I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races - that I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of making voters or jurors of Negroes, nor of qualifying them to hold office, nor to intermarry with white people; and I will say in addition to this that there is a physical difference between the white and black races which I believe forever forbid the two races living together on terms of social and political equality. And in as much as they cannot so live, while they do remain together there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any other man am in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.– Abraham Lincoln 1858

I remember sitting at my cramped desk at Deauville Gardens Elementary School more than 15 years ago. I was no more than 10 years old but I remember learning of “THE GREAT EMANCIPATOR” Abraham Lincoln. It was taught that Lincoln freed the slaves and being a young black child I should be forever grateful because if it were not for his actions many of my people would still be in chains. Those formidable years of education were filled with large fabrications. A growing amount of Americans never make it to college and thus are forced to mull around the lies and propaganda that our history books sell us, between them and these false history channels we are inundated with the winners version of history which can often be extremely flawed.

For years if you asked me who was my favorite President I would proudly state that Abraham Lincoln was the greatest President that ever lived. I was taught that he liberated blacks out of the chains and physical captivity of chattel slavery in these United States of America, that this man saw blacks as his equals and valiantly battled racist southerners and their disturbing opinions of people of color in this country and drove us to freedom. However as I read his quote above, it seems that Abraham Lincoln was quite the opposite, quite the racist, and very much an oppressor of people of color. He believed that people of color were inferior to whites, why was this quote omitted from my education, why is history painted in such a viciously false manner?

In law school the question to every answer is “maybe”. The teachers say maybe because there are always multiple different ways of looking at things thus giving us various outcomes, nothing is absolute. Did Abraham Lincoln free the slaves? Maybe!

As I look at several photos taken by up and coming Photographer Young District, who has a great eye for capturing the feeling of a moment. While shooting in the Abraham Lincoln Projects on 132nd and Madison in Harlem he manages to capture this historical relationship between people of color and Lincoln. A picture is worth a thousand words and when I look at this series so much comes to mind.

Look at how the sculptor chose to dress the young black man. Lincoln is fully dressed, bow tie included while the young man wears torn clothes with no shoes. He is visibly supposed to be portraying an enslaved young man, dressed in rags praising Lincoln and his fully suited self. The young boy is looking up to Lincoln, admiring him for his courage, his oh so noble character. The young man is forever in debt to Abraham Lincoln for without Lincoln this boy would still be a slave. Now he’s become a new slave, a slave to a warped view of history.

Look at Lincoln, his face is emotionless, in fact he stares past the young man, not even making eye contact with him. Lincoln is comparable to the Santa Clause who sits in our shopping malls during the holidays, it’s just a job and he really could care less about the wishes that the young man whispers to him because he has no intention of making those dreams come true. But that’s just it! Young District has captured the real intention of Lincoln. He’s looking past blacks but using them as a tool to preserve the Union, to preserve the United States of America. And where does this statute sit, it sits right in the heart of a housing development which is the home to many people of color.

Everyday there’s a kid just like me who walks by this statute and is proud. Proud that in a country who bears the dirty stain of slavery, that there was one man who defied the odds. One man who fought to make sure that blacks and whites were equal. The above quote is not found in history books, it’s not found near this statute. However it is found in the emotionless expression on Lincoln’s face. It’s found in the archives of his speeches that let us know that he had no intention on freeing the slaves. In fact Lincoln is quoted as saying “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing some and leaving others alone I would also do that.”

Another deleted quote from the legacy of Lincoln, another example of how we were used as pawns and firepower to defeat the Confederate States of America. Nowhere in this quote is this Great Emancipator championing our rights, speaking out against the destructive and oppressive system of racial inequality, yet he gets this great title in our history. He is known as one of the leaders of the Abolitionist movement, yet he did not believe in our abilities, intellect or right to be treated as his equals. So did Lincoln free the slaves, why of course he did, the Emancipation Proclamation and 13th Amendment tells us so. However, it was a mere accident. Thanks to Young District for allowing his lens to capture one of Lincoln’s greatest misnomers, that he actually cared.

Bout to be some HELL UP IN EUROPE. While we moan and groan about paying 4 dollars a gallon for gas, the Europeans are paying an average of $8.70. This is insane, like oil companies are making their highest profits ever while everyday people are more than struggling trying to afford a basic neccessity.

If gas reaches $9 here in the States, I don’t know what I would do. I am so good on going back to riding a bike, I don’t care how healthy it is. Riding a bike was for my pre - sixteen days. The Europeans are staging tons of protests and will more than likely grow angrier if something is not done about the price of fuel. These protests are not just angry people in the streets, they are hitting industries in their pockets and the industries are even protesting. Truckers, fisherman, farmers you name it they are protesting. They unlike Americans hold their governments accountable.

Last night a few friends and I were discussing the impact of Barack Obama and I believe that he is encouraging the people of these United States of America to stand up and become a part of our government so that we can change the system. While at a first glance the previous statement may have nothing to do with rising gas prices in Europe. Think again! I just told you the European governments are trying to do something to calm their people because they know that they are informed and will utilize their right to vote to allow their voices to be heard about things they are concerned about. Maybe one day we Americans will start to think in a similar fashion!

War should be the politics of last resort. And when we go to war, we should have a purpose that our people understand and support. - Colin Powell

One thing you can not deny is the amount of swagger Barack Obama possesses. It’s amazing how the man does not allow all of the negativity and false speculations to cloud his demeanor or his charismatic personality. Here is a clip of a Barack today in North Carolina “brushing his shoulders off”, mocking the hate and typical PoliTricks of Washington! YES WE CAN! SI SE PUEDE!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlR9DNfqGD4&hl=en]

Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.- Coretta Scott King

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/