January 2, 2010: the beginning of the 2nd decade in the new millennium. So on a lazy and gray Saturday I spent most of the morning in my bed with my laptop and a cup of Roboos tea while listening to jazz classics on Yahoo internet radio when the next tune that came on was Billie Holiday song, ‘Day In Day Out’.
The year 2009 for me began with a profound dream: hearing the voice of GOD. From a grand foyer of rich polished oak walls framed of crown molding surrounded by floor to ceiling windows and stained glass, I ascended to the sky over an oversized staircase to enter through a massive door. In my dream, I leave a fearful friend and a sacrificial soul behind to still the turbulent winds that allow for me enter into another space and time: in a house above the sky to follow the VOICE that kept repeating, “I’m right here.” And just before I see the face of GOD, I am suddenly awakened from my lucid dream by good buddy in L.A. who phones me at 6 AM. It was not time for me to see the face of GOD and be able to tell others about it. But not just yet.
Recollecting my thoughts of 2009 since the beginning of the new millennium, it not seems like it was just a flash of space and time shared with many people. In 2009, we have seen Katt Williams get arrested yet again, Ophra Winfrey make an incredible announcement that she is retiring…how do you retire your ego when you have been the sole person on every cover of your own magazine for the last ten years?? While we were blessed to witness the unfolding of American history with the inauguration of an African American President, we lose Michael Jackson the King of Pop way too soon.
Weathering the storms of 2009 with good intentions, last January along with other local women I swore to serve an organization consisting of council of realtors in which we all witnesses the unraveling personalities that reflected the unstable leadership in place and the mortgage industry instability. By mid July the chapter all but completely disappeared.
Later in the year I sampled what it must have been like for post Katrina when thousands of people experienced life inside the Super Dome arena. I spent a minimum of fifteen hours for two days at Cow Palace in South San Francisco at a NACA event, in an attempt to get my mortgage modified along with thousands of other persons who camped out in the cold and rain seeking assistance to save their home; a matter that remains uncomfortably open.
For the last decade, Americans have witnessed the devastation of terrorism first hand on 911; weathered major storms like Katrina; heard interviews from only few Tsunami survivors; seen Wall Street come to its knees in financial crisis; and watch Olympians triumph and be defeated. We’ve been indoctrinated with Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and entered into the reality of My Space beginning with the Flavor of Love through Court TV and watched the banter and foolishness of privileged housewives across America. I’ve had ten broken and lost cell phones, replaced numerous of inoperable cordless phones, removed computer numerous of viruses and ultimately replace five computers and four operating systems. I’ve watched my insurance sharply increase, then go down and then up again. I've purchased a CPap machine to keep me breathing while sleeping; I have nervously taken to the air domestically and internationally in friendly discomfort and in exchange rode Amtrak down the Capital Corridor repeatedly. I eagerly got married and wearingly filed for divorced due to "irreconcilable differences." And finally, I have allowed my passport to life to almost expire.
At the beginning of the century, reality for me was watching my dad transform from a proud single arrogant cocky golfing blue-collar well-paid BART-employed soul brother-man with income property and a descent pension who occasionally sprinted to Reno to post football bets; a man that often tinkered on his vintage 1976 Corvette and who frequently prepared his famous barbeque to passionately subdue the beckoning belly, to become a half-conscious feisty inaudible piss-smelling diaper-wearing pale old man-resident of the Lakeside Dementia –Alzheimer care center. I am his only visitor. And on every other Sundays, we go on occasional outings often to church.
All we have is today, Day in and Day out: just one day at a time. But what a difference a day can make! To quote the lyrics so poetically song by Dinah Washington: ‘Twenty-four little hours brought the sun and the flowers where there used to be rain.’ Today is another day to make the best of life, one day at a time. Wow! And just to think about the dream I had the beginning of 2009, is still like I just woke up this morning from the same dream - hearing the voice of GOD. It makes me pause right where I am, right now. Someplace else…deep and far away yet right here. It serves as a simple reminder of how close GOD really is. Have a healthy, happy and prosperous 2010.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Sentiments on Michael Jackson
It has been almost two weeks since the passing of Michael Jackson and not one day has gone by that without the mentioning of his name in public or private. Just this week alone in warmer than usual Bay Area weather, at any given time a car passes along the streets with blaring sounds of Michael Jackson’s hits. It’s strikes me a funny to see even a hard-core brother who looks like he’s be banging out rap beats is playing MJ’s tunes instead, rather I am touched.
It was 1969, while I sat on the floor in the den in the house we live on Buckingham Road in Los Angeles, watching the Jackson 5 for the first time one Saturday morning. It was the first time my eyes locked on the television screen focused on Michael, my heart froze. Barbee dolls fell from my hands while my little girl heart skipped a beat then fluttered for the first time. Wow, what a feeling. Who is that little boy who could dance and sing like that? I was smitten henceforth for the rest of my pubertal years.
Sometime later during the pre-thriller years, my musical taste matured to a new infatuated passion for other artist like Prince and Marvin Gaye until MJ’s come back with the talented producing of Q that not only reawakened my love for MJ, but appreciation of him as an artistically talent who had masterfully overcame the labeling of a childhood star to come into his own identity and his own voice which so few are able to achieve.
