Pioneer1

Kareem I follow them all and find something informative from every one of them. I love Tariq's history lessons, Dr. Umar's desire to build a cirriculum tailored for AfroAmerican youth, Antonio and Yvette's wisdom in building a platform specifically ADOS so as not to confuse our cause and plight with others, I just wish they would focus on the REAL enemy and stop being so petty with eachother. Tariq is my boy but it's was just down right trifflin' the way he ran off and started an FBA hashtag movement knowing damn well it would conflict with the ADOS and cause division. Jealous and petty negro bullshit like that that slows down the progress of the AfroAmerican community. It's funny how Caucasians of different nationalities and religions can put all of it to the side to work on a particular project but AfroAmericans of the same religions, same culture, and same condition STILL often find ways to fight and argue. Kareem, another sister you should check out is Mechee X (who fell out with her once mentor Boyce Watkins over MORE negro bullshit) . She cusses like a sailor and sounds ghetto as hell but all it takes is just 15 minutes of listening to her to realize she's a leader with something to say.

Troy on man... You actually believe that some white men have arranges for these contest to be won by Black women to cull the Black population? Seriously? I'm not sure, but it's a definately possibility and I'm inclined to believe that this is the case. Black men (atleast most) have been praising the beauty of Black women for atleast 50 decades now while Caucasians stood by the sidelines and said nothing. Now for the past 10 or 12 years all of a sudden they've been "discovering" how beautiful Black women are and singing "soul sister" songs to them. You tell me why after all this time of ignoring our sisters they are JUST NOW starting to recognize them? You are giving white folks too much credit. I didn't GIVE it to them....lol. They've EARNED it with their history of shrewedness and cunning. Lucifer himself could use a few lessons from these people on the art of deception. Good old fashioned colonialism has far more effective. What do you think THIS is, we're talking about? One of the most effective tricks of colonnialists is DIVISION between their subjects. They are attempting to take African women, seperate them, and turn them against their own men......a typical divide and conquer tactic. Sorry man I simply don't believe that white folks created AIDS as a weapon to kill Black people. AIDS is just a collection of symptoms. Technically, if a person's immune system becomes weak through ANY disease ot the point that it no longer works aren they acquire a host of other diseases....they have AIDS. But HIV is the VIRUS that destroys the immune system that leads to AIDS and the virus WAS invented by Caucasians. Why would they invest so much time and energy looking for a cure and developing medications that render aids far less lethal than smoking cigarettes which kills 10 times as many people worldwide. They're not looking for the cure, they already have it. Nearly every public university as well as scores of other private institutions have research laboratories where they're constantly doing "research" for this....that.....and the other. Do you seriously believe that after 40 years of research by the dozens of the top institutions of this nation that they just having "discovered" a cure to HIV and these other diseases yet? Man, sometimes I think you express these opinions simply to get a reaction.....lol. You operate a site populated by strongly opinioned pro-Black people and you get on a chair and stand before them proudly proclaiming that you don't believe in any conspiracy to harm or kill AfroAmericans and that the entire thing is just ridiculous......and with a smile on your face you sit down and wait for the reaction, lol. Flava Flav would say, "A yo Chuck, is he serious man?"

