EMMETT TILL’S ACCUSER COMES CLEAN AFTER ALL THESE YEARS…

Well, it is Black History Month.   And I really can’t remember when this actually took place… the year when a young 15 year old youth went south to Mississippi from Chicago, to spend the summer with relatives in the south.

http://nypost.com/2017/01/27/emmett-tills-accuser-admits-it-was-all-a-lie/

In looking back at a newspaper article on the story, I see where it took place in 1955.  The summer Emmett Till went to spend what was to be his lastsummer visiting those cousins, and an aunt and uncle down south.  Because somewhere during that visit in August 1955 it was said
that Emmett took certainly liberties with some white woman.  He got out of place… he crossed that divide that colored and white were not to cross… because he was just being a young innocent kid… unaware of the do’s and the don’t of the then… and maybe still in some parts of the south.

Supposedly young Emmett while in this woman’s family store had told the white woman how he had dated a woman just like her up in Chicago.   And upon leaving the store it was said that young Emmett Till gave that woman 1 of those big long whistles, that men did back in that time when they thought a woman was beautiful… somewhat of a wolf call or something.

It was that story of Emmett Till which always colored me and my thoughts about how when you leave home… if you lived north of the Mason/Dixon Line… how you should behave very differently if you were to go down south.

Something like how you had to remember when you crossed that line …that Mason/Dixon Line going into the south, that you were no longer in the north… or in your little Northern town or big city, like Chicago or Detroit.   And how remembering this… that this ‘black and white thang’ could possibly save your life.

I recall once just we had crossed that line 1 summer on 1 our many drives south to visit my grand mother in the south, that once we pulled up to a motel where my mother sent me out to go inside and ask how much it would cost to get a room?

An occasional stop at a motel to freshen up used to be a habit of my family sometimes while we were making the more that 20 hour trip down south to Florida.  But this particular day as I almost was about to reach for the door leading into the motel office, out came running two black boys… or teens… something I couldn’t really tell how old they were as they came running through that door shouting back to me, ‘Get of of here!  Go!  Go!’

I immediately ran back to our car and reported to my mother and father what those 2 boys had told me as they had whizzed pass me and shouted for me to get out of there.

Suddenly, my mother started screaming at me to get in the car… and she started hollering they ain’t gonna take my sons.   ‘They ain’t gonna take my sons.’

Boy, I had never seen anything like it or ever heard my mother react in such a way.  But years later I understood.

At that time my brothers were young kids… maybe 10 or 11 or something like that.  But my mother having grown up in the south… my being a Jamaican had grew up in Jamaica so he had not really experienced any that Jim Crow stuff of the deep south.  But my mother knew it well.   And she knew that it would not matter to white folks that my brothers had not robbed or done whatever those 2 boys had done… but that they were black and that in of itself would have been enough for my young brothers to have been taken …in place of the real crooks or whatever they were who had come running out of that motel office.

I do not think we ever again stopped at another motel in all the years we continued to travel back and forth to Florida after that.

For years, I think that up until this very point I had always felt that Emmett Till  should have been told how to behave, and carry himself while down there in the south.  I always thought it was his mother’s fault for not sitting him down, and telling him how to behave down there when it came to being around white folks.   It was the typical blaming that many people do when they blame the dead for being dead.  Like some people blame Trayvon Martin for being out late… or out in the rain in that white neighborhood when he got shot and killed.

I thought that way because I  was stupid.  I was  blind.  Ignorant of the fact that many times it just didn’t matter what we did do or not, irregardless there was a very likely could still come up dead

He was a kid.   And you could have told him something a thousand times, and would you believe you wouldn’t have to tell him it again… as we all do when it comes to talking to our children?
Emmett Till did not live in the south.   Nor was there any reason for me to believe that what had been said regarding that story had been true.   For you see, evidently I had believed something inappropriate must have been done for those white men to go in the middle of the night seeking this young boy, regarding something something he had said and/or done.

That is the irony of it.  How readily we eat up the things we see or hear.

It had been a lie.   It had all been a lie.   And because some white woman had lied on her son, Mrs. Till was forced to go down to Mississippi and collect the bloated remains of her young teen age son, her only child… I think… and bring him back to Chicago in order to bury him.

Years later after Emmett Till had been viciously murder by a group of white men in the middle of the night, after going to his relative’s house and demanding that they send him out to them or they would burn them out and all up in their home.

How could that woman possibly live with herself after that?

Years later, I moved to Chicago and while working as a church secretary for a pastor by the name of Dr. A. L. Reynolds, Jr.,  I was told something by Dr. Reynolds, who pastored Sixth Grace United Presbyterian Church, at Cottage Grove and 35th Street, on the South Side.

Dr. Reynolds 1 day came into the office and for some reason began telling a story, of how he had had to run away from his home, which had been back in Arkansas.   The reason he had to pick up and get out of there he told me, was because some white woman wanted him and he didn’t want her.   That is exactly how he put it.   He said, ‘she wanted me.  But I didn’t want her.  So, I had to leave.’   Because I did not want her to lie on me.   Because in those days a white woman could say a black man raped her and they (meaning the other white people… mostly men) would kill him.

So, Dr. Reynolds said he got of Arkansas as quickly as he could.

And he said he left Arkansas running because he didn’t want her to tell a lie on him.

Through the our history in this country many black people have found it necessary to get up and get out of town in the middle of night, headed north or to other points unknown.  Because they were afraid of some type of bad consequence which might take hold upon them… or befall them due to a lie… or some white person wanting something that belonged to them.

It comes to mind that even in Biblical text Abram lied.  He was forced to lie when he and Sarah went to enter Egypt.   And he became afraid that the king… otherwise known as Pharaoh… would want his wife, Sarai…as she was then before being renamed by God Sarah.   Because the Bible says she was fair and goodly to look upon.

So, Abram felt that he would be killed by Pharaoh.   So, therefore, told Sarai that they should say that he was her brother rather than her husband.

The end of this story is that Pharaoh and the people of his kingdom are overtaken by what the Bible calls a ‘great plague.’   Pharaoh questions Abram and asked him why he had not told him that the woman, Sarai… was his wife?

We come into the 21st Century now, some more than 60 years later and now we hear that the white woman who had told her husband and his white buddies, that Emmett Till had whistled and spoken to her… a white woman inappropriately… that she had lied.

All that pain and heartbreak … tears shed had been over a lie.

A young boy was pulled and dragged out into the dark of night… tortured and beaten …then partially burned and thrown into the river… to be found days later a bloated beyond recognition dead decomposing body.   Because that woman lied.   And now …I guess on her death bed… or on her near death bed she tells the truth… that she lied about the whole thing.
How did that woman do that… when she knew what the consequences for any black man would be?

She knew what times she lived in.   But just did not care.  She told that lie knowing that some out of control white drunken men were going to go and find them a white boy, and have what they called ‘have some fun.’    While they enjoyed torturing him and beating him…and eventually killing him.

How did this young boy respond?

Can you imagine what was going through his mind and heart… scared beyond his wits…
kicked…slapped…punched… stomped… cut… lit on fire…

And all because some white woman thought it nothing to lie on him.   And me thinking years later that it had been his fault… because nobody every trained him properly how to behave around white folks.

This reminds me of how I hear black commentators on television now when they are talking about black men being shot and killed by white police officers.   Everybody saying they should have kept their hands on the dashboard… or where they could be seen… or not moved too quickly… etc… etc… etc….

Blaming the victim because racist people still abound….

Well, God bless… It was sleeting a little bit this morning.  But I hope it is nice and warm
where you are.  Have a good day all… and remember it’s BLACK HISTORY MONTH.   “pass it on…” http://www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2017

Add a comment February 8, 2017

PAULA WHITE… UNEVENLY YOKED…

I know…   I know… I’m late on this but from the moment that I found out… which was recently like last week… that Paula White got divorced and married a rocker I thought to myself.

Married a what???

A rock and roll rocker… as in musician????

Paula White the woman who became the head of what’s his name church in Orlando… who had a church in Tampa.   That Paula White???

Yes, that 1.

Needless to say that it struck me odd that a so-called woman of God would even consider marrying a man… all tattooed up and still plays as a musicians touring on the road.  He is in his mid-sixties while Paula claims to be in her mid-forties… with each
having married three times.

His name is Jonathan Cain… I’m not really familiar with him.  But then I have never followed rock music or any of its groups outside of the BeeGee’s, Hall & Oates… if you can call them a group… and maybe 1 or 2 others but that
has been it

But it is not him who I wish to speak about… but Paula.

I first saw Paula on television.  I guess the Word Network where she had been a fiery  woman of God, at the time… who definitely knew the Word and could preach it.   But over the course of time… lot most of the TV evangelists and pastors … or so-called… that I have seen on television they soon loose sight  of God and become all about money.   And that is exactly the only thing that Paula White seems to be consumed with getting… and does not mind freely letting you see that that is what she is all about these days.

I happened to come across the information of Paula’s wedding over the internet… on youtube.  Where I thought it was interesting that the 2 videos talking Paula White and her new man… were 2 white people.   Some man and some woman… who appeared to have a connection with each as the basic look of their videos were the same.  But since Paula White’s congregation for the most part… as part as I have seen… has primarily been and continues to be majority African American… I would have expected videos on youtube regarding Paula’s wedding to been from some black folk.

I read where someone on Facebook posted on their page last week this question, ‘Why can we find black churches under the leadership of a white pastor, but cannot find the reverse?’

That is a very real question.  Black are by far more accepting of having a white person leading them as a pastor than the opposite.  A perfect example of this is the break between the Church of God in Christ and Assemblies of God.

When the Church of God in Christ was birth under Bishop C. H. Mason a number of white folk were also involved and in membership but later the white member withdrew from the Church of God in Christ to create their own denomination known as the Assemblies of Christ.   This example of the split in membership between the white members and black members of the Church of God in Christ does strongly suggest that black people… though we had gone through slavery and oppression in many countries …not just in America but around the world… but when it comes to laying aside every weight and bias …especially when it comes to matters of God… black folk are by far more forgiving and tolerate than white people and can lay aside the color of someone’s skin.

But I am not trying to give a history lesson here.   I want to comment on Paula White becoming unevenly yoked.  But that is not to say that maybe she had not done so before.  Because after all she had had 3 prior marriages… just like the man she married.   So, both Paul and her rocker husband make the fourth marriage that each of them have said ‘I do’ to.

But how does a woman who professes to know the Lord.  None less a pastor of the Word of God marry 4 times?

And the the 4th time being to a man in his 60’s who has spent his life playing and writing rock and roll music… and still does for a living?

Clearly, he has money.  And we know that Paula definitely has money especially since her television time tab is picked up by the church she stepped in to assume the pastoral of following the death of Zachary Timms… giving way for a takeover by some church heads to put in slave master Paula White.   Because if you listen to those youtube videos this 2 people uploaded

While Zachary was making a name for himself in Orlando, with New Destiny Christian Center, a church under the order of Apostle Fredrick Price… Paula was busy with her then husband… husband #3… Randy White building up their church in Tampa, Without Walls International… which has bit the dust and gone under the auction block.

There was lots of controversy when somehow Paula White emerged as the pick to lead Timms church following his death, due to overdose.   To say the least it was a big mess.  But to tell you the truth there are a lot of big messes in
the church… as our home church is dealing with 1 itself.   But maybe sometime other time I will address that… but it was highly disappointing.

When I first saw Paula… I have no idea how long she had been on the scene prior as I never watched TV or had heard of her until I guess I used to start watching my sisters television on occasions and when I saw her preach at Bishop T.D. Jake’s Woman Thou Art Loose.  At that time she was different … not obsessed with riches here on earth as she had since become.  She today has stepped away from the ‘soul saving’ or ‘caring’ business to increase my pockets business.

It is interesting to me when I see these so-called pastors such as Rod Parsley… who when I first saw him he was different too.  Today the man seems to be on the deep end… tethering between sanity and insanity.  Money too has taken his mind.  And like Paula and more than three quarters of those preachers on the Word Network… all of them in search of getting rich on the backs of gullible black folk willing to send them in whatever amount they ask for of that given day.  As everyday on these people shows is a ‘give me’ ‘give me’ episode ‘if you want such and such.’   Or are looking for ‘such and such.’   It has become a real racket.

So, Paula is leading the black folk of Timms congregation now for the past 3 years or so… since Zachary died in New York City… found dead in a hotel room of an overdose.   It must have been like hitting the jackpot because Zachary loved media.  He loved being on television and had invested much in the state of art television and audio equipment.  Not to mention all the television time his church purchased weekly.  And Paula was and is a lover of media herself… it is what she has used to get her to the place where she now it.

But before at least Paula preached the gospel before.   She merely uses the gospel now.   But this marriage to this guy was a step way beyond ‘I could less what anybody thinks.’    It
was like ‘I’m going to have this man… and his money and I don’t care whether he ever finds Christ or not.’

Now, how does a supposed ‘woman of God’…  much less a pastor with a large congregation do that?

Isn’t she suppose to be the role model… the standard bearer?

Well, Paula is worry about any standards godly or otherwise.  She is too caught up in her own importance over her temple worshippers who I guess are willing to follow her straight into hell.   The woman must be into witchcraft… voodoo or something because they are servants and she is their god head… married to her prince of
rock and roll, baby.   And ain’t nobody up in arms about it… because Paula has her followers… the Destiny congregation
bewitched.  Just as bewitched as when whomever elected her to take over their church that cause the whole board of elders selected to aid in that process such as Bishop T.D. Jakes and Bishop Ivy Hilliard to both hit the door, and start walking.