My fondest and cherished memory is when my mom Margie, my aunts Dot and Verna decided to treat my beloved grandma Chandler or Ma’Dear for a special night on the town for her birthday to see the musical Dream Girls at the Schubert Theatre in Century City. This was so special for Ma’Dear who was from DeKalb, Mississippi although she was living in Los Angeles she never left the house nor was it customary for her to dress up in fine clothes, pearls and heels for an evening outting. But on this night, we surprised her and took her out to see the play which brought her and all of us true joy. That evening while at the Shubert, I went to the lobby during the first act to go to the ladies lounge when while walking through the lobby I turned my head to speak to Dot who was just steps behind me. Suddenly I bumped into someone, practically stepping onto his foot. I paused and looked up. Inches from my face was the face of the incredibly sweet and handsome Michael Jackson looking down at me with a hospitable smile. He simply said, “hello.”
I was too startled to speak or move. I smiled back nervously. Once I snapped out of the trance, suddenly I realized that there was a trail of fans in the lobby that began to push and shove as the reality of the situation registered in my brain. Once I could move my legs,I was finally able to step aside for him to pass. I shall never forget as this was the highlight of the evening.
We love Michael because he continued to forge his identity while redefining the superstardom that the world had never seen before his existence. There are few world figures like Princes Diana, Mother Theresa, the Pope; Nelson Mandela that came at a time that many countries on the globe would embrace a global figure. Michael Jackson would be the only superstar musical performer that would supersede all others. You have to wonder, could it be that he was simply persecuted in the media and by those because he loved too much? Could it be that he was Christ-like, pure in heart and wrongly persecuted and died because of that? In MJ’s case, I think that there are several to blame. I cannot help but feel sad and sorry for this pure loving and passionate man.
Perhaps my thoughts and comments are redundant and echo many other comments. But just like everyone and anyone who has been touched my MJ, I too have my sentiments and feel the need to express my grief and sorrow as well as the need to reminences the sweet sentiments and joys of the past that his music was much like the score of a movie that played throughout many scenes.
All that matters is that he loved his children, his fans and his music. No matter what anyone says, his music was honest, pure. ”No legacy is so rich as honesty.” William Shakespeare. We love you Michael, rest in peace.
It was 1969, while I sat on the floor in the den in the house we live on Buckingham Road in Los Angeles, watching the Jackson 5 for the first time one Saturday morning. It was the first time my eyes locked on the television screen focused on Michael, my heart froze. Barbee dolls fell from my hands while my little girl heart skipped a beat then fluttered for the first time. Wow, what a feeling. Who is that little boy who could dance and sing like that? I was smitten henceforth for the rest of my pubertal years.
Sometime later during the pre-thriller years, my musical taste matured to a new infatuated passion for other artist like Prince and Marvin Gaye until MJ’s come back with the talented producing of Q that not only reawakened my love for MJ, but appreciation of him as an artistically talent who had masterfully overcame the labeling of a childhood star to come into his own identity and his own voice which so few are able to achieve.
My fondest and cherished memory is when my mom Margie, my aunts Dot and Verna decided to treat my beloved grandma Chandler or Ma’Dear for a special night on the town for her birthday to see the musical Dream Girls at the Schubert Theatre in Century City. This was so special for Ma’Dear who was from DeKalb, Mississippi although she was living in Los Angeles she never left the house nor was it customary for her to dress up in fine clothes, pearls and heels for an evening outting. But on this night, we surprised her and took her out to see the play which brought her and all of us true joy. That evening while at the Shubert, I went to the lobby during the first act to go to the ladies lounge when while walking through the lobby I turned my head to speak to Dot who was just steps behind me. Suddenly I bumped into someone, practically stepping onto his foot. I paused and looked up. Inches from my face was the face of the incredibly sweet and handsome Michael Jackson looking down at me with a hospitable smile. He simply said, “hello.”
I was too startled to speak or move. I smiled back nervously. Once I snapped out of the trance, suddenly I realized that there was a trail of fans in the lobby that began to push and shove as the reality of the situation registered in my brain. Once I could move my legs,I was finally able to step aside for him to pass. I shall never forget as this was the highlight of the evening.
We love Michael because he continued to forge his identity while redefining the superstardom that the world had never seen before his existence. There are few world figures like Princes Diana, Mother Theresa, the Pope; Nelson Mandela that came at a time that many countries on the globe would embrace a global figure. Michael Jackson would be the only superstar musical performer that would supersede all others. You have to wonder, could it be that he was simply persecuted in the media and by those because he loved too much? Could it be that he was Christ-like, pure in heart and wrongly persecuted and died because of that? In MJ’s case, I think that there are several to blame. I cannot help but feel sad and sorry for this pure loving and passionate man.
Perhaps my thoughts and comments are redundant and echo many other comments. But just like everyone and anyone who has been touched my MJ, I too have my sentiments and feel the need to express my grief and sorrow as well as the need to reminences the sweet sentiments and joys of the past that his music was much like the score of a movie that played throughout many scenes.
