Pioneer1

　 Sara So, Mr. "I'm average-looking," don't pity sistahs; pity the bear and feel sorry for yourself. Some would even consider my looks BELOW average. There's a reason why I'm not too quick to show my pictures all over the internet...lol. Get outta here with that "sistaz thinking they're all that" nonsense. Anybody over 25 KNOWS that most people who walk around talking about how good they look or how sexy they are do this to compensate for their lack of confidence. How many rich people have you seen running around flashing money and talking about how much money they make or have? That's what POOR people do in order to impress others and compensate for their low opinion of themselves. How many people with doctorate degrees stand around arguing with people and telling them how smart and capable they are as a person? If Black women in America were so happy with themselves and the way they looked they wouldn't spend so much time and even more money straightening their hair and even dyeing their hair blond clearly in an attempt to look like White women. Now I have to admit that it's not all their fault. Many Black men love the way White women look and find them more attractive than Black women. Which is one of the reasons so many Black men...even many of the so-called "conscious" and "pro Black" Black men love "red bones" or very light skinned Black women. It's as closest they can get to a White woman without actually saying they are with one. So many Black women try to imitate the appearance of White women in order to attract Black men who they know or believe find them attractive. Black women spend more money on getting their hair and nails done than any other woman in this nation. Black women (and Black men too for that matter) spend more of their income on clothes, shoes, perfumes, jewelry and other "accessories" than other races of women PER CAPITA. When a person doesn't like the way they look naturally...they buy "accessories" hoping that people will see those things as an extention of their person and in the process make themselves more appealing. Now obviously I'm not talking about all Black women. Many are healthy and happy with themselves and most Black women from Africa that I've met have extremely high self esteem...even more so than White or Asian women. But a large percentage of Black women in America DO have self esteem issues and are clearly frustrated living in a society that constantly holds the OPPOSITE of how they look as the epitome of feminine beauty.....not to mention the state of Black men who have our own issues of not being able to provide and protect Black women as we should right now. Also, there's more at play when it comes to a woman's self esteem than how she sees herself in terms of looks and beauty. A person can see themselves as very attractive physically but WORTHLESS morally. How many times have you heard Black men and women say "they ain't shit" when speaking of themselves? Or see themselves as gangsta....or criminal.....or see themselves and other Black people as "wicked" and no good or children of Cain? Black people in America in general...which includes Black women....suffer from confidence and self esteem issues not only in terms of how they look but also in terms of morality as many feel they are "cursed" or just not meant to succeed in life. Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words and the behavior of Black men AND women in America tell the world how low many think of themselves. Cynique You're right that Black women have never been accurately rewarded for their strength and other positive attributes. It's clearly because of the historically patriarchal focus on a woman's worth being decided based on her looks and femininity rather than her strength and intelligence. I have to admit that even in my own personal life...when I look for a woman I don't look for "intelligence" or "strength" but looks, femininity, and social skills. Although most of it is cultural, I also believe a large percentage of it is just inborn and natural to human beings to attribute strength (both physical and inner) to men and beauty to women.

Troy I wasn't arguing AGAINST the point you made about violence as often being a means for change. My point was that regardless as to how that change was achieved whether peacefully or violentely, it still came from the bottom.

What I think Black women in America are experiencing more than anything is FRUSTRATION. And that frustration has 2 main causes: 1. The constant feeling of insecurity because they don't feel Black men can protect them or provide for them. 2. The constantly feeling of being "less than" White women in terms of beautify and/or feminity. As far as the "anger" goes...... Frustration releases itself in either anger or sadness. Most Black women have learned that most peope don't care if they're sad so they've decided that anger generates a better response and gets more attention. A White or Asian woman can sit in public and start crying and dozens of men and women of all races will come up to them asking them what's wrong. A Black woman can start crying and people will ignore her and stare at her like she's crazy or a drug addict and assume negatives about her condition. But of a Black woman starts cussing and getting loud...that gets everyone's attention and they start looking around at eachother trying to figure out "what happened" and try to calm her down. Black women have learned this and many act accordingly. I really feel sorry for the Black woman. Atleast as a man, I believe God equipped most men with the physical and mental faculties to deal with the harshness of an unforgiving society but I don't believe most women of any race are equipped to deal with certain things that Black woman have been having to go through for hundreds of years.

