Pioneer1

richardmurray I have always opposed that positon. You want people to be happy, then you have to help them be happy. 1. You've always opposed WHICH position? The position that we should prevent crime from escalating? 2. I want DECENT AfroAmericans to be happy. I don't necessarily want thugs, criminals, and psychopaths to be happy. Part of their happiness involves living in peace and being able to walk the streets safely. Wealth is the key, money is the key. In some cases. In other cases SECURITY is the key to happiness. What good is having a lot of money but you're constantly worried about getting robbed or kidnapped for it? But of course, this goes back to another simple prolbem in the black populace in the usa. All black people know whites run things so black empowerment or improvement will not happen easily and moreover, black people haven't been able to have access to the financial betterment that genocide to natives or enslaving a people who don't look like us brings. We HAVE had access to SOME financial betterment but a lot of poor decision making has taken place over the decades. Like selling a lot of the land we had down South to move to larger cities or move up North. Also giving up much of the businesses that we owned during Segregation. The national urban league suggest 200 years to equity and I think of james baldwin, whenone of his last speeches he said, when will it happen, for my children or their grandchildren. The goal shouldn't be mere "equity" with Whites but generating as much wealth as our potential allows. Which would theoretically mean FAR MORE than Whites or any other group outside of ourselves. We should be trying to generate as much wealth as we can...not simple trying to be "equal" with people who aren't worthy of being equal to. That rate is slow but it makes sense to me as black wealth in the usa has never been through financially opportune scenarios, again, let black people in the usa have access to the financial wealth garnered from slavery + genocide and we will jump up quick. That is how white people did it. They were not working the land or working their own land. White people generated their wealth in a NUMBER of ways...Slavery was just one. well, in my experience the phenotypical association of latinos isn't a simple generaliztion witin the latin american popualce in the usa or outside of it. True. However based on my observations, unlike most of the United States...in New York City most Latinos that I've met and others that I've presumed were Latino were either Black or Mulatto. from my view, you want to discount my real life because my real life is different than yours. I don't want to discount it. However I do QUESTION it and find it someone odd that you were raised in a city where most others that I've talked to have observed and experienced high crime but somehow most of it has escaped YOUR radar and those you grew up around....lol. but you said you wanted 0% so the truth is, you know 0% is unachievable but you want to reach it, Let's be clear.... I said 0% is the only ACCEPTABLE percentage of people who are victims of violent crime for me not to CARE or feel that NYPD should be involved. In other words... If ANYONE is a victim of a violent crime, we should care and get the authorities involved in it's solution and future prevention. Maybe where you live or lived most illegal drug dealers want to hang out with children but not where I live. Where I lived....some of the drug pushers WERE children, lol. And, will i be ok with an illegal drug dealer trying to get a child? no. But if 99% of drug dealers are not trying to get children I can accept it. Again, 100% is impossible. And As the latino illegal drug dealing covers where children recently died in NYC showed, latinos didn't suggest the same as you to their populace when a child was found dead by their drug dealers negligence or uncaring. why? it isn't a common thing. Or perhaps among some Latinos, dead children in drug infested areas are TOO COMMON so they no longer care or see the need for restrictions and laws to combat it. this issue we have gone back and forth with proves media not actions matter. It doesnt matter who commits a crime it matters how media present it. True to a certain extent. So wouldn't that mean WE should be trying to control the media also? The real estate industry burned the bronx to the ground, a public secret all in harlem or the bornx knew, the law enforcement knew, the fire department knew, but the media said it was black people, black people who share your views said the wild criminal blacks, and that is that. Why didn't the BLACK MEDIA oppose that narrative with the truth? but why should most black people be happy in the usa, historically at the least? You may as well ask why should most people PERIOD be happy..lol. Human beings generally find ways to be happy and dance, sing, and have sex regardless as to what they're going through.

For the most part.....no. The only musical that I've liked so far would be Grease....the movie.

