Cynique

As a black woman, I acknowledged how accomplished Condi was because it was so obvious. She may have inspired eye-rolling on the part of sistas but they never aggressively attacked her. I remember modifying my disappointment with her Bush affiliation a few years back, when I read about what a big football fan she was, and that she'd once dated a black NFLer. Her name came up from time to time on this board back during its heyday, and I think Kola Boof defended her in her capacity as a feminist. I'm sure she has appeared on the covers of both Ebony and Essence at least once. I seem to also remember Oprah and Maya Angelou accepting her as a black sista. I wouldn't even be surprised if the NAACP had included her among honorees of the image awards at some point. She was, after all, Secretary of State, and they didn't penalize Colin Powell for his Bush taint. In time, Condoleeza Rice will take her place among distinguished black women because history tends to transcend political partisanship.

I'm not big on conspiracy theories, myself. A lot of factors figured into the founding of this country. Even astrology. Most of the foundling fathers were Masons, but - so what? America's unofficial motto is "in God we trust" and we live by the almighty dollar. They say the "love of money is the root of all evil". I wouldn't know, but many who were poor before they became rich say that "rich is better". Meanwhile, that star spangled banner still waves over the land of the greed and the home of the depraved. Satan on a twenty? Who can deny this country is going to hell.

Black women have never completely written Condoleeza off. We were willing to give credit where credit was due, and appreciated that she wielded a certain amount power, even if we did think it was misguided. It was always black men who berated and debased her during the Bush administration. Could it be that they found her intimidating?

Too bad these legendary bluesmen are not appreciated more by the younger generation of black kids. They don't seem to be in sync with the blues tempo whereas, in the other neglected black music genre, they don't seem attuned to the fast tempo of instrumental jazz. Who will carry on this heritage??? Yeah, black lives matter. But so does the black music that black people originated.

Raven Simone of Cosby show fame, is taking a lot of flack on social media for objecting to Harriet Tubman being the choice to replace Andrew Jackson on the $20 bill, an opinion she expressed during a recent appearance on The View. Our little black bird is fast gaining a reputation for spouting quirky opinions that veer from the politically correct script. Whatever. In the outlook I currently find myself glaring through, due to a boredom bordering on disgust with everything that exists in this fucked-up world, including self-consuming black issues, I am not that enthusiastic about the HarrietTubman choice, myself. Blasephemy, I know but I tend to focus of the negatives of the snapshots in the big picture album. Harriet Tubman, who I consider on a par with folk heroes like Johnny Apple Seed and the steel-drivin railroad man, John Henry, does exemplify guts and determination, and paying homage to her presumably would placate “sistas” who are bitching about how devalued they are and always have been. And since Michelle Obama’s vintage is too recent, and despite her latest rant at Tuskeegee Institute’s graduation ceremony, kvetching about the “hardships” she endured before becoming first lady, a speech delivered on the heels of her shaking her booty while dancing with the star Jimmy Fallon on his show, doing her middle-aged emulation of Beyonce, - her 2 cents worth doesn’t lift her to the level of appearing on a piece of paper currency worth 20 bucks. Yes, during the course of Harriet’s underground itineraries, she led 300 slaves to “freedom” up north, boasting that she never lost a passenger, and that she could’ve rescued a lot more if they’d known they were enslaved. But, think about it. Over centuries, the slave population exceeded 3 million. Granted, the miniscule number Tubman guided through forests and along river banks under the light of the moon, aided and abetted by Quaker abolitionists, is noteworthy. And, yes, these treks were adventures of legendary proportions. But can black women really identify with this? Soooo, whose face do I prefer to grace the ”dub”? Maybe Rosa Parks. She personified a black woman who just got tired of the bull shit. I can dig it. Leading people through the woods is one thing; leading them to the front of the bus is another. Only problem is that freedom ain't free. I’ve had it with this merry-go-round of ego trips that make up the circus of life on planet earth, an orbiting sphere that rotates on the axis of money and power and - bull shit. Since we're dealing with symbolism, a picture of the devil would be right at home on the twenty. In Satan, we trust.

Orson Wells was always ahead of his time. He was a true Renaissance Man and a liberal thinker so I'm not surprised by this sililoquy. He was rumored to have had a hot affair with black actress Eartha Kitt back in the 50s. Harry Truman has never been given enough credit for realizing that the time had come to break down racial barriers and that something had to be done about this. He was Franklin D. Roosevel's vice president and when FDR died, black folks were very leery of Truman. Roosevelt ran for office and, before there were term limits, was elected 4 times by promising a New Deal. He came into office the year I was born and for the first 13 years of my life, he was the only president I knew. (He was like a king to us. ) Truman finished out FDR's term when he died in office. And when Truman ran on his own, his campaign slogan promised A Fair Deal. He did OK.