　 Troy Man this is hyperbolic. Thinking people know better than to prejudge an entire group of people based upon the behavior of a few individuals. Besides the most dysfunction behavior, as you define it, is engaged in by white men. This isn't hyperbole, it's a sociological fact that most people who come from COLLECTIVIST societies tend to judge groups by the INDIVIDUALS they meet. If you don't understand this concept, how do you think the world feels about America with TRUMP as the head of it? How did you think the world felt about America with BUSH as the head 15 years ago? People in other countries were constantly asking what was wrong with the AMERICAN PEOPLE that they would allow such an idiot to become their leader. AfroAmericans must shake off this extreme "individualism" they learned from Caucasians and stop being so self-centered and concerned ONLY with matters that concern us personally. We need to seriously concern ourselves with how OTHER people think, especially when they think of us. I used to think it was wrong to judge an entire group based on the behavior of just a few people but the older I got the more I began to understand why this is done. When people from other nations come to America and see AfroAmerican men hanging around on the street begging for dope money, older people being disrespected in the neighborhoods, or grown men walking around with blonde hair and limp wrists acting all sissified and feminine in a flamboyant and comical manner they not only judge THOSE INDIVIDUAL AfroAmericans who are behaving in such a disgraceful manner but they also make judgements about AfroAmericans as a whole! Wanna know why? Because they figured if AfroAmericans as a group had any honor and pride the majority of them wouldn't ALLOW a handful to make fools of themselves in public and disgrace the majority! An the individual is a reflection of the whole to various degrees. Some of the shit that goes on in Black neighborhoods would NEVER go on in East Asian or Arab communities in America because these communities tend to have so much of a code among themselves that if just ONE person attempted to engage in such behavior every man who sees it would feel OBLIGATED to confront the offenders on sight! No need to have peace rallies and meetings, every man who sees it will immediately TAKE ACTION. Go to Korean town in Los Angeles and get on the bus and all of the young Koreans know they BETTER get up and let an elder Korean sit down first and if they don't all the other Koreans who see it will give them a mean look, say something, and then CONFRONT them over it!

Chev I'm not sure I understand your point here. My next statements should help you to understand my point better. I disagree. NOw, you have spoken about how Black people existed long ago, then how do you explain their existence in a world with White people? You're attempting to start an entirely different subject. We weren't talking about how Black people came to exist with White people. We can. But we weren't. We were talking about whether or not Africans suffered from SELF HATRED before Caucasians existed, and I maintain that it hasn't based on the research and studies I've done. 　 I don't understand you Why not? I'm writing in English...lol. But, this concept has to have an origin, a start point when it first became significant. So where does this issue of Colorism begin? If you believe that a White child acts a certain way about racism because it is her nature, then I think we need to understand when it began. I BELIEVE it began with Yacub on the island of Pelan. He instituted a doctrine that demonized dark skin and praised light skin as "angelic" and taught his followers to maintain this doctrine generation after generation.

African women are clearly among the most beautiful AND attractive women on the planet. Even when they weren't considered the most beautiful they were the most sexually attractive and Caucasians had a hard time keeping their hands off of them. However like Chev said I suspect a political motivation behind this sudden praise of Black women by the Caucasian media. It's not just with the beauty shows, but with politics and enetertainment where the media seems to be singling out African women and making a distinct separation between them and African men for praise.....which I suspect is a divide and conquer tactic. What they're really pushing is for African women to abandon the "less than adequate" African man and either go lesbian and get with another African woman OR get with a Caucasian man. Either way, it's all geared toward culling the African population and by preventing more African babies from being born.

Chev Why have you not addressed Black people enslaving and hating other Black people? Because it's not the subject of this thread....lol. If you POINT to the ORIGIN of this self-hatred that many Black people possess, being with White people, you are wrong and you are not going far enough back in time. The hatred found in Black people didn't begin with Caucasians, but the SELF-hatred found among so many of our people did. Before Caucasians existed there were wars and other forms of conflict, but they arose out of jealousy, greed, ect.....not self-hatred. You do realize that the ORIGIN of Caucasians would be A BLACK ORIGIN, right? .......you DO realize you're mixing apples and cucumbers, right? Don't mix the origin of Caucasians with the origins of the psychology used BY Caucasians to manipulate and dominate much of the global population of color.

Troy While our government serves as Amazon's hand maiden Some have argued that Facism officially begins with the merger of governments and the mega-corporations who buy into and influence them. Clearly when you have major public necessities like transporation, communications, and energy supplies being owned by private entities like Amtrack/United Airlines, Sprint/Verizon, and PG&E instead of the government itself.....one has to wonder how long it will be before the postal service is replaced by Amazon and UPS.