All that matters is that he loved his children, his fans and his music. No matter what anyone says, his music was honest, pure. ”No legacy is so rich as honesty.” William Shakespeare. We love you Michael, rest in peace.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The African Presence in México: Present History Revealed
The restrained mouth of history for where once was a hundreds of thousands of wrestles truths buried insignificantly in shame and all but forgotten has been rescued and resurrected from centuries of silence to reveal timely cultural treasures in the exhibit of African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to the Present now showing at the Oakland Museum of California. This is a small exhibit, nonetheless powerfully significant.
It is common place in the US that Americans traditionally discuss race relations in terms of American History, past and present. At times it appears that most American students have little knowledge about geography or anything about countries outside of the US. Unlike many European nations and countries that were colonized by the United Kingdom with educational institution established by the monarchy, most students outside of the United States have a far better awareness of countries and geographical locations. Perhaps this can partly be attributed to Great Britain’s successful colonization and claim on several countries. Whereas in the US, history largely focused on the mark of establishing independence from Great Britain and later the Civil War that was fueled by the political dissension of providing freedom to enslaved blacks.
But here we are today in the twenty-second century with the booming influx of Mexican and Hispanic immigrants over the last two decades; while challenging the politics of black and brown race issues and immigrant workers, the Nation Museum of Mexican Art tours the exhibit of African Presence in Mexico revealing the third root that made a strong cultural influence on art, music, food, and wars.
Who Knew
Between 1580 and 1640, Mexico had the largest African population in the New World.
1570 New Spain’s (Colonial Mexico) population includes 23,008 blacks and mulattoes.
1573—Professor Bartolome de Albornoz of the University of Mexico writes against the enslavement and sale of Africans.
1598 Isabel de Olvera, a free mulatto, accompanies the Juan Guerra de Resa Expedition which colonizes what is now New Mexico.
1600-1790s—Persons of African ancestry are among the founders or early settlers of numerous towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California including San Antonio, Laredo, El Paso, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Tucson, San Diego, Monterey and San Francisco.
1602 By Spanish law, mulattoes (people of combined African and European ethnicity), convicts, and "idle" Africans may be shipped to Latin America and forced to work in the mines there.
1609 Fugitive slaves in Mexico, led by Yanga, sign a truce with Spanish colonial authorities and obtain their freedom and a town of their own.
1617 The town of San Lorenzo de los Negros receives a charter from Spanish colonial officials in Mexico and becomes the first officially recognized free settlement for blacks in the New World.
1646 New Spain’s (Colonial Mexico) population includes 35,089 blacks and 116,529 mulattoes.
1750 The census of Albuquerque reveals that 25% of the families have some African ancestry.
1778 A census of San Antonio, Texas shows 759 male residents including 151 blacks and mulattoes but only four are enslaved.
1781 Los Angeles is founded by 44 settlers including 26 who have some African ancestry.
1820-1825 Free African Americans from the United States settle in Mexican Texas. One of the most notable is former North Carolinian William Goyens who settles near Nacogdoches in 1820. By the time of his death in 1856, Goyens will have acquired 13,000 acres of land.
1824 A New Mexican Constitution adopted on October 4 outlaws slavery throughout Mexico including Mexican Texas.
1829 On September 15, Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero mixed of African Indian ancestry, issues the Guerrero Decree which prohibits slavery in any form in Mexico. Guerrero however issues a subsequent decree on December 2 which exempts Texas from the ban.
1831 Pio Pico, a descendant of persons of African ancestry, becomes governor of Mexican California after overthrowing Colonel Manuel Victoria, another person of African ancestry.
1835 At the beginning of the year there are approximately 25,000 English-speaking inhabitants of Mexican Texas including 5,000 enslaved African Americans. The Tejano population is approximately 6,000 and there are 14,500 Indians.
Pio Pico again serves as Governor of Mexican California. He is the last governor during Mexican rule.
1846-1848 War with Mexico.
1848—On February 2, Mexico and the United States sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty transfers control of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah from Mexico to the United States. Mexico also relinquishes its claim to Texas in exchange for $20 million.
1849 The California Gold Rush begins. Eventually four thousand African Americans will migrate to California during this period.
Early African American settlers in San Francisco create the first two mutual aid associations for blacks in the far west, the West Indian Benevolent Association and the Mutual Benefit and Relief Society.
1850—The Compromise of 1850 revisits the issue of slavery. California enters the Union as a free state, but the territories of New Mexico and Utah are allowed to decide whether they will enter the Union as slave or free states. The 1850 Compromise also allows passage of a much stricter Fugitive Slave Law. Despite California’s status as a nominally “free” state, approximately 1,000 blacks are in slavery with most of the bonds people brought in from slaveholding states.
Resources: http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/alm.html
http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/af/africanpresence.html
It is common place in the US that Americans traditionally discuss race relations in terms of American History, past and present. At times it appears that most American students have little knowledge about geography or anything about countries outside of the US. Unlike many European nations and countries that were colonized by the United Kingdom with educational institution established by the monarchy, most students outside of the United States have a far better awareness of countries and geographical locations. Perhaps this can partly be attributed to Great Britain’s successful colonization and claim on several countries. Whereas in the US, history largely focused on the mark of establishing independence from Great Britain and later the Civil War that was fueled by the political dissension of providing freedom to enslaved blacks.
