The Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin (March 25, 1942 - August 16, 2018)

Aretha Louise Franklin was born on March 25^th, 1962 in Memphis, Tennessee to her father, Clarence LaVaughn “C.L.” Franklin, and mother Barbara (Siggers) Franklin. Aretha's father Clarence, was a Baptist minister and circuit preacher, while her mother Barbara, was a gifted vocalist and pianist.

Both Aretha's parents had 3 children outside their marriage, and due to their tumultuous relationship, they separated in 1948, when Aretha was seven. Barbara went to live in Buffalo, New York, where Aretha's family had previously resided, and continued visiting Aretha who lived with Clarence in Detroit, before Barbara died of a heart attack in 1952, when Aretha was 10. Several women stepped in to help raise Aretha, her grandmother, Rachel being one of them, the other was the late, great Gospel singer, Mahalia Jackson—and it was during this time, that Aretha taught herself to play piano.

Aretha's father Clarence, was known as a preacher with a “million dollar voice”, and his celebrity amongst Black church-goers gained an almost nationwide status. His church was frequented by the likes of James Cleveland, Albertina Walker, Martin Luther King Jr., Jackie Wilson and Sam Cooke. Clara Ward, a gifted gospel singer herself, was said to be romantically linked to Clarence, but they never married—although, Clara was in the Franklin home enough times, to serve as a role model to young Aretha, while she attended Northern High School. But in pursuit of a musical career, Aretha left Northern High after her sophomore year.

Just after her mother's death, Aretha began singing solos at her father's church. And recognizing his daughter was an exceptionally gifted singer, Clarence began managing her at age 12. Clarence also helped Aretha sign her first record deal with “J.V.B.” records. In 1956, J.V.B. put out a single featuring Aretha titled, “Never Grow Old”, with another song called, “You Grow Closer” on the record's B-side. In 1965, “Checker Records” released an album called, “Songs of Faith” with the previously recorded Aretha cuts on it, and the disc also featured four unreleased songs from her as well.

Now, according to Quincy Jones, the famously talented singer Dinah Washington, said to him, that Aretha was gonna' be the “next one”.

So, in 1958, Franklin and her father traveled to California, where Aretha met Sam Cooke. And shortly afterwards, she toured with Martin Luther King Jr.—and sang at his funeral in 1968. As a young gospel singer, Aretha spent summers touring Chicago's church circuit, and often stayed with Mavis Staples and her family.

At age of 18, Aretha told her father, she wanted to follow Sam Cooke into the “secular” world of music, and with that, she and Clarence moved to New York, in pursuit of a “mainstream” record deal. Her father produced a two-song demo that came to the attention of Columbia Records, where she was signed to a deal in 1960. And Aretha's first Columbia single, “Today, I Sing the Blues”, was released in September of 1960, and quickly reached the top ten of the Hot R&B sellers chart.

Now, the fact that Columbia Records had Aretha singing songs like, “Today, I Sing the Blues”, speaks to the fact that they didn't know what to do with her golden voice. Still, in the 1960's during one of her performances, a WVON DJ, announced that Aretha should be crowned the “Queen of Soul”—and the title stuck.

In November of 1966, after six years with Columbia, Aretha signed with the “Atlantic Records” label. And in January of 1967, she recorded the song, “I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)”—the song was released a month later and shot to number one on the “R&B charts”. *Note: now-a-days, the music industry has (largely) done away with the R&B chart listings, cause they know it's this genre, not “pop” music (Taylor Swift), that the public at large is really checkin' for and purchasing from (especially when ya' talkin' 'bout whitey). Mind you, “I Never Loved a Man” also peaked at number “nine” on whitey's Billboard's “Hot 100” charts. And if that weren't enough, this record's “b-side “, had the song, “Do Right Man, Do Right Woman” on it. And that topped the R&B top 40 charts.

In April of 1967, Atlantic had Aretha record her riveting version of Otis Redding's song “Respect”, which shot to number one on both the R&B and pop charts. This became her signature song, and with it, Aretha's status as an industry icon was confirmed. The song's also recognized as an anthem for the “Civil Rights” movement—and feminism.

Now, let's stop here.

The real reason Aretha's called the “Queen of Soul”, is that's what her voice spoke directly to.

When she sang, her melanated spirituality reached inside us and had a healing effect on whatever trials and travails we might have been going through. I remember as a young man, the first time I heard her sing the song, “Rock Steady”, on “Soul” Train. At the time, I didn't know much about her, but I was so mesmerized by her voice, that I couldn't turn away from the TV. What I've found out since is, the sound she produced, was the voice of our indigenous ancestors using her as a vessel, to let us get a glimpse of the abiding love, warmth, and benevolence that the overwhelming majority of us will experience, once we leave this 3^rd dimensional plane.

And let me also say, it sickens me, when white women try to hijack Aretha's spirituality, to co-opt the public into believing the nonsensical narrative of white fascist feminism.

Case in point...

A couple of nights ago on August the 20^th, MTV decided that Madonna should prepare a “tribute” to Aretha Franklin on their annual “Video Music Awards” (VMA) show. Now, as we all (should) know, Madonna's speech turned the air toxic at the VMA's—and there's 3 specific reasons why—and they're as follows...

Reason#3: People wondered, what the heck is Madonna wearing?