I'll be honest with you...... It SEEMS to me that the Black community today as a whole is LESS violent than what I remember back as a kid growing up. You have POCKETS of our community that are intensely violent, but it just seems back in the 80s and 90s the community was more violent and more crowded. It seems that really, the violence I used to see and hear about in the hood back in the 80s and 90s has SPREAD to the suburban areas and the hood is more quiet...lol. It's more quiet because it's less crowded....or gentrified with middle class people of all races. ....that is...right up until 2020. It seems that after the Summer of 2020....the hood got violent again, especially for little children. Trump actually let a lot of VIOLENT offenders out and back on the streets after the Civil Unrest of 2020. I don't think ProfD or richardmurray will like what I'm about to say next but..... I think the '94 Crime Bill the Biden and Clinton got passed did a lot to lock up a lot of violent offenders and keep them off the streets. I don't support it as a whole, but I understood SOME of why it was passed. Unlike a lot of younger Black folks who are believing the hype...I REMEMBER the 90s and how violent it was and how so many Black leaders in the cities were begging the government to actually come in and do something to stop the violence! So the White racists used that as an opportunity to enforce the ZERO TOLERANCE policies you see around the nation in schools and other institutions. I didn't agree with the unfair sentencing of Crack possessors vs powdered cocaine possessors. It was obviously racist. However a lot of them violent ass niccaz who were wreaking havoc on the block NEEDED to be locked the hell up. If Black folks want to play games and not assume the responsibility of protecting our neighborhoods from these clowns and criminals....SOMEBODY has to do something. Bodies falling left and right and instead of DOING something about it....Negroes standing around in suits with their ties swinging from side to side as they yell and point fingers at eachother. "Yall young folks need to stop killing eachother" "Yall old negroes should have left us more resources" "Listen yall, we need the police around here" "Man, STFU....you a sell out for saying some weak shit like that. We don't need no police around here...protect yourself!" Just confusion from right to left. So back in the 90s White folks stepped in and said, "Ok....we're locking ALL of you up"

My older relatives told me of a time that ANYTIME a Black person appeared on television even if it was for a brief moment......whoever was watching television would shout: "It's some Colored folks on! Colored folks is on the TV!" Everybody in the house would stop what they're doing and run to the living room to check it out. If somebody was sitting on the toilet they'd hurry up and run out the bathroom...lol. If a man was shaving, he'd put the razor down and run out with shaving cream on half his face....lol.

Troy You don't believe the Willie Lynch Letter was authentic, but you believe an ex-slave and his master became pen pals....lol. The first thing that got me about this presentation was wondering when enslaved people learned how to read and write. I know A FEW did, but it wasn't very common. The second thing was, presuming that the Col. was an officer in the Confederate Military.....why would he dignify his ex-slave by actually writing him a letter? Me personally, once I got away from that devil I'd have broken off ALL contact with him....except if I planned on sneaking back down to take care of unfinished "business". Other than that, I wouldn't be sending him mail and receiving letters from him so he could potentially track me down.

