Advertisement
Found this on another tribe
tribes.tribe.net/blackentr...0613a038c8
12:51 PM [03 Oct 2006 | Tuesday]
Because We Are Black
By Roger Madison
I remember growing up in Farmville, Virginia – a quiet little town in South Central Virginia. Quiet, that is, until one day a group of Black high school students became sick and tired of the poor treatment they were receiving – poor books, poor facilities, inadequate resources to learn. They led a protest march in 1951 (see Separate but Unequal), that ultimately became a part of the famed Brown v. Board of Education Supreme court case. Things were never the same after that. Black teachers lost jobs (my mother among them), leaders of the PTA had to leave town when they couldn’t find employment. Anyone suspected of supporting these students was black-balled and found life miserable or impossible in Farmville, Virginia.
I also remember Coles Grocery Store where we shopped for groceries and various sundry items, and Dean’s Luncheon where we could get a freshly cooked hamburger. I remember Master Cleaners where we took our laundry and dry cleaning, and Reid’s Café. These Black-owned businesses hover in my memory because they are long gone – victims of the civil rights movement. For a while, we continued to patronize these establishments. But, as our options expanded, these businesses declined and eventually closed.
As many of us were basking in our new-found freedom to shop anywhere, I remember one family, Mr. and Mrs. Reginald White, the owners of Master Cleaners, who did as much of their grocery shopping as possible at Coles Grocery Store. The prices were higher, the choices limited, and there weren’t any fancy promotional gimmicks to make shopping exciting. No grocery carts – the aisles were too narrow – just friendly service. If there was something you wanted that you didn’t see, Mr. Coles would try to get it. I remember sweeping the floors there as a part time job. Once, I heard someone ask, as the Whites were taking their bags of groceries to their car, “Why aren’t you shopping at the A&P? The prices are better and there is more selection.” I’ll never forget the answer. Mr. White simply replied, “Because I am Black.”
He didn’t have an eloquent economic reason. But he understood that if he didn’t make the commitment – because HE was Black – then Coles Grocery Store would soon be out of business. He could see this end coming, but he was not going to aid in the demise. He reasoned that if more of us would follow his lead, then Coles Grocery Store might even become A&P one day. He quietly shopped only at Coles Grocery Store until the very end. Now they both have passed away, and we don’t have these examples in our neighborhoods anymore.
There are many reasons why Black businesses fail at a higher rate than other ethnic businesses. One of the key reasons is that there aren’t enough of us left who are like Reginald White. I should look for Black-owned businesses BECAUSE I AM BLACK. I should demand excellence from Black business owners BECAUSE I AM BLACK. I should support Enterprise zones in Black communities BECAUSE I AM BLACK. If I live in a majority community where there aren’t any Black-owned businesses, I should use the Internet to find Black entrepreneurs BECAUSE I AM BLACK.
We need to understand that every time we look at the unemployment statistics and the numbers go up, we are closer to being included. We should recognize that when millions of immigrants join together to seek “preferred worker status” (not guest worker status, as President Bush calls it), we are being marginalized. I need to support Black businesses before there aren’t any – BECAUSE I AM BLACK.
I may not be unemployed, under-educated, an ex-felon, or stuck in a cycle of poverty, but I need to be concerned about the disproportionate numbers of Blacks who fit that description. I need to do something about this situation because no one else will. I need to take every opportunity to support Black-owned businesses; I need to aggressively seek Black applicants if I have the authority to hire; I need to mentor young Black teenagers, even if my kids are grown; I need to fight against efforts to marginalize Black people; I need to support The Covenant With Black America -- BECAUSE I AM BLACK.
If you are reading this online, then you should go to the iZaniaOnline Business Directory, or other Black search engine, and find all the Black-owned businesses in your community that you can support -- BECAUSE YOU ARE BLACK. There are many Black-owned businesses in our Virtual Black Community that could become the next Microsoft, IBM, or Fortune 500 Business. You should visit iZania Market, and support the businesses there BECAUSE YOU ARE BLACK. You should buy a copy of The Covenant With Black America, and join the fight to prevent continued marginalization of our people BECAUSE YOU ARE BLACK.