So, this woman marrying an ungodly man should not upset anyone… because honestly speaking Paula White ceased to be godly a long time ago.

It is clear that for anyone who marries time and time again… then evidently that person must be marrying outside of the will of God.  There can be no other answer to that question… which would mean that any marriage outside of God’s will is doomed.   Thus Paula White’s 3 prior marriages… and this cannot be any otherwise as the man is not of God… but is in the world.

God bless… It’s almost time for me to get out of here now.   So I have got to hurry.   But before I check out of here I just want to say, ‘What a fool that guy was last night who followed President Obama during that press dinner event they had.   The guy was completely out of order.   And to use the ‘N’ word when referring to my President absolutely inferiated me.

These clown uncle toms need to go and sit down.   And never to arise again.

If I ever hope someone were to loose his job… on what overnight tv show he host… it is definitely him.  He is not worth whatever they pay him.   Kill that contract and bury that guy.   What a fool… in a clown suit and make-up.   No, maybe I am giving clowns a bad name to equate them and that idiot… whatever his name was.  

Thank you for reading this blog…and my others. Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2016

Add a comment May 3, 2016

MASSACRE IN CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA… an issue of RACISM or TERRORISM…

It would be hard to not write anything about what happened Wednesday night at a what would have

Worshippers gather to pray in a hotel parking lot across the street from the Emanuel AME Church following a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

normally been a quite little Church Bible study session.  But it was anything but quite… and the consequences were high.

Upon first reading about this story in a posting on Facebook by 1 of my cousins… I, of course, like her was immediately touched by it.

In the wake of so many police abuse and mis-killings of black folk… and now this???

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/06/17/white-gunman-sought-in-shooting-at-historic-charleston-african-ame-church/

When I saw a picture of the boy… or young man if you like…  I could not help but feel sorry for him.  Just 21 years young and his life is over.  And I knew that the energizing force within him… hatred… had been breast fed him since he was a baby.

You do not grow up feeling anger and hatred towards a whole group of people… because they are different from you… EXCEPT it is something you have been fed with all of your life.  And then for his 20th or 21st birthday his father bought him a gun and put it in that boy’s hand… baiting him to do what he did on Wednesday night.  It was a set-up… a set-up to fail… to be subdued or killed because he had been bred to be a mad-dog killer.

How does anyone do that to their child?

How do you teach your child to hate a certain group of people so much that you… his parent’s destroy HIS life.  You created him to be a killer… and kill he did.  And now one way or another he will be killed.

But you parent’s don’t blame it upon the victims he so viciously slayed in cold blood… or try to put it on a teacher or a school system… or even upon this country… because that is what seems to have been the problem.  You taught him to blame everybody else.

What a shame.

What a horrific tragedy and profound lost of good decent hardworking people… who appear to have only showed him kindness.  And with open arms allowed him to partake in their Bible study… while he sat there studying them… plotting how he was going to kill them and who he would take out first.

Was it an act of ‘terrorism’ or was it out and out ‘racism’ that motivated such an inhumane act?

Oh, I understand how the Klu Klux Klan tried to terrorize black folk.  I understood the sheets over their heads… trying to play like they were ghost.  I even understand the burning of crosses upon the land of black folks… trying to pretend that they were doing some kind of holy work.  But it was all done in the name of ‘racism.’  And that is exactly what the out and out murder of 9 black folk who had never met him before… never talked to him before… had never seen him before was all about.  He murdered them…

1. Rev. Clementa Pinckney, 41, was the church’s pastor and a South Carolina state senator.
2. Depayne Middleton Doctor, 49, sang in the church choir, the Charleston newspaper reported.
3. Ethel Lance, 70, worked for 30 years at the church, a relative told the Post and Courier.
4. Susie Jackson, 87, a longtime church member, was Lance’s cousin, the newspaper reported.
5. Cynthia Hurd, 54, was branch manager of the St. Andrews Regional Library, just a few miles from the church where she was killed.
6. Tywanza Sanders, 26, was a 2014 graduate of Charleston’s Allen University.
7. Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45, was a church pastor and high school track and field coach, according to the Post and Courier.
8. Myra Thompson, 59, was an active member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
9. Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., 74, who died at a hospital, was a retired pastor from another Charleston church.

…9 innocent people whose only crime according to Dylann Roof, the young 21 year old murder… was that they were black.  Guilty of rapping and murdering people… taking jobs from white folks… and no good to society etc.  etc. etc. all those things that backward thinking white parents teach their children when they teach them how to hate other people… just for being…..

Truly sad…

Well, God bless…. I pray for every family and for all mankind.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2015

Add a comment June 19, 2015

ZIMMERMAN TRIAL ONE BIG FARCE…

If it had been a Saturday Night Live skit from beginning to end then maybe it might have been funny.  Except for the fact that someone’s life was grievously taken this whole thing was anything but a joke.

I really do believe that the prosecution… the DA office… should first of all be investigated.  Because this trial was one of the biggest disasters since Ojay Simpson.  From the picking of the jurors to that supposed medical autopsy doctor something was seriously wrong.

Why in the first place were 6 women chosen for the jury, and primarily, if not all of them, white?

One could hardly call that a group of George Zimmerman’s peers.  None of them appeared to me to look in anyway like George Zimmerman’s true peers… whom I would believe to be men about his age, of similar backgrounds etc.. etc..  And on what merits were those women chosen?

Based upon things said by Juror #37 once it was all over… if she can be believed… they all went into the jury pool already with their minds made up before they were even chosen to be jurors.   And some like Juror #37 … I have no doubt also had hidden agendas like coming out with their own book deals and television interviews.

So, just how did such people make the cut and end up in that jury box?

Why would anybody question supposed jurors saying… ‘Knock knock, whose there?’

What kind of jury selection did that of retarded examination of possible jurors bring about?

Maybe the prosecution was just trying to determine who was brain dead from who wasn’t.  And he chose the brain dead.

When you truly look at this case you have to ask yourself was the prosecution for Trayvon Martin’s family… or was the DA office working against them?

When doctor KooKoo… don’t know his name and I am not going to try to find out.  But when that man took the stand… now the whole thing really went into the Twight Light Zone.

Was this man really a doctor?

Had he not ever been prepared by the prosecution office for this hearing before hand?

Did he really know anything about doing or handling an autopsy?

To all these questions the answers appears to be a resounding ‘NO.’

From the moment that autopsy doctor opened his mouth the lawyers supposedly representing Trayvon Martin, the victim in this case, should have entered ‘OBJECTION’ after objection.  Through this whole trial Perry Mason and Matlock were probably rolling over in their graves… and they weren’t even real lawyers.  But I sure could hear some ‘objections‘ needed to be stated.

For 1 thing, the autopsy doctor referred to having conferred with another doctor regarding marijuana.  Objection!

Since the other doctor was not there to substantiate that conversation… testimony of such should have been objected to.

Two, that autopsy doctor came to court with some notes which he stated he had prepared the night before.  Objection!

Here was a guy who clearly stated that he could not remember the facts of his autopsy.  Then why should notes written by him some… what 12 or so months later be allowed in as part of his testimony?

If he could not remember any facts on that autopsy, then clearly any notes written mostly recently would be moot and should have been of no apparent good in this case.  Because they would be based upon his present memory or recollections as opposed to when he actually performed the autopsy.

Thirdly, the autopsy doctor was confrontational… and I don’t know how long he had been in this country… but he kept acting like he didn’t understand English.  So, then how good was a testimony of anyone like that… who might not be really sure about what he was saying?

One has to wonder whether or not the autopsy doctor was paid off?

And if he worked in my department… after that performance on the witness stand… whether he was either performing to be highly incompetent or really is highly incompetent… I would have sent him packing. FIRED!

That guy was definitely highly unprofessional.  And I cannot help but wonder if it was not just an act on his part.

Nextly, one really has to wonder….

‘WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD THE PROSECUTION CALL this woman to testify?

Did they not go over her testimony with her?

Did they not know what questions to avoid… like ‘what did he say about the man watching him?’   Her response…. ‘He called him a creepy ass cracker.’

WHAT????

Could that testimony not be any more damaging to this case?

She had to have say that to the prosecution before they even put her on the stand.  So, they knew it would be damaging to Trayvon, for the jurors to hear that.

It appears that the prosecutors in this case purposely set about to sabotage it.  Not once… not twice …but time and time again.

There are various other parts of this case which just do not add up.  Such as why the prosecution did not push further with all those witnesses on Zimmerman’s side which claimed it was ‘Georggie’s voice‘ that they recognized as the person screaming.

We live in a time of vast technological equipment.  Equipment that is able to do voice recognition… voice separation… voice isolation… voice tracking… voice this and voice that…   Including removal of any additional sounds outside of what you are focusing on.  They have equipment that can do just about anything you want it to do… including voice distortion and correction.

So, then why was no technical equipment used in this case to determine who the possible screamer really was?

Equipment could have been rolled into that court and that recording played over and over for those witnesses… recordings mixed with fake voices screaming to see if they could determine the real recording or the fake.  Experts in sound and voice could have been called in to testify… but they were not.  Nor was any equipment used to decipher whose voice it really was that had been screaming.

I listened to the 911 calls with the screams in the background… and coming from years in radio I have a very good ear.  And those screams did not come from a 27 or 28 year old man.  Nor was the voice non-African American.  And on top of all of that… just ask yourself who screams for help when they have a gun in their hand?

Remember, now… that there was no evidence that Trayvon’s hand was ever on Zimmerman’s gun.  There was no evidence in fact that Trayvon ever even touched Zimmerman.  The forensic people found no traces of Zimmerman’s DNA under Trayvon’s nails… nor any bruises on his hands or knuckles.

The other issue in this case was the fact that there was so much 911 evidence in this case was against George Zimmerman.  On 1 recording of a 911 operator, she clearly asked Zimmerman ‘are you following him?‘

To which Zimmerman answered ‘yes.’

That operator told Zimmerman to stop following Trayvon and to get back into his car.   Which George Zimmerman certainly from the outcome in the death of Trayvon… totally ignored.

Also, based upon the merits of that 911 recording alone Zimmerman was clearly stalking Trayvon.  Therefore, Zimmerman was the predator… a man with a gun who approached an unarmed young person, who later was found shot to death by him.  One bullet straight into his heart.

I have no doubt that George Zimmerman perpetrated a hate crime against Trayvon Martin.  And that his call to 911 was a systematic attempt on George Zimmerman’s part to build a scenario for that 911 operator, for circumstances that he would later claim provoked him into the killing  of Trayvon Martin.  An act which I believe came across Zimmerman’s sick mind probably from the moment his eyes fell upon the young black teenage, Trayvon Martin, walking in the darkness of night… in the rain on his way home from the corner store.

The statements that Zimmerman made in his 911 call clearly show a concise and calculated mind working, at setting up a painted picture of the young black teenage male, whom he was following claiming that he ‘looked like’ a criminal and ‘was out to do’ something illegal.  While on the contrary, Trayvon Martin was just a kid who happened to be on his way home from a local corner store.  And it was Zimmerman who was the 1 working with a criminal mind… and a blind intent to kill a young innocent boy.

There are many people who believe that George Zimmerman was protecting himself… standing his ground, if you will.  As Florida has a law called ‘Stand Your Ground.’  Meaning you have a right to protect yourself if you feel that your life is threatened.

Zimmerman had taken self-defense classes, was carrying an armed weapon, and he had aspiration of being a cop and/or lawyer like his dad, who just so happened to be a judge.  Trayvon Martin had not taken any martial arts classes, and was only carrying a small bag of candy and a can of ice tea.  Based upon that… who do you really think was more lethal?

I sincerely hope the Federal Government steps into this case, because the ‘Stand Your Ground’ Law is a very dangerous piece of law.  It reminds me of the ol’ south when white men would purposely go out seeking to start trouble with a black man or woman. So, they would step in front of them or do something to elicit some type of response from the victim, via their coercion of them.  Whereby many black men and women were either killed, endangered, terrorized, houses burnt down, lost their businesses, and/or chased out of town etc…

Such laws as Stand Your Ground were and are not meant to protect all people… just certain people.  And this case involving the brutal murder of Trayvon Martin is a clear indication of that.

What right more or is necessary …or does this law of ‘Stand Your Ground’ give to anyone, that has or is not given already by the Declaration of Independence in this country?

The Declaration of Independence  states ‘all men’…  not some have more rights than others.  It states that all men are created equal… with certain unalienable rights.  And it begins by saying… We hold these truths to be self-evident.  It then goes on to say…. that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Unalienable rights… what are those?

They are God given rights.

The right to defend ourselves is a right given to each and everyone of us.  Whereas, such laws as ‘Stand Your Ground’ are intended  and are only applied for certain people… and not for others.

Back in the days… lets go to the days after slavery when supposedly the slaves had been freed.  Yet, they were not allowed to look white people directly in the eyes.  And often were taunted into some type of reaction for which they may have been killed… whipped… spat upon… mocked etc…

One could hardly say that they… those black folk then did not have a right to respond to such actions to provoke them.  But based upon certain imposed or otherwise implied or ‘understood’ laws, mostly in the old south… laws not written but understood based upon you… meaning black folk… knowing ‘our so-called place.’

Did not Trayvon Martin have a right to go to the store,  and a reasonable right then be able to return home safely without some mad man shooting him down killing him for no apparent reason… other than his skin color?

