Pioneer1

Xeon OMG! Seriously??? Why should represent anyone?? Because by human nature you tend to look up to and immulate people who LOOK LIKE YOU. If you are Black and/or DARK SKINNED and the only positive (and beauty and sexuality are positives) images you see are represented by WHITE or LIGHT people then you grow up with damaged self esteem. 　 Wow! Here we go again! Ya now, I really don’t follow your logic. I really don’t. If Niki, Beyonce or Amber Rose are perceived as being attractive –why is race politics being injected into their appeal? OK.....here's the logic. Race is being injected because Nicki, Amber, and Beyonce are all NON-BLACK women who are being marketed heavily towards BLACK PEOPLE and especially BLACK GIRLS. And that marketing of non-Black women to young girls who look nothing like them is very damaging and ruinous to the self-esteem and psyche of these young girls. 　 . For example, a young black woman posted a video on YouTube, complaining that Beyonce makes her and black women who look like her feel undesirable and unattractive. WTF??!! YOU DON’T SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS TYPE OF NONSENSICAL JUVENILE THINKING? I'm actually glad who ADMITTED and ARTICULATED her frustration in this way. I'm proud of her for doing this. Most women just bottle it up without admitting it and their frustrations are released in other ways. She's being honest....and is justified in her frustration...at the fact that the promotion of these very light non-Black women are damaging the self esteem of Black girls in a society that promotes the image of White women as the most desirable. Yes, they are attractive but it was their craft that got them where they are. The looks was a big benefit and perhaps had they not been attractive they might not enjoy the success they have. But this unfortunate protocol of having to be attractive in order to enjoy success is not limited to Negroes. You do realize this don’t you? There are plenty of DARK SKINNED Black women who are just as beautiful and talented but they weren't promoted by the WHITE MEDIA EXECUTIVES who run the mainstream media. Look at Kelly Rowland. She's more beautiful than Beyonce and can pretty much sing just as well....why wasn't SHE promoted the way Beyonce was when Destiny's Child broke up? I have no idea how you are going to convince the world that what they perceive as attractive is misguided and wrong. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the consternation of dark complexioned BW. But it’s like convincing women that given all things being equal, a man that is 5’1" is equally attractive as a man that is 6’1". Good luck with that….. Well, first of all a man's height isn't the ONLY thing about him that women look for when it comes to physical attractiveness. I've seen plenty of inshape muscular SHORT men holding it down with beautiful women while tall fat sloppy men are home alone jacking off because the women don't want them. Height is just one of MANY physical features that makes a man attractive and physical features is just one of MANY characteristics that women look for in men. Infact, I think a man's height matters more when dealing with OTHER MEN than it does when dealing with women.....but I could be wrong. As far as convincing the world about who is and isn't attractive....... There's no need to convince or sway the world, I say just leave them alone and stop brainwashing them through the media and NATURE will eventually take it's course and what NATURE has determined to be the most attractive women and men will eventually win out. Which means women won't be choosed based on their skin color or hair texture, but by how wide their hips are, how healthy their skin is, how white their teeth and eyes are, and other attributes of health and fertility that have little to do with race.

smarter on this form of intelligence. Audience: Notice he didn't just say smarter. Lest anyone get the wrong impression about Pioneer's overall intelligence....he made it clear by saying smarter only on THIS form of intelligence.....lol.

If I were to organize a football rally, it wouldn't be in support of Kaepernick. I'm not trying to hate on the brother, he's doing his thing. But again, I can't figure out what his aim is or what his goals are and for Spike Lee to get in on this I think is a waste of publicity and effort. If Spike Lee wants to organize a rally to raise awareness about an injustice in the world of sports he should start with a rally DEMANDING COLLEGE PLAYERS GET PAID. These universities all around the nation are making BILLIONS of dollars off of the Black football and basketball players that basically play for free. Where is all this money going? It sure as hell ain't going back into the universities themselves because in schools both public and private the tuition keeps going up higher and higher every year. The Black college athlete has to be one of the most exploited athletes in sports......Spike should hold a rally over THAT first.

