On August 23rd of 2005, Hurricane Katrina descended on New Orleans; and for it's residents, especially it's Black residents, life would never be the same.
Now, lately, I've been hearing white folks talk about how much they suffered behind 2012's Hurricane Sandy; and now they're saying this disaster was just as bad, or in some cases worse, than the ravagings of Hurricane Katrina.
Now, this is nothing new. This is white people's attempt to show they can endure in the face of adversity like Black people can.
This is also their attempt to show they can come through a trauma without crying foul like Black people do.
But what I'll display here is how odious and insidious these people are when it comes to bending the truth to make themselves look better.
They have no problems spinning facts to try and make light of Black people's suffering in america or the diaspora.
So, here are my 3 reasons why Hurricane Katrina was far worse than Hurricane Sandy:
Reason#3: Even the white media are admitting the facts about which storm was worse. The new york times ran an article comparing the overall damages of Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, and even they had to confess that Sandy was no Katrina. Here's some stats: In terms of overall deaths suffered in these storms, Hurricane Katrina has Sandy beat; with Katrina having more than 1900 deaths and Sandy having barely over 200. In terms of buildings destroyed, Katrina had over 1.2 million homes decimated and Sandy had about 305,000 living units deemed unlivable. In terms of sheer costs for damages, Sandy comes in at roughly 71 billion, while Katrina's dollar amount comes to 148 billion. And, in terms of displaced families, Katrina comes in at roughly 600,000 displaced residents; while according to the new york times...officials are still compiling data for Sandy's numbers. Read: the number of displaced residents for Sandy are embarrassingly small compared to Katrina's. Reason#2: During and after Hurricane Sandy, white displaced residents looking for food weren't called 'looters' or 'refugees'. It's amazing to me how Black people in the diaspora have such an affection and reverence for america; especially after Hurricane Katrina. After Black people were flooded out of their homes, many went looking for food in local supermarkets and strip malls. The TV news proceeded to label these people...american born citizens mind you, 'refugees' and 'looters'.
Intimating that Black people who were trying to survive were just criminals trying to get something for nothing.
What this country was really saying and showing us, is we're NOT considered 'true' americans, like fair-skinned folks are; basically, we were and still are 'second-class citizens' in their eyes.
And, what the TV news rarely spoke about was how these Black people were randomly shot down by police for trying to find sustenance.
There was an instance where groups of Black people who tried to cross a bridge to get to dry land, were held back at gunpoint by police and told they were barred from going into the next town. Still think america loves you Black people? And last but not least... Reason#1: Hurricane Sandy was a 'natural' disaster, while Hurricane Katrina's disaster was man-made. Let me explain this point...Hurricane Sandy's devastating rains and winds were an 'act of god', just like Katrina's were.
Difference is, the flood waters of Katrina came behind the white elites bombing of the levees in new orleans.
In 2006, Spike Lee aired a documentary on HBO called 'When the Levees Broke'. In this doc, several residents confessed to hearing three explosions before the lethal waters that killed many of their neighbors rushed in.
One woman said she not only heard the explosions, but felt them.
Rumor has it that this was done to displace large numbers of Black people out of areas like the fifth and ninth wards, because the white elites discovered some natural resource beneath those lands.
I might dedicate a Blog post to that one day when I have researched the facts further; but what I do know is white fascists in america have a love affair with displacing Black people out of their neighborhoods in this country. And they give this act a pretty sounding name like 'gentrification'; when it's just good 'ole fashioned ethnic cleansing. So the next time a white person might wanna' talk some of this Hurricane Katrina vs. Sandy nonsense to you, remember these facts. And either give them the finger...or walk the hell off. Ma'at Hotep, MontUHURU Mimia
I've recently talked about the free e-book I'll put out in the near future, and I've released parts 1 and 2 on this Blog. But I've recently decided to add another short bio on a current Black revolutionary, who's extremely worthy of being in this tome; I won't tell you who that person is, for that you'll have to check out the book when it's released. What I will do though, is share the third part of that book on this Blog. So without further ado, here's Part 3 of my e-book: The legend of Katt Williams. Enjoy this.
