Troy

"Religion itself is harmless. It is like a gun. A gun by itself is harmless."

Yes, Waterstar it is asking for Utopia humans are flawed and even the most well intentioned make mistakes with their children. One issue is where do we draw the line when an innocent mistake needs to be punished. Any law will get the wrong from time to time and people can't be trusted to used their judgment -- especially when it comes to applying laws to Black folks. That is not to say that things can't get MUCH better. I believe they can. Things will have to get much worse before the get better...

Many people feel that real people in the collage are Uncle Toms, traitors to the race -- especially Clarence Thomas. I think the 60 minutes interview made Clarence a more sympathetic figure, tragic even. Despite all his success he is hated by many, perhaps most, Black people. Who would want to be in that position? He can't even find Black love at home. Steve Kroft reiterated all of the criticism from white folks about Clarence's qualifications, but left them hanging not really providing evidence that Clarence was indeed qualified. Thomas was too young, no experience on the beach and picked by Bush because he was a Black republican. The man who benefited from Aaffirmative Action,then prevented anyone else from benefiting from it, This is rather sad... I guess the interview took place before Anita Hill called Clarence's wife up. I'm not sure I ever knew the motivation for Anita's call, and I'm too lazy to look it up right now. Clarence vehemently denied all of Anita's accusations.

Oh I never knew these were Hallie Selassie's words I know them from Bob Marley's War. Of course it make sense to extend the sentiment globally. I'm sure religious fundamentalism will prevent this from happening. It is odd to consider that religion would be an impediment to global harmony. Humanity has a long way to go.

Classic Cynique. I don't think anything will change, for the better, in this country until all people are respected. As long as we are fragmented into various groups, factions and sub-factions pitted against one another -- making advances only at the expense of each another. Unless this changes we are doomed to failure or, at best, continuing to support the extremely small minority of people with the real power and wealth. In my short 50 years I see people isolating themselves even more, private schools, private parks behind gated communities. The most lucrative and cushy corporate gigs beyond the reach of most people. The idea that ANYONE in this country would be against universal health care -- given the wealth that has been created here is alarmingly bewildering to me. The idea that ANYONE would tolerate entire generatiosn of kids being under educated, then incarcerated just unbelievable. In my mind this is no different that when Black people were enslaved (&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>&do=embed' frameborder='0' data-embedContent>). The minority of rich White folks kept a system going they KNEW was morally wrong, because they benefited financially. The masses of, mostly poor, white folks were easily manipulated into believing they were superior to the enslaved African and helped fight, and even die, to keep a system in place that did not benefit them. Slavery only ended after a conflict so bloody the nation was almost destroyed. I suspect an event, just a great, will have to occur before any of the ills that plague the Black community -- indeed the vast majority of people in this country -- will improve. The nation's unity must span all people, otherwise this country is doomed.

I actually believe the government is earnest in the desire to protect the first lady as well as the rest of the first Family. I'm not very interested 2nd guessing the details in how they actually accomplish this.

LOL! Waterstar, have you considered that you did not post the 60 minutes idea because it presented a more balanced portray of the man. While 60 Minutes did shy away from the controversy surrounding the man they showed another side of Thomas. A side that Black folks want to ignore. People are very complex. As far as the collage I have no problem with any of the folks in them. Since I've been an adult I have not expected Black people to behave in stereo typical "black" ways. In fact I actually respect Black folks that express and opinion that goes counter to the standard Black position. It takes courage to do this. I don't have to agree with them, but in this regard I do respect them. MLK was vilified by many if not most in the Black community when he started out. Malcolm X, the Black Panthers, and other great leaders were also rejected by the majority of Black people. MLK, Malcolm, had courage -- courage that has not been demonstrated by likes of Obama or the vast majority of other politicians. As far as the collage, Armstrong Williams is fine. I added the fictional characters in jest. I not sure we are doing ourselves any favors by casting folks like Condi and Colin as traitors to the race.

I'm not disagreeing with you Waterstar, I'm trying to help you understand how these things happen in the real world. You realize that many Department of Family and Children Services have work loads that larger than most people can reasonably be expected to handle? These are very stressful jobs and not always performed by the people best suited for the role. As far as why the father allowed the toddler to "discover" porn on the PC. Maybe the father did not want to get the keyboard sticky, and washed his before closing the window

Waterstar I get it this. Further I believe most thinking people would get it was well. I just do not agree that using the word "Slave" or "Enslaved" will change anyone's perception one way of the other. It certainly makes no difference to me. I only consider the use of "Enslaved" to be respectful when I'm around the "ultra-afrocentric". Years ago Toni Cade Bambara famously made this distinction. This is old story. I did not think you were equating the term Nigger with Slave. But if we were to run with the analogy. I live in Harlem I doubt I can go outside for more than a few hours without hearing the word Nigger. Typically used by Black men of all ages. The meaning of Nigger is very different depending upon the context. You have to allow for these distinctions this is the way the language works and evolves... I guess you've never been to the Dominican Republic. So while I fundamentally agree with your position Waterstar I just don't think out of the universe of things we need to fight for, that this is a very important battle for us.