They say the grass in greener on the other side.....lol. In the United States I haven't found a huge difference in the way Caucasians and other races behave and treat AfroAmericans regardless of region. Perhaps in the South Caucasians are a LITTLE more respectful because we are the majority population down there, other than that it's not a huge difference. In Canada and Europe I HAVE seen a major difference in how AfroAmericans are treated, especially AfroAmerican men. It was much easier getting women in Canada and Europe than in the United States. Infact, in most cases it was effortless because as soon as they heard you speak they were attracted to you and came (no pun intended) to you! 　 　 Troy Technology has enabled racism spread faster. I think you're right. The PERCEIVED anonymity of being on-line has emboldened a lot more people to not only express the truth of how they really feel but also seek out the company of others who feel the same way. It looks to me that that the racism among young Caucasian men under 30 seems to be bolder and more striking than even the racism of their fathers. If you get on an elevator with an older White man atleast he'll smile and perhaps try to strike up a conversation......a younger White man usually won't even look at you directly but will stare out of the corner of his eye, won't say a word, and won't crack a smile. You can only wonder what he's chatting about with his friends online.

Kareem You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. My deep voice scared white people and/or made them uncomfortable at my last office jobs years ago. I'm not a tall, imposing brotha. But I lift weights and keep in shape. I started wearing glasses instead of contacts to look less "intimidating" because the job paid well and I was willing at that time to play along. But then white chicks start asking you if you want to hang out with their "gay friends." Been almost six years since I've worked in an office setting. I could never do it again. I knew early on in life that I wouldn't fit in with "corporate America" given my political and social views as well as just my personality and inability to easily conform to majority values. The good thing is I've always known how to stay out of trouble and avoid it when I see it coming so I've always managed to keep the jobs I wanted while a lot of brothers ended up getting fired for falling into the traps set for them to fail. What I wish is that more AfroAmerican men would stick together and open up their own businesses so that we could employ eachother and not deal with the racism and insecurities of working with and around Caucasians. "And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah...By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands." Thus Zionist Israeli "Jews" (Ashkenazis) are Gentiles according to their own Torah. But that passage only appears in the King James Version. The "isle of the Gentiles" part is completely eliminated in the more popular NIV and ESV. That term "gentile" is a Latinized translation from the Hebrew word "goyim" which is the term for non-Jewish Caucasians. If you look up the definition they'll say it means "nations" but it really means the other tribes of Caucasians other than the Jewish tribes. Up to that point, all I’d been with was white girls. I didn’t know Muslim/Arab culture, so I was very cautious. You obviously hadn't heard about the "honor killing" that often goes on with a lot of Arab and Muslim women from those Middle Eastern countries. The men tend to be very jealous and some will even kill their daughters, sisters, and even mothers if they suspect them of having sex.....especially with a Black man. Troy In my Riley Freeman voice, "Nah, nigga dat's gay." Seriously, of yhe top of my head I can't think of any. Lol........ Didn't Omarr Tyree used to put out a lot of romance novels? I remember seeing his name a lot in the novel section of bookstores, although wasn't sure of the nature of his material.

I understand white imperialism, because it tends to be consistent. What I don't understand is why so many AfroAmericans are suprised at the behavior of facebook and Twitter.....even by now with all that has been uncovered about them and their purposes. These networks were started and are operated by racist young Caucasians who are taking your information and using it to dominate and master over you while you receive little benefit in return besides...perhaps......a little more popularity or infamy depending on how you look at it. Look at all of the people who have lost their jobs, been arrested and imprisoned, and in many cases even KILLED over what they've posted on facebook or tweeted on Twitter. Contrast that with the amount of lives saved or millionaires made by facebook and Twitter and you'll see my point.

I don't think this was just a coincidence. Especially him being the son of a cop. If White racists are trying to infiltrate law enforcement, they are probably trying to remove AfroAmerican and other police officers of color simuetaneously as part of the same agenda. He probably KNEW this brother was going to be there and say something and he probably played the music loud on purpose to provoke a confrontation as an excuse to take him out.