Well, while most people were befuddled at Madonna's wardrobe, when I saw her “get-up”, I nodded my head and though, it figures—cause here's what I knew: the term “Black Madonna” or “Black Virgin”, refers to the statues of the “blessed” Virgin Mary, and often the infant Jesus, with Black skin. Mind you, there are 400 to 500 “Black Madonnas” in Europe alone—and these statues, which are mostly in churches and shrines, are associated with miracles.

Now, you might be thinking, well, that's nice to know bruh, but what's that gotta' do with Madonna's attire? Well, peep this out...to the right and left of Madonna's picture from the 2018 VMA's, are pics of the “Black Madonna”. And like KRS-ONE said, “...if ya' wanna' little clarity, check the similarity.”

Mind you, the “Black Madonna” is who the Pope actually worships as a deity, as you can see to the left (and if you wanna' enlarge the pic, you can click on it).

Madonna was performing a freemasonic ritual right before our eyes, where she essentially tried to harness Aretha's (The real Black Madonna's) energy for herself. That's why she mentioned in her 6 minute speech, how she was inspired by Aretha, and that's why she thanked Aretha for being “our” Queen of Soul.

Essentially Madonna wants the “Queen of Soul” title herself, but she proved that night, that she'll never be anything but a third-rate “material GIRL”.

Reason#2: Madonna understands that she stopped being relevant years ago.

There's a now famous tweet being shown on this topic that states: “Does Madonna know Madonna didn't die”?

Now, what the person who “tweeted” this fails to realize is: Madonna may not be dead, but her career died a long time ago. And there's nothing she can do to resurrect it—NOT A DAMN THING!

Reason#1: Madonna not only knows that the gold standard of cultural currency is “Black Street Cred”, but she realizes that her leaving the R&B genre to be a pop princess, means she'll forever be locked out of that social construct.

Now, Madonna's 60^th birthday just passed—that's right y'all, the material girl, is 60. And supposedly, Aretha passed on her b-day. Mind you, I guess Maddy wasn't only pissed cause a fuss wasn't made over her birthday, but it seems like she's ticked off cause she was (and forever will be) outshined by Aretha's passing—and Maddy can't stomach that.

To top all this off, Maddy supposedly had her b-day celebration in Morocco, Africa.

Meaning, everything she's trying to do to align herself wit' “Black Cool Points”, is failing miserably. There's even footage of Maddy backstage at the VMA's conversing (and flirting) with Lenny Kravitz. And at one point in their conversation, Maddy says to Lenny, “...awards shows are all about betrayal—you feel me?” So Madonna's working overtime tryna' perfect our vernacular and get wit' our spiritual sciences, so she can stay in denial about her 15 minutes being up—and knowing they'll never be back again.

So, I've said all that to say this: no matter how hard Taylor Swift, Gwen Stefani, the late Amy Winehouse, or Maddy try in earnest to approximate the construct of Black Cool Points, they'll always fall short. For the simple reason that their degenerative pallor and the recessive DNA that goes with it, will never be able to access the kinds of spirituality that the indigenous people of this earth, Black men and women, possess as a matter of course.

And like Sam L. Jackson said, in Spike Lee's movie, “Do the Right Thing”: “That's the double truth, Ruth”.

REST IN PEACE, AND AWESOME POWER TO THE QUEEN, NETCHER, DEITY, AND THE REAL “BLACK MADONNA”, ARETHA FRANKLIN!

THEY'LL NEVER BE ANOTHER TO TAKE YOUR PLACE! 

Later... 

—MontUHURU Mimia

P.S.

Here's the Soul Train vid from 1972, featuring Aretha, that I wrote about earlier. And mind you, everything about Aretha is golden in this clip, from her voice, to her skin, to her hair, to the background's stage design. And even though the production value of this vid ain't the best, Aretha's lovely vocals will still shine through your computer screen. And, I defy you not to get goosebumps when Aretha raises her hands and sings, “Oooooh-hoooo” at the bridge. Classic stuff, enjoy.

 

When will Jesus return? (Special post-Christmas editorial)

Two nights before “Christmas”, a good friend invited me to one of his church's pre-holiday services. Now, this person understands that I'm not a christian, but being that we've known each other for decades, I agreed to attend.

So a few minutes into the service, the white female pastor declared that she was gonna' give everyone in attendance a “gift”. Now, this gift she said, was associated with us winning a lottery—and then she expounded on reasons why this lottery could only be attained through being “saved”—meaning, you'd have to be a person who's accepted “Jesus Christ”.

Then, she pointedly told us about the concept of “original sin” and how Jesus died for us because of that. Additionally, she said no matter how foul our mouths are, or how many banks we've robbed, Jesus died so we'd be cleansed of our inherited sin(s).

Finally, she ended the service by reinforcing the point that regardless of how egregiously we live our lives, our acceptance of Jesus will grant us everlasting life. Mind you, about half of the people seated and listening to that service, were Black.

Now, I understand how whoever's reading this is probably gonna' think—well, here comes the part where he talks about that whole Black and white/ethnic thing again. But in all fairness, this pastor's audience was mostly comprised of white people. However, in terms of how this woman's message could affect churchgoers, I'd like to make 3 points as to how this pastor's sermon might strike a Black churchgoer differently from a white one, based on our disparate kinds of conditioning.

