So, I've finished reading Nigger by Dick Gregory... I can't believe all that shit could have happened to a man in 31 years of life!

I just have to review a couple of quotes from him... these are all toward the end of the book:

"But I guess the greatest lesson of that Birmingham bombing was for the Negro who thought that civil rights didn't pertain to him -- the principal, the teacher, the that church, and whether he wanted to demonstrate or not, whether he thought we were going too fast or not, he found out that as long as your skin is black...."

I think that this quote is reflected by the movement of consciousness and protest that is taking place in the United States today. We are in the midst of a recession & people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. People are understanding that if we are not all progressive then none of us can truly be progressive. Also, to this day, as a black man, whether or not you are a doctor, lawyer, councilman... you too can still be followed by the police, might see a white woman clutch her purse as you stroll into the elevator, perhaps you will get followed around the store... There has been a movement in this country by people from all colors and all backgrounds against the wrongs of this country... the wrongs that our government & has inflicted upon us. There is no reason in the United States of America 13 million children live in poverty...


"And do you know that 50 per cent of the killings are our fault? That's right. We let this white man go crazy on us, instead of straightening him out when we should have."

The War in Iraq. There is so much data that many of us has yet to touch... Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield what's going on over there? What kind of mess have we created against the terrorists? But where are the citizens who are THAT angry...that angry enough to protest against this crime against the people of Iraq... why aren't we straightening out our government? Perhaps it's too late to change any policies of the current administration...we'll have to wait for someone else to step in and clean up this mess... straighten up this mess

"I saw the monster in Mississippi where we marched for voter registration, so a Negro can cast his ballot for the government he lives under and supports with his tax money, and dies for in wars... I saw it in San Francisco where white doctors and lawyers marched on the lines with us and went to jail with us and showed the world that this isn't a revolution of black against white, this is a revolution of right against wrong. And right has never lost."

There is a movement in American & abroad fighting against hate, injustice, oppression... a whole bunch of people ... people who will not rest until this world is a more just place.

Proud to be an American

To The Editor:

As a 78 year old American of African descent, I feel compelled to respond to all this "much ado about nothing" when it comes to the statement that Michelle Obama made about the fact that this is the first time in her adult life that she has been proud to be an American.

The country needs to hear this from the Black perspective.

Long before I was born, my grandfather Joseph Burleson, owned a considerable amount of land in oil rich Texas. Because during that era, Blacks could not vote, nor could they contest anything in the courts of the United States, my grandfather's land was STOLEN by his White neighbor. My grandfather, who was literate and better educated than my grandmother, drove to town. Seeing my grandfather leave, the covetous neighbor asked my grandmother to show him the deed to the property. He snatched it. She could not insist that he give it back, nor could she have reported this THEFT to the sheriff because of the fact that Blacks had no rights in the 1800's. The prevailing law at that time was he who held the deed owned the land. Do you think that is something that I am PROUD OF? Right now I should be living off th e oil and gas royalties.

In 1934 when my dad drove us to Texas to meet his family, when he stopped to purchase gasoline, his daughters and wife were not allowed to use the washroom. As a man it was easier for his to relieve himself in the bushes, but not for the females. We were, however, reduced to having to go in the bushes, also. Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT?

In 1938 when my oldest sister went to enroll in Hyde Park High School, she was told by the counselor that she did not want to take college preparatory courses, she wanted to study domestic science. Do you think I'm PROUD OF THAT? Of course, when Beatrice Lillian Hurley-Burleson went to school the next day, that was the last time anyone thought that the Burleson girls wanted to study domestic science.

When in 1943 my parents attempted to buy the 2 flat at 5338 South Kenwood, where we had lived since 1933, in Hyde Park, Chicago, IL we were told that we could not buy it because there was a restrictive covenant that said that the property was never to be sold to "Negroes." Do you think I am PROUD OF THAT?

In 1950 when I graduated from college, I was unable to get a job because I was considered "overqualified." the code word for they would not hire me because of my race. All of the want ads called for Japanese Americans or Neisis ( the word given to Japanese Americans at that time). Do you think that was something that I should have been PROUD OF? I understood that America was trying to make up for the interring of innocent and patriotic Americans who were our enemy by association.

My cousin's barbershop was bombed in Mississippi in the 50's because he was encouraging Black people to register to vote. His wife who had earned a Masters Degree from Northwestern University lost her position as the principal of the local school because of the voter registration activities. Is that something I should be PROUD OF?

Now we get to Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the pastor of the Obama family. Rev. Wright like so many religious zealots overstates many things, that many of his members do not agree with. To suggest that Senator Obama should leave the church of his choice is not only a double standard, but it is absurd. Would any of the talking heads who are so alarmed by Rev. Wright's thoughts and speeches suggest that Catholics should abandon their faith or denounce and reject the Pope because so many priests have molested children. These children were exploited and taken advantage of and they had no choice to even know they could resist, reject and denounce. To me the situations are parallel, except for the fact that the priests behavior is a physical violation of the innocence of children who are marred for life; and the priests behavior is a cr ime. Rev. Wright's speechesare just words, that one can listen to or not, the members have a choice. Should Governor Romney denounce and reject the Mormon Church because some of their members practice polygamy?

As Senator Obama has previously stated, we have entered the silly season.

Barack Obama is an adult, and most importantly, he is an exceptionally intelligent adult. Like most of us adults, fortunately, we do not accept all we hear or see. If we did, the world would be more amoral, debased and perverted than the world of today is.

I see all these "so called" ponderings an attempt to marginalize the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama. I cannot truly call this racism because some ignorant Blacks have also spoken disparagingly about him.

I accept this as the darker side of mankind who because of their own inadequacies, they project their deficiencies on others. Barack Obama is a very rare individual, the likes of whom the world seldom sees. Like most geniuses, they are often misunderstood. They are objects of envy and jealousy. They are suspect because they soar above the average man who does not have the intellectual ability to understand the greatness of special people. They are also targets to be pulled down to the level of the mediocre who cannot stand to see an individual with deep convictions and high standards.

We have not seen a phenomena like Barack Obama in many years and many generations. Like Ghanda, like Jesus, like Einstein, like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., like Mother Theresa, genetically, intellectually and spiritually, these people offer the world so much, but they are often maligned and misunderstood.

Barack Obama is a Christian in the true sense of the word. A true Christian loves his fellow man unconditionally. A true Christian wants the best and tries to bring out the best in his fellow man. A true Christian wants to unite and bring the world together in peace and harmony. This is what Senator Obama stands for; but, unfortunately, he has had to get off point to answer these false charges, innuendoes, and just plain lies.

We are in the presence of an angel unaware in Senator Barack Obama; and this country needs him, more than he needs us. He is the only person at this time in history who can restore respect for America with the worlds' people. Because of his family background, the influence of his beloved mother who instilled great values in him, the influence of his absent father who vicariously inspired a son to go to Harvard as the father had done, the influence of a minister who brought him to an understanding of the value and meaning of Christianity, the influence of a brilliant Harvard educated wife who inspires him and keeps him grounded; he is the epitome of a citizen of the world. He is of the world because the world is in him; and this is what America needs to bring us out of the abyss to which we have sunk in the eyes of the world.

Like, Michelle Obama, after living in this country all of my 78 years, loving my country and not understanding why my country has not loved me, I now for the first time in my adult life feel PROUD OF MY COUNTRY because I sense a maturing, a recognition of talent and character, and not color, and a field of candidates aspiring to lead this nation coming from very diverse backgrounds of gender, religious beliefs, national origin, ethnicity, age and experiences. This to me is the HOPE that America is coming into her own and will begin to CHANGE and will embrace the philosophy upon which this country was founded, where all men are created equal and are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Now I truly believe, YES WE CAN!

Black In America

http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/black.in.america/

Behind the Scenes: 'Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination'

• Story Highlights
• "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination" airs April 3 at 9 p.m. ET
  
• Lt. George Loenneke was looking through peephole at time King was hit
  
• CNN Presents gained unprecedented access to balcony, evidence
  
• Documentary tracks last days of convicted assassin James Earl Ray
  

By Jim Polk
CNN

Editor's note: In our Behind the Scenes series, CNN correspondents share their experiences in covering news and analyze the stories behind the events. Here, senior producer Jim Polk talks about the upcoming documentary "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination."

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (CNN) -- The Rev. Billy Kyles, the only person standing on the second-floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., had started to walk away when he heard the shot.

"When I turned, I could see him lying on the balcony. One of his feet was sticking through the railing, and there was this huge hole in his face," Kyles told CNN correspondent Soledad O'Brien as they stood together in front of Room 306 where the civil rights leader was gunned down 40 years ago this April.

In producing its two-hour documentary, "Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination," CNN Presents turned to the people who were there that day and others personally involved in the movement to tell their first-hand stories of a tragedy that still resonates today. Watch a preview »

Fireman George Loenneke had asked to take a look through a police surveillance peephole in his fire station across the street and saw King at the moment he was hit.

"It sounded like one-by-fours [boards], two of them -- just bam! -- went together," Loenneke said. "He come up off that grating there about a foot."

King's closest aide, Andrew Young, told O'Brien, "He probably never even heard the shot."

CNN sought out these critical witnesses and others with pained memories and personal knowledge to tell the story in their own words, rather than depend on official reconstructions of the murder case.

Among those interviewed: five policemen on the scene or on duty that day, three men in the firehouse, two of the garbage workers whose city-wide strike brought the civil rights leader to Memphis, the medical examiner who plotted the trajectory of the fatal bullet, and the former Ku Klux Klan lawyer who became James Earl Ray's first attorney.

Ray's younger brother, Jerry, shared his story of how he stayed in touch with James during the prison escapee's year on the run and was at his bedside when Ray died almost 30 years after his guilty plea in King's death.

The documentary draws on James Earl Ray's personal hand-written account at the time, which describes how he purchased his white Mustang and the .30-06 rifle left at the murder scene, as well as his capture overseas while trying to join up with mercenary forces in white-ruled areas of Africa.

The former Lorraine Motel is now the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, and its president, Beverly Robertson, allowed CNN unprecedented access not only to the second-floor balcony where King was killed, but also to the museum's remarkable display of the evidence, including Ray's rifle and his prison radio, both left behind as he drove away.

CNN was able to obtain transcripts of original police interviews with many witnesses now deceased, including boarders in the rooming house where authorities believe the fatal shot was fired. The network also got access to FBI interviews with the owners of the gun store where Ray bought the rifle, and we talked face-to-face with each of them, although both declined to be interviewed on camera.

Our team read the full report of the House Assassination Committee, which held extensive hearings in 1978, as well as two Justice Department reports defending the FBI findings, but we avoided using any of the official government accounts, other than original documents found in the British Archives on the U.S. request for Ray's extradition after his arrest.

CNN's goal: to bring you as close to a first-hand eyewitness account of those turbulent times and that tragic ending as can be possible 40 years after the death of a leader many consider an American martyr.

All AboutCivil Rights • Racial Issues • African-American Issues • Martin Luther King Jr.

Find this article at: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/13/bts.king.assasssination/index.html

Quote of the Day... or Minute... ?

Quote of the Day: Nas
Posted By marv On October 19, 2007 (11:38 am) In Nas, Quote of The Day

Posted by Bossip Staff

Nas recently discussed his upcoming album which will be called Nigger now, not “Nigga”:

“I’m a street disciple. I’m talking to the streets. Stay out of our business. You ain’t got no business worrying about what the word ‘nigger’ is or acting like you know what my album is about without talking to me. Whether you in the NAACP or you Jesse Jackson. I respect all of them … I just want them to know: Never fall victim to Fox. Never fall victim to the sh– they do. What they do is try to hurry up and get you on the phone and try to get you to talk about something you might not know about yet. If Cornell West was making an album called Nigger, they would know he’s got something intellectual to say. To think I’m gonna say something that’s not intellectual is calling me a nigger, and to be called a nigger by Jesse Jackson and the NAACP is counterproductive, counter-revolutionary.”

“I wanna make the word easy on mutha—-as’ ears. You see how white boys ain’t mad at ‘cracker’ ’cause it don’t have the same [sting] as ‘nigger’? I want ‘nigger’ to have less meaning [than] ‘cracker.’ With all the bullsh– that’s going on in the world, racism is at its peak. I wanna do the sh– that’s not being done. I wanna be the artist who ain’t out. I wanna make the music I wanna hear.”

“This Nigger album is bigger than an album. This is for my daughter, when she looks back and sees all the chump n—as in the game, she’ll say, ‘My pops was a man.’ When I have more kids, they’ll see, ‘He was a man.’ That will inspire them to be real in their life. Some people say I’m conscious, some say I’m a gangsta rapper — it’s just me doing me. I’m stomping in my own lane. I’m doing what I do.”

“We’re taking power from the word,” he added. “No disrespect to none of them who were part of the civil-rights movement, but some of my n—as in the streets don’t know who [civil-rights activist] Medgar Evers was. I love Medgar Evers, but some of the n—as in the streets don’t know Medgar Evers, they know who Nas is. And to my older people who don’t now who Nas is and who don’t know what a street disciple is, stay outta this mutha—-in’ conversation. We’ll talk to you when we’re ready. Right now, we’re on a whole new movement. We’re taking power from that word.”

Source

Article taken from Bossip - http://www.bossip.com
URL to article: http://www.bossip.com/7124/quote-of-the-day-nas-2/

3 speakers, women & addiction

Hi everyone!

Yes, yes, see I've blogged this... :-) Today, I walked in late to my Black Studies class & everyone was watching a video on the struggles of recovering femal drug addicts and their integration into society after imprisonment. Integration, meaning reclaiming their children (if possible), obtaining treatment (if covered & affordable) and of staying free of drugs. Not only did we see the video, but 2 female ex addicts, Terry and Anita were there to share their stories and answer questions. Also, one of their counselors Julie, was there to answer questions and help us understand the stories of many of the women she sees.

After a pretty sleepless night, long commute, buttered bagel & bad coffee this was the last thing that I wanted to hear. I suppose on many levels I didn't want to hear about this because it was a real tear jerker and first hand experience that I couldn't deny. The upside was to hear that the women were clean and sober for a number of years. However, the ever more disturbing fact was that BOTH of them as MANY women who turn to drugs were molested as young girls. Anita, was molested at the age of 5 and became an alcoholic by the age of 9, she was constantly threatned by her step father that if she told, he would kill her entire family. She never told until she was 14 years old and tried to throw herself out of a 4 story building. Terry, grew up in the suburbs of the Midwest and came to NY at the age of 17, in pursuit of a better education. She was addicted to heroin for a number of years and spent many years in a "get high house." Anita suffers from bi polar disorder and is now able to get the medication that she needs. However, after years of drug addiction, molestation and incarceration (5 years) she is "better" as she is receiving the support that she needs. Tragically, because she was incarcerated, the state terminated her parental rights for her 3 daughters. The youngest one, she wouldn't recognize, if she saw her.

After the stories, the guests talked about how young women are triggered into addiction and the conditions they face while incarcerated. The number one answer that came up was MOLESTATION. The counselor, Julie, even predicts that as many as 90% of women who are incarcerated have been the victim of sexual molestation. Verbal abuse was another factor on women and their self-esteem & self-image. Mental health, as in the case of Anita, who has long suffered from multiple conditions, was also addressed. Oftentimes in ALL communities, ESPECIALLY POOR communities, we do not talk about mental health issues and sexual abuse issues, yet they are rampant! So not only are we not talking about these things, we are not providing the needed support to these people so they don't have to suffer a life of drugs and incarceration. If we are not discussing these issues in the home, you can guess that they are not discussed in prison...

At the end, I talked to one of my classmates, who is taking care of her sister's 3 children and couldn't help but breaking down and crying because she knows of the "system." Court delays, lack of money, she works part time and is in school full time. She has no children of her own, but has to bear this burden almost alone, of taking care of these 3 children, while trying to further her own education to have a better life.

If you've read this far :-) which I know you have... Please check out http://www.justiceworks.org/index.htm JusticeWorks Community is a not-for-profit agency based in Brooklyn, NY whose mission is to educate, organize and mobilize a partnership of concerned citizens and community residents and organizations to advocate for just, humane and effective criminal justice policies, emphasizing alternatives to incarceration for women with children.

There is so much to say about this topic & if I wrote like I thought... this post would be never ending... I hope that on the blog or via email you will share your thoughts!

Me

Death to Gays in Iran?

Tsahia doesn't follow the rules either LOL...

Have you guys seen this story? There's a young gay teen,19, in Britain right now I believe. He is facing deportation back to Iran right now. It has been said that if he is sent back to Iran, he will be hung. In 2005 2 gay teenage boys were publicly hung in Iran, officials say for raping a young boy & human rights activists say, it was because they were homosexual. Also, Iran is known for it's torture practices on homosexuals.

Iranian Teen Fears Deportation Means Death
Gay Teenager Fights For Asylum After Boyfriend is Hanged in Iran
By CHRISTINE BROUWER and GLORIA RIVIERA
Mar. 8, 2008—

Two gay Iranians living in Britain say they fear for their lives after their partners were sentenced to death by Iranian authorities and their requests for asylum in Britain were denied.

Advocates for Mehdi Kazemi, 19, and Pegah Emambakhsh, 40, say they will face harsh physical punishment, prison, and possible execution if forced to return Iran.

The two cases have provoked an international public outcry and have increased scrutiny of British policies toward gay and lesbian asylum-seekers.

While studying English and science in the U.K., Kazemi learned that his boyfriend had been executed for sodomy back in Iran. His father told him the boyfriend had confessed to Iranian authorities that Kazemi was his lover.

The authorities, Kazemi found out, had already been to his parents' house with a warrant for his arrest.

"I was very scared," Kazemi wrote in a letter accompanying his request for asylum in Britain and published in full on the website of the Canada-based Iranian Queer Organization. "I wish to inform secretary of state that I did not come to the UK to claim asylum but in the past few months my situation back home has changed. The Iranian authorities have found out that I am a homosexual and they are looking for me."

He continued, "I can not stop my attraction to men & If I return to Iran I will be arrested and executed like [my boyfriend]. Since this incident & I have been so scared."

A British judge denied Kazemi's request for asylum in 2006 on the grounds that Iran does not systematically persecute homosexuals.

But human rights activists say that is only because the Iranian government does not officially recognize homosexuality.

Speaking at Columbia University in New York in September of 2007, Iran's President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals."

The British Home Office, which deals with cases of deportation, could not be reached in time for comment on this article.

But a spokeswoman for the Office told British newspaper The Independent, "We examine with great care each individual case before removal and we will not remove anyone who we believe is at risk on their return. However, in order to maintain the integrity of our asylum system and prevent unfounded applications it is important that we are able to enforce returns of those who do not need protection."

But Kazemi, terrified at the prospect of being handed over to Iranian authorities after his application for asylum was denied, fled the country.

After a journey that sent him through the Czech Republic and Germany, he is now in The Netherlands, where he is being held in detention while a Dutch court decides whether the country is obliged to hand him back over to Britain under a treaty that says refugees can only request asylum in one European Union country.

Kazemi's uncle, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Saeed, for fear of endangering his family in Iran, described his nephew as a "very quiet and shy boy" and said he felt he had no choice but to run after his application for asylum was turned down."

He said, 'I told you uncle, I cannot trust the British government, they will send me back to Iran," Saeed told ABC News. "By going there I will be killed, and I just don't want to go."
Kazemi's case is one of two garnering international attention.

Pegah Emambakhsh, a 40-year-old lesbian woman who fled Iran for Britain in 2005 also faces deportation to Iran after being denied asylum. Emambakhsh's partner is currently awaiting execution by stoning in Iran.

Speaking to The Independent through an asylum representative Thursday, Emambakhsh said, "I will never, never go back. If I do I know I will die."

Homosexuality is a capital crime in the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to one estimate by gay rights activists, more than 4,000 homosexual men and women have been executed in Iran since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.

"They have no human rights, it's very dangerous," Arsham Parsi, 27, the executive director of the Iranian Queer Organization told ABC News.

Of Mehdi Kazemi's case in particular, Parsi said, "It's not humanity. How can they deport somebody back when he has a well-grounded fear of punishment?"

He added that even if Kazemi escapes the authorities when he returns to Iran, his family will likely reject him.

"Unfortunately, his parents, they don't care about him," said Parsi, who says he has been in close contact with Kazemi since 2005. "They don't like his son being a homosexual and his father said, 'I don't care about him,' or 'execute him,' or 'he's not my son.'"

Kazemi's uncle agreed.

"His father is really, really angry on him," he told ABC News. "He thinks that he brought shame to the family."

Human rights organizations say the position of gays has gotten more difficult in Iran in recent years.
"I think things have gotten considerably worse," Zahir Janmohamed, Amnesty International's Advocacy Director for the Middle East and North Africa told ABC News. "Ever since Ahmadinejad came to power, there has been an increased crackdown on 'vice.' That's everything from males and females interacting, clothes that both males and females wear, and certainly it's about controlling sexuality."

Both Kazemi's and Emambakhsh's cases have caused a public and political uproar in Britain. According to the Independent, more than 60 British Members of the European Parliament have signed a petition asking Prime Minister Gordon Brown to overturn the judge's decision in Kazemi's appeal for amnesty.

Kazemi's uncle, who says he speaks to his nephew from the Dutch detention center on a regular basis, told ABC News that Kazemi himself is determined not to return to Tehran, whatever the cost."

He was in a hunger strike for a few days," Saeed said of his nephew's state of mind while awaiting the Dutch court's decision. "I asked him, I think it's best you stop the hunger strike and be sensible. He said, 'look, I'd rather die here. They're sending me to my death, I might as well die here."

Joseph Simonetti and Dan Przygoda contributed reporting to this article.
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures

Obama Supporter Underestimated!!!!

On behalf of Mr. Alberto LOL...

Obama Supporter Underestimated!!!!
Hey, guys please watch these videos in their respective orders. This young man hit on some points, and perspectives even I wasn't aware of, and those that are undecided on who we should vote for will have their scales tipped in one direction after watching.

Love you all, Al

EVERY ONE SHOULD WATCH THIS, in the beginning of the interview the interviewer asked the questions to the YOUNG BLACK MAN with a tone which hinted that he supported OBAMA blindly or because he was black without knowing the facts and issues. Check out what happened, click on the links below and then POST your comments.

http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/video-interviewer-picks-the-wrong-obama-supporter-to-try-to-railroad/

http://thinkonthesethings.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/video-obama-supporter-derrick-responds-to-his-video/