Cynique 　 Time and time again I have come right out and said, whether it is correct or not, that most black problems can be attributed to the breakdown of the family, and many other black people who live in the high crime area and see things first hand agree. The baby mama/baby daddy culture is not something that white people can fix. ((Pioneer lightens up a little, sits back in his chair, and rolls his eyes)) Well...... Even if we were to focus on broken families as being one of the root causes of the violence, even the solution to THIS would be too shocking for many Black Americans to accept. You're right, the problem of broken families isn't one White people can fix....for the most part only Black women can fix it. Black women are going to have to stop leaving Black men or kicking them out of the home for "cheating". Black men (like most Arab, Latino, and Southern European men) tend to have high sex drives and love multipe women. Ofcourse I'm generalizing because some men can settle down with one woman while some men are GAY and don't want any....lol. But speaking as a Black man I know that most desire multiple sexual partners and will have them as long as the opportunity is there. Black women have to either accept this as a fact and insist on keeping the family together for the sake of the children or maintain the zero tolerance policy. As I said, other races of men cheat as well but their women aren't as quick to leave them because of religions or social obligations. So regardless of the behavior of their husbands...they tolerate it for the sake of keeping the family together. Hell, most of these non-Black women even put up with PHYSICAL ABUSE (which is unacceptable and NOT what I'm advocating) in order to keep their families together. So until Black women are willing to swallow their pride and put up with Black men "fucking around" for the sake of maintaining the Black family, don't look for the problem to solve itself anytime soon. Ofcourse Black women have the option of getting a non-Black man as a partner who they THINK will be more faithful, but even if it improves the condition of certain Black women who enjoy the relationship....this union does little to improve the condition of the Black FAMILY itself. The reluctance of many Black people to get abortions even when they KNOW they can't properly take care of their children is another major contributor to the problem of "broken families" in the Black community. If more Black people actually PLANNED their own families instead of having them planned by others or just having children by mistake...more children would grow up feeling loved and wanted and not feel like their lives had no purpose.

LOL @ the exchange between Cynique and Sara !!! It takes a lot to make me laugh out loud over something I'm looking at on-line, but those two remind me of the Itchy and Scratchy cartoon show that used to be on The Simpsons....lol. Cynique This is beautiful. I can read these stories all day long The more you write, the more it confirms the truth of what a lot of older people in my family used to tell me but I was too young to understand. In a way I shake my head when I read this because I can't tell if things have gotten better for Black folks or worse. I mean, the LAWS seem to be better for Black people and the wages seem to be up. But the actual community spirit, the family structure, and the businesses have been all but destroyed not to mention the amount of violence and stupid behavior that I didn't see just 30 years ago. I can't speak on what happened 50 or 80 in the past but I CAN bear witness that despite all the stats we may see on paper about Black wealth and there being more Black millionaires today, I remember more Black businesses 30 years ago. I'm talking REAL Black businesses with 4 walls...brick and mortar...like resturants, hotels, laundry mat, thrift shops, ect....that you could walk into. Not some on-line fly by night garbage. A negro got a Facebook page calling it his "own bid'niss". 　 Sara I can believe slavery began in the North. Not too long ago they found a slaver burial ground somewhere near New York City! Like Malcolm said, stop talking about down South....because as long as you're south of the Canadian border you're in the South, lol. After spending so much time in Canada I recognize the wisdom of his words.

LOL @ Sara focusing on Maywood...... Cynique No, you didn't come right out and say that inner city Black people were inherently violent or that only Whites could solve the problem.... But that's the position you seemed to have been taking. I have a bit of a lazy streak so I'm not going to sit here digging up links to prove to you that lead is one of the main if not THE main cause of violence among urban dwellers today. ...that along with the vaccines being used to affect the minds of our youth before they even leave the wombs of their mothers. With the syphilis experiments, AIDS, and other well documented cases of Black people being targeted, if you and Troy still laugh at this as just a silly conspiracy theory or even decide to take a fleeting consideration of it while continuing to drill down on "broken families" or "not having enough summer jobs in the ghetto" as the REAL reasons for Black violence.....there's nothing I can do to convince you otherwise. It's a no brainer for me. As SOON as I heard about the lead crisis in Flint and did a quick 15 minute research on the effects of lead poisioning on the brain and behavior of people....the pieces all fit together like a puzzle. Talk about empowerment.... There IS no power to solve a problem without knowing and accepting the TRUTH about it. Broken families, not enough good jobs, failing schools, too many kids in gangs, high incarceration rate, and the other ills you see in the Black communities of America are problems....but they're PERIPHERAL problems that all stem from the MAIN problem of a declining intellectual capacity and problems with misplaced aggression in the AfroAmerican community that has been quite apparent since atleast the mid 80s. Sara I thought you were supposed to be "sucking up" to me to win me over as an ally! You certainly won't accomplish that mission by challenging my positions...lol. As far as the crime rate of the suburbs. Most of those suburbs you're talking about are "inner ring" suburbs close to the city which means the municipalities are probably using the same water supply as the city of Chicago or there plumbing and water pipes are just as old and contaminated with lead. At any rate, we must remember that there are other environmental toxins BESIDES lead that Black people are being exposed to that is also influencing our behavior. Dick Gregory goes in and teaches very hard on this subject and exposed a lot of what we're just finding out today about lead in water and mercury in the vaccines over 20 years ago.