If Bernie could get Elizabeth Warren to come aboard as his running mate, they would give Hillary a run for her money in the race for the liberal progressive vote.

We have to agree to disagree. I consider this poem very timely because nothing has changed! In the year 2015, the nation is in an uproar as angry "negroes" demonstrate in Baltimore and spark protests in other cities. As Delano informs, even Australia is shocked. For the first time in history a major league baseball game has been played in an empty stadium, closed to the public because of concerns about safety. The National Guard has been called out and Baltimore is on lock down. The protests are the lead story on all the network TV news shows and the controversy is all over the Internet and social media. The President has spoken out and political candidates are weighing in. IMO, this event does impact as much as it did 50 years ago because it proves that down through the generations, little has changed since Hughes' metaphorical warning.

What Hughes predicted in this meme was a forerunner to the civil rights movement, and it was, indeed, directed at white people, and this prediction came to pass when fed-up, angry black people abandoned their submissiveness and did, and continue to this day, to angrily demonstrate against racism when blatantly provoked. It was a simple omen from a poetic oracle.

Well, Troy. I think telling the Establishment to beware the day Negroes change their minds is a caveat relative to what's playing out in Baltimore where militant demonstrators are filling the streets and looters are wreaking havoc, a situation that has spurred the mayor to ask the governor to call out the National Guard. Angry black folks may not overthrow the government but they no longer suffer in silence when they feel abused.

IMO, West and Dyson are like a pair of divas ridiculing each other’s plastic surgery. Their feud has been reduced to a sideshow, and doesn’t even reach the level of rivals vying for the Alpha Male status because neither one of them wields any power other than an ability to polarize their black social media audience. Meanwhile, President Obama is able to remain above the fray, probably amused by how 2 of his most relentless critics are neutralizing each other. As an aside, one of Obama most influential staffers is the person holding the title of Senior White House Adviser, a woman by the name of Valerie Jarrett, someone who dates back to his and Michelle’s grass root Chicago days. She and Michelle are long time BFFs and both rumored to be super bitches who throw their weight around. I suspect they provide sounding boards for the positions Obama takes and when it came to racism, they apparently decided a moderate stance was the most practical one. I also wouldn’t be suprised if they were whispering in Barack’s ear telling him to ignore West and Dyson as well as Tavis Smiley, relegating the 3 stooges to the category of ego-centrics who are jealous of the President. As for the poor showing of black entrepreneurship, white people aren't united either. They are very competitive and treacherous in dealing with one another and, as group are in the same boat as Blacks when it comes to being up against the big conglomerates. Any progress they make is a result of an innate advantage. They have white skin. Ya think?

A very eloquent exercise in rhetoric on the part of progressive liberal Cornel West. Ironically, Obama's conservative black critics on the right such as Dr. Ben Carson are equally passionate in their criticism of the president. So Obama is caught in the middle, and that makes him a Centrist - a leader who still has the backing of the majority of black people and who was recently voted the most admired man in the world. He is also the captive of corporate America and all of its tenacles, which include a "bought-and-paid-for" Congress and the military industrial complex. It's time for a wake-up call for those who think this capitalistic country still has an agenda for democracy. America is no longer the land of opportunity; it is the domain of opportunism. The 2ist century has outgrown the unskilled work force and the poor and needy are doomed to be constants in society. I don't agree that Obama is painting a picture that shows America is "doing swimmingly in the black community". He's not that blind. But all he can really do is offer moral support to his down trodden black brethern. The angry voices demanding him to take action offer no viable solutions. He'll be out of office soon and the next president just may be a woman, but don't look for her to take up the cause of feminism. Unless this country is forced to go back to the drawing board, there will be no great change except that which inexolerably comes with time. The POTUS will do whatever is in the best interest of keeping America powerful. Black folks set their expectations too high in thinking that Obama would improve their lot. But they still have Jesus to place their futile hopes in.

Social media is currently a twitter with the fall-out from the stand-off between two famous black intellectuals, Cornel West and Michael Eric Dyson. Once friendly colleagues, their deteriorating relationship has gone public, each one criticizing the other‘s stance on the policies of Barak Obama who has continued to snub both of these Liberals, leaving them to sulk about not being included in the White House inner circle in reward for supporting his presidential campaign. Currently fueling the fire of this feud is the article Dyson wrote for The New Republic Magazine in which he put West in the same “has-been” category as boxer, Mike Tyson, describing him as a one-time formidable fighter currently reduced to being a caricature of himself, seduced by the idea of becoming a pop culture celebrity, increasingly shunned by his peers. Dyson adds insult to injury by further asserting that West’s relentless strident personal attacks on the President are connected to his failed marriages and the frustration that comes with impotency. West’s position has been to put Dyson in a category with Al Sharpton, and contemptuously chide Dyson for modifying his criticism of Obama, considering this flip-flop tantamount to being a sell-out lackey, sucking up to the Establishment. People are taking sides, with each man having his supporters. Other erudite Blacks are disapppointed with both men for what many perceive as a clash of egos, rather than a constructive dialogue about more relevant and urgent black issues. And, naturally, there is a chorus of voices digusted by the airing of dirty laundry by 2 prominent black spokemen, wary that this divisive display will make white detractors happy. What can be said? If the cops ain’t shootin down black men, they’re shootin down each other, be it on the streets with guns or in the halls of academia with verbal bullets. Blacks may have a double consciousness, but it’s becoming increasingly evident that we do not have a collective one. We are not of one mind. We’re all over the place, chasing our tails. Ruff-ruff.

