I don't eat negroes - Vic Power

"Pellot enters a whites-only restaurant in the south. Upon being told by the waitress that the restaurant didn't serve "Negroes", Pellot told the waitress not to worry, that he didn't eat "Negroes", he just wanted some rice and beans.

Pellot (birth name: Victor Felipe Pellot Pove), born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, was the second child in a family of six. Pellot showed an interest in baseball at a young age, however his father didn't want him to play baseball and would punish him if he caught him doing so. When he was 13 years old, his father died and it was only then that he was able to play the game he loved. His mother moved to the City of Caguas, there he attended and graduated from José Gautier Benítez High School. In 1946 he started to practice with a local baseball team called the Senadores de San Juan (San Juan Senators) and learned many of his baseball skills. He was later invited to play for the Criollos de Caguas, where he was spotted by a New York Yankees scout. In 1949, he left for the City of Chicago and went to play for a minor league team in Drummondville, Quebec.

He was signed by the Yankees in 1951, and sent to their Triple-A team in Syracuse, New York. In 1953, even though he was the minor league batting champion, he was not invited to spring training. Had the Yankees not picked Elston Howard over him, he would have most likely been the first black and Puerto Rican to have been a member of the Yankees.[3] Many blacks and Puerto Ricans protested in front of Yankee Stadium in response to what is believed to have been a racially motivated decision.[4]

Pellot's choice of name caused resentment and alienation, particularly in his home land of Puerto Rico. In a letter to historian Bill Haber in 1993, Pellot gave his real, full name as Victor Felipe Pellot Pove; Pove being his mother's maiden name and Pellot his father's surname (as is traditional in Hispanic culture; see Roberto Clemente Walker). However, when Maximina Pove was in the first grade, her teacher mistakenly corrected her last name, changing the "v" to a "w" and adding an "r" at the end.[2]

During Pellot's first two professional seasons, in the French-Canadian town of Drummondville, Quebec, Pellot went by his birth name, Victor Pellot. However, Pellot noticed that the mostly French-speaking crowd began to laugh whenever his name was announced. Initially, Pellot surmised that the crowd was laughing because he was black. This turned out to be incorrect, and Pellot soon learned that the real source of the laughter was not his race, but his last name: the similar-sounding word plotte is slang for "vagina" in the Quebec French.[3] In response, he played under the name of "Vic Power." He kept the name after getting promoted to the majors in United States, but retained "Pellot" when playing winter ball in Puerto Rico.[2] The circumstances behind the user of the "Pellot" and "Power" surnames were not known to most winter league fans at the time, and Pellot was occasionally accused of "selling out" to the culture and lifestyle of the US.

In 1954, he was recruited by the Philadelphia Athletics and thus became the first Puerto Rican to play for that team. Suffering from the racial discrimination which was rampant in the nation during that time, he could neither stay with the rest of the team at the same hotels nor be allowed to eat at the same restaurants as his white teammates. The Athletics moved to Kansas City in 1955, where he finished in second place in the batting race that season. He is one of only five batters, through August 2009, to have hit both a leadoff and walkoff home run in the same game (having done so in 1957), the others being Billy Hamilton (1893), Darin Erstad (2000), Reed Johnson (2003), and Ian Kinsler (2009).[5]
In 1958, he was then sent to the Cleveland Indians. During his 12-season career, he played with the Philadelphia and Kansas City Athletics (1954-58); Cleveland Indians (1958-61), Minnesota Twins (1962-64), Los Angeles Angels (1964), Philadelphia Phillies (1964) and California Angels (1965).

Before retiring, he won seven Gold Glove Awards (in consecutive seasons 1958-1964) and was a four time American League All-Star (Kansas City Athletics 1955 & 1956, Cleveland Indians 1959 & 1960). He was also voted the Minnesota Twins Most Valuable Player (MVP) in 1962. He has the record of having made one or more assists in 16 consecutive games[6]. He shares the record of making two unassisted double plays in one game, and he is one of 11 players to steal home plate twice in one game, and he also shares the record of being assists leader for six years in a row and of double plays in a single game. Among his career totals are the following: 1,716 hits and 126 home runs, and he was only struck out 247 times out of 6,046 at bats.[7]

Pellot spent his retirement in Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. The City built a ballpark, which he could see from the window of his apartment, and named it "Parque Victor Pellot" (Victor Pellot Park), after him. During the summers, he helped the youngsters of the community in their sports skills development. According to Pellot, young people would most likely stay away from trouble and have a better opportunity to enter college on sports scholarships if they practiced sports. Pellot also coached, and among his pupils, either as a coach or as an educator of the sport were future Major League Baseball players Roberto Alomar, José Oquendo, Jerry Morales, Willie Montañez and José Cruz.[citation needed] Pellot died on November 29, 2005 in San Juan, Puerto Rico from cancer at the age of 78.

Victor Pellot has been considered by many islanders to have been one of Puerto Rico's greatest baseball players and a legend. In 2005, he spoke about his baseball career in the American documentary Beisbol,[8] directed by Alan Swyer and narrated by Esai Morales, which covers the early influences and contributions of Hispanics to baseball. In 2000, the Cleveland Indians honored him by declaring him to be among its 100 all-time greatest players.
Pellot's unorthodox and often flashy approach to fielding first base proved over the years to be very influential. Although at the time he was often criticized by the press and his peers for fielding the ball using only one hand instead of two, this would later become his trademark move.[2] More importantly, it anticipated a change in how the position is played: nowadays, virtually all first basemen field the ball one-handed (this because it increases their reach and provides for greater flexibility).

Pellot is also remembered by baseball historians and fans for his sharp wit and dark, deadpan humor, a lot of which was directed at the racism and segregation he experienced during spring training in the southern United States. One of the more celebrated examples of his dark wit by which Pellot subverted the ugly rejection experienced through institutionalized racism, documented in David Maraniss's biography of Roberto Clemente, has Pellot entering a whites-only (segregated) restaurant in the south. Upon being told by the waitress that the restaurant didn't serve "Negroes", Pellot promptly told the waitress not to worry, that he didn't eat "Negroes", he just wanted some rice and beans. [9]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor_Pellot

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

http://www.imanifoundation.com/

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/ Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

No tough guy bravado here - Dan Tres

Tough Guy Bravado: Outdated and Overrated

By Dan Tres Omi

http://selfra.blogspot.com/2009/07/tough-guy-bravado-outdated-and.html

I know that I am tired of men trying to pose. I could understand that certain times and places call for it. I grew up in the projects. I understand how it goes down. I will say that at a certain point in my life, I decided not to conform to the nonsense. I am not a stick up kid, I don't sell drugs, and I definitely don't want any parts of thug life. Tupac can keep that ethos.