But here we are today in the twenty-second century with the booming influx of Mexican and Hispanic immigrants over the last two decades; while challenging the politics of black and brown race issues and immigrant workers, the Nation Museum of Mexican Art tours the exhibit of African Presence in Mexico revealing the third root that made a strong cultural influence on art, music, food, and wars.
Who Knew
Between 1580 and 1640, Mexico had the largest African population in the New World.
1570 New Spain’s (Colonial Mexico) population includes 23,008 blacks and mulattoes.
1573—Professor Bartolome de Albornoz of the University of Mexico writes against the enslavement and sale of Africans.
1598 Isabel de Olvera, a free mulatto, accompanies the Juan Guerra de Resa Expedition which colonizes what is now New Mexico.
1600-1790s—Persons of African ancestry are among the founders or early settlers of numerous towns in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California including San Antonio, Laredo, El Paso, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Tucson, San Diego, Monterey and San Francisco.
1602 By Spanish law, mulattoes (people of combined African and European ethnicity), convicts, and "idle" Africans may be shipped to Latin America and forced to work in the mines there.
1609 Fugitive slaves in Mexico, led by Yanga, sign a truce with Spanish colonial authorities and obtain their freedom and a town of their own.
1617 The town of San Lorenzo de los Negros receives a charter from Spanish colonial officials in Mexico and becomes the first officially recognized free settlement for blacks in the New World.
1646 New Spain’s (Colonial Mexico) population includes 35,089 blacks and 116,529 mulattoes.
1750 The census of Albuquerque reveals that 25% of the families have some African ancestry.
1778 A census of San Antonio, Texas shows 759 male residents including 151 blacks and mulattoes but only four are enslaved.
1781 Los Angeles is founded by 44 settlers including 26 who have some African ancestry.
1820-1825 Free African Americans from the United States settle in Mexican Texas. One of the most notable is former North Carolinian William Goyens who settles near Nacogdoches in 1820. By the time of his death in 1856, Goyens will have acquired 13,000 acres of land.
1824 A New Mexican Constitution adopted on October 4 outlaws slavery throughout Mexico including Mexican Texas.
1829 On September 15, Mexican President Vicente Ramon Guerrero mixed of African Indian ancestry, issues the Guerrero Decree which prohibits slavery in any form in Mexico. Guerrero however issues a subsequent decree on December 2 which exempts Texas from the ban.
1831 Pio Pico, a descendant of persons of African ancestry, becomes governor of Mexican California after overthrowing Colonel Manuel Victoria, another person of African ancestry.
1835 At the beginning of the year there are approximately 25,000 English-speaking inhabitants of Mexican Texas including 5,000 enslaved African Americans. The Tejano population is approximately 6,000 and there are 14,500 Indians.
Pio Pico again serves as Governor of Mexican California. He is the last governor during Mexican rule.
1846-1848 War with Mexico.
1848—On February 2, Mexico and the United States sign the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The treaty transfers control of California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and Utah from Mexico to the United States. Mexico also relinquishes its claim to Texas in exchange for $20 million.
1849 The California Gold Rush begins. Eventually four thousand African Americans will migrate to California during this period.
Early African American settlers in San Francisco create the first two mutual aid associations for blacks in the far west, the West Indian Benevolent Association and the Mutual Benefit and Relief Society.
1850—The Compromise of 1850 revisits the issue of slavery. California enters the Union as a free state, but the territories of New Mexico and Utah are allowed to decide whether they will enter the Union as slave or free states. The 1850 Compromise also allows passage of a much stricter Fugitive Slave Law. Despite California’s status as a nominally “free” state, approximately 1,000 blacks are in slavery with most of the bonds people brought in from slaveholding states.
Resources: http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/alm.html
http://www.nationalmuseumofmexicanart.org/af/africanpresence.html
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
ViBeJuice Review - Dobet Gnahore
Twenty-five year old Dobet Gnahoré, West African singer from Cote d’ivoire gave a captivating performance at Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland July 2008. Having never seen nor heard the singer, I ventured along with a friend Jet to hear what’s new in afro-world beat.
People from ages twenty to seventy, a mix Americans, hip, old and young crowded into the venue with a palpitating excitement, most whom Jet and I thought were the least likely to attend a show on a Thursday night to see the African songstress. We pondered how did these ticket holders know of the headliner? How had they been introduced to this type of music? I though perhaps some of the younger ticket holders had served in the Peace Corps in Africa and was exposed to local culture of political instability, disease, food and music; well at the least they looked like the type.
The show began on time, while late comers scampered to find the few remaining seats. There was a tense anticipation as the three musicians walked on stage: bass guitarist and singer from Tunisia, Nabil Mehrezi, and guitarist from France, Colin Laroche de Feline; and Togolese drummer Boris Tchango.
The intro music began with a throbbing and pulsing rhythm as Dobet gracefully entered the small stage with her powerful scales of melodic chants then burst into afro-operatic bellows. Her small shapely and strong frame was draped in a black with skirt worn over pants and a black leotard; hair tied with a black scar and sculpted high like a crown, while her face boldly pronounced and beautifully adorned with paint, gold, and jeweled like a Dogon mask.