Anthony Samad wrote an article, Race dialog is Back . . . But Did Racism Go Away? We need to understand that colorblindness is a ploy to refuse to acknowledge race, but racism is as plain as it’s ever been. Don’t be blinded by the rhetoric. Some things happen to us BECAUSE WE ARE BLACK.
Roger Madison is CEO and founder of iZania LLC (www.iZania.com and www.iZaniaMarket.com), a Columbus, Ohio-based company, formed to connect Black entrepreneurs, professionals, and consumers online. iZania’s goal is to create the world’s most extensive “Virtual Black Community,” to accelerate the growth of e-commerce, and help the descendants of Africa to act in our self-interests.
Mood: None, or other
- 0 Comments
10:11 AM [02 Oct 2006 | Monday]
Apologizing for Being Black
We have to quit apologizing for being Black.
As I listen and read about the challenges we face as Black people, I am amazed that each step we take forward is accompanied by at least one apology for Black unity. We have to quit doing that. Perhaps we are affected by post traumatic stresses of slavery, or suffering identity crises, or feeling guilty about our “affirmative action position,” or feel we are the undeserving beneficiary of a set-aside program, or that we don’t belong and just got over because of a handout. Whatever the case, we need to examine our situation and formulate a way to move more of us forward without apology.
Among the factors militating against our unity are the countless apologies. We don’t want to seem to be too militant; we don’t want to be accused of reverse discrimination, or racism; we don’t want to seem ungrateful to our mainstream supporters; we don’t want to appear to be separatists; we don’t want to be accused of the same bias of our oppressors; we must treat others equal, even though we are treated unfairly. Often we make these apologies in subtle ways that we don’t even recognize, and therefore, our progress is limited. Instead of aggressively pursuing gains, we apologize for asking for too much, and make exceptions for the high achievers. So, when Blacks make progress in corporate America, they don’t aggressively seek to mentor and develop other Blacks. They view themselves as “first achievers” and as exceptions, not as pathfinders and conduits for others. That would be reverse discrimination, God forbid!
When we engage in these behaviors, we create among ourselves a view of “haves and have-nots.” This is sad, because collectively, we are all “have-nots.” Economic studies have shown that our relative wealth position has not changed since the end of slavery in the “land of opportunity.” By every measure – home ownership, education achievement, business success, community development, people living in poverty, employment – we have not made gains commensurate with our percentage of the population. Gains are being made by other ethnic groups – because of their unity and commitment to their ethnicity. Yet we still make apologies for the little progress we have made as others surpass us. We watch as the Eastern Indian businessmen make significant inroads in the hotel industry; we are helpless as the Arabs take over all the inner city gas stations and convenience stores in Detroit; we practically hand the Black hair care manufacturing and distribution industry to the Koreans; as our unemployment grows, Latinos are leapfrogging us into the building trades; immigrants of every stripe use the taxi industry and food services as launch pads for establishing an economic base (and a great way to learn to speak English in a hurry). Why aren’t African Americans helping one another make faster gains?
I have struggled with the riddle of underachievement among African Americans my entire life. I have watched closely as some of our African brothers and sisters (in Africa) have emerged from oppression to achieve accelerated progress, and seen that there are lessons we can learn that may help accelerate our progress. I believe that there are two critical factors that explain our position. At the risk of oversimplification, those two factors boil down to these: (1) The “haves” of this great nation of ours seek always to solidify their gains through unity; (2)African American “have-nots” have learned behaviors that amount to an apology for our progress. Then we distance ourselves from the few of us who make any progress at all. Whenever there are significant gains made, we negotiate away our strength to our detriment by “Apologizing for being Black.”
The Black rights movement for better schools and equal rights of the fifties and sixties became -- first the civil rights movement, then the minority rights movement, and got co-opted by the women’s rights movement, and now Black progress is mired in Diversity Programs. This pattern has resulted in a culture of apology. Now we have to apologize to every minority group -- women, gays and lesbians, the religious left, and the religious right – ad nauseam – before we can stand up and say, “What about Black rights?” Do we need affirmative actions programs? Yes. Should we apologize for them? No. We need to replace apology with pride and advocacy in our self-interests. We can begin by acting in our self-interests in our own communities.
