Recently, I wrote a post praising the work of Terrence Howard; and it was bought to my attention by a commenter on that post, that Terrence had some pretty derogatory things to say about Black women. So I did some research to find out what's been goin' on with the man.
Now, I'm suspecting it was a Black woman who left a comment saying Terrence referred to sistas as 'antiquated', and then said white women represented 'progress'. And since then, I've been trying to find this televised interview to determine the veracity of whether or not he made this crass a statement towards sistas.
It looks like he in fact did make this statement after I did some checking, only thing is, the powers that be seemed to have conveniently lost this interview footage in the name of 'damage control'.
But, there's another part of said interview, where Terrence allegedly spoke on his white wife calling him the 'n-word'. He also said she wanted nothing to do with their Black child, and this woman also allegedly hit Howard.
And this put a different slant on this interview beyond the ethnic slams therein.
It seems brotha Terrence not only has a problem with Black women...but women period.
Now usually, I'm used to putting and keeping on my Black Nationalism cap; but for this post, I think I'll take it off for a sec' and talk about something I haven't discussed in a while...dating and relationships.
Terrence has been married four times, and it seems he's the type who doesn't like to be alone, 'cause one of his wives he married after only knowing her for a month. Now, I'd say the majority of us don't like being alone for too long a stretch; but Terrence marrying after a month makes his actions seem down-right pathological.
And this brings me back to a post I did on Steve Harvey titled, 'What Steve Harvey won't tell women about finding a good man'. Now, in terms of finding a desirable mate, there's one question you should ask yourself before you even consider entering the dating scene; and this rings true for men AND women. And that question is: Do you know who you're attracting and who you're attracted to?
I remember once, I was at a club on my birthday in New York City, and I was at one of my favorite live music spots, 'S.O.B.'s', which stands for 'Sounds of Brazil' and not son-of-a... Anyway, it was a night the musical artist Jaguar Wright was performing; and shouts out to her for a great performance. So, the night was on a 'smooth R&B tip.' *smiles* Now, everyone there was pretty much paired up, so I felt a bit conspicuous flying solo, but I was determined to have a good time anyways. Then, one of the club's waitresses walks up to me and starts conversing; she was a nice lady, looked to be in her early forties and she had a nice body and smile. But there was a problem, the fact that this woman came up to me and starting conversing was something a lot of men would take as a sign of her being oversexed and from an unstable and abusive household. And I know women are gonna' think, oh my goodness, you can't possibly draw that kind of conclusion from someone just coming up to you and starting a conversation; I'm not saying this was true about this woman, I'm just saying a lot of men would think this because she essentially 'made the first move'. Now, if you're a woman reading this, it's imperative you know that you MUST always let a man make the 'first move' in terms of a conversation or a flirtation. And this has nothing to do with your right to be a feminist, or a 'modern day woman'...remember, in the eyes of a man, if a woman makes the first move, what he'll think about her instantly is, I'll have sex with her, but she's not relationship material.
And I'm not saying that's how it should be, I'm just saying that's how it really is. And, I was surprised that this mature woman didn't know this fact, or at least she wasn't acting like it.
Then I noticed the woman had a nose ring, now, facial piercings I know from experience mark the sign of a woman, or a person, who's suffered a severe childhood trauma. Again, I'm not saying this woman is not a good person, but understand that facial piercings and tattoos on a woman, make her look like she's either had a history with drugs and/or histories with too many of the wrong types of men. But we kept conversing, 'cause I didn't see any need to be rude. Then she walked off and tended to her table stations. After several minutes she came back and we conversed some more; then she confessed to me that she was a single mother. Now, I don't have a problem with this, but with all the other factors of how she approached me, I knew, this wasn't a woman I'd date. She then said she'd get my phone number before leaving to tend to her table stations again. That was a relief. After several more minutes, I saw she was speaking to co-workers and Jaguar Wright had finished her set, so that's when I took my leave. This woman doesn't realize that her approach to men, or to me at least, was all wrong. And I could tell this wasn't the first time she'd approached a guy in this club like that. But ultimately, here's why I wouldn't date that woman; it's because I know what kind of women I'm attracting. Understand, if you come from an unstable and abusive household, you're going to attract and be attracted to, other people from unstable and abusive households. And there's NO WAY two people from those backgrounds can create a stable and highly functional home. 'Cause subconsciously, you're gonna' attract someone who never knew what a stable relationship looks like.