richardmurray So , if those that are harmed in NYC is a fraction of one percent, the question to you is... what percentage is acceptable for you to not feel crime is an issue that needs the nypd? 100%? 0% Because if just ONE person is a victim of a violent crime, that's one person too many and we should focus on ways to prevent it from happening again. The key is to prevent violent crime WITHOUT taking away people's rights and oppressing them. If YOU were a victim, you'd want someone to address it and not brush it off as just another miniscule statistic of such unimportance that it's not worth the attention. You can say 100% and I totally accept it and oppose your position. But, For me, NYC can go to 95% Five percent of people in NYC being harmed is a negative but with so many people I don't comprehend how that speaks emergency, or need of grand law enforcement. And from people who lived in NYC far longer than me, nyc was never the cesspool of violence suggested in media. Well, even if you believe ONLY 5% of New Yorkers are affected by crime... a ridiculously low amount but we'll go with that number for the sake of the discussion ...then my argument to you would be: If you want to prevent that 5% from escalating to 15% and then to 50% of the population...then you better make sure you have effective law enforcement on the streets to keep the crime and violence in check and subdued. well strangified, the people coming in aren't betters just different. You have to comprehend, cost of living in nyc is too high. Many people laughed at the black POAJ guy but he was right, the rent is too high. But the real estate industry is very powerful. To break their influence isn't simple. NYC has such a multracial populace, which is not congruent on any racial quality outside human that no matter who you get, they can always finance another communities elected officials to protect them I was looking at the various latest demographic statistics of Harlem and it seems that some DECEPTION is going on. As you said, most of them routinely list Harlem as about HALF Black. However they say about 30% or about 1/3rd "Hispanic". But most of those statistics fail to mention that the vast majority of Harlem's Latinos are actually Black themselves! They seem to be only counting Black Americans as "Black" and counting Black Latinos and quite possibly Black Caribbeans and Africans as "other". From elementary to college i walked home from school every day. 99% of the time, no problems whatsoever. through parks, various avenues, in some regions may be not majority black. always some guys out in the street all over. What about the other 1%? Within that 1% of the time a person could lose their life! There are 365 days in a year. You can see a person get shot 3 days out of the year which would be less than 1% of what you see through out the year....but it would have a TREMENDOUS effect on your life and peace of mind! As Troy mentioned, boys fought way more in the 70s, 80s, and even 90s than they do now. But if I counted all the fights I got in as a kid...it would definitely be less than 20. If I threw in all of the violence I witnessed in Detroit from shootings, to stabbings, to beat downs....that too would be far less than 1% of EVERYTHING I witnessed growing up as a kid. However I still remember much of it and it influences how I view society and human nature. You're focused on stats and I'm focused on real life and the effects certain events have on people and society in general. Well, let's reverse it. NYC, doesn't list how many children happily go to school every day and come back home smiling. Because that's what's SUPPOSED to happen! That's nothing new. When they get home from school and their parents ask them what happened, they usually say NOTHING. Why? Because it's routine and they don't consider it new. It doesn't have nearly the same impact on a child as seeing his friend get ran up on and stabbed to death in front of him. Trauma and violence is meant to get your attention so that you can PREVENT it. It seems to me, people like you clearly control media in NYC cause media in NYC don't see anything of value with those who are not robbed, not killed, not harmed, having fun, enjoying their lives in their populace. Lol... If people "like me" controlled the media in New York you'd have less violence and more nudity. It seems to me, people like you in NYC are willing to keep walking or don't want any attention drawn , when a black child is happy to and from school , playing outside , with black men shirtless selling drugs hanging on a corner. So you want to see school kids hanging out with and smiling with niccaz on the corner slanging dope? How about when one of those pushers try to push some of that dope on ONE OF those smiling children??? Would that be ok with you too? Maybe get some 5th graders strung out on crack or heroin at an early age so he can have a customer for years??? How long do you think the smile would last on those kids faces after a RIVAL dope pusher from other block pulls up to challenge the ones on the current corner? Real excitement, huh???? I will accept in NYC drawing attention to those robbed or killed in the local media if the quantity of those who are not gets an equal rate of NYC media's time. Which if course has never happened in NYC. So if less than one percent of the kids in NYC are getting killed then less than one percent of NYC media's time should be to them. It's called NEWS for a reason. It's not called OLDS....or NORMALS...but NEWS. People are interested in things BEYOND the events they see every day. Who wants to turn on television and see an old lady sitting on the toilet with her cell phone in her hand texting? It happens far more than people getting killed. According to you, THAT should be featured on television more so than heinous crimes.....lol. "Geez.... The Mexicans are pouring across the border and we STILL haven't solved our negro problem. Can't wait for Trump to hurry up and get back in" And your later prose proves my earlier guess correct. It is unfortunate when someone gets hurt, but "But" nothing.....the violence should be reduced and ideally ended. Realistically you're not likely to completely end violence in this world as we know it, BUT you can do things to reduce it. Ignoring it isn't one of those things however. well, not just lost, but I have an offline friend , went to school together. we are still friends I might add, he lost a family member of his. I am not going to give personal details. But, I told him that it was unfortunate, i am saddened for his lose as a friend, but it didn't warrant what his quite vocal support for the NYPD or various law scenarios. But did you tell him that his loss was just another statistic and that he shouldn't focus on the friend he lost but rather the dozens and maybe hundreds of other friends he still has? Remember, the black populace in nyc is large. IT is the largest of any city in the usa. and with that comes the reality that, you and me and our different circles isn't some impossibility. It isn't a longshot. It is arithmetically very possible. If you were born and raised in New York and claim that 95% of your Black friends and associates have never witnessed or been a victim of crime...not only do you live in a different "circle" than most New Yorkers but you live in a different reality, lol. Almost like the Twilight Zone or an Alternate Reality where certain things are reversed. I see things that could definitely be constituted as crimes on the streets every time I VISIT New York...lol. But you claim you were born and raised there and rarely see it, lol. And this goes to the larger issue in the black populace in NYC. I have said for a while, too many black people put on other black people in nyc their experience and again that is where it all goes wrong. Just because everybody died in your family from street violence side other black people, which has happened to some black people in nyc, doesn't mean the existence of a black person in the same city where everybody in their family simply died of old age is impossible It's possible...but I'd have to ask what neighborhood did you grow up in where you did NOT witness street violence? Park Avenue? Some part of Queens near Long Island? The media is slowly criminalizing the illegal immigrant more and more. I think they criminalized themselves when they came here illegally. Poverty is just poverty. Yeah is it on the corner. Outside the store. Yeah it drinks, does some crack, meth. yeah it's loud. Sometimes harasses. But usually it doesn't harm. Usually is the operative term. But what about the impact...and future consequences that result...when it finally DOES harm? People USUALLY don't get robbed or shot....but it only takes one time to have long lasting effects not only on their bodies but their minds. A man lives his life 30 years and never gets shot. But ONE DAY...out of 30 X 365....he finally does. Should he simply ignore THAT day he got shot and sweep it under the rug and focus on the other days, while he's being hauled away in the ambulance? You seem to be more focused on numbers than on practicality.