I am not a social scientist, psychologist, political scientist, or Ph.D. in anything (there I go apologizing), but I have made some observations over my sixty years – all of them as a Black person – that I think are noteworthy. I read a lot. I have studied at the finest education institutions. I have worked at the top corporate enterprises. I have educated and uneducated friends and relatives. Many of us are guilty of unknowingly engaging in apologetic behavior. We must stop. Now.
I grew up in the sixties when James Brown ignited us with “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud!” But other voices among us said, “Don’t be too loud, or too proud.” And the noise subsided along with our progress. Where do these apologists come from? Why do we allow them to impede our progress?
I am tired of apologizing for being Black. Once again, let’s “Say it Loud. I’m Black and I’m Proud.” After the pep rally, if you are interested in working together in our self-interests, contact me at rmadison@izania.com.
Amandla!
tribes.tribe.net/blackentr...0613a038c8
12:51 PM [03 Oct 2006 | Tuesday]
Because We Are Black
By Roger Madison
I remember growing up in Farmville, Virginia – a quiet little town in South Central Virginia. Quiet, that is, until one day a group of Black high school students became sick and tired of the poor treatment they were receiving – poor books, poor facilities, inadequate resources to learn. They led a protest march in 1951 (see Separate but Unequal), that ultimately became a part of the famed Brown v. Board of Education Supreme court case. Things were never the same after that. Black teachers lost jobs (my mother among them), leaders of the PTA had to leave town when they couldn’t find employment. Anyone suspected of supporting these students was black-balled and found life miserable or impossible in Farmville, Virginia.
I also remember Coles Grocery Store where we shopped for groceries and various sundry items, and Dean’s Luncheon where we could get a freshly cooked hamburger. I remember Master Cleaners where we took our laundry and dry cleaning, and Reid’s Café. These Black-owned businesses hover in my memory because they are long gone – victims of the civil rights movement. For a while, we continued to patronize these establishments. But, as our options expanded, these businesses declined and eventually closed.
As many of us were basking in our new-found freedom to shop anywhere, I remember one family, Mr. and Mrs. Reginald White, the owners of Master Cleaners, who did as much of their grocery shopping as possible at Coles Grocery Store. The prices were higher, the choices limited, and there weren’t any fancy promotional gimmicks to make shopping exciting. No grocery carts – the aisles were too narrow – just friendly service. If there was something you wanted that you didn’t see, Mr. Coles would try to get it. I remember sweeping the floors there as a part time job. Once, I heard someone ask, as the Whites were taking their bags of groceries to their car, “Why aren’t you shopping at the A&P? The prices are better and there is more selection.” I’ll never forget the answer. Mr. White simply replied, “Because I am Black.”
He didn’t have an eloquent economic reason. But he understood that if he didn’t make the commitment – because HE was Black – then Coles Grocery Store would soon be out of business. He could see this end coming, but he was not going to aid in the demise. He reasoned that if more of us would follow his lead, then Coles Grocery Store might even become A&P one day. He quietly shopped only at Coles Grocery Store until the very end. Now they both have passed away, and we don’t have these examples in our neighborhoods anymore.
There are many reasons why Black businesses fail at a higher rate than other ethnic businesses. One of the key reasons is that there aren’t enough of us left who are like Reginald White. I should look for Black-owned businesses BECAUSE I AM BLACK. I should demand excellence from Black business owners BECAUSE I AM BLACK. I should support Enterprise zones in Black communities BECAUSE I AM BLACK. If I live in a majority community where there aren’t any Black-owned businesses, I should use the Internet to find Black entrepreneurs BECAUSE I AM BLACK.
We need to understand that every time we look at the unemployment statistics and the numbers go up, we are closer to being included. We should recognize that when millions of immigrants join together to seek “preferred worker status” (not guest worker status, as President Bush calls it), we are being marginalized. I need to support Black businesses before there aren’t any – BECAUSE I AM BLACK.