I'm not as qualified a student of history enough to argue with you two over whether or not justice is guaranteed in this world. Babies and little children who are obviously innocent often die violent and gruesome deaths while some war criminals and serial killers who are personally responsible for dozens if not hundreds of deaths often live to a relatively old age or if they ARE caught and executed.....their one death certainly doesn't equate to the amount of pain and suffering they caused their victims and their loved ones. However I will say that after over 40 something years of living and paying attention to the causes and effects of MY actions as well as others, there is most certainly some sort of universal law of reciprocity at work. But as far as examples of change in society coming up from the bottom........ -African American political and social success came from the bottom as poor and working class Blacks formed the bulk of those protesting and rioting in the streets. -Both the Haitian and French revolutions were also activated by the slaves and peasants of their respective societies. -Hell, even the American revolution was initiated by the criminals and peasants of Europe who were sent over here to work the land for the King and decided to stop being exploited and rebel. SOCIAL change often comes from the middle classes and intellectual classes. But REAL change (structural/governmental) usually does come from the bottom of a given society because they haven't been indoctrinated into the system anyway so they are less likely to maintain faith in it when it begins to fail them.

REAL change and justice always comes from the people at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder.....the poor and working class. Funny thing is although it's often INITIATED by the intellectuals and educated (lawyers, professors, ect..) who are smart enough to know that something is wrong but as you suggest are too tied up in the system to confront it, the change itself comes from the poor and people on the street who have less to lose and never really believed in the system to begin with. I believe in a type of universal law that doesn't have a real name in the English language but would probably be best described as "Karmic Credit and Karmic Debt". I also believe that not only do individuals carry this but organized groups such as corporations and nations also carry this Karmic Credit/Debt and it helps to influence their future. If we as a people want a better future for ourselves as well as the land we live in, I think it would be better for us to focus more on developing a better more just system rather than work on patching up the holes in an unjust and collapsing one.

I absolutely love hearing (reading actually) stories like this. I always love to get my information "first hand" from those who actually witnessed historical events instead of getting them out of books or movies or from biased historians. What I used to when I was younger but no longer find suprising now after hearing it from so many people over 60 was how segregated Illinois, Michgan, Ohio, and other northern communities were back then. We were taught in school that segregation and Jim Crow only existed in the South, but up North everyone lived together. But Black folks who lived in major Northern cities prior to the 50s routinely tell the same stories of segregation and open racism that may not have been as STRUCTURED as that of the South but definately existed defacto. Something tells me that actual SLAVERY probably existed in Northern states as well and if we could have talked to Black folks who lived up Northern during that time they would have told us different from what we read in history books. It's funny..... Everytime someone mentions ice men carrying ice to people's homes I think of those old Laurel and Hardy clips where they'd deliver a block of ice to a house on a hill so far up from the street that the ice block has melted into a mere ice cube by the time they get to the front porch.....lol. "Laurel and Hardy" still goes down as one of my favorite shows both past and present.

