This is what the LORD says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD. He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. “But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17: 5-8

Last night I was reflecting on the man I was a year and a half ago. To the naked eye not much has changed, but inside I know there is a difference. I have always had a relationship with God but that did not mean that I was working towards building a better relationship with God. I was like, I’ll stay right here where it’s comfortable, I’ll get real into the word when I get old like my grandparents. Thankfully the Lord threw some situations my way that made me realize that our connection had to get better and that we needed to be constantly working on our relationship. So I feel like this verse represents me in some ways. Not that I did not trust in the Lord, that I did not have confidence in him but maybe I was guilty of not trying to get closer to God.

Now I strive to have a better understanding of the word and how it relates to my life. Not just my life but the lives of those around me, I strive to understand how their worlds and my world have collided and what work God wants us to do together. A few months ago I was emailing Kevin Powell and I wasn’t really getting any responses. At first I was like, you know this guy is busy so it’s all good. But after a few times I became angered because I felt that I had something valuable to offer the efforts he is working on not only in Brooklyn but around the country. Well last night I had the opportunity to have a two hour conversation with the man. Someone who inspires me through his words, through his writings and definitely through our conversation. When the conversation was over all I could do was thank God. All I had wanted was an email response but now I was blessed with a memorable and enlightening conversation. Only God could make something like that possible, so I look forward to building my relationship with the Lord and working for him because it is clear that he keeps his children in his favor. Peace and Grace be unto you!

CHANGE THE WAY A MAN VIEWS THINGS AND THE MAN CHANGES HIS WORLD.

Naturally, when one makes progressive steps, there may be some who see it as a betrayal of their goals and interests. - Louis Farrakhan

THE LIES
By Ma’at

Fuck this country so hard it bleeds the wealth and prosperity of your forefathers
Inseminate your mind with limitless understanding and watch your seeds grow
The revolution will not come easily but it will come
Over and over again until
New birth
A new age
This county was built with on the foundation of REVOLUTION!!!

Hypocrites!!
Each framer more faced then the last
But at the core of their new country…..
“ We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility,…… and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,”
Our being white male slave owners…..
Not there white wives
Not their male nigger slaves
And sure as hell not fucking me
I was good enough to rape
My security taken from me, after my husband was taken from me, my father taken from me, my children taken from me… he took the only thing he knew I still had that he could physically take

Surprise Mother fucker
My spirit is stronger than you can imagine
My back forged with the strength of generations of matriarchs, kings, queens, family, unity
You can not take my legacy
It runs through my veins, my children’s veins, my children’s children’s

Over the past few weeks we have been bombarded with media distortments of Pastor Jeremiah Wright and his statements made during his tenure as Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Questions of race, which deeply divide this country though many of us would like to believe that it doesn’t have been wedged into our news coverage of this historical moment in our country. Of course I am speaking of the fact that the two front-runners for the Democrat Presidential nomination are a black man and white woman; two unequivocal minorities.

Why is it that a black Pastor who has no formal role in our Political process has received so much coverage based around his comments? Yet, Patrick J. Buchanan, a well know Republican, columnist, and at 3 different points in his career sought the nomination to be Commander in Chief of the United States of America can make divisive comments centered around race. Comments that are quite insulting and there is no uproar in the media, there is no condemnation of his language. Could this be the type of oppression that Jeremiah Wright was speaking about, the interesting way in which our media sets the agenda for what we think and how we think about it. Is it ok to think about racism when it negatively depicts a black minister, but when this privileged man; whom to many represents the views of our government invokes incendiary language about the history and culture of a people we turn a blind eye to it?

Barack Obama was right; we do need to have a serious conversation about race in this country if we ever plan to move forward. Slavery ended in the 1800’s, however the oppression black people face still exists today. This is not an issue against white people; white people are not the government, white people are not the institutions that impose on the civil liberties of minorities. I think that a genuine conversation about race and oppression in this country will show both sides this point. Until we open up this dialogue and speak about these topics responsibly we can expect eloquent comments like the one you will read below from privileged, white men, who run this country.

“America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.”