Where were the rights of Trayvon Martin ever addressed in this case of the City of Sanford vs. George Zimmerman?

If indeed, Trayvon had been straddling Zimmerman in a fist fight.

Did not Trayvon Martin have the God given right given to him by nature, if no other law could protect him… than the law of self-preservation?

Why should Travyon Martin then have been demonized for trying to protect himself against someone whom he perceived to be a perpetrator who was out to kill him… when Zimmerman walked upon him and shoved that gun up in his face?

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/07/16/19506188-holder-speaks-out-against-stand-your-ground-laws-after-zimmerman-verdict?lite

There was not 1 point or place where you can truly say that the prosecution truly tried to win this case.  They did a lousy job of picking jurists.  They failed to object to various infractions and irregularities as they appeared in this case.  And they never seemed committed to win at all.

71-year-old black man found guilty of manslaughter, jury rejects 'Stand Your Ground' claim

If the truth be told this case never should have been held in Sanford, FL… but in some other county if not state.  The authority and connections of Zimmerman’s judge father made this case an impossible case to get a fair trial in such a small little town… with so much at stake, and so many hands easily washed.

http://tlcnaptown.com/2124384/stevie-wonder-pledges-not-to-play-in-florida-until-stand-your-ground-law-is-abolished/

This is 1 of those rare times that I must say I disagree with Bill… That is Bill Crosby.  Bill says you can’t prove that Zimmerman is a racist.  Yes, that might well be somewhat true.  But you can’t prove that he isn’t a racist either.  Ooooh, wait a minute…

Wasn’t it Zimmerman who did all that racial profiling of Trayvon Martin in his 911 call, before he actually shot him to death?

That alone gave you a keen insight as to what or how George Zimmerman felt about young black males.  And his actions spoke the rest.

Anyone who would have racially profile someone as in-dept as George Zimmerman painted that picture in his 911 call, of what Trayvon Martin looked like, his demeanor… his supposed behavior… etc.  cannot be considered anything less than a racist.   And there is no way of getting around that.

Zimmerman said that the person he was ‘following’ was someone who looked like he was up to no good… that it appeared as though he’s on drugs or something… he’s black or Hispanic… he has his hands on his waistband (meaning like he was packing a gun).   And then Zimmerman said… ‘these @#!# they always get away.’

THAT’S NOT RACIAL PROFILING?

http://misterbillohno.newsvine.com/_news/2013/07/10/19392176-transcript-of-george-zimmerman-911-call

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-trayvon-martin-zimmerman-verdict-2013-7

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/north_america/jan-june13/zimmerman_06-24.html

In the CNN story below the person being interviewed states that the Trayvon Martin case was not a case of racial profiling, because racial profiling can only take place when someone is involved in law enforcement.  I am a dissenting voice to this theory and statement with regard to this case.  Because that definition can be extended to include anyone ‘believing’ he is a law enforcement officer. There is no secret about George Zimmerman and history of fantasying becoming a cop.

A psychologist should have been brought into this case who could have clearly said that George Zimmerman portrayed certain traits, habits,  and forms of behavior and language  that indicated he felt he was operating as a cop.  When taken into perspective even George’s scio-background, family history, and his history of prepping himself and taking up martial arts etc. all unquestionably show Zimmerman to be a man possessed with a deep rooted desire to be cop, or someone involved in some matter in law enforcement.  Hence, his position as ‘CAPTAIN’ of the neighborhood watch.

It is quite clear that George Zimmerman wanted to be a police officer.  When that avenue did not open up to him… he then tried to study law.  And that failed too.

So, the next step was to join the neighborhood watch.  It is not hard to draw a correlation between that and George actually being a cop on the beat.  George Zimmerman was clearly and unequivocally a wanna-be-cop, and all his actions  and language on the night, in which he confronted Trayvon Martin, attest to it.  And this is not a large leap or even a very short hop to get to.

The other thing about Zimmerman… he obviously suffers from  a feeling of wanting to be a hero.  He appears to be the kind of person you read about who goes to work in a hospital…and awaits an opportunity to unplug somebody’s life support machine… then quickly plug it back in just in the brink of time, then claim that he saved that person’s life.  When in reality he was the person who had thrown the person’s life into jeopardy in the first place.

It is not hard to see that Zimmerman was… or is… a loser.  Perhaps even a black sheep in a family, of what seems to be full of people who are professionally involved in law enforcement in varying capacities.  But everything and time that George tried to do in order to get in… it would appear that he just could not make the cut.

I had a dispute with a friend over George’s weight.  Because at 1 point there arose this question of Zimmerman’s weight as opposed to the weight of Trayvon Martin.  Which of course should have also been a key point in this case.

When Zimmerman finally turned himself in… some 45 days after the killing of Trayvon… it was apparent to me that Zimmerman had gone on some type of crash diet during those days.  The issue was  whether or not Zimmerman weighted considerably more than Trayvon Martin?  Even in the picture of above of Zimmerman being lead into court … you can see that the suit he is wearing is a lot larger than he is.  However, during the hearing walla… a much fuller fatter Zimmerman, and his clothes seem to fit him just fine.  Meaning Zimmerman’s body mass between the time Zimmerman shot Trayvon and the time Zimmerman finally went to trial… shows Zimmerman at his true weight and mass, when the young teenager was shot to death.  But, of course, Zimmerman’s side had good reason to want to dispel the fact that Zimmerman was much heavier in body weight to Trayvon.  Hence, Zimmerman’s miraculous weight lose before turning himself into the police department in Sanford.  Otherwise, that story made up by the Defense Attorneys of a helpless and fearful George Zimmerman at the hands of a Trayvon Martin just would not have played out.  Nobody would have believed that.

So, George had to lose that weight.  Which, of course, as you see in his court pictures that he totally gained back.

Then there is the camera footage of Zimmerman that night following the supposed fight that lead to the untimely demise of a young Trayvon Martin.  Zimmerman’s head had no cuts or lacerations.

If the truth be told there were a lot of ‘so-called’ myths that the Zimmerman team wanted to dispel… and some they wanted to seriously promote.

Some myths about Zimmerman…

• 1. He always told the truth
• 2. His family was full of truth loving people
• 3. Zimmerman didn’t stalk Trayvon
• 4. Zimmerman was really in fear of his life
• 5. Zimmerman feared Trayvon was going to kill him
• 6. Zimmerman was a good law abiding citizen
• 7. Zimmerman had great reasons to believe his life was in danger

Some myths the Zimmerman team wanted to promote about Trayvon…

• 1. Trayvon was a wayward kid
• 2. Trayvon was a trouble maker
• 3. Trayvon was an addict
• 4. Trayvon was out looking for trouble
• 5. Trayvon was out to kill Zimmerman
• 6. Trayvon beat Zimmerman
• 7. Trayvon had a right to be killed

Let me stop right here.  Who has ever seen anybody who fell to the ground hitting their head?

When did they get up with a cut or cuts?

I have hit the ground and have seen people bang their heads and they always ended up with a knot in their head.  Big bump.  The harder they fell the bigger the bump on their head.  But never did I see a straight cut appear in anybody’s head, from someone falling to the ground and hitting their head.

Here again is a big problem that I had with the forensic evidence in this case.  These are the kinds of things that real professions are called into Court to testify about.  But this case had no real forensic people.  No big wig specialist… like in the Ojay Simpson case.

Those cuts on the back of George Zimmerman’s head could have clearly been blown up and recognized as having not been done by some type of fall to the ground.  And lugging all the concrete sidewalks in the world into court could not prove otherwise.

This case had so many missed opportunities on the part of the DA office… you really have to wonder if they ever intended to try this case to win it?

And that answer here again would have to be a resounding ‘NO.’

Clearly, Trayvon Martin’s case biggest opposition or problem were the very people who were supposed to be seeking justice for his murder.

I really do hope that Mr. President, Barack Obama, sends in the Feds to take on this case.  Because Trayvon Martin truly deserves justice.  He had done nothing for which his young life should have been stolen from him.  And by his cries for help… he dearly did not wish to die… or deserved to.

Bill Cosby, Charles Barkley, Shari… whatever her name on the View, President Jimmy Carter… and many others who felt that this case and its verdict was just… definitely missed something.  This was no ‘new thing.’  It is something that we as black folk in America have long had to deal with.  Trials like this one are not new.  And we have come to recognize them when we see them… and know them when we hear their verdicts.

All of this… the trial and the circumstances which brought about the trial are all historic.  Even to the having of some black folk who want to say ‘Oh, it wasn’t racist.’  When it clearly was nothing but racist.  Race had everything to do with Trayvon Martin being killed… and there is just no getting around it.

I was really hoping… as we always do… that the jury would do the right thing based upon the shear merits of this case… and also having full knowledge that Zimmerman was a liar.   Also, being fully aware that it was Zimmerman not Trayvon who had been the provoker.  But in looking back over the court pictures… where Zimmerman does an awful lot of smiling for a man, who should believe he might be found guilty, and have to spend the rest of his life inprison.  Too much smiling in fact…

So, now looking over these pictures and seeing this smiling Zimmerman, it appears to me now that Zimmerman knew how this case was going to go to end up right from the very start.   That is really very unfortunate… money and power play a big factor in the outcome of a lot court outcomes.  But I guess having a father with connections… goes a long way to assuring a favorable outcome.

I just finished watching a video of Geraldo Rivera talking about the Trayvon Martin case.  It is funny how much people change over time.  I thought Geraldo used to be a lot smarter.  Based upon Geraldo’s take on this case, any one of us could have been shot dead and would have been alright.  Based upon Geraldo’s assumption, if we look just like some black guys who were supposedly vandalizing that neighborhood then it is okay to kill you.

Now, how stupid is that… and ignorant?

I don’t know how long the myth that all black folks look alike has been going around in America… but it has.  We know we don’t look alike… but to some people we all look like criminals …murders… crack fiends… and welfare fraud people etc…

Shame on Geraldo.  He must be trying to get a new tv show or renew his contract.  Some people will do and say anything… for a little money.  He must need it real bad…  And he sure looks old.

Guilty by looking like a criminal.  Trayvon was dressed just like most teens dress, black or white… Hispanic or Asian etc… You see them all day long with hoodies everywhere… going to school… coming from school… riding skateboards… on bikes.  When did wearing a hoodie mean you were a criminal?

And though I do not like the style… it is a style for the kids… shagging pants.  A hoodie and shagging pants does not make anyone a criminal.  Much less worthy of dying.  And because somebody’s house or neighborhood is having problems does not mean you go out shooting anybody you think looks like the type who did it.

Where is the justice in that?

I pray justice and peace for the Martin family… and America.

I have to admit that on this topic Mike Tyson spoke saying something that I very much can agree upon… or with him on.  When asked what he thought about this case… Mike said, “I don’t know any more than what I have seen on television.  But I do know that kid should not have ended up dead.”

In happening to catch a segment of The View, they were discussing the trial and I have to say that I truly admire Elizabeth Hasselbeck’s stance on this, and her outrage is truly worthy of my mentioning.  As a mother ever woman should be highly upset regarding the circumstances of this case, and the cruel, brutal and cold blooded murder of Trayvon Martin.

I did… but I have mostly done so on Facebook.

The other reason is I sprang my right foot.   It has been a few weeks now.  I had pain in it before… but not realizing it after I stepped into a hole and twisted my foot that I had done damage to it.   Which while at a convention in Baltimore I had plenty of time in between limping around, and trying to stay off of it… I spent a lot my down time watching the case on TV.  Because there wasn’t much else I could really as my foot was killing me.

My foot is still bothering me.  I understand it takes about 16 weeks for a sprang foot to heal.  So, I am trying to stay off of it as much as possible still.

And the other reason it took me so long to write this blog was, of course, the weather… ALL THIS HEAT.

It has been soooooooo hot and humid here.  The humidity was almost unbearable.  Every time I got up to do the slightest thing… sweat would be pouring down my face… my nose… my brows etc…   I was showering up to 6 times per day.  Because I cannot stand to be sweaty… even with an aching foot.  Yeah, pain or no pain into the shower I went.  But the weather has broken now.  And I hope it stays this way.

I certainly hope you fared well… better than me in all this heat… and got done all you needed to do.  Have a good rest of this week… and I will catch you again soon.  I’ve got to go put my foot back up.

And again I thank those of you very much  who have ventured out and purchased my book… which can be ordered on-line at any number of websites… just google THE BISHOP’S WIFE by Bernadine Smith… and see for yourself.  And you can also read excerpts from my book on-line as well at Barnes&Nobles Nook, amazon.com etc…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

Add a comment July 25, 2013

PAULA DEEN CHEF BY DAY… RACIST BY NIGHT… THE FIRST FAMILY…

Sometimes things just slip out when we least expect them to.

Sometimes some of the things we do and say may not seem hypocritical or hurtful to us.

Sometimes things just catch up with us.

Sometimes we pretend to be 1 way but really are another.

Which of these scenarios do you think best fits celebrity chef Paul Deen?

When 1 of my next door neighbors stopped me to tell me this story I must admit I did not understand what she was saying.  I thought she was talking about some radio station DJ acting a fool again, like Imus in the Morning had done… before he got canned.  But it was not until my son began to tell me this story that I finally got a clearer picture of what my neighbor had been trying to say to me.

Not a big television watcher I really was not familiar with the name, Paula Deen.  Though my neighbor had said it and said it again several times, as if I should have known her personally.  But of course I did not.  But now that I have looked up the story, I have to admit that I had caught Paula Deen at least once tossing in a couple bars of butter into some dish she was preparing on the Food Network.

