A trump break.

There has been a lot of coverage about the tragic passing of Prince this past news cycle. As a result, and thankfully, the wall to wall coverage of our national elections has taken a back seat.  I am devastated by losing such a musical genius, but I am glad for a break from these cable news stations and their trump love-fests for just a little bit.

Anyway, another story that was pushed to number two this past news cycle was the execution style murders of eight people (EIGHT!) in Ohio. That figure equals the amount of people murdered in quite a few countries all over the world in an entire year.  One woman was shot execution style with her six month child under her arms. *shaking head*

"Eight family members found dead in a rural southern Ohio community were shot in the head 'execution style,' most while they slept, authorities said Friday.

Officers are searching for the killer or killers, who are probably armed and a danger to surviving family members, Pike County Sheriff Charles Reader said.

"We have a specific family that's been targeted but I don't think there's been a threat to any other members of the community," he said. "I've given the family precautionary measures to make. They know we're available."

 

Investigators discovered seven adults and a 16-year-old dead at four crime scenes, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine said. The victims included a mother slain while her 4-day-old child lay beside her, he said.

 

That child, along with a 6-month-old and a 3-year-old, survived the killings, Reader said.

 

He didn't name a suspect or give a motive, but said all victims are members of the Rhoden family.

"We're advising family members to be very careful and take particular caution," DeWine said. "This is a matter of public safety, especially for the Rhoden family." [Source]

 

"Especially for the Rhoden family? Isn't it  a little late for them? My lord, this country needs help.

 

Finally, some folks in the majority population still can't understand why we have to stress the fact that Black Lives Matter to anyone who will listen. 

 

Take, for instance, the story in Florida, where we thought that the police involved were heroes because we thought at the time that the had saved the lives of thee black girls.

 

Well as it turns out, not so fast.

 

"Flak over three teens’ deaths in a cemetery pond following a car theft chase prompted a Florida sheriff to release more dashcam footage of the incident Friday.

 

Family members of Dominique Battle, 16, Ashaunti Butler, 15, and Laniya Miller, 15, are questioning the Pinellas County Sheriff’s account of why deputies did not jump into the St. Petersburg pond to save them around 4 a.m. March 31, ABC News reported.

 

“In my opinion, this has been a rush to judgment,” said a lawyer for the families, William Anderson. “In my opinion, this has been a smear campaign.”

 

Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gualtieri has said the mud was too thick to get to the gold Honda Accord in the 15-foot deep pond after the teens stole it, led deputies on a chase and crashed into the water. The sheriff’s office released a video Friday showing three deputies with parts of their uniform off returning to their cars after wading into the mud off Gandy Blvd.

 

Unfortunately, some people are irresponsibly and falsely posting on Facebook that deputies did not attempt to rescue the three girls who tragically drowned while fleeing from the police in a stolen car a few weeks ago,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

 

“The sheriff stated at the time that deputies removed their gun belts and clothes and tried to enter the water to rescue the girls, but the conditions in the water prevented them from doing so. This is exactly what happened, and we stand by that.”

Yet the release of other video from the crash scene Monday and audio earlier in the month provoked questions. The deputies could be heard in the video footage discussing whether they heard the three teens screaming." [Source]

*Pic from twitter.

 

 

 

1958-2016

I thought the day that music died was May 11, 1981, but today it seemed like it died all over again.

My ten favorite songs by Prince:

1.  I Wanna Be Your Lover.

2.  Little Red Corvette.

3.  Soft & Wet.

4. Darling Nikki.

5. Let's Go Crazy.

6. Pop Life.

7. I Would Die 4 U.

8.  I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man.

9. 1999.

10.  Controversy.

RIP Purple one.

"Don't mess with Texas."

Think about this for a minute: Some members of the Texas republican party have tabled a resolution to vote on whether Texas should secede from the United States at their upcoming state convention.

I know. Sounds crazy, right? But this is where we are now as a country.

I could write a voluminous post about this, but I am just going to cut and paste from the comments section from TPM to make my point..

