ProfD

AfroAmericans haven't been free for thousands of years.

IMO, marriage should always be a choice and not an expectation or obligation. Especially in countries where it's contractual. Unfortunately, that social conditioning leads them into trying live up to an expectation. There's a whole lot of people living their best lives flying solo. Intellect and fame don't always translate into a fortune. Making money requires having a product and being a salesman and having a customer base. I doubt that Tavis' paper has ever been in jeopardy to a woman.

Understood. AfroAmericans are several hundred years behind white folks in terms of wealth. However, considering how the continent of Africa is being carved up by outsiders and same goes for other countries, Black folks have whole countries to themselves but as a group of people they aren't too much better off than AfroAmericans financially.

Politicians pander to AfroAmericans when it's time vote. Some other groups of people feel like AfroAmericans should be empathic to their issues. Nope. AfroAmericans should not be lending their voices to and/or putting on the cape for any other group of people. None of those people has ever spoken up for or come to the rescue of AfroAmericans. They can save the empty rhetoric about donating to and/or joining NAACP or National Urban League, Yet, those same groups of people once relocated to the US will set up businesses in AfroAmerican communities. Let them fight their own battles and settle their own affairs. AfroAmericans should remain apathetic.

Only brotha @Troy could confirm or deny it. But, there's no incentive in him doing so because no one claims it.

Surely, I could blow off my responsibilities and sit around playing piano all day. So, either my free will won't allow me that luxury or my conscience has placed a higher calling on my purpose. I hope that while I still have the physical and mental capacity, the universe will absolve my responsibilities and reward me with unlimited time to indulge my passion. Now, the question becomes if today or tomorrow, I said f8ck it all, I'm just gonna do my thing...would that be pre-determined.

I'm not surprised that Dr. Cornel West has short paper. Being an intellectual and academician doesn't translate into wealth. 5 failed marriages suggests to me that Dr. West tried to conform to some aspect of the American Dream. Every man isn't meant to be married to another person. Some are better off married to their vocation. Even if it means running their mouths and eating grapes like an old Greek philosopher. I do think it's important for folks like Dr. West to get into politics. Challenges other candidates to bring their brain power to the discussion.

Definitely not taking their work in the struggle away and/or for granted. Just pointing out where I think that partying and celebrating i.e. complacency led baby boomers to fall asleep at the wheel. Unlike my fellow Gen-Xers, I never felt the struggle was over. As young fella, I'm sure my preaching got on my parents nerves too. I agree that we should be policing ourselves instead of putting it in the hands of the enemy. @richardmurray, you're corrrect...Black folks have always been several hundred years behind other groups of people from a financial standpoint.

I'm sure you brothas are already aware of the Black Boule. If not....that's interesting. I'll just type that they are the Black folks who would least be interested in Reparations.

Sure. They were also responsible for bringing Generation X into that cycle of poverty created by welfare, broken homes, drug addiction, etc. At the end of the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam War, we saw the rise of inner city problems. Gen-Xers were born into it. Many Gen-Xers overcame the odds of poverty and/or the lack of a solid economic infrastructure and managed to become successful. Unfortunately, many Gen-Xers were conditioned by that cycle of poverty. In turn, they also bred more n8gglets. The cycle continued.

@Pioneer1, from reading your posts, I get the impression the most dysfunctional n8gglets were running around from the 1990s up to present. Let me know if that's correct. The reason I'm asking for clarity is because those n8gglets would be the children and grandchildren of baby boomers. It's important to understand the role they played in the dysfunction of future generations. The housing projects were indeed started to help minimum wage workers to be able afford accommodations for their families. It was a stepping stone to a better life. Starting in the 1960s, housing projects became a place for women and their children on welfare aka poverty. Again, a form of social engineering designed to produce a desired outcome. Baby boomers benefitted to their own detriment. Poverty breeds all types of social ills. Add drugs and unemployment to the mix and there's a dynamite soup being stirred up over generations. The n8gglets running around in gangs and selling dope and killing each other were conditioned to be dysfunctional through social engineering within the system of racism white supremacy.