Kareem Really sad part is that there's no way to prove it in a court of law, What about starting to charge them with Child Neglect? Speaking from a layperson's point of view it seems that if you gave all of the children in class a basic IQ test and make sure the teacher is competent.....if a child or certain percentage of children in the class are NOT passing their tests or graduating from that class then perhaps the teacher may have to be investigated and/or charged with child neglect. Perhaps that may sound a little harsh, but it would be a good way to nail down racists in our educational system and either force them to straighten up or face criminal charges. This is so important, yet ignored in our lives. Love that you took the initiative to do this. I HATED math up until 6th grade. Then I had my first and only black teacher in my childhood show up in town who taught math in our school. He also happened to be a man. Didn't realize until way later in life. But the reason I did so well in math that year and thereafter is because I wanted to impress him. He also put me in the best position to shine and would give me all kinds of encouragement. He would even say things like "yeah only Kareem and I understand that" as he used some random references to goose grease for common colds and James Brown songs. It made me smile and feel confident. He'd also pressure the rest of the class. "Why is Kareem acing these test and everyone else is barely getting by?" It was pressure, but good pressure on me. He passed away a few years ago and I went to his funeral. Black kids NEED to see faces like their own to succeed. It also helps to have dedicated, awesome teachers. I've said it time and time again, ONLY a Black man can properly handle other Black males! Whether we're talking about coaches, teachers, police officers, or even managers.....from what I've observed only a Black male can reach, get into the minds of, and properly discipline and teach/train other Black males because we KNOW how they think! Black males know eachother and what makes eachother tick. Today we have a "zero tolerance" policy that kicks out boys for any type of aggression, but most Black men know how to separate the boys who are a serious threat from those who are just trying to "flex" and act up. This is why we need more STRAIGHT AfroAmerican male teachers (no froot-loops) to teach and train your boys to be men. I think this was common in a lot of black households prior to the turn of the century. That, or we just had similar upbringings. We weren't rich by any means,. But I remember my mom and dad arguing one day because my dad spent of 1/2 of his paycheck on a set of Worldbook Encyclopedias. But then I remember the two of them being calm and being happy with the purchase. I read every volume from cover to cover; always had those books by my bedside. Even my teachers were fascinated with some of the random facts and stories I could summons from nowhere Same here my brother. My parents invested in an encyclopedia and a "how to" set of books designed just for children for me and my brothers. I always loved reading. Didn't love school, but loved reading. Unlike your teachers who were fascinated with your knowledge, most of my Caucasian teachers from time to time would PRETEND to be impressed with my being the first to raise my hand and having the correct answers but pretty soon would start ignoring me and picking the girls who raised their hands.....especially when I got into middle school and my voice started getting deep. I see this name come up here and in other black forums. I honestly don't know who this is...until now. I see he was born in the 1920s and has lived through all the hell and high water of white imperialism. I was wondering if I should create a Wikipedia page for this man? Of course the Wiki-Jews will say he's not prominent enough. But it seems he is to many black folks. Mr. Fuller is one of the most fascinating intellectuals I've came across in the past 20 or 30 years. He is Dr. Frances Cress Welsing's mentor and the man she got much of her inspiration and information for fighting global racism. I actually put him up there with Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X) in terms of exactness and keeness with his philosophy and wit. He has interviews going back 30 years or more but here is one of his most recent ones a week ago. Keep in mind this man is about 90s years old and his mind is STILL as sharp as a razor:

Kareem Bruh, I don't know why I chuckled when I read this! Laughter is good for the soul so I appreciate it. Sometimes all we can do is laugh at this situation. I joined them for as long as I could. I mean, you can't blame black people for trying to survive. But white people control everything and no other race is dog loyal to them like we are. I would probably have a major talk show on satellite or terrestrial radio in a major city by now if I bit my tongue more in my journalism days. Guess some aren't meant to be tamed. Well, I've never been an Uncle Tom or Sellout but from time to time I've tried to "skin and grin" and get along with Caucasians for various purposes but it seems like some of them just wouldn't accept MY "skinnin and grinnin".....lol. 23 year old Pioneer at one job: "Good morning Mr. Nowicki! Thanks for the opportunity to prove myself and you won't be disappointed!" Mr. Nowicki: "Yeah...well... I don't need all of the smiles and sweet talk, just do your damn job and everything will be fine" Pioneer: "OooKaaaaaaaaay. Well, I tried to be nice but if you don't like kindness then fuck it. ....can't even be nice to people now a days" Mr. Nowicki: "Oh I'm sorry guy, I didn't mean to offend you. Look man....I was a little pissed about something personal that happened this morning, I didn't mean to come off as an asshole. But yeah, I look forward to your performance.....that's why we chose ya!" .....lol. Being nice to Mr. Nowicki didn't seem to help, but when I got angry and cussed his ass out I got better results. Man, I don't know what it is but I seem to get good results from these bastards when I get RAW with them. Being nice don't always work....lol. One of my favorite lines to ungrateful Caucasians who don't accept my civility is to wait until some REAL niggaz get in your face and cuss you out and maybe even go upside your head and maybe you'll appreciate a Black man with sense next time. I've thought about that. But why me? I still have all my old handwritten journals about it. I'm a nobody. Why wouldn't they choose someone influential Again, gotta go back to the Bible....lol. It reminds me of a scripture in the New Testament where Jesus and some of his disciples came across a blind man. One of the disciples asked him who sinned in this man's family that he was born blind.....his mother, father, or grandparents? (Apparently some Jews as that time believed that people born with disabilities got them as a result of Divine punishment because their ancestors sinned.) Jesus told them no one sinned, but he was born blind so that the Son of Man can display his power and give the man sight! In other words, sometimes the Divine will purposely choose a person whom society least expects for the purpose of displaying the magnitude and ability of Divine Power and how it can transform ANYONE in ANY situation.

　 Kareem I'm from Whiteyville. So when I went to jail during my protesting/noise-making days in college, I got my first real glimpse of black America other than family reunions in the South. There were MANY grown men and 18-year-old kids that didn't know how to read. IN THE USA?? I truly couldn't believe it. It broke my heart. I took one young kid (crackhead) under my wing and started teaching him ABCs and multiplication tables. As soon as our "classes" started, several brothers started gathering around, listening intently. It was the craziest sh** I've experienced to this day. It just hurts to see you say this because I know its true. I've had the same encounters with witnessing the tear-jerking illiteracy found among many of our young brothers and sisters. I even met a young sister in her early 20s who had a habit of saying "the goodest". When she first said it I was waiting on her to laugh or smile because I thought she was joking....sad. Through out much of my work experience of the past I have taken it upon myself to "train/translate" job duties to young Black males in order to keep them on the force. I noticed that in the various jobs I had many young AfroAmericans and especially males who were "trained" by Caucasians would last only a few weeks before getting fired or quitting out of frustration....even when it came to simple jobs like washing dishes. So what I started doing is convincing management to let ME train these young men in whatever job has to be done and when I trained them everyone one of them not only stayed but became high performers on those jobs! I suspected even back then....and Neely Fuller Jr. has confirmed....that either consciously or subconsciously Caucasians were PURPOSELY mis-training these AfroAmericans and talking to them in a way that was confusing to them and leaving out vital information about how to do these jobs hoping they would perform poorly that they would have an excuse to fire them. I strongly suspect the same thing is going on in the educational system. Most Caucasian teachers can't be trusted to properly teach AfroAmerican youth. Why would they train your young people to grow up and compete with them? They instinctively know we excell in everying we engage in.....good or bad....so why would they give our young people a proper education only to grow up and compete with THEIR young people? They are clearly PURPOSELY miseducating many of our youth and pumping many of them up with drugs to further destroy their brains. That's why I say we should HOME EDUCATE our children or send them to our own school where they will be taught properly. I didn't learn shit within the confines of elementary or high school. My MOTHER taught me how to read and count before I even started school and everything else I learned academically I learned on my own. Like you said about many of our people doing better BEFORE integration. If you talk to older Black folks over 65 who grew up in the South BEFORE integration and were forced to go to those old one-room shacks for their education.....not only is their vocabulary better but their spelling and handwriting is much better than many of the youth of today! Why? Because they had Black teachers who actually CARED about them and taught them and instilled in them that they had to be atleast twice as good as Caucasians. Them "old timers" from back in the day...(holding back the emotions)....man I love them brothers and sisters!