Look..... I'm not trying to turn this issue into a "Black woman bashing" session nor am I trying to start a gender war. MY PERCEIVED lack of support for positive AfroAmerican men by many if not most AfroAmerican women is just ONE of the problems I see in the Black community....among many others. I've been wanting to bring this issue up for a while but because Cynique was the only woman on this board, I didn't feel like it would be fair. Now that Mel is posting more regularly I felt a little more obligated to speak SOME of my mind on the issue. Cynique Well obviously black men and women are at odds. Each group feels let down by the other one. And anecdotal evidence is offered up as proof of this.. Sistas do tend to support each other, while black men's egos get in the way and they are more interested in advancing their individual cause and are competitive in doing so Well, I applaud the fact that you'd atleast admit such an obvious fact as Black women sticking together......especially when it comes to sticking together against Black men. And you're also right about Black men's egos getting in the way which is often one of the biggest reasons that prevents them from uniting. However the difference between us is I don't believe that united Black men would go as hard against Black women as united Black women go hard against Black men. I think Black men...more than Black women....see RACISM as our biggest enemy, not the Black woman. 　 　 . I repeat, black women are willing to support a capable and trustworthy black male. Yes SOME Black women are. I can testify to this fact because I know hundreds who do. But I've seen MORE who will NOT support capable and trustworthy Black men nor even give them a CHANCE to see if they're capable or trustworthy or not. They don't even get the benefit of the doubt first, and this is disturbing. The reasons for this are manifold, and the majority of it....I will admit....lays with Black men. But I believe it's a fact none the less that most Black women don't support Black men regardless as to the reason. I really think a new generation of girls will have to be brought up SEEING positive strong Black men in action before that trust and support is restored. It will happen though. And you assume that the black men in Missouri are not "fighting", just because you haven't heard anything about them doing so.You're too busy chiding them for not doing what you think is the best course for something you know nothing about. I haven't condemned the Black men of Missouri. My criticizm has strictly been aimed at that punk ass NAACP memo and those who whipped it up. BTW, how's your "fighting" to resolve the water problem in Flint, Michigan, workin out? Right now, no where near as well as I'd like. One of the reasons is I'm not as involved with it as I was so I'm not putting as much effort into it. ....and the main reason for THAT is exemplified by the current subject of this conversation, the lack of support and indifferent attitude of Black people and especially Black women. When you're dealing with Black people who would rather go shopping and by tennis shoes or wash and wax their cars than stand up and fight for their own children who've been deliberately poisoned by the state....it really makes you reconsider what and who you're fighting for and would it even be WORTH it to go through the trouble. 　 　 Troy Cynique, the operative word in your last post was "anecdote." Pioneer has a bad habit of taking his personal experiences and extending them to the broader community, indeed it is the way he sees the world. I've found that this way works best for me. I can't live my life based on OTHER people's knowledge and what they've experienced. What may work for you or another man may not work for me, and I learned that early in life. Even when it came to getting girls as younger man. Most dudes would go INSIDE the club, spend money on drinks, dance, and sweat all night only to end up with a pocket full of phone numbers. Sometimes they would leave with a woman, most times they wouldn't. I found out I had more success if me and my boy (only took one friend along) waited OUTSIDE the club late at night and pulled the girls as they were leaving. Some people called that method lame or akin to "stalking", but guess what...we had a well over 90% success rate of ending up with a honey in bed that night...lol. A man has to do what works for HIM and share that evidence based on HIS experience, not a bunch of numbers or stats or faceless information jotted down in a book. My information usually comes from real life experience or observation. So anecdotes I give may not be verified by documented statistics, but it's knoweldge gained from real life experience or observation from a personal perspective that you may not find in a book. As far as Black women supporting your site. As you know by now, I generally chill out in THIS neighborhood of your site..... I rarely go to them other blocks where the writers and novelists be hangin' It seems to me you have a few females who contribute from time to time, especially plugging their books. But they just don't post on the forums section much. I'm not suprised. I see the same thing on other Black websites that are ran by men. This again goes back to what I