One could hardly say that what she said was purely by accident.  Meaning it was how she was accustom to talking… though never before the cameras.  And why not I wonder?

Well, maybe because she knew it was wrong.  That it was backwards and intolerable.  But however backwards that way of thinking is and talking… it finally caught up with Paula Deen.  Oh, yeah, she can blame it on her back home training and down-home southern roots.  But can that really justify what Paula said… or has been talking for years?  I mean she is a grown woman… a grand-mother at that besides being a big time TV chef.  So, she is certainly old enough to know that using that word or any word like it was unacceptable and offensive to many.  And that the times have long ago changed… when white people could simple use such words and get away with it.

Let us examine this in its totality.  Exactly what did Paula Deen say?

Well, it seems that Paula Deen liked throwing around the ‘N’ word.  She and her brother,  a partner with her is some restaurant they own together.   They both based upon reports liked calling some of their non-white workers by the ‘N’ word.   And Paula called a TV assistant the word a few times too many it certainly appears.

In a legal action brought against Paula Deen …and 1 possibly against her brother too,  both are accused has having referred to African American employees as the little ‘N’ word.  In various news reports it is stated that her brother continuously referred to at least 1 employee as ‘a little monkey.’  And it also seems that Paula Deen was planning someone’s wedding… where get this… Paula decided it would nice to have a ‘plantation style wedding’ with some little (the ‘N’ word) running around and dressed up like slaves.

Now, how far in denial was she?

Who did she believe would not get upset or find that ‘offensive?’ 

There are people who just do not want to let the ol’ south go.  They want to pretend like the Civil War really did not happened.  And that the ol’ south will rise up once again.

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/paula-deen-today-days-no-show-article-1.1380902

http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/paula-deen-issues-video-apology-racial-slur-article-1.1379262

So, yeah I would say that Paula Deen’s out and out racists remarks and backward thinking deserved to get her booted off the Food Network… seeing that many African Americans love that channel, and many other minority people, as well.  And a whole lot of ethnic cooking goes on on that network.

In fact, many of Paula Deen’s southern style recipes have their direct roots in the African American style of cooking… whether Paula would admit to it or not.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/24/paula-deen-today-show-cancellation-food-network-firing_n_3489726.html

So, lets face it we live in a big world… full of lots of people of all sorts… all kinds of nations and religions etc.  And the world and its people are forever growing.

Is it not time that we put aside ever strife and ill thinking when it comes to people who do not look like us?

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50149463n

But there are some people who just want to believe that they are more superior to other people.  That they are smarter… more progressive… higher achievers… more accomplished etc… etc… etc.  And there are... but it is just not the ones who usually think they are.

When you go back into history and really track this thing… if the  truth be total all civilization got its start in Africa.  The first universities, libraries, mathematicians etc… you name it… architects, astrologers etc. etc… all of it got started in African.  In fact, scientists today are still mystified by some ancient ruins.  They are even still trying to figure out just how certain structures such as the pyramids had been built.

The books say Africans were not seafaring people.  But historical events defy that lie.  In Biblical scripture, II Chronicles 8:18, it speaks of a man named, Huram, who was a master builder who had built up cities for King Solomon, for storage of his chariots and riches.  This man Huram also had servants who manned his ships.  Yes, the Bible said ‘ships.’  And it also said that this man’s men possessed knowledge of the sea.

Which goes to say that yes even way back then, thousands of years ago, in Solomon’s time African men were building large sea vessels and riding the seas.   When you consider the land mass of Africa in Biblical times… Africa stretched straight to and included Asia.   Which takes me to another point and that is… that the entire Bible basically takes place in Africa… not in Europe except for when Caesar and Rome come into the picture, and those other places across the Mediterranean Sea, such as Macedonia and Greece etc.  As all the countries and/or nations as we know them today had not been birth yet… nor boundaries such as those of today, therefore, Africa in its time had to have been very powerful.  This is something which has never been reflected in any of our history books.

The history books also do not reflect all the great contributions and inventions created by African Americans even while in this country.  And there a tremendous amount of them of considerable importance not only to this country but to the world… but there is a reason.

This reason goes all the way back to the myth and historical stereotyping of us that had been created and propagated by those who desired to keep what they called us back then ‘darkies’ in their place.  So, the myth was that we were not smart… could not learn… were lazy and shiftless.  Also, as time went on it became that we were born criminals… and scoundrels… and not to mention that we were less than human… animals to be owned and bred.

And so… here we are today in the 21st Century still having to deal with old myths and stereotypes … and names made to keep us down… hold us back and seemingly needy.  They were created to hinder us and our children from ever achieving anything in this country… least of all any level of pride and our own sense of real self-worth.

It is interesting that this Paula Deen thing has come up when it has… as I happened to catch a portion of a television program Sunday.  As I have already made mention in at least a couple of my prior blogs, as well as, this 1 I really rarely watch television any more… but I happened to be over my sister’s house this weekend, and normally while there I try to catch up on my television watching… as there is really nothing else for me to do there except to watch television.  So, this show was called ‘THE FIRST FAMILY.’  It was… or is supposed to be a spoof on the Obama family in the White House.  Needless to say I found it to be repulsive and a slap in the face to our real First Family.

I remember sitting in class and a discussion came up about a made for TV movie on the Reagan family during Reagan’s White House years.  Mind you that this discussion was years after Regan was dead and after he had long left the White House.  Yet, the outcry against that movie was soooooo great.  Every talk show hosts and news medium was doing a story on the uproar that movie was causing.  The TV network that was set to air the movie backed out… and another network picked it up.  But there were tons of letters …there were lots of phone calls… there were a lot of screaming and hollering over this movie about this man, Ronald Reagan, and how this movie would portray his legacy, his image, his years as a President etc… etc.. etc..  They saw it as being aimed to discredit Regan, and refused to allow the movie to air without a fight.  And fight they did.

When you think of the Queen of England and how they hold her is such high regard and her position as Queen, they would never allow any sit-com to be made about the Royal Family where they would be the brunt of jokes… and made to look incompetent.  This is also the why they used to think in this country concerning the White House and the Presidency until…

Well…  until the Obama’s moved into the White House.

I am very proud of the First Family, the Obama’s.  Compared to the vast majority of the Presidents who have occupied the White House they are truly a family to be put up as a national example of what a good family is supposed to not only look like, act like or be like… but is.  The President, Barack Obama, and his wife, Michelle Obama, are more than just great parents they are exceedingly good role models for those looking to marry.  They exemplify what 1 should seek in his or her future marriage with regard to their husband or wife.  And how to ensure that your marriage works.

So, yes I find any show, play, television program or anything else designed to make a mockery of them totally distasteful and highly offensive… and clearly an attempt to be a slap in the face of President Barack Obama and his family.   It is beyond me if they really wanted a laugh how no one thought to come up with a sit-com on the Bush’s… wouldn’t have had to look far for material to laugh about there.

Hopefully, that show will get cancelled… and it never should have been allowed in the first place.  What an insult to all of us.

Now, going back to Paula Deen and her story.  Yes, she definitely deserved to get the boot off the Food Network.  I would venture to say if ever there was a word she wished she had probably never learned… it was the ‘N’ word.  It cost her greatly… and rightly so.

Well, God bless…I hope you are having a great week.  I know… it has just gotten started.  But I can still wish that you have a great 1.  Stay out of the heat and work on getting something done.  And I will be doing likewise… and as you can I already have.  Another blog… FINISHED.

I thank those of you very much  who have ventured out and purchased my book… which can be ordered on-line at any number of websites… just google THE BISHOP’S WIFE by Bernadine Smith… and see for yourself.  And you can also read excerpts from my book on-line as well at Barnes&Nobles Nook, amazon.com etc…

Oh, before I end this just let me say for the record that I am not familiar with either of the African American history books whose picture I used in this blog.  So, should I at some time in the future ever read them… or if you do… and find them less than truthful or wholly without merit… please do not believe I suggested them as being that which they may not be.  And that is truthful with regard to our history as African people and African American people in America.

UP-DATE…Tuesday, June 25, 2013:   Just a little update on the Paula Deen story… something that I came across today.  The Food Network owns another network.  And Paula’s show on that network was not pulled.  Uh-huh…  How people do love to play games.  It looks 1 way 1 way… while they are doing something else another way.

Okay, now that the cat is out of the bag lets see what the Food Network is really going to do… on their sister channel…

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-06-25/paula-deen-hasnt-been-fired-from-this-channel

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

4 comments June 24, 2013

BETTYE AND MALCOLM X…Black History Month 2013

Well, since it is Black History Month maybe now would be a good time to post this blog which I started in 2009 but never, for some reason or other never came back to.  Can’t remember what prompted me to begin it in the first place.  Though I must say along with Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Coretta Scott King, Bernice Reagan, Merle Evers, Harriette Tubman, Sojourna Truth, my Mother, Grand-mothers, Great Grand-mother, Mrs. Parks, as in Rosa… and half a dozen others… if not more women I have always admired… I celebrate them all.  And if I keep thinking I am sure that I can come up with a few more… like O. J. Simpson’s first wife.

You may asked why I have O. J.’s first ex-wife on my list… it is simply that I admired her for taking the high road in all that mess.  Out of all of O. J.’s supposed friends and colleagues… judges and lawyers everybody went for the money.  They sold O. J.  out every which way they could sell him.  That is to say everybody except for his first wife.  She never took 1 dime or ever came out against him.  Never wrote a book… never signed a book deal… and she denied almost every offer for an interview.  Though I am sure that she could have had a lot to say… but she chose the high road… the side of  ‘to do him no harm.’

So, women like that… or people like that I can admire without any level of hesitation.  Because most people today will sell you down the river for a dime… a promotion… or whatever else is up for grabs.  And I am not being cynical.

Relationships… family bonds… friendships… you name it and they can all be tossed to the wind if somebody comes in with the right price.  And sometimes that prices doesn’t even necessarily have to even be actual money.  It can be a position… a title… an automobile… property… status… and phoney friendship… whatever the other side is in need of or looking for.

This is one of biggest and most saddest things about the world and people who live in it today.  Had Jesus still been alive today he might have had to worry about  more than 1 Judas… but maybe 6… 8 or 11 of them.

Everybody loves you while there is something to be gained in their association of you.  In the Bible it appears that Job was a very popular man until he lost everything including his health.  So, I guess it can be said that people have been the same throughout history.  Was it not Caesar who said ‘et tu, Butus?’

It was not a secret that Malcolm X was the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, the founder and religious leader of the National of Islam, right-hand-man and 2nd in command.  In fact, Malcolm had become the front man for the organization… he was the voice and the face of the organization at that time.

Malcolm X, Malcolm Little the name given to him by his mother, was such an eloquent speaker and possessed such great charisma that the Nation of Islam grew greatly under him.  A thing that I am sure was celebrated in the beginning of their relationship between him and Mr. Muhammad… but later it became a source of contention between the 2 …as Mr. Muhammad saw Malcolm X’s power and authority growing among the ranks of the followers in his organization.

And then Malcolm went to Mecca and everything really changed between them.  When I was in high school I recall buying a book called the “Autobiography of Malcolm X” …that book really intrigued me.  I had not known anything about him until I read that book.

I guess I should invest more time in reading about our historical icons… and those who are little known.  Their contributions were great and should not be overlooked… while we make millionaires of  only writers of fiction.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://s3.amazonaws.com/findagrave/photos/2001/222/elshabazzbetty.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi%3Fpage%3Dgr%26GRid%3D4739&usg=__H5vpHCMEnnmQd1pvbIILx-bFUzo=&h=247&w=400&sz=41&hl=en&start=160&um=1&tbnid=xS7xgNBljPRpPM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbetty%2Bshabazz%2Band%2Bmalcolm%2Bx%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26start%3D140%26um%3D1

I really cannot remember what prompted me to begin this blog… or why I entitled it ‘Bettye & Malcolm X?’

But there had to have been a reason.  But since really I cannot at this time remember the reason… I have decided to just go ahead and post this blog anyway as a tribute to Black History Month 2013…  I hope you enjoy it.

I celebrate all the heroic women and men who make up our history.  Who endured, sacrificed… bleed… were spat upon… whooped… beat… stomped… dogs sicked upon… hit with forceful waters from water hydrants… who were made widowed or orphan… chained… tarred and feathered… and those who died.  I celebrated them all… including those who felt it worthy to die over just being called a belittling word that started with that letter ‘N’ … that I might walk and sit… and eat and sleep… and live… and go to school  etc… where I want to.

I will not forget… nor can I ever repay the debt by which they have endowed me… my family… my son… my nieces and nephews… our families… our history and our legacy for generations to come.  Providing us with much pride… dignity… courage that must be passed on to all our children.

It is Black History Month… and I am happy to celebrate all of our she-ro’s and hero’s… and there are many many many many of them.  And I thank God for each and every one of them.

http://www.malcolm-x.org/media/pic_01.htm

Well, God bless… it’s Wednesday and though it has not been very cold… it has been wet.  Some light snow and thankfully rain (instead of snow).

It is now Friday… and no I was not procrastinating.  Just kept running out of time… as my internet at home is out I am now regimented to using computers elsewhere to complete and write my blogs… a condition I hope to soon rectify.  So, until then bare with me… I may be a little bit and might appear to not be on top of things… BUT it is not my fault.

Before I close just want to take a little time to discuss the current Obama backlash.  Right wing media and its so-called voices are really ridiculous.  They get all hot and bothered about everything the Obama’s do.  Jealousy is a very sad thing… it hinders one from seeing clearly.

