Living Life Abundantly

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Rose Whaley a metaphysician/ spiritual teacher and counselor in person or by phone discusses the importance of understanding Universal Laws of the mind, body, spirit, life, death and your Soul’s purpose. The Book Without A Name You Read it, You Name It,Choose the right TITLE,YOU CAN WIN 0.00. www.chakraspectrums.com

I received this thought provoking and perhaps controversial article via email forward today. I say controversial because I’m certain some will object to the opinions expressed. No matter where you stand on the issue the author certainly provides some serious food for thought. Looking forward to your thoughts on the subject. Thanks for sharing this Coach Ace.

When are we going to get over it? by Andrew M. Manis

For much of the last 40 years, ever since America “fixed” its race problem in the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, we white people have been impatient with African-Americans who continued to blame race for their difficulties. Often we have heard whites ask, “When are African-Americans finally going to get over it?” Now I want to ask “When are we white Americans going to get over our ridiculous obsession with skin color?”

Recent reports that “Election Spurs ‘Hundreds’ of Race Threats, Crimes” should frighten and infuriate every one of us. Having grown up in “Bombingham,” Ala., in the 1960s, I remember overhearing an avalanche of comments about what many white classmates and their parents wanted to do to John and Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King. Eventually, as you may recall, in all three cases, someone decided to do more than “talk the talk.” Since our recent presidential election, to our eternal shame, we are once again hearing the same reprehensible talk I remember from my boyhood.

We white people have controlled political life in the disunited colonies and United States for some 400 years on this continent. Conservative whites have been in power 28 of the last 40 years. Even during the eight Clinton years, conservatives in Congress blocked most of his agenda and pulled him to the right.

Yet never in that period did I read any headlines suggesting that anyone was calling for the assassinations of Presidents Nixon, Ford, Reagan or either of the Bushes. Criticize them, yes. Call for their impeachment, perhaps. But there were no bounties on their heads. And even when someone did try to kill Ronald Reagan, the perpetrator was a nonpolitical mental case who wanted merely to impress Jodie Foster.

But elect a liberal who happens to be black, and we’re back in the ’60s again. At this point in our history, we should be proud that we’ve proven what conservatives are always saying “” that in America anything is possible, electing a black man as president. But instead, we now hear schoolchildren from Maine to California are talking about wanting to “assassinate Obama.”

Fighting the urge to throw up, I can only ask, “How long?” How long before we white people realize we can’t make our nation, much less the whole world, look like us? How long until we white people can — once and for all — get over this hell-conceived preoccupation with skin color? How long until we white people get over the demonic conviction that white skin makes us superior? How long before we white people get over our bitter resentments about being demoted to the status of equality with nonwhites?

How long before we get over our expectations that we should be at the head of the line merely because of our white skin? How long until we white people end our silence and call out our peers when they share the latest racist jokes in the privacy of our white-only conversations? I believe in free speech, but how long until we white people start making racist loudmouths as socially uncomfortable as we do flag burners? How long until we white people will stop insisting that blacks exercise personal responsibility, build strong families, educate themselves enough to edit the Harvard Law Review, and work hard enough to become president of the United States, only to threaten to assassinate them when they do?

How long before we start “living out the true meaning” of our creeds, both civil and religious, that all men and women are created equal and that “red and yellow, black and white” all are precious in God’s sight?

Until this past Nov. 4, I didn’t believe this country would ever elect an African-American to the presidency. I still don’t believe I’ll live long enough to see us white people get over our racism problem. But here’s my three-point plan during the Obama administration: First, every day that Barack Obama lives in the White House that Black Slaves Built, I’m going to pray that God (and the Secret Service) will protect him and his family from us white people.

Second, I’m going to report to the FBI anyone I overhear saying, in seriousness or in jest, anything of a threatening nature about President Obama. Third, I’m going to pray to live long enough to see America surprise the world once again, when white people can sing of our damnable color prejudice, “We HAVE overcome.”

Andrew M. Manis is associate professor of history at Macon State College in Georgia.

On a British Airways flight from Johannesburg, a middle-aged, well-off white South African lady had found herself sitting next to a black man. She called the cabin crew attendant over to complain about her seating.

What seems to be the problem Madam?” asked the attendant. “Can’t you see?” she said “You’ve sat me next to a kaffir. I can’t possibly sit next to this disgusting human. Find me another seat!”