Cynique You didn't come right out and say it but the conclusion that you held that position..."that inner city Blacks are inherently violent and only White people in power can solve the violence problem"...is the only conclusion one can logically arrive at when they read statements like these: -Blacks and whites and particularly the mayor do care about what's going on if for no other reason than because they have a vested interest in cleaning up Chicago's image and curbing the widespread crime that threatens everyone's safety. -IMO, the situation will just have to play itself out because it involves changing the mindset of young black men. -Those creating the Chicago's violence are an underworld of outlaws, who strike fear in the whole south side. So it's not as if the populace is apathetic, because no longer is anybody immune to what used to just happen in the poorer neighborhoods. 　 ...from you while you offer few Black community implimented solutions besides demanding Black young men take more personal responsibility. Clearly a thinking person like yourself understands that every action has a cause and if you aren't willing to seriously entertain the idea that Black youth are being poisioned or otherwise induced towards violence and mayhem from an intentional outside source then you MUST believe it's internally driven! It's either one or the other...... Either Black men are just naturally more murderous and immoral than other races of men or something/someone is INFLUENCING them toward violence. This black think tank would also have to be convinced that unstable home lives, bad schools, lack of jobs and a flawed criminal justice system are not the root causes of the problem, and that environmental hazards that discriminate when it comes to who in the black population will be affected are, instead, the real reason for black crime. Perhaps you're a little fly on the wall and have been following me around for the past 4 or 5 months because that's EXACTLY the problem I'm dealing with right now. Most educated and naturally intelligent White people have no problem believing and understanding the effects of lead poisioning on crime. It's most Black people both un/under educated AND educated who seem to have a hard time understanding the connection. They point to these issues as the cause of the violence as you've just pointed out without understanding that a large percentage of each of these problems can be traced directly to the psychiatric effects of chronic neurologial poisoining. Rather than being the causes, these are actually the RESULTS of an even deeper more chemical/environmental problem. A dysfunctional life is often the result of a dysfunctional brain that doesn't know how to think logically or make rational decisions, and this what you see among far too many Black people in the United States today. Even most Africans who come to the United States easily recognize the intellectual problem of Black America. BTW, was there a high crime rate in Flint, Michigan? Flint is routinely ranked as one of the most violent (and half the time THE most violent) cities with over 100,000 in the United States. Like New Orleans, Atlanta, Birmingham Alabama and many other Black cities....Flint's violent crime rate is actually HIGHER than Chicago's. In most urban areas of the United States with a high concentration of Black people you find a high violence rate. But if you go outside of the United States to places like Canada or certain Carribean islands you don't find the same level of violence. Outside of open warfare, there is a direct correlation between the levels of violence in a given community and it's level of lead toxicity.

Cynique So in other words...... Black folks in Chicago are just violent and crazy and there's nothing we can do about it but sit down with our faces in our hands and wait on benevolent White folks to come in with a mighty solution? That's what I'm hearing in your one sided argument that focuses strictly on the violence and "after the fact" solutions to it rather than the causes of it. Sure you mentioned the fact that other races make up part of that homicide rate but we know that the vast majority of those homicides are Black people being killed by other Black people. Besides mentioning guns, you barely even TOUCH on the causes of why so much violence is going on in the community which leads me to infer that you....like others who trust the racist media in the United States who's been hyping the violence in Chicago for the past 5 years....actually believe that the residents of urban Chicago are just naturally prone to violence and the only solution must come from the outside and with brute force. The problem isn't criminal...the problem is PSYCHIATRIC. Those people are being POISONED with lead and other toxins that are making them violent and hyper aggressive. Not just in Chicago but in urban areas all over the nation. Racists in the media are also doing their part by hyping up the violence in order to encourage it which is clear as a bell if you look at the statistics before and after Obama took office back in 2008. Violence in Chicago wasn't even talked about in the national media until HE took office and Fox News started drilling down on it and then other media outlets caught on and THEN the violence began to rise. And if you think for split second that White politicians are actually concerned about the homicide rates among Black and Latino communities, you aren't as cynical as your name suggests.....lol. Why would people, most of whom believe Blacks and Browns to be mentally and morally inferior anyway and have a vested interest in DEPOPULATING the land and using it to build more housing for wealthy Whites and Asians actually take measures to STOP the killings and stabilize the communties? They're NOT going to stop it. They're going to do their best to INCREASE it because things are going exactly as planned....as THEY planned it. The only people who will stop the violence going on in the urban areas of Chicago are intelligent and positive Black men who make up their minds to put an end to it.

