Category: Allies

2019: WHAT WILL THE NEW YEAR COME OF MY BLOG

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“Narrowing down the topics.”

what’s to come

The end of 2018 is just a week away. And I will be planning my blog for next year 2019. And for the coming year, I will be narrowing down the blog to 6 topics not 12 spanning the year. And these 6 topics will be of the most popular from my current year. So instead of writing a post from 1 topic for the month, I will be writing posts for 1 topic every two months. And this is the change, the metamorphosis of my blog that will eventually narrow down to fewer topics. As of now, there are two topics in competition with each other to see which one will make the cut. I will also provide more video content as well. Feel free to drop a comment about the topics you liked. Continue to like, follow, and share my work. SEE YOU  IN 2019!!!

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IT WORKS, IT REALLY DOES WORK: WHY OUR SUPREME LAW ACTUALLY WORKS

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“Imperfect, but keeps our system moving forward.”

In a nation where so much is surrounding politics and social activism, we need to make sense of everything by going back to our roots. And those roots of a nation lie in our Constitution of the United States as well as our Declaration of Independence. Now, don’t get me wrong, these documents were written during a time period where people had no rights, so to write documents surrounding human rights while human rights violations exist under your watchful eye is very hypocritical. But the Constitution’s opening to the document states that, “In order to form a more perfect union.” A more perfect union is a very important opening because humans are not perfect creatures. We are flawed: we have vices, we have our like and dislikes, we have our fears. So making a “more perfect union” does make sense. Because it implies a union that is more productive than the previous decisions made.

Decisions that as the Constitution states, promotes tranquility, general welfare, common defense, and the blessings of liberty with a lead into our amendment our rights. But you cannot have the Constitution, without our Declaration of Independence. A declaration which states, “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.” (U.S. Constitution, 1789) So even in all the flaws of our leaders, the brick laying for our civilization is aimed at making sure that America works by way of preserving these documents.

But what happens now when those documents are put to the test as we see in today’s society where our Amendment Rights are challenged by one another and we feel as if freedom is being lost. We live in a society today where people don’t like what you say and want what you say to be restricted. Yet the answer to unpopular speech is not to suppress that speech, but to have more dialogue surrounding what it is that is creating the bind within you. You don’t like what I protest, fine, express your grievance, but forcing those from protesting because you don’t like the action goes against the very document we promised to uphold. So what happens when we live in a society where we start to role back on these rights? What happens beside losing your national identity, you lose time. Time spent building a nation that is now being in jeopardy of failing at the very hands of the people it promised to protect.

And yes, we all have reasons why we don’t like social situations, or political figures and their decision making. But as much as I am not a fan of certain people in America, one of which is our current President elect Donald J. Trump, impeachment might be problematic and threatening to our nation’s future. Because the Declaration states, that it is up to the people to change course from what we have in power at the moment for the future security of this nation; meaning to vote. In the past we uprose, but uprising in modern times is to vote the person out. So in 2020, if you are unhappy with the political binds to which we are under now, you express that vote at the polls. We do not, unless we prove criminal wrongdoing has taken place, remove a leader from power by way only sentiment alone. Because a civilization cannot be maintained by way of sentiment, but a basic rational non-emotional structure to which we all live.

Because in the end, as we go back to the beginning of the passage, we have to understand that the Constitution is only a way to make the union more perfect, not perfect. Meaning as an African American man, there was one point in time where I was 75% human and 25% property as a slave. Today we (Black people) work in every facet of industry in society. There are still issues we face, and based on population will always have people who we as Black people will have to deal with racially. But the ratifying of the Constitution which gives way for me to express myself freely and a Declaration for me to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is in essence a “more perfect union”. For it is better than the previous, never will be perfect, but any goal of any civilization is the following: status quo, equilibrium, standard, and not ever and will ever be perfection.

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QUID PRO QUO: HOW BARTERING CAN AID IN GOOD BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS

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“I will gladly pay you tomorrow for your services today.”

The quid pro quo system goes back as far as we can remember as people. Another name for this is the barter system. And if applied the right way, quid pro quo can be a very productive measure of conducting business. But it involves a lot of cooperation and people must for the most part be on the same page. Because a great system of trading goods and services can easily get quite messy. This method of business can be very beneficial to a poor community where the community does not have many resources. You might have a loaf of bread and your neighbor might have a gallon of milk. You guys could trade slices of bread for this person to make a sandwich, for a certain amount of milk so this person can bake. Now, could that work in today’s society like in the past?