Troy I know @Pioneer1 was feening over the sister with the red hair and the white dress who greeted Kamala. Not a bad sista at all...lol. She seems intelligent and obviously know HOW to act, lol. Even if you're with a hood rat, you can still take her places if she atleast knows HOW to act and carry herself. I think Harris spent so much time talking about Gaza because the perception is Black people don’t like the US funding Israel’s bombardment over Gaza. So her speech was an attempt to create a counter narrative. Well..... Among those AfroAmericans who are aware and keen on global politics, no most DON'T like it at all. However they make up a minority of most AfroAmericans. The reality is, most AfroAmericans don't care what's going on overthere. They are too preoccupied with trying to live their day to day lives in an increasingly stressful society and workplace in the United States. And a smaller but growing minority of AfroAmericans....as exemplified by Professor Black Truth....KNOW what's going on overthere but feel that we shouldn't focus our attention on it but on other matters more pertinent to us and our needs. Especially given the racism Black people have historically faced from both Jews and Arabs.

I'm not sure why it has to be ONE or the OTHER. I personally believe that some things are pre-determined and destined to happen and others are left to chance. I also believe that there are Entities (not just One) who DO know the future and aspects of it but still aren't directly involved in manipulating it. They are just in a position to know more because of their higher plane of existence. Hypothetically, if everything indeed WAS pre-determined then that means people shouldn't be Divinely punished for bad behavior because it was already determined that they would behave as such so they were "programmed" to or essentially forced to do the deed. Infact.... Perhaps NOBODY should be punished at all for their behavior if all of it were hypothetically pre-ordained.

They left too much out in the original Color Purple movie. I actually read Alice Walker's book and it was much more interesting than the movie itself. I don't know about the 2023 version, I haven't seen it and don't plan on to because I don't care too much for sitting through musicals.