was saying to Cynique about Black women not trusting Black men. Most Black women tend to post only on forums where BLACK WOMEN ARE THE MODERATORS. Many hate going on forums where Black men moderate unless they know the man personally like being his girlfriend or wife. Now when you ask them why, most won't even tell you.....they just won't come on! But some will say they feel a mysogynistic atmosphere on that particular site or feel that women are being harassed or picked on. But the truth is, most AfroAmerican women like websites where female moderators are heavy handed and are quick to shut down Black men who post what they perceive to be sexist or homophobic comments. Troy you basically let people say what they want to say on this site and allow them to take the heat for their comments. If they can defend themselves....fine. If they can't....better concede the argument or change the damn subject, lol. I absolutely love that style. I'm not just saying that because you're the Administrator....it's the absolute truth. On of the reasons I have so much confidence in the IDEA of America and what it could be is because of the "hands off" freedom it CLAIMS to offer people because I believe allowing freedom of thought and expression is one of the keys to people uncovering their greatness and developing themselves....as opposed to being steeped in culture and tradition that limits their thinking and behavior. But a lot of people....especially younger women.....can't handle that hands-off type of lazzi-fairre moderating. It makes them feel uncomfortable or vulnerable to attack by "the enemy" as they perceive it so they prefer sites that are heavily moderated....especially by women. Women need to not only be protected but FEEL protected. It took me years to finally understand this. Mel Not sure what you mean about support a black man or black men? What does that even mean? Good question. Because "support" means many different things for as many different people. First of all I say Black women need to support more GOOD Black men! Black women certainly support Black men already. But too often is the worthless no-good ones that are being supported....financially, emotionaly, even physically from time to time. Too often Black women support the WRONG Black man and then get disappointed when he doesn't support her back. I'm not trying to sound crazy or offensive but I'm gonna keep it real with you............ Black people as a whole need to drop this "altruistic" bullshit they have adopted from White culture. This belief that people are supposed to do the right thing JUST because it's "right". Middle class White people promote this belief while THEY don't even practice it, but the problem is that belief is unrealistic and destructive. It creates a situation where people end up NOT doing the right thing because they don't see any reward or merit in doing so and those who stand to benefit are also disappointed. What do I mean by "support" Black men? Simple...... 1. When you see Black men take bold stands against racism whether at school or at work or in the community....VERBALLY praise him IN PUBLIC. Especially infront of White people. Let the public know that you support these type of men and let other Black people know it too. That will encourage more Black men to take stands if only to get the praise for it. 2. HAVE SEX with Black men who are taking stands against racism or injustice. Again, leave the altrusitic bullshit with the Whites who originated it. Most Black men like women.....sex. A lot of women don't like the idea of showing appreciation to a man who is fighitng police brutality or mentoring her child or even life-coaching younger men.....rewarding him with sex. They feel he should be doing these things out of the goodness of his own heart. But most of what men do they do for sex and money and if offering that "good brother" on your block a little sum'sum will keep him fighitng for the community....it's worth it. 3. OFFER FINANCIAL SUPPORT to Black men who are positive and doing things in the community. If you're making tons of money and have some to spare, instead of putting it in shoes just hand the brother an evelope and say, "Thank you for what you're doing in the community". A lot of Black men who are active in fighting racism and injustice don't hold steady jobs because his attitude won't let him. Many strong masculine Black men are seen as threatening and kept out of the work force and are struggling financially. If you see this, help him out. But one of the biggest things is the PUBLIC show of support. Like I said before, women are the cheerleaders and much of what men do they do to get praise from and impress women. If they don't feel that fighting for the community or being strong or even supporting their women will get them praise, attention, or sex....they aren't gonna do it. You can shake your head and disagree all you want but that's just a biological ANECDOTAL truth. Men want wealth and women and most of the achievements they performed were in pursuit of this. You show me a bunch of lazy triffling men who aren't doing anything and I'll show you a bunch of indifferent women standing behind them who aren't using their sex appeal to encourage them and give them a reason TO do something.

