ProfD

That's interesting on several levels. The 1st thing that comes to mind is insurance. Surely, Third World Press (TWP) has some type of insurance coverage considering the nature of their valuables. TWP is a multimillion dollar business. Having to GoFundMe $95k seems strange. Ingram Content Group (ICG) is the distribution company for TWP. ICG is a subsidiary of Ingram Industries which posted $2.4 billion in revenue last year.

Tupac and Jada Pinkett went to school together in Baltimore when they were younger. They reconnected on the west coast as young adults. The old flame didn't become a raging fire. Pac and Jada did their thing for a minute and moved on into different directions. Even if Pac held a special place in Jada's heart, Will should have known that too. Then, that begs the question of why he would wife a woman with another man's tattoo on her chest figuratively. Nothing good would come out that type of situation. He would forever be 2nd fiddle even to a dead man.

I understand from a paternalistic perspective but only if it comes from a position of love for our people. Often times, I'll mention that I call balls and strikes. That applies to AfroAmericans as well. I believe I'm balanced in being able to see the best and worst among our people. But, I love these mf'ers unconditionally and unapologetically. The negative elements among AfroAmericans are very real. The media over which we have very little control exploits it at every turn. However, there is plenty positive among AfroAmericans too. Individual and collective achievements are everywhere. You just have to look harder in order to see it. If the focus is on n8gglets, that's all you will see. There is a forest behind the trees. As a result, I will always push back on any notion or belief that AfroAmericans are less intelligent or more dysfunctional than any other group of people. It's simply not true. Your criticism of AfroAmericans could be construed as self-hate especially if it is non-constructive and/or devoid of context. However, reading that you love being a Black man/brotha gave me a slight sigh of relief. I was hoping there would be no reason for a Drop Squad intervention on your azz.

You have zero debt to the Black race. As Shirley Caesar sang, No Charge.

Yep. Will played a gay dude in the movie Six Degrees of Separation.

@Pioneer1... As a small segment of society, no group of people has a monopoly on stupidity as criminals. Black folks do seem to be louder than other groups of people. Easier target for racists especially when it doesn't take much to see and hear us. It doesn't help that some of our people are extra when it comes to doing sh8t. Whether it is physical appearance (sagging pants, PJs, weaves, bushy beards, lashes, tattoos, etc.) or blinging out material possessions or playing loud music or celebrations during sporting events, Black folks are live. Black folks bring style and flavor to life. Sometimes it's obnoxious. It is a blessing and a curse. Yet, I would not trade being a Black man for all of the gold in the Federal Reserve.

The comet is green because as it gets closer to the Sun, heat releases trapped gas. The last time this comet was visible from Earth was 50,000 years ago. It will not be visible again for one million years. Save the date. The green comet is 26 million miles away from the Earth. No worries in that regard. Enjoy the show.

Maybe so. But, having dealt with the soft label for decades from Hip-Hop to Hollywood, as a 50-something year old man Will Smith knew better than to slap another dude. Way before Will Smith became a platinum rapper and actor, he was a very bright dude. If his career had not taken off in the music business, Will Smith would have studied electrical engineering. Despite the soft tag, Will aka Big Willie and everything else rode the wave to success in the entertainment business. There is/was no reason for him to try to be hard. He has already won immeasurably beyond his peers and contemporaries. I don't think the soft tag has Will Smith living in a toxic marriage and family life. He has deeper issues that are either unresolved and/or he refuses to accept. That frustration boiled over when he lost it.

A little boy observed the statue that way. Other folks went with "I can see that". That article probably deserves its own thread. Discussing it here seems out of place in honoring Dr. MLK Jr.

@Pioneer1, glad to read that you found a movie worth watching and enjoyed it. Surely, I'll get around to checking out Emancipation sometime after the football season is done. Without a doubt, Will Smith is a solid actor. I don't think letting Jada punk him is an act.

The fact that someone paid and made $10 million dollars for that fugly statue is mind-boggling.

Much respect to the memory and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We owe a debt of gratitude for effort and sacrifice to the struggle. Glad we honor him.

Shortly before leaving office, in his finite wis-dum, former POTUS George W. Bush admitted the economy was a house of cards. Sure enough, the house of cards was on the brink of collapse in 2008. Former POTUS Obama strolled into office and bailed out the banks. How? POTUS Obama certainly didn't reach into his pocket fresh outta Chicago and give cash to the banks. Nope. Under the Obama administration, the government just moved the goal post i.e. print more money and adjust interest rates. Here's a sure fire way of knowing national debt is arbitrary and paper money only exists up to what you can get out of an ATM. If a billionaire asked that their net worth be delivered to the house in the form of paper money (dollars), there wouldn't be a Brinks truck filled with a pallet of fresh bank notes. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing would just produce bank notes with whatever denomination the billionaire wants to use. It would essentially be the equivalent of a paper check. National debt and currency isn't really worth the paper on which it is printed. It's all made up. You could literally wipe your azz with a billion dollars if that toilet paper is assigned a value.

My response in that regard was not directed at your initial thread. Topic worthy of discussion. For clarity, I should have quoted the post to which I was responding. Otherwise, Israel as a Middle East presence backed by the US has been grown folks business for 3/4 of a century now. Israel can do no wrong especially as long as the US can rely on them to maintain and further its interests over there. As a result, the US will expend American taxpayer dollars and human capital to insure the stability, prosperity and protection of Israel. As an AfroAmerican, maybe I'm jealous. As Ice Cube said in Boyz n da Hood about the relationship between his mother and brother, "she loved that fool more than she loved me."

National debt is more like a credit card with no real limit and zero interest and monthly payments being optional. There are media programs that discuss about economics (debt, spending, inflation, etc.). For some reason, they do it in such a way that's like explaining differential equations to 1st graders.

Interesting that Black folks should be concerned with the Middle East and other world affairs when 1) AfroAmericans cannot get America to atone for slavery and 2) predominantly Black countries cannot keep white countries from taking their resources and relegating them to 3rd world status. Israel has been a US favored state since 1948. The US has committed to never let them suffer and to support whatever they choose to do in that region. That's why nobody talks about the human rights abuses Israel commits against Ethiopian jews. The whole idea of loving the oppressor and/or being empathic to them is insanity. As it relates to AfroAmericans in the US military, they voluntarily signed up to kill or be killed on behalf of America's interests.

Oh yeah....if that's who you're referring to in all of this...that's what I call a stupid fool. For comedic entertainment I watch the crime channel. Again, there's no shortage of stupid fools of all stripes. Interestingly, the white stupid fools assault the police and don't get shot. In fact, the police beg and plead with the suspect(s) not to make them shoot.

Ireland was neither enslaved nor oppressed by England. Some Irish folks no longer wanted to live under monarchy rule. As @Pioneer1 mentioned, both parties were white folks. in the case of Ireland and England, it was a dust up between cousins. i understood the point you were trying to make. I didn't read anything into it. That doesn't stop me from a tangential discussion.

It helps to know the historical relationship between Ireland and England and the politics of that conflict. Black folks cannot use the IRA as a blueprint to force the US to change.

Understood. I will keep that in mind for future threads. Thanks for the explanation.

Correct. Stupidity as a form of intellectual deficiency used to be called mental retardation. Of course, that's politically incorrect nowadays. It can be argued that people who do stupid things are mentally retarded but that's usually an insult moreso than an indictment of their intelligence. The stupid I'm referring to in terms of poor decision-making isn't tied to intelligence or a lack thereof. Several factors have to be considered. To answer your question, I do not believe there is a higher rate of stupid people within our AfroAmerican community compared to Caucasians or any other group of people. I've traveled around this country enough to have seen for myself and know better.

Yeah. For whatever reason, @richardmurray doesn't provide a link to articles in the thread itself. Gotta go to his page in order to read it. As a result, some threads I don't even bother to open and/or engage in discussion.

Despite its warts and flaws, the US is a well-oiled democracy that allows its citizens to believe it's the land of opportunity and freedom. Other countries admire it. As a result, the US seems to be a place that only a few of its citizens want to leave and an attractive destination to immigrants looking for a better life. Don't feel too bad for Nippy from the block. She knows how to run her program.

Understood. The system of racism white supremacy is the most powerful force on the planet. Otherwise, It's not about individual white person having power although they might have access to and/benefit from it. But, I can see your rationale for not even wanting to give them that much credit i.e. supreme or superior.

Self-immolation i.e. setting oneself on fire is a form of protest. The person in the pic was such a burn patient.