Troy Rahm Emmanuel is definately part of the problem and speaks to the point I made on another thread about Democrats often being just as racist as Republicans. They just join the party for their own personal motives regardless as to the overall theme the party is supposed to represent like racial tolerance and social justice. My understanding is that Rahm grew up inside the city of Chicago. And one thing I've noticed about a lot of Whites who grew up in the actual city (but not in Black neighborhoods themselves) whether it's Detroit, Chicago, New York, or Milwaukee......they tend to be more racist than Whites from the suburbs. Again, I must make a distinction between Whites who grew up in working class neighborhoods inside a large city.....and Whites who grew up among Blacks inside a Black neighborhood in the city. Whites who grew up inside major cities in these "ethnic enclaves" tend to be unapologetically racist and have a very anti-Black attitude even more so than Whites from the suburbs. Cynique and Troy Another problem is Western civilization itself. This may seem a little far fetched, but after studying history I believe Western civilization has run it's course and people are tired of it. The family values and social ethics that have governed Western societies are no longer holding weight with most people as they begin to pull away from Christianity and other organized religions. So peopel are coming up with their own morals and ethical codes and other people are just abandoning ALL forms of morality together and doing whatever they want because there is nobody or real system "in charge" to establish absolute rights or wrongs. The latter periods of Western civillization was build upon Christianity and atleast the Bible and the church guided the morals of people....now people are pulling away from that. Wealthy Whites from the suburbs have developed a form of ALTRUISM as a moral compass which definately doesn't work for most poor and people of color who are too needy and frustrated to practice an altruistic moral code. They see no future or hope for things beyond thier day to day existance and this is creating a sort of morbid indifference where anything goes. I believe a new civilization or atleast some sort of cultural renaissance will give society and especially the youth the hope needed to re-energize them to CARE again and motive them.

Cynique is probably an element of truth in what you say in regard to lead and toxins having an adverse effect on blacks. But why does this only affect certain ones? Not all black males in the ghettos embrace the thug life and some do escape their dire circumstance and go on to lead rewarding lives. For the same reason that we KNOW smoking cigarettes causes lung cancer but not all people who smoke cigarettes will get lung cancer nor can all cases of lung cancer traced to cigarette smoking...... Some people have a stronger constitution than others and can be exposed to the same levels of toxins and they not have an adverse effect on them. We KNOW lead causes aggression and low IQ levels....we KNOW this. There is no doubt about it. We know that the lead contamination levels in the United States are highest in the inner cities where the oldest pipes are. If you look at the lead levels found in the water supply of urban areas of the United States there is almost a direct link between it and the levels of violent crime. We need to also look at the VACCINES being administered to so many children now a days and how that is also affecting their behavior. Numerous studies have linked certain vaccinations to autism and other behavioral problems in children born after 1970.....especially in Black boys. Now I'm not saying these are the ONLY causes of the violence in the ghetto but I believe they are the MAIN causes. At the very lease there can no acceptable solution to the violence in America that doesn't include removing the old lead pipes from not only the water systems but every household's plumbing as well as all of the old paint from buildings similar to what was done with asbestos. And forget about the police solving this problem. Chicago's police aren't commited to lowering the crime and violence rate in Chicago's Black neighborhoods...they're just committed to CONTAINING it and keeping it in the ghetto and away from downtown where it can affect business and tourism. Typical third world style policing. Troy We should be used to White people not caring about Black lives by now. But the problem is a lot of BLACK PEOPLE don't even seem to care about their own lives and the lives of their friend and loved ones anymore. As the example you pointed out about drugs being brought into the Black community. This has been well known since the 90s yet you have so many Black folks who STILL use and sell drugs not seeming to care that it's part of a plan to destroy them. And the same can be said of gangsta rap and other negatives that have been introduced to the community. People are even getting shot and killed at PEACE RALLIES that were put on to end the violence.....damn! Besides the lead poisoning and other toxins in urban environments such as the vaccines that have been linked to violence and aggression, we should also look at the lack of strong POSITIVE Black men that exist in most urban neighborhoods today and how their absents is causing things to spiral out of control. Back before the 80s, when most poor and lower middle class Black people were forced to live in the same neighborhoods you had a lot of decent working Black folks who wouldn't allow certain things to take place. That old Black woman who sat on her porch all day wouldn't let children cuss on her block and would spank them or call their parents if she saw them doing something wrong. Hard working Black men with rough hands would be quick to organize and beat the hell out of a man who went around the neighborhod breaking into houses or messing with young girls. Now that many middle and working class Black folks have moved out to the suburbs, the inner cities have become an oasis of crime and moral decay. Even among criminals and hustlers, if you look at the 70s and further back many of the stronger more dominant criminals kept order in the ghetto and wouldn't allow certain things like rape and harming children to take place. But they got locked up. Now you got a new group of hustlers and criminals with no moral code and anything goes. Remember back in the old days when people who drank liquor didn't do drugs, and those who did drugs didn't drink? Even among substance abusers there was a code. Not anymore.....now they're doing EVERYTHING....lol. I believe I mentioned this several times before. I don't believe the violence is going to end until POSITIVE Black men stand up and organize a group to go into the urban areas of this nation and secure it themselves. We can forget about traditional law enforcement doing it. The most they'll do is CONTAIN the violence and try to keep it in the poorer areas....a tactic usually practiced in most third world nations.