And I'm sure everyone reading this knows a friend who gets into bad relationship after bad relationship, and doesn't know why.
Also, notice we're talking about the subconscious mind again.
'Cause in order to resolve this problem, you're gonna' have to access the childhood trauma in your subconscious that's making you pick these kind of dates and mates.
This is the stuff they (the fractured educational system) should be teaching us in middle or high school...but what do they have us doing instead? Dissecting frogs.
The elite know that accessing and reconditioning the subconscious mind is the real way to get free of any mental conditioning that's keeping us down. Either politically or socially. That's why they keep this info. from us.
And ultimately, it's meditation that will help us access the subconscious mind. And note, when I say meditation, I'm not talking about doing some light yoga to get rid of daily stresses; I'm talking about going and getting into the deepest recesses of your subconscious through either affirmations or self-hypnosis; and if you can do both, your meditation sessions will be even more effective.
So, getting back to Terrence Howard, do I think he'll ever do what's required to change his thinking and actions towards dating and marrying...probably not. You know why? 'Cause most of us don't even recognize the problem at this level, and if we do, we're hyper-reluctant to do the meditative work to change it. But I hope brotha Terrence does see where his dating and mating mishaps stem from, 'cause he's too talented to have his vocational life in order, and his personal life in shambles. Ma'at Hotep, MontUHURU Mimia P.S. If you'd like to read the post I wrote on Steve Harvey, you can see it here.
Firstly, for all those who frequent this Blog and downloaded my e-book 'Revering Revolutionaires'; I'd like to apologize about that book's formatting. I didn't know the first chapter, 'The legend of Wesley Snipes', would have so many gaps in the text, and I intended to have the book's 'table of contents' directly linked to each of the book's chapters.
I'm still getting acquainted with the software I'm using to publish e-books, so hang in there with me; 'cause I promise the next book will be formatted better.
For those of you wondering what the book's about, it's basically chronicling the trials and travails of Wesley Snipes, Kat Williams, Dave Chappelle and Robert Mugabe in their pursuits to break the binds of white western fascism. Also, this book is an anthology of sorts; in that, it's comprised of four of my past Blog posts on these celebrities. And even though the book's formatting is not the best, I think it's definitely still worth a read.
Also, I'd love to hear some feedback on whether or not you think my book's a good read; so, feel free to make some comments on this Blog, or on the 'Smashwords' website where this book is published; thanks!
Now, let's get into this post...
Just when I thought I'd seen the last of the cavalcade of stars minstrel show/slave movies like: 'The Help', 'The Butler', '12 years a slave', etc.; I saw a trailer for the latest, and what seems to be the most upper-scale of these films, 'Belle'.
Belle is loosely based on the life of Dido Elizabeth Belle; she was the offspring of English Navy Admiral Sir John Lindsay and his slave mistress. And out of the kindness of his benevolent white heart, after abandoning her, he finds her and takes Belle to his palatial/ancestral home were she's raised by her great-uncle, Lord Mansfield.
Belle is basically tolerated in the upper-scale Mansfield household and is afforded certain privileges because the family begrudgingly, acknowledges her as some sort of blood relation.
While Belle's cousin Elizabeth considers male suitors for marriage, she's cast out of aristocratic love connections and wonders if she'll ever find a husband; and sure enough, a vicar's son who's a bit more liberal than the anglophiles in his social circles, courts Belle and they attempt, probably unsuccessfully, to help Lord Mansfield attain the position of Lord Chief Justice to help end slavery in England.
Now that you've got the gist of this story; let me break down what this nonsensical flick really is...
This is basically the Sally Hemings story on steriods (google Sally Hemmings if you don't know who she is).
The difference is Sally was Thom Jefferson's secret bed maiden; while Belle is actually acknowledged by the white slave owner's family; again, begrudgingly.
This story and Sally's is screwed up on so many levels, I can't begin to fathom them all, but let's start with this fact: no matter how you spin Sally's story, the bottom line is, she was raped repeatedly by Thom Jefferson; and as much as people wanna' believe they carried on some blissful love affair, people don't know Sally was in her mid-teens at the time. Also, people don't know that Jefferson's trysts with Sally weren't consensual; that's why Sally Hemings got the nick-name 'dashing' Sally Hemings; she was running from Thom's pedophilic advances.