And my answer to that is absolutely it could. But like I said before, you need cooperation and like minded people. If you have these similar character traits then you’re going to have a pretty productive environment. Because now, money is not the only precious commodity in our communities. If you are trading goods and services for other goods and services, then the good and service is valuable. And for the most part, people are trading for things outside of housing expenses and not household. What do I mean by housing and not household. The housing expenses are priorities such as rent, mortgage, utilities; whereas the household expenses are bath soap, toothpaste, lotions, deodorants to food and beverages. This is how everyone in the community will be able to live and work together. Not only that, but if I can only pay rent, but I can provide a service to you in exchange for food, I don’t have to worry about monetary expense.

Meaning, let’s say after I pay my rent and utilities, I have a hard time feeding my children. But I can provide a service to a neighbor in exchange for food. You give me what a babysitter would get paid in food. So let’s say a babysitter charges $15 per hour, I will babysit your child for four hours. In exchange, you give me close to $60 worth of food. Because the babysitter may not have food, but could babysit for the person who has food, but need a babysitter. You will do each other such a service by operating in this fashion. Another action that will take place is a close nit community that is based around people helping each other. But inevitably, in our today’s society this does not work.

And in the end, the reason why quid pro quo has a tough time being implemented is because you’re going to have someone not repaying the favor. You’ll have someone not giving the equal value of product and service. You’ll have people who always want more than someone else. So the human conditioning is what keeps the barter system from working. And what’s said is that the poor communities in America could use this means of trading. If implemented well, no one starves or is forced to sleep in the street because they don’t have a roof over their heads.

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DACA: HOW THIS IS MORE ISOLATED THAN SPREAD OUT

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“What will be the outcome?”

For those of you unfamiliar with what has been going on in the recent news surrounding Donald Trump’s decision to end DACA, it concerns immigration. Former President Barack Obama signed this into action to protect minors for a temporary basis looking to seek work permits/right to stay in America. Image result for daca obamaDonald Trump now wants the bill killed via Congress. A move that has sparked once again, protest across the country. And if you don’t know what DACA stands for, it stands for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival. Now, with the decision to kill the act, we could potentially see nearly 1 million people deported in America. But is this an America issue, or more of a states issue. Because if you live in certain states, this is a bigger concern than if you live in other places. And nowhere is it bigger than in the state of California.

California has nearly 223,000 people under DACA, which constitutes for 27% – 28% of the DACA recipients. So the protest are massive in California against the DACA end. But not all people are against the move to end DACA. Donald J. Trump still has his strong support that feel that it is not the job of America to care for illegal immigrant’s children. These are also the same people who feel that their jobs are already threatened by illegal immigrants coming into America. Image result for daca trumpNow their children will be allowed to stay and retain work permits in an already tough to find work economy. So my question is, “What will be the decision from Congress?” Will they side with Trump or will they uphold Obama’s previous decision? And once again be another policy that Trump has tried to pass and was unsuccessful. There has been so much going on lately, that I have not had too too much to process this policy in its entirety. But the outrage from the predominantly Hispanic community has been great.

Now before I said California was a major state for DACA. But there are a few other key states that are in the line of fire. Texas is the second highest of DACA recipients, with Illinois, New York, and Florida rounding out the top five states. What sticks out to me besides Florida, which has a lot of Hispanics, as well as New York, and Illinois , is Texas. Texas has been in the news for other reasons outside of DACA; the big story, Hurricane Harvey. Image result for daca cityNow the question remains, “What will Texas do now that this natural disaster has happened?” Families are struggling to regain their footing because of this storm, so what will come of them maybe having to compete for aid from the federal government knowing they are the state with the second highest DACA recipients? This could be another situation that starts to get dicey once the water has receded. Once people have to rebuild their lives in a disaster zone.

But in the end, another major concern is not only the issue of DACA, not just the high numbers centralized to a few states, but the average age of DACA recipients. The average age is about nine years old. A nine year old, that has spent much of their years in America. So now, you’re dealing with children that have no connection to Mexico, a country where the majority are coming from, besides their ethnic and cultural makeup. Young people who could potentially be thrust into a land of high crime and poverty. In a land they know absolutely nothing about because they are now more American than Mexican citizens.

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DYING SENTIMENT OR THRIVING HATRED: HOW MUCH OF MY ETHNICITY REALLY PLAYS A ROLE IN MY SUCCESS

“Sins of the past don’t have to be the future.”