I really felt this post. All jokes aside, these experiences and being able to not only survive but come out and thrive is just ONE of the reasons I admire and rocks with you bro. You are living proof that some things....as you suggest in your other thread...may be PRE-DETERMINED and meant to be. BTW...... While both are from down South, my Father decided to come to Detroit while one of his brothers/my uncle decided to move to New York. Even back in the 80s he said the SAME THING about having money in several spots so that you can have SOMETHING to give to the muggers and junkies on the street if they accost you, lol.

ProfD I said we COULD...I didn't say we WOULD, lol. However, for what it's worth.....I have just as much confidence that Black politicians will get us Reparations as you have that Black folks will somehow "codify"...lol

Troy Do you mean Determined or Known? I'm not sure if EVERYTHING is pre-determined....meaning designed and forced to occur exactly the way it's played out. Perhaps some things are, but I don't believe all things are. However I DO believe all things....including future events...are known by The Divine. Even those events that aren't being influenced or designed to happen are atleast known about. The police can monitor criminals and know when and exactly how a drug deal went down without actually participating in or influencing it in any way. frankster It is a dream that Persist ....from which we awake exclusively at Death - Only to realize that we are not the Dreamer.....But Imaginal creatures of the Dreamer Or perhaps, some people will die and enter another "dream" in which they will continue their experiences.

ProfD I was referring to throwing the whole weight of the NOI into getting Black folks to stop making negative music and movies. Perhaps they are doing as YOU suggest by trying to clean up and prevent the conditions that INFLUENCE the negative music and movies to begin with. In fact, I remember Minister Farrakhan embracing and supporting rappers. Sure, and so do I....positive ones. Actor Hill Harper went to Harvard Law school with POTUS Obama. It appears that he's following in Obama's political footsteps by adopting a major city to call his own and launch his base from.

Shout out to Professor Black Truth...lol

ProfD Agreed. Black folks shouldn't be waiting on reparations but we d8mn sure should be demanding it front and center. I keep saying over and over that WE can give OURSELVES Reparations. There are enough FBA in Congress as well as in various political positions all over the nation who can organize and push a massive national Reparations plan that would benefit us and our progeny for generations to come. The only one's keeping us from doing it is us. Done properly, we can Black-owned everything imaginable and that which hasn't been done yet But how many of us are down to "do it properly"? frankster Africans or Black Skinned people Invented Language...Khoi san click language, Tamil, Sumerian, Egyptian and Sanskrit I'm not sure about Sanskrit. Based on my research, it's an Aryan-Caucasian language for the most part that was introduced to India with the Aryan invasion. English is a Romance Language derived from Latin...Latin is a Member of the Indo-European family Group - I read the word "Indo" as black. 1. English is NOT a Romance language...it's Germanic. 2. Indo isn't Black, it means of Indian origin. The reason why is because many of the languages and grammatical structures found in Europe were also found in Norther India. The reason for this is simple.....Caucasians who left the Caucasus mountains migrated to and settled in both areas.

ProfD It's easy to protest against the promotion of violence and dysfunction in music and movies. I wonder why the Nation of Islam and other Black organizations aren't protesting against it. I showed you the video of Dr.Wesley Muhammad exposing the nefarious plot to negatively influence Black youth through frequency in the music as well as promoting violence and criminality. Our late sister Delores Tucker headed a campaign back in the 90s to check some of these gangster rappers who were promoting violence and criminality in the community, but she didn't get the support or recognition I thought she deserved. The wholistic approach means attacking the system responsible for the conditions. Well, as mentioned earlier....some of the conditions weren't caused by the system. It was caused by a jacked up brain...lol. Some people engage in crime and violence simply because they are twisted and fucked up in head. Even under "good" conditions, they'd still be getting in trouble and ruining the neighborhood...until somebody stops their ass. Mental health is a very real issue in America that isn't being addressed well enough. ....that being said. I'm not going to let somebody come to MY apartment complex or neighborhood and walk around acting a fool and using his mental condition as an excuse. Too bad. Although the system isn't doing what it's supposed to do and take care of those with serious problems, people still have to live and be safe and must defend themselves against the "walking dead". I would not be surprised. I'm sure Detroit is one of those cities that has an enclave of successful Black folks living in the suburbs of it. Not just in the suburbs, but inside the city itself there are several wealthy upper middle class and wealthy Black neighborhoods. Infact, there is a Black actor...Harper Hill....who is running for U.S. senator of Michigan who lives in one of them. I think he's trying to pull and Obama move and is using Michigan as his launching pad like Obama used Illinois.