And, the movie Belle is yet another attempt by whites to show how humane they were to Black slaves. Like I've said in the past, whites don't want to think of themselves as the wicked, cold-hearted, torturing beasts they were to our people. And Black people's very presence in america is a constant reminder to whites of how insidiously cruel they were to us when they brought us here; that's why whites cop an attitude whenever there's a lot of them and there's only one or two Black people.
This movie is also another mental trigger for Black people to remind us we're descendents of slaves, and with that understanding, we should know our place and not aspire to too much of what white people have. 'Cause in an age where we have a Black president, they don't want us thinking that we're equal to them in any way. Another message conveyed by this movie is, Black people should always seek the closest proximity to whites as possible. Because we have to be kept thinking the closer we are physically to whites, the safer and more opulent our lifestyles will be; even when whites are torturing and murdering us and our children.
There was a book that came out in 2009 called 'The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family'; it won a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize in History for chronicling the story of Sally Hemings and her siblings.
Now, this was another attempt by an anglophilic Black person, in this case, a woman named Annette Gordon-Reed, to make the slave trade of Black people in this country more palatable to a mainstream (i.e. white) audience.
But there was a problem; a lot of whites say they couldn't finish this book because as much as she wanted to, Annette couldn't help but chronicle and channel some of the anger she felt, and other Black people feel towards white people, for putting us through this. See, with this book, white people wanted and were suppose to be given a pass for their horrid treatment of us, but sistah Annette couldn't let our ancestor's suffer in silence; and kudos to her for not holding her tongue. Now recently, I wrote a post titled 'The cult of the curly-haired, light-skinned, bi-ethnic looking Black girl', where I elucidate how I only see this kind of girl representing Black women in the diaspora. And guess who's playing Dido Belle? You got it...a curly-haired, light-skinned, bi-ethnic looking Black girl (Gugu Mbatha-Raw).
And in the comments of the aforementioned post, a Black woman bought up Lupita Nyongo's oscar win for playing a slave in the movie '12 years a slave'.
This Black woman said she was proud of Lupita for getting the oscar; and when I disagreed with Lupita playing a slave to get that oscar, this woman was adamant about how I was in the wrong for not seeing how progressive Lupita's win was.
I then thought about how long it took for me personally, to get out of an anglophilic mindset enough to recognize the insult(s) inherent in Blacks having to be in self-debasing movie roles to win oscars.
So I was like, maybe it'll take the sista some time, but hopefully, this cover will be the catalyst for her to look outside of her white supremacist mind state and not seek the further approval of white elites.
But when our people are in these roles OVER AND OVER AGAIN, I can't turn a blind eye to the Black Diaspora needing to not only boycott '12 years a slave' but 'Belle' too.
Ultimately, what I'm saying is this; if you're of the opinion that Lupita's oscar win is somehow positive for the Black Diaspora, or Belle is something that Black people should run out and see, this Blog isn't for you.
Please find another, more ethnically-neutral Blog to visit that will cater to your delicate anglophilic sensibilities, as I don't have time to debate you and yours on the finer points of being an admirer of white people. Again, my message isn't for everyone; it's for Black people who really want to be about the work of ridding the Black Diaspora of our self-hatred; consciously and subconsciously. And since every second of our lives is precious, let's spend them pursuing how we can heal the rifts in our community and how we can value and love ourselves again...without having to play a butler or a slave. Kem Wesir! MontUHURU Mimia
P.S.
Addendum: Just when I thought I couldn't get any more offended by this film, I viewed this long trailer for 'Belle'. And if this doesn't explain why the Black Diaspora should boycott this film, I don't know what will!
"...captain america's been torn apart, now he's a court jester with a broken heart..." --The rock band Guns N' Roses, from the song 'Paradise City'
Patrick Tillman was born on November 6th, 1976 in Fremont, California. He was the older of three sons and at an early age, he showed an exceptional aptitude for the game of football. So much so, that he led the high school he attended, Leland High, to the Central Coast Football Division 1 Championship. Shortly thereafter, he went to Arizona University on a football scholarship.