You're just witnessing how thorough the brainwashing of Christianity is in our people not just in the United States but in much of the Caribbean and Africa. Many of those people are more religious than AfroAmericans and they not only believe in and eat up every word the Caucasian missionaries tell them....but many of them actually believe in and venerate the picture of Cacuasian "Jesus" and "saints" given to them by the colonizers decades ago!

Kareem If what you say is true, then wouldn't "ignorance" in a sense be bliss? I mean, if things are destined to be this way anyway because of overwhelming factors beyond the control of any handful of individuals. Perhaps the Sambos and Sell-Outs have it right all along, since you can't beat 'em.....hell...JOIN 'EM! 　 requirement. A really cute Lebanese girl and I used to study together. She was a righteous woman; used to point out false translation in both the Qu'ran and Bible. She spoke Hebrew and Arabic. Wish she lived here because we had a deep connection. I miss her a lot. A lot of Arab women are sexy, and it's one of the reasons Arab men try so hard to keep them away from AfroAmerican men and even out of the country in many cases. They have a lot of African genes that give them nice figures but their culture enforces a kind of gentleness and shyness about them that I find really attractive. They say in France some of the Black and Arab young men are fighting with eachother because a lot of the Arab women there like and identify with the Kardashians (I guess because of their dark hair and full features) and they are running out trying to get themselves Black boyfriends like the Kardashians...lol. I've acquired several of the "lost" books, all in Hebrew, and paid unbiased college students who spoke Hebrew to translate them for me. You immediately know why the Book of Thomas and the Book of Enoch were eliminated when you read them. I've read the English translation of both the Gospel of Thomas as well as the Book of Enoch. Can't say I believe fully in either one but the Gospel of Thomas was instrumental in me actually making the decision to leave Christianity years ago. 　 I'm not all that concerned with the purity of drugs I took in college. I just wanted to make clear that what happened in my childhood was not a drug-induced hallucination. The brother I encountered was black with dredlocks. He also spoke with an unfamiliar accent. He definitely wasn't American, that's for sure. OK, I gotcha. Well my brother, from what you've told me.....you may have actually had an encounter with an Angel. It reminds me of something the the Honorable Elijah Muhammad taught concerning Jesus. I'm not sure if it's true or not but he said that when Jesus was a little kid he was taught by an older MAN who would come to him from time to time imparting knowledge upon him and teaching him various things. In Nation of Islam theology "angels" are actually human beings. Infact, many of the beings historically called "angels" in the Bible were for all intents and purposes HUMANS with advanced power and knowledge.

It's an on-line course that operates out of a convenience store and promises a "Master's degree in Fine Arts". Unless you're a 70 year old wealthy White woman looking for something to do between yoga classes.......one would be hard pressed to find a bigger waste of time and money.

Troy If you look at their accomplishments on this planet, man they've EARNED it.....lol. Yes there are naturally psychadelic mushrooms, but just like whiskey is wine modified to have an unnaturally high alcohol content and heroin is opium modified to have an unnaturally high active content.....most of the mushrooms consumed today are genetically modified and manipulated to have a very high psylocyblin content. Thus, they are not considered "natural" in the true sense of the word.

