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RMNewsletter 5th version 05312026 Honoring , It Takes Two https://open.substack.com/pub/rmnewsletter/p/rmnewsletter-5th-version-05312026?r=xit0b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #rmnewsletter #richardmurrayhumblr #rmaalbc #hddeviant #richardmurray #rmworkcalendar #rmcommunitycalendar #black337 #ittakestwo #blackmusic #spirituals #blues #bebop #pokemon #charity #jazz

AfroAmericans have decades worth of data & evidence to make the case for current circumstances, conditions & predicament. Continuing with the analogy... The question is when are AfroAmericans going to take action by 1) taking that case to court & 2) changing the conditions. Analysis & studies work up to a point in building a case. Nothing changes without action & effort.😎

You're right. These racists are using illegal alien as a slur. If you steal a house & fix it up & other folks show up as squatters...are they illegal aliens?🤣 Greed & profits prevent paying livable wages. Individuals don't have the power to dictate that they get a livable wage. Unions even have a hard time getting pay increases. Feudalism never really went away.😁 The government tries to create rules & safeguards to make life bearable for citizens. Ultimately, politicians end up working within the interests of those who control wealth. The labor market is controlled in such a way to enrich the wealthy while providing the average person with just enough to survive.😎

I didn't pose the question as a truth. I'm aware of our history too. To endure a life of slavery & continue procreating over 400 years is a long time.😎

@ProfD Since you don't know all I can say is, keep that truth and the rest of your views. All I will say is I know and I differ.

How would enslaved Black folks born in the USA during the 1800s have known any different or better? During the 1800s, I doubt that enslaved Black folks were receiving postcards & letters from free Black folks letting them know life was better in other countries. 😁 As I mentioned in another thread, despite its warts, the USA must not be that bad considering it seems to an immigration destination for people from all over the planet.😎

While a curfew may be harder to enforce, threaten a Black parents pockets & freedom & maybe they will put clamps on allowing their children to roam aroumd causing chaos & mayhem.😁 Social media is definitely to blame for stirring young folks up to act foolish.😎

As @aka Contrarian mentioned in another thread, fhe great Jazz saxophonist, Sonny Rollins has joined the celestial orchestra. Sonny Rollins was the last living musician in this 1958 picture A Great Day in Harlem: His legacy as a musician is cemented. Thanks for the music. RIP Mr. Sonny Rollins.😎

Point well taken.

@Troy I am not going to answer your question outside of the following. I am stateless and think what you will @aka Contrarian like the romani in europe, the okinawans in japan,the nuba in egypt/kemet, many peoples spend so long abused by a larger populace, more potent group that their being dominated becomes a heritage. What Pioneer said led me to realize the key to when this happened, was 1865. From 1492 to 1865 no black person could say the usa was better than canada or mexico , either they were equal to the usa, Or after england banned enslavement or mexico banned enslavement ala jonas caballo, both canada or mexico made slavery illegal while slavery was still legal in the usa. Then from 1865 to 1980 the black wife was still shackled by the white mate, but he spent time explaining why she was enslaved/ alal the prison system + sharecropping+ absent government funding for anything. But in the 1865 time, before and after was key. As henry louis gates jr admited, the black church pondered whether to use violence or nonviolence. I am still trying to find out this meeting and vote, but from what he says, by one vote, nonviolence won and , i argue the rest is history. Pioneer says what country is better, but while modernity, 2026 can argue the usa is better, in the 1800s, the usa wasn't better for black people than any other country. So black leaders embracing the usa as a home was not based on laws or finance, but hope or faith. And sadly, black people, the black wife, paid for that gamble with modernity, consequences. @Pioneer1 thankyou for your prose, You expose a key point in black history in the usa, and how black people are to blame for the current condition en large in the usa. I think aka is correct. as Nina Simone said, black people are willing to march but not willing to die, she blamed malcolm/martin and others death on black people in the usa, saying they are willing to march but not die but you expose the source of that choice and it isn't whites but black people in the past.

Sure. The military plays war games. It's nothing to mobilize troops & send them to different places & sit around. They're getting paid regardless. 😁 At least once a week, POTUS OJ threatens the USA could go back into the conflict. He doesn't mention ground troops though. His pump fake has become hot air.😎

Nice work @Mel Hopkins

An abused wife who is a masochist stays because her mental state of mind equates pain with pleasure. If she is not masochistic she will leave and seek help from the many shelters and havens that society provides for such cases.