“Please calm down Madam” the flight attendant replied. “The flight is very full today, but I’ll tell you what I’ll do, I’ll go and check to see if we have any seats available in club or first class.” The woman cocks a snooty look at the outraged black man beside her (not to mention many of the surrounding passengers).

A few minutes later the flight attendant returns with the good news, which she delivers to the lady, who cannot help but look at the people around her with a smug and self satisfied grin: “Madam, unfortunately, as I suspected, economy is full. I’ve spoken to the cabin services director, and club is also full. However, we do have one seat in first class.”

Before the lady has a chance to answer, the flight attendant continues… “It is most extraordinary to make this kind of upgrade, however, and I have had to get special permission from the captain. But, given the circumstances, the captain felt that it was outrageous that someone be forced to sit next to such an obnoxious person.”

With which, she turned to the black man sitting next to her, and said: “So if you’d like to get your things, sir, I have your seat ready for you… ”

At which point, apparently the surrounding passengers stood and gave a standing ovation while the black man walked up to the front of the plane.

People will forget what you said…

People will forget what you did…

But people will never forget how you made them feel…

~Author Unknown~

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech April 3rd 1968

“Thank you very kindly, my friends. As I listened to Ralph Abernathy in his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about. It’s always good to have your closest friend and associate say something good about you. And Ralph is the best friend that I have in the world.

I’m delighted to see each of you here tonight in spite of a storm warning. You reveal that you are determined to go on anyhow. Something is happening in Memphis, something is happening in our world.

As you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of general and panoramic view of the whole human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, “Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?”– I would take my mental flight by Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn’t stop there. I would move on by Greece, and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality.

But I wouldn’t stop there. I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn’t stop there. I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and esthetic life of man. But I wouldn’t stop there. I would even go by the way that the man for whom I’m named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church in Wittenberg.

But I wouldn’t stop there. I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating president by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldn’t stop there. I would even come up the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

But I wouldn’t stop there. Strangely enough, I would turn to the Almighty, and say, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the twentieth century, I will be happy.” Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land. Confusion all around. That’s a strange statement. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding–something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya: Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee–the cry is always the same–”We want to be free.”

And another reason that I’m happy to live in this period is that we have been forced to a point where we’re going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn’t force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence.

That is where we are today. And also in the human rights revolution, if something isn’t done, and in a hurry, to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty, their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed. Now, I’m just happy that God has allowed me to live in this period, to see what is unfolding. And I’m happy that he’s allowed me to be in Memphis.

I can remember, I can remember when Negroes were just going around as Ralph has said, so often, scratching where they didn’t itch, and laughing when they were not tickled. But that day is all over. We mean business now, and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God’s world.

And that’s all this whole thing is about. We aren’t engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God’s children. And that we don’t have to live like we are forced to live.

Now, what does all of this mean in this great period of history? It means that we’ve got to stay together. We’ve got to stay together and maintain unity. You know, whenever Pharaoh wanted to prolong the period of slavery in Egypt, he had a favorite, favorite formula for doing it. What was that? He kept the slaves fighting among themselves. But whenever the slaves get together, something happens in Pharaoh’s court, and he cannot hold the slaves in slavery. When the slaves get together, that’s the beginning of getting out of slavery. Now let us maintain unity.

Secondly, let us keep the issues where they are. The issue is injustice. The issue is the refusal of Memphis to be fair and honest in its dealings with its public servants, who happen to be sanitation workers. Now, we’ve got to keep attention on that. That’s always the problem with a little violence. You know what happened the other day, and the press dealt only with the window-breaking. I read the articles. They very seldom got around to mentioning the fact that one thousand, three hundred sanitation workers were on strike, and that Memphis is not being fair to them, and that Mayor Loeb is in dire need of a doctor. They didn’t get around to that.

Now we’re going to march again, and we’ve got to march again, in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be. And force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of God’s children here suffering, sometimes going hungry, going through dark and dreary nights wondering how this thing is going to come out. That’s the issue. And we’ve got to say to the nation: we know it’s coming out. For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.

We aren’t going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces; they don’t know what to do. I’ve seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there we would move out of the 16th Street Baptist Church day after day; by the hundreds we would move out. And Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth and they did come; but we just went before the dogs singing, “Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me round.” Bull Connor next would say, “Turn the fire hoses on.” And as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didn’t know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didn’t relate to the transphysics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. And we went before the fire hoses; we had known water. If we were Baptist or some other denomination, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist, and some others, we had been sprinkled, but we knew water.

