Cynique

The so-called white race is an artificial designation instituted by those of Caucasian nationalities in order to enable discrimination. I wasn't aware that Eastern Indians are labeled "white" as opposed to "Asian", a label which carries no negative stigma. Irish, Italians, Poles, Jewish immigrants were able to circumvent discrimination by anglicizing their names and infiltrating the ranks of whiteness, something they could do if they had fair skin and straight hair, which many of them did. Politics were also a factor because descendants of these ethnic groups soon gained a measure of power by forming voting blocs. For whatever reasons, people of the Negroid stock seem entrenched at the bottom of the totem pole.

I have frequently injected the "F" word into my posts, Shirley, because it is special and there are times when no other word will do. Yes, wealth is concentrated in the white upper class. Black folks, like the noveau riche that many of them are, may have some bling but very few of them possess the inherited wealth that has been passed on for generations.

For grinches like me Christmas, by virtue of the date it is celebrated, is the beginning of the Winter solstice and should, indeed, be a time of peace on earth and good will toward all men as we journey through the darkness, heading toward the light of the Spring solstice and the new birth it represents. SEASON'S GREETINGS, EVERYONE!

For whatever reason, Whites ascended to the top of the pecking order and have stayed there, and if what "Jeff" says is true, will continue to be there, which is not so far fetched. Look at how the white minority continued to control and enslave South Africa, not to mention the control exercised by a white plantation owner over dozens of his slaves in America. Realistically speaking, what does this say? . The only conclusion I can come to is that the aliens who visited this country and determined what direction it would take were, themselves, white. Or, for the religiously inclined, God is white and looks out for his own. Get on board, black folks, and accelerate your quest to intermarry with whites so in a couple of generations your descendants can maybe get a little piece of the pie by getting in where they fit in. I am also toying with the idea that what we refer to as Life" is all a crazy dream that is originating in the nap of a snoring entity who is to us, what we are to ants. I am also becoming less of a polemicist and more of an Existentialist. Fuck everything. I don't give a damn.

Hummm that's interesting. Especially since the scientific community has been apprehensive about the future direction of this iconic magazine which was recently purchased by Fox media mogul Rupert Murdoch who, incidentally, has been referred to as "anti-climate".

I saw a re-run of the episode with Debi Thomas where Iyanla did her best to give the impression that she was a wise and qualified people-fixer. But in her effort to keep the show from bombing she persisted in trying to expose Debbie for things that she was not hiding. The result was that an irate Iyanla ended up looking desperate and flustered while Debi remained calm and introspective. Iyanla was finally able to convince Debi and her boyfriend to enter separate rehab centers, she for depression and he for alcoholism.. However a follow-up was added at the end of the show, informing that Debi and her boyfriend both left the rehabs centers early and had reunited with the intent of working things out on their own. There were numerous discussions about this on FaceBook and they were pretty evenly divided in regard to Iyanla's effectiveness. In my opinion, she was not. In general, I've always found Iyanla to be overbearing and over-rated as an advice counselor.

Shirley, where do you live???? I live in a suburb of Chicago but the entire Chicagoland area is caught up in the city's upheaval revolving around the cover-ups in regard to police brutality and unjustified shootings of black males. Believe me, Mayor Rahm Emanuel is not regarded as a misunderstood, sympathetic character in this drama; and with good reason. His arrogance and heavy-handed style has alienated him from the black people who put him back in office. The calls for his resignation are the result of the corruption and cronyism that he has aided and abetted by catering to Chicago's rich, clout-heavy, special interest groups instead of the inner city and the ineffective policing of it, not to mention its under performing public schools. Because of his bad judgement Rahm ended up having to fire the high-salaried people whom he hired to run the Board of Education and Police Department. Mayor Rahm Emanuel has betrayed his black constituency on so many levels because his priorities were elsewhere. On the subject of the breakdown of the black family. a sista who is the co-host of a Chicago talk show, interviewed the mother of the 9-year old recently gunned down by gang members who had a beef against the child's absentee father. The mother had previously been dissed on social media because she bought a new car, and spent a week-end in Las Vegas with the money collected to help her out. She also gave her son an elaborate funeral, complete with a shiny red casket. Sporting a long silky hair weave, false eyelashes, purple painted nails and multiple-piercings, this young woman was the epitome of ghetto fabulous. During the interview, she revealed that she was 15 when her son was born and that her grandmother was keeping him at the time of his death. She had no visible means of support and claimed to be suffering from depression. She also mentioned that she was shocked to find out that the suspect in her son's execution was someone she had grown up with. This suspect, incidentally, was reputedly seeking revenge for the gang related murder of his brother and the wounding of his mother. It's hard not to be judgmental about these hapless people, but it's even harder to be optimistic that things will change in this culture of the black underclass. What do black lives matter for??