ProfD However, I don't think it's right to call another human being an illegal alien. An alien simply means a person not from the land. It's just been used colloquially these past 100 years or so to mean Beings from outter space, but it originally meant humans from another nation or region. Forcing someone into a s8xual encounter does make the perpetrator a rapist. If that's the case, doesn't being in a country you're not from illegally make you an illegal alien or atleast an illegal migrant? Whichethnicity comes to mind when you hear the term illegal alien? Lol...that's obvious. But it applies to any ethnicity or race. That's like asking what ethnic group does the word "slave" remind you of. We know. But there have been White and Asian slaves for thousands of years. Right. Low wage jobs aren't meant to be careers. It should be a stepping stone whether summer employment or part-time to finish school. Not to build a life &/or raise a family. It depends on a person's quality of living and ambitions. Maybe that's all they want to aspire to in this world. A low wage job is no good for an adult if it doesn't cover shelter, food, clothing & health insurance, etc. And that's an issue that the government and society itself should be addressing. Why do we have ANY job that a person can't cover the basic necessities of life like food, clothing, shelter, and healthcare from a normal 40 hours of work? They SHOULD pay more...so why don't they? The failure lies in AfroAmericans depending on someone else for a job instead of creating them. While you're right that COLLECTIVELY AfroAmericans should be producing jobs for ourselves, as INDIVIDUALS most people period aren't qualified to actually go out and start their own successful business and work for themselves. They must go out and find a job to get paid and support themselves. They should have the right to do so. Most factory jobs have been out-sourced to other countries where labor is cheaper &/or replaced by automation. Not only have they outsourced many of the jobs but now they're been importing cheap labor in the form of illegal immigrants and intentionally preventing them from having any legal or political power by not making them actual citizens. They've started a literal "peasant class" in this nation. It goes back to our government and them allowing it to happen. The same politicians who allow jobs that pay BELOW minimum wage in places like the service sector and agricultural industry are the same politicians who are fighting openly and behind closed doors to bring illegal in by the millions to displace American workers.

ProfD IMO, percentage doesn't matter because it will only be used to discourage &/or as an excuse not to do better. Perhaps in some cases. However knowing the percentage will also provide evidence that there is more to poverty and lack of success in a community than simple lack of effort. It may also be evidence of lack of opportunity or coordinated efforts to disenfranchise them. For example..... Say yu got a million Black people. The law of averages say that because these people are of average intelligence...MOST of them should be able to make a living for themselves. So if 50% are homeless and/or in jail....obviously something unusual and unnatural is going on and perhaps they are being mistreated and targeted for disenfranchisement. Again, statistics won't lead to action & productivity. True, but as stated before....it can be used as evidence of mistreatment. You're building a case. Like a woman who is doing a good job but not being promoted because she won't go out with her boss. She establishes a paper trail and collects evidence to help support her case of unfair treatment.

ProfD The USA has not put any boots on the ground in Iran. Whole war has been aerial. So, the chance of a draft are zero. Trump just sent nearly 10,000 troops over to the region a few weeks ago. You don't mobilize that many troops to a spot for nothing. All of the energy and manpower isn't going to go to waste. They're just setting things up for a much bigger operation. Most military strategists can readily see this. No different from Desert Storm & War in Iraq back in the 1990s & 2000s. No protests during those conflicts either. There were no protests for Desert Storm but I do remember massive protests back in 2003 for George Dubya's "revenge" attack on Hussein. There were protests all over the nation for that one. They didn't help, but they did make their point known. I would offer that people are doing well enough to keep a roof over their heads, food in the fridge, reliable transportation, alcohol, drugs, etc. & just enough access to money & credit to make ends meet. I'd say this applies to some people...maybe even most....MAYBE...but there's a large enough percentage of people who are going through some real hard shit right now but it's almost as if they're invisible in society because they're being drowned out by the giggles and smiles of the "haves" not just on social media but in society. America is so crowded that literal HALF of the population could fall into destitution/poverty but as long as the other half is prosperous it wouldn't even be noticed. All you'd see are people walking around with shopping bags smiling and pecking away at their cell phones. Another thing is that so many people who fall through the cracks are getting locked up that how do we know how well the public is REALLY doing? You're doing well and making a living....until you're not...then you end up disappearing after a few months because of doing something illegal to survive. Troy In addition to what @ProfD wrote what are you expecting Vietnam type like protests? Again completely different situations. Start forcing a bunch of poor people onto the front lines and get them killed. It will be a whole different story. I seriously doubt that would be the case today. I really believe the fake weed and social media has turned the masses into selfish zombies who could care less about their next door neighbor let alone world events. But I also think people are less informed. Distracted by a variety of things… dare I say it… social media. I agree. Infact, I posted the above about social media before even reading your next line implicating it. Most Americans are distracted and brainwashed....even for their own good. out of curiosity have you ever heard of democracy now before? Ofcourse. They cover protests and expose government cover ups and the like. However if I have to click on a website to see people protesting and outraged...obviously it hasn't reached the stage of being public sentiment yet.