I may not be unemployed, under-educated, an ex-felon, or stuck in a cycle of poverty, but I need to be concerned about the disproportionate numbers of Blacks who fit that description. I need to do something about this situation because no one else will. I need to take every opportunity to support Black-owned businesses; I need to aggressively seek Black applicants if I have the authority to hire; I need to mentor young Black teenagers, even if my kids are grown; I need to fight against efforts to marginalize Black people; I need to support The Covenant With Black America -- BECAUSE I AM BLACK.
If you are reading this online, then you should go to the iZaniaOnline Business Directory, or other Black search engine, and find all the Black-owned businesses in your community that you can support -- BECAUSE YOU ARE BLACK. There are many Black-owned businesses in our Virtual Black Community that could become the next Microsoft, IBM, or Fortune 500 Business. You should visit iZania Market, and support the businesses there BECAUSE YOU ARE BLACK. You should buy a copy of The Covenant With Black America, and join the fight to prevent continued marginalization of our people BECAUSE YOU ARE BLACK.
Anthony Samad wrote an article, Race dialog is Back . . . But Did Racism Go Away? We need to understand that colorblindness is a ploy to refuse to acknowledge race, but racism is as plain as it’s ever been. Don’t be blinded by the rhetoric. Some things happen to us BECAUSE WE ARE BLACK.
Roger Madison is CEO and founder of iZania LLC (www.iZania.com and www.iZaniaMarket.com), a Columbus, Ohio-based company, formed to connect Black entrepreneurs, professionals, and consumers online. iZania’s goal is to create the world’s most extensive “Virtual Black Community,” to accelerate the growth of e-commerce, and help the descendants of Africa to act in our self-interests.
Mood: None, or other
- 0 Comments
10:11 AM [02 Oct 2006 | Monday]
Apologizing for Being Black
We have to quit apologizing for being Black.
As I listen and read about the challenges we face as Black people, I am amazed that each step we take forward is accompanied by at least one apology for Black unity. We have to quit doing that. Perhaps we are affected by post traumatic stresses of slavery, or suffering identity crises, or feeling guilty about our “affirmative action position,” or feel we are the undeserving beneficiary of a set-aside program, or that we don’t belong and just got over because of a handout. Whatever the case, we need to examine our situation and formulate a way to move more of us forward without apology.
Among the factors militating against our unity are the countless apologies. We don’t want to seem to be too militant; we don’t want to be accused of reverse discrimination, or racism; we don’t want to seem ungrateful to our mainstream supporters; we don’t want to appear to be separatists; we don’t want to be accused of the same bias of our oppressors; we must treat others equal, even though we are treated unfairly. Often we make these apologies in subtle ways that we don’t even recognize, and therefore, our progress is limited. Instead of aggressively pursuing gains, we apologize for asking for too much, and make exceptions for the high achievers. So, when Blacks make progress in corporate America, they don’t aggressively seek to mentor and develop other Blacks. They view themselves as “first achievers” and as exceptions, not as pathfinders and conduits for others. That would be reverse discrimination, God forbid!
When we engage in these behaviors, we create among ourselves a view of “haves and have-nots.” This is sad, because collectively, we are all “have-nots.” Economic studies have shown that our relative wealth position has not changed since the end of slavery in the “land of opportunity.” By every measure – home ownership, education achievement, business success, community development, people living in poverty, employment – we have not made gains commensurate with our percentage of the population. Gains are being made by other ethnic groups – because of their unity and commitment to their ethnicity. Yet we still make apologies for the little progress we have made as others surpass us. We watch as the Eastern Indian businessmen make significant inroads in the hotel industry; we are helpless as the Arabs take over all the inner city gas stations and convenience stores in Detroit; we practically hand the Black hair care manufacturing and distribution industry to the Koreans; as our unemployment grows, Latinos are leapfrogging us into the building trades; immigrants of every stripe use the taxi industry and food services as launch pads for establishing an economic base (and a great way to learn to speak English in a hurry). Why aren’t African Americans helping one another make faster gains?