“[N]o people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.” - Patrick J. Buchanan

To read more just click the link below.
http://www.buchanan.org/blog/

We ain’t thugs for the sake of just being thugs. Nobody do that where we grew at nigga duh. The poverty line we not above so out comes the mask and gloves cause we ain’t feeling the love. We ain’t doing crime for the sake of doing crime, we moving dimes cus we ain’t doing fine. 1 out of 3 of us is locked up doing time; you know what that type of shit can do to a niggas mind. My mind on my money, money on my mind if you owe me ten dollars you ain’t giving me nine. Yall ain’t give me forty acres and a mule so I got my glock 40 now I’m cool and if al sharpton is speaking for me. Somebody get him the word and tell him I don’t approve. Tell him ill remove the curses, if you tell me our schools gon be perfect. When Jena 6 don’t exist tell em that’s when ill stop saying bitch, biiitchhhh!!!!!

Jay – Z “SAY HELLO”
American Gangster

In the 2003 Fade to Black DVD, Jay-Z referenced taking time out in his music to address what’s going on in the hood, asking his peers, “am I wrong to do that, to have those feelings.” Well on the last verse of Say Hello from Jay’s latest album American Gangster, Jay addresses many inherent issues within the black community, its duality is indescribable, just vibe with me!

We ain’t thugs for the sake of just being thugs….. True but false, we live in environments where many feel that they have no other options but to resort to a criminal lifestyle because of the lack of resources to education, and job training to achieve that American Dream. However, we also live in a time where the commercialization of hard times has become intriguing to many youth. In fear of not being respected our youth are imitating thug lifestyles in an effort to replicate what they see on television and hear in songs.

The poverty line we not above so out comes the mask and gloves…….. True indeed, many of our families are living below the poverty line, suffering, living from check to check. So out comes the mask and gloves…. Wait a minute, who is this mask and glove being used to hide? Who is the victim of these tools the perpetrator you so vividly paint chooses to use while committing his crime that he’s not doing for the sake of committing crime? More than likely, people who look just like you, live in similar conditions as you, creating a vicious cycle of survival of the fittest in our communities!

1 out of 3 of us is locked up doing time…………. Oh I know what that type of thing can do to a brother’s mind, to a young man’s self esteem. When your peers are being hauled away in record numbers to institutions of enslavement, better known as prisons! However, thread this story together; already Hov has answered some of his own questions, showing you the circumstances which desperately rape our communities of our brothers.

Yall ain’t give me forty acres and a mule……….. So you got your Glock 40 now you’re cool. No….. Not cool, that’s misplaced anger. They did that to us, well who is they, is this “the proverbial man” who keeps his foot on top of the black man’s throat? No! This is a historical reference, reflective of the United States and promises that were made to people of color that were not fulfilled. Moreover, it’s institutionalized racism that Jay is talking about and how it affects the neighborhoods we live in. The lack of resources and awareness on how to achieve in this land of American opportunity. Back to this Glock 40, this gun, our anger and despair for a system that oppresses us is quite valid but to then take out that same anger on our own people only furthers a system of destruction upon us as a community.

And if Al Sharpton is speaking for me………. Say no more my brother; many feel that the Old Guard of leadership is out of touch with the issues of today’s generation. A few months ago I saw Sharpton attacking Nas over his new album title “NIGGER”. I thought, we have to get better communication within our community of leadership! Nas shouldn’t have to hear via MTV news that Al Sharpton has a problem; Sharpton should contact Nas directly and feed him some knowledge and wisdom as a younger brother. We should respect our elders and in turn they should respect us and what we are trying to create as an innovative and creative group of young people.

Instead, we need to openly communicate about issues respectfully and provide viable solutions to these problems. Because once again, I hear anger within ourselves when we truly should be coming together to fight against systems of inequality and their injustices. Sharpton can’t make the schools better and neither can Jay, but with an agenda targeting urban public school systems WE Can. Targeting legislation used to fund educational programs in underserved communities, using our right to vote, utilizing our freedom of speech against the ills that plague us, We Can. By reinvesting in our own communities and not spending our dollar in everyone else’s the minute it’s earned, we can create economic prosperity and create opportunity within our neighborhoods. Then the mask and gloves don’t have to come out because they are only hurting us. There’s an awareness issue in the hood, there’s misplaced anger in the hood, it’s time now that we unite together and build with each other to create an agenda and Make It Happen! 1
C. Shine