Some Got It, Some Ain’t?

How come some people can manage to get it together and some can’t. Two people can come from then same momma and poppa, but one can figure out how to thrive in this world and the other can’t. 

 

Are some people just born more equipped to function in this world?  I’m not talking about financially and physically but mentally. Are individuals born lazy?  Is that a personality trait? I’m thinking of two sisters I know. Despite an unstable homelife, abuse, and poverty one has been able to make a life for herself. I’m not talking about becoming a multi millionaire. She’s married, has great children, educated herself, and is active in her community. The other sister, despite the support of the sister who rose is about to become an unwed mother, has no job, and shows no outward interest in bettering herself. 

 

The last few weeks, I’ve had a couple conversations with people who believe that some people are hopeless. I really don’t want to believe that but I don’t have good arguments to prove the contrary. It’s just what I believe in my heart. I know that you can’t change people unless they want to change. So how do you make people want to change?

Black, Morman, Republican: Mia Love for Congress

It sounds like an Oxymoron.  But it shouldn’t.  We are finally transcending race and moving into an era when a dark-skinned women such as Ms. Love can be as disconnected and out of touch with the poor and working class as anyone else.

Love touts herself as a strong fiscal conservative.  A product of Haitian immigrants she prides herself in the fact that her parents “never took a handout”.  Like a typical conservative she throws around words like “personal responsibility” and “burden to society” as if the countless elderly, handicapped, and families that rely on public assistance at a time when jobs are scarce, are merely just trying to reach into your pockets and snatch your paycheck.  She’s pro-drilling, pro-guns, and pro-life.

Hopefully, we can take the focus of her race and put it on how terrible her policies would be for America.

 

 

 

Trayvon Martin: How to Heal

The killing of Trayvon Martin, a black teenager gunned down by neighborhood watch man George Zimmerman while walking through a predominately white gated community, has awoken us from our dream of an Obama led post-racial world.

Forget all the facts of the case because there would be no case if Trayvon had not been followed in the first place.  Why was he followed?  Because he aroused suspicion, concern, fear.  He seemed out of place in that gated community with his hooded sweatshirt, jeans, white sneakers, and dark skin.  Trayvon was guilty of “Walking While Black”.  When you learn of Zimmerman’s past calls to 9-1-1 to alert the authorities of suspicious black men, some as young as 8, you become more and more certain that what brought this situation about was a deeply internalized prejudice and fear of young black men that is prevalent all over American society.

There are some that love to keep bringing up the George Zimmerman is half Hispanic.  I have not seen his mother so I cannot properly assess how much melanin is in her skin.  But, I can assure you that Zimmerman, who looks white and doesn’t have an ethnic name, has moved through his entire life as a white man.  I also want to call attention to the fact that Hispanics of European descent have been responsible for just as much oppression of black and brown as people of European descent in America.

In this country there exists multiple America’s.  If you’re white, male, and have a comfortable income, this country is amazing.  The sky is the limit as to what you can do.  You’re judged as an individual.  People believe in you and show you respect.  It’s hard for you to imagine how hard it is to escape poverty.  You’ll go through most of life ignorant of how the majority of this country lives.  You’ll never know what it feels like to be followed in a store white shopping, judged when you walk in a nice restaurant, stopped and have your constitutional rights violated simply because you’re black, or shot because it’s assumed you’re a criminal.  You’ll never get how shitty it feels to have a woman clutch her purse as she passes you because she’s so afraid.  It’s insulting.

I think racism in America is just as strong now as it was in the sixties and before.  The different is now it’s not as blatant.  They don’t lynch black men anymore but they do shoot them dozens of times for reaching for their wallet.  Black men no wonder have to step off the curb when a white woman approaches but they can be stopped and frisked at any given time.  White people know it’s wrong to call someone a racial slur but they won’t hesitate to toss out a resume if a name is too “ethnic”.  Today racism the main theme of our justice system, codified in our laws, hidden in the sudden tensing of the neck as a black man in a hoodie approaches, or the denial of a proper education to our children.  There is so much more healing that needs to be done.

Why should we bother to try to heal?  Because we know deep down inside that we’re all the same and we’re all human and it’s wrong to discriminate against other people based on their skin tone.  Everyone should be judged as an individual.

How do we heal and grow and learn and better ourselves?  Changing the way you think takes time, effort, and commitment.  Time that you fear you may not have because you are so busy with work so you can make more money to buy things you don’t need but are made to believe you can’t function without, movies,  train-wreck television that showcases us at our worst, or many of the other petty diversions that have been concocted by the powerful to keep us from wasting any time thinking and questioning things.  White people need to admit their inner prejudices and fears and then face them.  That black guy on the corner you’re terrified of, walk up to him and have a conversation.  OK, I’ll back up.  This type of human interaction might be too bold of a step.  Let’s start small.  When you pass him, respectfully say “Hello”.  I think even he will be shocked by your humanity towards him.  Say to yourself when you wake up in the morning, “judge each person as an individual”.

And black people, do the same.  Because our self-hatred is making the fight 10 times harder.  Our emulation of our oppressor is destroying our communities.  Be patient with white people who don’t quite get it.  Use the beauty of language and explain to them what they may not understand.  Tell them how it feels to be a second class citizen.  Make sure you are always in the right and that you always take the higher road.  Then maybe together, we can heal.

 

 

 

Stephen Colbert for President

Stephen Colbert announced on Thursday night’s segment of The Colbert Report that he will be opening up an exploratory committee for a potential presidential bid.  After polling ahead of seasoned candidate Jon Huntsman with 5 percent of the vote to Huntsman’s 4 percent in South Carolina, he heeded his home state’s cry for his candidacy.

Let’s he honest, I don’t thing the funny man has any real desire to move to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, but this could be a platform for him to expose to the masses many of the flaws in our electoral system.  In June of 2011 Colbert formed the Colbert Super PAC.  Of course, a presidential candidate having his own Super PAC is a conflict of interests.  So, in a surprise appearance Jon Stewart took over control of the Super PAC with the promise that the two would not “coordinate”.  The bit was effective in exposing what bullshit campaign finance is in the United States.

Watch Here  Colbert Passes Off Super-PAC

I am very to excited to see what Colbert’s campaign brings. For many, I think it will be a shocking expose about our political system that will ultimately create a more educated electorate.