Fox News: Selective Reporting of the News

At least a week has passed us by with some significant issues that were news worthy. A few of them were: (1) Ken Mehlman former Bush Campaign Chief and RNC Chairman has recently come out and admitted he is Gay. Being Gay is no big deal; some Gay people contribute to our everyday lives in a positive manner just like some of us who are not Gay. We got good Gay people, and we have good non-Gay people; and vice versa. The point is this, when we have people in power like Ken Mehlman knowing he is Gay, and worked with Karl Rove and other Bush administration leaders to outright bash Gay people is hypocrisy to the level of criminal. (2) The stabbing of a cab driver by an Israeli, just because the cab driver is Muslim. (3) Dr. Laura Schlessinger using the word NIGGER on her radio show continuously in a negative and vile way to a Black caller trying to seek advice on race relations. Guess what supposedly news organization totally ignored all of the events mentioned above; Fox News.

Just like Charles Manson, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Catholic Priest who raped little boys and girls are not 100% evil. On the flip side, Bible toters and some of my life-long heroes such as my Father, Dr. Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, and Jesus Christ wasn’t 100% pure and all good. I had to go there so the light weights could get it.

If we as Americans are so dumb that we would go back and vote into power the very people with the same ideas as the previous administration that got us where we are today, I say so be it. If we are stupid enough to allow eight years for the previous administration to ‘F’ things up, and only give the present administration less than two years to try and straighten the mess out the previous administration left us, I say we deserve what we get.

Lastly but not least, the ‘Joe the Plumber’ mentality teabagger members need to stop with the phrase, “Our country was built on Christianity values.” That’s probably true, but those Christianity values were built by people who were SLAVE OWNERS. Our country was built on BLOOD, SWEAT, TEARS, and SLAVE labor; the beneficiaries were teabagger fore-fathers.

Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” Speech Commemoration

The late great Dr. Martin Luther King gave us his “I Have a Dream” speech August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

Today (August 28, 2010), a rally titled, “Reclaim The Dream” led by Rev. Al Sharpton at Dunbar High School, Washington, DC focusing on keeping Dr. King’s dream alive. A few blocks away a rally titled, “Restoring Honor” led by Fox News talk show host Glenn Beck at the Lincoln Memorial focusing on faith, hope, charity, and honor according to Alveda King, the niece of Dr. Martin Luther King who spoke at Beck’s rally. However, the part about hope and charity is far fetched; we all know Beck and his followers have no regard and patience for hope and charity for the underprivileged.

I’ll get straight to the point. For Glenn Beck and his ‘Restoring Honor’ followers to put on a rally with the majority in the crowd who are ‘Gay Bashers’ and ‘Muslim Haters’ is despicable. These people had to be told to leave your hatred racist signs at home, but by all means bring your philosophy of White domination with you. I know some will say, “How can you say White domination when a person like Alveda King is a prominent member of their cause.” We might not want to admit it, but we all have at least one person in our family that we shun. As a matter of fact, let’s talk about the people of color who attended Glenn Beck’s rally.

When you hear Glenn Beck say things on his talk show like, “President Obama has a deep hatred for White people; I just think he’s a racist.” It’s amazing to me how people like Rev. C.L. Jackson, Alveda King, and Lloyd Marcus can associate themselves with a person like Glenn Beck; however, everybody already know Lloyd Marcus is an outright ‘UNCLE TOM’ anyway. It shouldn’t be held against anyone for being Republican or Democrat, it’s their prerogative. It’s just a dam shame that some Blacks don’t possess the ability to think on their own, and not be brainwashed. Don’t get it twisted, some Black Republicans have the ability to utilize their common sense. One in particular who comes to mind is Lenny McAllister, a young man who will let anybody know that he’s a Republican, but he will also let anybody know that he’s his own man. One of the biggest lies ever told was when Glenn Beck said, he didn’t know August 28th was the anniversary of Dr. King’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech at the Lincoln Memorial Mall. This was nothing but a blatant racist attempt by Glenn Beck to let Blacks know he could care less than a dam about Dr. King’s anniversary speech.