"bkmn
       
Please do and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Ever since Texas has become a state that takes more federal money than they pay in under Rick Perry, I see no need to keep them in the union. They won't like the closure of all those military bases either.

arc_​of_​the_​universe
       
I'm for Texas rejoining Mexico.

fargo​116
       
Can the rest of the states pass a resolution saying "Good riddance."

dommyluc

Yes, please secede. Give up your military bases, U.S. government services, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid (hey, all residents of Texas will be foreigners - we don't have to pay them shit), etc. Try signing a treaty with any nation when you can be blockaded by the U.S. Navy. Yes, please go totally John Galt and pay for your own shit, and see how happy your Teabagger residents are when they finally realize that Baby Jesus ain't gonna pay to pave their roads and their goddamned cable bills. And have fun protecting yourself from Mexico. Can't wait to see the fence you build to protect yourselves when YOU have to pay for it. I would love to see Mexico reclaim its former territory, while Washington, D.C. rocks with laughter. Se habla espanol, motherfuckers?
If they do debate secession, I personally think they should be banned from participating in the 2016 election. That is a treasonous act, plain and simple. Secession is sedition.

wagonmound        

    

What can I say. Texas + Republicans = Assholes.

cwazycajun                  

I wish they wouldn't do that to me..getting my hopes up like that.... only to dash them .. \

frankly_my_dear           

                       

Let them go. Then we can build a wall around the place. I'm sure the citizens of New Mexico would build their part for free. Among the benefits of letting Texas secede is that the Dallas Cowboys will never play in another Super Bowl. They probably won't anyway, but it never hurts to make sure.

swirlystar      

                        

Ok, but I'll miss Austin...

sysprog      

                         

Perfect, just fking perfect. GO! Run! Do NOT come back when you don't get all 'your free stuff' that you blame on those pesky liberals. GO!" [Source]

Ok, so not everyone loves Texas, but jokes aside, isn't it dangerous that members of a major political party are even considering breaking up the union?  These are the same types of people who have no problem with Donald trump being our president. The same Donald trump who pushed the narrative that the twice elected president by the majority of the people was not even born here.

Just wait until the look at the twenty dollar bill and see a black woman

If Texas does end up seceding, maybe they will elect Donald trump to be their next president. That is, of course, if he isn't elected to be the president of the rest of the 49 states.

*Pic from chron.com



 

 

 

               

      

"Empire state of mind."

*"New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothin' you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
The lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York, New York,
New York.."

Yeah, let's hear it for New York. TonightIt's their turn to vote for presidential candidates. Three of the candidates, like Jay Z, are going to claim that they rep New York, but I don't know about that.

Bernie was born and raised there, but he got out as soon as he could, Hillary moved there to get elected, and Donald is from...well, another planet.  

Speaking of Donald, he might have some problems. I am not talking about him mistaking the heroes  who work at 7eleven for the heroes who worked after 9/11. I am talking about him claiming to be down there and knowing some of the people who were killed.

"Donald Trump has a 9/11 problem — and it’s not that he called it “7/11” on the eve of the New York primary.

 

At a rally in Buffalo, N.Y., Monday, the Republican frontrunner referred to the wrong date while recalling the 2001 terror attacks — a flub that was soon trending online. But it was a story about his own experience at Ground Zero that is drawing scrutiny.

 

“Everyone who helped clear the rubble — and I was there, and I watched, and I helped a little bit — but I want to tell you: Those people were amazing,” Trump said. “Clearing the rubble. Trying to find additional lives. You didn’t know what was going to come down on all of us — and they handled it.”

 

The real estate mogul’s anecdote was meant to illustrate his “New York values” — a phrase that has become a conservative flashpoint in Trump’s battle with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz in the race for the GOP nomination.

 

But his assertion that he helped clear rubble in the search for 9/11 survivors is fraught with questions.

 

“Did he mean he picked up a few chunks of concrete?” Philip Bump writes in the Washington Post. “Sent staff to assist? It’s not clear.”

 

It’s clear that Trump was at or near Ground Zero in the days following the attacks.

New York Newsday spotted Trump there on Sept. 13, according to this excerpt cited in Bump’s report:

The workers are so worn out that they barely glance at the sight of Donald Trump, every hair in place and impeccably dressed in a black suit, pressed white shirt and red tie, walking into the plaza with his cellular phone to his ear. “No, no. The building’s gone,” he says into the phone.

The same day, standing three blocks from Ground Zero, Trump gave an interview to a German television reporter who asked the real estate mogul whether he would be involved in the reconstruction efforts.

 

“Well, I have a lot of men down here right now,” Trump replied. “We have over 100 and we have about 125 coming. So we’ll have a couple of hundred people down here.”' [Story]

 

You gotta love Donald. All  this and the people of New York will  still give him a great majority of the votes tonight. 

 

"8 million stories, out there in the naked
City it's a pity, half of y'all won't make it.."

 

Those 8 million stories could all be negative ones about Donald and he would still make it.

 

Let's hear it once again for New York. It's been that type of political season.

 

*Pic from interactive. nydailynews.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Hot sauce Hillary" and the politics of pandering.

    Man that Hillary is really working hard for the black and minority vote. First she sits down for a game of bones,  in Harlem, and then she tells some folks on urban radio that she always travels with some "hot sauce".

Bernie is pushing that poor woman so far left that she is going to claim to have a secret black lover before this is all over. But it's all good.  Hot sauce or no hot sauce, us black folks have seen enough of Hillary and her husband to know exactly what we are going to get with them.

Not to be outdone, Bernie was giving some serious dap to some young buck in South Carolina. Nice. It's no wonder the young black folks have so much love for Bernie. They don't sense  that he is a phony. Plus, I am sure that his message of making college free  for all doesn't hurt. No more student loans! Yeah! 

Call it pandering if you will, but at least the democratic candidates are trying to reach out to us and hear our concerns for the future of the country.

Contrast that to the guy leading the field on the republican side and you kind of get the picture. I mean they are selling confederate themed shirts at his rallies for crying out loud! (h/t Shaun King) 

 Donald Trump has 99 problems, and race is definitely one of them. 

And don't even get me started on Ted Cruz. When he made his infamous New York values comments I think we all knew exactly what (or who) he was talking about: Their values aren't like our values. They actually embrace diversity and shit.  They welcome foreigners and different people to their city.

I just wish that the republicans were coming to my city and not Cleveland this summer for their convention. We would roll out the red carpet for them and show them some brotherly love. We can do it. Did you see how nice we were to the Pope?

Anyway, we are going to have the democrats.

Sadly, though, I suspect that their convention is going to be a lot more boring.

 Unless, of course. Hillary all of a sudden loses her love for hot sauce.

  





   

Field Negro 101.

A friend of mine who happens to be a fine attorney has a radio program here in Philly.

This past Saturday I was on with her and her wonderful crew talking about this election season, and after the show I started chopping it up with the host and a couple of her producers.

Anyway, something one of the younger producers said made me realize that I haven't done my Field Negro 101 post in some time.

So here goes:

*(Note. I  posted this back in 2006.)

I am always amused at how sensitive some blacks----particularly black conservatives get when you talk about the house Negro field Negro dichotomy among black folks. Black conservatives are always quick to lash out at the house Negro moniker as if it's directed at them. They see it as a straw  man and red herring set up to distract from the real issues confronting black America.

Well it's not. The moniker is one that was created by Malcolm X in one of his more famous speeches to make a point about certain blacks not giving their all to the movement because of their so called stake in America. That speech is so inspiring and so on point, that it is from where I find the inspiration- not to mention the name- for this blog. I use it because I think it's still relevant for today's discourse in matters of race, as well as the black political movement in this country.

When I post on other blogs I always use the handle The Field-Negro, and the vitriolic responses I get for my handle alone -from whites and blacks- is at times frightening. "Why must you use that handle?It's so degrading to blacks."Shame on you for such a despicable handle". "You embarrass yourself and all self respecting black people by using such a handle". And on and on it goes. This is just from the black folks. You can imagine what I get from my fellow white bloggers on the web; or, for that matter, the fringes of the web. 

But, once again, I would like to set the record straight about this house Negro field Negro metaphor(and yes it's just a metaphor) and where I stand on this issue. Think of this post as Field Negro 101 for your self improvement.

First, being a house Negro has nothing to do with how you look, how much money you have, where you live, or, for that matter, where you work. The same can be said about being a field Negro. It's not about how radical you think you are or how militant or African you may appear in your features.

It's why I explain my background in detail to all who come to my blog. It's important to understand that in spite of my upbringing and background, I am firmly entrenched in the fields. It's not about my credentials or how I grew up, or even what privileges were afforded to me. Rather, it's about my state of mind at this point in time, and how I choose to engage in the struggle to uplift black people in modern day America.

For instance, I consider wealthy people such as Bill Cosby and Denzel Washington field Negroes. On the other hand, I consider some not so wealthy people, such as Jessie Lee Peterson and La Shawn Barber; house Negroes. I consider certain sports icons such as Jim Brown, Magic Johnson, and Muhammad Ali, field Negroes. But I consider icons such as Michael Jordon, O.J. Simpson, and George Foreman, house Negroes. Oprah Winfrey, in my book, is a house Negro; while her good friend, Maya Angelo, belongs in the fields. Jessie Jackson (yes, that Jessie Jackson) is a house Negro, but John Lewis, the congressman from Georgia, is a field Negro. In terms of appearance, the very dark Clarence Thomas should have his picture in the dictionary beside house Negro, while the fairer skinned Thurgood Marhsall was a big time field Negro. Get the point? It's all about who I think is contributing to the cause of advancing black issues in the right way.