One of the first thing lawyers learn in their practice is it's not about justice, it's about WINNING YOUR CASE. When you understand and accept this, you go far in the legal system. If you don't and the procedures irritate your conscience.....it's time to look for another profession. As far as our brother Troy...... For years, I've considered him the "Berry Gordy" and AALBC the "Motown Records" of Black writers, especially Black novelists. I'm just glad he still has his own website instead of moving everything over to Facebook like so many other independant Black outlets.

VL I'm not sure what to say because in a way you're right, I..and many other men.....love feeling strong and needed. Because of the testosterone factor that generates feelings of pride, ego, aggression, and competition (in line with the original theme of this thread)...men generally a stronger desire to feel needed, to feel like they're in charge, that they are the strong ones. This is one of the reasons most men are reluctant to ask for help when looking for a particular item in a store or ask for directions while driving while most women see no problem with it. Men desiring to feel strong is just, nothing can be done about it unless nature itself changes. No amount of social engineering or conversation will be able to "change" most men. As Cynique pointed out, a wise woman knows how to stroke her man's ego and make him feel needed and loved instead of trying to change him. And in turn, like you said men make a woman feel needed and loved by giving her attention, sincere compliments, massages, and just showing her over all love and affection. Thus both know how to play thier part in the game of love and live in harmony with eachother. Cynique I agree with you that an ego CAN be a man's downfall. But more often than not, a man's ego is one of the building blocks for his success in life.. It's far better for a man to have pride and ego than not. And from personal experience, despite what they may SAY....most of the women I've been with found egotistical men FAR more attractive then men with no sense of pride or respect for themselves. Oh they may make funny faces and talk about how proud and arrogant and egotistical a man may be among themselves; but they they'll still find him fascinating, interesting, manly, and show him a measure of SEXUAL respect.....as opposed to the man who has no pride or ego but is a good "friend" who will always stay in the "friend" or "nice guy" zone...lol. A man's ego is the foundation from which his ambitions are built upon. Take away his ego, and you take away his ambition....his drive to accomplish things in life.

I said it before....... Most of this violence and aggression can be traced directly back to the lead content in the water along with other chemicals in urban environments that are affecting the minds of the people and making them hyper aggressive. Also, the media isn't helping the way they've been constantly GLORIFYING (for lack of a better term) the violence of Chicago for the past few years. Shootings WERE going down in Chicago until the media started focusing on every singly homicide there and reporting it nationwide as if it was the only city with suffering from violence. Then movies like Chiraq came out further glorifying and dramatizing the situation there. Now the youth of Chicago have a reputation they feel they must live up to. Ignorance is a bad state to be in. When people don't understand mental health and how chemicals can affect their brain and their behavior, they'll constantly be plagued with problems like crime, violence, poor academic performance, dysfunctional families, and other forms of community breakdown. I'll tell you......it's hard to feel sorry for people when you try to sit them down and explain to them what their problems are and they either make light of it or ignore you. I know things happen to innocent people and I know little babies die and children get killed. But the older I get, the more I understand how FAIR life really is and why a lot of people have the problems that they have. The older I get the more I realize why so many White people are in the positions they are in and why so many Black people are in the positions THEY are in. White people recognized and understood the issues of lead and other environmental toxins and they made a fuss about it until much of it was cleaned up in their communities. Too many Black folks simply don't care. They don't care about the environment. They don't care about how many jobs are available....as long as they PERSONALLY have one. They don't care about crime....unless they PERSONALLY are victims. I've been all over the United States from coast to coast and quite frankly there is too much apathy, indifference, and down right IGNORANCE in the Black community. Even when they are told what their problems are too many are too indifferent to actively solve them. I just with that righteous, sane, rational minded Black people could be rescued from the chaos and foolishness so many of them live around so that they could help build new, strong, progressive communities and save the future generations and prevent the negative element from spreading.