So at a young age, I decided to go past the universal head nod. When I see someone else I don't know within my vicinity, I smile and say "Peace" or "How are you, sir?" if it is someone older than me. Most of the time and in most places people return this greeting in kind. Oftentimes, they are surprised.

I don't know if it's because I am older or if I am married with children. I dislike the fact that people expect to me play this role whether I am in the barber shop, supermarket, park, or bus stop. I was never good at false projections of masculinity and patriarchy. I tried it and didn't like it. I refuse to play the role of either victim or victimizer. It's a trap that we allow ourselves to fall into and at the end of the day we all lose.

The other day, I took my babies to the park. As I pulled up, there were several cars playing loud music. This is rare at the park we usually go to. As a matter of fact, I rarely see men at the park even playing basketball. As I pulled up, I noticed several young men stop whatever they were discussing and just stare. I got out of my car and said "Peace!" and received no reply. I kept it moving.I helped my children get out of the car and closed all the doors. That was when the music hit me. Normally, I have my system pumping loud. I normally play Erykah Badu, Fela Kuti, James Brown, or samba music. I usually play something the babies can sing along to. When I am by myself it's usually an audio book or NPR. I normally don't pay any mind to what other people are playing. One of these cats were playing some crazy stuff. All I could hear was the b-word, the fothermucker word, and a bunch of words I don't think no one's babies should be listening to. And these guys were right by the park.

So I walk up, children in tow."Peace!" I say again. I am greeted with the universal nod.

"Ya'll not gonna say peace?" I demand.

I got some "wassups" and one or two "oh my fault, wassup!"

"Do me a favor?" I cut in. "Can you turn that music down? I don't think the children should be hearing that stuff."

Everyone paused. Some looked at each other.

I was about to repeat my request until someone walked over and turned off the music.

"Thank you, sir. I appreciate it."

No one said anything and just looked at me. I got it. The ball was in my court. I could have said something else. I could tell they were not happy and wanted me to say "something" that would provoke. Wrong dude.

I turned around and talked to my children as if nothing happened."You guys want to play manhunt?"

"Yes!" They shouted in unison.

I could feel their stares boring into me. As I walked away, I sensed the scheming whispers. I refused to let it ruin our day. So I kept it moving.

No tough guy bravado here.

http://selfra.blogspot.com/2009/07/tough-guy-bravado-outdated-and.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Imani Foundation

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

The African Joan of Arc

From http://www.theblackhandofgod.com/

Four hundred years ago, amidst magic, warfare, and the relentless thirst for slaves, an extraordinary African woman helped shape the New World thousands of miles away.
Where colonial priests perverted the Word of God, kingdoms imploded, crippled by greed, corruption, and a confused morality.

The African "Joan of Arc" reconciled indigenous spiritual beliefs with the Euro-centric teachings of the Christian Church and gave her people equality before God. She started a movement that helped millions face their coming hardships with dignity and grace.
Especially since so many American slaves came from the region where she lived, her teachings helped form an integral part of the American persona.

Kimpa Vita (Dona Beatriz)
Lebone Lumbu (formerly Elaine M. Lumbu), 2005Kimpa Vita c.1684 to 1706, Congo BrazzavilleDemocratic Republic of CongoNorthern Angola
In recent history Africa has been home to a number of Spiritual icons, who have inevitably changed the face of Christianity by creating Indigenous African Churches.
(Download a 13 page document detailing Kimpa Vita)

As our concern for satisfying our bodily needs grows day by day, it is almost unbelievable that we are primarily created soul. We are more than our bodies. Personally I derive proof of this as a result of learning about a truly remarkable African woman not so long ago by the name of Kimpa Vita (Dona Beatriz). Before I give a brief account of her life and history I would like to share one of her prophecies: She announced that she would return as a man in future and build a huge Church independent of Rome.

The 17th century gave birth to an icon called Kimpa Vita Dona Beatriz. She concerned herself with the restoration, spiritually and politically, of the Kongo Kingdom. Born in 1684 Kimpa Vita worked as a religious actor[kp1] and was mostly isolated from the rest of her peers. At the time when the Kongo was dominated by political unrest and civil war. Therefore Kimpa Vita’s religious ideology came as an answer to the prayers of many Kongolese people. In her message she combined traditional Kongolese culture with Christianity. Her first prediction (1703) was that God would punish the Kongo. Later she fell ill and claimed that the spirit of saint Anthony possessed her. Saint Anthony was a Catholic priest and miracle worker. She announced that the spirit of saint Anthony would allow her direct access to the other world and that she would die every Friday to be resurrected again on Mondays. During her time away she would receive instructions from God, which she relayed to the Kongo. Kimpa Vita denounced traditional ceremonies and ordered the burning of fetishes by the Kongo people. She said that sacraments like marriage, confession and baptism are meaningless to God because God knows one’s intentions.

She believed that the Christ who founded Christianity 17 centuries ago and his disciples were indeed Kongolese (Black Africans). She placed the birth of Jesus Christ within the Kongo and Sao Salvador as the biblical Bethlehem, claiming that God wanted it restored as capital. Her message became so popular it could be called a Spiritual renaissance. This threatened the influence of the Catholic Church amongst the African people. The Movement was called Antonian. Even though it integrated Kongolese culture with Christianity, the Catholic priests drove the supporters of Kimpa Vita away. Some were imprisoned and beaten daily for their convictions.

In 1706 Kimpa Vita gave birth to a son after two miscarriages. She continued to emphasize the closeness of God to the African people, which was a unifying factor amongst Antonians. The establishment of the Antonian movement and its consequent success led to the arrest of Kimpa Vita, her son and her associates. They were charged with heresy. The miracle working by Kimpa Vita was described as “kindoki” or the use of supernatural powers. Kimpa Vita and her infant son were burned at the stake as a “witch” under the watchful eye of a capuchin priest who helped in convicting her.

This brutal execution did not have the effect, which the Catholic community hoped for. Instead Antonianism spread from Sao Salvador to other provinces in the Kongo. Pedro Constantininho became the successor of the movement. The success of this movement is primarily attributed to the fact that Kimpa Vita was believed to reveal the original ethnicity of Jesus Christ and his apostles. She portrayed the Kongo as a place of Biblical importance.With the birth of Simon Kimbangu two centuries later one can almost say that Kimpa Vita is back. As a devoted Kimbanguist I learned that Kimbanguisme is based on the same principals, which Kimpa Vita expressed more than two hundred years ago. Simon Kimbangu also banned the old superstitious practices and dismantled the cults, which offered themselves as vehicles of spiritual contact. He encouraged people to pray to God through Jesus Christ, interpreted as a common ancestor and mediator. Both Kimpa Vita and Kimbangu preached a special relationship between God and the African people.