I have struggled with the riddle of underachievement among African Americans my entire life. I have watched closely as some of our African brothers and sisters (in Africa) have emerged from oppression to achieve accelerated progress, and seen that there are lessons we can learn that may help accelerate our progress. I believe that there are two critical factors that explain our position. At the risk of oversimplification, those two factors boil down to these: (1) The “haves” of this great nation of ours seek always to solidify their gains through unity; (2)African American “have-nots” have learned behaviors that amount to an apology for our progress. Then we distance ourselves from the few of us who make any progress at all. Whenever there are significant gains made, we negotiate away our strength to our detriment by “Apologizing for being Black.”
The Black rights movement for better schools and equal rights of the fifties and sixties became -- first the civil rights movement, then the minority rights movement, and got co-opted by the women’s rights movement, and now Black progress is mired in Diversity Programs. This pattern has resulted in a culture of apology. Now we have to apologize to every minority group -- women, gays and lesbians, the religious left, and the religious right – ad nauseam – before we can stand up and say, “What about Black rights?” Do we need affirmative actions programs? Yes. Should we apologize for them? No. We need to replace apology with pride and advocacy in our self-interests. We can begin by acting in our self-interests in our own communities.
I am not a social scientist, psychologist, political scientist, or Ph.D. in anything (there I go apologizing), but I have made some observations over my sixty years – all of them as a Black person – that I think are noteworthy. I read a lot. I have studied at the finest education institutions. I have worked at the top corporate enterprises. I have educated and uneducated friends and relatives. Many of us are guilty of unknowingly engaging in apologetic behavior. We must stop. Now.
I grew up in the sixties when James Brown ignited us with “Say it loud, I’m Black and I’m proud!” But other voices among us said, “Don’t be too loud, or too proud.” And the noise subsided along with our progress. Where do these apologists come from? Why do we allow them to impede our progress?
I am tired of apologizing for being Black. Once again, let’s “Say it Loud. I’m Black and I’m Proud.” After the pep rally, if you are interested in working together in our self-interests, contact me at rmadison@izania.com.
Amandla!
posted by:
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
-
I didn't read this WHOLE long - winded thing, but i AM SO sorry for being black sometimes ... U people should b doing SO much better than ME........
(i apologize ahead of time) -
-
Stefan, I say this with love; GET OVER YOURSELF!! If you feel sorry for being black, then our entire race should walk out into the sea and drown ourselves. I read your bio. You are or at least should be one of our role models if not leaders. I don't know who sold you the bill of goods that you have come to accept as your personal reality, but it aint true. You are an intelligent skillful man of your times. You may be engaged in behaviors and affiliations that lend themselves to your feelings or alienation and inferiority. But if that is the case you can release yourself from them and let yourself be free.
If you would like to speak privately and or explore modalities for growth and resolution, please send me a private message. I lived in Brooklyn for over 40 years and now I live just over the border in Ridgewood, Queens. I say that so you will know that I understand the context and the milleu that you experience.
Now reach down low and give yourself an uppercut pimp slap, and snap out of this ennui or whatever.
-
-
Truer words have yet to be presented in this forum. I have observed the same phenomena for most of my life. I have seen the spiral of ever increasing destruction of our interconnectedness and mechanisms of mutual support. In various places in this tribe and others I have offered my observations about the flight of our elites followed by our working class and finally our merchant class from our neighborhoods. And I have been scolded by some of our younger brothers for my brief against these "privileged" members of our race. It seems that the mechanism of denial and apology for being Black are rampant.
One of the mitigations I have proposed, and been told somehow wouldn't work is a regionally operated system of merchant training and small business inauguration. I suggest that we first establish an Academy for small business operators. Graduates of these small business operator programs would then be financed by a collective to open all manners of businesses in our communities. Not just the corner convenience food store, Beauty Parlors and Barber Shops; but shoe repair stores, laundries, dry cleaners, jewelers, pet care retailers, etc. All the diverse types of business that not only provide local employment opportunities for our people but the amenities that increase the value of the proximate real estate. In New York as well as most other cities, it is not the inhabitant's ethnicity that defines a ghetto, but the lack of infrastructure and facilities.