Now let's look at this phenomenon literally for a moment: I have no problem with someone living in the house, and wanting the things the house offers for his or her family: The better schools; the safer neighborhoods; and a better quality of life. Only a fool would think otherwise. I don't even have a problem with the house Negro running to put out the fire if massa's house catches on fire, or, for that matter, if he tries to save massa's life. After all, if massa and his house are gone, where is the house Negro going to live, and who is going to hire him to work? On the other hand, I do have a problem if the house Negro tries to save massa before his own. That type of house Negro is a problem, and he is the one I speak so disparagingly of when I make fun of the house Negro.

Unfortunately, as Malcolm said, there are still a lot of house Negroes like the latter around today. They are the ones who write the books for massa's ears only, kicking black folks harder than massa would ever kick us by telling us how bad we are. They are the ones -insert Thomas Sowell here- who write about America and her problems, as if the white man is blameless, and we, black folks, brought all the problems on ourselves. They are the ones-insert Clarence Thomas here- who are not only too happy to work in the house with massa, but wish that they were a part of massa's family as well. That is the dangerous house Negro; the self hater, the one  who will do anything to be more white than the white person himself, because just working and living in the house is not good enough for him. That house Negro wants a stake in massa's house, and he will sell the rest of us out to get it.

I will give you an example: I have a black colleague who does very well for himself and his family. He recently purchased a home in a very affluent predominantly white neighborhood, and has from time to time bragged of being the only black in his development. Now this individual is a classic house Negro. And living in his all white subdivision didn't make him one, but being proud that he is the only black in said subdivision does. Like the "house nigger" in Malcolm X' s speech, he was proud to be the only Negro living among the whites. This is the inclination and fixed way of thinking of an individual who has fled from his people and would not mind if he never sees a black neighborhood or anything associated with black people again. This Negro didn't flee to white suburbia for better schools, safer neighborhoods, and cost effectiveness. Nope, this Negro fled to white suburbia because he wanted to be around massa and his house. This house Negro is the one I refer to when I make my lists, and speak of when I try to point out the Negroes that are holding us back by projecting to white folks-insert Oprah here- a false image of what black folks are going through. The field Negro, given the same circumstances, would find himself going back to the old neighborhood, volunteering his time, and helping when and where he can. He would not care about how many other Negroes lived in his development, as long as his family was receiving the benefits I outlined above.

So for all of you who see the handle, and wonder why The Field Negro, think about that for a minute. Think about what makes a field Negro: Hard worker, cares about his family and his race, always with the masses so he knows what it will take to improve our plight, understands that it will take more than just talk to make things happen. And finally, that the house is not his, and ultimately he will have to build his own.

That, my friends, is the essence of the field Negro, and that is who every Negro should strive to become.

*Watch the speech here.

CAPTION SATURDAY.

I need a caption for this pic.

Example: Why do you fight for America?

Not exactly Uncle Tom.

 *I just read the story about the young brother at Williams College, who believes that he Is being ostracized by his own race and labeled a sell out and Uncle Tom because he supports allowing a racist to conduct a lecture on his campus.

He believes that we have to debate each other openly and allow people with differing views (no matter how despicable) to be able to openly express themselves without the fear of reprisals.

This might surprise a lot of you (and maybe not) but I actually agree with the young man. I believe that we should try to better understand what goes on in the mind of  racists before we can confront them. Debate is important to a civil society, and, quite frankly, I welcome it.

I believe that colleges and universities are making a mistake when they ban certain types of speech on campus.

"In response, I’ve said that my goal has always been to muster the courage to think critically for myself, even if that means going against the grain. For me, arguing with a racist and exposing the flaws in their argument is about gaining a better understanding of views that offend you; it’s about improving your ability to argue and defend your opinion.

Emotions are always involved in discussions of sensitive issues like race, but learning is not just about how we feel. It’s about thinking and trying to understand complicated issues that affect our lives. Thinking about racism from multiple perspectives – separated from the emotion of it — has enhanced my understanding of race and of humanity."