Tillman excelled as a linebacker in Arizona U.'s football program even though he was considered short for the position. His exemplary stats helped his team go undefeated after he got there, and he helped his team get to the 'Rose Bowl' that year.
In 1997 he was voted a 'Pacific-10' Conference defensive player of the year; this award is usually given to athletes who not only excel physically but academically as well.
Tillman also was a marketing major who graduated in three and a half years with a 3.85 GPA. He also won a myriad of other academic awards and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010. Eventually, Tillman was drafted to the Arizona Cardinals football organization in the NFL; he played the 'safety' position on the team and started ten of his first sixteen games in his rookie season. At one point in his career, he turned down a $9 million dollar contract from the St. Louis Rams to stay with the Cardinals. Pat had it all, he was a muscular, square-jawed, blond-haired and blue-eyed american man. He looked like the walking embodiment of the aryan/viking ideal; and he was a football hero. Yes, he lived a charmed life; but he was infected with a disease he didn't know he had. And this wasn't a physical ailment, but a mental one...let me explain. Pat was infected with the sickness of an extreme american patriotism; one that would cost him more than he ever imagined. Here's how... After the attacks that were staged...I mean perpetrated on New York City after September 11th, 2001; Pat was so enraged by the fictitious story of Al-Qaeda attackers flying those planes into the World Trade Center, that he left his football career and immediately joined the american armed forces to get some payback for his country.
Now, here's where I'll interject a bit of a historical clinic on the forces behind who created the 'Taliban' and 'Al-Qaeda'.
Back in the eighties and nineties, when the 'Cold War' between america and the soviets was still raging; and again, this was another case of the white elites controlling both teams so they could ultimately win the game, organizations like the CIA and the MI6...or MI5 at the time, or whatever number they were up to, both funded and armed south-east asians to essentially kick the communist forces out of places like Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, etc.
These forces essentially became the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, the Ba'athist party, etc. So basically, these are american enemies who were created by the american government.
And please don't take my word for this, look this up yourself!
After bootcamp, Pat enlisted in the 'Ranger Assessment and Selection Program' and completed its course in late 2002. He was then assigned to the 'Second Ranger Battalion' in Fort Lewis, Washington.
After participating in 'Operation Iraqi Freedom', in September 2003, Pat entered Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia; and graduated on November 28th, 2003.
After being redeployed to Afghanistan, Pat was reported killed by enemy fire on April 22, 2004. But after an investigation by the u.s. Army Criminal Investigation Command, it was discovered that Pat was killed by other american troops!
Or what this government has now termed 'friendly fire'. So I've said all that to say this...the american social order and its status quo are so toxic and poisonous that it often kills the very people it's designed to protect, white folks.
Now, if it's this detrimental to the white populous, tell me, how dangerous is it to the Black Diaspora?
Just the other day I was talking to a white guy about political matters, and I started talking about the dastardly deeds of the 'rich elites'; then, another white guy who eavesdropped on our conversation asked, "What's wrong with the rich...?"
The Pat Tillman story is just one example of what's wrong with the rich. Problem is, the white guy who asked this question couldn't make a distinction between himself and the 'rich (white) elites'.
See, he thinks because he's white, the rich white elites still represent him; because he suffers from the same delusional sickness that Pat Tillman did, he doesn't realize that the white elite (i.e. rich white folks) don't give a damn about him. And he never will.
All working class and poor white people wanna' think is--white is good, Black is bad and america's the best country in the world. Unfortunately, too many Black people are caught up in this lunacy as well.
And I'm not even considering the conditioning that Black people in america get to hate themselves and each other.
So, if you're hell bent on adoring white folks and their institutions, this isn't the Blog for you; furthermore, this is why my Blog rails so much against the american social order and all of its machinations.
And this is why I'm constantly stating how imperative it is that the Black Diaspora erase the self-hating sickness that complements being an anglophilic american.
It's not gonna' be easy to recondition ourselves out of this self-hatred people, but our very existence and that of our children depend on it.
So let's get to work!
Sutekh,
MontUHURU Mimia
P.S.
If you'd like to read about two examples of Black men who were infected and affected with this insipid american patriotism, read about Nicky Barnes and Frank Lucas (Yes, 'American Gangster' Frank Lucas); here.