I have watched the pattern of "regentrification" occur in various neighborhoods here in NYC, and it is clearly a matter of cycles. First cycle; the Urban Pioneers (as they used to be called) move into a near abandoned area, where the price of acquisition is the lowest. These Pioneers make do without any conveniences or even basics. They survive and in time attract other Pioneers. Next come the Artists, who are friends or relatives of the Pioneers. They squat and renovate and find alternatives to traditional buying and financing models. They survive and flourish and that leads to the convenience store operators. In short order the wealthier relatives of the original Pioneers or even the Pioneers themselves start to open restaurants, second hand stores, and even Art Galleries. They start to get noticed in the Press. The reputation of the area changes from a ghetto to an up and coming neighborhood. Real Estate speculators start to buy up and renovate an increasing volume of properties, increasing the rent and changing the demographics of the area. More and more new shops and restaurants open up selling higher quality goods and services. Then a quantum level of change is recognized and the area becomes a "trendy" neighborhood, and the sky is the limit after that.
I have seen this process occur in Park Slope, Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Boerum Hill, South Brooklyn, Red Hook, Louisada, and Harlem. In each of these cases we are the Indians and various other ethnic groups come in and play the settlers. The indians always lose.
The only answer is collectivism. Whether it is in an urban setting or rural, it is in numbers that there is strenght. We will either relearn this or we will become the permanent underclass, living and/or creating the self-fulfilling prophesy of an inferior people who must be dependent upon the dole, do to the lack of our own abilities. -
-
lol
Al..., babe-
Twas' a joke.
Really..., i promise u.
-
-
Stefan,
I know. I got it. I was being just as facetious as you. If you meant it for real, you couldn't be the man you are. I wasn't joking though about your being a role model and or a leader. You the man bro.
-
-
Unsu...
i totally agree. we don't owe anybody anything. why are we explaining ourselves? that boggles my mind.
these other people are our peers, not superiors. why do we feel the need to apologize?
we should not be ashamed of what happened to us. or apologize for the strides we make towards progress.
The mental shackles is how they got us, and keep getting us. This is the racism.
When we start attacking and breaking down the ways in which they psychologically abuse us that weaken our will to fight and thrive - which is the ROOT CAUSE of our suffering - then we will win this racism war.
As long as we focus on fixing the SYMPTOMS, the results of the pyschological abuse (poor edcuation, lack of employment, absentee fathers) we wiil continue to chase our tails.
That's why we see this "lack of education and employment" in the black community debate over and over again. We aint talking about what is really going on, which would wipe out all of this mess we are dealing with.
-
-
Unsu...
I've also noticed, especially since moving out to the sanfrancisco bay area, that the apologetic sentiment/attitude/behavior is more intense out here. Blacks hold this attitude across the board, but there is definitely a distinct difference in this region.
I and my friends (from midwestern/southern states) have literally been ridiculed for being pro-black. They felt that we were anti-diversity, and separatists (even though nothing is wrong with holding these attitudes). Based on my experiences, there is definitely an anti-pro-black sentiment in the bay area that I have never experienced anywhere else in this country. I was shocked and terribly saddened by this attitude held by so many black natives out here.
It also seems as if bay area blacks have given up on the fight for our best interests. Black Panthers? Hello? The passion is not there to better our conditions, and there is a disconnect between us. And definitely a more apologetic attitude towards black unity.
Maybe it's because there is so much "white" wealth staring blacks in the face, that a deep sense of apathy has set in over time. One black guy mentioned that on a Tupac documentary we were watching a couple years back.
Also I have experienced an ALARMING amount of disrespect towards black men and women from whites and especially other minorities/immigrants. I am astounded at how these people who disrespect us get away with this. I am even MORE astounded that black natives do not fight back. They actually give in and start acting like the stereotypes, and are very antagonistic towards non-native blacks who don't act like that, especially black men, like my fiance.