Gnahore is a youthful relentless performer. She is a powerful dancer with rhythmic sways, complex footwork from bent knee and sudden jumps into incredibly high kicks while occasionally freezing abruptly on a hard downbeat …stop….pause in a warring pose… break into a fast deep rhythmic dance that had you dancing along with her from your seats, applauding and shouting in amazement. (YouTube)
Gnahore played the Congo drum, not typical or tradition for female performers. One song in particular, she sat on the far right of the stage and sang out a beautifully scale of melodies in one of the seven dialects she speaks while she played a gourd. Dobet’s stage presence is gracious in every since of the word which can only be described as beautifully enigmatic. (My Space).
People from ages twenty to seventy, a mix Americans, hip, old and young crowded into the venue with a palpitating excitement, most whom Jet and I thought were the least likely to attend a show on a Thursday night to see the African songstress. We pondered how did these ticket holders know of the headliner? How had they been introduced to this type of music? I though perhaps some of the younger ticket holders had served in the Peace Corps in Africa and was exposed to local culture of political instability, disease, food and music; well at the least they looked like the type.
The show began on time, while late comers scampered to find the few remaining seats. There was a tense anticipation as the three musicians walked on stage: bass guitarist and singer from Tunisia, Nabil Mehrezi, and guitarist from France, Colin Laroche de Feline; and Togolese drummer Boris Tchango.
The intro music began with a throbbing and pulsing rhythm as Dobet gracefully entered the small stage with her powerful scales of melodic chants then burst into afro-operatic bellows. Her small shapely and strong frame was draped in a black with skirt worn over pants and a black leotard; hair tied with a black scar and sculpted high like a crown, while her face boldly pronounced and beautifully adorned with paint, gold, and jeweled like a Dogon mask.
Gnahore is a youthful relentless performer. She is a powerful dancer with rhythmic sways, complex footwork from bent knee and sudden jumps into incredibly high kicks while occasionally freezing abruptly on a hard downbeat …stop….pause in a warring pose… break into a fast deep rhythmic dance that had you dancing along with her from your seats, applauding and shouting in amazement. (YouTube)
Gnahore played the Congo drum, not typical or tradition for female performers. One song in particular, she sat on the far right of the stage and sang out a beautifully scale of melodies in one of the seven dialects she speaks while she played a gourd. Dobet’s stage presence is gracious in every since of the word which can only be described as beautifully enigmatic. (My Space).
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The American Dream: A Road to Debt and Uncertainty
While in pursuit of the American dream you may find that the scales of prosperity grossly imbalanced with high debt and inflation. For one to proudly announce that buying a home is their life’s accomplishment and then later say ‘ what I really meant was that I live in a big and beautiful home which has a huge adjustable mortgage I can barely afford while living just one paycheck away from complete financial turmoil’ is a distance from the intended American Dream concept. Has the goal of the American Dream become a concept driven by obsession for power, wealth and levels of greed? Or, are we just innocent media-fed victims of a social culture where media and most forms of advertising emphasize that material wealth equates to power and happiness, which are also financed by government regulated banks and credit corporations who are the profitiers.
Energy prices are increasing along with oil and gas prices at a critical time when we are facing an upcoming presidential election. Topics aired nightly on news programs cover controversial commentaries about the presidential election between Obama and McCain; debates about war in Iraq with potential threats in Iran; debates on border security and immigration policies, and discussions surrounding the economy and mortgage crisis. Everyone is affected by the economy and the shrinking dollar worldwide; however, the major impact is on the low wealth to middle income households that is equivalent to Hurricane Katrina on the gulf.
While personal income reportedly grew in 2006 and then lowered in 2007, unemployment rates have increased sharply coinciding with the rise of foreclosures and slumping housing starts according to the Federal Reserve Board. Generations of old and young adults are in tremendous debt. The total amounts of debt for most Americans outweigh their personal savings and/or assets. In addition, many Americans can no longer afford to retire by the age of 65. While it is easy to blame our politicians and elected officials who continue to ride on the rhetoric of promises unfulfilled, but are we citizens to blame? Is it time for us, the citizens to be accountable for our failing economy? We are directly impacted by our actions and the actions of our officials, therefore greatly influence our local economies since we elect the officials who are empowered to make decisions that will ultimately affect our health, our finances and our wellbeing. How is it then, in our advanced nation of equality and unalienable rights; where capitalism can take a man from the penile system and afford him enormous wealth; in such a great country that receives thousands of immigrants yearly; a great nation that is globally known as the land of opportunity; how is it that we end up in financial crisis with thousands facing mortgage foreclosure? Certainly one can conclude that the government has failed its citizens but we have also failed ourselves.
In the early twentieth century America, many families lived and survived by a simple rule: work hard, save money and move ahead. In simpler times, money saved meant having a down payment to buy a home by the age of 26, raise a family, and later finance the children’s education through scholarships, savings or trust accounts; retire by the age of 65 with a sufficient social security income and still manage to have money left over for retirement vacations and family emergencies. These were the images painted by Rockefeller in a pre-Civil Rights and pre-Viet Nam era.