Truthfully, I'm already sick of hearing about the so-called 'scandal' associated with Donald Sterling, the owner of the L.A. Clippers.
Unfortunately, the media won't let this story die. And that's because this story is being used as a mental trigger for the Black Diaspora.
Just like the Trayvon Martin verdict, this story is meant to keep us in a state of constant anger and emotional instability; thus, we react emotionally instead of rationally. And, it's a reminder that the american Black Diaspora are descendants of slaves, which keeps our minds mired in white supremacy (i.e. Donald is the slavemaster, the Black basketball players are slaves and the NBA is the plantation).
Case in point, there's a brotha I've been conversing with recently about these matters; and I was telling him about the ways he talks so disparagingly about Black people. He'll often say that Black people don't think critically and without him knowing it, he'll always attribute the worst character traits to his own kind.
I told him to stop doing this, lest he turns those thoughts inward and starts subconsciously feeling this way about himself. He agreed I had a point.
The other day he told me when he sees the Black youth engaged in something negative, he immediately thinks about what I said about the subconscious. He went on to say, now he understands why Black people do the things they do; it's 'cause subconsciously, they don't know any better.
See, he's so mired in white supremacist thought, he's completely perverted my whole argument about the Black Diaspora's self-hatred and how we've been so conditioned to hate ourselves by white people.
He's now using my rationale to continue hating his own kind, and subconsciously, himself.
I've also noticed he loves to talk about his 'lighter skin'; and just the other day, when we were talking amongst some other people, he confessed to loving the american government.
Meaning, he's doomed to be a self-hating anglophile for the rest of his life.
If you've read my last Blog post, I told you how seductive white supremacy is; 'cause it doesn't require any thinking. You just do what whitey tells you to do.
And there's something else I'd like to share about this brotha, even though I shouldn't. Over the course of the last few weeks, while this brotha and I were talking, he's confessed two things to me. One, that he's homeless and living with his daughter, and two, that he's a white supremacist freemason. Now, let me repeat that; this brotha is a homeless, white supremacist freemason!
You see, this is a clear example of how much the american or white fascist status quo is a dead end for the Black Diaspora! Whether you're mentally tethered to thoughts of white supremacy or physically tethered to a white supremacist fraternity; the outcome is usually a life relegated to feelings of inferiority and an existence where you're living paycheck to paycheck. But back to Donald Sterling...
When I first heard about these goings-on, I thought, okay...another bigoted white man who owns a sports team; what else is new?
But what really incensed me about this whole debacle was the Black Diaspora's reaction to it.
A year or so ago, Uncle Tommy Sotomayor had a fall-out with another fellow who had a show similar to his called 'The Advise show'. And truthfully, this show directly copied from Tommy Sotomayor's format and style. So the fact that they had this contentious beef was laughable.
Now, to this day, my most popular posts are still the ones I've done about Uncle Tommy Sotomayor; and recently someone told me that both Tommy and The Advise show had videos dedicated to this topic.
Being that I'm a reformed fan of Uncle Tommy's, I watched The Advise show's vid on this instead. And The Advise show played the audio footage of what Don said about our people attending his team's games.
For those who don't know, Don was caught saying that he didn't particularly care for the Black Diaspora's appearance at the stadium; now, he didn't mind having Black athletes playing the game, but he'd rather not sit next to a Black person in the stands.
In response to this, The Advise show's narrator said he was not only outraged at Don, but he was doubly outraged at the Black athletes for not staging some sort of strike against the team and the NBA. And I agreed with him on that point.
Then, he began his diatribe about how Black men are the only type of men who don't revolt in the face of white fascism. And I thought, here we go again with the Black Diaspora's self-hatred rearing it's ugly head. For those who subscribe to The Advise show's point of view on this; I'd like to offer a counter analysis of this guy's dumb-founded diatribe.
In March of this year, Congressman Donald Young (another white male Donald), said of his father who owned a ranch, that: "My father had a ranch, (and) we used to have 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes."
When a journalist asked Marco Rubio, a spanish Florida senator, what he thought about the statement, Marco responded: "I'm concentrating on the Easter holiday (It was close to Easter at the time)...no comment."
Let me give you an even more absurd example of how other people, besides us, don't challenge the white supremacist status quo.