If those same whites/minorities/immigrants tried the antics they pull, in chicago, they would get the shit beat out of them for real.
If a white or non-black girl with a black boyfriend jumped bad with a sista (like they do out here), where I'm from, she would go missing. This behavior is unthinkable.
This behavior simply does not go on in the midwest, south, and (maybe) the east coast. It just does not happen.
I do not feel a sense of community in the bay among black folks, like I feel back home. It is just not there. I feel a more apologetic attitude among black natives out here for just being black.
We are so outta here once my fiance graduates. We miss the warmth dearly. -
-
Dance Jigaboo dance
01/23YOU GOT TO GO ALONG TO GET ALONG!! This is the paradigm of the new Jigaboo. It is also the paradigm of the House Nigger, the Slave Preacher, the Massa's Good Boy, the "Uncle", the Mammy, and the current crop of the self-satisfied arriveste latter day biscuit eaters.
This is also the legacy of all the accomodationists who have told our Freedom Fighters, "don't rock the boat", "it's not time yet", "changing things takes time", etc. These were the same Cadillac driving "Negro" Ministers who called Dr. ML King, "Martin Troublemaker" and "Stormcrow". The same "Negro" Ministers who formed a deputation to ask Dr. King to leave Mempis and who went so far as to take the pennies collected in the Collection Plates of their Churches and bought a full page ad in the Memphis Newspaper, to show the Powers that Be of Memphis their support and desire to distance themselves from Martin and the Sanitation Workers Union. Their successors have made him a tin saint, in whose name they collect the alms with which they line their pockets
"I and my friends (from midwestern/southern states) have literally been ridiculed for being pro-black. They felt that we were anti-diversity, and separatists (even though nothing is wrong with holding these attitudes). Based on my experiences, there is definitely an anti-pro-black sentiment in the bay area that I have never experienced anywhere else in this country. I was shocked and terribly saddened by this attitude held by so many black natives out here."
This is the reciprocal of Success to many of us. We who have become so aligned with the "Dominant Culture" that we believe it to be our own culture are living in this delusion. It is as much a factor in retarding our development as a people as is Gangsta Kulture. Yet unlike Gangsta Kulture, we are supported in this delusion, by the "Dominant Culture" itself. The worst part of this tragedy is that those among us who are a part of this are even more trapped in it than are the Gangstaz. They fail to realize the truth in the words of Malcolm X; "just because a man throws worms in the water, does not mean he is a friend of the fish". -
-
Re: Dance Jigaboo dance
01/24"They fail to realize the truth in the words of Malcolm X; "just because a man throws worms in the water, does not mean he is a friend of the fish".”
There is so much truth in that statement. I for one have been amazed when I have called someone for making a racial statement just to have them turn around and tell me they are not racist. I just tell them, just because you have a friend or two who is a certain culture does not mean you are not racist against those people. Out here in S. California I notice that most of the racism that is out in the open is towards Hispanics. Of course that makes me giggle at times because in my experience it has been Hispanics that are pandering to the white community.
OK, I’m a California boy. I'm not into the bay area, it just doesn't seem right to me. Now, as I'm sure you are aware, I'm all for diversity and a mingling of cultures. At the same time, I believe that if someone is going to spit in my face I'm going to punch them in the face.
OK just .00005 cents from me at this time.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
These days, I don't feel pressured to apologize for being black but I feel enormous pressure from a lot of black people to apologize for being middle class. It seems to have started in the 60's and 70's when it felt like there was a competition to be "blacker than thou." People had all sorts of tales about how poor they were and they thought that it made them more "black." Ironically, the wealthiest black kids I knew had the most stories.
What brings me back to sanity is looking at the book, "Separate, but Equal: Images from the Segregated South." It's a photo book that tells the stories of the small businesses owned by blacks and the people who patronized them. It reminds me of my grandparents and the small black businesses in San Francisco's Fillmore district that they were a part of. I remember a thriving community with all sorts of black people doing all sorts of things--musicians, laborers, housekeepers, teachers, skilled workers and more. They weren't rich and they weren't part of the bourgeoisie. They were just regular people.