Beatrice Kimpa Vita was born in 1684 in the kingdom of Kongo. While still in her teens, she started a non-violent mission to liberate the Kingdom of Kongo and return it to its former glory. She fought all the forms of slavery, and tried to reconcile Christianity with African religions and beliefs, teaching people that black saints mingled with white saints in paradise. This was revolutionary, since Catholic priests in the area (Capuchins) taught that ONLY white saints could be found in heaven. Kimpa Vita led thousands of her people to rebuild and repopulate Mbanza Kongo, the capital of the once glorious unified Kingdom of Kongo. On July 2, 1706, she was burned at the stake for heresy. In 1710, the perpetrators sent a report of their "mission" to the pope, after having organized the persecution of her followers.

The Impact of Her Action

In 1739, some of her followers, sold as slaves in America, carried out the revolt well known as the "Stono rebellion" in South Carolina, and her teachings also may have inspired the action of former Kongo slaves, during the revolt which led to the independence of Haiti in 1804.

Dona Beatrice is today regarded as a prophetess and a symbol of non-violent resistance in Africa, inspiring many political and religious leaders in Congo and Angola. In fact, she is widely credited as being the founder of the first Black Christian movement in sub-Saharan Africa.

Importance and Interest of Her RehabilitationThe French people rehabilitated Jeanne d' Arc (Joan of Arc) five centuries after her death. She then became "Sainte Jeanne d' Arc"(Saint-Joan of Arc), in spite of the controversy around her life. Dona Beatrice Kimpa Vita was a victim of the religious intolerance and racism raging in her country and continent. Despite her accomplishments, Pope Paul VI rejected a request for her rehabilitation in 1966.

Informative Links About Kimpa Vita:

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/his/kimpavita.htmla.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimpa_Vita

http://www.dacb.org/stories/congo/kimpa_vita.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation - www.ImaniFoundation.com Home of the Black Improvement Move

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

Male Privilege, Blaming, and Whining - Dan Tres

Male Privilege, Blaming, and Whining - Omi Note

By Dan Tres Omi

Contrary to popular belief, most men I interact with actually talk about relationships. They talk about what they want, what they don't like, who they are seeing, and other things that the mainstream media seems to mythologize. We might not make an evening of it and we may not come to huge life changing revelations, but we talk about it. We might not come up with solutions but we learn much about one another. Do I wish we can talk about it some more? Sure I do, but it gets done. We don't always have to reach a logical conclusion or find a solution to someone's problems if there is one.

One thing I take issue with and I am very adamant about is privilege. Male privilege affords men several rights and statuses that are denied women. These rights and statuses are across the board and can be found in religion, work, school, and even our social circles. While male privilege in religion, work and school are things that need to be tackled on a personal and a political level, the ones we can fix much faster is how we interact in our day to day social interactions.I often find men who are hurt or were hurt by women blame women for mistreating "good" men. I use to believe in this "Woe is me, the good man" Bible. I blamed women, even the good ones, for hurting good men for one reason or another. I blamed part of the "relationship problems" between men and women on those women who "mistreated" good men. The crazy part is that I often hear people, both men and women, make this statement as if it were fact. Personally, I find this excuse to be tremendously ridiculous.

You heard the story, "women mess up good men by mistreating them, that's why alot of men dog women." As if men or women need an excuse to mistreat one another. It again places the relationship problems we have on women. When talking to my male friends and they bring up this tale of woe, I laugh. Pretty much, they sound like whiny children. I don't mean to belittle or demean someone's emotions. To be honest, it would be better to say, "You know brother, she really hurt my feelings...." That would be more honest and gets to the actual heart of the matter.

Sometimes we don't know why people hurt us. We expect other people to get hurt and when it happens to us, it comes as quite a shock. It's easier for us to try to create ideas and reasons as to why people hurt us emotionally when in the end, we might not have any clue. Making assumptions don't help. But to try to explain away all relationship problems by blaming all women for something that happened to you personally its not productive.

So how does male privilege come into this?

We "rebound." We don't rebound because we are detached creatures. Men are just as emotional as women we just tend to bury those emotions. We rebound because we can. In almost all levels and areas in our society, men outnumber women. We can easily find another young lady to date. In most cases, a man just has to have a pulse to get a date. However, the numbers do not imply privilege. What implies privilege is that society (actually people) allows for men to date any desired number of women at a time whereas a woman cannot do the same. It is frowned upon if a woman dates several men at one time. As a matter of fact, it is not taboo for men to sleep with several women at the same time even if he is honest about it.

I often hear my male friends say "I'm a good guy, I don't rob or kill or been to jail." The first thing I say is "don't give yourself props for something you are SUPPOSED to be doing." It is also important to note that 98% of the rest of the population isn't robbing or killing or going to jail.I also explain that maybe you are not that exceptional. I also ask if this person knows whether the women who "scorned" him was actually feeling him like that. Sometimes people realize that the person their dating is not up to standard. That might come as quite a shock to some of you brothers, but it's true.

That's where male privilege rears it's ugly head. As men, we feel entitled. "What's wrong with me?" we ask. "I'm have a good job, college educated, don't cause any trouble, etc..." "Why did she leave me?" Boo hoo. Ironically, we are quick to blame women in high flying careers for being "too" successful (whatever that means) which we erroneously believe is why they can't find a decent mate. Yet when we are in the same predicament, we blame women again. Well, brother, you might not be all that.In the end, stop whining and get over it. There is always room for improvement and we can't always win. There is no need to blame an entire gender for it.

Click here for the original post

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

http://www.imanifoundation.com/

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

Things I've Learned - Dan Tres Omi

The things I have learned so far in this Journey called life...

By Dan Tres Omi

And it goes a little something like this:

1. Love, just do it! -- When I say that I don't mean that we should forget reciprocity. Be for who, who be for you. Today while reading to Zumbi's class, a little girl raised her hand and asked, "can I give you a hug?" I told her no. Not because I didn't want to. I am a hugger, but I know how some parents can get about a stranger hugging his or her child (then again, everyone in school knows me). At the end of the story, she ran up and hugged me anyway. So love, folks. Don't hesitate (just remember reciprocity is important). I gave her a book and challenged her to read it to the class. From experience, I can say that the people who love me back far outweigh, outclass, and outnumber those who didn't.

2. You can't save everyone -- I know, I know. One would think this is a lesson I should have learned already. Well, I actually relearn this lesson about once a week. I can't help it. I am a fanatical optimist. I get it from my mother. On a serious note, this too can be dangerous so we must be careful. Some folks will just drain our energy and not lose a wink of sleep. We also have to choose our battles wisely.