The current blow-out is over First Lady Michelle Obama appearing on the Oscars.  Oh, man… how they whooped and cried over that claiming that the Obama’s think they are some kind of super-stars… how they think they are better than what they are… how they have lowered the image of the White House… etc… etc.. 

They would all be out of a job… for lack of anything to say.  And so screaming over everything the President or his wife does keeps their pay checks coming.

It is sad when you only get paid to find fault.  Can’t imagine wanting to live that kind of life.

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2013

2 comments March 1, 2013

Arnold living ghetto fabulous…transitioning and other gay tales…

I have never thought much of  Arnold Schwarzenegger since a controversy once arose about him being a racist.  I have since forgotten the details… but I think it had to do with him not hiring minorities within his staff, as governor of California.  Or maybe it was something to do with him not having any minorities in his movies.

Through the course of  living we have grown accustom to reading and hearing stories of men and women who have fallen down… who were living double lives and baring children with people outside of their vows of  matrimony.  So, this story about Arnold Schwarzenegger really shouldn’t be a great surprise.  He is afterall… a man.

Don’t you hate hearing that?

“Well, he’s just doing what men do.”

“All men do it.”

“Maybe he wasn’t getting any at home.”

And the list goes on and on… as to the kinds of things people will say.

But sometimes we are caught off guard.  People who we never would have suspected… though I would never classify Arnold as 1 of  those as there had been rumors.  Things about him groping and feeling up on women.  But there were people like for instance… John Edwards.  Even watching that mess unfold while standing at the counter of a local corner store… I just could not believe it.  Not him was all I kept saying.  Not goody 2-shoes… squeaky clean John Edwards.  The John Edwards who said-

“I’m in love with my childhood sweetheart… that John Edwards?”

Then before him… there rose up Jesse Jackson.  What a fine dude he was in his day.  And I do mean fine.

He was the 1 that all the networks turned to concerning ‘black issues.’   He was a man for all season when it came to… his peoples…

Yeah…right.

Up to the point where he called Obama the ‘N’ word.   But let’s go back before that… to those pictures displayed upon the front page of the New York Post and everywhere else… of  Jesse…  and ‘the’ woman… the very pregnant woman …carrying his ‘love’ child… who at the time that story broke… she had already had the baby.   That was the picture with him and Bill Clinton…another 1… and her just grinning like there was not going to be a tomorrow for any of  them.

Yes…the ‘right’ Reverend Jesse Jackson.   Needless to say that controversy certainly changed a lot of people’s opinion about him… and what he truly represented.  Which as already mentioned… was compounded by that little incident with him talking off camera with an open mic on… talking some crazy stuff about what he would like to do to Obama while referencing him with the ‘N’ word.

Clearly, if  I had been Jesse’s wife… and I have said it over and over… since seeing that 1 picture in  the New York Post.   The 1 with the woman being 7 or 8 months pregnant with Jesse standing… I think behind her… grinning from ear to ear with his hands stretch around her inflated belly.

Oh, yeah… I would have been just like Morgan Freeman’s wife, and got me 1 of  those high power lawyers.   And he would have been seeing stars for the rest of life… after I got through with him.  He would have been too dizzy to ever walk up onto any stage ever again… when I got through with him.  But I guess Jesse’s wife is kinder… gentler… and more forgiving than I am.

But some women when they have had enough… they truly have had enough.  And Morgan Freeman’s wife was 1 of those women.

One could argue… what was he thinking?

Maybe it was a lapse in judgment.

But for how many years did he suffer that lapse?

I am talking about Schwarzenegger now.  What could he have been thinking?  And to be doing it with someone who worked within his own house.  Who was impregnated with his child at about the exact same time as his wife with their last child.

And who allowed the other woman… a maid to bring that child into the house of  his wife… where this little boy probably played with his other son… the 1 born about the same time as the child he fathered with the maid… a woman who worked for his wife… aiding  Maria around the house… and probably with her children as well.

Is this a confusing story?

Obviously, not.  It did not seem to confuse Arnold at all.  Because some how during the course of the last 10 to 13 years… the span of the life and birth of his outside son… he  never slipped up.  That is Maria Striver claims to have never known about the child before Arnold finally told her about him some weeks ago.  Whereupon, she packed up and moved out… taking her children with her.

Not to be or seem evil… but I never thought the Striver/Schwarzenegger marriage was a good match.  And it goes beyond him being Republican… and her being deeply rooted as a Democrat.

It just seemed to me that Arnold Schwarzenegger had a need to legitimize himself.  Coming from Austria… and having a funny last name… combined with a funny and then quite thick accent… as well as… I guess he had some political ambitions.  What better way to create for himself the type of  American acceptance that he might not have ever gotten any other way than by marrying a Kennedy.

In seeing a picture of  the woman… 1 would have to wonder what did Arnold see in her.   She appears to be older than Maria… and I don’t know what she looked like some 20 years ago when she started working for the Schwarzenegger family… but that is all gone now.   But then I thought that about the woman John Edwards impregnated… and about  Marla Maples or Naples…or whatever her name was.  The woman who Donald Trump took up with… and soon married.  She probably was pregnant too… because that whole thang happened pretty quick.  And soon it was over.

They snub their noses at those who do not have the money that they do… or who do not live quite as well  off as they do.   I’m talking about the supposed ‘high class’  who talk  about… ‘all they do is make babies.’  But when push comes to shove they themselves are about as ‘ghetto fabulous’ as those they often look down upon.  And they have far less class in the dealings of  their own infidelity… than those they shun.

Though now nearing the end of his term as a governor, I have no doubt… Arnold felt it now safe to disclose his little secret.  However, what men do not take into account is how women feel about men who cheat.  And particularly if they not only cheat …but also make someone pregnant in the process of their cheating.  And don’t let them walk around for years like they had not done anything… pretending.

But Arnold was so bold… he got the woman pregnant and then decided he wanted to be governor too.  That is about just as bad as John Edwards deciding to run for President of the United States a second time… while his wife is dying of cancer… and his mistress was pregnant.

And to put the icing upon the cake for Arnold… it was all done  within the preview of  his wife and children.  Right there under  their own noses.

This is why I will never be able to stand that little guy… Woody Allen.  I will never support him or anything that he does.  To think that Mia Farrow adopted some children… and during the course of some time… he began taking lewd and questionable pictures of the then quite young girl… whom he later divorces Mia Farrow for… so that he could marry her.

What kind of craziness was that?

Clearly, the man had… and has problems.  And I for 1 do no sanction them.

Another rat was… or is… that Rudolph Giuliani.  Yeah, that guy from New York City who used to be the Mayor…then ran for President… and might try to run again.  But he will never make it.  Because women do not forget.

Giuliani… when he was Mayor of New York started seeing this women.  This woman… he would bring to Gracie Mansion… the Mayor’s place of residence. in New York.   This mind you was where  his wife and his son lived.  And Giuliani… the good mayor… would have this woman staying there with him… under the same roof with his wife and child.

What kind of  a dog is that?

At least in the ghetto… most men know not to try that.   If the woman doesn’t have an apartment of  her own… then they know how to find a cheap motel or hotel.  But ain’t nobody in the ghetto going to pull up to his wife’s house talking about he going to bring some other woman… in there to do his thing.  Huh-uh… that ain’t happening… ever.   Not with the wife knowing about it… it is not.  Definitely not.

You have got to be kidding.  And I am not joking about this… as this type of behavior is not acceptable.  It is immoral …and it can be traced throughout history.  Infidelity is not new… you only have to go back a few years to Bill Clinton and his little 24-year-old friend… named Monica.

It would seem that wedding vows do not mean very much today.  Maybe never… as long as men and women have allowed themselves to become enticed sexually outside of their marriages.

Through the course of the 20 years that woman who worked in the Schwarzenegger household was taken care of by Schwarzenegger.  Who knows maybe Schwarzenegger placed her there… got her the job in his home in the first place?

Who knows?

But upon retiring from her job as a maid for  the Schwarzenegger… he bought the woman a nearly $300,000 house in an exclusive LA residence.  And it also looks like he paid for her to have a boob job as well.  Because in her pictures she clearly looks like she had 1.  It does not look natural.

The 1 thing about outside of a marriage children… it is funny how many times those children look more like the men that fathered them… than the children within the marriage.

The Bible says a good name is worth more than rubies.  I was listening to a Preacher preach and he began to talk about rubies.  He said that rubies are more rare than diamonds.  I had never thought about that… but you know what it is true.

The way most things operate in this world is based upon supply and demand.  The higher the demand and the less the supply…the greater the price.  Except for this 1 thing… rubies.  We often hear of the diamond mines in South Africa and other places.  There are some areas where I have heard it said that they… the people who live in some places… almost stumble upon diamonds daily.  In these places the people are banned from gathering the diamonds in their country.  But I have never heard anything about rubies.  I really don’t even know where most rubies come from.

Hold it …I have got to ‘google’ this up.

They are 2nd only to diamonds …and are only the 2nd hardest mineral known to man.   They are found in Thailand, India, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, Tanzania, Kampuchea, and most notably  in Burma.  And here is 1 for you… they are also found in North Carolina… right here in the United States.  Imagine that and we rarely ever hear anything about rubies.

But back in Biblical times it is possible that rubies were considered more valuable than diamonds are today.  Because the Biblical texts says that ‘a good name is worth more than rubies.’

When you think of  it through history certain family names have stood out in this country such as ‘the’ Kennedy’s… ‘the’ Rockefeller’s… and so on.  And with those names has come a certain level of  respect… and to degree of  regard… reverence and honor.  These names are held in high regard and come with a track record so to speak of  commitment and success.  Having such a name opened doors and created opportunities for those who bared their family mark… their name.

Maria Striver has held onto her family identity being part of the Kennedy clan.  I never once ever heard her being refered to as Maria Schwarzenegger.  Though I guess that was kind of  hard to get away from totally as she was, and at this time… still is married to Arnold… who is still governor of  California.

How it all plays out remains to be seen.  But Maria has lawyered up… and if she moves forward this will be a big 1.  And it will cut deeply into Arnold’s fun money.

The moment I read the headline to this story… I knew that I was going to write something on it.

http://msn.foxsports.com/wcbk/story/Transgender-basketball-player-calls-it-quits-at-George-Washington-051811/?GT1=39002

I cannot believe that a 17 or 18…or maybe 20 something young woman would elect to surgically have her body transformed to pretend to be something that she is not.  But then to do it… and want to play on the women’s basketball team… is more than a bit puzzling to me.

What is the point?

It just does not make sense.  Maybe the boys team is too rough for her… or whomever.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-11-02/sports/27079970_1_gender-identity-transgender-outsider

Okay…so, you believe that you are man… and that somehow your body type got confused.  And you decide to straighten out whatever mistake that you tell yourself that God must have made… why then after doing all of  this… changing your sexual organs and such… I guess… from female to male… then why would you want to play basketball on the women’s team?

Could it be that somewhere down deep… she still feels and knows that she is really a woman?

Perhaps, as confusing to me …it must have been for the young lady, Kye Allums, who ventured out to do it.  And recently she has decided to come off of the Georgetown University women’s basketball team amid all this controversy.

It is perplexing.

And maybe… you don’t care to hear this.  But if  it had not been for the Lord we would all be just as equally confused.  Making all kinds of  crazy decisions and seeing them as right.

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/mind-your-business-queen-latifahs-sexuality?wpisrc=obinsite

I first heard this story when a friend relayed it to me.  I, of course, had always had my own thoughts on this as I had come in contact with Queen Latifah a couple of times.  I hadn’t run into her at any parties …but I had heard where she hung out at when she came across the bridge into Manhattan.

And I am all for letting people along… and letting them live their lives.  I once was there and I always felt that what I did in the privacy of my bedroom was my own personal business.  I, of course, at that time never had any consideration of  God.  I just felt that as along as it didn’t involve children or animals… then leave me alone.

I also felt that same way about other people and their lives.  I never liked listening to people tell me about their long weekends with their boyfriends.  BORING.

Because I never thought of the workplace as a place of sharing every detail… and particularly those kind of stories.  I was more quiet… laid back.  I didn’t talk about my business… and only half  listened to what other people were telling me about theirs.

So, the story is finally out… and with pictures.  But if you believe it or not… because most people believe whatever they want to… pictures or no pictures anyway.  I have always admired Queen Latifah.  I am not interested in looking into anyone’s bedroom… I have too much on my own plate for that.

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/mind-your-business-queen-latifahs-sexuality?wpisrc=obinsite

But to me Queen Latifah has always been a good role-model.  Even as a rapper… she did not sell herself out… or our people… or other women.  She was clean… decent… and came with rapps that jammed not insulted… or made us shame.  And then she flipped that around and made herself a movie star…it just showed that she was also capable of reinventing herself… and she was always an entrepreneur.

So, I applaud her.

The fact that you or I may not agree with what she does in the bedroom… does not take away from the fact that she is an adult woman making her own choices and decisions and doing well at doing so.  And 1 day she may make another decision just as I did… but that choice is hers… God gave that right  to her.

But here is something we can all agree upon… at least she is not walking around trying to make it seem that it is alright.  She is not flaunting it.

That takes me now to Tonex.  I saw Lexi’s interview… even posted a blog about  Tonex.  But it is hard for me to agree with anyone who knows scripture… as it is written in the Holy Bible… to believe that living such a life is agreeable to the will of God.  It is totally out of step… and I would be remiss if  I did not say so.

