Pioneer1

Troy I told you the reason for this. Years ago. The AfroAmerican community has been going through an INTELLECTUAL DECLINE for the past 40 years or so! While many of our brothers and sisters are thriving.....much of the community is simply getting dumber and less educated.

Something about that parade seemed a little eerie. I can't put my finger on it, but it seemed almost a bit spiritually negative.

Looks like McCarthy is in there now. I'm a little confused about something though. I thought a BLACK MAN named Hakeem Jefferies was supposed to get that position.

That Asian Hate-Crime Bill passed easily in Congress and they didn't need to establish a "study" to waste time. They just immediately passed the bill almost unanimously to protect the Asian community from racist targeting as well as give them money. They know how to waste time when they want to.

Who cares? Well....somebody cared enough to change it and establish it as a holiday FORCING others to celebrate it as well. The question reminds me of when it's pointed out that Jesus couldn't have been White but Black or Brown because of the region he grew up in......often times a person would say, "What difference does it make what color Jesus was??? Does it really matter????" The reply from me would be, "Ofcourse it matters to somebody.....because they took time and effort to CHANGE him from being a Black man to a White man with blonde hair and blue eyes. If it didn't matter, they would have left his image alone".

Troy You're letting the politicians and legislators off the hook a little too easy. Like I implied before, if Germany and Canada can do it....the U.S. can do it too. The U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers can go into the middle of the desert over in Iraq or Afghanistan and build an entire modern CITY from the ground up complete with plumbing, fresh water, fiber optics, etc.......so heated sidewalks in an already established structure shouldn't be too much of an engineering feat to manage. Save some of the money we're giving to Ukraine and elsewhere and invest that money back into our infrastructure.

When you put it that way, yeah.....I see your point....it has changed. But I'd simply call it a CHANGE....I wouldn't say it "evolved" because evolution implies improvement.

We lived in them just fine from the 1920s all the way up to the mid-80s when the good paying factory jobs were plentiful. When Black folks in Detroit and Flint were making $25 an hour plus benefits back in the 70s......no one was complaining about the cold and snow, lol. They were coming in from the hot deep South by the MILLIONS, and adapting to the weather just fine. That's a recent thing now where Black folks are moving back down South because they CLAIM they can't stand the cold and all the snow. Plenty of Mexicans who come from places much hotter than anywhere in the United States are moving up to Michigan by the THOUSANDS and they don't seem to have a problem with it.

My my my......where do I begin....lol

Troy I knew you would bring up the Freeway Rich Ross stuff. If you actually read the article you shared you'd know that the entire fiasco was about funding the contras in Nicaragua. Are you telling me that the United States government needed to "sell dope" to poor Black folks in the ghetto in order to RAISE MONEY to fund some mercenary group in a Central American jungle??? Do you seriously believe that? The destabilization of the Black community was a terrible consequence, but it was again not the goal. Like they didn't already know that would be a result. Stop playing Troy, lol. You do realize white folks used cocaine and crack during that period right? Ok? Even if destabilizing the black community was the goal, who was responsible for cutting, distributing, packaging, marketing, and selling the drugs -- not to mention using them? The answer is obvious. But shifting the focus doesn't erase the blame. You know most of the people who died from HIV were white. Are you sure about this one? You know TENS OF MILLIONS of Africans have been diagnosed with HIV since the Pandemic began in the 80s. Not to mention the Caribbean in places like Haiti. They claim that over 25 MILLION African currently have HIV! But you say most of the deaths were White?

Troy My experience differs from yours in that black men generally have an advantage when it comes to black women. How? Since the days of American slavery and even before among the Arab enslavement of Black people....Black women have been the preference of Caucasian power OVER Black men. There are countless examples of wealthy men reaching down to establish sexual relationships with women of lower social/financial status.....how many wealthy women reach down to establish a sexual relationship with a man of a lower social/financial status? Go into any club, bar, or public arena and if you observe both Black men and Black women.....you tell me who gets "hit on" more.....the men or the women. Based on my observations, one of the only "advantages" Black men currently have over other men to Black women is PROXIMITY...generally speaking. More of us tend to live around them than men of other groups for obvious reasons.