I have to have seen GWTW at least 50 times starting back in 1939 when it actually came out, at which time I was a little girl. But my mother worked at the local movie house so I was able to go and watch pictures for free. I saw it many more times when it was periodically re-released in theaters and then even more times on TV where it still appears regularly. I've also read the massive 1000-page book, twice. It is a classic movie and timeless love story and it has held up well over time. They had to get clearance from the censors for Rhett Butler to utter his famous "I don't give a "damn" line in the end because movies didn't allow profanity back then. There was quite a search to find the actress to play Scarlett OHara . All the young ingenues in Hollywood were vying for this plum role, and there was a lot of indignation when Vivian Leigh landed the part because she was from England. But she was the perfect choice. I never heard anything about Clark Gable being black. He was, of course, one of Hollywood's favorite leading men, a matinee idol who was also perfect for his role in this movie. I also wasn't aware that GWTW was boycotted by the NAACP. I don't know any black person who didn't go and see it whenever it came out all down through the years, attracting new gnerations of fans. Butterfly's famous line in her Prissy role about "not knowin' how to birth no babies" actually became a part of the Black vernacular back in the day, jokingly used by anybody who had misled someone into thinking they could do a certain task. When chided about playing her subservient role, Hattie McDaniel was rumored to have said that she'd rather play a maid than to be one, undoubtedly referring to the affluent life style she lived thanks to her long career in hollywood playing maid roles. GWTW was a movie that was demeaning to black people but I always tolerated this because it was a depiction of the way things were back during slavery times.

A video currently making the rounds in the media is one of a white guy who has just killed his girlfriend coming toward a cop who has arrived on the scene. The advancing killer stops in his tracks, spreads his arms and begs the cop to shoot him, obviously not caring what happens to him. The white cop refuses to accomodate the murder's request and, instead, subdues and handcuffs him. I burst out laughing when I saw this. My only thought was if that had been a black man, he wouldn't have had to beg the cop to shoot him. He would've been a dead nigga. The cop's superior was later shown praising the officer for exercising restraint. Even when guilty white offenders ask to be shot, they are safer than innocent black ones running for their lives. Life in post racial America. Jesus, when you comin back to deliver your po ol faithful negroes from evil? Dey's gittin tired of hopin.

Don't tell me. Tell the millions of people mesmerized by smart phones, tablets, and the social media. Start your own religion with this as your dogma. And make sure you pass the collection plate.

Isn't that what I basically said in the first paragraph of my post, Delano? The masses need religion because it provides them with a comfort zone. Leaders need religion because it provides them with a way to control the masses. Technology can take on a life of its own and has the potential to control humanity. Like religion, technology inspires worship. People adore their computerized devices. Bill Gates is like a god; the late Steve Jobs like a martyr. Facebook is like a living bible, full of personal gospels and beliefs and idols and sin.

Could you elaborate on your observation, Delano?