I finally have settled on being true to myself and to my family history. We were and are just regular people. Still, it's often not socially acceptable amongst many black folks. -
-
Unsu...
I agree we are definitely hyper-sensationalized - either an extremely dangerous thug or a super-giant-mega star basketball player or heart surgeon that can save all humankind. It makes the surgeon and basketball player seem fantastical, and their accomplishments seem unattainable. The hypersensationalizism serves to intimidate black youth, or encourages a dissassociation with those types of life goals, especially in the sciences.
The basketball player and heart surgeon are genuises in their own right, and they worked hard everyday to be great, just like many of us. They are real, regular people too, not "exceptions to the rule". By circumstance perhaps, but not innately.
What about celebrating the average everyday black man and woman? It is so ridiculous to see all these black caricatures in the media.
We are smart, stupid and everything in between. Just normal folks like everybody else. And we are very special just the same. We should see ourselves as special and take better care of ourselves and each other. No one else is going to take care of you like your family. I want to see less diviseness and more cooperation, a deeper respect for each other, and a "oneness" that is critical to our survival.
We got the love thing down pat, we love the heck out of each other. But most importantly we need to trust and respect each other in order to build back up our communities together. - I'm not really sure if true love can exist without trust and respect.
As for the larger white society- they are not going to let up on us. They will demonize us until the cows come home to keep us isolated from the rest of the society, and to distract us. They havent' stop and don't plan to any time soon, ever - because it protects them, and they benefit tremendously. It's kind of a game to them as well, so we can't internalize the bullshit.
We have to get over that obstacle, and look within ourselves, our communities, and hold each other accountable for responsible behavior. That is our salvation, not getting distracted and spending too much energy demanding the larger society to stop the stereotyping. In this isolation we can make beautiful things happen for us. -
-
the very first thing we need to do is get rid of the television,and all of it's negative materialistic images.my father told me as a young man the best way to keep a secret from black folk's was to put it in a book,because most of us don't read.i don't feel the need to apologize for being black,it's that i feel sad about the way black people treat each other.how can you expect respect from other's when you don't respect or love yourself.once you achieve that the whole world open's up to you.
-
-
I understand what you are saying and I think its just people hating on each other. But one thing about middle class black folk is that we don't stay near black folk once we get enough money to move. We move straight out to the county with the white folk and patronize there businesses and this is one of the reasons so many of those black businesses died during the 50,60 and 70's. We always think that the whitemans water is colder.
-
-
But u see, to me, it seems, especially moreso currently - the flight is just more about getting to some place where the changes u want to make are even more prevelant that where u (we-'middle class' - which really isn't nessecarily the best moniker for the group i think we both mean...it's maybe actually just more those that WANT and DO make various changes in the way they DO live as opposed to just living a way they COULD live....know what i mean.....?) started out at...
Its no longer about 'moving to where the white folks are', as much as moving to where we can raise our fucking kids to KNOW what the fuck a book IS......... And maybe feel some grass under thier feet on a regular basis.....
And i gotta at least partially STRONGLY disagree as to WHY so many blk business failed in the 50's to the 70's....
We were ABSOLUTELY red-lined, out-established, cheated, 'legally' fucked over, marginalized locationally,etc... by the COMPLETELY entrenched white business establishment - in a calculated, over time, systematic, CONSCIENCE effeort - individually, and collectively.....
NOT to say the 'colder water' factor didn't ALSO help the tumble(or slow eradication) of the power base of the black business owner.
-
-
I get what you are say..but..Once intergrations black people ran to finally shop in the white stores that they couldn't shop in before and forgot about the black owned stores that where there for them and gave them what they needed when the whiteman didn't and really still didn't want there business. You should read the book BLACK ECONOMICS BY Jawanza Kunjufu it is very eye opening and says a bit of what you said also. Small book good read.
Well all I can say is I live in the city and my children have grass(plenty of it) under there feet and they know what books are because I make sure they know what books are.
-
-
-