Kareem Well brother, if "they" are here and on the scene and ready to help us (or atleast you and me and those who want it) I'm ready to receive it! We need help TODAY in this world to increase our success, heal our problems, establish justice, and defeat these wicked racist demons who have been plaguing this planet for centuries. Troy and others say it's just a movie and receieved too much hype but the main reason I liked Black Panther was because it tapped into a fantasy that I've had for decades, which is our own powerful Black nation strong enough to help. That movie put the question into the minds of millions of African people what would happen if there really WAS a "Wakanda" that could come to our rescue and help us deal with our enemies. I'm not sure if "they/them" are for all people or just African people or people of color but it appears that the Caucasians ALREADY have some sort of power or force helping them out in this world....and have had it for quite a while now. That power and force doesn't just speak to them in riddles or dreams but helps them build successful economies, advanced militaries, and massive buildings and skyscrapers. They seem to have some sort of "connect", my question is where is OUR "connection"? I thought I was a Biblical expert, but don't recall this at all. I just read what you were talking about. If you haven't done so already, if you REALLY want to know the Bible and get a deeper meaning of it's passages then you should study the original Hebrew and Greek scripts ! It'll rearrange your views on who man is and what angels are and what prophecy is. I read the Bible from cover to cover and uncovered a lot that preachers never talked about, but it wasn't until I started reading and comparing the scriptures in Hebrew noticing how the various translators who translated it into English would deceptively MIS-translate certain words, switch them around, translate the same word in Hebrew into 2 or 3 different words in English or vice versa...that I realized that these scriptures were being used to deceieve. The only hard drugs I've ever done in my life were psychedelics - mushrooms and acid. I only did those a few times in the college years. So I know what "trippin" feels like. What happened to me as a child was most certainly not a trip. I felt in complete control. Did not feel intoxicated in any way. Just like hard liquor, 'shrooms and acid are synthetic or extracted "drugs" devised by the hands of Caucasians so ofcourse you're not going to get the pure or full experience. Almost everything they touch, they pervert. Things end up totally off-track from the way they were designed to go. Opium was designed to take away pain and the coaca plant was designed to stimulate thought and give you energy but when they perverted it into heroin and cocain respectively they became weapons for destruction. From what I've heard if you go among the medicine men/women of the original peoples of Africa and the Americas and take their potions you get the full spiritual experiences.

Hmmmm...... Perhaps it's because I'm not the most academic person in the world, but this sounds like a big ball of confusion. First of all, it appears that Ms Cullors has way too many titles. Community organizing experience tells me that if she sincerely wants to solve the problems she's involved in then she needs to focus on only a couple or maybe 3 at a time. Secondly, what EXACTLY is this program suppose to foster? The article said: "The program, strategically designed by Cullors and Prescott, is the first of its kind in the nation to focus a curriculum on the intersection of art, social justice and community organizing that extends beyond the page — creating a pathway to positively respond to social and environmental issues in ways that inspire and mobilize community-based solutions. Surely I'm not the only one who was left scratching my head as to what that means....lol. Exactly what type of results are this program supposed to accomplish operating out of some convenience store in South Central? It sounds to m like Ms Cullors and these other people have so much grant/donor money that they don't know what to do with it all and have resorted to making up stuff to do rather than wisely devising something tangible and effective to actually help the community.

Kareem Your experience reminds me of what I read in the book of Revelations when John was given something to eat by an "angel" and it caused him to see visions and get "carried away in the spirit". For years I've wondered whether or not he was given a type of drug like DMT or something even more potent.

Kareem Oh trust me, I would very much like to hear about the spiritual encounters of other people because in my opinion it's closer to the "truth" than most of these organized religions that just feed the people a bunch of ritualistic dogma to keep them in check and suppressed. It's funny you mention DMT because I've been doing some light research about that chemical for about 11 or 12 years now and how this chemical that is naturally found in our own bodies is related to our spirituality. I study some of the work of Dr. Rick Strausman. I respect your right to privacy, go ahead brother and share what you feel comfortable sharing.