In a post on the Thumper's Corner forum I had this to say about religion: "People just can't cope without a belief that provides them with something to have faith in. They need myths to supply the context for a paternal figure who they can look to and lean on, an all poweful omniscient being who understands their troubles and answers their prayers, - if he sees fit to do so. They need commandments to protect them from themselves and a devil to blame sinful things on. The question could really be posed did God create Man or did Men create God because they couldn't wrap their minds around the idea that - life just is. Over the centuries, religion has become a habit easy to fall into, a tradition that promotes fellowship, an addiction that produces a high, a sanctuary for hypocrisy." Another view: Religion, rather than unites, divides. It is at the core of most of the conflict in the world. Even within the 5 major religions are sects at odds with each other. Impicit in all religious doctrines is the idea that what we believe is right and what everybody else believes is wrong. Each one thinks it has a monopoly on God and seeks to be his spokeman, claiming to be inspired by the almighty force of nature which they have personified into a wrathful old man who is "on their side". Christians elevated a Jew to divine status, making him over in their Anglo Saxon image. Thanks to the hype of his disciples who, in their accounts written 30y ears after Jesus' death, proclaimed him to be the son of god, born of a virgin, a Jesus-based religion was embraced by pagans because his contrived "resume" was the same as the heroes of their mythology. What gives religion the potential to be dangerous is that it is a form of mind control that instills a fear that allows its leaders to control their flocks - the "sheeple" who blindly follow them. Corruption and greed are rampant in the hierarchy of all religions, especially Catholicism. Black people have been conditioned since slavery to adore and place all their hope in a savior who will reward their loyalty in the hereafter, while mired in woe here on earth. Just uttering the name Jesus fills them with ecstasy and neutralizes their need to question. Catholcisim, with all of its rituals and elaborate pageantry along with the incorporation of a mother figure into the dogma, mesmerizes its guillible followers. The bible is a manual that has been revised and edited, incoporating myths and legends into its parables, while leaving out gospels that don't comply with free thought. The Roman Emperor Constantine oversaw all of this at the Council of Ghent, realizing that religion was a way to control the masses. A lot has been lost in biblical translations, and verses have been skewed to support bias and prejudices that are an abomination to the Golden Rule. The King James version of the bible is a blatant example of this. The Jesus figure has endured because he espoused an idea whose time had come. He was a mystic, at the right place at the right time, but men have made a mockery of his message in regard to justice, equality, love, forgivenance, and redemption because they worship power and money.

Another black man has been murdered by a policeman after being stopped for a minor traffic violation. The unarmed victim, who had outstanding warrants due to unpaid child support, decided to resist the prospect of being arrested and while trying to escape, was brought down by gunfire. The question that continually arises in my mind is: WHY, with all of the publicity about how little value is placed on black lives by law enforcement officers with itchy trigger fingers and "take no prisoners" attitude, do black males who know they have targets on the their backs, confront or flee from the cops, risking a chance that they will be shot down like runaway slaves??? Maybe in the heat of the moment their lives don't even matter to them, and they decide to go down in a blaze of glory creating an incident that nowadays will elevate them to the martydom ranks. Becoming cannon fodder for policemen provides grist for the mill of a black population handcuffed by the frustration of being subjected to racism and injustice on a regular basis. I hate what America has become on so many levels. The only thing I'm grateful for is that I can withdraw from all of this BS into the sanctuary of my private world. Time to return to "Let Us Prey", the book I'm reading about yet another disillusioning thing in this world: religious enslavement.

I say: motherhood should not be forced upon women. If they have an unwanted pregnancy, they should have the choice to terminate it because they have complete domain over their bodies and have no one to anwer to but themselves. God does not figure into the equation. An embryo in the first trimester of pregnancy is not viable and is not a minature baby waiting to grow into a full-sized one. It is an organism that contains the blueprint to develop into a fetus that will not become a person until it draws its first breath at which time the soul enters the body of a newborn. Others say:Women should use protection if they don't want to have a baby. Life begins at conception and abortion is murder because it is killing something that is a potential human being. In the eyes of God, abortion in a sin. Anyone who performs one and or has one is a sinner because this practice is against religious teachings. A woman who becomes pregnant through rape or incest should have the baby and give it up for adoption if she doesn't want to raise it. If a woman has an ectopic pregnancy, then it's OK to terminate the embryo that has accidentally migrated from the womb into one of the fallopian tubes because if it is allowed to remain there and grow, it will cause a rupture that will be fatal to the woman. God will understand because he knows best.

LMAO. I needed a good laugh. Sick of everything going on in the world. I'm jaded, and it's not easy being green!

I don't think having a Republican as the next president is a "given". The long list of candidates they will be fielding are all on a par with Sarah Palin. And it's not unusual for a President and Congress to be of different parties. In the polls, Hillary Clinton beats all of the Republican hopefuls in spite of her e-mail brouhaha, and she has a good chance of being elected thanks to a growing sentiment in regard to a female president being an idea whose time has come. Agreed, that Hillary is not that likeable but a bitch in the white house would rennovate its "good ol boy" decor. She couldn't be any worse than her predecessosrs. Blacks suggesting other Blacks vote Republican because the Dems take the black vote for granted, need to give more thought to such advice. What positive point does switching parties make? Steve Smith needs to stick to trash talkin' about sports and quit jockin' Republicans. The Republican party is a catch-all for rich, right wing, war-mongering, mysogynistic racists with whom Blacks have very little in common, unless you're a deluded misguided brainless surgeon like Dr. Ben Carson. If Blacks split their vote between the 2 parties, this splinters their voting bloc and neutralizes its power. As usual, the lesser of 2 evils rationale surfaces when black voters have to make a decision between the Dems and Republicans. But, all things considered, no party ever delivers on all of its campaign promises so you might as well side with the party you're on the same page with. Of course you can always choose to waste your vote on a 3rd party or - sit the election out. Bottom line: does any of this really matter in a world that is suspended in limbo vibrating in a state of flux? The Universe rules.