dagblog - Comments for "KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLACK: FREDERICK DOUGLASS - ONE OF THE GREATEST MEN WHO EVER LIVED"

Another great piece. I've

Danny Cardwell — Mon, 07 Sep 2015 04:13:27 +0000

In reply to KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLACK: FREDERICK DOUGLASS - ONE OF THE GREATEST MEN WHO EVER LIVED

Another great piece. I've enjoyed reading your work. I know we have some differing opinions, but I really benefit from your articles.

RM,

Wattree — Sat, 05 Sep 2015 11:06:32 +0000

In reply to Eric it occurs to me that

RM,

When I say the people should organize to pursue justice without factions, I'm not talking about as "a group." I'm talking about as a nation. We need to readjust our national mores to automatically come together against injustice - injustice against anyone. That's what the United States Constitution is SUPPOSED to be suggesting.

Eric it occurs to me that

rmrd0000 — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 18:35:14 +0000

In reply to Politically, total rejection

Eric it occurs to me that this situation indicates why having just one organization would be disastrous. Conservatives are predictable. They are attacking BLM as a hate group. They attacked MLK as a Communist. Then Malcolm X came along and caused opinion of MLK to shift. MLK was the better bargaining partner for the elites.

Conservatives are digging the same hole. If BLM is too radical, what happens when a more acceptable group comes along with the same agenda. What happens when a group behaves more like the Black Panthers or the Oath Keepers? By demonizing BLM, Conservatives create the downfall of their attempt to divert attention from police abuse.

Politically, total rejection

rmrd0000 — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 13:55:41 +0000

In reply to I came across two articles

Politically, total rejection of the DNC statement is dumb because the Conservatives want to serve up a big serving of whip-your-behind on BLM so cover from the Democrats may help.

I think us old folks might have phrased a response that while BLM is nonpartisan, we appreciate that you are committed to changing the status quo, or some other "we are keeping an eye on you" response rather than outright rejection,. We shall see if what they are doing works.

I came across two articles

rmrd0000 — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 12:16:30 +0000

In reply to KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLACK: FREDERICK DOUGLASS - ONE OF THE GREATEST MEN WHO EVER LIVED

I came across two articles explaining BLM's rejection of the DNC's support statement. Both point out that actions of Democrats in in national, state, and local legislatures have supported legislation that played a role in the aggressive police tactics impacting the black community.

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2015/08/_blacklivesmatter_and_h...

http://www.theroot.com/articles/politics/2015/09/_whereas_blacklivesmatt...

The community was complacent.

rmrd0000 — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 12:44:21 +0000

In reply to RM, You said,

The community was complacent. Hopefully they now realize the value of the vote. Despite the election, the clueless Mayor was not voted out and remains in office. In my biased opinion, as life became more secular, a powerful engine for change was lost. If there was a community problem, the church responded. You learned organization skills and how to make contacts with influential people through the elders in the church. The church was one of your mentors and you had a host of people with varying skill sets close by.

Those skills along with the spiritual fire and hope that went along with the activism is getting lost. If you read Ta-Nehisi Coates' new book, you see problems described in detail. Again stating my biased opinion, Coates' is an atheist and one sees little hope described in the book. If you read MLK, you cannot help being pumped by the sense of hope after the struggle. BLM openly states that they are and atheist organization. This may help explain why the hierarchy common to organizations in the Civil a Rights era is not present. BLM is a loose-knit group with 26 official chapters and some groups who use the name but have no true affiliation with the original group.

The country is going to be secular. Somehow we have instill the organizational skills in young activists,. They may come to these skills through bitter experience. There is passion in BLM,but one doesn't get the sense of hope that was seen with King or Jesse Jackson. I'm not attacking atheism. I'm making a ham fisted attempt to explain why organization was a basic part of past black activist organizations.

There are flaws in BLM but there were miscalculations by King as well. I don't have to tell you about the open hatred that the confrontational rev. Sharpton faced. We will see if BLM can adapt.