We have Black Clergy members in our community who is brainwashed by people like Glenn Beck when it comes to the Gay community. These people, most of whom, have been discriminated against themselves, allow a book (the Bible) introduced to them by the very same people who discriminated against their fore-fathers to brainwash them to discriminate against others; how ironic. This is how dumb our Black Clergy members are, they shower people like Sarah Palin with praise, while Sarah Palin is praising Dr. Laura Schlessinger for using the word NIGGER in a degrading manner towards Blacks repeatedly on nation-wide radio to a Black woman seeking advice on race relations.

Make no mistake about it, if we don’t learn to live together as Brothers and Sisters; we will perish together as fools.

The Real Meaning of White Privilege

With the climate in reference to race relations in America today, especially in regards to the 'Mosque Near Ground Zero' controversy, I felt compelled to let people know what this is really about. Read the message below:

For those who still can’t grasp the concept of White privilege, or who are constantly looking for some easy-to-understand examples of it, perhaps the following will help:

White privilege is when you can get pregnant at seventeen like Bristol Palin and everyone is quick to insist that your life and that of your family is a personal matter, and that no one has a right to judge you or your parents, because 'every family has challenges.' But as Black families with similar 'challenges' are regularly typified as irresponsible, pathological and contributors to social decay.

White privilege is when you can call yourself an 'f-ing redneck,' like Bristol Palin’s boyfriend does, and talk about how if anyone messes with you, you'll 'kick their ‘f-ing ass,' and talk about how you like to 'shoot animals' for fun, and still be viewed as a responsible, all-American boy (and a great son-in-law to be) rather than a thug.

White privilege is when you can attend four different colleges in six years like Sarah Palin did (one of which she basically failed out of, then returned to after making up some coursework at a community college), and no one questions your intelligence or commitment to achievement. On the other hand a person of color who did this would be viewed as unfit for college, and someone who was only accepted in the first place was because of affirmative action.

White privilege is when you can claim that being Mayor of a town smaller than most medium-sized colleges, and then Governor of a state with about the same number of people as the lower fifth of the island of Manhattan, makes you ready to potentially be President. However, while being a Black U.S. Senator, two-term state Senator, and constitutional law scholar, means you’re 'untested.'

White privilege is being able to say that you support the words 'under God' in the pledge of allegiance because 'if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it’s good enough for me,' and not be immediately disqualified from holding office--since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the 'under God' part wasn't added until the 1950s--while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals.

White privilege is being able to be a gun enthusiast and not make people immediately scared of you. White privilege is being able to have a husband who was a member of an extremist political party that wants your state to secede from the Union, and whose motto was 'Alaska first,' and no one questions your patriotism or that of your family, while if you're Black and your spouse merely fails to come to a 9/11 memorial so she can be home with her kids on the first day of school, people immediately think she’s being disrespectful.

White privilege is being able to make fun of community organizers and the work they do--like, among other things, fight for the right of women to vote, or for civil rights, or an end to child labor; you’re being tough. But if you merely question the experience of a small town Mayor and 18-month Governor with no foreign policy expertise beyond a class she took in college you’re somehow being mean, or even sexist.

White privilege is being able to convince White women who doesn't even agree with you on any substantive issue to vote for you and your running mate anyway, because all of a sudden your presence on the ticket has inspired confidence in these same White women, and made them give your party a 'second look.'

White privilege is being able to fire people who didn't support your political campaigns and not be accused of abusing your power or being a typical politician who engages in favoritism. But if you’re Black and merely knowing some folks from the old-line political machines in Chicago means you must be corrupt.

White privilege is being able to attend churches over the years whose Pastors say that people who voted for John Kerry or merely criticize George W. Bush are going to hell, and the U.S. is an explicitly Christian nation and the job of Christians is to bring Christian theological principles into government, and who bring in speakers who say the conflict in the Middle East is God’s punishment on Jews for rejecting Jesus, and everyone can still think you’re just a good church-going Christian. But if you’re Black and friends with a Black Pastor who has noted (as have Colin Powell and the U.S. Department of Defense) that terrorist attacks are often the result of U.S. foreign policy and who talks about the history of racism and its effect on Black people; you’re an extremist who probably hates America.