Black Americans aren't masochistic. Most don't like the current situation but don't know of any BETTER options. What is an abused wife to do? Leave her abusive husband and go live out in the woods where the wolves and bears will be much nicer to her?

With the advent of summer weather, Chicago, like a few other places, is now faced with what has become the latest problem involving urban youth, wherein masses of exclusively black young people clued and enabled by the telegraph of social media, converge and congregate at a given vicinity from where they spill out into the down town business districts and public beaches, dissolving into swarms of marauding crowds roaming around, yelling and dancing, creating disturbances, engaging in minor skirmishes and vandalism and occasional gun fire, offenses that have led to police intervention and arrests. Talk about idle time being the playground of the devil! This has really discouraged ordinary adult Chicagoans and tourists of all races from venturing out to enjoy the sights and sounds of Chicago's summer time festivities. Similar gathering have been reported by white suburban teenagers on a smaller basis, while Hispanic mobs reportedly confine their swarming to their barrios. No one seems to know how to deal with the situation other than to blame parents for not controlling their children. This is a tickingtime bomb ready to explode into rioting and violent law enforcement intervention. Chicago's black Democratic mayor is tip-toeing around the issue, not wanting to alienate his black base, resorting to the familiar litany of there not being enough resources to supply these young people with wholesome recreation activities, all the while continuing to discourage calls for a 10:pm curfew. Media coverage of these outbreaks are also causing controversy. Needless to say, NOBODY is happy about the situation, but a certain segment of Chicago's black population is joining the chorus blaming "bad parenting", which they attribute to the "babies havin babies"plague that created a whole generation of young parents who are clueless about child rearing, and who empathize with, rather than discipline their kids. The latest action taken emanates from the States attorney office, where threats are being made to serve negligent parents of cited offenders, with a fine of $5,000 or up to one year sentence in jail... In addition to everything else, this is yet another situation to fan the flames of Donald Trump's campaign to blemish Chicago's image.

Talk about a generation gap. I am unfamiliar with Rob Base. But I do join the music world in mourning the passing of legendary jazz saxophonist, Sonny Rollins, who just joined that celestial combo in the sky. He was in his 90s.

Black folks are masochistic; like an abused wife who stays with her mate because - it hurts so good.

Well, we were in the midst of a pandemic, and the country was reacting to a public lynching. The January 6 insurrection was in direct reaction to try to prevent Trump from leaving office. Maybe they’ll be another one in two years. Those two examples were from a different time and different conditions. In addition to what @ProfD wrote what are you expecting Vietnam type like protests? Again completely different situations. Start forcing a bunch of poor people onto the front lines and get them killed. It will be a whole different story. Perhaps. But I also think people are less informed. Distracted by a variety of things… dare I say it… social media. Far more people are spending four more time on TikTok versus watching democracy now or any other similar platform. @Pioneer1 out of curiosity have you ever heard of democracy now before?

lol! How old are you again? So you have no home? You have no place that you that you care about or want to take care of and try to improve? Where is your family? Is there no place that you share with them that you might call “home?” If that is true, in all seriousness, that is rather sad. I’ve been all over the world and to all 50 states and a couple of territories USVI, PR and as quiet as it is keep America is an amazingly diverse and beautiful country. The cultures, cuisine, and people in many of its cities really has no peer. The world comes here for education (through Trump is trying to destroy that) for a reason. But obviously, there are some things that need to be improved, particularly as it relates to Black people, but for those of us who care, we do what we can to make it a better place. That means we complain and take action when there are problems — as opposed to calling ourselves “stateless” whatever that’s supposed to mean.