Del Apple- brought thoughts of the apple that allegedely fell on Isaac Newton's head. Weight- brought thoughts of gravity I knew Newton wrote a few books that most Western Scientists praise and still base most of thier logic off of even till today. They call it "Newtonian physics" I'm still not exactly sure what pebbles (or peebles as you keep spelling it....lol) means.

Cynique I said Black men in Missouri should FIGHT as opposed to running away, who said anything about "taking up arms" as a solution? Again, I didn't say Black men should go to Missouri and start a race war, I said go to Missouri in mass numbers.....or better yet the Blacks who are STILL IN Missouri should go there and FIGHT the racism head on. And again, there are hundreds of ways both legally and politically to fight the racism that occurs, not just in Missouri but in nearly every state in the Union. As long as you DO SOMETHING instead of cutting and running as the NAACP advises. You give the example of Colin as as some "Black man fighting" while you argue with ME..... But if you were arguing with HIM you'd dismiss his strategy and go to pointing at some other Black character just to shade on him and demoralize HIS efforts. Because that's what too many of our women do.....go out of their way to DEMORALIZE thier own men instead of standing behind them and their ideas. Then get angry when they look around and can't figure out why so many Black men refuse to fight for them. I remember during one event me and some other brothers were hosting the AfroAmerican women in the AfroAmerican women were being so loud and confrontational and un-cooperative that we had to go down to the NIGERIAN market and convince some young AFRICAN WOMEN to come in and join us as a show of force because we couldn't even trust that our own women were gonna act right in doing it....lol. You talk about Black men being demoralized by the overwhelming force of White technology but I wonder which has been the BIGGEST demoralizing factor in the efforts of Black men..... White technology.....or lack of support from our own women? Makes Black men wonder if it's even worth fighting for because look at what they might get as a reward.

I'm not sure.....do they represent planets?

Troy We can accomplish much more by exploiting on our own economic and intellectual capital. But the problem is, the NAACP isn't even advocating THAT. Their only solution is warning Black folks to avoid the state. To run off somewhere and hide. Cynique and Mel I want to thank you two for your perfect illustration of WHY so many Black men are skeptical of standing up and fighting for their community. Not that I necessarily agree with them........... But many Black men refuse to stand up and fight for Black women even when they're told to because they feel most Black women are indifferent and could care less about their efforts. Many Black men don't stand up and fight for Black women because many don't feel Black women are worth fighting for. They don't feel that their efforts would even been appreciated let alone rewarded. Now I personally don't agree with this because I have a core group of sisters who have supported MY efforts over the years, so I know better.....but younger less experienced Black men hear the same type of talk YOU TWO exhibit constantly and they tell me how demoralizing it is and how they'd rather not even get involved in politics or community work. When Cynique chides me about Black men standing up in Missouri and Mel takes on a "I'll believe it when I see it" attitude, those are great examples of the attitude too many Black women take towards Black men who attemp to defend their community. Which is why the community is continually left defenseless. Now just in another thread both of you were heaping praise on some Black man hopping around on one foot with yellow highlights in his hair looking like a gay-as-a-rainbow monkey and talking about how successful HE is. https://aalbc.com/tc/topic/4618-oh-my-nicki-minaj/ But now you're clowning and throwing shade on the idea of Black men who refuse to run and hide but stand up and deal with racism head on. We need BLACK Sarah Palins who are in love with strong Black men and willing to get behind Black men who are actually protecting the community and their families. We need Black women who are CHEER LEADERS for masculine Black men instead of Black women who praise Tupac and the neighborhood criminals. Women are the cheerleaders. Whenever you want a group of men to accomplish something, just hire a group of women to cheer them on and tell them how sexy they are when they do it and you'll see men perform superhuman feats! But it can also work the opposite way. If you want to drag a community down to the level of a beast, just find a way to condition the women of that society to like it that way and the men will do their best competiting with eachother to keep it in that savage condition. I believe the Black community would be FAR more advanced if Black women collectively would take the love and respect that they heap on criminals, clowns, and homosexual Black men.....and concentrate it on Black men who are actually making a difference in our community.