It probably depends on the nation. Different nations have different standards. Just like the standards for citizenship varies. Not every nation.....infact MOST nations....don't automatically grant citizenship to someone simply because they were born on the soil like the United States does. ProfD I think we be listening to the same social media channels....lol.

richardmurray I oppose your position concerning the black populace in NYC, maybe other black populaces in the usa need law enforcement in their modern condition. But the black populace in nyc in modernity and i argue in the past as well never needed the NYPD. Ha haaaa! That was a good one. You had me going for a minute thinking you were serious...lol. With all of that killing and robbing going on in the various Black communities in New York that has been going on for DECADES....what do you mean they don't need the NYPD? Maybe not the NYPD itself, but it certainly needs A police force to keep the city under control and keep the people safe. Perhaps the Nation of Islam or the Panthers, but ALL Black communities in the United States need some form of law enforcement and public safety. Outside the fact that the NYPD's own statistics have never suggested even close to one percent of the black populace in NYC is active in events https://aalbc.com/tc/profile/6477-richardmurray/?status=1805&type=status A floor count of the black population in nyc is one million and six hundred and i know it is larger but lets go with that. ten percent of 1.6 million is 160,000, one percent is 16,000. Now harlem is 206,000 ... approximately half is black today. Just half? I heard that Harlem was gentrified but are you telling me that HALF of that neighborhood is non-Black??? That's hard to believe. But , there has always been black people in NYC, like yourself, Black people who got sense....lol. Who got sense enough to KNOW we need police to keep the people safe so the children can walk the streets in peace. Black people who talk like you pioneer exist in all black populaces. Every instance of murder or theft is turned into the rapture or some sort of apocalyptic scenario in need of attention. And you feel they DON'T??? You believe that if someone is killed or robbed that that shouldn't draw attention? Nothing to see...keep walking??? "Now honey....don't you them folks no never mind! They just killing people like they do every mornin'. Mind ya own business. You'll live longer." I repeat, NYC's black populace does not need and has never needed law enforcement. You tell someone who's been raped, robbed, or brutally assaulted that the city doesn't need law enforcement. I bet they'll have a different point of view. From the experience of me , my bloodline, who have lived in nyc for a time over one hundred years, NYC's black populace has NEVER needed law enforcement, but the black people in NYC who did utter and do utter the lie of a populace plagued by negatives are all traitors whose damage to the black populace in NYC I wish I can undo. Yeah, lost your mother, lost your cousin, lost your grandpa, lost your friend, ok unfortunate, but in human allowance. Say what???? Man, I'm almost 100% positive that you've NEVER told a man who just lost his mother or son to violence that it's not worthy of attention or that it's simply just part of human "allowance". I'm almost certain you haven't done that...lol. I do not deny some black people have been harmed by other black people in every black populace in a city. But, in NYC over 95% of black people have experienced no criminal activity by other black people towards them and the five percent that have need to is acceptable. I have quite a few friends from New York and MOST of them have stories about witnessing and being victims of crime. However the same can be said about my friends from Detroit, Chicago, and St.Louis. I'm not sure what friends you have there in New York who almost none of them have no experience of criminal activity from other Black folks....lol.