That couldn’t stop us. And we just went on before the dogs and we would look at them; and we’d go on before the water hoses and we would look at it, and we’d just go on singing. “Over my head I see freedom in the air.” And then we would be thrown in the paddy wagons, and sometimes we were stacked in there like sardines in a can. And they would throw us in, and old Bull would say, “Take them off,” and they did; and we would just go in the paddy wagon singing, “We Shall Overcome.” And every now and then we’d get in the jail, and we’d see the jailers looking through the windows being moved by our prayers, and being moved by our words and our songs. And there was a power there which Bull Connor couldn’t adjust to; and so we ended up transforming Bull into a steer, and we won our struggle in Birmingham.

Now we’ve got to go on to Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us Monday. Now about injunctions: We have an injunction and we’re going into court tomorrow morning to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to America is, “Be true to what you said on paper.” If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn’t committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. And so just as I say, we aren’t going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on.

We need all of you. And you know what’s beautiful to me, is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It’s a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, and say, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Somehow, the preacher must say with Jesus, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor.”

And I want to commend the preachers, under the leadership of these noble men: James Lawson, one who has been in this struggle for many years; he’s been to jail for struggling; but he’s still going on, fighting for the rights of his people. Rev. Ralph Jackson, Billy Kiles; I could just go right on down the list, but time will not permit. But I want to thank them all. And I want you to thank them, because so often, preachers aren’t concerned about anything but themselves. And I’m always happy to see a relevant ministry.

It’s alright to talk about “long white robes over yonder,” in all of its symbolism. But ultimately people want some suits and dresses and shoes to wear down here. It’s alright to talk about “streets flowing with milk and honey,” but God has commanded us to be concerned about the slums down here, and his children who can’t eat three square meals a day. It’s alright to talk about the new Jerusalem, but one day, God’s preacher must talk about the New York, the new Atlanta, the new Philadelphia, the new Los Angeles, the new Memphis, Tennessee. This is what we have to do.

Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people, individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nation in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That’s power right there, if we know how to pool it.

We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles, we don’t need any Molotov cocktails, we just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, “God sent us by here, to say to you that you’re not treating his children right. And we’ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda–fair treatment, where God’s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.”

And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy–what is the other bread?–Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart’s bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven’t been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying, they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.

But not only that, we’ve got to strengthen black institutions. I call upon you to take you money out of the banks downtown and deposit you money in Tri-State Bank–we want a “bank-in” movement in Memphis. So go by the savings and loan association. I’m not asking you something that we don’t do ourselves at SCLC. Judge Hooks and others will tell you that we have an account here in the savings and loan association from the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We’re just telling you to follow what we’re doing. Put your money there. You have six or seven black insurance companies in Memphis. Take out your insurance there. We want to have an “insurance-in.”

Now there are some practical things we can do. We begin the process of building a greater economic base. And at the same time, we are putting pressure where it really hurts. I ask you to follow through here.

Now, let me say as I move to my conclusion that we’ve got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point, in Memphis. We’ve got to see it through. And when we have our march, you need to be there. Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.

Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus; and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters in life. At points, he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew, and through this, throw him off base. Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn’t stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his brother. Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn’t stop. At times we say they were busy going to church meetings–an ecclesiastical gathering–and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn’t be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that “One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony.” And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem, or down to Jericho, rather to organize a “Jericho Road Improvement Association.” That’s a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the casual root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effort.

But I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It’s possible that these men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, “I can see why Jesus used this as a setting for his parable.” It’s a winding, meandering road. It’s really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles, or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you’re about 2200 feet below sea level. That’s a dangerous road. In the day of Jesus it came to be known as the “Bloody Pass.” And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”.

That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” “If I do no stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?” That’s the question.

Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.

You know, several years ago, I was in New York City autographing the first book that I had written. And while sitting there autographing books, a demented black woman came up. The only question I heard from her was, “Are you Martin Luther King?”

And I was looking down writing, and I said yes. And the next minute I felt something beating on my chest. Before I knew it I had been stabbed by this demented woman. I was rushed to Harlem Hospital. It was a dark Saturday afternoon. And that blade had gone through, and the X-rays revealed that the tip of the blade was on the edge of my aorta, the main artery. And once that’s punctured, you drown in your own blood–that’s the end of you.

It came out in the New York Times the next morning, that if I had sneezed, I would have died. Well, about four days later, they allowed me, after the operation, after my chest had been opened, and the blade had been taken out, to move around in the wheel chair in the hospital. They allowed me to read some of the mail that came in, and from all over the states, and the world, kind letters came in. I read a few, but one of them I will never forget. I had received one from the President and the Vice-President. I’ve forgotten what those telegrams said. I’d received a visit and a letter from the Governor of New York, but I’ve forgotten what the letter said. But there was another letter that came from a little girl, a young girl who was a student at the White Plains High School. And I looked at that letter, and I’ll never forget it. It said simply, “Dear Dr. King: I am a ninth-grade student at the Whites Plains High School.” She said, “While it should not matter, I would like to mention that I am a white girl. I read in the paper of your misfortune, and of your suffering. And I read that if you had sneezed, you would have died. And I’m simply writing you to say that I’m so happy that you didn’t sneeze.”

And I want to say tonight, I want to say that I am happy that I didn’t sneeze. Because if I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been around here in 1960, when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters. And I knew that as they were sitting in, they were really standing up for the best in the American dream. And taking the whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the Founding Fathers in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been around in 1962, when Negroes in Albany, Georgia, decided to straighten their backs up. And whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can’t ride your back unless it is bent. If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill. If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have had a chance later that year, in August, to try to tell America about a dream that I had had. If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great movement there. If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering. I’m so happy that I didn’t sneeze.

And they were telling me, now it doesn’t matter now. It really doesn’t matter what happens now. I left Atlanta this morning, and as we got started on the plane, there were six of us, the pilot said over the public address system, “We are sorry for the delay, but we have Dr. Martin Luther King on the plane. And to be sure that all of the bags were checked, and to be sure that nothing would be wrong with the plane, we had to check out everything carefully. And we’ve had the plane protected and guarded all night.”

And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say that threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

- Martin Luther King Jr.

“If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position.” — Geraldine Ferraro

For those that thought race was no longer an issue in America its been a rude awakening. While America has made great strides in race relations we still have a long way to go. I believe that despite how things may look, we are evolving, changing our thinking, and healing. It is not an easy or quick process but I see it happening. Is there a 12-step program for America’s race issues? Should there be one?

Senator Barack Obama’s speech on race in America courageously goes where people don’t want to go (at least it seems not in mixed company conversations for fear of political incorrectness). I think that many people forget (or don’t realize) that Barack Obama is biracial (he’s black and white). He identifies with way more people than Hillary Clinton and John McCain combined. So when people accuse the Barack Obama Campaign of playing the race card I think its ridiculous! Are there two race cards, a double sided race card, and/or a half and half race card and which one is his campaign supposedly playing?

“…I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas.

I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners – an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters.

I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one…” —Barack Obama

It seems that Barack Obama opposers are the race card playing culprits. Through imagery, symbolism, word play, clever semantics, and audacious statements the Clinton campaign has been using race card tactics since hmmmmm South Carolina. As an American I am ready for change. The more I see and learn about Hillary Clinton the more she represents the same. As a human being I am ready to embrace fellow human beings and breakdown racial divides, this is the change we need. Once again, Barack Obama demonstrates that he represents and believes in the very same change I believe in.

“…I chose to run for the presidency at this moment in history because I believe deeply that we cannot solve the challenges of our time unless we solve them together – unless we perfect our union by understanding that we may have different stories, but we hold common hopes; that we may not look the same and we may not have come from the same place, but we all want to move in the same direction – towards a better future for our children and our grandchildren…” —Barack Obama

OK now I’ve heard it all. Andrew Young declares “Bill is every bit as black as Barack!” Now that— is the biggest fairytale I’ve ever heard. This ongoing joke about Bill Clinton being Black or that he was the first Black President is getting out of hand.
Supposedly, Bill Clinton is honorary Black because:

• He comes from a single-parent household.
• He was born poor.
• He comes from the working-class.
• He played the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall show.
• He eats McDonalds.
• His sex life was called into question despite his professional achievements.

None of the above mentioned circumstances produce the melanin or characteristics used in determining race and/or ethnicity, nor do they arouse institutional racism. While Bill’s personal background may play a role in how some Black people relate to him, his background is not much different from many Americans around the country (Black, White, Hispanic, Native, etc..), minus the playing the sax on Arsenio of course.

Bill Clinton is not Black, nor has he ever been Black, nor will he ever be Black. That is an unchanging fact people! This propaganda of him being black is ridiculous. Please, stop it already.

If Bill and Hillary Clinton are really that involved, in-touch, and active in Black issues as some would have us all believe:

• Why did Bill Clinton snub Black Bloggers and meet with a panel of all white bloggers to discuss politics in HARLEM?
• Why did Hillary Clinton have Bob Johnson speak at her Columbia town meeting? (She must have missed the Enough is Enough initiative which directly involves Bob’s creation, BET. The Clinton’s are not in tune with the Afrosphere).
• What black issues have the Clinton’s been ‘deeply and emotionally involved’ with? (the gentrification of Harlem?)

I think what really doesn’t sit well with me about Andrew Young’s statement is that it actually seems to question Barack Obama’s “blackness.”

The bottom line:

What does either of them being Black have to do with the 2008 Presidential Election?

Should African Americans Get Reparations for Slavery?

When the topic of reparations comes up people get very heated and opinionated… oftentimes without even knowing the facts or history behind reparations. Read the full story

I think saggin pants look ridiculous. It is neither fashionable or sexy. Why wear pants if they hang past your underwear. Why not wear a pair of chaps

I recently received this interesting email forward about “saggin” so here it is enjoy:

Subject: S-A-G-G-I-N
The Other Day, A friend of mine came to my dorm room just to chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young freshmen came by. One of the boys wanted to “talk” to my friend (as in date). She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18. My friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old. After my friend left, the young men were still hanging around and one wanted to know how he could gain her interest.

The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants! He asked why, then said he like saggin’ his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin’. Then I told him to write the word saggin’ backwards.
S-A-G-G-I-N
N-I-G-G-A-S
I told him the origin of that look was from prison. Men in prison wore their pants low when they were spoken for. The other reason their pants looked like that was because they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide.

We as young black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don’t take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your pants and standing with your head high could make the biggest difference in the world’s perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do it for us.

It all comes down to perception. What people perceive is what is reality to them. We have to change not only the media’s perception of us, but we need to change our perception of ourselves. Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman. All eyes are on you Black Child. People are waiting for us to mess up. We have let not only the media, but the government and the world taint the pure essence of us. They have stripped our culture down to the point where we only believe we can become rappers and athletes. We are so much more.

To all my black men:
Its time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our households. You have to prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working…Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us; we will have your back. We know that it gets hard, we know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Woman and a Black Man can’t handle with GOD on their sides.

To all my Black Women:
It is also time for us to stand up. It is time for us to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. We can not sit by the wayside while our men are dying by the masses. We are the epitome of Black Love. It starts within us. We need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black Men know, but the world knows that we are the Mothers of this world. We are so powerful. We are so beautiful. We need to love and embrace every blessing God has given us physically, emotionally and spiritually.

For all My Black Children:
We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them that there are no “get rich quick” schemes. We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if they submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children that no one will love them the way we can. And being a basketball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality. It’s not realistic and only a small percentage of people ever make it as a rapper or professional athlete. We need to teach our children that we can be more than rappers and athletes. We can be the owners of these sports teams; we can be the CEO’s of our fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930′s and 40′s, the literacy rates for Black American Children are probably still the same.
Ok…I am stepping off of my soap box now. Pull Up Your Pants!!

—by CM Lewis

Marenda Says:

I find this email forward very interesting. The author makes some great points... However, I would have to say that striving to be a basketball player, rapper, or whatever one aspires to be (regardless of the percentage of people actually realizing the dream), is and can be a reality with hard work, determination, talent, and resolve.

I don’t necessarily think that being an owner of a sports team or a CEO of a fortune 500 company equates to being “more than rappers or professional athletes.” (I guess I’m not clear on what is meant by more than).

Magic Johnson was an awesome professional athlete and clearly he’s running successful businesses throughout the country. Jay-Z is rapper with part ownership in a sports team and other business ventures.

“They have stripped our culture down to the point where we only believe we can become rappers and athletes.”

I think it maybe an urban legend that people in the black community have reached the point that they believe they can only be rappers or athletes. For every black child that wants to be a rapper or athlete there are 10 more that want to be doctors, lawyers, teachers, computer programmers, etc…

We need to teach our children that they can be whatever they want to be and that they can achieve their goals. We need to encourage and support them 100%. We need to teach our children to think outside of the box and to create their own opportunities. We need to teach our children how to invest (and diversify their porfolios). We need to help our children become well rounded individuals across the board.

There are no limits to what anyone can do, be, or accomplish. The only limits that exists are those which we place upon ourselves. Living Life Abundantly is knowing and understanding that we have limitless possibilities. Living Life Abundantly also means realizing that a job, title, position, social status, financial standing, does not make you more than(>) or less than(<) anyone else. We are all equal (=). the sooner we learn and embrace our humanity the sooner we can get on with Living Life Abundantly.

Megan Williams is a Black woman who was kidnapped, kept in a shed, threatened, stabbed, beaten, sexually assaulted, forced to eat animal feces, forced to drink from a toliet, scalded with hot water, choked/tied with a cable cord, verbally abused with racial slurs, and tortured over and over for days by six White people.

Some say this was not a hate crime. Some believe it was not racially motivated. Allegedly Megan Williams knew one of the six kidnappers which somehow disqualifies this as a hate crime.

If race was not a factor why were racial slurs used repeatedly? If this was not a hate crime why was she tortured and abused like this? This is sick and twisted. What is happening in our world? Why are heinous acts of violence like this happening?

No federal hate crime charges in torture case

Six white suspects accused of torturing a young black woman for days in West Virginia will not face federal hate crime charges»

No matter what channel you turn to we are bombarded with the latest developments in the new bizarre OJ Simpson case. We are informed of the most intimate details of Britney Spears’ divorce and career troubles….but no news on what is going on concerning the Jena Six in Louisiana.

There are hundreds of bus caravans from all over the United States on the way to Louisiana as I type this. Thousands of people from all over the country are expected to participate in the March on Jena. I have yet to see any television coverage on The Jena Six case or on the Jena Six Peace and Justice March Rally to be held outside of LaSalle Parish Courthouse to the Alexandria Ampitheater.

The local news here has not mentioned anything about the vigils and rallies being held in cities around the nation. Is this case not news worthy? One would think that six black teens unjustly charged with attempted murder and thousands of outraged citizens caravaning to show support and demand justice would make the news.

Just as the Jena Six case shows that racism is still a factor in American culture, news coverage of this case shows how deep racism really goes.

I won’t be in Jena for the march but I will be wearing black. I will do what I can from where I am to speak up, stand up, and be heard. Since the news “don’t know, don’t show or care about whats going on in the hood” many are stepping up to keep people informed about what is really going on.

A coalition of civic groups has formed www.freethejena6.org as a standing central location, providing solutions for those who are seeking information with intent to take action.

Afrosphere Jena 6 Coalition Advisory Group:
Wayne Hicks electronicvillage.blogspot.com
D. Yobachi Boswell www.BlackPerspective.net
Francis Holland afrospear.jconserv.net
Daz Wilson purplezoe.blogspot.com

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Conviction overturned in racially charged case
Sept. 15: A Louisiana appeals court has overturned a conviction that could have sent a black teenager to prison.

“Although there will not be a court hearing, we still intend to have a major rally for the Jena Six and now hopefully Mychal Bell will join us,” Sharpton said in an e-mailed statement. (more...)

United States Slavery began in 1619 and was abolished in 1865. The ideas, attitudes, and beliefs formed prior to and during slavery about Black people did not end or disappear upon the abolition of slavery. Hence, the term US Slavery Residue. As defined by the dictionary, Residue = Something that remains after a part is removed, disposed of, or used; remainder; rest; remnant.

What exactly is this ‘residue’ and how… if at all does it affect us today? In order to answer that we must take a close honest look at American history with fresh new eyes. So few are willing to do that…Are you willing? Read the full story

Many are offended by the mere thought that the effects of slavery still linger. I shake my head when ever I hear statements such as ‘slavery happened a long time ago, get over it already.’ Funny, I never hear anyone say that about the Jewish Halocaust.

Whenever United States slavery and the issue of racism come up people seem to get very defensive and emotional.

It’s still very much a sore spot and bringing it up is like pouring salt in fresh wounds. I think its because the residue exists whether we admit it or not.

It reeks and leaves a bad taste in everyones mouth. So rather than study, explore, and research our history we sit around pretending it never happened or is no longer relevant.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots. —Marcus Garvey

While we cannot change the past we can certainly acknowledge it, examine it, learn from it, and openly discuss it to bridge gaps as well as foster understanding. Isn’t that the purpose of all those US history classes in school? Read the full story