Hi waterstar I think your equating the use of "Slave" with the use of "Nigger" is a stretch. This enslaves Africans were slaves. Of course they were many other things, like any human. This seems, to me, too obvious to debate. Now if anyone wants to say ALL these unfortunate souls were, were ONLY slaves -- then I'm with you. That would be wrong and factually incorrect. That would be like describing me as "Black". The single adjective is too narrow to accurately describe myself or anyone. Indeed the term is only meaningful when compared to someone who is not Black -- even then, at least in America, the work "Black" still may mean virtually nothing. We could call the 'Enslaved Africans", more accurately, "people of African ancestry forced to work against their will, by a more heavily armed evil white racist society", but I'd still prefer to use the word "slave" in this case all the rest is obvious. If I thought is was not obvious I'd use a more accurate descriptor. Waterstar what would you call the enslaved child of the mulatto house servant and the master? Would "Enslaved African" be more suitable than simply "slave"? Especially when you are talking about the entire group of people?

Waterstar, often laws trump common sense, because they are arbitrary. Laws are a necessity because people, including those entrusted to protect us, are too wicked to be trusted with the freedom to behave properly without rules. Despite the individual failures, over all, the trade off is worth it at least in theory. The problem we now have now is that no one is trusted to use judgement under any circumstances. No authority is smart enough to come up with a rule which works 100% of the time. But apparently few individuals are smart enough to operate without being told exactly what to do. In your case, suppose the father was innocent and the 2 year old got the idea by watched some porn the father left open on my PC. Maybe some over zealous social worked arrested the father, based upon the toddler's story and subsequently discovered found the porn on his PC and locked the man up for incest and pedophilia. Now in prison and labeled a pedophile the father gets shanked in prison and dies -- even though he was innocent. A story similar to this has happened, on more than one occasion. We need rules, but could use more people with common sense.

Watestar what do you think would have happened if this happened to Laura Bush? As you suggested this "news" story is only part of the story whole story. Of course the story's purpose was not meant to convey relevant information that the public actually needs, but to provide content that "sells". As a result we will probably never know the truth.

Waterstar the living color video led me to this video of Clarence Thomas on 60 minutes: Thomas is perhaps the most vilified Black man, by Black people in the history of the country. While Steve Kroft did a decent job with the interview -- especially when he summed up the public's opinion of Thomas, but a Black person would have a WHOLE 'notter set of questions

Breathebooks, you get it: "If misunderstood or misquoted try considering it part of a process." "you can expect to have your posts challenged and/or questioned" "This "feature" of the board is not intended to discourage" Concurrence is typically less interesting This is not to say that Waterstar and Cynique don't get it they do, but your short little post spells it all out quite succinctly. Your point also explains why many find this type of communication difficult and others find it challenging. It is not easy to communicate, an opinion clearly and defend it in public -- but that difficulty is what makes it fun. People are less willing to engage in difficult or challenging things, even if it is just reading a challenging book or walking a few blocks... I've changed my position on various things and learned a few things over the years -- through many of these conversations. Thanks all of you!

This was one of my favorite Boondocks episodes. I hear the show is coming back.

Inappropriate to say the least. I don't have a problem with someone making a joke like that, but that person should not be on the 1st Lady's security detail....

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Waterstar, just click the link I provided to order the book: http://bit.ly/howwedidit (I see now I should have posted the link as a clear call to action (Click Here to Order Now). Even I can over look the obvious sometimes.

FinanceFree. You actually raise a couple of interesting points. Which I will challenge just for the sake f think through. I'm not so sure that we are truly capable of controlling ourselves. By virtue of the fact that most of us engage of behavior we know will end with bad consequences even through we know this n advance. While you or I can not (and should not) control other individuals. Collectively, we have to actively control the behaviors of individuals. Some of these controls are obvious, stopping people from killing, raping and robbing each other, some controls are less obvious. Perhaps we need to exert a little more control over folks to prevent a worsening of the current problems?

Hi Tascha, It is your press release you can post the whole thing here, and save people from having to click: Mother of Special Needs Child Offers Inspiration to Other Parents in New Book Tascha L. Stith shares her personal story of raising her daughter in “How We Did It” http://bit.ly/howwedidit Houston, TX (PRWEB) June 14, 2012 HOUSTON – “So many children are now being born with some type of disability and parents are struggling to deal with the pain and emotions that go along with the everyday challenges of raising a disabled child,” explains Tascha L. Stith, author and mother of a special-needs child. To help give strength to other parents of children with disabilities, Stith has penned the new book, How We Did It: A Story of How a Single Mother Raised a Special-Needs Child (published by Balboa Press). In How We Did It, Stith offers empowering words based on her own personal belief that raising a child with special needs is possible. She wants readers to realize that they were chosen by God to be their child’s parent, and that it is not a mistake, but happened by design. An excerpt from the chapter entitled “How We Did It”: “You just have to decide, not if it’s going to affect you, but how you’re going to keep it from affecting you, because it will. You’ll feel alone, you’ll get angry, you may even lash out; but I’m here to tell you, think about that baby! Be the best you for your child and for yourself (I wish someone had told me this, but if they had I probably would never have written this book). At the end of the day, everyone needs to be able to lay their head on their pillow and sleep. You can’t control what people do, be it friends, family, or whoever. You can only control what you do for you and your baby.” It is Stith’s hope and conviction that her story will help those who are lost or confused about why their lives are this way. “We want everyone to know that no matter what … you can do this. You are not alone. Trust and believe that God is guiding your life and that you were chosen to be this child’s parent.” About the Author Tascha L. Stith is an author, entrepreneur, mother, military veteran and life coach. She loves life and embraces the gifts God has given her with a deep appreciation and understanding to live life by being “100 percent authentic.” She and her daughter reside in Houston. Balboa Press, a division Hay House, Inc. – a leading provider in publishing products that specialize in self-help and the mind, body, and spirit genres. Through an alliance with indie book publishing leader Author Solutions, Inc., authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages the self-publishing model. For more information, visit balboapress.com. To start publishing your book with Balboa Press, call 877-407-4847 today. For the latest, follow @balboapress on Twitter. ###

