ProfD

Understood. Sellouts/Uncle Toms/Aunt Sarahs make white folks feel comfortable maintaining the system of racism white supremacy. Thugs and gangsters poison and murder Black folks. Many of them go to prison or end up dead too. All of it fuels the system of racism white supremacy. IMO, net negative effect is the same.

Brotha @Pioneer1, don't know what inspired this moment of introspection but it's a good thing to do sometimes. To verbalize it takes courage. Your style of dialog/discussion is needed and valued here. As brotha Del mentioned, everyone is unique. I certainly appreciate everyone's contribution to this discussion forum. We can agree to disagree and still be cool like family. Continue to be yourself mayne. As Steve Arrington sang, "nobody can be you but you....". Dr. Dre said..."keep their heads ringing".

Most politicians have a self-serving agenda...getting paid. In that regard, they are no different from the pimps in the pulpit. Therefore, if the adage is followed to "let he who is without sin cast the 1st stone", then, politicians would have keep those rocks in their pockets. Politicians are not in a position to clean up greed and corruption in other quarters.

Uncle Clarence Thomas is self-serving and the most self-hating Black man on planet. He's suffering in that Black skin. Conservatives selected Uncle Clarence to the SCOTUS for the very same reasons. White folks knew he would be a useful tool and food. No need to worry him championing a d8mn thing Black folk-related. As I mentioned in another thread, the only reason Uncle Clarence wears that black robe is because it's standard issue for the SCOTUS. Otherwise, he would be wearing a white like an altar boy. If a picture is worth a thousand words: There is nothing about this Black man that reflects happiness. But, he is a safe bet for white folks.

Nice article but it's an unfortunate situation. We know the effects of impoverished communities under the system of racism white supremacy. Politicians and law enforcement officials have forked tongues when talking about gun violence and crime in Black communities. Their livelihood is directly tied to the dysfunction in the communities they have been sworn to serve and protect. These Black males need to see more successful men of their own kind and be provided with a better job opportunities to accessing wealth . Otherwise, with seemingly nothing to lose, hopelessness and despair will lead to lack of respect for human life.

Absolutely. To some degree, the roles are reversed now. They call me for advice and help. But, it's great to be in a position to help them as needed.

Sure. Those aren't the cities where Black folks are usually being murdered by white cops. But, that blue wall of silence is real regardless. That's why Black police officers don't say or do anything even when they know racist cops are on the force.

Nah bro, we're around the same age. My parents were teenagers when they f8cked around and had me.

Police officers exercise their authority to harm and kill people of color. Otherwise, police officers will do everything within their power to avoid killing white folks. There's no shortage of videotaped incidents where the police have either 1) waited out a white criminal, 2) taken the white murderer to Burger King, 3) let a white murderer walk down the street with an assault rifle in hand or 4) begged and pleaded with white folks intent on killing others and/or themselves. OTOH, people of color have been lit up like fireworks for far less. It's on video too. I think about the sista who was in a fight with a white girl. In broad daylight, the police officer shot her dead from distance because she had a knife and thinking she was going to harm the white girl. if that had been two white women fighting, the police officer would have run up to them and snatched the knife out of her hand. Both women would still be alive. The officer would be hailed a hero. The police state against people of color has gotten a lot worse over the past several decades.

@Pioneer1, there are common sense messages in religious texts. People will recite but don't truly live by them. For example, faith without works is dead. I've taken that literally since I was a child. Actions make things happen...good or bad. I wasn't born a resident agnostic. I grew up in church mainly because my mom forced me to go. The music was great though. I've read the entire Bible too. I never believed in Santa Claus. At 12 years old, I realized the sky fairly was Santa Claus for adults. At that time, I also successfully negotiated with my parents out of having to go to church because I was accountable for my own sins. Let me go to h8ll. To this day, my very Christian mother and father still believe I'm running from some kind of ministerial calling on my life. Bless their hearts. I'm still telling them I've made reservations in h8ll if that's my final destination. They don't think it's funny but can only shake their heads. NO matter what I've gone through in life, I've never prayed about anything because it solves nothing. I go to the doctor if I'm sick. I put in work to get paid and buy whatever I want and enjoy my life. I've never feared death. In fact, I'm slightly jealous of folks who no longer have to deal with the BS that comes with living. My life has always been too good to think about ending it. But, I do wonder how much time I will have to witness the f8ckery of this world. I would love to live long enough to see the system of racism white supremacy dismantled and replaced with a system of justice and Black folks on top.

@Pioneer1, along the lines of taking a leap of faith, if Black folks took power away from white folks, they wouldn't have to beg, borrow and wait for anything. The only thing stopping Black people from doing whatever it takes to have a better life is fear and insolence. If Black folks took the initiative to build their own infrastructure and institutions, they wouldn't have to depend on white folks for their subsistence.

No. Since I was a little boy, I've always been a go-getter. If my parents took too long providing for me...I took matters into my own hands and let them pay me back. So, I've never taken the time to sit down and hope, wish or pray for whatever I wanted. I've always made moves to make sh8t happen. I'm considered successful by western standards. As a result, I take full credit for it too. No sky fairy.

Sure. Hopefully, you're under no illusion that a sky fairy is making moves on your behalf, ordering your steps and/or the source of your everything. N8gglets running around preaching that the sky fairy will give them a Bentley. The dumbazz congregation scrapes up their coins and buys it for him. But, the preacher will say...won't God do it and the congregation will respond...yes, he will. Meanwhile, let them miss ONIE payment on the church mortgage, electricity or lawn sprinkler system and Mr. Charile will cut that sh8t smooth the f8ck off. Won't Mr. Charlie do it...yes he will. Amen.