Post Civil Rights and Viet Nam era were defining moments in America for blacks, women, and other minorities. The 1960’s ended our innocence with the death of a president, a senator and a civil rights leader but also presented new opportunities as one believed with integration, equal rights and equal pay which was believed to improve the wellbeing for all Americans. Wages increased, several families became home owner whiles others moved into better neighborhoods. Most were just happy to buy a home. More African Americans and other minorities enrolled in colleges between 1960-1970’s becoming the first to graduate in their families. Americans began to make more and spend more. It was not uncommon to own big or high powered vehicles.
In the next two decades, technology connected government and big businesses globally while waves of immigrants poured in from Asian and Latin American countries. Numbers of students from African nations, Asia and Middle Eastern countries enrolled in higher academia. Drugs were the top illegal import into the U.S. as a billion-dollar industry; driving the undercurrents of business, politics, law enforcement and multi-levels of organized crime in major cities. drug-related crimes, weapons and street gangs committed to fast-track cash, bling and control have dominated neighborhoods with rising homicide of black and hispanic youths in major cities and have even reached small rural towns. The America we once knew has changed; and with change comes uncertainty.
American values and moral fiber compromised for profit. Economic supremacy is an institution exclusive for the privileged and upheld by the upper social hierarchy, however over time has become the dominant message in modern culture. Repeated by the media, and taught by institutions to celebrate the captains of industry and successful entrepreneurs not for their hard work and contributions, but rather for their power and wealth.
Never has a State Of The Union speech announced to citizens to ‘move over; there is a New America coming to crowd your cities; you will have to compete for everything. Move aside or get to the back; jump on the band wagon or be left behind. No special privileges, just credit and dollar power. You will be continuously and increasingly seduced and bombarded with messages of material wealth and desire; but you will not be given an instruction book on how to achieve it, how to finance your future or how-to-plan for tough economic times. Your communities will struggle over budgets, crime and safety while your communities battle over its changing identity and struggle to co-exist. Your mayors will squable over how to become sustainable cities, how to decrease homicide rates and employ more police officers with budget restraints. You will have language barriers; you willpay more and wait in longer lines; property values will decrease; banks will close; companies will go out of business and there will be lay-offs while other jobs will be outsourced to third-world countries with competitive labor and material resources. In short America, you can expect a recession.’
While opportunity opened doors in areas of education, employment and housing; corporate capitalist blew the roof off the building. Capitalist are usually big risk takers, but more often make strategic decisions based on in-depth planning, profit and risk management investments. The capitalists understand that with change comes opportunity. Rewards are great once identifying the risks and developing a strategy to limit losses, some of these strategies may also include social, political and economic positioning that will in the end continue to bring big profits that feed into the pockets of the capitalist. Those born into wealth like heirs of large trusts and the corporate captains; the average person such as the self-made individual or the entrepreneur can achieve the American Dream without going bankrupt.
What is the American Dream?
Unlike some of our American parents and grandparents of previous generations who may not have had basic finance education and who worked hard but lived modestly; they understood the importance of buying a piece of land, and using it to sustain and uphold family life. Many families moved away from southern states and small towns in exchange for urban life in pursuit of the American Dream just like many immigrants who came north in search of the same.
Today’s cities have become a more and more difficult place to achieve the American Dream.’ The American Dream once was the aspiration of the under privileged who could finally say, “I bought this home and the land around it. I and my family live happily in it.” There was less focus on material wealth, cars etc. A home was used to finance education, vacations and retirement. This is what smart and simple hardworking persons do to leverage investments and to uphold life and posterity for self and family and it did not take thirty years to do. Owning a home should be attainable for average low-moderate income Americans and should not take a person thirty years to own outright. The American Dream should be the goal of everyone who wants to own a home to own it free and clear in the shortest period of time rather that to reside in a place that requires one to struggle just to pay the mortgage monthly. For some, the American Dream meant to get all you can at any cost cheating or commit some other crime, but it is no longer a dream rather it has become a nightmare of servitude bound to the wrists of its citizens shackled by employment on the right wrist and enormous long-term debt on the left overshadowed with a lifetime of uncertainty. What is the American Dream? You decide.
Energy prices are increasing along with oil and gas prices at a critical time when we are facing an upcoming presidential election. Topics aired nightly on news programs cover controversial commentaries about the presidential election between Obama and McCain; debates about war in Iraq with potential threats in Iran; debates on border security and immigration policies, and discussions surrounding the economy and mortgage crisis. Everyone is affected by the economy and the shrinking dollar worldwide; however, the major impact is on the low wealth to middle income households that is equivalent to Hurricane Katrina on the gulf.
While personal income reportedly grew in 2006 and then lowered in 2007, unemployment rates have increased sharply coinciding with the rise of foreclosures and slumping housing starts according to the Federal Reserve Board. Generations of old and young adults are in tremendous debt. The total amounts of debt for most Americans outweigh their personal savings and/or assets. In addition, many Americans can no longer afford to retire by the age of 65. While it is easy to blame our politicians and elected officials who continue to ride on the rhetoric of promises unfulfilled, but are we citizens to blame? Is it time for us, the citizens to be accountable for our failing economy? We are directly impacted by our actions and the actions of our officials, therefore greatly influence our local economies since we elect the officials who are empowered to make decisions that will ultimately affect our health, our finances and our wellbeing. How is it then, in our advanced nation of equality and unalienable rights; where capitalism can take a man from the penile system and afford him enormous wealth; in such a great country that receives thousands of immigrants yearly; a great nation that is globally known as the land of opportunity; how is it that we end up in financial crisis with thousands facing mortgage foreclosure? Certainly one can conclude that the government has failed its citizens but we have also failed ourselves.
