Tag: #humanrights

MODERN DAY SLAVERY: WHY AREN’T GOVERNMENTS ADDRESSING THE BUYING AND SELLING OF AFRICANS IN LIBYA

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“We all know, yet we all except it.”

Recently, there have been reports of the buying and selling of Africans into Libya as farm hands. Men and women being sold for as low as $400 and so far the only people that have really took a stand are citizens of the world. Governments have not taken the appropriate actions of getting involved and stopping such practices. Yes, there have been politicians who have come out and condemned the actions, but there has yet to be a government intervention. And what’s even more disturbing is the fact that they are African, we sort of turn a blind eye. Yet if any man, woman, or child were being transported from Europe, you would see a global outcry. So the outcry is very selective; they won’t say because it’s Africa, but the reaction would be different.

Now, you might ask how so; well, look at the Rwandan genocide. The United Nations only intervened when they thought the European tourists would be in danger. Once the tourists were out, then the people were left to fend for themselves. And now, you’re witnessing the same move today. It seems like the only other option is for the people to defend themselves the best way they know to do so. Because if they are being bought and sold as property, you’re talking about the complete removal of the identity of a human being. And that alone goes to show that maybe the Libyans are taking a chapter from the American playbook. Because the United States was considered the wealthiest nation on Earth after slavery ended. That’s what happens when you have forced labor over a few centuries. So maybe this is their way of building their America in poverty stricken Libya.

I mean, think about it, since Muammar Gaddafi was killed, the people thought their lives were going to be better off. Now they’re starting to realize the promise for this better life is not going to happen. So they have resorted to buying and trading of Black Africans into slavery. Other reports I have read stated that a lot of people have hostility toward Black Libyans because of the preferential treatment from Gaddafi. Gaddafi had a Pan-African unification view that would allow for African countries to back their currencies with resources on the continent. Now, anyone that seems to represent that old regime is now being bought, sold, raped, even killed. Now, what I want to know is, how deep is this really? How much are we seeing that really tells the true story of this slave trade? Because there is something that is a little odd about a government that says they are sickened, but won’t do anything.

And in the end, a large aspect of the government in Libya not getting involved is because of the fractured government themselves. The government has so many internal issues that militias are being formed for people’s protection. A move that never would have taken place under the former leader Gaddafi. This just adds to the countries America felt needed its former leader out, but got a lot worse once the leader was killed. It happened in Afghanistan and Iraq; once the leaders considered tyrannical were ousted, the nation became worse off economically and more violent. So moving forward, there will be no change to the current buying and selling of Black males until the government can come together and get a hold on rebel forces that were once against Gaddafi.

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THE HELP IS LEAVING: WHY UPPER AND UPPER MIDDLE CLASS WHITES MIGHT REALLY DISLIKE TRUMP

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“We used to nurse their young, now we nurse their young; uhhh wait a minute!”

The above photo is from the movie The Help which starred a host of Hollywood elite actresses. In this movie Emma Stone, who is a journalist from the Northeast goes down South and chronicles her time in dealing with a small group of Black women who worked for middle class White families. The movie was based off of a book with the same name. And when you look at the movie, there was a time period where these were the only jobs that Black women could really attain. But when you observe the social landscape of today, so many African American men and women have taken on roles that have matriculated us into the dominant society. Yet when when you look at upper middle and upper class White families who hire help, the face has not changed much.

Sure, you still have older Black women taking on jobs as cooks, cleaners, and nannies to make ends meet, but a new group has taken the reigns. And that new group is the Hispanic population who now work the various roles that we once worked in the past. For example, I live in New York City, and when you see nannies out and about with the children they care after, the faces have made a drastic change. You still see Black women, but more so from other countries: Haiti, Jamaica, and various countries in Africa. Then, you now see the occasional East Asian woman, but the Mexican, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Colombian, and many other Latina/Hispanic females line the sidewalks as they take White children out into the city. And it really goes to show how little have changed throughout time. Well, why haven’t much changed?

A lot of these White families are upper middle and upper class, who are constantly focused on their careers. So with such demanding careers, they are forced to reach out for help. But, you have so many reasons why certain nannies are chosen. The choice is usually older because they have had children and are more experienced with raising children. The women chosen to be nannies are usually less attractive as there has been issues over the years of husbands engaging in sexual misconduct with babysitters. And the women are Black or Hispanic, as these women are usually first to want the job of working for these families. Now, some of these minority women have young children of their own, who are in turn latch key kids because their mothers are caring for the children of some of New York City’s elite.

Now with that said, the title of the topic today is how Trump’s policies on immigration could make these White upper middle and upper class families turn on him. I was reading an article about an hour ago regarding why you don’t ever see the nannies of America’s elite. Well, a lot of these nannies are non-White, and that image could open an entire discussion regarding how little has changed and how the movie The Help is still relevant. But another kept secret is the immigration status of a lot of these nannies. And with Donald Trump’s policy views on Mexico and now Haiti, you could see some major push back from these upper society Americans. Makes you wonder, maybe some of them are funding initiatives against Trump behind closed doors. Because if America starts vetting people at the rate that we currently moving, you could see a lot of Upper East Side and Upper West Side citizens angry in New York City.