Well, they do give him credit for their life, health, strength, job, food, clothing, shelter, vehicles, jewelry, vacations, private schools, etc. Never will admit that if they stop showing up to work for Mr. Charlie aka White Jesus, they will lose everything.

On cue, the grandmother of the victim has spoken out. She just wants the police officer who shot her grandson to be held accountable for his actions. As @Pioneer1 mentioned, knowing the country isn't theirs, people of color don't worry about racism overseas. They've already accepted whatever comes with outsider status.

As with every other holiday, I use the 4th of July as another opportunity to eat, drink and fellowship with family and friends. While I'll never run around being an arsonist, I enjoy pyrotechnics. I happen to live a fews minutes driving distance of seeing the national fireworks display on the Mall. I can celebrate holidays as described above and maintain my pro-Black advocacy and anti-racism white supremacy stance as well.

Agreed. That wa a horrible situation. Folks gathering to have a good time and idiots decide to settle their differences among a crowd of innocent people. I hope law enforcement quickly apprehends whoever was responsible for that shooting. That individual(s) deserve to be locked up for life. The sad reality is that too many people have little or no regard for human life.

I believe many FBA in positions of power or authority don't give a d8mn about being AfroAmerican. They're just doing a job in order to feed their families. That old n8gglet on the SCOTUS is a shining example of the most self-hating Black man in America. I bet if could stop wearing that black robe he'd put on an altar boy outfit. The laws were written by white folks mostly in accordance with the US Constitution. That document didn't really factor minorities of any kind into the equation. It's been amended a few times but it's still pro-white man. Most AfroAmerican politicians are fairly good at insuring their own people don't get more than white folks will allow. AfroAmericans in law enforcement (judges, lawyers police officers, correctional officers, etc.) do a better job of sending Black folks to prison than white folks could have imagined. White folks fo not punish their own people as harshly for similar crimes. AfroAmericans in power positions should be working to insure our people are better off instead of showing the white man how well they can enforce his laws while singing gimme da loot.

Africans and every other immigrant have a whole country they've left behind to come to racist America. Wonder why. Instead of building paradise in their home countries, the main reason they come to America is because they believe the white man's ice is colder. Yeah, I'm very close to quite a few Africans too. Once they start talking and telling the truth, there is no shortage of dysfunction back home. It's not drugs and murder per se but there's a whole lot of shady sh8t going on in those countries. The after-effects of colonization and spreading of the system of racism white supremacy is far reaching especially when it comes to Black folks all over the planet. No escaping it.

@Pioneer1, I would never advocate for the most dysfunctional and/or irresponsible n8gglets to become entrepreneurs. For every lazy, stupid, nigglet you see in Michigan, there's a bunch of intelligent, young AfroAmericans at colleges and universities in that state and everywhere else. Again, instead of building the AfroAmerican infrastructure as a bridge for the next generation to cross, educated, older AfroAmericans got comfortable working for white folks. They didn't start enough sustainable businesses either. AfroAmericans are behind in closing the wealth gap because we've spent way too money on gross consumerism and not nearly enough investing and building institutions that could be passed down for generations. I know you're hard on the dysfunctional n8gglets. The preceding generation is also responsible for proceating these rascals and also failing to invest in our communities. There's no shortage of blame to go around but that's not constructive. According to master teacher NF Jr., solving the problems should be our focus.

@Pioneer1, you're right about the root cause of Africa's problems. One effect is that mentality. The basic needs of every human being (food, shelter, clothing and healthcare) should be guaranteed. There should be no poverty or homelessness. There's a difference between insuring a standard of living and merely giving handouts. A lazy person doesn't deserve luxuries. Those things should be reserved for those who are willing to work for them. As I've mentioned before, look no further than Scandinavian countries. They don't have the *problems* that plague countries that are predominantly Black. The welfare system of Scandinavian countries provides its citizens with the basic necessities I mentioned above. The only people living on the streets in those countries do so by choice whether it's mental illness or they don't want to bear any responsibilities. America was built on capitalism. Along with the religion of racism white supremacy, it thrives on the mistreatment of Black people all over the planet. Every other white and wannabe white country is down with the program of keeping Black folks on the bottom in the prison yard.

That unwillingness to share with and/or help each other along with the backstabbing and jealousy are byproducts of divide and conquer. The fishscales of believing the white man's ice is colder have to be removed from the eyes of Black folks in order for them to *see* themselves as kings, queens, prince and princesses. Otherwise, codification has to become a religious practice. Tall order. Many Black folks sit up in churches every Sunday for decades and run around sinning from Sunday afternoon until the wee hours of the following Sunday. Good habits have to become a lifestyle and way of life in order to stick and become effective. Codification requires it too.

Answer to the question is AfroAmericans don't control anything. We do not make the laws. That has nothing to do with intelligence or the lack thereof and everything to do with power. Until AfroAmericans are sick and tired of being marginalized, white folks will continue to be Lucy with the football that Charlie Brown is never going to kick.

@Pioneer1, talking to our brothas is cool but don't get misty eyed when doing so. There's a reason Africans leave a whole continent behind to build a life elsewhere especially in racist countries. I also have a hard time reconciling how a man can be a doctor in Africa and an Uber driver in America.

I hope privatization forces more AfroAmericans into starting their own businesses and ownership. Public housing was great when it provided low income workers with a place to raise their families. Not so good when combined with welfare, it became a way of life for AfroAmericans. The proverbial handwriting has been on the wall for a very long. Become self-sufficient or become a slave.