In 2006, Japan’s 'Memorial Day Association' declared October
6th ‘Tom Cruise Day’; supposedly ‘cause he’s been the highest profiled
american actor who’s made the most trips to the island nation.
Mind you, in 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by people who look just like Tom Cruise...and now they're celebrating a 'Tom Cruise day'?! *shaking my head*
So you see, forgiving the rapacious nature of white supremacy and its institutions, isn't something that's exclusive to Black people.
Side note: The 'NAGAS' were not only an ancient Black tribe who ruled in asia, but the very word Naga means divine in our original language the Medu Netcher. Furthermore, this is how the japanese city of NAGA-saki got its name.
The name 'Naga-saki' translates into the words 'Black snake'...and the chinese actually dubbed 2013 as the year of the 'Black snake'; google this if ya' don't believe me.
And Mr. Advise show (what a dumb-founded name), also raved about how Black men never physically stand up to white supremacy or take any actions to eradicate it.
And if you believe this, then let me tell ya' about a brotha named Chris Dorner.
Chris Dorner was a Navy reserve and L.A. police officer who witnessed how the white supremacist, gestapo like police abused and were abusing people in Black neighborhoods; and in response, he took his gun and shot down several white police officers.
This was not a Black man who turned a blind eye to white supremacy; he used the resources at his disposal to wipe it out; unlike what Mr. Advise show says about us.
And I'm not even gonna' talk about the contributions of The Black Panthers in California.
So, let me reiterate, if the Black Diaspora doesn't find a way to recondition itself out of thinking the worst about ourselves, the white supremacists win and we've lost.
Now, if you can reconcile hating yourself for being Black, then I'm not talking to you; I'm talking to the brotha and sista who want to make our reality better by healing the rift between us. And this starts with understanding, consciously and subconsciously, how we've been been conditioned more than any other person on the planet to hate ourselves by these white people we adore so much.
And moreover, if you can reconcile this, you don't deserve the privilege of being born a Black man or woman, and I'd rather you didn't come back to this Blog!
But if you're truly about the work of making Black people love themselves and want to see them returned to a place of prominence, then stay tuned and hang in there with me...I've got more to show you in the posts to come.
Later,
MontUHURU Mimia
P.S.
If you'd like to read about one aspect of how The Black Panthers worked to the betterment of the Black community, read my former post about Dr. Huey P. Newton here. P.P.S.
Here's the 'Advise Show' video that inspired this Blog post; and again, if you're a fan of this insipid show, you might wanna' be a bit more selective about what you're watching.
Columbia University is an ivy league private research facility in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of upper Manhattan in New York City. It's the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, it's the fifth oldest in the united snakes, I mean states and it's one of the countries nine colonial colleges founded before the american revolution.
Coincidentally, the other eight 'colonial colleges' are: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, The college of William and Mary, Rutger's College, Rhode Island College and Dartmouth College.
Harlem, New York is a neighborhood on the northern part of New York City that since the 1920's has been a major residential, cultural and business district for Black people in america. It's name is taken from a Dutch village called Haarlem in the Netherlands and quiet as it's kept, Harlem was once a Dutch-owned slave colony (reference the cigars named 'Dutch Masters'...put down those 'Dutches' y'all; 'cause these are the degenerates who own this company).
Since 2010, Columbia University has engaged in something called an 'expansion project' in Morningside Heights...and for those who don't know, Morningside Heights and 'Manhattanville' are upper-scale names given to the Harlem area.
I think back now to when I first heard that school loan debt had exceeded credit card debt in this country; I was shocked.
It was the first signs of how higher education was being used by the legal loan sharks of this country as their new hustle. That's why you see all these 'fly-by-night', pseudo universities popping up all over the place; like Phoenix University for instance.
And with the university system so flush with cash thanks to their 'debt hustle', they're now being used to do other nefarious things; like kick all the Black residents out of Harlem.
And Columbia U. is at the forefront of pushing out our people. But they're not coming in with bulldozers saying, y'all Black people have to get out; no, they're using a much more finessed approach.