See, in the end, this well-off crowd could push back tremendously if Trump continues down his current path. There are just too many people who depend on the people he wants to vet for daily help in their lives. Recently in New York ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) informed an Indian man that he would be forced after 37 years to return to his native India leaving his Cancer stricken wife and two adolescent sons to fend for the themselves. Lawyers intervened and he was given further time stay in America. But was it done because it’s the right thing to do, or is it because once you vet this cab driver how many others are here that shouldn’t be here? Metropolitan New York City is a $1 trillion economy where a host of immigrants work daily. Imagine the impact to not only this city, but to America’s $17 trillion economy when one city of $1 trillion is hit hard. So Trump’s immigration plans as well as his flight regulations on certain Middle Eastern countries will continue to be thwarted until he is out of office and America can return to a status quo.

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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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BEING THE OPPOSITION: HOW YOU BECOME THE VERY PEOPLE YOU FIGHT AGAINST

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“Becoming what you fight against most often tends to be the outcome.”

I am only 29 years old, yet in my lifetime I have seen so many agendas pushed in our society regarding human rights. Yet when these groups get what it is they want, what do they become? They at times become the very people they fight against. Meaning if you are fighting for women’s rights in this country, now there is power behind the movement. And with the power comes individuals staging a protest over every comment made about women. Now you’re dipping into your popularity. And once this happens, you become the same as the people you once fought against. But why do we do it? Why is it so easy to become the people you fight against?

Well, for starters, it’s easy to become the people you fight against because you are fighting to be equal  initially. Yet, what human really want to be equal to the next person. This isn’t a Communist country, we fight against that, so what do we really want? We want to actually receive equal treatment under the law. So if I get Image result for rebelcharged with a crime and I am a man, women don’t want to expect to receive a more harsh punishment. But is that even remotely real as it pertains to us as human beings. See, I like observing us in our natural state. And in our natural state, the moments when we are unaware of our behavior, we act a way not conducive with our conscious selves.

Meaning, when we don’t feel like anyone is watching us, we act as if we are better than those not on our level. Then when we are asked a series of questions pertaining to our sentiment, we become aware. And then it does not align itself with who we really are in society. So in all, the fight against the people who we once felt were in our way of whatever it is we want is real, yet the fight takes on different forms. When we don’t think anyone is watching, we start to, as I say before, dip into our popularity. We hold success over the heads of the people we once fought, and now they are under our control. Do we treat them fair and equal? No, we become what they once were, and now the cycle starts over. Only this time the oppressors are a new generation of oppressed, by the very people their parents or grandparents oppressed.

Why do we operate this way? Is it something about us as a human species where we can’t help ourselves. In my opinion, humanity did not evolve to reign over each other. We built societies where there needed to be control over the populace. Because humans in our most natural state is on par with other creatures of the planet. So we have to design social norms to live by. Yet the norms we create have always been challenged by way of movements from people the construct hurt the most. And in the end, with each movement starting up, and attaining rights; this new power structure will be fought against by future generations. For the simple fact that once the group has their rights, now what? Do the people who once fought vanish; no. They just take on a new form, and a new movement arises from which these previous fighters once came.

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NO TRANS: ISSUES WITH TRUMP’S DECISION TO NOT ALLOW TRANSGENDERS TO SERVE IN THE MILITARY

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“To serve or not to serve.”

President Donald Trump announced his decision yesterday that the United States military will not be allowing transgender men and women to serve. This comes as a shock to most, considering not long ago, under President Obama, the LGBT community won a victory with the legalization of gay marriage. Now, a year later, we are seeing reversals of decisions being made. It seems as if everything that Barack Obama did during his reign as president, Trump is working to undo. So as gays now have the right to marry, transgender men and women can’t serve in the military. What was once a victory is now short lived because the community iS right back where they started. A sign that more work is still to be done.

Well, what are some repercussions, if any, from Trump’s decision. For starters, every male must sign up for selective service. It is a requirement for being a citizen in the United States. If you identify as transgender, does that mean you still have to sign? Or, are you exempt? And what are the guidelines for saying you identify as the opposite gender? How do we know to get out of selective service, there won’t be people who use this as an excuse to not enlist? Then there is the flip side of keeping transgenders from serving. And that is if you are willing to fight and protect your country, you should be able to do so. Are we going to keep that same sentiment if a war breaks out?