Point#3: In terms of this white woman telling me that she's gonna' give me a “gift”, and how this includes my winning a “lottery” that comes from being saved—it immediately takes my mind to stories of the mythological “white savior” that will rescue Black people from themselves. And mind you, a white person could be (and was) sitting right next to me—but because white fascism teaches Black people from birth that we're the most vile and undesirable kinds of people on the planet, it says to my mind, that I need some sort of “external” white force to save me, or us, from our inevitable demise, due to our moral obtuseness.

Point#2: Doubling down on my last point, the concept of “original sin” reinforces to me, as a Black person, in regards to the conditioning that we specifically get (especially in the american educational system) that EVERYTHING about me is WRONG.

EVERYTHING. 

And on a side note, I remember speaking to a mature brotha like myself about the dysfunction of Black people. And the gist of his argument was that Black people need to take “personal responsibility” for reconditioning ourselves out of these dysfucntions/mind-sets. And I agree—to an extent. Meaning, recently, I spoke to a young brotha, who I know is 18 years old, and he just happens to have that beautifully flawless, deeply melanated skin I love. But because of this, his friends make fun of him and say that he looks “African”.

And he retaliates aggressively when they do. Meaning somewhere, at his young age, he's gotten the message that he should be ashamed of his association with Africa. Now, here's my question/argument for the aforementioned mature brotha I was debating—how in the world, can we expect this young man to recondition himself out of his conscious/subconscious hatred of his “association” with Africa (i.e. his dark skin), when he doesn't even know it's a problem? Then I told the brotha, if and when that young brotha does realize, that hating his skin is a problem, then how does he recondition himself out of it?

Another personal example of this, was the time in my 9^th grade class when a beautiful young sista said to me, when we were alone: “Damn—God didn't give us nothin', he gave us big lips and nappy hair.”

Now, check that out—she said, “God” didn't give us nothing. So, she was conditioned to think, in reference to her looks and being Black, that her very God had forsaken her. And ya' know what I said to this young sista? Nothing. Cause I felt the same way.

Fortunately, decades later, I feel completely different—and I hope she does too.

Mind you, there is a remedy for this—and that is, we have to get those young minds into “Black Nationalist” homeschooling collectives, so they're not poisoned with self-hatred from this social order's “mis-educational” system.

Point#1: And the number one point I want to make is this: ever since I was in my pre-teens, I've gotten the message that when the white christ returns, he'll set the world right again.

Now, because of the conditioning I got, especially in catholic schools, I should be able to agree with this sentiment. Fortunately though, I have alternate information (cause I'm a practitioner of the Black Spiritual Sciences), and I understand one profound truth that you won't hear in 99.9% of the church services you'll attend. And that's this: In regards to Jesus Christ, what white fascists don't want you to know is...

JESUS NEVER LEFT.

Now, you're probably thinkin’, bruh—if you’re agreeing that Jesus is real and was here, then how could you possibly say he never left.

Here's how...

The Black Spiritual Sciences (The Orishas, Ifa, Yoruba, Santeria, Voudun/Voodoo, etc.) teach us that the “Krist” (KRST) energies associated with these practices, are different from a physical man named “Jesus Christ”, who white fascists made up.

Now, for the sake of brevity, I'll tell you that “Jesus Christ” was an invention of the ruler “Constantine”, when he convened the “Council of Nicea” in 325 A.D. And coincidentally, it was here that 318 Roman Catholic Bishops wrote, decreed and sanctified the institution that we now know as “christianity”. And please don't take my word for this—go do your own research and find out for yourself.

Moreover, in terms of fascist dogmas and institutions, I think these Bible verses pretty much tell you the agenda of white fascist christianity/freemasonry.

Ephesians 6:5-8:

5:”Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.”

6: “Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.”

7: “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving THE LORD, NOT PEOPLE.”

8: “Because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.”

Now, I think that pretty much says it all.

So, and I'm talking exclusively to Black people, when our ancestors spoke of the “Krist/KRST”, they were speaking of energies to be accessed through the Spiritual Sciences I mentioned earlier.

And the bottom line to all these sciences is this: when you find a technique that combines your intention (prayer), with your subconscious mind, that's how you'll ultimately start to manipulate “spiritual” forces in your favor.

Then YOU will become the “CHRIST/KRST”.

Moreover, because our ingenious ancestors taught us that this particular energy is WITHIN you, it means you don't have to look for any external force to activate it—so you can save yourself.

So, while you imbibe in copious amounts of egg-nog and pumpkin pie on this holiday (holy-day), understand it's real meaning—and that is to heed our ancestors who're beseeching us to turn our KRST ENERGIES ON—so you can indeed live an abundant life that will not only benefit you, but the whole of the Black Diaspora.

And like Sam L. Jackson said in Spike Lee's movie: “Do the Right Thing”: “That's the double truth, Ruth.”

Later...

MontUHURU Mimia

The end of white people (Part 2)...Floyd Mayweather Jr., Connor McGregor and the reasons why Black Spirituality trumps white intellectualism...

 

On June 7^th, 1976, the 'New Yorker' magazine featured an article by British rock journalist, Nik Cohn—and the title of the article was, 'The tribal rights of the new Saturday Night'. In it, Cohn told the story of 'Vincent'—a fair-skinned, immaculately dressed young man, with superb dancing skills. And according to Cohn, Vincent was indisputably, the best dancer in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York City.