The key words are pebble apple and weight. Cmon Troy it is almost too easy. Here's another clue, this book is listed as one of the most influential science and mathematics book ever written. That with the other clues should narrow it down OK, it's one of the books by Isaac Newton. When you put the two riddles together it makes it easier.

I've also noticed that the movie DID NOT receieve an adequate amount of advertising before it came out. Usually when a movie like this comes out they start showing trailers of it 3 or 4 months before. Sometimes they may talk about it even the YEAR before it comes out. Look how they're talking about that Black Panther movie next year. I didn't hear shit about this movie until about a 3 or 4 weeks before it's release! I went to see War for the Planet of the Apes a few weeks ago and expected to see a trailer for Detroit in the build up to the feature presentation and didn't even see one there.....lol. Infact, THAT'S how I found out about it. A friend of mine saw a poster in the theater and knowing I was from Detroit she teased me about it saying, "Look....they're gonna do a rap movie about Detroit". I looked at it and saw 4 brothers with bloody heads in the poster and couldn't quite figure out what was going on until I did a little research on it later and found out it was about the '67 riots.

Cynique One question: When are YOU and all of your bravado going to muster a brigade of stout-hearted black men and head for Missouri??? Talk is cheap. Why should me or any other Black man GO to Missouri to confront White racists in that state when you have HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of Black people already there? I have fought and defeated racism (and suspected racism) both on the street level and the government level IN MY OWN LOCALITY. I'm still going at it with the state of Michigan over the Flint water situation. I have enough in my OWN state to deal with, I'm not going 1000 miles to go fight for a bunch of cowards who wouldn't appreciate a victory if it were handed to them on a silver plater. Negroes have a bad habit of wanting someone ELSE to do for them what they should be doing for themselves. Well, you can go back even further and ask why Africans allowed Europeans to invade and colonize their countries and strip their continent of all its resources. It's not all about black males being chicken but about their being faced with and discouraged by superior firepower and overwhelming odds. All of which led to their adopting different ways of coping with adverse conditions; which sometimes included using their guile to go-one-on-one with their oppressors and outsmarting them . I don't have to ASK why. I believe they wer able to do it because they were smarter and more organized. I believe in many cases Whites are STILL smarter and more organized. I'm not advocating that Black men start grabbing guns and going to Missouri to go toe-to-toe with White people if that's what's on your mind. I'm saying use the resources at your disposal to FIGHT FOR YOUR COMMUNITY instead of turning up your tail and running away. Troy If what you say is true, how do you explain Black men, many straight from the African continent, allowing themselves to be enslaved for hundreds of years in this country? Why didn't we just put our foot in massa's ass back then? Some did. You have many records of successful slave revolts, and don't forget the Haitian Revolution. But for the most part Black people kept losing because White people were simply smarter and more technologically advanced. I believe back in those days before the minds of Black men were "broken" you had more who were willing to die confronting White racism than see themselves and their women and children subjected to it and be regulated a state of subhumanity. But I'm not blaming Blacks BACK THEN for their predicament, I'm blaming Black people TODAY who have more rights and resources and tools at their disposal to effectively defeat atleast SOME ELEMENTS of White racism in the United States but refuse to do so. We have Black judges, police officers, doctors, lawyer, legislatures, ect......all in the state of Missouri who COULD unite and do something like those college football players did at Mizzou......but so far they've been silent and M.I.A. Both It should be understood that although I think all MENTALLY BALANCED Black people in the United States should own a gun, I wasn't advocating that Black people go to Missouri and start a race war....lol. There are hundreds of ways to fight what's going on without direct physical confrontation. I'm sure there are plenty of negroes in Missouri with Doctorate Degrees like there are in just about every other state. If they're smart enough to get a Doctorate, then they should be smart enough to strategize a plan to counter the racism in their state. My calling them cowards has less to do with their ability to use violence to achieve justice, my problem is the fact that instead of confronting and dealing with the issues of that state they choose to take the cowardly route of telling Black people to STAY AWAY. Yes, fight back PHYSICALLY if someone threatens to assault you. But most of the problems aren't coming from White people rolling up on Black folks and jumping out of their trucks beating on them, it's coming from policies from the government and law enforcement. There are hundreds if not thousands of Black people ALREADY IN MISSOURI (Cynique...no need for me to go there) who could put an end to the madness if they had the balls to stand up and confront it. History has shown that the only time Black people have any success against White supremacy is when they confronted it and FIGHT BACK instead of running. There's no way around it. That crap the NAACP put out was absolutely unacceptable.