Waterstar the original picture was lifted from the original article cited, so I can;t take credit for it. In fact I would never have created such a collage. However your suggestion that I add Clayton made me laugh. Even through Clayton is a fictitious character and does not really belong, I decided to add him. For good measure, I added Uncle Ruckus another one of my favorite self-hating Negroes. Cynique, as far as I can tell we were enslaved and therefore slaves. I don't believe the use of either word would change anything. I generally, for PC reasons use "enslaved". In much the way I use Black or African American, when 50 years ago I would have used Negro, much to the same effect. I prefer Black nowadays cause it is shorter. Maybe I'll rename the site to Black American Book Club -- sounds like something from the 60's huh?

Thebooklook, that sounds like a good idea -- lets add that to the agenda of our next meeting. Taschainc, nice to meet you in The Big Easy a couple of weeks ago. Waterstar, I bet if 24 hours, 1,000 channels of TV was available in the 1950's the civil rights movement would have never gotten of the ground. Throw in a couple of Tyler Perry flicks each year, an MLK mega church, and Facebook. We would almost certainly still be sitting in the back of a bus -- but we'd enjoy being on the bus. Perhaps a Romney presidency would be the spark that ignites a wake up call -- assuming things get much worse (but who knows things might get better under his watch). Last week I visited a historic site that I suspect many adults under 40 would not recognize. I find it difficult to image people would be willing to fight so hard, and to sacrifice so much just to be treated fairly, justly. Back then it seems many of the individuals on the ground, fighting, were young people. I just can't see young people engaging in this type of battle today. This is not a slight against young people today, but an indictment against the elders that came before the young folks today. We dropped the ball somewhere between thinking the job was over and enjoying a few new "freedoms".

One of my "bots" found this article, Why the Republican Party is a better fit for African Americans, and posted it on Facebook for me. I noticed it got a lot of clicks so I decided to check the article out myself. I'm not a Republican or a Democrat. I'm sure there are righteous and kind people in both parties as well as evil ones. I don't think either party really serves the people, so the whole rigid allegiance with one party over the other does not resonated with me. Because of the way I think, the whole idea that a group of people have so completely embraced the democratic party is something I simply can't fathom. White folks are free to be in either party based upon their belief, but Black people are vilified by other Blacks for being Republican. Worse, our allegiance to the Democratic party effectively renders our vote useless. It is just a given our vote will go to a democrat who can, in turn, overtly ignore Black issues. I think we would be better off without parties. Perhaps then, people could vote on candidates based upon issues, and candidates would be unable to take a vote for granted simply because they were Black and democratic.

Our very existence is under attack. This is not hyperbole. I wish it were. Many of the games we've made have been reversed. Off the top of my head: There are fewer Black studies programs in our colleges and universities We have lost the vast majority of of Black bookstores over the last two decades Black radio is virtually dead Black film is virtually dead The Black voices on the Internet is dying Black newspapers are dying Black magazines are dying Black folks are being incarcerated at an alarming rate Black unemployment rates are staggeringly horrific Our course Black at the bottom of every major social economic measure available Mental illness is a major problem Our numbers in significant roles in corporate America are still very small I could go on... The fight required to reverse this is on the scale of what the civil rights fight required. This most tragic aspect of this dilemma is that it is happening virtually no outrage, no resistance, and an almost complete apathy on the part of the victims. Part of the reason is that the vast majority of us have no idea what is going on and have no ideal what a serious problem we are facing. We have too little conscious media to detail and explain what is happening. Most of our media, radio, TV, film, the web, magazines is too focused on celebrity nonsense. It is like a narcotic numbing us to the to the pain we are suffering. As a result we want, indeed need, even more to stay sane. Of course the problem is our very culture. Blacks are not the only victims, the vast majority of Americans are -- it is just we, as Black people, are suffering far more than any other demographic. We are going to need wake up and do something before it is too late.

DT, I hear you but your reasoning does not explain why I can go almost anywhere in this country and find several white owned, independent, bookstore thriving. Hickson I hear to you. Unfortunately much of the local support for the Harlem Book Fair is lacking for reasons similar to the ones you've mentioned. It is too bad the event has so much potential.