Gee, Shirley, instead of writing poems, you should write an autobiography. My take on the public educational system is that a class room is teacher-oriented, and discipline earns high marks. A good student is perceived as one who is not disruptive and who does his lessons which consist of regurgitating what the teacher has taught and at the end of the grading period, report cards are issued wherein a single letter is used to define a student. This is not necessarily bad but, unfortunately, all children are not responsive to regimentation and often the brightest ones are the most difficult because they are bored by the structured routine that makes things easier for the teacher. In my "brave new world" kindergarten would be restricted to learning social skills, then beginning with first grade each child would be encapsulated in his own little pod and paired with a computer that would, through voice instructions, enable a child to teach himself by the trial and error method, learning at his own pace, using the reward system as a motivation. High school would be a non computerized environment of acquiring knowledge, allowing a student to put to use the abilities acquired in grade school. Yes, I know this is pretty much the methodology of Montessori and home schooling. But I think it would be a great innovation in public education because so many students are inhibited and insecure and how good or bad they perform in a classroom in front of their peers impacts on the self-esteem that propels or obstructs them through society at large. . Of course the argument could be made that this radicalization would eliminate the need for elementary school teachers. But it would also create jobs for education majors. Just some thoughts from a non-professional who has observed how compatible today's kids seem to be with computers.

This is certainly a subject that is near and dear to my heart, Troy. I love Bridge which is very much the game of choice of many people in my age bracket, especially those who attended college because Bridge had always been popular on campuses up until it was displaced, starting around the '60s by the influx of the Bid Whist and Spade generation and then eventually the video gamers. I play it mainly on-line now because I don't get out and about much any more. Because Bridge is now accessible on line, more and more young people are discovering this fascinating challenging game, and taking it up. Chicago has a fairly active community of Bridge players, mostly retirees and since they are organized, I'm assuming they are members of national Bridge groups.

I am also a great promoter of reading being fundamental. Some educators have theorized that readers are born, not made and certain children, if not taught how to read by a teacher, would eventually teach themselves how to read. Then, of course, there is the hurdle of comprehending what you read. Knowing how to understand what you're reading is your window to the world, and good readers are usually good writers. One thing I've noticed on FaceBook is how the average black person does not have a very good command of standard English and grammar, not to mention the proper use of homonyms, routinely using "to" when it should be "too", "there" when it should be "their", "affect" when it should be "effect", "past" when it should be "passed", "your" when it should be "you're", etc. They write the way they speak, their nouns not agreeing with their verbs, and the verb they have a very special kinship with is "be". They be messin with that word when it comes to expressing themselves. I've often wondered if this dates back to slavery when our dehumanized ancestors felt empowered by a word that reassured them that they were, indeed, a being who did exist! Nevertheless, black folks are very creative and clever when it comes to the slang words and phrases that they coin, many of these being adopted by white people, and some even absorbed into the idiom of the dominate culture. Most educated blacks are bilingual, fluent in Ebonics but able to speak the king's English when the occasion calls for it. Bottom line, using improper grammar does not reflect on a person's intelligence but it is a tool that aids in maneuvering through the greater society.