In the early twentieth century America, many families lived and survived by a simple rule: work hard, save money and move ahead. In simpler times, money saved meant having a down payment to buy a home by the age of 26, raise a family, and later finance the children’s education through scholarships, savings or trust accounts; retire by the age of 65 with a sufficient social security income and still manage to have money left over for retirement vacations and family emergencies. These were the images painted by Rockefeller in a pre-Civil Rights and pre-Viet Nam era.
Post Civil Rights and Viet Nam era were defining moments in America for blacks, women, and other minorities. The 1960’s ended our innocence with the death of a president, a senator and a civil rights leader but also presented new opportunities as one believed with integration, equal rights and equal pay which was believed to improve the wellbeing for all Americans. Wages increased, several families became home owner whiles others moved into better neighborhoods. Most were just happy to buy a home. More African Americans and other minorities enrolled in colleges between 1960-1970’s becoming the first to graduate in their families. Americans began to make more and spend more. It was not uncommon to own big or high powered vehicles.
In the next two decades, technology connected government and big businesses globally while waves of immigrants poured in from Asian and Latin American countries. Numbers of students from African nations, Asia and Middle Eastern countries enrolled in higher academia. Drugs were the top illegal import into the U.S. as a billion-dollar industry; driving the undercurrents of business, politics, law enforcement and multi-levels of organized crime in major cities. drug-related crimes, weapons and street gangs committed to fast-track cash, bling and control have dominated neighborhoods with rising homicide of black and hispanic youths in major cities and have even reached small rural towns. The America we once knew has changed; and with change comes uncertainty.
American values and moral fiber compromised for profit. Economic supremacy is an institution exclusive for the privileged and upheld by the upper social hierarchy, however over time has become the dominant message in modern culture. Repeated by the media, and taught by institutions to celebrate the captains of industry and successful entrepreneurs not for their hard work and contributions, but rather for their power and wealth.
Never has a State Of The Union speech announced to citizens to ‘move over; there is a New America coming to crowd your cities; you will have to compete for everything. Move aside or get to the back; jump on the band wagon or be left behind. No special privileges, just credit and dollar power. You will be continuously and increasingly seduced and bombarded with messages of material wealth and desire; but you will not be given an instruction book on how to achieve it, how to finance your future or how-to-plan for tough economic times. Your communities will struggle over budgets, crime and safety while your communities battle over its changing identity and struggle to co-exist. Your mayors will squable over how to become sustainable cities, how to decrease homicide rates and employ more police officers with budget restraints. You will have language barriers; you willpay more and wait in longer lines; property values will decrease; banks will close; companies will go out of business and there will be lay-offs while other jobs will be outsourced to third-world countries with competitive labor and material resources. In short America, you can expect a recession.’
While opportunity opened doors in areas of education, employment and housing; corporate capitalist blew the roof off the building. Capitalist are usually big risk takers, but more often make strategic decisions based on in-depth planning, profit and risk management investments. The capitalists understand that with change comes opportunity. Rewards are great once identifying the risks and developing a strategy to limit losses, some of these strategies may also include social, political and economic positioning that will in the end continue to bring big profits that feed into the pockets of the capitalist. Those born into wealth like heirs of large trusts and the corporate captains; the average person such as the self-made individual or the entrepreneur can achieve the American Dream without going bankrupt.
What is the American Dream?
Unlike some of our American parents and grandparents of previous generations who may not have had basic finance education and who worked hard but lived modestly; they understood the importance of buying a piece of land, and using it to sustain and uphold family life. Many families moved away from southern states and small towns in exchange for urban life in pursuit of the American Dream just like many immigrants who came north in search of the same.
Today’s cities have become a more and more difficult place to achieve the American Dream.’ The American Dream once was the aspiration of the under privileged who could finally say, “I bought this home and the land around it. I and my family live happily in it.” There was less focus on material wealth, cars etc. A home was used to finance education, vacations and retirement. This is what smart and simple hardworking persons do to leverage investments and to uphold life and posterity for self and family and it did not take thirty years to do. Owning a home should be attainable for average low-moderate income Americans and should not take a person thirty years to own outright. The American Dream should be the goal of everyone who wants to own a home to own it free and clear in the shortest period of time rather that to reside in a place that requires one to struggle just to pay the mortgage monthly. For some, the American Dream meant to get all you can at any cost cheating or commit some other crime, but it is no longer a dream rather it has become a nightmare of servitude bound to the wrists of its citizens shackled by employment on the right wrist and enormous long-term debt on the left overshadowed with a lifetime of uncertainty. What is the American Dream? You decide.