White privilege is not knowing what the Bush Doctrine is when asked by a reporter, and then people get angry at the reporter for asking you such a 'trick question,' while being Black and merely refusing to give one-word answers to the queries of Bill O’Reilly means you’re dodging the question, or trying to seem overly intellectual and nuanced.

White privilege is being able to claim your experience as a POW has anything at all to do with your fitness for President, while being Black and experiencing racism is, as Sarah Palin has referred to it, a 'light' burden.

White privilege is when you draw thousands to hear your speeches, you're deemed the best thing that ever happened to America. But if you're Black and draw thousands to hear your speeches, you're labeled as uppity, aloof, presumptuous, and arrogant.

And finally, White privilege is the only thing that could possibly allow someone to become President when he has voted with George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, even as unemployment is skyrocketing, people are losing their homes, inflation is rising, and the U.S. is increasingly isolated from world opinion, just because White voters aren't sure about that whole 'change' thing. Ya know, it’s just too vague and ill-defined, unlike, say, four more years of the same, which is very concrete and certain.

White privilege is, in short, the problem.

BLACK WOMEN

Let me state up-front, I love Black women, especially when they’re chocolate; they don’t have to be chocolate in color, but they have to be chocolate in spirit. I’ve witnessed a troubling trend for the past five to ten years in regards to my beautiful Black sisters. For some reason, as far as I’m concerned, they seem as if they don’t appreciate their GOD given natural beauty. I guess I got to try to explain where I’m coming from so the dumbest person in the class can get it.

It’s annoying to me, however it’s probably fine to mentally light weight Black guys and some White guys looking to hit on Black women; but as for me, I prefer women with the GOD given beauty. I’m not saying I’m against Black women enhancing their beauty; I’m just saying I’m against Black women going out of their way to embellish their beauty. The operative phrase is, “Going out of their way” to enhance their beauty. This is hard, because I’m trying hard not to offend the very people that I adore so much. OK, let’s delve off into this.

I look at most Black anchor women on TV, most Black actresses, and last but definitely not least, Black professional women; from my perspective Black women are going out of their way to look like a White woman with Farrah Fawsett hair. I see our beautiful Black sisters with hair down their backs, moving their false hair out of their eyes on nation-wide TV; knowing all along everybody knows their hair is false. I’m also turned off with some sisters with the long ‘Rastafarian Dreadlocks’ all down their backs.

What the hell happened to being proud of the GOD given beauty you slithered through the ‘Fallopian Tube’ with? Make no mistake about it, real men are attracted to real women who are proud of who they are; not who they try to emulate. The message is simple, just be yourself, that’s usually all real men want from you. Don’t take this personal, I’m just talking in general; but I’m serious also.

Luv ya, later.

The Mosque: Most Are Missing The Point

I tried my best to stay away from the ‘Mosque near Ground Zero’ controversy. My reasoning is simple, as a Black American who was raised in the 1950’s; I know first hand what discrimination feels like and how it affects those who have been, and those who are continuously being discriminated against today. Nearly everyone on both ends of the spectrum are misconstruing what the real controversy is about. Since Barack Hussein Obama became President, race relations in America have plummeted to an all time low; it’s not his fault because he was born Black. The descendants of indentured servants need to get over it.

Everyday since the ‘Mosque Near Ground Zero’ became a focal point in the media, it became apparent this would blossom into a controversy. Now all of a sudden the debate is whether or not President Obama is a Muslim is the news story of the day. The majority of Americans know the President is a Christian, but the media gives the low percentage of poor White trash of Americans a platform to spew their hatred towards this President. Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of the late Rev. Billy Graham is feeding hatred to those of the ‘Birther Movement’ of whether or not the President is a Muslim. The President rightfully weighed in on the Mosque controversy, albeit sloppily put, but the right thing to do never the less. Now all of a sudden, the left wing and the right wing poll numbers shot-up to show that now they believe the President is a Muslim. Where in the Constitution does it say that one has to be a Christian to be President of this diverse great nation?