Shirley, did you mean "parole" instead of "patrol" in the next to the last line of your poem? Troy, how carefully did you proof read your last post? It might help if you type slower and not skim when you re-read something. Chris, did you mean Ethridge or does Mr. Knight spell his name the way you wrote it? LOL. Couldn't resist. I, myself, always make good use of the Edit feature on this site. Often when I post something with a long text, it's almost like a draft and a revised, edited, and corrected copy replaces the original one which is why folks might benefit from re-reading what I post over a period of a week. Now, I will gracefully(?) exit from this thread because poetry is not my forte. I do, however, have a great deal of admiration for spoken word poems recited in a rapid cadence. And for some reason, I like Rapper couplets. They are often very clever, and I love it when they use 2 words to rhyme with one. OK. I'm done. Carry on.

I'm curious as to how Trump will profit from his campaign. If he doesn't win, he'll become a pariah in corporate circles. If he does win, he'll have to put his holdings in trust and live off his presidential annual salary which is peanuts compared to what he can make in a year as a private citizen. He might be able to earn money on the lecture circuit but only for so long. I don't see his run for the presidency as a cash cow for someone who is already a billionaire. I also don't think his constituency is primary down trodden Christians. That's Cruz's and Carson's bailiwick. Trump appeals more to the macho, Joe 6-pak, gun advocate, blue collar crowd, super patriots who want America to throw its weight around, both at home and abroad. Or is he an overtly devout Christian, and he seems rather indifferent to abortion. I even think that should he win, once he takes office, he will rein in or modify many of his radical views and rely more upon expert opinions. IMO.

I'm assuming you saw the long stream of vile disgusting photos of black people that were posted by the poster named jim jum. I never saw the message you quoted, just the awful pictures, which brought home to me how much some whites really despise Blacks.

Well, maybe Ben Carson is more relevant to the current subject than we think. He is routinely referred to as a "brilliant" surgeon but when placed under the scrutiny of the media microscope, time and time again he comes across as an ill-informed dork who apparently was not the beneficiary of a broad education but is simply someone who is competent in the field he specialized in. Parents are, indeed, our first teachers but they don't have to be college educated to provide an ideal environment for their children. They just need to be motivators, and this includes encouraging their children to be CURIOUS and, above all, to be READERS. Reading is fundamental and if teachers can make readers of children, the battle is half won because this enables them to learn on their own. When young people enter the work force they most likely will have to be re-trained, and knowing how to be a problem solver is what will serve them just as much as being someone who might be classified as an educated fool. I always encouraged my kids to learn a little bit about a lot of things so that they could be conversant on a variety of subjects, something that would make them interesting observant people because having people skills is also an asset. The works of Shakespeare, along with Mythology, are components of a classic education but they also provide lessons for every day life because they are about human foibles, about playing the hand you are dealt whether you live in the ghetto or in a gated community.

Nevermind, Troy. Just let the picture stand because I really don't have another one that would conform to what you specified. That picture is about 10 years old, but does it really matter? Thanks anyway!

Yes, it's like publishers feel they honor their obligation to their black readership by opting for African authors as opposed to black American ones, almost as if books by African women will be better written and taken more seriously. Sistas just can't catch a break.

Excellent deconstruction of Hamlet's lament, Richard. I am guilty of assuming that famous quotes from Shakespeare are common knowledge but I often forget that this is 2015 and unless people happen to be English Lit majors, chances are they aren't familiar with this "useless" info. I also found your political observations very informative.

You're so kind, Del. LOL Is it too late to correct the newsletter, Troy, along with that out of date picture of me?

Any comments I post are actually my musings; I don't really observe any journalistic guide lines because I am not a journalist. I am just an opinionated person who takes advantage of the platform provided on this site. BTW, I can't believe nobody questioned the title of my essay. I just now noticed that I left out the word "not" so that What I meant to be a play on words as To Be(n) Or Not To Be(n)" came out as something that made no sense: "To Ben Or To Ben". I just now corrected it. I think it's time for me to retire.