Additionally, Cohn wrote: 'Vincent...was the ultimate face. He owned fourteen floral shirts, eight pairs of shoes, three overcoats, and had appeared on American Bandstand. Sometimes music execs came out from Manhattan to watch him—and one man who owned a club on the East side, had offered him a contract. One hundred dollars a week, just to dance.

Another one of the execs who saw Vincent, after reading Cohn's article, worked for 'Paramount Pictures'. And long story short, that exec bought Cohn's article to his bosses, and they turned it into the script for the movie 'Saturday Night Fever' (movie poster on right), which went on to become an iconic film in the annals of cinematic history.

Now, that's what whitey wants you to think—but here's what really happened...

Cohn was indeed a British rock journalist, who desperately wanted to report on the 'Disco' phenomenon of the late 70's. But when he went to the '2001 Odyssey' disco in the disproportionately italian neighborhood of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, he didn't find a masterful dancer named Vincent, what he found was a drunken fist fight occurring outside the venue. On top of that, one of the fighters, rolled over in the gutter and threw up on one of Cohn's trouser legs. But what Cohn did remember was one lone young man who stood in the disco's doorway, and how calm he looked in the face of all this chaos. So, Cohn made up a story centered around the attributes that young man might have had.

But more than anything, Cohn based 'Vincent' on a pastiche of young men he'd met in London, England. And he went about patterning Vincent's physical, sartorial and sentimental stylings after them.

Now in 1994, Cohn told the news magazine, 'The Guardian': “My story was a fraud, (back then) I'd only recently arrived in New York. Far from being steeped in Brooklyn street life, I hardly knew the place. As for Vincent, my story's hero, he was largely inspired by a Shepard's Bush (bloke) whom I'd known in the 60's.” Mind you, Shepard's Bush, is in London, England.

Anecdotally, in 1983, Nik Cohn was indicted on drug trafficking and conspiracy counts for importing 4 million dollars worth of 'Indian' heroin into the u.s. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony, and was given a $5,000 fine and got sentenced to five years probation. Complexion for the connection in effect.

Now, you may ask yourself, whether this story was true or not, why would movie execs base an entire film, and dedicate 3.5 million dollars (which by today's standards would be like $30 million), around some white disco dancer?

Here's why...

The majority of the world's women probably won't confess this, but to them, a man's dancing prowess, or lack thereof, determines to a great extent what his level of sexual power/prowess will be. So in essence, the movie Saturday Night Fever (SNF), was yet another tool used to eradicate the notion that a white man's sexual power is inferior to a Black man's. That's the real reason Vincent, or SNF's 'Tony Manero', was created.

Additionally, I remember reading the Nile Rodger's autobiography, 'Le Freak: An upside down story of family, disco and destiny'. And for the uninitiated, Nile was a founding member of the R&B group 'Chic' that created classic songs like 'Le Freak' and 'Good Times' (and if you still don't know who he is, google him). In his book, Nile was perplexed about the reasons why 'disco' received such a backlash of criticism that ultimately took it off radio. And if I ever met Nile, I'd tell him point blank, “Bruh—you were making dance music, and whitey couldn't dance.”

Now, some of you may say, oh, well I've met several white people who are great dancers. That's cause they started copying our dances. Remember, this was before Hip-Hop music became mainstreamed. Back in the 70's, white people could barely tap their feet to the most basic of rhythms—until they saw us do it. And I can also tell you, white people marveled at the physical ingenuity it took to perform the moves they saw us doing in clubs. So always remember whitey's rule: if we can't run it, we'll wreck it.

Funny enough, once whitey effectively got rid of disco, they had no idea that Hip-Hop was coming up right behind it. So they'd have to copy/learn a new style of dancing all over again.

And this is what they'll never understand: that in order to perform or create our intricate dance moves or music stylings, you can't be a spiritually bankrupted person while doing it. See, whitey always favors technical virtuosity over spirituality, not only cause spirituality is what they're lacking, it's cause what's embedded in the edicts of technical virtuosity/white intellectualism, is the all-encompassing concept of theory.

Meaning, the dances or musical stylings they create are cool in theory, but not in reality.

See, our melantated spirituality gives us access to higher frequencies of ingenuity that transcend theory, so what we think is cool, really is—thus the term, 'Keep it real'. On top of that, our spirituality gives us access to greater depths of feelings and emotions that help us extract what's really stylish on a more visceral/'hue-man' level.

Now, Floyd Mayweather Jr. just defeated Conor McGregor to become the pugilist with the world's most perfect boxing record. 50 fights and no losses. This trumps Rocky Marciano's record of being 49-0.

And remember, whitey's doting on technical virtuosity/intellectualism, had him thinking that he was the world's most masterful pugilist, especially in antiquity. But because Floyd is one of us, and has access to a melanated spirituality, he was able to reach higher levels of mastery by delving more deeply into his emotionalism—or in fighters terms, by having a more finely tuned 'boxer's intuition'.

Floyd was quoted as saying: “I can almost feel when someone's gonna' throw a punch.” And this is just one example of how spirituality will always win out against whitey's intellectualism—you feel me?