We have, mostly Tea Bagger members shouting about they want their country back. This kind of rhetoric is the reason why our youths lag behind the rest of the industrialized world in intelligence. For some reason somebody forgot to inform these descendants of indentured servants who sailed to America, only to discover the American Indians was already here, and therefore they don’t have a country to reclaim.

I hear left wing and right wing people talk about, it’s not about whether or not Muslims have the right to open a Mosque near ‘Ground Zero’; it’s about sensitivity. Let’s discuss sensitivity for a minute or two. Since the attack on 9/11 touched approximately every religious denomination that lost their lives on that day, should we protest against a Christian Church or a Synagogue being constructed near ‘Ground Zero’? Then we hear these same people, left wing and right wing, have the audacity to say, “the majority of Americans are against the Mosque being constructed near Ground Zero, so therefore they should move it farther away from Ground Zero.”

There was a time in this country when the majority of Americans believed Blacks was merely a piece of property; do with them whatever their ‘SLAVE OWNER’ saw fit.

There was a time in this country when the majority of Americans believed Blacks shouldn’t have any ‘Freedom of Rights’ in America.

There was a time in this country when the majority of Americans believed it was a good thing when there were ‘Black Only’ signs and ‘White Only’ signs posted throughout every government building and places of public businesses.

There was a time in this country when the majority of Americans believed ‘Women’ shouldn’t have the same rights as men; kind of borders on the same line as Talibanism.

Does this mean since the majority of Americans believe the Mosque shouldn’t be constructed near Ground Zero, we should just say, “Oh well, the majority has spoken, so let it be written, so let it be done?’ I could go on and on about why ignorance seems to prevail in this country, but it should be obvious to everybody, if the parents are stupid, their children will likely be just as stupid.

Iraq War: Was It Worth It

As the first convoy of the last combat troops pulled out of Iraq in the wee hours of Tuesday (August 17, 2010) night, the question must be asked, “Was it worth it?” Before I offer my opinion on whether or not the war in Iraq was worth it, let me point out some facts. (1.) We declared war on a country based on a lie; Iraq had nothing to do with the attack on 9/11. (2.) Over 4,000 brave military men and women lost their lives in Iraq, and no weapons of mass destruction were found. (3.) As of today, right now, there’s no functioning government in Iraq. (4.) Over 80% of Iraqis feel that their country is worse off today than it was before we invaded. (5.) The effort in Afghanistan has deteriorated because we invaded Iraq.

In my opinion when I look at the facts, Iraq was definitely not worth it. Everybody in the Bush administration who pushed for the Iraq war should be charged with 4,000 counts of first degree murder.

A Moment in Black History

The Date Was June 1, 1921

"BLACK WALL STREET"
The name fittingly given to one of the most affluent All-BLACK Communities in America, was bombed from the air and burned to the ground by mobs of envious Whites.

In a period spanning fewer than 12 hours, a once thriving Black Business District in northern Tulsa lay smoldering, a model community destroyed and a major African-American economic movement resoundingly defused. The night's carnage left some 3,000 African Americans dead and over 600 successful businesses lost. Among these were 21 Churches, 21 Restaurants, 30 Grocery Stores and 2 Movie Theaters, plus a Hospital, a Bank, a Post Office, Libraries, Schools, Law Offices, a half dozen Private Airplanes and even A Bus System. As could have been expected, the impetus behind it all was the infamous Ku Klux Klan, working in consort with ranking city officials and many other sympathizers.

The best description of BLACK WALL STREET, or Little Africa as it was also known, would be to compare it to a mini - Berverly Hills. It was the golden door of the BLACK community during the early 1900s, and it proved that African Americans could create a successful infrastructure. That's what BLACK WALL STREET was all about. The dollar circulated 36 to 100, sometimes taking a year for currency to leave the community. Now a dollar leaves the BLACK community in 15-minutes. As far as resources, there were Ph.D.'s residing in Little Africa, BLACK attorneys and doctors. One doctor was Dr. Berry who owned the bus system. His average income was $500 a day, which was a hefty piece of pocket change in 1910.