Apparently some of you have the wrong understanding of MY idea of "Black Unity" Apparently......some of you believe that when I talk of and promote Black Unity, I'm speaking of uniting ALL Black folks (or a majority) under one belief for one purpose. Like Harpo said in The Color Purple: "Naw......n-n-n-no such thang!" Not only wouldn't I expect most Black folks to come together, I wouldn't expect HALF or even just 25% of them to! It COULD happen, ofcourse; but it would take a Miracle. I mean a LITERAL Miracle of Divine origin for that to happen. Furthermore, there are a LOT of Black folks I have absolutely NO desire to unite with anyway. I don't wish to unite with rapists, pedophiles, serial killers, crack addicts, etc...no matter how Black they are. When I speak of Black Unity I mean all Black people who BELIEVE and SUPPORT a set of principles, values, and goals....to unite with eachother around THEM to achieve specific goals. For example....... Those AfroAmericans who support cash/land/and other forms of Reparations for FBA/ADOS should unite around THAT goal until it is achieved and instituted into perpetuity. Then that unity is dissolved and the energy is focused on another project. My idea of Black Unity is DYNAMIC....not STAGNANT. It continues to move, change, reform and redefine itself based on time, place, and need.

Just like good and bad are often subjective, so is much of what we call "evil". We look at an ancient society where they conquer a village, kill the men and women outright, enslave the children....and we call them evil. However for hundreds of years instead of just killing the people they conquered outright, this society enslaved them and forced them to live through the humiliation of seeing themselves and their offspring suffer the same fate generation after generation....is that not more evil? We look at the ancient societies and say they were evil for sacrificing people to a particular deity. However we live in a society where people who are in serious accidents are often put on life-support and forced to live through their suffering whether they want to or not...yet we don't call THAT evil. Our entire sense of morality needs to be re-examined and re-considered

When people talk about "holy days" and special days, I ask them do people still get sick, into accidents, and die on those days. If so....why is it "holy"? They are often dumbfounded. Days are just days and the significance of them is what we choose to make of them. Having said that, I did like what Minister Farrakhan attempted to do back in 1995 which was make October 16th our own special "Holy Day of Atonement" for AfroAmericans. Just like I like the idea of Kwanzaa, although I personally don't observe it. We need to establish our own culture and traditions even if the foundations aren't well defined and the roots aren't very deep.

Chev I used to believe it could get so cold it couldn't snow.....until we experienced the Polar Vortex of 2013-14. In Michigan it was 30 degrees below zero (actual temperature not wind chill) on a regular basis for weeks and STILL snowed! I mean HEAVY snow! Up until that time, even since childhood....it was my understanding that once it got below a certain temperature, it was simply too cold to snow and others would say the same thing. That Winter turned that theory up on it's head....lol

How many people STILL celebrate their birthdays after 30?? Not sure about your milestones, but I wasn't as happy with my first grey hair as I was with my first erection.....lol

Lol....well personally I celebrate the New Year on my BIRTHDAY. Which is in the Spring! But that's besides the point.... Believe it or not some would argue that celebrating the New Year on January 1s actually IS part of a conspiracy! It's my understanding that they celebrated it on different days through out the year but a group of White folks got together centuries ago and decided to establish January 1st THEE DAY for the New Year to start. Similar to how they established December 25th for Jesus' birthday. Check out the first few minutes of this lecture by the good Dr.....3:30mm-5:00mm And we don't want to even GET into whether or not this Earth is only 2023 years old, do we?

You'll get no disagreements from me. My question is WHY aren't most Black folks in the United States building solid relationships with eachother in their youth, like many other demographics? It's kind of like...... We KNOW not eating right will often lead to sickness and poor health, but WHY aren't folks eating right? We KNOW that joining a street gang will often lead to death or incarceration, but WHY do folks join street gangs? In other words, I'm trying to get at the ROOT CAUSES of why so many of our people aren't in solid well functioning relationships to begin with.

White folks have shown their willingness to kill and die fighting for the simple reason that IT WORKS. And they are smart enough to KNOW it works....which is why they have been so successful. Niggas are dying anyway....despite being afraid. Dying at the hands of police. Dying at the hands of eachother Dying from various diseases and drugs put out to drop their numbers. Black folks may fear fighting and dying at the hands of White folks, but they certainly don't fear it from EACHOTHER. Again....gotta point to INTELLIGENCE again to explain this inconsistency .