Well, I am not sure that I would call racists humans, but I get the point; we still have to learn to understand them.

Finally, there are two high profile individuals in America who could really use some intervention right about now.

Their lives are unraveling in a very public way right before our eyes. It's a shame, because both men are talented individuals, Kat still has some of the best standup material I have heard over the past few years, and Johnny Football can still work magic with a football in his hands.

Sadly, though, I am afraid that if we don't get help for Katt Williams and Johnny Manziel , we will wake up one day and see a sad headline with some tragic news about both men.

*Pic from the library of congress.

Donald Trump and the alternative right.

Tonight's guest post comes to us from Cathy Young.

"Who’d have thought that in 2016, we would be discussing whether mainstream Republicans and conservatives should be nicer to white nationalists? Yet here we are.
 

The debate is, of course, about the “alternative right,” suddenly propelled into visibility by its fervent embrace of Donald Trump’s presidential candidacy. Recently, it was the subject of a long, sympathetic article by Allum Bokhari and Milo Yiannopoulos at Breitbart.com, the Trump-loving site that some, including ex-Breitbart writer Brian Cates, have long accused of courting the alt-right. (For the record, I have had a cordial professional relationship with both authors, have been on a panel with both of them and have appeared twice on Yiannopoulos’s webcast.)

In a nutshell, the article argues that, while the alt-right does have some actual—but, worry not, utterly irrelevant!—white supremacists and neo-Nazis in its ranks, it is mostly a loose alliance of maverick intellectuals, traditionalists who feel unrepresented in the mainstream political establishment, and cheeky young rebels who post racist slurs and memes just to annoy the pearl-clutching guardians of political correctness.

While this taxonomy of the alt-right is interesting, it is ultimately—as it were—a whitewash, full of far-fetched arguments and misleading claims that consistently downplay this movement’s ugly bigotry.

Take the article’s section on the “intellectuals” behind the alt-right, which offers a respectful account of the movement’s online hubs such as Richard Spencer’s AlternativeRight.com and Steve Sailer’s VDARE. Sailer is credited with having “helped spark the ‘human biodiversity’ movement, a group of bloggers and researchers who strode eagerly into the minefield of scientific race differences—in a much less measured tone than former New York Times science editor Nicholas Wade.”

A caption also notes that “Razib Khan, who lost an opportunity at the New York Times over his views on human biodiversity, now writes for the alt-right Unz Review.” We are clearly meant to get the impression that the alt-right web is a refuge for, as the authors put it, “dangerously bright” people unafraid of taboo topics. While Bokhari and Yiannopoulos acknowledge that “all of these websites have been accused of racism,” the unmistakable implication is that such accusations stem from P.C. hypersensitivity—and probably fear of the alt-right gurus’ outstanding intelligence.

Are there political taboos surrounding race-related genetic cognitive and behavioral differences? Of course (and for very understandable reasons, given historical experience). The controversy around Wade’s 2014 book, “A Troublesome Inheritance,” demonstrates how sensitive the subject is. It is very likely this sensitivity has deterred legitimate inquiry. Some people who have waded into this minefield have also been, in my view, unfairly tarred as racists—such as Charles Murray, with whom I disagree on a number of things but whom I am honored to know.
 

But let’s be clear: the authors populating the alt-right’s webzines are not just Wades and Murrays with less tone policing.....

But it does not follow that the alt-right deserves any sympathy or respect. This is a movement that counters the toxic culture of the left with a toxic brew of its own: a mix of old bigotries and new identity and victimhood politics adapted for the straight white male. Bokhari and Yiannopoulos try to connect it to “cultural libertarianism,” a concept coined by Bokhari last year and championed by both authors; but other than opposition to restrictions on “hate speech,” it’s hard to see what an ideology that explicitly subordinates the individual to the tribe could have in common with libertarianism of any kind.

Today, the excesses of the “social justice” movement have brought us to a point where reasonable conservatives, libertarians, and liberals are ready to join forces against quasi-totalitarian identity politics. We need to start reclaiming the principles of common humanity, freedom, and universal values, not put a positive spin on a different brand of divisive identitarianism. {Full article}

First, Charles Murray IS a racist, and to argue otherwise reveals a certain amount of naivety or maybe something worse.

And to compare the social justice movement to the alt-right movement in any way is, quite frankly, ludicrous.

Still, it was an interesting article, with some interesting insights into the alt-right movement , and the so called intellectuals who inhabit that world.  

*Pic from vice.com