Just like european colonizers wouldn't first come in with guns blazing to take over a community, country or continent, Columbia U. is using an environmentally friendly initiative called the 'air monitoring program' in Harlem to show how much they wanna' improve things for Black residents there. This is tantamount to conquerors sending in missionaries before the armed troops are deployed. They're disarming Black residents with their feigned altruism before raising their rents and kicking them out. What Columbia U.'s administrators are actually doing is making the air quality of that area better for the white residents who are now occupying more and more of Harlem's residences. 'Cause for years Harlem had garbage incinerators running day and night near the community; so much so, that the rate of asthma for Harlem's children was twice the national average. And this isn't just going on in Harlem, it's taking place in Chicago's south side, Nickerson gardens, Compton, Watts, and seemingly every place else where a large number of Black people live.
I remember a friend of mine who lives in a predominately Black neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York told me how suddenly white people starting moving back into his area in droves. He now says a white couple from Colorado lives next door to him.
Makes you wonder what the white elite have planned for us once they've completely moved us out of our neighborhoods, don't it?
I remember one of the dumb-founded talk show hosts of New York City's 'Hot 97' radio station, who calls himself 'Charlamane tha god', don't think he could of picked a more euro-centric, emasculating name if he tried; said when Spike Lee bought up the topic of gentrifying our neighborhoods, "...well, doesn't that make the community better?"
Better for who?
What good is the quality of life being improved in your community gonna' do you if you're forced out 'cause you can't pay the new, higher rents?
Unfortunately, this is the opinion of the majority of Black people in america.
Just the other day I was talking to a brotha who lived in Washington D.C.; and he ranted about how chagrined he was that he didn't buy one of the dilapidated row-houses where he grew up, 'cause his area is now gentrified and those homes are now selling for millions of dollars.
I've heard similar sentiments from scores of Black people saying, "...well, if our people had their sh@t together, then we would be the ones making all that money..." So, as the brotha from D.C. continued searching for an answer as to why our people seem to always do this...I finally told him why.
If you've been reading this Blog for a minute, you know that it's main tenet is telling Black people that we've lost everything to the self-hatred we've been conditioned into by the white elite...well, the same holds true for this situation.
Now, before you think this is an easy excuse for Black people, I want you to ponder this...if you were taught everyday of your life that you as a Black person have no value, then what would you think about your possessions or your community?
You'd think they're valueless...like yourself.
Well, this is the reason why the Black Diaspora, and the brotha from D.C., didn't buy that row house back in the day. 'Cause consciously or sub-consciously, he thought they had no value.
When Black people live in any dilapidated working class or impoverished area, they're basically trying to get outta' there!
They're not thinking that in ten or twenty years, this row house or abandoned plot of land is gonna' be worth something. They're just trying to get as far away from their people and as close to white people as they possibly can, as quickly as they can.
Here is yet another symptom of our collective self-hatred.
If we valued ourselves, or got ourselves reconditioned out of our conditioned self-hatred, then we'd want to spend more money and time in our own communities, and we'd value our own company even more.
And again, I say conditioned self-hatred 'cause none of us are BORN THIS WAY! We learn to devalue ourselves from the carefully crafted american school cirriculums, TV shows, movies and other media that give us this self-hating message everyday. And we get this message more than any other ethnic group on the planet. And again, IT'S IMPERATIVE THAT WE KNOW WE'RE NOT BORN THIS WAY!
'Cause if you go around thinking or saying that Black people are stupid for letting their communities be gentrified right out from under them, how could you not consciously or sub-consciously hate yourself for being Black?
Remember, our survival is predicated on reconditioning ourselves out of the self-hatred we've been coerced into our whole lives.
And again, I want to remind every Black person that our sub-conscious minds are the world's biggest and greatest battlefields of them all...and if we don't control those pieces of real estate, we as a people are as good as gone.
And I for one, don't intend to go down without a fight.
Kem Wesir!
MontUHURU Mimia
P.S.
Here's a video by the rap artist 'Vinny Chase' that sublimely talks about the gentrification of Harlem, New York.
What makes this video so dope is not only the great music, but Vinny and his co-horts have no idea how they're making political consciousness 'cooler' to their peers through this song.
I liken this song to N.W.A's 'Fuck tha Police'; because even though N.W.A. weren't politically 'conscious', they became that way just by reporting what was going on in their neighborhood; and it's message is still as relevant today, as it was back then.