Mind you, this doesn't only apply to sports and entertainment. Dr. Phil Emeagwali, who created the internet, said he drew his computational mathematics inspirations from nature and the African proverb that says: 'a large number of chickens, coordinated in strength and efficiency, could do a better job than a small number of oxen'. Thus, when he came upon the american gov't's 'Connection Machine' computer, which was so huge that no one could program it, his natural intuition showed him how he could make several hundred microprocessors work at once. And behind his intuitiveness, he not only created the modern day internet, but in 1989, he won the 'Gordon Bell Prize' for building the world's fastest computer. And coincidentally, the 'Apple' computer company used Dr. Phil's technology in their 'Power Mac G4' model (upper left)—which I drooled over the first time I saw it—and I'd have drooled more, had I known Dr. Phil's technology was in it.

In conclusion, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Slyvester Stallone's 'Rocky' movie series. Especially in light of the fact that it's 'Rocky' Marciano's record that Floyd broke. Mind you, Rocky 4's narrative is one where Ivan Drago kills Apollo Creed, and only Rocky Balboa, another white guy, can avenge his death. And Sly Stallone came up with that concept knowing that women also judge a man's sexual prowess on his physical fighting ability too. So that flick was just one more way of white men sating their insecurities about being sexually inferior to Black men. And I always have to mention that when I talk, or imply in any way that Black men are sexually superior to white men—I'm talking about our having the most genetic power of any type of man, to breed whites, and every other non-Black persons, out of existence.

Moreover, Floyd's breaking Rocky's fight record, is but one more indication that whitey's days of ruling this earth are OVER. Meaning, when you see the people with the most resources, not only fighting amongst each other, but killing themselves in droves by means of suicide and drug overdoses, we need to understand that the melanated earth is working her magic/majik and screaming: “ENOUGH!”

And I always have to say that topping all the aforementioned facts off, is the truth that white birth rates have been falling below replacement levels for the better part of the last half century.

Meaning, if you're a Black man or woman reading this, you should be extraordinarily jubilant. This is a glorious time we're living in, where we can see whitey's dysfunctions fueling their complete and utter self-destruction.

And I can sum up my thoughts about whitey's being ethnically-cleansed off the earth in two simple words: GOOD RIDDANCE!!

Later...

MontUHURU Mimia

P.S.

I just had to include this article about Dr. Phil I saw in 'Time' magazine here.

P.P.S.

Here's the trailer for the movie, Saturday Night Fever (1977). Check out a young John Travolta (Tony Manero), and a young Fran Drescher (0:47 in trailer) who asks him, "Are you as good in bed as you are on that dance floor?" 

Christian concentration camps and a reviled retreat...

On July first of this year, while conversing with a co-worker of mine, I was introduced to the idea of spending some time at a 'spiritual retreat' while speaking about how I'd acquired some vacation time on my job. 

When I told my co-worker that I wasn't religious, but a practitioner of the Black Spiritual Sciences, this person stated how there would be several persons there representing the practices of Yoruba, The Orishas and even a Voudun/Voodoo Babaalau; which is basically a leader of ceremonies in the Black Spiritual Sciences, something like what a priest is to christianity. So I told this person I'd think about it after they gave me a brochure about the 'retreat'.

As I read the brochure, the first thing I noticed was how this retreat would take place in the Virgin Islands; and I have family there, so that was a plus. But even before this fact, I saw the retreat facility was more of an island resort than something resembling a monastery. This was another selling point. The brochure also detailed how all faiths would be represented, up to and including the Black Spiritual Sciences. But there was one caveat. The brochure said in order to keep the ambiance of the retreat more spiritually-minded, they wanted participants to check in their cell phones, laptops and other electronic devices, so there'd be less diversions in our quests for a more intimate spiritual experience. 

Just then I said no; flat out. I was hell-bent (no pun intended) on always having my laptop with me. I hate to admit this, but my computer has almost become like an appendage...I'm completely tethered to it. But recently, I'd been wrestling with the issue of my possibly being too obsessive with my laptop and this Blog; 'cause one thing I know for sure is too much of anything is not good for you. And I did want to know more about the Black Spiritual Sciences, being that I've only an intermediate knowledge of them. I'd done some book reading and video watching on the topic, but I'd never been in a consistently immersive fellowship experience with other like-minded people who practiced these sciences.

I spoke to the co-worker who originally gave me the brochure and told them about my issues with a possible obsession with my computer and Blog. They told me this would be the perfect venue to confront it in; they also assured me about how strict the retreat facility's administrators are about giving out a central emergency number that I could give to loved ones in case they needed to contact me quickly. Since we wouldn't have our cell phones, this person understood my concerns should I need to contact my family for any reason. They also said they'd witnessed instances were people had emergency calls in the past and the resort manager themselves would personally relay the caller's message to them. 

It seemed all my issues with the 'retreat' had been resolved and since it would last two weeks and I had a month of vacation time due me, I agreed to go. 

The flight over to the Virgin Islands was pretty uneventful and pleasant, and after we touched down safely in the V.I.(Virgin Islands), we were chauffeured to the resort. After we got to the gates of the compound, they swung open and revealed a complex replete with tennis and racket ball courts, a small golf course, a full gym, and with V.I.'s vistas as a backdrop, this place looked like what you'd see on a commercial promoting some tropical getaway. I nodded my head in approval and checked into my room. 