Now, I have to be honest about my original feelings for Katt Williams.
At first, to me, Katt was the kind of comic I'd call a 'whiskey and weed' comedian.
This is what I term any comic who tells a bunch of third rate jokes that aren't very cerebral and they mostly exploit the cultural differences between Black and white people in an effort to expend the least amount of mental energy possible.
For them it's all about the quick laugh and quicker buck. Beyond that, I had a problem with Katt's 'pimp' facade and his gratuitous use of then 'n-word'.
Now, when I say I had a problem with his use of the 'n-word', I don't mean that the same way a Black anglophile would mean it.
You see, I understand the origins of the 'n-word'.
The writings on pyramid walls that greeks/freaks call 'hieroglyphics' or 'hieroglyphs', are actually the original language of Black people called the 'Medu Netcher'. And in this language the word 'Negus' means King.
The word 'Nagas' was not only the name of an ancient Black tribe, but the very word means 'divine' in the Medu Netcher as well.
And 'Negus' is actually where the english got the word 'regis' from, which also means king; as used in words like 'registration' or 'registrar'.
But even knowing this, here's why I don't use this word around white people.
Whites are not sensitive or smart enough to realize that they shouldn't use this word towards us even though we use it amongst ourselves.
And I know what you're thinking, you're saying, if you don't want people to refer to you as that, why would any of you refer to each other that way?
Well, here's the thing...everyone uses ethnic slurs as endearments towards themselves, not only Black people.
Case in point, if you ever watched the martin scorsese film 'goodfellas' (martin's another neo-liberal white bigot I can't stand by the way), you'll see that irish and italian men are using ethnic slurs as endearments amongst themselves throughout the film.
And, a real life example of this is when I was speaking to an italian man, and he told me he doesn't go to certain clubs 'cause they're too 'guido'.
Now, I'm smart enough to realize that if I see another italian man, I'm not gonna' go up to him and say, "Yo...what's up guido..." 'cause I heard another italian guy use this word; because that's gonna' start a fight, and rightfully so...'cause I'm not one of his own kind.
But white people do this constantly.
What gets me really heated is when white people use this word, knowing they're using it in a derogatory manner, and when they get called on it, they say, "Oh...well, Blacks call themselves that..." And when they wake up in the E.R. they wonder why. But I digress...
It wasn't until Katt started taking a stance against the white elitist and american status quo that I really got a truer sense of who he was, or is.
See, people don't realize what performers, or any one else is risking when they take on white western fascism; especially when it comes to Black men. So, seeing that's what Katt was doing, I decided to find out a bit more about him, and here's what I found.
Micah Sliva Williams a.k.a. Katt Williams, was born on September 2, 1973 in Cincinnati, Ohio and was raised in nearby Dayton, Ohio.
Academic excellence was stressed in Katt's home during his formative years and as a result, he started reading at the age of 3.
Katt's precociousness lead him to win numerous scholastic awards at the age of 12 for his outstanding science projects, and his achievements won him a full scholarship to the National Science Academy in Dayton.
And its said the Katt has an I.Q. of 163 and is a member of Mensa, which is america's largest coterie of person's with 'ingenius' Stanford–Binet Intelligence scales test scores.
Katt's parents were very politically minded, which is probably one of the reasons why he joined the Nation of Islam as an adult; and I suspect these two sources are where he got his 'leftist' political tendencies from.
Unfortunately, with all the seeming advantages of Katt's home life, there came some disadvantages as well. Being that Katt's parent's were radically political, the living conditions he was brought up in were oftentimes unstable and turbulent.
This lead to Katt emancipating himself from his parents at the age of 13.
After leaving his parents home, Katt moved to Florida where he employed himself as a street vendor.
His first stand up performance came in his teens when he tried to get into a club he was too young to enter and saw a separate entrance for comics where I.D.'s weren't being checked.
He quickly hopped on that line and got in; but minutes later, he was called up to perform.
Not wanting to get kicked out, Katt regaled the audience with an impromptu five minute set which people thought was funny. Katt said it was that moment that inspired him to be a stand-up comic. In the years following, Katt honed his unique comic delivery in clubs nationwide; he regularly appeared at The Improv, The Comedy Store, The Icehouse and the Hollywood Park Casino. As his popularity grew, Katt was being hailed as one of the 'new breed' of young comics usurping the more mainstream stylings of Chris Rock and Dave Chapelle. Katt made a guest appearance on TV's NYPD Blue in 2002, followed by roles on the Tracy Morgan show, My wife and kids, The Boondocks and MTV's Wildin' out where he appeared for three seasons. Katt's film debut came in 2002 where he performed in his most famous role as 'Money Mike' in the movie 'Friday after next'; he kept the moniker for his side career as a rapper. His other film credits include: Rebound (2008), Epic Movie (2007) and Norbit (2007).
So, for all intent and purposes, Katt seemed to be living the charmed life of a celebrity.
Then something happened.
Katt saw how dastardly, corrupted and emasculating the machinations of american celebrity can be; especially towards Black people in general and Black men specifically. Like Dave Chapelle, he rejected his turn at wearing a dress to get ahead in Hollywood and he wouldn't cooperate with bigoted white producers who wanted to slander Black people covertly or overtly in their projects. The late Tupac Shakur and Chuck D of Public Enemy were both raised around cadres of Black Panthers; and in those circles, they imbibed in messages of Black power during their childhood that stuck with them throughout their adult lives and this influenced their artistic choices when it came to their careers. This was happening to Katt Williams.
Tupac Shakur said he never had an arrest record until he made a record, hence, when Katt Williams took this route, his arrest record began to grow.
Examples of this are:
On November 13, 2006, Williams was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a stolen gun was found in his briefcase. On December 14, 2006, Williams pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor
count of carrying a concealed firearm and was sentenced to three years
probation, ordered to pay restitution, and was given credit for the
three days he spent in jail.
On November 9, 2012, a lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court of
California County of Los Angeles which alleges that on October 6, 2012
Williams hit his former assistant with "a closed fist" causing serious
injury. The plaintiff is asking for punitive damages in the amount of $5
million. On December 7, 2012 Williams was arrested again in Dunnigan, California on a felony warrant arising from a November 25, 2012 incident in Sacramento, CA.
where he allegedly drove a three-wheeled motorbike on a sidewalk and
failed to stop for police. During the resulting police chase, Williams
is alleged to have nearly hit five people with his bike, which prompted
authorities to end the chase for safety reasons and issue the subsequent
warrant.
So the white fascists were hot on Katt's case; so much so that in 2012, a teary-eyed Katt announced his retirement from stand-up comedy on TV.
And this is where the white elite thought the story would end.
But something else happened.
Recently, DJ Vlad, who runs a very popular Hip-Hop based website asked a New York DJ about Katt's career. And this dunce of a DJ said, not only was Katt's career over, but he'd basically wind up in one of two places, a jail cell or an early grave.
Then DJ Vlad asked, "So why does he keep getting booked for shows?"
You see, Katt took a page out of the Dave Chappelle hand book that says, the white elite can take everything from you, but once you're famous, they can't make you unfamous.
Fascist whites looking to end Katt's career didn't realize they could strip him of everything but his talent and his name.
The celebrity name they gave him. So to this day, Katt is still on national tours, selling out large venue comedy clubs at will. White elitist fascists might have created speed bumps for Katt, but he's still on the road...and doing well. So, just like Dave Chappelle, Katt pimped the system, instead of letting the system pimp him. And like Dave, he didn't have to wear a dress to do it. This is yet another example of Black men showing the diaspora how to truly get free. And how to get whitey's fascist foot off your neck.
They're telling us to use white corporations as a springboard to create our own opportunities and our own businesses.
And the best part is, they're leaving a blueprint for the rest of us to follow.
So MA'AT HOTEP AND KEM WESIR TO THE NETJER/GOD KATT WILLIAMS!
Hotep,
MontUHURU Mimia
P.S. Here's one of my favorite vids of Katt giving that queer bigot quentin tarantino the business.
Last night, I was watching my local PBS station, waiting for the start of the Tavis Smiley show.
Now, usually I know from the night before who Tavis will have on his show; but being that I missed a couple of airings, I didn't know who his guest would be. To my surprise, it was Nia Long from the movies 'Friday' and 'Boyz in the Hood'.
Now, I kind of liken the popularity of Nia Long to that of Halle Berry; in that they're both considered exceptionally good looking because they have european facial features, but neither one of these women is an exceptionally good actress.
But, one thing I know about Tavis, is he's a masterful interviewer; on many a night he's talked with what I thought was a mediocre half-celebrity, and had a dynamite interview. So I kept watching.
Now, Nia is starring in a upcoming movie called 'The Best Man Holiday', and the first movie of this series was pretty solid; there was some things I could take or leave, but overall, it was a decent movie about working class and upper-scale Black people. And I'm always for that.
So, as is customary with Tavis, before the interview started, he rolled a clip of the film.
What came on the screen was a shot of Nia kissing some random white guy while Taye Diggs' character looked on. At one point, Nia and this white guy were kissing so much that Taye's character asked if they needed a moment alone. Nia's character said no, in an effort to rub the fact that she was kissing a white guy in his face. Then the clip ended.
Tavis held his head in his hands and asked, "Why is your character kissing this white guy?"
Nia replied, "Oh, well...she's dating him."
When Tavis continued to voice his dismay about it, Nia replied that he would piss off his white male viewers.
Now, Tavis prides himself on being more politically correct than not, so when he openly said this, even I was kinda' shocked.
Then Tavis asked emphatically, "So you're in a relationship with this guy throughout the film?"
And Nia responded in the affirmative.
Now, I'm sorry if this is a spoiler alert to some, but this is exactly the reason why I won't see this film.
And I can hear sistas now saying, oh, here's another Black man who's mad when we date white guys.
Listen, my theory is this, go find love wherever you can; and if that's with a white person, so be it...here's my problem with that in this film though; 'The Best Man Holiday' is billing itself as a relationship movie made exclusively for Black people.
Now, if they're gonna' introduce some inter-ethnic, jungle fever type stuff, they should put that on the flyer, or in the trailer. It's kinda' like the cinematic version of a retailer's 'bait and switch' technique. This is just another sign of the white elite getting their Black stooges to push inter-ethnic relationships, especially for our people, so we won't have a chance to rebuild Black families in this country or in the diaspora. You'd think the producers of this film would be especially sensitive to this kind of cinematic skullduggery, in light of the fact that Black people really enjoyed the first film and were eager to see a sequel. Nope, they're just content to take whitey's money and push whitey's agenda. Sad.
This led me to think about Tommy Sotomayor. 'Cause recently, a fellow blogger e-mailed me a vid of his titled: 'Why men should boycott marriage', or something to that effect.
The person who sent it said Tommy was waxing philosophic about 'gender superiority' and how men get the shaft in marital court disputes.
Now, can the court system be favorable towards women? It can be; it can also be favorable towards whites (look up the court case of the Black actress Tonya Pinkins).
But that's not the point. The point is, this is another attempt by Uncle Tommy to keep Black people from marrying, period.
Again, Tommy's a white supremacist stooge who's being well paid to do their bidding. That's why I stopped listening to that sell out in the first place.
Now, I can also hear you guys thinking, c'mon bruh...you're asking people to boycott another film?
