Sharpton</span> called <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304997729_1">Mark Allen</span> "One of Chicago's legendary political activists</em></font></p><p align="center"><strong><font size="4">Mark S. Allen</font></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><font size="4">Veteran Political Activist</font></strong></p><p align="center"><strong><font size="4">Associate Editor, The South Street Journal Newspaper; National Spokesperson for National Black Wall Street USA (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.blackwallstreetdistrict.com/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_0"><font color="#0000FF">www.blackwallstreetdistrict.com</font></span></a> , and Editor of national news blog "And The Ordinary People Said" on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_1"><font color="#0000FF">www.chicagonow.com</font></span></a></font></strong></p><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:12pt;"> </div><div style="font-family:'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif;font-size:12pt;"><div style="text-align:left;background-color:transparent;color:#000000;overflow:hidden;text-decoration:none;"><div class="entry"><p><strong>The problem with Chicago Sun Times Columnist Laura Washington's May 9, 2011 column on "Black leaders have 'fair share' fears</strong> is that it is just as reactive and not proactive as is the Black leaders as well as Black media's lack of proactive versus reactive reporting. During the recent city elections over 60% of the Chicago population decided they had absolutely no reason to vote despite multi millions of dollars being spent letting people know there was an election, and three Black candidates on the ballot of was no interest to the majority of the 600,000 registered Black voters who had the absolute power to decide who would be Mayor. </p><p> </p><p>Touring this city on a regular basis and touching hundreds of grassroots organizers from various organizations and if you LISTEN to them they will tell you that they have no respect for leaders who pick and choose when they matter. Don't support them and they do not support the leaders when the leaders when leaders are in trouble. Right now Black leaders are in trouble when they raise this issue of fairness for Black appointmenmts by Mayor Emanuel that you do not see any major movement from Black organizations at all stepping up to back the leaders, and when Mayor Elect Emanuel sees no negative Black grassroots movement to back the leaders then he totally dismisses their disenchantment boldly with he publicly stated he doesnt even feel an obligation to Black appointments!</p><p> </p><p>As a media person, I have looked at all my back press releases since Emanuel won the election with a majority Black vote from the Blacks who did vote, and I cannot find ONE press release from any Black leaders public stating what they expected from Mayor Elect Emanuel in terms of Cabinet and on his Transition Team, I have not found ONE press release from Black leaders with regard to matters they thought the Blacks on the Transition Committe should place on Emanuel to later be publicly judged by. So did Emanuel violate Black leaders for not reading their minds about who or what they wanted in terms of Black appointments?</p><p> </p><p>Established Black leaders and Black media COULD have had a proactive agenda to measure Mayor Elect Emanuel by which would have generated much more if they just decided to offer some validity of lifting up agenda items from the grassroots communities, but those voices they traditionally ignore. For instance, did any Black leaders pick up the grasroots suggestions of long time educational advocates like James Deanes or <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_2" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304997729_2" style="border-bottom:#366388 2px dotted;">Phillip Jackson</span></span> to be considered for Schools Chief? Did any Black leaders pick up on grassroots suggestions for Cortez Trotter for Emergency Management Director, or today will any Black leader or major Black journalist or columnist pick up the grassroots suggestion for Al Wysinger or Eugene Williams to be selected 1st Deputy of Chicago Police OR will we revist the reactive mode again after new Chief picks someone else? Black leaders MUST have a Black <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_3"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304997729_3">public policy agenda</span></span> that is indeed "public" and "inclusive" which would give them much more public support fromthe grassroots level and shows grassroots people that their opinion matters.</p><p> </p><p>So for now, Black leaders and Black media are in an ongoing reactive mode that must be reversed to a proactive one and one that Mayor Elect Emanuel can clearl see has much more public support than a handful of Black Alderman with And for now, since those Blacks who were on the Emanual Transition team had nor real community based agenda their their own personal agenda may have been fulfilled by Emanuel appointing them to positions themselves or pledging financial support for their pet civic projects. Nothing wrong with them looking out for their own personal agenda since our established Black leaders didnt have one for them.</p><p> </p><p>After the class, generational and other leadership barriers during the recent Mayoral selection process, there was much discussion about opening up for new leadership voices to be lifted up to present to the community as those capable of providing leadership that our disconnected community could support for majore leadership openings in the future. Sounded good, but we are basically back to the same process of media lifting up voices mostly of established leaders and grassroots leaders still begging for credibility and visibility of their voices and leadership and recommendations on proactive public policies that most time fall opn the deaf ears of established leaders. I do know the pain and frustrations of hundreds of grassroots leaders whose views are basically ignored by media and leaders, for I take on the responsbility of blasting their issues and events to media and leaders for respsonse, and even I after almost 40 years of work in leadership on local, state, and national levels, I too have to work HARD to get my voice heard with respect to leadership and agenda. </p><p> </p><p>Yes Black media and Black leaders should be concerned about getting Blacks fair share of key Black administration appointements and other matters of public policy as it relates to the Black and Hispanic community, but of greater concern is the ongoing practice by media and leaders of not more aggressively engaging and lifting up the leadership voices on the ground which could make their position with the Mayor and issues much stronger than they have presented thus far. But we MUST get proactive and out of this reactive mode.</p><p> </p></div><div class="entry-footer pkg"><p><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_4"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304997729_4">Tagged</span></span> <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/tags/black+leadership"><font color="#336699"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_5">black leadership</span></font></a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/tags/Laura+Washignton"><font color="#336699"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_6">Laura Washignton</span></font></a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/tags/mayor+elect+rahm+emanuel"><font color="#336699"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_7">mayor elect rahm emanuel</span></font></a>, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/tags/suntimes"><font color="#336699"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_8">suntimes</span></font></a></p></div><br /><br />Read more: <a target="_blank" href="http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/and-the-ordinary-people-said/2011/05/response-to-sun-times-laura-washington-column-black-leaders-have-fair-share-fears.html#ixzz1LugXF72T" style="color:#003399;"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1304995559_9">http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/and-the-ordinary-people-said/2011/05/response-to-sun-times-laura-washington-column-black-leaders-have-fair-share-fears.html#ixzz1LugXF72T</span></a></div></div><p> </p><div align="center"><font color="#0000FF"><br /></font></div></div></div><div> </div></div></div>