Opening the door to my suite soothed my soul even more. The tan colored carpet seemed to be double cushioned, so every step felt like I was being buoyed on a bed of pillows; the room also had a set of well cushioned, buttery golden sofas and a nearly wall-sized flat screen TV. When I looked into the bedroom, the king size bed glowed beneath rays of sunlight coming through beige curtains that swayed in a breeze coming off the ocean; and my glances at the room's brochure said the bed's comforter and sheets were made of silk and Egyptian cotton. I strode into the bathroom to find a walk-in shower replete with several spray jets, a jacuzzi and a full vanity. 

After I got some cloths out onto my bed I went into the living room and pulled back the curtains of the main windows. What stared back at me were powdery golden sands rubbed up against aqua blue translucent waters, palm trees, tanning enthusiasts slathering assorted lotions on themselves, bobbing mini yachts and jet skiers having their way with the deeper waters. It was one of those moments where you just had to be happy with life. 

Moments later, the door bell rang. I wondered who it could be before a female voice called out she was one of the hotel's administrators. I peered through the door's peep hole and swung it open. I wasn't expecting a woman this attractive to be one of the resort's administrators. She was a sista I'd get to know as Kathy. And Kathy had the high grade melanated, deep chocolate, luminous skin I love on a woman. She also had almond shaped eyes, a gorgeous body, the perfect height and weight I like, and I don't know what fragrance she wore, but it seemed to be some floral mix of lilac and lavender; whatever it was, it worked.  

She offered me a brochure about the spiritual seminars that would take place and which areas of the resort they'd be in. She also told me she was there to collect my laptop and cell phone. Then it made sense, they send a physically beguiling woman to disarm the patrons of their most valued possessions. She assured me they'd be placed in safe storage and told me later there would be a showing of the vault where these items would be placed for all guests. I told her I definitely would attend and in a split second I nearly forgot this was a spiritual retreat, 'cause I straight up wanted to ask this woman out. That was until I saw a glistening rock on her left-handed wedding band finger. I handed over my phone and laptop, we exchanged good evenings and she made her exit. I went to the living room, turned on the TV and wondered what lucky man had her for a wife.   

Now, the brochure said one wake up call would be provided for the 9 A.M. seminars, the first of these would be at 8 A.M. I'm used to early morning wake ups, so this wasn't a problem; that was until I got my first wake up call for this seminar at 6 A.M. I told the person calling how it was inappropriate and downright rude to call me that early, it's not like I don't know how to use an alarm clock. She apologized and hung up. The next wake up call came at 7 A.M. After I asked who it was, I asked to speak with the manager. The manager gave me some silly story about how these calls were mandatory and detailed  in their brochure; to which I reminded him how the brochure said one call would be made. Then I told him this was harassment and I didn't want anymore wake up calls. They stopped. 

Now, being that I was tired from an interrupted night of sleep, I was not in the best spirits for the morning seminar. Again, there were three to choose from, and that morning I chose the Yoruba mysticism lecture. The auditoriums resembled any generic hotel meeting room; several austere and angular metal framed chairs, one long mahogany desk, one podium, one mic and a refreshment table off to the side replete with a 'continental' breakfast; all carbs, muffins, toast, tea and coffee. Fortunately, I had a breakfast ordered up to my room, 'cause I woke up in a quasi-bitter mood from all those wake up calls. 

Much to my suprise, the Yoruba seminar started out well. The forty-something Black gentlemen presiding over the ceremony started out with a libation pouring to the ancestors which set the spiritual tone of the room correctly; there were some inbreds scattered about the room, but otherwise, I didn't have much to complain about. After that, the emcee told about the origins of Yoruba beginning in southwest Nigeria and adjacent parts of Benin and Togo; and he explained how the deity Olodumare was its divine creator of all existence, these facts I knew, but it was nice to hear them in that setting. After several minutes the speaker said how analogous these concepts were to christianity and kept his diatribe on those points. I got so pissed, I walked out. Not only was I suffering from a lack of r.e.m. sleep, but I thought I'd just got 'bait and switched' where the promise of a talk on the Black Spiritual Sciences were concerned.  

Minutes later, Kathy showed up in the corridor beside my room's door. She sauntered over to me and asked, "What's the matter, didn't you enjoy the Yoruba seminar?" That's when I knew I was being watched. I asked Kathy,"How'd you know I just came out of the Yoruba seminar?" She said, as one of the facility's administrator's it was her job to see I was having a good time. The look up in her eyes told me this was a come on. This weirded me out, considering she was married; or was at least wearing a wedding ring. I told her I should have a better experience at the next one. I talked mid-stride while I headed for my door. Listen, I'm as lustful as the next guy, but one thing I won't do is take part in dismantling a marriage; especially where our people are concerned. Now, I don't know if Kathy's married to a Black man or not, quite frankly, I think she's probably married to some inbred who thinks it's cool to have an 'open' marriage; but again, on the off chance she's with a brotha, I'm not gonna' be the one to do something to harm that. If you've read my Blog for any amount of time, you'll see I don't get down like that. So after I got into my room, I locked the door and sank into the sofa; and I dearly missed and needed to be on my laptop. Then I remembered it was in the resort's vault. I then thought, maybe it was good I didn't have my computer as a crutch to fall back on. I started thinking about Ben and Jerry's ice cream and Kathy's come on. I decided to indulge in some New York Super Fudge Chunk before tuning into something salacious on Netflix.    

The next day I got another 6 A.M. wake up call for the 9 A.M. seminar; then I got another at 7 A.M. After speaking to the desk clerk, I once again spoke to a supervisor and told them, if this continued I'd ask for my money back and leave the resort. After this they stopped completely. 

I arrived at the morning's seminar entitled 'Reflections and revelations on the science of Voodoo'. I thought, alright, here we go, this is gonna' be powerfully dope. I think I was the first person in the auditorium, but after a few moments other people began to trickle in. Oddly enough, a white woman sat right next to me. Inwardly, I rolled my eyes. It seems I'm a magnet for the kind of white women I call 'triple O's'; they're either overweight, oversexed, old or all three. This one seemed to subscribe to the first two 'O's', but looked to be in her mid-thirties. I sensed her eyes on me, but I wasn't about to return her stare or even say hello. You see, these women think the easiest man they can get is a Black one, so they feel all they have to do is establish some sort of close proximity to us and we're suppose to melt or something. 

One thing I have to say about this is, I shamefully admit, I get a perverse thrill from making a white woman seem unwanted by me. What I encounter on damn near a daily basis, is a white woman who walks towards me with her head down 'cause she doesn't want me thinking she's attracted to me. But what I always do is go out of my way to keep my eyes looking forward. 'Cause nine times out of ten, just as this white woman is about to pass me, she'll look at me; then when she sees I'm not looking at her, she'll don this perplexed look on her face, like, why aren't you looking at me? I am a white woman after all.

I SO GET OFF ON THIS!! 

Again, I do shamefully admit, I love making white women feel less attractive; or I at least like letting them know, I think their pale skin is repulsive; I love to non-verbally tell them, keep walking you thin lipped, flat-assed, stringy haired degenerate. But that's just me. 

Back to the seminar...A dark-skinned brotha in a dashiki came to the podium and I was like, alright bruh, come wit' it!

He also started out pouring libations, and went through a litany of outstanding ancestors; we paid homage to Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, Patrice Lumumba, Amazon Queen Califia (This is the Black woman who California is named after), Harriet Tubman, Nobel Drew Ali, Tupac Shakur, Steven Biko, Kwame Nkruma, Dr. Huey P. Newton, Elijah Muhammad, etc. 

The brotha then went on to say the word Voudun or Voodoo actually means 'spirit' or 'deity' in the Fon language of the ancient African kingdom of Dahomey, which is now Benin. Minutes after, he spoke on how a Voodoo ceremony preceded the Haitian revolution and gave our people the spiritual and physical might to overthrow Napoleon's occupying forces, even though we were out-manned and out-gunned; and how to this day, this revolution is credited with being the only successful slave revolt in world history. Then I experienced a bout of deja vu as this guy started talking about how this religion parallels christianity, and he started expounding on this point. 

That's when I knew this was a set up. What this resort was doing was converting, or at least trying to convert, every person who believed in something other than white supremacist christianity into adopting their religion. 

Once again, I got up and left the auditorium. I swung open the door to my room and went for the pint-sized remainder of my Ben and Jerry's ice cream, when I got a phone call. 

And lo and behold, it was Kathy. She asked me to meet her in her office. I agreed 'cause I wanted to curse her out behind having me at the resort under false pretenses. As I left my room and traveled towards the elevator, my co-worker who got me to come to the retreat popped up. The first thing this person said was, "I'm sorry you're not liking the seminars." Right then I knew this person and Kathy were working together. Mind you, this was a person I'd worked with for the better part of a decade; we'd been to each others homes, met members of each others families and I genuinely considered this person a friend. Well, that was over. I abruptly told them I had an emergency call and brushed by them. 

When I got to Kathy's office, before I could get a word in, she started asking me if I'd ever considered joining the priesthood; then she started in on how lucrative a career it could be, unbeknownst to the public. When I told her I had absolutely no interest in this, she told me I fit the profile of someone who'd do well in the priesthood. I knew this meant my co-worker had offered me up as some sort of prospect for a priestly 'training camp', and that's what this experience was and would be. I immediately went to Kathy's supervisor and asked for my money back. 

After the resort's executive administrators obliged, I called a cab and got promptly off the complex and into a regular hotel. I enjoyed the remainder of my stay in the V.I. at a similar resort, minus the force fed overtones of white supremacist christianity and I got to see my family there as well.

Needless to say, I stopped talking to this co-worker completely. And to this day, this person is perplexed as to why I'm mad. 

You see, the christian priesthood is in such dire financial straits, that they've been forced to employ these kind of recruitment techniques. Because their priests have been exposed for the pedophiles and generally mentally unstable posers they really are; so no one in their right minds, or at least no young person in their right minds, wants to be associated with them anymore. 

And thinking back on it, I remembered telling my co-worker how I was fond of darker skinned women, that's probably why Kathy was recruited to 'attend' to me; and when that didn't work, they probably sicced one of their resident white women on me, this was the overweight and oversexed woman who sat next to me during the Voodoo seminar. And if you're thinking, yo MontUHURU, you're just trippin', I'd say I wouldn't put this past them if they were that hard up for Black men to go into the priesthood. 

Think about it, why wouldn't they want more Black men in the priesthood, firstly, it would add some cool points to the papacy; if for no other reason that we wouldn't hold stuffy and technical prayer services, we'd make our message relevant and practical for people. And, if for no other reason, the mainstream public knows that the overwhelming majority of Black men don't practice pedophilia. They also know, we're less likely to be homosexuals, 'cause our melanated minds won't allow us to indulge in these deviant sex acts so easily. So, it would be a win-win for white supremacists and their main religion. 