3. "I eat, you eat" -- That is a term I heard over and over in 2009 and now in 2010. I know that with the recession, many of us have reverted to our socialist leanings. Actually, let me rephrase that. We have reverted to the way our ancestors moved. They shared. Everyone came through. Then someone else shared. So on and so forth. We have to go back to that. It's the only way we will survive any disaster.

4. Life is actually long -- So you might as well have fun. I hear people say that life is short. I disagree. Compared to most animals and insects, humans actually live for a long time. Compared to fruit flies, humans are virtually immortal. With that said, take time to learn, to build, to explore, to share, and most of all to love.

5. Put the cell phones and other mobile devices down and talk! -- For those that know me, they know I love to build. Whether I am on line at the bank, walking down the street, or shoveling snow, I am going to build with someone. I think it's a shame that when we are in a large gathering of people, we go to our mobile devices and talk to someone else who is probably sitting around with a group of people. Big up to brothers and sisters on the long, cold line in Brooklyn. I had a great time trying to find Sirius B.

6. Every little bit counts -- the last few years we have witnessed some ill disasters. Yes, it is overwhelming and daunting. However, we still have to give what we can. Many of us are not rich but we have legs. Many of us are not Ph.d's but we can still think. Many of us are not artists, but we can paint, write, type, push, pick up, grab, hand off, etc. Get in where you fit in. Volunteering a few hours a week makes a difference. Trust. Oftentimes, when we think of huge movements we are only told about the leaders of those movements. We are never taught about the countless millions who did much of the dirty work (most of them being women). We are those countless millions who need to do much of the dirty work.Thank you everyone for having some part in teaching those lessons to me. They will not be forgotten.

Dan Tres Omi

Click Here for the Blog Post

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

http://www.imanifoundation.com/

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

How We deal with the Sisters

Black Consciousness and How We deal with the Sisters -
OMi's Note:

This is something that has been on my mind quite a bit in the last year or so. Too many brothers who I look up to and admire say one thing, but actually do the opposite. I have found that among the so called conscious community, we seem to be the most sexist and oppressive when it comes to our women. Many of us in the so called conscious community are closet misogynists but refuse to 'come out.' I also will refrain from defining "consciousness" because that term encompasses folks who are in so many belief systems and cultures that it would take an entire entry to specify. I do expect a large amount of backlash for this. Well, I make no apologies. I speak truth and dare anyone to prove me wrong. I am against the blame game but in this case, I have to make an exception because for some of us this is an issue of survival.

I enjoy building with my sister. She makes me look at things differently even when I am just listening to her speak, she causes the gears in my brain to turn. What's wonderful is that my sister challenges me. It's something that I applied to my friendships. All of her friends can agree with me on that. She is demanding but in a loving way. She asks the right questions and expects the truth. Anywhoos, one evening as I hung out with my sister and my wife, the topic somehow steered into the state of our relationships.

My sister pointed out that quite a few of my so called conscious brothers are failing so much when it comes to just even interacting with our sisters.My response of course was "well, I come from the school that every brother ain't a brother...""Well name me a few conscious brothers who are in functioning and committed relationships with sisters, " she answered. Now I know quite a few functioning and committed relationships. However, most of them are not with people I considered "conscious" or Pan Africanist in any way. I still love and appreciate them the same and don't treat them differently but when it comes to matters of black consciousness or Pan Africanism, I don't give them a call. So to be honest, I was speechless for a few minutes. I thought of only two. Two brothers who I know and love deeply who are in functioning and committed relationships. It is important that I emphasize the word "functioning" because I know quite a few people in dysfunctional relationships. So please keep that in mind. It's a shame that I even have to use that term. However, quite a few of the people I know are not in relationships that are healthy and some are in fact, dangerous. These are from the ones I know who consider themselves conscious.



We often speak of respecting our "Black queens." While this is well intentioned, it really misses the mark. When we say "queens," a good number of us mean "barefoot and pregnant" or we mean a white male patriarchal perception of that idea of womanhood (check "Fascinating Womanhood"). We want our "queens" to submit in more ways than one. While I dislike referring to myself as a "king," I think we need to be clear about how we throw those terms around. Inferring the term "queen," we further perpetuate the myth of the Black Superwoman (a blog post for yet another day). If a woman we encounter does that fit that standard, we deem her less than and consider her a "ho." When we think or say "queen," we even expect a dress code.This myth of the superwoman denies their humanity and does not allow them the freedom to choose. Women can be poets, playwrights, mathematicians, entrepreneurs, martial artists, etc. When calling them queens we are not allowing them that freedom to choose. It is just slavery by another name.

What bothers me the most however, is how I encounter many so called conscious brothers who masquerade as warriors but are really pimps. They read all the books, attend all the lectures, and know quite a few words in Metu Neter. Yet they seldom apply that information. Of course, there are charlatans in all cultures. However, many will kick the polygamy game or deflect blame onto the sisters. Many of us are also still caught up in the "it's none of our business" approach to our community and turn a blind eye to the abuse. We hold fast to the Christian ethos of being non judgemental despite our anti Christian rhetoric.

We speak of the importance of one of the principles of Ma'at,reciprocity, but continually fail to apply this even when we date. We want to take from our women but never want to give back. When a sister brings up a point, question, or rebuttal, we immediately dubbed them the dreaded "f" word (feminist) and call them all things eurocentric. If the sister is not singing our song of patriarchy and male privilege, they are quickly shunned. There is a reason why women find a good number of us Pan Africanist types full of nonsense and just as bad as those found on corners.The solutions are simple. We need to hold one another to the standards we are kicking. If I say I am ACTIVELY conscious, I implore those who are on my side to hold me accountable. Reciprocity dictates that I do the same for them. If there are snakes in our temple, we need to flush them out. We need to shun these charlatans and exile them. We know how to do it, we do it to the sisters all the time. We need to give our sisters breathing room. Heck, we need to give them air time on the mic at those lectures. We also need lend a hand in child rearing and household chores. It's about balance right? We must never justify spousal abuse. I often hear too many of joke about it or attempt to justify it.

In the end, it is all about uplifting our community. That is what we need to remember. We are on the same team. It won't work without one another.



Dan Tres Omi
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/notes/dan-tres-omi/no-title/334769368602

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

FIND US ON FACEBOOK BY CLICKING HERE !