Again, nothing in a video is put in there by accident. Everything is designed.....orchestrated....choreographed. So my question was why was this particular scene of Black men struggling with eachother and then being beaten up by non-Black (not Black....but NON-BLACK) police officers inserted? If they are vacationing in some Carribean island, why didn't they choose Black cops which are so abundant in the West Indies instead of non-Black cops? What does that scene have to do with the song, the lyrics, and the good beat?

I'm not suprised at your comments. You'e a woman.....and SHOULD think like a woman. Women say: "We're trapped. There's nothing we can do, so we might as well stay strong and deal with it the best way we can. Whatever we do....let's not make them White folks angry!" Most men say: "I'd rather die than put up with some bullshit like that. I'm about to go down there and put my foot in somebody's ass." One of the biggest reasons that women are abused more than men isn't just the physical strength differences, but the mentality. Most men would rather die fighting than put up with certain abuses and violations, even most police officers know this. The problem is THAT aspect of masculinity has been drilled out of many Black men BY THEIR MOTHERS. It started in slavery when the father was abscent (often because he was killed) that the Black mother was the only parents and didn't want to see her son get killed so she made sure she suppressed signs of aggressiveness in him to keep him alive. So now Black Americans are still alive, but look at the state our community is in today. Other masculine traits like territorialism was also suppressed in many Black males. As I said before, many foreigners can readily recognize this dysfunction in Black people when the come to the United States and take advantage of it. Look at how many Asians and Arabs have completely taken over the businesses in most Black neighborhoods in the United States. Look at the amount of Latinos who have taken over jobs Black men used to have. There is no way Black males in their natural psychological state would allow this. There would have been riots the first year we saw foreign people coming in buying businesses in our community and it would have ended immediately. Look at how men act in other nations around the world. Riots break out when men perceieve immigrants as taking their jobs. Hell, even White men in America get angry at the thought of foreigners taking their jobs and businesses. If you notice, that's not even on the radars of most Black men. Many will fight another Black man over a disrespectful look before fighting a Mexican over a good job because of the mentality that was instilled in him during slavery by his mother and the slave master.

I haven't seen it yet but I plan to if the Supreme Being permits. I grew up hearing older people including my father and other elders who were there at the time talk about the riots and what went on in the street back then. Many of them speak of it proudly and reminiscingly. I wish he were alive to see the film himself. Infact, I wish he were alive to see Django Unchained because he loved Westerns and especially ones the featured Black characters.... Infact.....I wish he were alive period. ((dries eyes)) The only thing I don't like about this film is that it was directed NOT by a Black man (or woman) but by a White woman Kathryn Bigelow. I'm not hating on her, I'm sure she did a great job.....but why did it take a White woman to make a movie documenting one of the largest urban rebellions of U.S. history?

I don't know if I have a full grasp of exactly what happened. Would it be too much to ask if you RE-INACTED the scene and...before you disown them...have one of your children or grandchildren record it and post it on here so that we all may get a better picture of the ordeal you went through.....lol.

Troy I agree and I don't expect our celebrities (or those PROPPED UP to be our celebrities) to be leaders. But I do expect them to be intelligent enough to be conscious of what they do and say in public and I CERTAINLY don't expect them to be COUNTER-productive in the political struggles of their community. I like the new features you've added to the site, by the way. I like how I can now edit my posts with all of he same tools that allowed me to post in the first place! Cynique The problem is, when you have White supremists who are controlling the entertainment industry.....too often LIFE imitates ART. Currently, most Black people won't walk past Black men being brutalized by non-Black police officers and ignore it. Even if they don't or can't do anything about it, they'll atleast cry out against it or record it with their cell phone. After more videos like this making police brutality seem like an "everyday" thing to be ignored, who knows what the results will be.

Thoughts do exist just follow the pebbles. The apple of one's eye weighs heavily on the sun. 2 riddles or "koans" to be deciphered.......hmmm...................

What's next? Are they going to issue a warning for Black folks to stay out of the United States all together? I can't believe this punkafied GARBAGE. See THIS is one of the reasons (just one of many) why so many people from other nations have such little respect for Black Americans when they come here. Instead of telling Black folks to GO to Missouri in mass numbers and FIGHT and DEMAND respect and justice, they're telling Black folks to run and hide. Be scared. Be afraid. Duck and dodge and avoid any confrontation at all costs!!!!! On top of that...... Did whoever came up with this memo even stop to consider the hundreds of thousands of Black people who ALREADY LIVE in Missouri in cities like St.Louis and Kansas City? What are THEY supposed to do? Pack up and leave? Hunker down, stop driving, and be quiet? What about South Carolina where there were 2 high profile racist killings of Black people? Are they gonna send out a memo on that state next? This is an absolute shame and embarassment that so many goddam punks have positions of leadership. Sorry ladies, I don't mean to sound sexist but this is what 40 years of the Black family being raised primarily by single mothers have done to the Black American community. Many of our men no longer think like men, but like women....abused and victimized women at that.

Frederick Douglass said he prayed for 20 years but got no answer until he prayed with his feet! I strongly believe in prayer, but I also strongly believe in taking action. Actually, I practice both on a daily basis. Cynique Would it be inappropriate to ask, what exactly were you WEARING when you were doing all this crawling around, rattling doors, and climbing through windows?

Total eclipses like this are supposed to herald major changes on this planet and among humanity.

I don't want to say Kaepernick put himself in the hole for nothing, he obviously stood up on his principles and took a stand for what he believed in, however......... What exactly was his point? What did he hope to accomplish by refusing to stand and pledge allegiance? Now hold on (Cynique) I'm not saying the man SHOULD have pledged allegiance. It's his right and I respect it.....infact I don't even remember the last time I stood or said the pledge of allegiance. But I'm the type of person who makes GOALS and has a VISION of the desired outcome of most things before I start them. I don't just get in my car to ride around town wasting gas. I have a DESTINATION I'm trying to get to and you better believe there is something I'm trying to do when I get there. I may or may NOT always accomplish what I want to do, but you can best believe I certainly know WHAT I want to do! What was Kaepernick's plan or purpose in refusing to stand....... What he hoping other players would follow suit and take a knee with him? Was he hoping those in the audience and across America would? Was he hoping that police brutality would stop? If he goal was JUST to bring attention to the problem of police brutality or American injustice....then WHO was he trying to get that attention from? Hell, White people in America already KNOW about the injustices they commit, so was he trying to alert other AfroAmericans? I've said since Kaepernick started his protest that his goals need to be clearly laid out, else much of what he did was done in vain or even worse done at a cost to his career. How terrible it is for a man to put his life or career on the line for people and end up losing everything only for the people he actually fought for to turn around and unassumingly say: "Ain't nobody asked him to do that"