Monday, June 30, 2008
When Black People Are Offended
In April 2008, MSNBC aired a show in which a young African American film maker David B. Wilson asked “What’s wrong with black people?” Hmmmm. My first thought was to ponder about the producers of this show and about the discussions and meetings that occurred to convince the station directors (which many would call liberal media) to dare air a program as such. In my mind, the responses began surfacing and my answers were so numerous and automatic as though they had been burrowing for the last thirty years just waiting for someone to ask me this question. I had to pause my own thoughts long enough to focus on the programming in which the producer asked people from various races to respond.
How amazing that the race topic and being black in America has gained more prevalence since now that Barack Obama, an African American is running for presidency. CNN is airing show Black in American
On April 12 2008, the Wichita NAACP posted a commentary by Kevin Miles, president of a Wichita chapter of the NAACP who also moderates a web form asking ‘Why have black people gone mad,’ addresses the same rhetorical question in his commentary which feature a controversial photo of African American Comedian Katt Williams sporting a ornamental noose to accessorize his pink pimp suit.
Oh – Kheeh, funny for some and not so funny for others. While the comedian utilized this ego-grabbing spotlight to mark his entrance on the red carpet that will be frozen in time, he provoked conversations such as ‘What’s wrong with black people.’ And remember he is a..let me spell it for you a..C O M E D I A N, and not a social-political spokesperson for blacks. I have to believe that this was a publicity stunt done for shock value. This photo received much attention, not just in mainstream media but in also in African American intellectual online community African American Opinion BlogSpot.
Nonetheless, Katt W. followed up on the controversy by making an appearance on CNN segment “Coming Out.” offering little explanation for his reasoning. Having met the comedian a few pre-Hollywood years ago, I was a bit disappointed. Like many other supporting fans of black entertainers, I too wanted some profound brilliant comedic explanation. One blogger questioned ‘should I be offended by Katt Williams?’ My question to him would be, should I be offended by black people?
There may be 365 justifiable reasons for all of these questions with one answer for each day of the year (what’s wrong with black people; have black people gone mad; and should I be offended by Katt Williams?) Perhpas what's wrong is when people remove the ability to be objective thinkers; to be able to have open civil dialogue that abandons the often primitive self-hating foul-mouth bitterness coming from damaged and sour souls of people as seen in the anonymous commentary on previous blog. While some of us pride our tonque-cursed gifts of making personal attacks on each other, many others hide behind so-called self-proclaiming godly doctrines of condemnation while being hypocritical and failing to have the capability to engage in a balanced dialogue to discuss and resolve our own issues. Clearly everyone that is black is not capable of engaging in a mindful dialogue, just as any other race of people, but we put far too much responsibility and creditability on entertainers. I don’t care if it is Chris Rock, Dave Chappell or even lil Katt Williams; slap-stick, skit comedy or buffoonery, entertainers entertain. We may laugh, frown, disagree or turn off the TV and read a book, but we should be able chuckle and be open to have a discussion or know when something is just plain stupid.
How amazing that the race topic and being black in America has gained more prevalence since now that Barack Obama, an African American is running for presidency. CNN is airing show Black in American
On April 12 2008, the Wichita NAACP posted a commentary by Kevin Miles, president of a Wichita chapter of the NAACP who also moderates a web form asking ‘Why have black people gone mad,’ addresses the same rhetorical question in his commentary which feature a controversial photo of African American Comedian Katt Williams sporting a ornamental noose to accessorize his pink pimp suit.
Oh – Kheeh, funny for some and not so funny for others. While the comedian utilized this ego-grabbing spotlight to mark his entrance on the red carpet that will be frozen in time, he provoked conversations such as ‘What’s wrong with black people.’ And remember he is a..let me spell it for you a..C O M E D I A N, and not a social-political spokesperson for blacks. I have to believe that this was a publicity stunt done for shock value. This photo received much attention, not just in mainstream media but in also in African American intellectual online community African American Opinion BlogSpot.
Nonetheless, Katt W. followed up on the controversy by making an appearance on CNN segment “Coming Out.” offering little explanation for his reasoning. Having met the comedian a few pre-Hollywood years ago, I was a bit disappointed. Like many other supporting fans of black entertainers, I too wanted some profound brilliant comedic explanation. One blogger questioned ‘should I be offended by Katt Williams?’ My question to him would be, should I be offended by black people?
There may be 365 justifiable reasons for all of these questions with one answer for each day of the year (what’s wrong with black people; have black people gone mad; and should I be offended by Katt Williams?) Perhpas what's wrong is when people remove the ability to be objective thinkers; to be able to have open civil dialogue that abandons the often primitive self-hating foul-mouth bitterness coming from damaged and sour souls of people as seen in the anonymous commentary on previous blog. While some of us pride our tonque-cursed gifts of making personal attacks on each other, many others hide behind so-called self-proclaiming godly doctrines of condemnation while being hypocritical and failing to have the capability to engage in a balanced dialogue to discuss and resolve our own issues. Clearly everyone that is black is not capable of engaging in a mindful dialogue, just as any other race of people, but we put far too much responsibility and creditability on entertainers. I don’t care if it is Chris Rock, Dave Chappell or even lil Katt Williams; slap-stick, skit comedy or buffoonery, entertainers entertain. We may laugh, frown, disagree or turn off the TV and read a book, but we should be able chuckle and be open to have a discussion or know when something is just plain stupid.
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