Interesting topic. I think one of the problems is the media and how it likes to stereotype people and especially racial groups as "looking" a certain way. I've seen Puerto Ricans as White as Celine Dion and as Black as Wesley Snipes, but when you look at the ones who end up on television they have the Alexandria O Cortez/ Jennifer Lopez look.....basically a Caucasian with a little bit of color mixed in with them. Believe it or not I've actually thought about this subject quite seriously and how it impacts AfroAmericans. As a kid growing up we had both Puerto Ricans and Mexicans but the majority of Latinos were Puerto Ricans who obvioiusly were more African and like us. But as I got older and moved away and would go back and forth to Detroit I saw how the Mexican population (many of them illegal) started slowly eclipsing and out numbering the Puerto Rican population in the city. This was no accident. I think the government purposely pick and chose the TYPE of Latinos they want to come to this nation and they make sure there as little connection between them and us as possible. They wanted more Mexicans in this nation because unlike the Puerto Ricans who tended to associate closer with AfroAmericans in terms of dress, food, music, and other characteristics - most Mexicans and other Central Americans have no African ancestry or connection with us, don't care about voting or Civil Rights (except their own) and just want to work for Caucasians under any conditions. Not all obviously, but too many have this mentality. I believe we should get involved much more in the immigration process of this nation to ensure more Latinos who look like us....AfroAmericans....are coming here. This means more Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Brazilians, and Hatians. But before they come we must make sure they have a proper understanding of who they will align with. We need more allies, not more enemies who will just side with racists.

Ldvirtue As on point as you are about self-hatred and how destructive people of color can be toward eachother......atleast we can point to the ORIGIN of this self-hatred. We can point to slavery and colonialism and religious indoctrination....not just in America by the Europeans but even in Africa by the Arabs.....that spans centuries and even thousands of years. But it DOES have an origin with a definately time of inception with contact with the Caucasian who first originated that hatred among us. But who or what started it among THEM? Who or what enslaved, colonized, or influenced the Caucasians mind to make them want to enslave Africans? Who or what enslaved, colonized, or influenced the Caucasians mind to make them want to commit genocide against Native Americans? Who or what enslaved, colonized, or influenced the Caucasians mind against the other peoples around the world they have been subjegating for millenia without any apparent provocation from their victims besides simply existing? And the end of the day you may have to confront the simple fact that this hatred, violence, and lust for domination and mistreatment of people of color is part of their dna and genetic make-up and doesn't have to be taught.

Welcome to the site sis. You are absolutely correct, what we call "soul food" is basically slave food and much of it and especially the way it's cooked is not healthy for our people. But it is very tastey compared to most Caucasian foods like hamburgers and hotdogs, especially when it's prepared the traditional way. The worse thing about REAL Soulfood is the high fat/grease content. Soulfood is loaded with fat and salt and a lot of calories because it was designed by and for people who were working all day from sun up to sun down so they needed those calories. Today most of our people aren't doing that type of grueling work for those long hours and don't need nearly that high of calorie content to sustain them. But it's become a habit. With that all said, as bad as it may be....until we can establish something better... I still promote traditional Soulfood and think we should have Soulfood restaurants all over this nation because it IS part of our culture and everyone needs something of their own for thier psychological esteem. I like how you realize that we as AfroAmericans don't have an actual culture and that this is a major reason why our people continue to have conflicts with other ethnic groups including even other Africans who come into contact with us. I've come to the same conclusions. Many of these other ethnic groups don't understand why our people act the way we act and are in the shape we're in and unless this is EXPLAINED to them in a way they can understand it, these conflicts will continue. But have you considered another reason why AfroAmericans often clash with other groups? I believe that another problem we as AfroAmericans often class with other ethnic groups is because we are one of the few ethnic groups who are openly opposed to Caucasian domination (white supremacy)! As strange as it may seem, it appears that most people around the world don't see Caucasians or their civilization as an enemy or even a problem but to the contrary, many see them as saviors and angels. Abroad as well as in America they see Caucasians as their reason for having a good job, driving a car, eating pizza and other foods they enjoy and when they hear AfroAmericans complain about living with or under "White Supremacy" they often get confused and angry and see our people as "ungrateful" for our opportunities.