ProfD However, as long as white folks know they are being provided with more than non-white folks they'll be fine. And that's another issue in and of itself. Because many if not most White folks are never "sure" they are really doing better than the Black folks down the street. Many of them are so paranoid that Black folks will catch up or surpass them the have to constantly come up with tricks and schemes and laws to keep Black wealth and power in check. Our Creativity is so powerful that no matter what they do, some of us STILL rise above the obstacles they throw in our path. Knowing this, some of them have gotten so psychotic and desperate that they promote a "final solution" to ensure the lack of Black success. I was watching a program on Youtube the other week and some racists were up there talking about they don't even want to keep Black folks as SLAVES anymore...lol. They preferred the South East Asians and Latino workers who gave them less problems. Damn! Look at the poverty rate statistics by country. I'm not sure if you can trust most of the stats coming out of those nations because they may be highly skewed. For example in many Gulf nations, the vast majority of the residents are NOT citizens but are foreign workers who are granted temporary visas so they aren't counted as part of the population or included in the statistics. When it comes to a lot of these nations.... I trust their economic statistics about as much as I trust their crime statistics...lol. If it's not happening downtown in the Capital city....it "didn't happen"....lol. There will always be people who want to work. Look no further than volunteerism. True. Based on my observations, most volunteers are people who are already financially set and well off and are bored and looking for something to do. Not that what most of them are doing isn't a good thing. Helping others is a good thing whether you're getting paid to do it or doing it for free. But most of them have plenty of money already and pick and choose WHO they help, HOW they help, and the hours they put in helping. What we know for sure, most people aren't going to be Mother Thereas...lol.

ProfD Sure. Music can be weaponized. The instruction lies in the message. I can use the same 808-heavy beat to make a record for Hip-Hop (Conscience, Party, Gangsta or Trap) or Gospel or R&B or Jazz. Lyrics make the difference. Message matters. I think what Dr.Muhammad is saying....and I don't know how accurate it is...is that the very FREQUENCY of the music itsel can affect the mood and mentality of the listener regardless of the lyrical content. We do know things affect people on a subconscious level. You've argued that Black folks should take advantage of their positions of power to enrich themselves. Absolutely. I advocate it. Artists and musicians could make the same argument that they're producing records people want to buy and getting paid in the process. Which is not a problem at all. My problem is with SOME artists who promote violence and dysfunction to get paid. It's not making money off the music that's the problem, it's the PROMOTION of violence and dysfunction that is. I wouldn't give a damn if they were doing it for FREE, if they're promoting violence and dyfunction then I would oppose it. Black folks need to attack and correct the conditions that fuel destructive messages in Blackcmusic before it's created. True. However if we want to focus on and attack the conditions and source of problems instead of taking a wholistic approach and addressing ALL those involved (and I'm NOT saying this is the point that you're making) then why even lock up the gangsters and thugs who use weapons? Instead, why not take the gats away from the thugs and murders and let them walk free and focus on the weapons factories and manufacturers as a way of reducing weapons and hopefully reducing crime and violence? I prefer a more wholistic approach where every level of a problem is addressed at the necessary intensity needed to correct it. Yes, we should correct the condition that produce the thug and murderer but sometimes HIS BRAIN is the "condition" that produced his behavior, not his environment. In the absence of codification and infrastructure, some folks will use whatever gift, skill, talent or knowledge they have in order to survive. While you're correct, we all have to live together in a CIVIL society and we can't let violent criminals, sexual deviants, and psychopaths as we lament not having a code that unites the people and place everyone on the same page as to what is right and wrong. We shouldn't wait on that.. You know how I feel about waiting on niccaz to get "on code"...lol. There are plenty high functioning Black communities throughout the country. The state of Michigan may not be the best example of it. Well everyone doesn't have the luxury of living in the DMV or Atlanta. Those are the two hotspots for AfroAmerican success in the United States. However you'd be surprised at the amount of Black wealth that exists in Michigan....especially in the Detroit area.