People at home have all these reasons they agree with the president. Yet when people start dying and drama is all around you, the last thing you think about is the sexual orientation of the person fighting with you. It must be a deflating feeling to know that a country where you are told to pay taxes and follow the laws you can’t protect the freedoms you have. This is yet another decision that could be overturned by our government. Trump’s views were aimed at not incurring costs for rising medical windfalls by the military. And this is when I started to question, “What costs? Are transgender men and women’s surgeries and enhancements being financed by the system? Do they need specialized physicians unlike everyone else? When you transition, do you need special medication because you are no longer who you once were? All of the above questions are not true.

And in the end, that is people’s problem with this decision so far. The transgender servicemen and women is so small, this seems more personal than fiscal decision making. Our military defense budget is between a range of $500 – $700 billion, with medical expenditures being around $50 billion. Any real cost incurred by the transgender community is a few million dollars. It’s so insignificant, that it could be mistaken for personal preference. But like I said earlier, the government may react quick to overturn this decision as well. This will just add to the ongoing tension between Trump and his adversaries in and out of government. Meanwhile he has not lost support from his voters.

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JUNETEENTH DAY: WHERE ARE WE NOW FROM THEN

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“The descendants of blood, sweat, and tears, still going strong.”

Today marks the 152nd anniversary in which the first Juneteenth Day celebration was held in Galveston, Texas. And for those of you that are unfamiliar with Juneteenth, it is the celebration that marks the freedom of slaves in the United States. And in this time period, so much has taken place in the United States. From leaving slavery and entering Jim Crow south to electing the the United States first Black president into office. There has been a lot of ups and down over the past 150 years, but what has changed? Recently, there was an acquittal of yet another police officer for shooting and unarmed Black male.

But, the question I want to ask for this post is, what further must be done to insure that we are not relegated to the past. Now I know slavery is a jump, but man has a way of repeating history. And it may not even be us, but someone else. Which is why the conversations should always be around because once we forget, it is bound to happen again. I know for a fact I don’t want to wind-up back in subjugation. Now, some may say, that is just ludicrous. We are in a different time period than the past, and another slave trade could not possibly happen. Yes, that is true, I don’t see another slave trade in America, but what about somewhere else?

What about sex slavery? Sex slavery is not only still a big issue, but there has been cases of this in United States. Holding people against their will and making them sell themselves in the form of sex for payment. The person gets no money and the other using them takes everything. Yet even though this is a problem, it is not the biggest concern of Black people or anybody else for that matter in America. So concerning Black people in America, what does our future hold for us? Will things get better in the community or will they worsen?

I have been taking notice to the state of Black America, and I would love to think that the community is getting better. But it’s hard to see because in the now, it doesn’t seem that way. It seems as if the issues are worsening, especially with the slow economics of America. I don’t like being pessimistic, but it’s tough to say. And in the end, that is the reality as it pertains to our future. Because there are so many White men and women struggling themselves, so I know we are having hard times. But hopefully I am just being paranoid, and the future holds something for us. If not, we could see a role back of everything we have fought for in this country.

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BANS! TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME: IS AMERICA REALLY READY TO BE BANNED AS WELL

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“Are we willing to be banned as well?”

In recent news, President Donald Trump has signed an executive order to ban people entering the United States from a few select Islamic nations. Now there even more protest regarding the ban, that can further overshadow his presidency. So the new question to ask is if he’s banning so many, what about resources. If the people are gone, does this mean we are going to turn away their resources as well. America gets a lot of it’s oil from the Middle East. And to think that there will be a ban on a few chosen places, without upsetting these Muslim countries, you’re going to have problems.

Well, why would they have problems? Number one, I don’t think that other Muslim countries that are not being banned will support this ban. Because to them, it’s only a matter of time before they’re on the chopping block. He’s starting with these few chosen places, but whose to say he’ll stop there. Whose to say that next it won’t be someone else. So, in the moment, you’re not seeing the fight against it, unless it’s from the United States citizens. But there are other issues that could arise from Trump’s ban pertaining to Islam. And that is one that could actually hurt this nation; oil.

America’s transit system as well as domestic drivers depends upon this relationship with the Middle East not being affected. So many of these suspected terrorist countries have ties to Saudi Arabia. What will be the ban for this country? Will there even be a ban on this country? But, the issue is oil. Then again, our relationship with the Saudis ties into that. We want to separate from these places. But are we ready to separate fully? Are we ready to turn away natural resources as much as we do the people? The same applies to Mexico. We want resources, but we are going to have a problem with bans. But what if these countries enlist their own bans?

What would happen when Islamic nations step back away from the West? A move like this could lead to international conflict as well as putting boots on the ground. You see, America does not have an alternate source of energy. So what happens to our nation; a mass transit stoppage. That could be enough for a global conflict. So my best guess is that Trump will not be banning too many people coming from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, or the U.A.E. (United Arab Emirates) So where we go from here? With this ban, you have people who have aided America in our fight against extremism. Providing pertinent intelligence on radical groups. So Trump says he’s fighting extremism, but is he fighting extremism, or making it possible for people to slip through the cracks. Someone or people could already be here, and banning those entering to aid us can cause a disconnect.