Only problem is, I'm not selling out to white supremacy; that's not me. They're gonna' have to look elsewhere for a token. 

And in the immortal words of Sam Jackson in the movie 'Do the right thing', "That's the triple truth, Ruth."

Later...

MontUHURU Mimia 

What's with white poeple's obsession with zombies and vampires?

Dawn of the Dead (1978/2004)

Return of the Living Dead (1985) 

Day of the Dead (1985)

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992)

Interview With A Vampire (1994)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997) 

28 Days Later (2002) 

True Blood (2008)

Zombie Land (2009)

The Walking Dead (2010)

And you know I could keep going...

Recently, I was in the library once again, and while I was between book racks, I overheard two white guys conversing.

I was poring over Randall Robinson's book 'Quitting america': A Black man's departure from his native land; and for the uninitiated, Randall founded the TransAfrica forum, which exposes the dastardly foreign political deeds of the western powers regarding their African agenda. He's also a Harvard Law graduate on top of his being a fine political activist and author.

I shamefully admit, I still haven't read Randall's classic book, 'The Debt': What america owes to Blacks, about mandating reparations for the diaspora; but I definitely will soon. 

Anyway, one of these guys was saying, "...yeah, we were working on the project later than usual and decided to order in some pizza; we cut on the tube, and me, Bob and my friends wanted to watch 'The Walking Dead'. But all the Black guys wanted to watch the 'All Star Game'; and some how, we got outvoted. So we watched that insipid game all night."

Insipid game? Compared to what? An even more insipid fictional drama about some damn zombies?

I then thought about the proliferation of zombie and vampire flicks I've seen come to movie theaters, TV and even live theater in some cases.

It made me pose the question, why do white people obsess so much over zombies and vampires?

Do we really need a new zombie or vampire movie every year to keep these people's appetites sated?

Then it hit me...you know how whites always steal everything from Black people culturally? Like how we dance, sing, dress and talk. The reason they're so prone to doing that is, they don't have any kind of spiritual foundation to create anything cooler themselves. 

This reminds me of Oprah's 'Legend's Ball' back in 2005; where she held a celebration of celebrity Black women and invited a gospel choir for the entertainment. Now, there were some white folks in the audience, as is mandatory for any Oprah gathering, but when BeBe Winans went into the audience and passed the mic to the likes of Shirley Cesar and Patti Labelle, they started taking the audience spiritually higher; and white folks were wondering what was going on. 'Cause their pale skin is not only devoid of melanin, but it causes them to only reach the very lowest of spiritual levels. 

Whitey got shook, 'cause we were taking them places they couldn't go. 

This also reminds me of a white guy I know who swears up and down that Eddie Van Halen is the greatest guitarist who ever lived (If you don't know who he is, google him). Now, I know Eddie's no slouch, but when I mention Jimi Hendrix to this guy, he automatically says, "...oh yeah, well, he was very innovative, but I think Eddie had more technique...and he outlived Jimi by decades."

Firstly, Eddie is a virtuoso guitar player, and his techniques are and were very revolutionary; but anyone studying guitar over the course of years could very well pick up his techniques if they really tried. 

Jimi's techniques for his creative use of the guitar's 'feedback', has everyone to this day shaking their heads, like, how'd he get those sounds out of the guitar? And what white people can't fathom, is Jimi was infusing his 'spirituality' into his guitar playing; i.e. his intrinsic knowledge of our people's Black spiritual sciences...and that's something you can't teach. 

"Well I stand up next to a mountain, and chop it down with the edge of my hand...'cause I'm a VOODOO CHILD..."
--Jimi Hendrix

As for Eddie outliving Jimi, the white guy probably doesn't know, or wouldn't believe, that Jimi Hendrix was murdered. 

Moreover, Jimi's white manager had a hand in his murder. 

So, it's now crystal clear to me why whites love zombies and vampires so much; its 'cause these lukewarm-fleshed, spiritually vacant and highly homicidal creatures, remind them of themselves.

And we as Black people need to remind ourselves that this is who they truly are; and this is why they're incapable of doing anything but causing destruction wherever they go. 

And for the people saying not ALL whites are like that...I didn't say ALL OF THEM WERE.

I'm just relating to you how 99.9% of them are.

And if you don't believe me, hang around them for a couple of days, months or years...eventually, they'll show you their real selves. 

And no Black person should be shocked by what they find. 

Later, 

MontUHURU Mimia

P.S.

For those of you who thought I forgot to mention Wesley Snipes in the movie 'Blade'; I haven't. I didn't include that here because after 'Blade' was successful, white executives sabotaged the film by giving more face time to Wesley's white co-stars in the sequels. So much so, he sued them for that and for wages he was owed and never received. 

If you'd like to read more about that, you can see this Blog's short bio on Wesley Snipes here.

P.P.S.

Here's the vid for the Oprah's Legends Ball 2005, where she had whitey shook over where our melanated minds could take us spiritually. 

Note how Maria Shriver (white woman at the beginning of the video with her daughters), says when the singers started passing the mic around, "I hope they don't come near us." 

This is nothing less than our people's 'spiritual ingenuity' at work...

Enjoy!