It was a time when the entire State of Oklahoma had only 2 Airports, yet 6 BLACKS, owned their own planes. It was a very fascinating community. The mainstay of the community was to educate every child. Nepotism was the one word they believed in; and that's what we need to get back to. The main thoroughfare was Greenwood Avenue, and it was intersected by Archer and Pine Streets. From the first letters in each of those three names you get G.A.P. and that's where the renowned R and B music group 'The GAP Band' got its name. They're From Tulsa.

BLACK WALL STREET was a prime example of the typical, BLACK community in America that had businesses, but it was in an unusual location. At the time, Oklahoma was set aside to be a BLACK and Indian State, there were over 28 BLACK Townships there. One third of the people who traveled in the terrifying "Trail of Tears" along side the Indians between 1830 and 1842 were BLACK people. The citizens of this proposed Indian and BLACK state chose a BLACK Governor and a Treasurer from Kansas named McDade. But the Ku Klux Klan said that if he assumed office that they would kill him within 48 hours. A lot of BLACKS owned farmland, and many of them had gone into the oil business. The community was so tight and wealthy because they traded dollars hand-to-hand, and because they were dependent upon one another as a result of the Jim Crow Laws. It was not unusual that if a resident's home accidentally burned down, it could be rebuilt within a few weeks by neighbors. This was the type of scenario that was going on day-to-day on BLACK WALL STREET.

When BLACKs intermarried into the Indian culture, some of them received their promised '40 Acres and a Mule' and with that came whatever oil was later found on the properties of BLACK WALL STREET. A lot of global business was conducted, the community flourished from the early 1900s until June 1, 1921.. That's when the largest massacre of non-military Americans in the history of this country took place, and it was lead by The KU KLUX KLAN.

Imagine walking out of your front door and seeing 1,500 homes being burned. It must have been amazing. Survivors that were interviewed think that the whole thing was planned because during the time that all of this was going on; White families with their children stood around the borders of their community and watched the massacre. The looting and everything, much in the same manner they would watch a Lynching. The riots weren't caused by anything Black or White; It was caused by jealousy. A lot of White people had come back from World War I and they were poor. When they looked over into the BLACK communities and realized that BLACK men who fought in the war had come home heroes, that helped trigger the destruction.

It cost the BLACK community everything, and not a single dime of restitution, no insurance claims has been awarded the victims to this day; nonetheless, they rebuilt. It has been estimated 1,500 to 3,000 people were killed, a lot of them were Buried in mass graves all around the city. Some were thrown into the river, as a matter of fact, at 21st Street and Yale Avenue, where there now stands a Sears Parking Lot, that corner used to be a Coal Mine. Many of the bodies were just dumped into Mine Shafts.

TULSA, Oklahoma (CNN)
Beulah Smith and Kenny Booker, two elderly Oklahomans, lived through one of the worst race riots in U.S. history, a rarely mentioned 1921 Tulsa blood bath that officially took thousands of African American lives. The Tulsa Race Riot Commission, formed two years ago to determine exactly what happened, will consider next week the controversial issue of what, if any, reparations should be paid to the known survivors of the riot. A group of less than 100 that includes Beulah Smith, now 92, and Kenny Booker, 86.

'The Gun Went Off, the Riot Was On'
On the Night of May 31,1921, mobs called for the lynching of Dick Rowland, A Black Man who shined shoes, after hearing reports that on the previous day he had assaulted Sarah Page, a White woman, in the elevator she operated in a downtown building. A local newspaper, had printed a fabricated story that Rowland tried to rape Page. In an editorial, the same newspaper said a hanging was planned for that night. As groups of both Blacks and Whites converged on the Tulsa courthouse, a White man in the crowd confronted an armed Black man, a war veteran, who had joined with other Blacks to protect Rowland.