The above photo is of a woman by the name of Vivian Malone. Vivian Malone was the first African American student to register for classes at the University of Alabama as an undergraduate student. The university was racially segregated, and up to this point no had been successful in entering the school. Even the governor at the time, George Wallace, stood at the door, blocking her entry temporarily before she was allowed access inside. Now, this topic is not about Vivian Malone, this topic is in reference to how much has changed since that time period. That was back in 1963 when she was denied entry, and my mother was only 3 years old herself. Since then, a lot more students have been admitted to Alabama, and no one thinks twice about Black children attending. But we still have conflicts in America today, as exemplified in Virginia a few weeks ago.

So my question is, how much does my ethnicity even in today’s society contribute to my success. Because I see so many men and women that look like myself that are successful, but then you see what has been going on in the country today. There are marches for White Supremacy in America, yet there are counter protest on the other side. And the counter protest are bigger than the supremacy groups. So yes, racism does exist, but on what scale. I have experienced it in life and still do. But what role does it and will it play in future success? A lot of the sentiment, I am not concerned with at this point in America. Because if you don’t like me by this time, then you never will. My only obligation is working to succeed how I want to succeed. I’m not in this world to convince everyone to love me, that’s not practical.

Yet, you have to deal with these types of people. I was reading somewhere that only 10% of the American population are supporters of these Neo-Nazi groups. Now, looking at this from a percentage basis we say, “10% is not a lot of people. But the American population is close to 320 million people. With 10% of these people following hate groups, 30 million people are a lot of people. But see, I am not trying to win those individuals over. I know they have and never will like me. My goal is I don’t want to have to come into contact with them. Yet when you see the Virginia march with tiki torches, you say to yourself, some of these guys were professors and even worked in the medical field. It creeps me out that some of these people could be my doctors. Black men already have and adverse feeling when looking at doctors.

Yet, in the end, I still look at my life with hope. Though in the back of my mind, the thought never leaves. When I come across someone and have what I perceive to be a racial experience, and I say to myself, “Did they because; nah, maybe not.” Nonetheless, I am hopeful; for my future and the country. We like to look in the past and say that people were so awful. But I think there were just as many good people today as in the past. It’s just that we all excepted life as what it was then. And the more we pushed against the grain, the more we look back and say, “You know, this wasn’t ok at that time.” For me, I look at photos of separate water fountains that said, “White Only and Colored Only.” It seems weird to look at, but for older people in my family that was life at one point in time. I feel life is changing, it’s just in real time we don’t see it. We never see life while in the paradigm of living it; humanity never will. Only when you look back over time we become convinced of the changes.

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I JUST WANT TO LIVE: WHY MOST DON’T FIGHT AGAINST THE GRAIN

People Walking on Pedestrian Lane during Daytime

“I know things are wrong, but what can I do?”

Observing the issues that have been in the news lately, you have to ask yourselves, “How do the masses feel about all this socio-political tension.” Because we see the people outside protesting. They are the fearless few who don’t think twice before stepping out and fighting. They are the ones not afraid to go to jail for what they believe is right. The chosen few that if not for them a lot of things in life just would not change. When I walk around, it’s as if we live in two separate countries. The country that fights for rights and the country that just exist. And that portion that just exist is know as the silent majority. The silent majority would much rather go to work , come home, and act as if life around them is not happening. Well, why do they do it?

I can’t look at people who don’t fight hard for what they believe in as cowards. As you age, you understand humans as a whole. And then you learn that most people just want to exist. They don’t want trouble, they just want to work and make it home in time to feed themselves and their families. But there are problems in your society that if not for the chosen few who fight, where would so many be today. We always like to look into the past and say the bad people were then, and now is different. But to me, I don’t think there were worst people in the past as a whole. I think that most people felt even slavery was bad for society. It’s just that we accept things as a nation and for the most part the world at large. Almost like this self-defeating, “Oh well, that’s how things are I guess.”

If people felt they could overthrow subjugation, I think they would have done so. But for some reason, one person says, “I’m just a regular guy, what can I do?” And then 5 people say that, then 50, then 500, and so on and so forth. All the way until it is the narrative driving a civilization. Until someone stands and speaks out, then more join. Now, is that enough for the masses to involve themselves, no. Because they are afraid; no. Maybe it’s because they disagree with the fighting; no. People don’t involve themselves because they are concerned for their own well-being and employment, but they do agree with the protest against the status quo. We might see that and say, “Well protestors are risking their lives.” But the human element of what we are is self-preservation. It all comes down to the whole fight or flight mentality. Who will stay and fight opposition and who will run away?