Actually no. On this post I'm not telling anyone what I think they should do, I'm saying I won't be going to see this flick.
And it's a shame, 'cause this is a film I wanted to see. I remember watching an episode of the Wendy Williams show back in the day...yeah, I watched a couple of her shows too; and Wendy had on Chris Rock and Nia as guests. Wendy asked both of them about their early dating lives and Nia said that she and Chris went out on a date, she also said at the end of it, Chris gave her a wrong number. Wendy asked Chirs if he'd done that purposely, and Chris announced emphatically that he did; which made the whole audience erupt with laughter. And the reason Chris said he did this was because he asked Nia if she was seeing anyone, and Nia said no, but she could get dick if she wanted it.
Then Chris admonished the females in the audience not to do that on a first date. Good stuff Chris. That was several years ago and Nia's still unmarried. Beyond the reasons I've never been impressed with Nia, this movie is a prime example again, of the lengths the white elite are going through to keep Black men and women separated and hating each other.
And is it working?
Stats from the u.s. census bureau say that Black people are the least likely to marry, and the current marriage rate for us is at approximately 35%.
Now, even though these numbers might be exaggerated, we know, that not enough of us are married, and not enough of us come from two parent households.
Nia even mentioned that in the cast of 'The Best Man Holiday', all of the Black men with lead roles are married and all of the black women in lead roles are unmarried.
She also went on to say that cast members would have discussions about why Black men couldn't handle strong, independent black women.
But this argument will ultimately lead to a stalemate.
'Cause after Black men and women talk about everything they can't stand about each other, the real question is this: if Black men and women are conditioned to hate themselves, how can they love one another?
And like I've said in the past, the real, real question is: how do we heal the rift between Black men and women?
Until we talk about that, everything else will ultimately result in a moot point. And this is a topic I promise I'll bring up in a future blog posting.
'Cause the solution is much like curing cancer naturally, in that it's simple, but it's not easy. So, this is one holiday flick I'll pass on. And if you're a 'conscious' or even a semi-conscious Black person, you might wanna' consider whether or not you'll give your money to a movie that promotes our division. 'Cause someone saying they're kind of pro-Black, or kind of a Black nationalist, is like saying you're kinda' pregnant; either you are or you're not...there is no in between. And I know where I stand.
"...I'm an African...not an African-american." --Dead Prez Kem Wesir, MontUHURU Mimia
I mean, I realize why all the critics hate it, and I understand why I shouldn't like it either; but there's something about this show that keeps me tuning in season after season.
The fact that this show seamlessly blends the televised genres of the classic soap opera with the best celebrity gossip news casts, says something about the ingenuity of the people producing it.
I liken this show's effects on people to the time I first read an issue of 'wired' magazine; I thought wow, I've never been so informed and entertained by one magazine in my life.
Of course there's nothing that edifying about this show, but it terms of pure entertainment value, I have to admit it's got all the right stuff.
And coincidentally, I stopped reading 'wired' because its writing staff is comprised of a bunch of 'neo-liberal' white bigots.
But in an attempt to understand the show's magnetism, I thought I'd look into the backstory of it's executive producer, and see how her career and life reflect what I'm seeing on the show.
After Mona Scott's collegiate years, she took on a job as the manager of a graphic designer's firm in New York City.
One christmas holiday, she took a side job as a P.R. (public relations) rep. at Radio City Music Hall. This is where she says she got her first taste of interacting with celebrities.
While taking dancing classes at a studio called 'Broadway Dance Center', she came in contact with a woman's dance consortium called 'Duntori'. They did A&R (artist and repertoire, i.e. artist development) for a musical group called the 'A-team'; and liking Mona's skills, they hired her to help with the group's choreography.
Unbeknownst to Mona, the group was managed by a company called the 'Trackmasters'; and after assessing her multi-tasking skills, they approached Mona about coming aboard to help manage their group. This is when Mona met the late Chris Lighty, being that he was a friend of the 'Trackmasters'.