Commissioner member Eddie Faye Gates told CNN what happened next.
"This White Man," she said, asked the Black man, "What are you doing with this gun?" "I'm going to use it if I have to," the Black man said, according to Gates, "and the White man said, 'No, you're not. Give it to me,' and he tried to take it. The gun went off, the White man was dead, The Riot Was On."
Truckloads of Whites set fires and shot Blacks on sight. When the smoke lifted the next day, more than 1,400 homes and businesses in Tulsa's Greenwood District, a prosperous area known as the "Black Wall Street," lay in ruins.
Today, only a single block of the original buildings remains standing in the area. Experts now estimate that at least 3,000 died.

'We're in a heck of a lot of trouble' Beulah Smith was 14 years old the night of the riot. A neighbor named Frenchie came pounding on her family's door in a Tulsa neighborhood known as "Little Africa" that also went up in flames.
"Get your families out of here because they're, killing Niggers uptown," she remembers Frenchie saying. "We hid in the weeds in the Hog Pen," Smith told CNN. People in a mob that came to Kenny Booker's house asked, "Nigger, do you have a gun?" he told CNN. Booker, then a teen-ager, hid with his family in their attic until the home was torched. "When we got downstairs, things were burning. My sister asked me, 'Kenny, is the world on fire?' I said, 'I don't know, but we're in a heck of a lot of trouble, baby." Another Riot Survivor, Ruth Avery, who was 7 at the time, gives an account matched by others who told of bombs dropped from small airplanes passing overhead. The explosive devices may have been dynamite or molotov cocktails, gasoline filled bottles set afire and thrown as grenades. "They'd throw it down and when it would hit, it would burst into flames," Avery said. Only A single block remains of the 1,400 homes and businesses that made up the area known as the 'Black Wall Street'. Many of the survivors mentioned bodies were stacked like cord wood, says Richard Warner of the Tulsa Historical Society. In its search for the facts, The Commission has literally been trying to dig up the truth. Two headstones at Tulsa's Oaklawn Cemetery indicate that riot victims are buried there. In an effort to determine how many, archeological experts in May used ground-piercing radar and other equipment to test the soil in a search for unmarked graves. The test picked up indications that hundreds of people have been buried in an area just outside the cemetery.

A DAM SHAME

As a Black man, every time I read an article like this, the more I hate my own people. Make no mistake about it, gang members are outright cowards; it’s a proven fact. They’re too scared to fight one-on-one, so what does these cowards do, not only do they get strapped, but they have to have their gang members with them also. These bunch of cowards know for a fact their fight game is triple zero, this is the reason they don’t go knuckle-to-knuckle.

My main reason for being outraged about this is because some supposedly leadership group is going to try and blame these cowards’ actions on some kind of socialism or slavery bullshit. If these stupid fools want to kill each other, go ahead, but when you start killing little babies, this put you in the category of the KKK blowing up churches with little girls in it.

The same way I wanted to hunt down KKK members and put a hole through their brain, when I read articles like this, it makes me want to hunt down gang members and treat them the same way. The KKK don’t hate Black people just because they’re Black anymore, they hate Black people these days because they don’t get a chance to kill Black people anymore; you ignorant NIGGERS are doing all the killing for them. It’s a reason why the world views Black people as the dumbest race of people on earth. Please don’t give me the bullshit about there are other gang members other than Black gang members; take care of your own house first you dam fool.

Tanaja Stokes, 8-Year-Old Chicago Girl, Gunned Down While Jumping Rope - CBSNews
Click here to read the entire article...

JOBS BILL

The House of Representatives cut short their August recess to pass a $26 billion state jobs bill targeting teachers and Medicaid. The bill passed 247 to 161, mostly on a party line vote. Detractors of the bill argue the bill benefits unions only, backers of the bill argue the bill is needed to save teachers jobs.

On the subject of union haters, I’d like to see the people who are against unions to vow not to send their children to any school whose teachers are represented by unions.

I would like to see the union haters to vow when they are victims of a crime, to tell the dispatcher on the other end of their 911 call not to send any police officers who are represented by unions.

I would like to see the union haters to vow when their house is burning down, to tell the dispatcher on the other end of their 911 call not to send any firefighters who are represented by unions.

We all know that will never happen, but if the union haters don’t do what I said above; they are bona fide, 100% hypocrites.