ProfD The love I'm referring to starts in the womb and continues through being raised by a solid mother and father and village. Facts! And somebody has to teach the mothers and fathers THEMSELVES so that they will be able to teach the children. You're dealing with GENERATIONS of dysfunction. One of the things I like about the Nation of Islam under Elijah Muhammad was that they recognized the destructive effects slavery had on the AfroAmerican family structure or lack there of, so part of their program was to RE-educate the Black woman and man on how to form and maintain a healthy family and give them their proper and respective roles and duties. They actually FIXED a lot of the dysfunction that was introduced into our community. However even if they are raised in a good home and taught in good schools, some people are born pyschopaths who will be criminal minded and destructive to society regardless as to how they were brought up. A small percentage....but they do exist. There needs to be a system in place to protect the rest of society from such individuals.

ProfD Most people don't need much more than basic needs met in order to be comfortable. The system provides it for the most part. You may be overlooking 2 major factors in what makes people comfortable: 1. In this system of so-called "white supremacy", most White folks aren't comfortable with people of color having their basic needs met and DEFINITELY aren't comfortable with an economy that puts people of color on and even economic playing field with them. If the system is providing this....they will DISMANTLE that system and replace it with a system of IN-justice. 2. When it comes to most people in general, they are happy and comfortable with what they SEE. But ever when they see somebody who has more than them, then that jealousy and envy kicks in and they are no longer comfortable and satisfied with just what they have...even if it's sustaining them. Just having a clean car that runs isn't enough....even if the government is giving it to you. You want a BENZ if that dude down the street has one. Especially if your lady keeps turning her head and looking at him every time he drives by the crib...lol. There's zero poverty in oil rich countries. No collapse. ? Are you talking about those Gulf nations like Oman and Qatar and Saudi? I'm not sure but I heard those places had poor and desperate people from all over the world flocking there to work and living in squalor. Living in tents, on the street, being abused and treated like trash by the royal families. Sounds like Capitalism on steroids...lol. Oil rich countries and Nordic countries are examples of what I foresee happening here in America. Not sure about the oil rich nations but the only reason the Nordic nations can live so wealthily and peacefully is BECAUSE nations like the United States...full of people of color...are protecting them with our military and doing most of the manufacturing work that provides them with the goods they need. The lower Western nations are doing the grunt work so that the blondes of Sweden and Norway can sit around drinking coffee and stare at the mountains in peace. We're protecting them so they don't have to spend their money on the military. Sure. Those issues can be addressed by insuring that people who need the most help get it. Ok. Now...who's going to give it to them? If everyone has money and doesn't have to work, who's going to run the hospitals and clean the beds and clean the toilets that these people will be using and wrestling with them to take their medication?

ProfD Well, many of the brothers on the streets need both the carrot AND the stick. They need the New Testament love but many of them also need that Old Testament JUSTICE and JUDGEMENT that will light a fire on their ass if they don't get some "get right"....lol. Love ain't the answer to correcting some of these brothers, because they don't respect it and will see it as weak. They have to know that there is a strong and certain penalty to breaking certain laws like robbing and killing innocent people or molesting children. ...ain't no hand shaking and sitting down on the stoop to talk to them about that one, they're getting PUNISHMENT. Like Dr. Umar Johnson says...some of these dudes on the street are beyond "talking too". You call yourself talking to them to help them and give them advice and wisdom and instead of listening they're really SIZING YOU UP looking at your truck, your build, your age, and how easy it would be to "gank" you. White folks don't want to take time to separate those who need love from those who need fear instilled in them....they'd rather just lock up niggas and be done with it. But Black men who are intelligent and righteous will know how to properly separate the WHEAT from the weeds heads...lol.

ProfD I've heard that non-scientific trope. As as I musician, I know that it's patently false. I'm not a musician nor a scientist when it comes to these things so I'll refer you to the findings of Dr. Wesley Muhammad who talks about this a lot. That's an easy problem to solve. In fact, folks have been moving away from them for several decades now. They've been moving away but: 1. Most of them end up dragging the dead weight with them whether it's a lover or family member they're trying to "help" get out the hood. 2. Many of our people who move up and out end up taking on White lovers and mating with them instead of forming positive Black communities. What we need is intelligent positive Black people to circle their wagons and unite with eachother to form tight knit communities around the nation.

Maybe she needs a MAN in her life! Maybe you and I can work on fixing her up with somebody!