IMO, percentage doesn't matter because it will only be used to discourage &/or as an excuse not to do better. Again, statistics won't lead to action & productivity. AfroAmericans have done it all from slavery to sharecropping to factory work & low wage jobs to running businesses of various sizes. AfroAmericans have not a great job of investing their cumulative wealth in building institutions & heirlooms that provide opportunities to the next generation. IOW, every generation of AfroAmericans has to start from the bottom & work their way up. Usually that means working within the system of racism white supremacy.😎

Sure. I'm extremely pro-Black. However, I don't think it's right to call another human being an illegal alien. Even more insulting when used by the same people who stole this country from the Native Americans. Wait a d8mn minute...what we have here is a false equivalence.🤣 Forcing someone into a s8xual encounter does make the perpetrator a rapist. Whichethnicity comes to mind when you hear the term illegal alien? Right. Low wage jobs aren't meant to be careers. It should be a stepping stone whether summer employment or part-time to finish school. Not to build a life &/or raise a family. A man over 30-years-old who isn't a homeowner or who owns a landscaping company has no business pushing a lawnmower for a living.😁 A low wage job is no good for an adult if it doesn't cover shelter, food, clothing & health insurance, etc. It takes a very long time for a low wage job to lead to high wage opportunities. The failure lies in AfroAmericans depending on someone else for a job instead of creating them. A college degree is not required to build a successful business. Just ask someone with a CDL Commercial Driver's License).😉 Most factory jobs have been out-sourced to other countries where labor is cheaper &/or replaced by automation. As AI is coming down the pike, white folks are encouraging their young people to learn trades. There will always be money to be made in knowing how to build & fix things with one's own hands. Not by pushing a broom or mop. White privilege is very real. Makes sense considering that being in control of the gamethey have tilted the playing field. They take care of their own.😎

ProfD I'm a bit surprised at your view on the term. Given your strong FBA identification and stance, I actually presumed that you felt the same way I did about the issue...lol. That makes you guilty of using a derogatory phrase invented by white racists. Calling a foreigner who came to the United State illegally an "illegal alien" should be considered no more derogatory than calling a man who forces women into sexual encounters a "rapist". Derogatory names and slurs are often exaggerations meant to dehumanize whoever they are targeted toward. Calling someone who is here illegally an "illegal" is a statement of fact. Why should AfroAmericans fight for low wage jobs? I'll give you 3 valid reasons: 1. A lot of low wage jobs have traditionally been used as entry level jobs for Black youth to work on part time to earn money after school or for them to enter the work for right after graduating to learn basic work ethic. People have noticed around the nation that a lot of the McDonalds and dish washing jobs that Black youth used to occupy to earn money during the summer and after school are now occupied by Latinos who can't even speak English. Sometimes almost the entire establishment is staffed by them. 2. A low wage job is better than NO JOB at all. Unemployment in the AfroAmerican community is much higher than in the White community....for various reasons...so we're in no position to brush any field of endeavor off our shoulders as if they are dispensable. 3. Low wage jobs often lead to HIGH WAGE jobs. They are usually entry level and a means of access to the higher wages. If Latinos are snatching them up left and right...that's less opportunity Right. AfroAmericans should not be working in such a place. It's hard to avoid when the MAJORITY of work places in the region are like this or going in that direction. Latinos used to be focused on agricultural and seasonal work, but haven't been around this country and I can tell you that Latino presence in manual labor jobs have been growing tremendously fast these past 10 or 15 years. For several decades now, AfroAmericans have been educated to seek better employment opportunities. Some have. Keep in mind that everybody....not even the majority of people....will graduate from college with a degree. Especially with one that offers a great paying field of work. There are people with Master's Degrees working at Starbucks and Target....lol. The best thing that guarantees AfroAmericans decent employment is less competition from other groups....mainly Whites and Latinos. One of the reasons there are so many Black professionals in places like D.C., Detroit, Atlanta, and New Orleans is simply because of our numbers in those cities. There are so many of us and compared to the number of Whites and Latinos....that success HAS to come our way. But in many of the other cities where Black people aren't a majority....in many cased they get totally locked out. It only proves that AfroAmericans don't want to work for them. True. Some of it is the pay more so than the work itself. I grew up in a working class neighborhood where the majority of adults worked in factories and did manual labor but their jobs paid well enough for them to buy homes, buy new cars, and take care of entire families AND "outside women"...lol. I don't believe most Black youth would mind doing that type of work IF it paid $30 or $40 an hour today which would be the equivalent of what those jobs were paying in the 70s and 80s. White folks aren't beating down doors for manual labor jobs either. No, but they are doing them. Especially the poor and uneducated one. But you can't always believe what you see White folks doing. Like Neely Fuller Jr. said....they often have "mysterious sources" of income....lol. A White man can be slapping together tacos at Taco Bell for $14 an hour but have 2 cars, a stay-at-home wife, 3 kids with one on the way, a mortgage, and a summer cottage up north. ...AND has an opioid addiction, lol. And you're scratching your head wondering how is he able to afford all of this on a minimum wage salary. Because he's White and gets money from "other" sources....lol.