After the 'Trackmasters' and Mona decided to part ways, she and Chris went on to form their own management company which they later named 'Violator' management.
At first, Mona was surprised at how comprehensive a job artist management was. She was at every meeting, she went on artist's tours, and she also styled 'Foxy Brown' for her first videos. She says she spent more time on the job than she did with her own family.
Mona says she recognized that as she built these artist's brands to the point where they were being called for spots on TV and certain sponsorships, that her artist's would turn to other managers who came in and took over; and she and Chris would be left out of those negotiations.
She and Chris then formulated a plan where they could maintain control of their artists at that phase of their careers.
This lead to a deal with the founder of a company called the 'Creative Artist's association'; and it was this connection that lead to a show starring Missy Elliott called 'Road to Stardom' for the 'UPN' network. This was one of the first shows dealing with artists showcasing their talents ala 'american Idol'. Mona said she liked the challenge of conceptualizing various elements of a TV show, and decided this is where she'd concentrate her future efforts. Love and Hip-Hop's Yandy Smith, was a co-worker of Mona's at Violator. She had taken on the managing of rapper Jim Jones and bought him to Mona as a client of Violator management. Jim Ackerman of VH1 wanted to build a show around Jim Jones at the time, but Jones was reluctant due to the fact that he had personal issues that made it hard for him to adapt to the 'reality show' format. Meaning, he couldn't stand being followed by cameras 24/7. So instead of concentrating on Jones, Mona concentrated on the females surrounding him; like his mother and his woman friend Chrissy Lampkin. And Mona noticed the popularity of reality TV shows that were more female-oriented, like the 'Real Housewives of...wherever'. And that's where the idea of 'Love and Hip-Hop' was born. Now, with that said, the ingenuity of Mona Scott's rise to power should definitely be applauded...but here's why I'm going to stop watching Love and Hip-Hop.
This show's portrayal of black women has them looking like the embodiment of everything that's wrong with today's modern woman. I mean, how many times have we seen these women physically fighting? Beyond their being loud and profane, they're pulling out weaves, throwing drinks or any other pieces of furniture that might be handy, and being made to look like the she-demons of the world. If I ever met Mona, I'd ask her, as a black woman, is this the way you want yourselves portrayed? Now, I don't expect every black woman on TV to be Claire Huxtable (Bill Cosby's wife on the Cosby Show for those under 25), although it would be a nice change; but there are other, more urbane ways of showing black women having a problem with each other. It doesn't always have to resort to weave-pulling slugfests. And consciously or sub-consciously, the message this is sending to the world's men, is that we shouldn't want anything to do with a black woman. And it's not just Mona who's in on this action, Shonda Rhimes, the executive producer of 'Scandal', has Kerry Washington's Olivia Pope character literally having sex with the white male president in a closet...in a DAMN CLOSET! Now, what are the world's men suppose to think of black women, when they're portraying themselves this way?
Personally, what I'd love to see...and I think a lot of other Black people would agree with me on this, is a reality show about a corporate executive like Mona, who's trying to get a series on the air about normal, everyday hardworking African-Americans, and the travails that person goes through trying to get a network to greenlight that project. So, I've said all that to say this, I think it's time for the Black diaspora, myself included, to go to 'Love and Hip-Hop' rehab. It's time we boycott these shows that portray us as sub-human, even if one of our own kind is at the helm of it's production.
I liken this show to a car wreck; in that even though it's hard not to slow down to see if we can get a glimpse of some gore, we all need to step on the gas and keep movin'. And I can sincerely tell you, the next time I'm jonesin' for a hit of Love and Hip-Hop, regardless of how tempting it might be, I'm turning the channel. And I know myself, and everyone who watches this crap show religiously, will be better off for doing the same. Ma'at Hotep, MontUHURU Mimia