I clicked on to the link and confirmed my subscription. Is that all it takes?

HAVE A GOOD ONE EVERYBODY! AND BE THANKFUL THAT YOU ARE NOT A SYRIAN REFUGEE SEEKING HAVEN IN AMERICA, THE LAND OF A REPUBLICAN-INFESTED COUNTRY

LMAO. Well, well, well, I've been out all day doing my shopping and lo and behold, I come home. and waiting for me is a gobbling rant from an eviscerated turkey a/k/a as Uncle Anus, not surprisingly, wrapped in his American flag - whose red stripes could very well stand for the red blood of the slaves this revered country kept in bondage for centuries, or the red skin of the Indians on whom it committed genocide. In the muddled, maudlin message from this foul fowl, he dares to cross examine me as if I am on trial, and he is the Grand Inquisitor attempting to shame me for my heresy, demanding in all of his white supremacist gall, that I profess my love for America and shed tears for France, never bothering to suggest that I do the same for all the Nigerians recently killed by terrorists. To this sallow son of a mangy bitch I say: Your white entitlement complex garners no respect from me, and I have no intentions of seeking your forgiveness by renouncing my cynicism since I don't give a damn about you or anything you stand for, because people of your ilk have distorted what America is supposed to be about.

I'm so proud of Frances. She's a Chicago girl, born and raised on the city's south side. Even met her once many years ago when she came down to one of the U. of I.'s homecomings to hang out with her sister, Lorne, who was a student there, and a friend of mine. Dr. Welsing really held her own against Dr. Shockley to whom objectivity seemed to be a foreign concept. This didactic ideologue set the criteria and then tailored his conclusions to them. IQ tests are, indeed, a joke if environmental and cultural influences aren't factored into the results. Survival skills are a very accurate marker when it comes to smartness and they're certainly something that Blacks excel at. We're still around, despite the obstacles put in our paths by Caucasians steeped in their innate fear of skin color, a fear that deludes them into believing that being different is synonymous with being inferior. Suffice to say that aided and abetted by treachery and cruelty and greed, the so-called white race, down through the ages has been able to oppress and claim victory over people of color and, as is the tradition, history is written by the winners. So much for truth. Keeping in mind that in the present, Shockley's theories have been discarded by reputable sources, I just let the tired old claims made by Uncle Retard roll off my back. I've been hearing his patented rhetoric for 50 years and, over time, ridicule has become my weapon of choice for rebuttal because these white supremacy clowns make it so easy to make fun of them.

Yada, yada, yada. This cretin epitomizes the "Christian" breed of American that Isis targets. So when terrorists sneak into the country amidst the influx of Syrian refugees, gun totin Neanderthals like Uncle Adolph will be decimated in their attempt to preserve the way of life these latter-day Barbarians want to preserve in the beloved country they stole from the Indians and totally corrupted and ruined . We all know that this white skinned jackal would trade every one of those 6 empty boasts above if this would just make his half-inch penis grow longer. LMAO. Seig Heil! Crawl back into your cave. Your tea is getting cold.

Yes, judging by these names, African women seem to be the flavor of the month for the publishing industry. To me, African-authored books could almost be a genre unto themselves because they all seem to be serious, character- driven books whose protagonists are struggling, solitary, sensitive souls on a mission to rise above their circumstances and liberate their inner goddess/warrior. Of course this is pretty much the standard formula for any novel by any sex or nationality but I've been there and done that and have outgrown all genres of fiction except mysteries ala James Patterson. I know, I know. Shame on me! But my defection to the non-fiction arena stems from my late life desire to read bios and books and documentaries about real people and historical eras. (Could be why I'm close to even losing interest in my own book.) However, I am always glad to see women get ahead and do well, so to all the black sistas out there, scoring book deals, I say a hearty "you go, girl!"