Not a position to like or dislike. The facts are: 1) Black communities had been flooded with drugs since the late 1960s. Drugs were a poison pill to destroy Black folks in more ways than one. 2) The 1994 crime bill did lead to mass incarceration of Black folks. The majority of whom were non-violent offenders. That 1,2 punch combo did exactly what white folks intended since the days of POTUS Nixon. Interestingly, we do not see or hear the same tactics being applied to a war against drugs in white communities. Crystal meth has never been criminalized as harshly as marijuana and cocaine. Fentanyl and opioid addiction are supposedly a huge problem for white folks but there's no harsh punishments being handed down on them for trafficking in it. I do hear the media talking heads blaming illegal immigrants for bringing drugs into the USA. White folks have always been the biggest drug dealers in the world through the pharmaceutical industry and illegal drugs too. There's no shortage of crime and violence and death on the hands of white folks. Yet, they aren't being punished as harshly. The main trick of the enemy i.e. white folks is getting Black folks to hate and destroy themselves by any means necessary.

Whether real or not, the letter is hilarious when the ex-slave runs the numbers and details how much cash he and his wife need to receive in order to return. Checkmate.

DC was similar before the crack epidemic. We had crews (gangs) but they only fought. Nobody got shot. When drugs and money flooded the streets that changed the game. Gun violence has gone down a bit since those days. Gun violence is still bad enough because these n8gglets aren't beefing and shooting over drugs and money. These dudes are overly emotional nowadays. No fist-fights. Afraid if they lose the fight it will go viral on TikTok.

As mentioned, I grew up in DC at the height of its dysfunction in terms of crime.

Like every other religious organization, the NOI only seems to have influence over its members. The rapper KAM was heavy NOI at one point. It was reflected in his music. Minister Farrakhan chopped it up with gangsta rappers too. Ice Cube could talk him to him at one point. Right. Remains to be seen how far Hill Harper goes with his political aspirations. He's definitely an intelligent brotha. Hopefully not Boule.

As someone who grew up inner city, I totally understand the points @richardmurray is making here. I know quite a few criminals and killers. I know victims. I've never been victimized. As I've mentioned before, there's a method to the madness when it comes to crime; surviving and avoiding it. Police can't fix it. The trick of the system especially in the form of media has conditioned many Black folks to either hate and/or fear themselves.

Black are indifferent about the US funding these conflicts (Gaza and Ukrainian) because those are not our fight/struggle. VP Kamala Harris like every other BIFO (Black in face only) person showed up to a Black commemorative event in full shill mode. Unless FBA continuously calls out this foolish, it will keep happening. BIFOs are like whack-a-moles.

Gotcha. Right. No reason to bet the farm or lose any sleep.

Yep. You keep saying it. But, you haven't acknowledged a full understanding of how government works. Nothing I've written has changed your belief one way or another. What we have on that point is an impasse. Those FBAs in Congress are BIFOs (Black in face only). That's why the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) ain't worth sh8t. The CBC has zero interest in Reparations for FBA. But, they're quick to vote on legislation for other groups of people. That's like asking VP Kamala Harris if she was going to do anything for Black folks and while cackling she said....nooo.

Got it. Dr. Wesley Muhammad is one man though. I was referring to throwing the whole weight of the NOI into getting Black folks to stop making negative music and movies. In fact, I remember Minister Farrakhan embracing and supporting rappers. AfroAmericans told C. Delores Tucker to shut up and go sat down somewhere. She was tool of the dominant society. That's the mental health issue I was referring to which certainly needs to be dealt with clinically before it becomes a menace to society. Actor Hill Harper went to Harvard Law school with POTUS Obama.

Probably so especially it's within New Black Media.

I'd imagine Google will be heavily invested in AI technology. It only makes sense and more money. No pain. Smaller companies will have to adapt or feast or famine. Those who invented or thrived on [insert obsolete technology here] had to roll with the changes brought along by new technology whether it was investment or adaptation or cashing out. That cycle of change and planned obsolescence has been ongoing for at least a half-century and counting. A UBI (Universal Basic Income) will provide a softer landing for future generations.

I believe the country is slowly heading in that direction. Having the majority of people living a life of leisure would 1) bug the sh8t out of the 1 percenters and 2) upset the apple cart of a capitalism. Some geniuses decided a society built on a system of controlled chaos was better for human beings.

Three (3) police officers and two (2) paramedics were on the only people on the scene of the murder of Elijah McClain. All five (5) of them should have been charged and put behind bars. Hopefully, the writing emphasis and math are comprehensible.