In the end, like I said before, the masses could be mistaken for cowardly, but just because someone is scared does not necessarily make them a coward. To me a coward is someone who prays on others weaker than them but wouldn’t dare take on a person who is their equal. You see, a lot of people not fighting back has to do with that ingrained things that lies inside of all of us. We step out into the world all hoping that nothing bad happens. We just want to work and exist. Some people don’t even care if they are barely existing because everyday above ground is great day. But as for the chosen few who fight back, they do so even if the masses don’t get involved. They fight and ultimately we all benefit from their hard pushback; and for that we thank them. Even if at times it is a silent thank you.

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I OWE IT TO YOU: WHY NEVER FORGETTING THOSE WHO FOUGHT FOR YOUR RIGHTS IS IMPORTANT

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“For those who died, I thank you.”

As a young man born in the year 1987, I did not experience those turbulent years of the Civil Rights Movement. Now my parents on the other hand saw the tail end, and there’s of course the generations prior. So as a child, I grew up going to school, eating where I wanted, and using public restrooms. Not once did I understand how I got to that point. All I knew is that when someone needed to go to the bathroom, you went. But what I didn’t know until my mother sat down and talked with me, is that it was not always like that in America. And that I should never forget why I am able to do what I do.

And she reminded of this because for the longest there were not only demographics of citizens, but an entire systematic push to keep me from having the basics of necessities. So as I went to school, I always performed well academically because she reminded me at one time how illegal it was for me to go Image result for white onlyto the schools I went to in America. Whenever I used a restroom, she not only told me, but we watched the video footage of Black men and women being attacked just for trying to consume a meal or urinate at public rest stops. So my reason for not getting into trouble is not mainly because of the enforcement of the judicial system, but more so by way of these men and women who died. There are unmarked graves of countless Black people who gave their lives, a lot of which you will never know their names.

So now as an adult, I do so much because they really didn’t have to pave that way. Still today, some of those individuals from that time period are here with us. People who were either teenagers or adults in the fight. And even at times when I see things differently than they do, I can never hate. I can never hate those who Image result for civil rights movementsacrificed so much for me. And no, these men were not the reason I got into my college of choice or landed a job I wanted. But it was because the pressure they placed that made companies even look in my direction. America didn’t want me to have those rights, and had it not been for these men and women, how long would Jim Crow have really lasted. 90 years,  100 years, 200 years; when was the appropriate time to end segregation.

We all would like to think that those types of events had to end, but why? If not for fighting for rights, whose to say? You have of course the critics, yet their voices are to a great degree irrelevant to me. A country tells you to go fight and defend your country, but when you return don’t sit at this table counter. Then you can’t Image result for al and jessesay my country, because in my country you eat where you choose. Otherwise it’s your country, and if I am the lesser, then why are you depending on a lesser to fight for what is yours. So thanks to the men and women who challenged the ideologies of what I am and what was expected of me. For it was you who reminded me before you’re Black, you’re a man, and before that you’re human. You weren’t fighting for my freedom of speech, but my freedom to exist. You did in the past, and still in the present. So despite what the critics think and feel you have my love and respect.

In the end, I dedicate this life of mine to you. Those who fought who are still alive and to those who died in the struggle: Al Sharpton, Alex Haley, Andrew Young, Angela Davis, Assata Shakur, Barack H. Obama, Bobby Seale, Booker T. Washington, Cornel West, Denmark Vesey, Dick Gregory, Dred Scott, Eldridge Cleaver, Elijah Muhammad, Fred Hampton, Frederick Douglass, Gabriel Prosser, George Washington Carver, Harriet Tubman, Harry Belafonte, Huey P.Image result for black historyNewton, Ida B. Wells, Jackie Robinson, James Baldwin, James Meredith, James Weldon Johnson, Jesse Jackson, Jim Brown, John Lewis, Kathleen Cleaver, Louis Farrakhan, Madam C. J. Walker, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune, Maya Angelou, Maxine Waters, Medgar Evers, Muhammad Ali, Nat Turner, Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks, Shirley Chisholm, Sojourner Truth, Stokely Carmichael, Thurgood Marshall, W. E. B. Du Bois, and many others who were lesser known or even unknown, yet gave their lives for me. I love you, “WE” love you.

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