To some level I will not deny that I have and do still now suffer with my own level of  homophobia… which might sound strange coming from an ex-lesbian.  But even while living ‘in the life’… I had it.  But the 1 thing that I am careful not to do… is to hopefully not offend… hurt… or despise anyone.  Nor do I poke fun at… or laugh at… or make light of any situation of  being.  And this is the way that more people should come to be.

I am not talking about being in acceptance… but being understanding… loving… kind… and not confrontational.  The Bible say that with ‘love and kindness have I drawn thee.’

Find that spirit within yourself… and you may start drawing more people to the Lord.

Oh, on my final note… since so many people have been hitting my blog for more information on Cher’s ex-daughter…Chastity… since the release of  some pictures this week and the announcement that she is going to marry her long time girl-friend.   Here is what I have to say on the matter…

http://celebrity.uk.msn.com/news/gossip/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=157500663

Well, she has managed to harden her facial features and looks more like a man… but at the end of the day… none of us can really un-do anything that God has done.  No matter how hard me try… or how much medication… and surgeries you have.  It can’t be undone… no matter what the mirror says… or what people tell you.

I’m sorry, Chastity… it is just the way that it is.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-05-13/gossip/29558011_1_jennifer-elia-chaz-longtime-partner

Gender transitioning is a misnomer.  There is no such thing as transitioning your sex into another.  We are what God says we are.  Removing or having certain things changed about our physical being does not change our basic DNA.  It may corrupt certain cells etc… even effect  parts of our chemical make-up.  But it is impossible to totally reconstruct certain core things about our inner workings and true gender.

Just have any gay transgender male sit down beside you and go to sleep…  and see if  they sound like a woman then.  Impossible…

If you can transition your sex… then why stop there?

Why not transition yourself  into being rich… or famous?

That’s the point… it just does not happen like that.  Though becoming rich and famous are certainly reasonable and achievable goals.  But reconstructing your entire physical chemistry is not.

Well, I have been working on this blog for the better part of  my day now.  Started at about 2:30 this afternoon… and it’s now  a little after 4:30 in the morning.   Definitely time for me to go to sleep now.

But I did get up to mop the kitchen and bathroom… and got me something to eat in the in-between time.  In a few hours it will time for me to get up and go to church.  So, I will say good-night…

Hope you have a bless day… and weekend.  They say mostly sunny and warm weather this week.  I really didn’t mind what we got this past week.  It was dark and rainy most of the time.  But I like the rain… and  that is not to say that I don’t equally enjoy the sun.  Because I do.

Well, God bless…

  Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2011

2 comments May 22, 2011

Roy Blunt and his monkey comments…racism… and the 21st America…

This morning while listening to a morning local talk show the topic centered around Senator Roy Blunt calling Obama an monkey. 

Roy Blunt, in an address before a group  called…Valued Voter’s Summit, began his address by saying-

“…that  clearly this is a time when our values are being challenged.”

Just what did he mean by that…I wonder?

That America is no longer an oasis of white supremacy any more… or something…any more since voting a black President?

Was that what he was eluding to?

I thought one used to say that about Europe.  Or so many thought…I suppose.

Blunt then went on to talk about a golf course that had been built within  the jungle of India.  Saying that something happened that they did not anticipate after their golf course was built.  And that is that when golf balls were hit the monkeys would come running out of the jungle onto the golf course and grab up the balls.

At the end of Blunt’s message he stated that the officials of the golf course put forth a ruling saying-

“You have to play the ball wherever the monkey throws it.” 

Where he then stated-

“And that is pretty much what we have to do in Washington.”

Blunt then went on to say that-

“You know the world is turned up-side down when Al Franken and Tom Delay is on dancing with the stars.  That’s how you know that the world has changed  in ways that you would have never have anticipated.”

Blunt fell just short of saying-

“And a black man is in the White House as President.” 

Then…  

“That’s how you know that the world has changed  in ways that you would have never have anticipated.”

In listening to the talk show, which I of course had to call in to…to offer my own opionion on the subject as the issue centered around whether or not Blunt’s comments had been racist?

Any thinking person would have to say, “Yes.”

But the problem as I pointed out to the host of the program was this…

Many white people say and do things which they simply do not consider to be racist, but they are.  Or least ways…they ‘claim’ that they do not take what they said was racist.  Though secretly they knew that it was…but they state otherwise.

Then the other side of the coin is this…

When you as a black person…or non-whitle points that whatever was said or done was racist…  then the whole thing gets turned around.   And you become the racist for having said that they were being racist.

But even if a person said something offensive to another…does not mean that it was any less offensive simply because someone says-

“Oh, I didn’t know.”

Which is really not the case…many of the times.  Most people know exactly what they are saying.  And say it for the purpose of  twisting a knief in you…if their words are cutting or hurtful in nature.

It is kind like playing that ‘liberal card,’ which the Republicans have become not only famous for doing so, but quite well versed at doing also.  Whenever someone who the Republicans do not like says or does something positive for the p0or or under-served people of this country…the Republicans quickly flash the ‘liberal card’ upon them. 

They were quite effective at doing it during the Bush/Kerry run to the White House.   Every time Kerry opened his mouth to say something, the Republicans rebuked him by calling him ‘liberal’…which became a dreaded word…and particiularly it seemed for John Kerry.   He would start stuttering and get lost…loosing himself in what to say next.  Which is why it worked so very well against him.  He always backed up from it.

That was the one thing about Ted Kennedy, being called a ‘liberal’ was something which did not bother him…nor did he let it stop him from speaking up.  Because in the end…that is all it came down to.  The Republicans using the word ‘liberal’ to scare off Democratic too weak to stand up.

And that is the good thing about Barack Obama too.  He is not afraid to be called ‘liberal.’   Which is the tag that Republicans give to anyone who tries to do anything to aid, help or otherwise assist what the Republicans deem as the ‘under class.’

The problem that I see coming for the 21st Century America will not be one of class but one of race.  The issue of race has always been and continues to be an issue which most Americans do not seriously want to address.  But it is an issue which has fluctuated through the years in terms of its intensity…overtly and conversely.

It is an issue which has longed been put on the back burner as America has always tried to hide the fact that she has such a problem…as a race problem.   But it got its start drenched in the blood and heartache of slavery, from the point when the first Dutch slave ships hit this country in 1619…then peaked during the 1960’s during the Civil Rights movement after years of being surpressed.   And now againt it  is rearing its ugly head…ever since the day that America elected her first non-white male to sit in the Oval Office on Capitol Hill, in Washington, D.C., as President of the United States.

The issue of black vs white in this has had it lows and highs in this country.  For periods this issue has seem dormant.  But not so at all…not in reality.  It is just that during those times there were rushes to calm things down, cover them up, keep them out the eye of the public, or quietly try to erase the events as being racially motivated at all.  But they were.

Case in point…it took place in an area of Texas…in Jasper, TX, 1998:   2 white young males took a black man, James Byrd III,  who was walking a country road on his way back home from wedding, they beat him then chained to the back of their pick-up truck and dragged him to his death tearing apart  his body…and this was just a few years ago. 

It would have been something you might have expected to hear about happening in some other country but never in America.  But no…   

It happened here… in America.

And we all sat beside the television trying to get every bit of information on the story…while trying to figure out-

“What could have caused or motivated such a thing to happen?”

Racism did.

Hatred did.

And though that small Texas town that had a history of racial incidents…many sited as ‘isolated incidents’…something that had never happened before.  But the truth of the matter is…is that America these ‘isolated little incidents’ for years…and not only the south.

These so-called ‘isolated incidents’ have continued throughout the history of  America, such evil that many of them are hard to imagine.  Events whose roots got started back during the slavery of black folks in this country…or perhaps even as early as the early settlers and Native Indian relationships. But slavery was a time when black people in this country were considered to be cattle…when white slave owners routinely killed and made examples of them…by chopping off a hand or foot…or beating slavagely for the benefit of the other slaves who might try to run away or whateverl else have you.

http://www.texasnaacp.org/archive/jasper.htm

Not to mention that following slavery in this country, black men and a few women were often found hanging from trees in the south after having first been beaten by mobs of white men, who then tarred and feathered black folks, and then set them on fire and hung them.  Whom they left hanging…also as examples to other blacks that lived in their communities as to what they could do to them also.   And this they did at will…and  without fear of retribution.

So, yes the treatment of President Obama, the first black man, out 43 white men prior to him…and never having suffer the blatent and tireless attacks and disrespect shown to the first African American President of this country.    Yes, treatment of him is a concern to most black folks.  And yes…it certainly brings back a lot of old past memories of  the ill and segregrated…Jim Crow treatment that black people lived under…and the lack of full acceptance or respect of  Black people throughout the history of America.

Just the other day, I happened to called a older senior woman who I occasional call once in a while just to see how she is doing.  Before our conversation even got going the woman said to me-

“And you see how they are treating Obama?”

I never even knew the woman payed attention to politics.  But I could hear the rage in her voice as she asked me question. 

I knew quite well what she was talking about.   She was highly enraged over it…and insulted that anyone had dared to call him a liar…being the President of the United States.    And she clearly understand…90 something woman that she was in age…that the only reason that anyone had dared to do that was because he was a black man…as she well pointed that out me in her anger.   And she didn’t like it…and I have to say neither did I…nor any of the other black folk that know either.

We don’t like it.

If you have lived through certain things…you never forget them.  Just as the Holocust victims will never ever forget the Holocaust.   Because they survived it…but that time…what they saw…felt…and the loses that they incurred left indeliable images and memories in their minds and hearts.  So, too…our history in this country….which is as much ours as anyone else’s.  Particularly since we played a major role in building this country…and most of the inventions that have come out of it.

An attack on Obama is an attack against us.  And that is how we view it.

It is like how we viewed what the officials of the Miss America contest did some years ago to Vannessa Williams, in 1984.  When she became the first black woman ever be chosen in the history of Miss American to become Miss America.   Then some days later…maybe 2…there was a big scadal in which the Miss America people took the crown from Vanessa.  And black folks just were not having that.  There was outrage all across the black communities everywhere in America.  I personally have never ever really watched that show since.  It climaxed and ended for me with Vanessa Williams.

The scadal came about over some pictures, and black people decared that the Miss America had taken Vanessa’s crown based solely upon racism, as they had never at that point taken a crown from any other woman whom they had crown.  Not only did black folk get enraged over the matter…they also went out and bought up every magazine that had those crazy pictures in them off every bookstore shelf.  Because that is what black people do.  Whenever someone gives us reason to be proud…and others try to destroy that pride…we back our people.

It is not something that we do often…but when we do…we do.  And we all felt about Vanessa as well feel about Barack Obama and his family.

Today, Vanessa Williams has gone on to become the most famous and most beautiful…as well as, most recognized winner that the Miss America contest ever had…for which they can take no credit unfortunately for them.   Vanessa managed to raise above that event…like Obama, I have no doubt, will continue to raise against the name-calling, veiled threats and statements, ladent bigotry and racist  jokes etc… of all those who seek to characterize him as a monkey, critize his judgement, education and birth-right to be President of this country.   

Love the show Vanessa.  You have got that diva stuff down pact.  You can catch her on “Ugly Betty” weeknights…if you don’t know.   And my…can she work a red carpet. 

Going back to that radio talk show and Blunt’s remarks…the issue is…is that everything someone white begins to talk about monkeys…fried chicken…or watermelon…they are usually referring to African Americans.  And whenever they begin to talk about black people tossing in something about monkeys…or fried chicken…or watermelons…it is their intent to insult black folks.  Though most of the time they will deny it.  But the use of referring to black people as monkeys…or as chicken eating…or watermelon eating whatevers comes through history as things white people have used…besides…the “N” word…to degrade and demean them.

So, yes…Blunt’s remarks about monkeys then referring back to Washington clearly was an intent  on his part to directly call Barack Obama a monkey.  Therefore, yes…his remarks were quite racist.  And judging by the amount of applause and laughter in the room they all got the joke and were in agreement with him.  Which clearly shows that racism is very much alive and well in America…and that it is okay to continue to insult and defame black folks no matter who they are or whatever their accomplishments.

So, America is very much in trouble.  And folks like the ex-President Jimmy Carter clearly see this.

As Carter points out above, the attacks upon President Obama are rooted in racism.  It is a clear signals that this country is in deep trouble.   And this thing can become exceedingly dangerous.   A time boom…in fact.

Therein lays the problem.  They can’t see it.  Though they continue in their racist ways…acting out at will…and refuse to call their actions what they truly are.  But are quick to call you racist for pointing it out to them.  Then go into the back rooms slapping each other on the back and laughing over it.  It is what racist do. 

It is kind of a game to them.  The kind of game that they play in law…since most politicans were lawyers before entering into politics.   And that game goes like this…you make the guilty party seem like the injured party. 

Thus, you flip the script.  And that is what the racists politicans in this country are doing…they  flip the script on whoever turns around to call their statements or remarks racist.  Saying that “they”…the people…or whoever… calling them out for their remarks… that “they” are the racist ones.

Or they say it was a ‘miss statement’…not intended the way it sounded.

It is all a game.  But a highly dangerous game.

This country is just a stone’s throw from another outbreak of race riots.  There have been many events that have already started to ignite the same kind of fire that took place in the 1960’s which brought about several riots and burnings of many large cities around America. 

One major event has taken place was Katrina, and the way the government under Bush and Fema failed to act in any way for several days to save the lives and property of the people of New Orleans.  Then the treated of the mostly black victims of Hurricane Katrin has left a bad taste in many black people mouths.   Where many people died un-necessarily.  And those who managed to survive the hurrican lost their homes and everything that they owned otherwise…many children torn from their parents…and so many people were displaced and still are today.

Another major event in this country to have taken place which has also impacted a lot of  black people and other group of poor people in this country, as well…and this is the economy, foreclosures…and a sense of helplessness and for many hopelessness they are feeling.   Upon which…when Obama was voted in as President of this country…presented a ray of hope for them all that they all were in dire need of…both black and white over their current set circumstances which had been brought the Republicans under the poor economics of George Bush.  And compounded by the Iraqi War.

But the continued belittling and underminding of President Obama may very well give license to someone to attempt to take Obama’s life…and there have been calls for it. 

But if that were to happen…those politicians laughing and joking now…slapping each other on the back now and thinking that they are smart…would soon find themselves in something that they had not considered.  And it would and will be bigger than anything that happened when Martin L. King, Jr. was killed.

The times have changed drastically.  And they are far more deadly.

Fire hose and police dogs won’t be able to contain what will be unleased if race war were to start in this country.  And clearly these ignorant Republican politicians have no idea the type of fire that they are playing with.

It is definitely not a joke.  And those stupid politicians who think this thing is a joke really shouldconsider their actions…because this country has years of pent up hatred just waiting to spill over.

And they are pushing the envelop…and messing with flood gates.

Oh…and by the way before it gets mis-understood I do not think the above video is funny.  But it goes to prove that the people in this country do not respect our President the rest of the world won’t either.  Which would really be rather hard to do…since Obama is controll of what other countries want.  But many want other countries to not respect Obama…it all part of their game of trying to under-mind him.

http://www.manolith.com/2009/02/20/ny-post-apologizes-for-monkey-obama-cartoon/

Well, hope that you had a beautiful day.  Finally, got some rain last night…and they said maybe some more tonight.   But today was pretty mild…and fall is definitely in the air.

Well, God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…”  www.bsmith101.wordpress.com  ©2009 

  THE BISHOP’S WIFE  is now on sale…CLICK this LINK to purchase my book.  You do not need a paypal account to purchase, and you can purchase using a debit card.  Thank you. 

Just ignore the text that comes up in the BELOW monitor…just CLICK it few times.

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2 comments September 28, 2009

Skin and color issues… on being black and beautiful

Happened to come across this on youtube and it touched me.

You’re pretty for a black girl???

In this the 21st Century…I would have hoped that we were far from the backward thinking of yesterday…all of  us.  But particularly black folk…or so called black folk.   You know when we walked around trying not to be black…afraid to show our napps and kinks.

You do remember yesterday?  

You know the time when …when if  you were white  you were alright.  Light and you could  just get by…or wasn’t as dark as the brown paper bag…and your hair wasn’t too short…too kinky…or your lips too big.

After all these years…and throughout history we have yet to get over not loving who we are.  And what makes it so really bad…we can’t even see that the rest of world wishes they were us.

If  the truth be known…for better or for worst…we set the fashion trends…style…language patterns… music…dance… and almost everything.   And not only here in this country…but around the world as well.

Western Culture…is definitely highly rooted in the black culture of this country.

So, then why do we feed in to this…I hate me…or can’t find a good black man… or can’t  find a good black woman lie?

It is a lie…because I am a good black woman…and I know I’m not all by myself. And I also believe that there are just as many good and decent black man.

I will never buy into the hype that the reason so many black men and women are preferring to date outside of our race…is because they can’t find someone good in it.  That is a lie.  

I would really like to know just where they have been looking?

The bars…and  prison?

If you seek out junk…then you will find junk.

And if  you seek junk…don’t expect it to step up…to being anything else.   But junk.

I know someone…a black woman…a bit younger than myself…who I used to think of as being smart.  Until one day she said to me that she was  involved with someone who is an addict…and he has been this way for years.

Now, she has her own business… is in the church…but.   She says she loves the guy….that he is a good person.    She says…she is willing to wait on him with the hope that he will straighten out his life.  

And with God’s help…that could happen.

But has anybody ever heard of  being  unevenly yoked?

What if  he never gets his life straight?

And there you are…sitting around all these years…hoping and praying…and sexing it up with somebody who may never be able to be anything real in your life…outside of what he already is.   An addict. 

I don’t know if this is still true or not…but when this whole thug culture was being hyped up…I could not believe the number of decent women…and who I thought were intelligent black woman… talking about they wanted a thug.

“I want me a thug.”

What????

Were they crazy?

A what???

A thug?

I guess that is what Vivica Fox wanted when she hooked up with half-a-dollar.

It got even worstt when I went to hear Nikki Giovanni…and she flashed her tatoo…a large…very large…marking…a tattoo on the inside of  one of  her arms reading….”THUG LIFE.”    At 60 something years of age…I felt she had lost her mind talking about celebrating that lifestyle.  Of what...men beating their women…neglecting their children…etc…  And having sex with anything moving…and dis-respecting women with a bunch of  misogynistic lyrics…loaded with the N-word from start to finish…and a bunch of  other filth.

What is there to celebrate about someone playing like he’s a thug?

“Ahhh…come on now, Nikki.”

In the above video Oprah says that 70% of  black women are not married because “there are not just as many black men out there.”  Meaning that the earth is populated with more black women than black men.   I debate this highly…simply because it is not true.  Since we were created by God…and He is and has always been a God of  balance.  He would never have created more of one sex over another.  And particularly since He…Himself  said-

“Be fruitful and multiply.”

And He would not have said that…to go against His own laws against adultery and fornication…by creating a shortage of any one sex to the other. 

All through nature there is balance between the sexes.  Why would it be any different for man?

I think that people make all kind of excuses to accommodate their choices.  In the earlier days of  black stars in this country (of which most of them had white husbands or wives)…they claimed that it was that they could not find anyone black equal to who they were…being that great singer or actor or actress… or musicans etc.  that they were.   Today they  certainly could not make the same claim since many African-American people excel in all areas from business to sports to entertainment to entrepreneurship…and ministry too.  

In churches all across this country today there are plenty of  black millionaires lining church pews and pulpits…and not  just in the church.   (But doesn’t Pearl Bailey and Queen Latifah look very much alike?)

So, nobody can tell me that there are not enough good or decent black folk around…of both sexes to go around.  Just a couple of weeks ago I was at a very large church convention called AIM in Tampa, Fl…and I never once saw an im-balance between the black men and women…or teens…and children that were there of   either sex.  And they packed the Tampa Bay area coming from everywhere across this country and outside of  it.

I think that media is to blame for starting the rumor that women out number  men.  Since in the beginning…media like most of everything else was male dominated.   Men love to justify certain behavior.    So, why not create a lie like saying-

“Women out number us.  So, therefore we are allowed to have as many of them as we would like.”

All through history you see women being used as sexual objects…and with men having multiple wives…or harems.   Yet, when you see pictures of those times, art, and readings from early times…they do not reflex a lesser number of  men to women.  If anything…it seemed as though the opposite were true. 

So, shows like the above  segment on the Oprah Winfrey Show only legitimized that lie for many people.  Vast number of people have always believed  it.  But now because Oprah said it…that makes it true.  Not so.  

It is very much the same as saying that there is a ‘gay gene’ …therefore, gay people can’t help being gay.  That too is a lie.  There is no ‘gay gene.’   Gay people are not a freak of  nature.  But there are some scientist who claim that this is true…and falsely want to lay claim to this based upon some bogus laboratory discovery.

What it rally all gets down to… is  what do you want to believe?

You can choose to believe lies…falsehoods…or choose to believe the truth. 

But no matter what…black is beautiful…even for a black girl.

CLICK the LINK BELOW to see the video…it is sad to the level of  self-hate due to their dark conplexion.

http://www.mwza.com/tyra-banks-show-black-women-their-children-bleaching-their-skin/

It is amazing the number of women, men and children is this country and abroad…from the Caribbean Islands to Europe…and Africa…who are running to blench their skin.  Many without any knowledge of the vast risk to their health or  life…not to mention that  the chemicals in the blenching creams are toxic and can destroy the person’s face and body over a period of time.

It is a mystery how many of  us would have loved to have been born darker…and those darker…some of  them least ways…and I guess many…since the blenching cream market has grown so big.  It is truly a shame that  so many would want so badly to be lighter.   And would destroy their beautiful natural complexions trying to undo what God has  so richly and generously blessed them with. 

In listening to the videos above…it all mostly stemmed from feelings that they felt that lighter skin meant better treatment…better jobs…status etc…   All of  which really stems…from lack of respect of  yourself… your capabilities… and how you preceive yourself.   Preception of  one’s self  is a great thing…it can hinder you …or sky rocket you into excelling high levels in life…whether others believed you could…or not.

Personally…I have never felt that anything was more beautiful than being black.  I may have never liked what I personally looked like (in terms of my facial stuff)…or my size…but I have always liked being black…and black features.

Beauty…is us…in all of  our  varying shades.   It’s really what makes us so much more interesting than all the other group of people in the world.  We’ve got variety, baby…and lots of it…and in all kinds of ways.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/08/celebrity.race?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/africa_have_your_say/8095882.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7244374.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8148719.stm

They say a picture says a 1,000 words.  If  this picture could speak what would it say?

I think…it would say-

“I’m not happy.”

In comparing this picture with some of  Michael’s earlier pictures before any of the surgery… you can see that he not only hated his skin color…but his lips…hair… nose…chin… and I guess just about everything else about himself.    How very sad.   And even worst…what he did to himself  thinking he could improve upon what  God had already blessed him with.

Thank you so much, Aisha for posting your video on youtube.  You are not only pretty…but fasinatingly beautiful…and a highly intelligent young black woman.  Your husband must marvel every time he looks…at his queen.  I know you must be an equally wonderful mother…because you possess all the right tools to having a beautiful and  successful loving family.

Take a peak at Ethiopian Sara Nuru…Germany’s next top model…and perhaps the world.

And yes…I’m still plugging  my book, THE BISHOP’S WIFE.    In fact…I better get some sleep now…so I can get up early in the morning and get out to go work on my book trailer some more…which I will post here as well as on youtube.  Soon and very soon…   It  is coming.

 Well, enjoy your day tomorrow.  Finally…some sun…but  lots of  humidity too.  Plus I have hot flashes…oh, well… 

God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on…” http://www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

 THE BISHOP’S WIFE  is now on sale…CLICK this LINK to purchase my book.  You do not need a paypal account to purchase, and you can purchase using a debit card.  Thank you. 

6 comments July 28, 2009

Who doesn’t have a clue?

I just finished listening to the most hypocritical piece of garbage I have ever heard…or maybe I should say in a long time.  It has to do with some white woman announcer talking about First Lady Obama who recently paid a visit to a local D.C. school and began sharing with the young students about her earlier years growing up.  Being bright and well spoken the kids in her school and neighbor used to tell her that she ‘talked like a white person.’

This white woman announcer pounced all over that and began saying, “We have trash in the White House.”

Clearly, she is in need of loosing her job…besides having been way off the mark.

For some reason white people just can’t seem to get it right.  They think everything is about them.  They have no understanding of the black experience…yet want to say that they do.

Because we are the only group of people who came here in chains…there is no other group of fellow country men who can quite grasp this with any kind of clear understanding because they never went through it.  Sure, many groups were ostracized, joked about, called names, belittled and many hated…some more so than others…as they came here to this country in search of a better way of  life for them and their family…same as those who came before them.  But their experiences were still not the same as ours.

Having worked on a job…my last job with a bunch of black folks.  The first time in my life I had ever worked with all black people.  I must say it was the worst job I ever had.  They put me through the ringer…and it was all because…as I came to find out over time…because I had a highest level education than anyone else in the building including out of all the workers, other managers and upper management.

I did not talk like them…I did not swear…nor did I stand around telling nasty jokes…and I did my job far above average.   They hated me because I was not like them.   They hated my work ethics…everything about me.   To them…I have no doubt…they felt that I thought I was white.   Because this is something which many black folks have been called when they were smart, or well spoken…good workers… etc…etc…  Which for those of you who may be white…it means they thought that I thought…I was better than them.

So, that white woman radio announcer had not a clue of what she was talking about when she started to bite into Michelle Obama.  Because had she had a clue she would have known that Michelle Obama was telling the students in that class that it was okay to be smart and not to be ashamed of making good grades…and not to worry about what the other kids might call them.   This was indeed what Michelle Obama was telling those students…and vast numbers of African Americans, if not all, hearing that speech knew right off what the First Lady was saying without thinking twice about it.   She was not talking about some ‘white/black thing’…but a ‘black on black thing.’

But white people do not have a clue.  They feel they know us.  Have a handle on how we feel about things…how we operate…behave…and react.  But really…they do not have a clue.

Take for instance shock jock-Imus in the Morning.  He thought he was being funny…that what he was saying was cool and that he could get away with continually degrading and belittling black folks.  And he felt this because of  Pop culture…rapp music…rapp videos…and how the brotha’s talk in the streets.

But he failed to understand that there are other groups of black folks who felt that even the brotha’s and sista’s on the streets, in the videos etc…speak things we too find offensive and unacceptable.  Because the kids…the rappers etc…do not have clue…didn’t mean that Imus could also operate within that same clueless realm and feel it was okay…because as he said, “They say it.”

Like Imus…the kids are clueless.  The kids know nothing about the history behind much of what they say…nor take it, unfortunately, as being serious.   But those of us who know the history…know also the pain…and saw the cost…we know.  And not only take it seriously…but personal.

But…so isn’t that female announcer who would dared to want to call the First Lady of this country ‘trash.’ She is definitely quite clueless…and maybe so to a even higher level.

Would anyone dared to have called Barbara Bush that…and then felt that they could have gotten away with it?

How about Jacqueline Onassis-Kennedy?

Never.

And if you tried…everybody would be up in arms coming at you.

But you can get away with things when you are talking about black people or other minority groups that would never be acceptable or allowable when talking about  someone white who sits in such a high position as the Obamas…or anywhere.

After all the stuff that Bill Clinton did while he was in the White House with Monica…never once did anyone call him outside of  his name.  They may have went after Bill but they never called him anything but Bill Clinton…or Mr. President.

Two semesters ago in a communications class we had to read about the uproar about the making of a TV movie about Ronald Reagan.  The first part of the controversy was about the belittling of an American President…making him to appear erratic…and lost.

The second part of the argument had to do with party lines…the Republicans were staunchly against the TV mini-series about their beloved President Ronald Reagan claiming that the mostly liberal Democrats of the Production’s Executive Directors and writers were trying to tarnish the memory of an American hero, as well as, President…which should not be allowed.

I doubt that any of those people will stand up for First Lady Obama.  But clearly large groups of people should including the owners and affiliates of that radio station that she works for and the syndicated stations she airs on.

Not only did not the woman have a clue as to what she was talking about by trying to under-cut what the First Lady had said to the students…but she was also highly out of order and offensive…and racist.   There was an air about her tone which spoke…”I can say whatever I want about those n…..s and nobody will stop me.  Because they are just n…..s anyways.”

So, it is not Michelle Obama who has a problem.  No, but anyone who thinks and talks like this woman announcer.  CLICK the LINK BLOW…if you want to read more about what this woman had  to say…and you will also hear what it was that Michelle Obama said to the students.   This woman clearly did not have the slightest clue to the real meaning of…outside of possibly pushing up some negative ratings for her radio program.

http://www.blackvoices.com/blogs/2009/03/24/tammy-bruce-calls-the-first-family-trash-in-the-white-house/?icid=main|hp-laptop|dl5|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blackvoices.com%2Fblogs%2F2009%2F03%2F24%2Ftammy-bruce-calls-the-first-family-trash-in-the-white-house%2F

I wish I were the Program Director or manager at that radio station…she would have been pulled immediately…and sent packing.

And oh, yes…I purposely did not call her by name.  Some people just are not worthy of the bother…I have given her more than enough play…(many of you might not understand that either…but I will let you try and figure it out). She is in dire need of a proper education.

This is America…and we do have freedom of speech.  But she went way overboard.  And for that there should be a penalty…as was in the case of  Imus.  And no appology will do.  We are in the 21st Century…when do people start to grow up?

I get so tired of people saying whatever they want to say whenever it comes to black people…and then have the nerve to feel that there should and will not be any reprecautions for doing so.

Still working on the web site.  I have to admit that it is really shaping up far better than anything I have done in the past.  God is so good…He has endowed me.

And oh, yes…the weather has turned again.  It is freeeeeeezzzzing.

God bless…

Thank you for reading this blog…and  my others.  Please be sure to continue to share this blog site with your family, co-workers and all your friends… “pass it on “

www.bsmith101.wordpress.com ©2009

1 comment March 25, 2009

P Diddy…does he really have it going on…or is it more hype than money

Okay…okay, already.  After reading my in-take box and seeing that people keep hitting this blog looking for info on Puffy…I mean P Diddy…I finally decided to do a little somethang somethang.  So, here it is.

It is not a secret that Sean Puffy Combs considers himself to be the real “Mr. Big.”   High roller…big time spender and entrepreneur extraordinair…who happens to be personally responsible for creating such mega stars as Biggy Smalls, had a hand in Mary J. Blige’s career amongst others.  Little wonder Puffy as he was then known was on target for where he is today. 

The one time apprentice of Andre Harrell of Uptown Records….P. Diddy who once co-sponsored the party that ended in the death of at least 2 students during a party at Hunter College.  Puffy…or P Diddy as he now calls himself is raking in the green…and burning it up equally as fast.  Trying to keep up the image doesn’t come cheat.  And believe me it is all about image.

From lavish yachts to high class resturants…and top shelf drinks…P might believe that he has it all.  Widely looked up to among the hip-hop world the former Howard University student who used to jump  Amtrak going back and forth between DC and New York City…now rides in nothing but style…try Bentleys for one…then limousines etc…

Though his claims as a bad boy for life may not really be true.  One thing for sure he is smart.  And has managed to reinvent himself a couple of times.  I must say that his production of Lorraine Hansberry’s play “Raisin in the Sun” was simply great. 

Though as a rule I think Piddy can’t act but based upon the reports of what he did to get him into being that character, which was the son who takes his mother’s money and throws it away and still somehow manages to emerge a champion…and finally does the right thing.  Well, in a word…good.  Puffy or Diddy or Sean…or whatever he calls himself…he did a very good job. 

The entire production was fabulous…which I thought would have failed badly.  But it did not because for one thing Diddy is a very smart guy.  And he really proved that he does take some things seriously…including where he places his money and trying to project a good image every now and then…like paying to produce quality work, such as ” Raisin in the Sun.”  

From restaurants to clothing lines to his own record label to reality TV show…and as you read below by CLICKING on the LINK…a car service for drunken stars.  He thinks of everything…that can make him ‘mo’ money.‘

In it all…one has to wonder…is he really happy?

I have seen over and over again how hard it is for people to find true happiness in life…when they have too much money.  It seems that money rules them…that it had been their aspiration and life focus.  But at the end of the day…it is not all about money.  Believe me.  In fact there are many things that money can’t buy.   And those are the things which are the most important in life.  True respect…love…a good family…health…peace of mind…etc. 

There is much that can be said about the free things in life…and it is so sad that they go so widely overlooked.   To me they have so much more value.

But we are happy for anyone who can find a balance.  Here’s to you and your balance in life.  Hold always…God first and everything else follows.

Well, have a blessed day.  And maybe Mr. P Diddy will find the ONE who really counts and has more value than gold.

Finally, got some rest last night.  Got 2 exams tomorrow.  So, I will be studying most of the night.  But God is good…and I am so happy that I know Him.

…pass it on…’ www.bsmith101.wordpress.com

God bless…and thanks for reading ©2008

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2008/09/08/p-diddy-cuts-back-on-private-jet/

http://www.observer.com/node/48826 

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/p%20diddy.s%20house%20scandal

http://www.allbusiness.com/real-estate/commercial-residential-property-rental/10381565-1.html

http://mediamatters.org/items/200409030015

http://nymag.com/nymetro/realestate/columns/n_9888/

http://motortorque.askaprice.com/news/auto-0803/p-diddy-to-launch-taxi-service-for-drunken-celebs.asp

4 comments December 3, 2008

In whose View…

A term of endearment????

Enpowering ourselves by taking it back…and calling us (each other that).   But you can’t use it.

What kind of lunacy is that? 

In this case Elizabeth wins.  She has got it right…why would you call yourself something that you don’t want other people to call you?  

Doesn’t that just sound backwards?

So, what you grew up with your family members using it. So, what!

Like your family members ain’t never been wrong about anything. And everything they did and said was right. Grow up…and get a brain.

Now, here’s Whoopi‘s view on the “N” word…

Here is what Rev Al Sharpton had to say about the use of the “N” word…and Jesse Jackson‘s use of the word in regards to black people.

How can we command respect from others if we cannot respect ourselves enough to stop continually abusing ourselves by using a word that is offensive and has been used offensively towards us…and was originated to demean, belittle and insult us?

There is no such thing as “taking it back”…because we weren’t the ones who originated the “N” word.  It was a word targetted against us meant to keep us in our place.

For Jesse Jackson to have gotten caught on national television belittling black people in America by calling them the “N” word and talking in such a way as to what he would like to do to Obama was glaringly offensive to us all as moral decent human beings. 

After getting in front of national cameras many times saying that the “N” was a word that is wrong and should never be used by anyone…well, you pick the adjective…hypocritical (somehow that word sounds a bit weak in regards to Jesse Jackson)…and even more so in regards to what that one word has done to us as a group.

Just listen to us on these clips.  And they symbolize the intelligent rational black folk…from Whoopi and that other woman on the View, to Jesse Jackson, to Al Sharpton, to Dr. Alvin Poussaint and Bill Cosby.  Yet they are so far apart in their thinking on this subject…that it is frightening.

How can one word have so much power… or conjure up so much pain and ill will…and division? 

So, then why would anyone or any group of people want to hold onto such a word?

African-Americans are as messed up as a group of people can be in regards to this word…and the reason is as Elizabeth, Dr. Poussaint and Bill Cosby state…home training.

Listen to Whoopi Goldberg and the other black woman on the View…she says ‘she grew up in a home that used it’ and that she uses it.

Whoopi says that saying it is okay because it gives us power. 

What?????

They, Whoopi and that other black woman on the View, have been desensitized to the word probably from growing up with it and hearing it all of their lives…as well as probably most of those rappers and three-quarters of the other black folk in this country.  As well as, many other people today who hear it on the videos, in the movies, in our personal language among each other, in the locker room, classroom, school hallways etc…everywhere. 

Not only rappers, or Jesse Jackson…but professional black folk use it…athletics…preachers…you name it…they indulge in the use of the “N” word.

There is some cultural relevance to this…it is called “self-hate.”  

We still have it…no matter what we say. 

Why else use that word and continue to allow it to perpetuate as if it is a cultural norm acceptable only when we say it?

There is something ill-logic with that thinking.

I grew up in a home that didn’t use the “N” word…nor did my parents…or most our relatives curse or swear. 

So, therefore, I am not desensitized by the word. It will provoke me to become angry…and I don’t want anybody…white or black or otherwise calling me by it.  And I don’t want them thinking it…and I can tell that too…and there are ways.  It is in the body language and certain behavors that make it quite evident.

I once got on the bus travelling to New York City a while back. A young hispanic guy got on the bus that day at the same time I boarded…during the whole ride he was at the back of the bus talking very very…very loudly. And every other word out of his mouth was the “N” word…and I do mean every other.  It irritated me.

It irritated me so badly that I had put into my mind…that if he said the word one more time there was going to be a racial incidence on that bus because I was going to get up…and we would have to go at it.

Now, what you need to know is this…anytime I put something into my mind to do…I do it.

And things were not going to be pretty on that bus…because I had already decided upon it. The good thing for him…as the thought came into my mind…the bus pulled into his stop and he got off.

I consider myself to be a nice person but there are somethings I am just not tolerant of…I am not tolerant of the “N” word out of anybody’s mouth. To speak it in my presence is like speaking a curse word.

We really have to grow up…it is not time to get over that word.   But time to release it…and let it die.

I have felt guilty since I wrote that blog about not taking my iron tablets.  I mean…I really have.   It may seem like such a little thing to have bothered me.   But the next day I started thinking about having made that statment…about not taking the tablets…but who does what they are suppose to anyways.

I started thinking about how all I have to take is this one little tablet.  It doesn’t make me queazy or up-set my stomach…or any of those things.  All it does is add some much needed iron to my system to aid in increasing my red blood cells.  No biggy.

When you think of all the different types of medication that people are forced to take daily…because they have to…they have no choice in the matter.  What do I have to complain about…not that I was complaining. 

But, my goodness…I am blessed.

So, why not take the one little pill that I am suppose to take?

When you think of the type of money people have to spend on medication in this country…it is unbelievable.  I have a friend who informed me that one bottle of something that she needs costs $300.  Wow…

And all I have to take is a simple over the counter…less than $3.00 iron tablet. 

It is very foolish of me to be so lackadaisical in taking something that might prevent me from ever having to spend $300 on something to correct that which I could have prevented simply by taking my little under $3.00 tablet today.  And that is why I have been kicking myself…after saying what I wrote in that blog…I realized just how foolish I was…and have been.

In the mid-80’s I lost my cousin Vincent to AIDS.  He had to take over 30 different pills a day.  One of the tablets he had to take was a bright yellow pill…which he had to take because he somehow contracted a parasite that only birds normally got.

I recall think as he held up the pill telling me about it and why he had to take it…I recalled thinking-

“My goodness he can’t even walk into a pet shop without walking out without something.”

I didn’t at that time quite understand AIDS…as most people did not at that time.  But I realized that living in New York City he could not even walk between a flock of peigons eating drops of bread without fearing getting something…that might mean taking another pill.

Since, I only have that one little pill to take…and really it is good for me to take.  Yesterday, I took my iron tablet for the very first time in a long time.  And now that I’m thinking of it…I better take it while it is still on my mind.  So, excuse me…hope you had a good day.   Its been hot here…and I am definitely thinking about the beach.

Have a good one….and…      God bless….

ps…well, technically you can see I am really catching on to this stuff…but it doesn’t hurt to be able to write code either (html)…baby, all those classes are paying off!!!

And thank you all for reading…don’t forget to share this blog site… www.bsmith101.wordpress.com   …with your friends, family, co-workers, the people on your block…your next door neighbor…your church…everybody…the people in the grocery store…the cashiers at the movie theater…the man down the street….even your ex….and don’t forget you can holla at a sisah every so often.   

You can reach me simply by writing in the “comment” section below that is how to comment on these blogs or…if you wish to converse with me…you can reach me through it as well.  ©2008

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