In reality, the "New Year" shouldn't begin in January...but sometime in March or April. On January 1st, Winter is just getting started and a lot of animals are hibernating and plant life is dying. How the hell is that a "new year"??? Around the end of March is when things start to thaw out, RENEW, and REJUVENATE, and the land turns green again. That's when the "new" year should start, in my opinion. But all it takes is some slim White man in a top hat and a cane to TELL you "Happy New Year"....and you're half drunk spilling drinks all over the damn place celebrating. 🤨Some of yall will let these White folks trick you into going along with ANYTHING....lol

Problem is..... Most of our people OVER 40 are either alone or in a highly dysfunctional relationship. We're not talking about old or elderly people, we're talking about relatively young and middle aged people too! They aren't alone because a spouse passed away on them. They are alone because they KILLED their spouse....stabbed the nigga on Thanks Giving weekend over some text messages! Or just bitter as hell and don't trust anyone and can't get along with anybody. Senior citizens who have invested in family and community should have enough folks around them to avoid loneliness especially if their spouse has passed away. Come on brutha, you know better than that....lol.

Chev This is why Black people believe Jesus was born December 25. LOL. This is why so many of them believe in Jesus PERIOD. Because if it weren't for White folks, the name "Jesus" would be unknown to Black people and every other person of color. They introduced him and all of the information about him to us. Absolutely, @Pioneer1 This is where the White Supremacist were able to define Black people as being 2/3rds of an human being. They lie, and many of us have accepted their lies, then they mock us and then made a law about us being 2/3rds human. Crazy! Another lie they promote, and a lot of our people believe in...is the theory of human evolution. The Theory of Evolution is racist in it's conception. It says that humans evolved either from apes or an ape-like ancestor and that Africans are the "missing link" between that ape ancestor and the "more evolved" White folks. Racist as hell, yet a lot of so-called educated Black folks support and believe in it. ProfD My brotha, I'm always going to push back on the indictment of AfroAmerican intelligence or the lack thereof. That's ok my good brutha you can push back all day, you'll meet NO resistance from me....lol. There's an old saying, "Those that KNOW better...DO better" Another closely related old saying, "Those who CAN...DO" I've come to the conclusion long ago that many of our people behave the way they do simply because they don't know any better. If you have another theory, please enlighten me...lol "Uhhhhh..... Na nah na naaaaah!" Can a man do more than what's in his mental capacity TO do? If we were THAT smart, if we were THAT intelligent collectively....wouldn't we be in a better condition than we are today? IMO, AfroAmericans aren't lacking intelligence moreso than they are paralyzed by fear. Well..... What causes fear? There are many different causes, some logical....others illogical...but the main cause of fear is IGNORANCE....not knowing. Not knowing what to expect. Not knowing what to do about whatever problem you're going through. That's where INTELLIGENCE comes in. If we were INTELLIGENT enough...if we had sense enough, we'd: 1. Have advanced technology and weaponry to defend ourselves from anybody individually or collectively who tries to aggress against our community. 2. Not fear White folks or any other race, because we'd be just as if not more powerful than them. Secure in the knowledge that they can do us no harm. I'm sure you all remember those days when it wasn't cool to be smart. Intelligent folks would tuck their intellect like a chain to avoid being confronted about it. I remember those school days where it was cool to be a fool and considered not so cool to be "brainy" and smart. THAT was stupid right there. That's a good example of why I question the intelligence of so many of our people because I don't know of any White or Asian community where being stupid is considered a virtue....even in childhood. A LITTLE fool will grow up to be a BIG fool. "Uhhhhhhh......."

I'm wondering if the media has a major role in the lack of FUNCTIONAL Black relationships....especially in old age. You look on television or in the movies how often to you see two Black people....man and woman....actually loving and getting along with eachother in a sexual relationship? It's been said that there are more Black people in interracial and homosexual relationships than straight Black relationships on television now, although I haven't really investigated this claim to see if it was true. They got rid of The Cosby Show and Family Matters back in the 90s. We been missed George Jefferson coming home calling for his wife after a long day at his business............ "Better leave my Weezy alone!" So you have an entire generation or two who grew up without even SEEING a positive Black couple in a relationship on television or anywhere else.

Now look at those sisters performing. Look at the style, the grace, the beauty. No vulgar lyrics, twerking, butt clapping, grunting and growling like men, etc.....just women looking like and acting like ladies. What happened to our community? 😪

ProfD Now that boredom part is really hitting close to home, because when I was younger many people....especially AfroAmericans....considered me boring because I didn't find the self-destructive silliness that a lot of our people engaged in fun or exciting. I didn't mind being seen as boring UNLESS it was by a female I really found attractive. Then I would get so frustrated I'd break pencils in my fist over how so many of our beautiful sisters just loved dysfunction and mayhem. Now I see boring as GOOD. Because boring is SAFE. Boring keeps you alive. Out of the hospital. and out of jail....lol. Check out the Negroes who are always out looking for some excite men and see where they usually end up.