Cynique Who says that music videos can't be political and provocative ??? It can. Infact, race and sex are often intertwined anyway. However, if the video IS political.....exactly what type of message is it trying to send? 　 　 Troy Sure Pioneer the video sends all kinds of crazy messages. I completely understand why the Hotep crowd, the religious right, and prudes would be taken aback. This is Viola Davis time cover taken to another whole 'nother level. But Maybe it is just a fun video and ain't all that serious... How would you make the video differently? Would you have Minaj wear a burka? No. I have no problem with her sexuality. She could get butt naked in the video and I'd love it....I watch porn from time to time myself, lol. And even ENGAGE in it occasionally.....lol. My questions were simply why does she have WOMEN looking at her in a seductive way and why are Black men being attacked and beaten up by non-Black police officers for no apparent reason. Both This is one of the problems I have with a lot of these AfroAmerican artists and entertainers who try to make political statements. You can't figure out what the hell they're trying to say. Even with Colin Kaepernick, or Beyonce.....you get the feeling that they're trying to "stand up" for something or "speak out" on something but they are so confusing and vague and symbolic you can't figure out what they're trying to say or what they're trying to accomplish. Like Beyonce and Bruno Mars' performance at the Superbowl the other year. It was supposed to be some sort of statement about police brutality, but it didn't actually tell the public what they should do about it. I'm not the biggest fan of Kanye West but one thing I LOVE about the brother is he tends to speak his mind regardless as to how crazy he sounds.....instead of speaking in garbled and coded language. He came right out on live television and said George Bush doesn't care about Black people.....straight up. There was no confusion or vagueness about what he was saying and everyone could understand it and most agreed with it. But this video......what the HELL was the point in showing a bunch of Black men holding eachother back while slobbering over Nicki and then later on getting beat up and arrested by cops? What???? I admit, I'm not the smartest man in the world so help a brother out. What was the PURPOSE of that scene....somebody tell me.

Del I was just messing with you bro, I have very little PRACTICAL knowledge (meaning experience) of either Wall Street or Real Estate. Although I do have a few friends who dabble in real estate and are quite successful and give me advice from time to time.

Linda Ummmm folks betta leave Cyn alone LOL Maybe we should leave her alone and start on YOU....lol. Welcome back by the way. Did your surgery go well?

Del How many years did you work on Wall Street or in Real Estate. If I told you, you probably wouldn't believe me. So I might as well not even bother telling you. My first full time job was being the profit and loss accountant for a $2 billion portfolio at Drexel Burnham Lambert on Wall Street. LOL....is the fact that you had to run off to Australia, "lay low", and get into astrology indicative of what you were doing there? @Pioneer1 can you go into more detail how Wall Street works from your perspective? Look at who Wall Street gave us.....Donald Trump. That should tell you all you need to know. Lol. Cynique in answer to your second silly question, a question indicative of how your mind seems incapable of processing no matter how many times i explain it to you, Reggie Lewis is an exception to the rule, a perfect example of a black man who succeeded in spite of the odds being stacked against black people because he was an extraordinary individual with a brilliant mind. Has the gist of this answer registered with you yet or do i have to look forward to another silly example of your need to bring me down to your groveling level of loving this wunnerful country. i don't give a damn whether you love amerikka or not so why are you so determined to convert me into giving a damn about this bull shit bigoted country whose idiotic president exemplifies half the population but who, nevertheless, is obliquely approved of by you on a regular basis. SMH You're a moderator now.....you're moving up in the world baby! You're in upper management so you need to use more restraint in your emotions and be easy on the abusive language, lol.