RM, You said,

Wattree — Thu, 03 Sep 2015 11:29:39 +0000

In reply to Eric black people are relying

RM, You said,
.
"Black people in Ferguson were directed targeted by the legal system.They did not "put themselves" in any situation, the legal system targeted the community. The community was demanding respect. They got none. The situation exploded when they left a black body to rot in the heat for four hours."

Many of the problems that the Black community is facing across this country is a direct result of our tendency to be reactive rather than proactive. Take Ferguson, Mo, for example. The Black community could have avoided the problems they had in that city by simply voting. The Black population in Ferguson is 67%, yet only 7% turned out to vote. As a result, the police department is 94% White. In the last election they corrected that problem with record Black voter turnout, but it was a little too late for Michael Brown. So let us learn from the Ferguson experience and be PROACTIVE in our response to what's taking place in Leimert Park, because much like in the case of Michael Brown, it's going to be much too late to try to demonstrate AFTER the fact. NOW is the time to get up-in-arms.

Thx for the heads up.

rmrd0000 — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 16:05:35 +0000

In reply to KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLACK: FREDERICK DOUGLASS - ONE OF THE GREATEST MEN WHO EVER LIVED

Thx for the heads up.

I tend to use discussions to confirm why I believe what I believe so I appreciate the exchange

Ric you have bought the okey

rmrd0000 — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 15:58:08 +0000

In reply to Eric

Eric you have bought the okey-dome Kool-Aid.

We're the only group of people that I can think of in the world who measures our worth by how far we can get away from our own culture. Instead of loving our culture, it's about "look at me!"

You are completely wrong. You have to go out of your way not to come into contact with the glory of black culture. There has never been a time where more black scholars have been working to educate the world on black history. The Schomburg in NY has its online site. The Hutchins Center in Boston has online education. There are too many educational websites to list. They all have lively discussion. Where have you been.

I point to blacks in college and you do not budge. I point to entrepreneurs and people working to create black entrepreneurs and you do not budge. You are trapped in despair. I cannot talk you down. There is a vibrancy in the black community that you completely ignore.

If blacks make demands,you say they are begging. You tell them to build strength to make demands, just so you can say that they are begging again. They demonstrate their strength but you ignore it. Ferguson voted. The court's use of the community as an ATM stopped as a result. Black demanded that Stop and Frisk end and it did. Baltimore voted in Marilyn Mosby who is bringing the officers who killed Freddie Gray to trial.

Blacks are fighting back. You have blinders on. Your assessment is wrong.

Eric

rmrd0000 — Wed, 02 Sep 2015 15:57:42 +0000

In reply to RM, you said,

Eric

You complain about the plight of the working class. The economic power of the working class is far greater than the economic power of the black community, yet they are struggling. If I am truly economically stable, I shouldn't have to be compelled to put my money into a single entity. Single entities are disasters waiting to happen. The idea is diversification.

The thing that keeps you economically stable and independent is remembering a line from Ta-Nehshi Coates' book, America wants to destroy black bodies. When you buy a house, blacks have to keep in mind that the value of the home of an upper middle class black family is worth the same as or less than a lower middle class white family. The financial system is rigged against you. You need to have checked multiple sources before buying a home and obtaining a loan, Lending Tree and other sources are of enormous value. You go in with a good number and make your deal. The system will not treat you fairly. Homes are where a financial foundation is made.

Want to start a business, expect to be targeted everywhere along the way. So check and double check everything that you are told. Blacks already pool money to start businesses. Turn off BET and read "Black Enterprise". They offer good advice and have for decades, They can even point you to investors if your idea is good enough. The Netwrok Journal is another source of startup information.

The are people helping young black entrepreneurs, but some are facing challenges. Black women are in the forefront of doing startups despite the struggles. There are more current black entrepreneurs with businesses than Asians. Blacks represent 9% of the entrepreneur pool.

Eric, your constant referral to BET, ESPN, and Hip-Hop as distractions for the black community lead me to believe that you are unaware of the progress that is going on. There is entrepreneurship. There are more black men in college than any point in time. You viewpoint is almost like you spend the day watching FoxNews and not reading Black Enterprise.

There already are blacks helping blacks create business, you just have not been paying attention.