When I was younger I wanted to be a lawyer because I loved debating (and arguing) with people over issues. But as I got older and really studied history, I began to realize the hypocrisy that exists in so much of the legal system. On one hand you have the U.S. Constitution....which is supposed to protect and ensure our freedoms of speech, assembly, and expression. But on the other hand you have federal, state, and local laws that basically TAKE AWAY that freedom and tell you what you are and aren't allowed to say or print. Then again, I suppose if I were a writer or designer I would be mad enough to kill someone who took my creative work without my knowing and got rich off of it. So perhaps these laws were designed to establish a sort of "justice" and prevent bloodshed. But I'm a sort of "literalist" in that we shouldn't claim to have FREEDOM of speech and expression and at the same time have actual laws that punish those who exercise it even if they do it by lying and plagerizing.

Well Trump is FROM New York, so it wouldn't be suprising that he'd do better there than the average Republican regardless as to how controversial he is around the rest of the nation. But what the Democrats really have to be careful of....... -and Republican operatives have been pulling this stunt all over the nation since atleast 2000- ....is voter intimidation. Every election season right before the election what you see is an attempt by the local Republicans to "purge" the voting registration of Blacks and Latino voters by using criminal records and lack of identification as an excuse. Thousands of Black and Latino votes are dismisses because of this, and they wait right up until the last few days before the election before doing this so that the voters can't go through the proper channels quickly enough to vote and have thier votes counted. And now Republicans and especially the right wing fringe groups are talking about Clinton trying to "steal" the election, no doubt as part of some scheme to force the hand of election officials. But they've been doing this in EVERY national election since 2000 and I haven't seen or heard the Democratic leadership seriously address this issue.

The brother makes a good Barack, but that sista looks nothing like Michelle....lol. Michelle is the most beautiful woman in the world, but I always thought she had a bangin' body. One of the reasons I wanted Obama to become president was so I could check out Michelle for 4 or 8 years. You'd think that after so many people complained about a Latina playing Nina Simone in the movies earlier this year Hollywood....especially Black Hollywood..would have learned a lesson. Now you see them doing the same shit; finding actresses who look nothing like the famous Black women they're attempting to portray. Then again..... The brother who played Eazy E in "Straight Outta Compton" looked nothing like the real Eazy either.

I have to admit that I don't particularly find strong women attractive. Whether she is physically strong or just has a strong personality. This is not the case each and every time because every now and then I find a woman who is very athletic or has a strong personality that I'm attracted to, but for the most part I have a desire for a woman to NEED me for something. I don't care how attractive a woman is physically, if she's strong and can defend herself or doesn't have a desire to call on me for emotional support from time to time (not ALL the time) it lowers my level or attraction for her. On the other hand, women that I didn't find particularly attractive, when something happened in their life and I saw them crying or acting a little vulnerable....it made me attracted to them and it built up a desire for me to rush to their aid or give them a shoulder to cry on. I know a few other men who feel similarly. Women need to understand that not all men are looking for "strong" women.

　 Trump is supposed to go to a Black mega church in Detroit on Saturday. If it's the one I'm thinking about, I remember going there years to go to see Mase (the rapper) when he first left Bad Boy Entertainment and started preaching....lol. What I find stranger than Trump going to a church in the ghetto, is his not planning to speak at all during his time there...lol. Troy When you compare New York and Florida...... Are you comparing Florida with New York City....or the state of New York? I ask, because there seems to be quite a few conservative and outright racist regions in upstate New York or just outside of the NYC or Buffalo areas in general. Didn't a Black fireman's house get burned down in some small town in upstate? Like Chicago and Philadelphia....a lot of White working class New York police officers and firemen are racist as hell and are probably voting for Trump despite their financial interests because of the implied racism in his theme. People often confuse Democrat with liberal. But as you said, there are plenty of racist Democrats. Many people are in the Democrat party because it's pro environment or pro abortion rights, but hate the hell out of Black and Hispanic people. So even in heavily Democratic New York, don't be suprised if the turn out for Trump is heavy. 　 　