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

This Bit of Earth by Chuck D of Public Enemy

Release date: 01/25/2010

With all of this going down in Haiti , I am at a loss when figuring out some things in 2010. In case somebody has forgotten, its history and geography seems to be overlooked and undervalued in my opinion. The facts leading up to this disaster have been cooking in this region for 2-3 hundred years. First of all the country of Haiti is half of an island, long conquered from the west by France and Spain. The forced-upon Haitian native tongue is French, and the Dominican Republic side is Spanish. The West enslaved black people from the continent of Africa on both halves of the island, never letting those enslaved people mix, and created fabricated prejudices and bias that exist to this very day. Although Haiti has been the heartbeat for many black people in the entire Diaspora because of the revolutionary liberation led by President Toussaint L'Ouverture, one cannot help but think that the West has damned that liberation.

When the people on an island cannot come and go, as its indigenous people once did, and are forced to be concentrated and compacted by limitations, you have millions of people in Port -au-Prince who flocked to the city for better survival chances. When resources are sucked from a region and the people don’t share and can’t build, you have a recipe for disaster.

The problem in Haiti doesn’t stop just because Americans take it off the news. Long after Wolf Blitzer, Larry King, Anderson Cooper, Fox News, and MSNBC leave the half-island nation, the issues that had been going on before will be twice as heavy. The question remains, what is the West going to do to truly fix a region they screwed up with slavery, takeover and underhanded modern gangsterism?

The West interrupted and destroyed the Caribbean, South America and Asia for the benefit of Europeans, North Americans, and a vast majority of white skinned people. If the West now wants to truly aid they would liberate the entire island. Build townships and cities to redistribute the population and allow Haitians and other people from the descendants of slaves to travel the world for refuge. Provide them with a universal passport, so to speak.

I also have issue with the fact that somebody in this crisis had the nerve to try to discredit Wyclef Jean and the Yéle organization which has been consistently helping throughout these past years when Haiti wasn’t on the international radar. He has been a leader and conduit and we will continue to support Yéle and Wyclef Jean.

For this, a song I picked by artists of Haitian connection speaks volumes of the feeling that ain’t never left. The anger evolves from when people are played with for centuries. Tired and mad as hell and ain’t gonna take it no more.

http://www.slamjamz.com/download/dlsingles/465 Download his single !

Chuck D aka Mista Chuck

http://www.slamjamz.com/artists/artistbio/112
THIS BIT OF EARTH

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Imani Foundation www.ImaniFOundation.Com

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

Another View: Relevance of Black History

Another View is a public television program that addresses issues specific to the vibrant African American community of Hampton Roads. Fridays at 9pm on WHRO HD15.1

The website is here: http://anotherview.tv/page/Video-Podcasts.aspx

In 1926 Carter G. Woodson created "Negro History Week" in response to the lack of African Americans being included in American History. In 2010, we celebrate Black History Month - but the question is, "Do we still need it?". Join our panelists, Gwendolyn Epps Pharr, Assistant Professor of History at Norfolk State University, and Austin, Tasha and Anthony Mitchell, all of Kendal Alexander Media Operations, for a lively discussion on the relevance of Black History Month. And - we'll take you to a neighborhood built for African Americans by African Americans and it's preserving its history for generations to come.

View the video here: http://anotherview.tv/videoplayer.aspx?file=146.mp4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

http://www.imanifoundation.com/

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

Dr. Vivien Thomas's Blue Baby

BLACK HISTORY ON THE SCREEN !
Here is a movie you must see !

Something the Lord Made – NR – Released: 2005 – Dr. Alfred Blalock (Alan Rickman) hires an African-American carpenter, Vivian Thomas (Mos Def), to assist him around his medical offices. Vivian shows great ingenuity and becomes the forerunner in a partnership between Blalock and Thomas that lead to radical, life-saving medical innovations. All this occurs against a background of racism in which Thomas is unable to take credit for his own work due to his skin color and lack of a medical degree. An exciting film about the triumph of man over illness and oppression.

Click here to view photos of the film.

Something The Lord Made is a biopic about the black cardiac pioneer Vivien Thomas and his complex and volatile partnership with white surgeon Alfred Blalock, the world famous "Blue Baby doctor" who pioneered modern heart surgery. Based on the National Magazine Award-winning Washingtonian magazine article "Like Something the Lord Made" by Katie McCabe, the film was directed by Joseph Sargent, scripted by Peter Silverman and Robert Caswell, and produced by Robert Cort, David Madden and Eric Hetzel. Something the Lord Made stars Mos Def as Vivien Thomas, Alan Rickman as Alfred Blalock, and Mary Stuart Masterson as Helen Taussig.

Something the Lord Made tells the story of the extraordinary 34-year partnership which begins in Depression Era Nashville in 1930, when Blalock hires Thomas as an assistant in his Vanderbilt University lab, expecting him merely to perform janitorial work. But Thomas' remarkable manual dexterity and scientific acumen shatter Blalock's expectations, and Thomas rapidly becomes indispensable as a research partner to Blalock in his first daring forays into heart surgery. The film traces the groundbreaking work the two men undertake when they move in 1941 from Vanderbilt to Johns Hopkins, an institution where the only black employees are janitors and where Thomas must enter by the back door. Together, they boldly attack the devastating heart problem of Tetralogy of Fallot, also known as Blue Baby Syndrome, and in so doing they open the field of heart surgery. The film dramatizes their race to save dying Blue Babies against the background of a Jim Crow America, illuminating the nuanced and complex relationship the two sustain.

Thomas earns Blalock's unalloyed respect, with Blalock praising the results of Thomas' surgical skill as being "like something the Lord made", and insisting that Thomas coach him through the first Blue Baby surgery over the protests of Hopkins administrators. Yet outside the lab, they remain forever separated by the racial divide. Thomas attends Blalock's parties as a bartender, moonlighting for extra income, and when Blalock is honored for the Blue Baby work at a segregated Belvedere Hotel, Thomas is not among the invited guests. Instead, he watches the proceedings from behind a potted palm at the rear of the ballroom.

Critics have ascribed much of the film's power to its sensitive depiction of the disparity between their two worlds and the relative anonymity in which Thomas labored even as Blalock achieved international renown.

A man who in life avoided the limelight, Vivien Thomas remained for decades virtually unknown outside the circle of elite Hopkins surgeons he trained. Thomas' story was first brought to public attention by Washington writer Katie McCabe, who learned of his work with Alfred Blalock on the day of his death in a 1985 interview with a prominent Washington, DC surgeon who described Thomas as "an absolute legend." McCabe's 1989 Washingtonian magazine article on Thomas, "Like Something the Lord Made", generated widespread interest in the story and precipitated the making of a 2003 public television documentary on Thomas and Blalock, "Partners of the Heart."[1] A Washington, DC dentist, Dr. Irving Sorkin, discovered McCabe's article and brought it to Hollywood, where it was developed into the HBO film.

References:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/dome/0301/close_up.cfm

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2007/11/10/AR2007111001586_2.html

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/oct/25/local/me-sorkin25

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUfOvjNTM2M

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

Henrietta's Immortality (Current Black History)

"Henrietta Lacks' cells were essential in developing the polio vaccine and were used in scientific landmarks such as cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization."

Journalist Rebecca Skloot’s new book investigates how a poor black tobacco farmer had a groundbreaking impact on modern medicine
By Sarah Zielinski
Smithsonian.com, January 22, 2010


Medical researchers use laboratory-grown human cells to learn the intricacies of how cells work and test theories about the causes and treatment of diseases. The cell lines they need are “immortal”—they can grow indefinitely, be frozen for decades, divided into different batches and shared among scientists. In 1951, a scientist at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, created the first immortal human cell line with a tissue sample taken from a young black woman with cervical cancer. Those cells, called HeLa cells, quickly became invaluable to medical research—though their donor remained a mystery for decades. In her new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, journalist Rebecca Skloot tracks down the story of the source of the amazing HeLa cells, Henrietta Lacks, and documents the cell line's impact on both modern medicine and the Lacks family.

Who was Henrietta Lacks?She was a black tobacco farmer from southern Virginia who got cervical cancer when she was 30. A doctor at Johns Hopkins took a piece of her tumor without telling her and sent it down the hall to scientists there who had been trying to grow tissues in culture for decades without success. No one knows why, but her cells never died.
Why are her cells so important?Henrietta’s cells were the first immortal human cells ever grown in culture. They were essential to developing the polio vaccine. They went up in the first space missions to see what would happen to cells in zero gravity. Many scientific landmarks since then have used her cells, including cloning, gene mapping and in vitro fertilization.

There has been a lot of confusion over the years about the source of HeLa cells. Why?When the cells were taken, they were given the code name HeLa, for the first two letters in Henrietta and Lacks. Today, anonymizing samples is a very important part of doing research on cells. But that wasn’t something doctors worried about much in the 1950s, so they weren’t terribly careful about her identity. When some members of the press got close to finding Henrietta’s family, the researcher who’d grown the cells made up a pseudonym—Helen Lane—to throw the media off track. Other pseudonyms, like Helen Larsen, eventually showed up, too. Her real name didn’t really leak out into the world until the 1970s.

How did you first get interested in this story?I first learned about Henrietta in 1988. I was 16 and a student in a community college biology class. Everybody learns about these cells in basic biology, but what was unique about my situation was that my teacher actually knew Henrietta’s real name and that she was black. But that’s all he knew. The moment I heard about her, I became obsessed: Did she have any kids? What do they think about part of their mother being alive all these years after she died? Years later, when I started being interested in writing, one of the first stories I imagined myself writing was hers. But it wasn’t until I went to grad school that I thought about trying to track down her family.

How did you win the trust of Henrietta’s family?Part of it was that I just wouldn’t go away and was determined to tell the story. It took almost a year even to convince Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah, to talk to me. I knew she was desperate to learn about her mother. So when I started doing my own research, I’d tell her everything I found. I went down to Clover, Virginia, where Henrietta was raised, and tracked down her cousins, then called Deborah and left these stories about Henrietta on her voice mail. Because part of what I was trying to convey to her was I wasn’t hiding anything, that we could learn about her mother together. After a year, finally she said, fine, let’s do this thing.

When did her family find out about Henrietta’s cells?Twenty-five years after Henrietta died, a scientist discovered that many cell cultures thought to be from other tissue types, including breast and prostate cells, were in fact HeLa cells. It turned out that HeLa cells could float on dust particles in the air and travel on unwashed hands and contaminate other cultures. It became an enormous controversy. In the midst of that, one group of scientists tracked down Henrietta’s relatives to take some samples with hopes that they could use the family’s DNA to make a map of Henrietta’s genes so they could tell which cell cultures were HeLa and which weren’t, to begin straightening out the contamination problem.

So a postdoc called Henrietta’s husband one day. But he had a third-grade education and didn’t even know what a cell was. The way he understood the phone call was: “We’ve got your wife. She’s alive in a laboratory. We’ve been doing research on her for the last 25 years. And now we have to test your kids to see if they have cancer.” Which wasn’t what the researcher said at all. The scientists didn’t know that the family didn’t understand. From that point on, though, the family got sucked into this world of research they didn’t understand, and the cells, in a sense, took over their lives.

How did they do that?This was most true for Henrietta’s daughter. Deborah never knew her mother; she was an infant when Henrietta died. She had always wanted to know who her mother was but no one ever talked about Henrietta. So when Deborah found out that this part of her mother was still alive she became desperate to understand what that meant: Did it hurt her mother when scientists injected her cells with viruses and toxins? Had scientists cloned her mother? And could those cells help scientists tell her about her mother, like what her favorite color was and if she liked to dance.

Deborah’s brothers, though, didn’t think much about the cells until they found out there was money involved. HeLa cells were the first human biological materials ever bought and sold, which helped launch a multi-billion-dollar industry. When Deborah’s brothers found out that people were selling vials of their mother’s cells, and that the family didn’t get any of the resulting money, they got very angry. Henrietta’s family has lived in poverty most of their lives, and many of them can’t afford health insurance. One of her sons was homeless and living on the streets of Baltimore. So the family launched a campaign to get some of what they felt they were owed financially. It consumed their lives in that way.

What are the lessons from this book?For scientists, one of the lessons is that there are human beings behind every biological sample used in the laboratory. So much of science today revolves around using human biological tissue of some kind. For scientists, cells are often just like tubes or fruit flies—they’re just inanimate tools that are always there in the lab. The people behind those samples often have their own thoughts and feelings about what should happen to their tissues, but they’re usually left out of the equation.

And for the rest of us?The story of HeLa cells and what happened with Henrietta has often been held up as an example of a racist white scientist doing something malicious to a black woman. But that’s not accurate. The real story is much more subtle and complicated. What is very true about science is that there are human beings behind it and sometimes even with the best of intentions things go wrong.

One of the things I don’t want people to take from the story is the idea that tissue culture is bad. So much of medicine today depends on tissue culture. HIV tests, many basic drugs, all of our vaccines—we would have none of that if it wasn’t for scientists collecting cells from people and growing them. And the need for these cells is going to get greater, not less. Instead of saying we don’t want that to happen, we just need to look at how it can happen in a way that everyone is OK with.

Direct link:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html

Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html#ixzz0eL2LxGvL





Refferences:
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html#ixzz0eL1pQdKs


http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Henrietta-Lacks-Immortal-Cells.html#ixzz0eL25VrKv

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

VISIT US ON FACEBOOK !

The Imani Foundation

http://www.imanifoundation.com/

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

American life without Black People

A very humorous and revealing story is told about a group of whitepeople who were fed up with African Americans, so they joined togetherand wished themselves away. They passed through a deep dark tunnel andemerged in sort of a twilight zone where there is an America withoutblack people. At first these white people breathed a sigh of relief. 'At last', they said, 'no more crime, drugs, violence and welfare.' All of the blacks have gone! Then suddenly, reality set in.

The 'NEWAMERICA' is not America at all - only a barren land. 1. There are very few crops that have flourished because the nation wasbuilt on a slave-supported system.

2. There are no cities with tall skyscrapers because Alexander Mils, ablack man, invented the elevator, and without it, one finds greatdifficulty reaching higher floors.

3. There are few if any cars because Richard Spikes, a black man,invented the automatic gearshift, Joseph Gambol, also black, inventedthe Super Charge System for Internal Combustion Engines, and Garrett A.Morgan, a black man, invented the traffic signals.

4. Furthermore, one could not use the rapid transit system because itsprocurer was the electric trolley, which was invented by another blackman, Albert R. Robinson.

5. Even if there were streets on which cars and a rapid transit systemcould operate, they were cluttered with paper because an AfricanAmerican, Charles Brooks, invented the street sweeper.

6. There were few if any newspapers, magazines and books because JohnLove invented the pencil sharpener, William Purveys invented thefountain pen, and Lee Barrage invented the Type Writing Machine and W.A. Love invented the Advanced Printing Press. They were all, you guessed it, Black.

7. Even if Americans could write their letters, articles and books, theywould not have been transported by mail because William Barry inventedthe Postmarking and Canceling Machine, William Purveys invented the HandStamp and Philip Downing invented the Letter Drop.

8. The lawns were brown and wilted because Joseph Smith invented theLawn Sprinkler and John Burr the Lawn Mower.

9. When they entered their homes, they found them to be poorlyventilated and poorly heated. You see, Frederick Jones invented the AirConditioner and Alice Parker the Heating Furnace. Their homes were alsodim. But of course, Lewis Lattimer later invented the Electric Lamp, Michael Harvey invented thelantern, and Granville T. Woods invented the Automatic Cut off Switch.Their homes were also filthy because Thomas W. Steward invented the Mopand Lloyd P. Ray the Dust Pan.

10. Their children met them at the door - barefooted, shabby, motley andunkempt. But what could one expect? Jan E. Matzelinger invented theShoe Lasting Machine, Walter Sammons invented the Comb, Sarah Booneinvented the Ironing Board, and George T. Samon invented the Clothes Dryer.

11. Finally, they were resigned to at least have dinner amidst all ofthis turmoil. But here again, the food had spoiled because another BlackMan, John Standard invented the refrigerator...Now, isn't that something? What would this country be like without thecontributions of Blacks, as African-Americans? Martin Luther King, Jr. said, 'by the time we leave for work, millions of Americans have depended on the inventions from the minds of Blacks.

This is a short edit from a longer speech given by Dr. Luck Wilson (formerly of Norfolk State University) at the Chesapeake Virginia of the NAACP annual Jubilee held on 01/05/1997. This section gives a narrative that describes being on a train and taking notice of the inventions created by Americans of African descent.

http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Imani Foundation

http://www.imanifoundation.com/
Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

All White Basketball League

Controversy is raging over Don "Moose" Lewis's plans to launch an all-white basketball league. The former wrestling promoter claims that the NBA has devolved into "street ball" dominated by "people of color" who carry guns, abuse fans and — above all — don't play "fundamental basketball."

Lewis's proposed All-American Basketball Alliance (AABA), scheduled to debut later this year in 12 southeastern U.S. cities, will restrict team rosters to "natural-born United States citizens with both parents of Caucasian race." Claiming to harbor no "hatred" against "anyone of color," Lewis describes his venture as a chance to move pro basketball in a "better direction." Is the AABA anything but a pure expression of racism?This is beyond ridiculous — but it's for real: I first took this a joke, says Rick Chandler at NBC Sports. Then "I made a couple of calls" and "sadly, it's indeed legit." Equally depressing is the fact that it's getting some grassroots support, at least in Augusta, Ga., one of the 12 cities the AABA is targeting to host franchises. So much for progress on the race front."Promoter wants to start all-white basketball league"An all-whites league makes some sense: "Moose" Lewis does have a point — of sorts, anyway, says Marlone Viardo in Siopao Heaven. "Since the '60s, the game of basketball has been dominated by African-Americans." The AABA would "give white guys, who are used to being dunked on by the Wades and the Bryants, a chance" to excel. Setting up a league where everyone is at "the same skill level" may be the only way "whites get their share of hardcourt action." That said, American society (admirably) shuns even the appearance of racism, so I can hardly see this happening."'White' league dissed"

Good luck finding players: Forget the overt racism for a moment, says Mark Lorenz in Manolith. Let's boil this down to a practical question: "Where are you going to find people willing to [participate in] the most boring sports league in the history of sports leagues?" Even if you signed a white player who happens to be both "insanely good at basketball and also terribly racist" — he'd have to be second-generation "Caucasion," and not, say, a Croatian immigrant. Let's face it, all the NBA's "gigantic white guys" are foreigners."Who wants to watch whites-only basketball?"

Direct Link:

http://www.theweek.com/article/index/105321/A_whitesonly_basketball_league

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundation !

Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/

Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !

Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/

We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399

Avatar and White Supremacy

Avatar: An Extension of White Supremacy
By Frederick Alexander Meade

After having viewed the latest box office hit Avatar, themes which seemingly resonate timelessly, find their expression once again.

The story takes place on the distant planet of Pandora. This planet is bountiful in its natural resources and in particular “Unobtainium.” This precious mineral is highly coveted universally, as a business interest from the distant planet Earth seeks to exploit the planet in gathering this resource for its own entrepreneurial purposes. Such an endeavor would be easily undertaken if not for the indigenous population of the planet, the Na’vi.

This group of highly intelligent, disciplined and physically gifted beings are a deeply spiritual people, who demonstrate complete deference for all forms of nature as they derive their sense of being and purpose from their deity known as Eywa, the source of all living things.

Indeed, Avatar’s story line has been crafted from World history, as almost all indigenous people of color have had to contend with European colonizers determined to steal the natural resources existing in the lands of these populations. In Europe’s quest to secure these resources belonging to foreign peoples, colonial forces demonstrated no regard for the indigenous people, their customs, or their right to exist as a sovereign body.

In the case of Africa, such European acts of unfettered exploitation found its expression no more so than in South Africa, where the British - among other European groups – for more than a century have and continue to subjugate the original peoples of the land while simultaneously raping the region of its most precious commodities – its gold, platinum, coal and diamonds.

Avatar’s plot simply takes a page from this unfortunate segment of Africa’s history, as it places a group of foreign mercenaries – primarily composed and completely headed by those of European ancestry – in the land of the Na’vi, who seek to rob the indigenous people of their organic capital.

A small band of supposed good doers – who through technology are able to mimic the appearance and abilities of other life forms – function as covert agents working on behalf of their mercenary cohorts, as they are instructed to make efforts to convince the Na’vi to remove themselves from their homeland so as to create a circumstance where by the theft of the regions considerable deposits of “Unobtainium” would be easily facilitated.

Jake – the lead character – heads this collection of duplicitous individuals as he is successful in infiltrating a Na’vi clan. However an extended stay among “The People” would function to civilize the former marine, as he would become acquainted with the high principles regarding universal respect for life and the environment which govern Na’vi thought and behavior.

Subsequently, Jake would undoubtedly conclude that the Na’vi would not surrender their homeland to any outside force.

A now spiritually imbued and morally centered Jake then warns the Na’vi of the intentions of his comrades and informs the group of his role as a secret agent in helping to bring forth their agenda, essentially causing his banishment.

Throughout the early stages of the movie, the actions of the imperialistic business class clearly denote those tenets which undergird the concept of White supremacy; however it is also during this portion of the film, where the less pronounced undertones of such a paradigm emerge.

Jake through an ancient Na’vi spiritual occurrence is identified as an anointed savior figure by this population. This absurd reality surfaces in the face of his role as stealth informant working to uproot this group from its homeland in attempt to make the land’s spoils available for plunder to his capitalist superiors.

Additionally, as the main character interacts with this Na’vi clan he not only is proven their spiritual superior –again by virtue of the fact ancient spiritual forces suggest he is their redeemer – but also their physical and intellectual superior as he masters all of their practices and customs requiring speed, strength, endurance and intellectual prowess on his way to becoming a respected member.

Jake’s final display of his inherent ascendancy atop the Na’vi – African people – occurs when he demonstrates his abilities in regard to combat, as he physically subdues this clan’s top warrior and future King after the defeated prince publically exposes the romantic involvement between the supposed hero and the clan’s princess and subsequent future Queen.

As evidenced, the ethos of White superiority is consummated by Jake’s perpetual dominance over “The People” of Pandora as it is demonstrated in every conceivable manner, not withstanding his ability to capture the favor of the future Queen of this clan, an act which violates the group’s sacred prearranged pairing of the rightful royal prince and princess.

Fearing its financial interests will not be realized; Earth’s occupying business class releases the full breadth of its hired military in an effort to remove Pandora’s indigenous people by force, vowing to spare no lives if deemed necessary.

Jake having been ostracized by his former hosts, once again demonstrates his unbridled dominance as he would reintroduce himself to the clan after having tamed a revered and legendary “flying beast”; the likes of which only a few honored Na’vi warriors in the history of the people have ever domesticated.

Such an occurrence would further reinforce the revealed prophecy expressing, the divinely inspired role this paradoxical figure – who worked to considerably undermine the interests of Pandora’s original people – would play as the Na’vi’s chosen deliverer.

As the ensuing battle between the Corporations’ military and the Na’vi would unfold, Jake, recognized as sacred leader and commander of “The People”, would unite all indigenous clans – Africans – in facing this formidable opponent.

Additionally, though not having engaged the Na’vi people for more than a few months, Jake would demonstrate an exceptional ability – reserved only for an arch witchdoctor – to access the ultimate source of “The People’s” power in summoning Eywa to aid the group in their campaign.

As would be expected the indigenous people of Pandora aided by Eywa would vanquish their opponents, peace would be restored and Jake would find himself as the undisputed leader of the Na’vi and God figure to all its clans.

The overwhelming messages communicated in the movie Avatar are disturbing on a variety of levels. The overarching theme promoted in the film, suggests the Na’vi – Africans, Native Americans, South Americans etc… – possess not the spiritual, physical or intellectual capacity to compete with their Caucasian counterparts and thus have not the ability to adequately govern themselves, much less in times of adversity ergo the need for a White savior.

Such an interpretation may germinate as the main character Jake would singularly outperform members of the Na’vi – to include their most formidable warrior – in every imaginable fashion, to the extent he would ultimately rise to the level of King and quasi – God figure in securing the survival of the very individuals whom civilized him.
Furthermore, not only is the proposition regarding the main character as liberator of those –Africans – whom brought him further into the fold of humanity troubling, but even more still unsettling and potentially problematic is the premise that such an arrangement was divinely inspired.

This circumstance prevailed as the Na’vi’s deity Eywa recognized Jake as a more spiritually pure and courageous being in relation to his indigenous – African – mentors, again in the face of his less than honorable intentions in regard to the very people the deity governs. Lastly, Jake’s rather exclusive channel to this groups’ celestial ruler, exercised as he prepared for battle, further establishes the proposed aforementioned spiritual pact.

Regrettably, movie goers often fail to recognize the incessant inane and divisive ideas promoted by such productions as Avatar and subsequently are subliminally compelled to accept false notions in regard to either the superiority or inferiority of various groups and their subsequent essential value. Such has been the case far more often than the public is perhaps aware.

The theme of Caucasian superiority has played itself out over an extended period of time throughout the history of the movie and television Industry. A considerable number of big and small screen productions – including but not limited to – Tarzan, The Lone Ranger and The Last Samurai serve as manifestations of this ethic.

If society is to emancipate itself from such orchestrated tapestries of confusion, those among the masses able to discern the workings of the purveyors of this brand of cerebral control must remain vigilant in sounding “the alarm”, so as to impel media forces to more regularly reflect truth. If such a phenomenon fails to emerge, those transmissions designed to maintain and reinforce existing inequitable social arrangements and attending precepts will continue to flourish. Such is the net effect of the movie industries’ latest instrument- Avatar.

Black Star News columnist Frederick Alexander Meade is a journalist providing analysis on social and political matters. The writer may be reached at meade1900@yahoo.com

Please post your comments directly online or submit them to milton@blackstarnews.com .

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Imani Foundaion
Visit our online Black History Class
http://www.blackhistoryclass.blogspot.com/
For your photography needs visit http://ctmphotoandvideo.com/
Visit http://www.cherylwilkerson.com/ Everyday !
Getting married ? Visit http://www.happilyeverafter.be/
We got Books ! Positive Vibes African Litterature 757-523-1399