Ya know....... I'd really....really.....REALLY....like this issue to go away. I do not want Leslie to be the spokeswoman or poster child for Black women and their frustrations. I really don't. All of the beautiful, feminine, absolutely professional Black women out there who have a story to tell.....let us focus on THEM. I'd rather Gabby Douglas or some other sister having a hard time with social media right now get the attention. Not to beat up on Leslie because she certainly doesn't deserve to be harassed or called an ape, but there are far more Black women out there who are not only better representations of Black womanhood but also have sadder stories to tell about social media harassment and racism than Leslie and what's going on with her.

Unlike many if not most "conscious" Black people in the United States, I consider myself an American. Many claim we are not real Americans because of how we are treated or say that we are just Africans IN America and love to use the analogy Malcolm X made about kittens in an oven. I disagree and say we are just as American if not MORE American than even the average White American because our roots go back much deeper in this nation. Not only are we American constitutionally speaking.....but by virtue of being born on this land, having dozens of generations of ancestry in this land, and most of us having some Native American ancestry. I don't think it was a good move for Kaepernick to protest the American flag because not only does it NOT solve the racial problems in America, it actually exacerbates them and angers a lot of non-White and non-Black people around the world as well as inside of the U.S. who see him as ungrateful for the opportunities this nation has given him. Many of these people know that if he would do that in THEIR country he would be imprisoned or even worse. I totally understand where he's coming from and I respect his right to do what he did, but you have to really sit down and think about what you're doing, why you're doing it, and most importantly what results you're trying to achieve. If he intended to piss off a lot of White people....he achieved that. But if he intended to bring attention to the race problem in America.....that wasn't necessary because everyone KNOWS there is a race problem in America. If his intention was to help Black people in some way.....how? Again, not beating up on the brother for what he did because he didn't hurt anyone and he exercised his right.....but how does THIS help in any way? Black people have always known there was a race problem in America so doing this isn't making them more aware than they already are. As far as his Egyptian girlfriend goes......... I'm looking at her and looking at him. He may be mixed but he certainly doesn't look Black, he looks like an Arab. I'm willing to be that she doesn't even see him as a Black man so she probably is dating him because he looks like the Arab Egyptian men she's used to being around. Racism exists in Egypt as intensley as it does in the United States between the native Black Egyptians (Nubians) and the Arabs, Persians, and other Caucasians who invaded that land centuries ago. I wonder does SHE protest her own nation's race problem the way Kaepernick protests his own.....or does she do like most Arabs and deny the anti-Black racism that exists in the Middle East?

CD I didn't say there was anything "wrong" with women being strong. But seeing as how physical strength is primarily a MASCULINE trait among humans, it only makes sense that it wouldn't be a desirable trait for most women to have. It's what women look for in men, but not necessarily what men look for in women. Most men who are looking for "strong women" are looking for someone to take care of them... LOL. But I'm not going to qualify or disqualify it from a moral point of view. It's no more "wrong" for a woman to be masculine than it is for someone to be lazy, obese, or stupid..... These are generally undesirable characteristics that often put people at odds with their social surroundings, but I'm not the one to say whether or not they are "wrong". As far as Black women being oversexed. I don't think Black women are actually promoted ENOUGH sexually, especially in a positive light. And there ARE positive and negative sexualities. White women's bodies are show far more often than Black women. Almost every movie has them getting naked showing their breasts, butt, and even pubic hair. Their sexuality is promoted far more than Black women. But it's usually done in a posivite light that promotes and glorifies them, while Black women are often portrayed in slutty prostitutish ways that make them look vulgar and desparate or like trifling gold diggers.

Cynique I seriously think it's a meme. I think social engineers get together from time to time and put out new words and phrases just to see how much influence they have over people. They start showing movies or producing television shows where people are told to talk a certain way and then they sit back and wait to see how quickly it influences the public and people actually begin to talk that way. I also agree that Obama has a Black vibe or swag. He has a lot of "coolness" about himself and tremendous confidence that comes with being as brilliant as he is intellectually. The coolness and brilliance work together to generate powerful charisma. You can see how he struts when he walks as well as how he gives men "bro hugs" shaking one hand while embracing with the other that Black men started and others are just now catching up to. No other president would have even ATTEMPTED this: