Real Talk

MLK was a Figurehead

By JuJuan Buford Did he become more? Of course he did. Nevertheless, the movement chose him to be its face. In other words MLK was not the movement. The people were the movement; the hundreds and thousands of unsung heroes; the strivings for freedom and justice; everyday people. The danger of lionizing men and women so much, that we forget the peopleis that when he or she dies, people are too inclined to let movement die. MLK became a great leader. However if no one is there to organize, galvanize, and follow then King would have simply been taking a walk. The movement was the exercise of leadership, not one individual. So, yes MLK was a figurehead. A damn good one. King became a great leader. However, the Movement was and is You. And when you deny this simple fact, you disempower yourself. And you bastardize King. Just the random reflections of someone who thinks he knows a little something about activism.

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz's, aka Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet"

post by JuJuan Buford

This speech is without argument one of the most significant statements regarding the conditions that color the lives of people of African descent in this country in history. It is amazing just how relevant it is today. Lord knows we must teach our children this history or we are destined to continue to suffer under the tyranny (much of it self imposed) and spectacle of our dehumanization. There is a reason that the commercialism of Brother Malcolm just wasn't all that successful. It's just so difficult to do. Dag, Brother Malcolm was hard as he!!.

 

   

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz's, aka Malcolm X, "The Ballot or the Bullet"

post by JuJuan Buford

This speech is without argument one of the most significant statements regarding the conditions that color the lives of people of African descent in this country in history. It is amazing just how relevant it is today. Lord knows we must teach our children this history or we are destined to continue to suffer under the tyranny (much of it self imposed) and spectacle of our dehumanization. There is a reason that the commercialism of Brother Malcolm just wasn't all that successful. It's just so difficult to do. Dag, Brother Malcolm was hard as he!!.

 

   

Defining poverty: Measure by measure | The Economist

Measure by measure

The world’s richest country tries to count its poor

Defining poverty

Jan 20th 2011 | CHICAGO | from PRINT EDITION

MOST people have an inherent sense of what it means to be poor. But choosing a definition is much trickier. Is poverty an absolute or relative condition? What is a decent standard of living? Such questions have dogged America’s social scientists for decades. This month the Census Bureau published a preliminary estimate of poverty, using a new definition. It was 16 years in the making. But it is not quite finished yet.

Poverty means different things in different countries. In Europe, the poor are those whose income falls below 60% of the median. Britain uses three measures: one relative, one absolute and a broader indicator of material deprivation, such as whether a child can celebrate his birthday. The concept of poverty becomes even more slippery when attempting international comparisons. The United Nations’ “human- development index” assesses countries across a range of indicators, such as schooling and life expectancy.

via www.economist.com

 

A friend suggested this article, and while I found the article interesting, I couldn't help but be transfixed on the photo. Why? Because the living conditions depicted in the photo are not anomalous. And understand one thing in particular; while the nation may have experienced a recession, there are some states, cities, and communities that are grappling with depression like conditions. 

Let me preface what is to follow by stating the obvious. There are many reasons for African Americans to be unabashedly proud of our POTUS. After all, he steered the country from what was sure to be a economic depression; moved us closer to universal healthcare than any other POTUS previously; successfully massaged the nation’s consciousness time and time again when confronted with incidents that could have easily inflamed tensions domestically and abroad (the taking of hostages by Somali pirates, the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, North Korea… just to name a few); and the list could go on and on.

 

Trust, any U.S. citizen with an ounce of commonsense is very, very glad that Team Obama won as opposed to Team Geriatric Fruitcakes.

 

However, there is a flipside. Obama's presidency has absolutely suffocated socio-political activism within Black America at a time when it is so in need. Certainly, Black America was apathetic before President Barack Obama, as many of our communities have been becoming increasingly more efficient at producing prison fodder than the future leaders of tomorrow. It is what it is.

 

Still, things have gotten even worse. It's gone from apathetic to pathetic. It's as if African Americans forgot that the ability to drive escalades, live in condos, and congregate for the purposes of self-aggrandizement didn’t come at a price. I’m being sarcastic, but not really.

 

What too many of us fail to understand is that the freedoms and privileges we enjoy today are a direct result of those who were willing to spill their blood and sweat equity into our future. As I reflected upon the photo above, the sentiments poet and activist, Sonia Sanchez, shared during one of Tavis Smiley’s Black Agenda round table discussions echoed clear as day. Sanchez opined about how we have become a people who accomplished so much with so little, to a people who accomplish so little with so much.

 

Our ancestors were do something people. We are the heirs of their do something legacy. They understood that freedom is not static, nor guaranteed, but rather is the result of continual progression, growth, and unrequited striving. It is our destiny to either advance this legacy, or selfishly squander this inheritance, sewing the seeds of our children’s sufferings, and worse yet their justifiable resentments   

 

The challenges and pitiable conditions that color too many lives didn't disappear with the transcendence of Obama. Matter of fact they have become exacerbated. The economic death drop that occurred could accurately be characterized as an economic Katrina for the supermajority of African American communities.

 

People, this euphoric love affair with our POTUS is dangerous. Dangerous like record numbers of African American men being imprisoned during Clinton's presidency than any previous presidency. Yet, consider the love affair many had with President Bill Clinton because he was comfortable attending chicken dinners with impotent (I mean important leaders), clapping in black congregations, and exhibited some cultural proclivities that many could identify with.

 

 

JuJuan Buford

 

The Thorny Path to a National Black Museum - NYTimes.com

The Thorny Path to a National Black Museum

By KATE TAYLOR

Published: January 22, 2011

In the late 1970s, when Lonnie G. Bunch III had his first job at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, veterans of the Tuskegee Airmen, the all-black squadron, accused the museum of playing down their contributions during World War II. In response, the museum asked some of the African-Americans on staff to allow their faces to be used on mannequins, increasing the “black presence” in its exhibits.

“I didn’t do it,” Mr. Bunch said recently, who was among those asked. “That’s not the way I wanted to be part of a museum.”

Thirty years later Mr. Bunch, and African-American history itself, are part of a Smithsonian museum, but in a very different way. As the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Mr. Bunch, 58, is charged with creating an institution that embodies the story of black life in America.

The pressure couldn’t be greater. To open in 2015, in a $500 million building designed to evoke the art of an ancient West African kingdom, the museum will stand at the geographic center of American civic identity, on the National Mall.

via www.nytimes.com

Do proceed to the nytimes link above for the full article. It's interesting, exciting, and a little disconcerting at the same time. My personal opinion is that the purpose of history is not to be reconciliatory, but informative. Too often African Americans have to speak to our experience with bowed heads in reconciliatory tones to appease others. If our history and contributions to this nation are to be told, let them be addressed in courageous and unabashed fashion.

The only way people of African American descent will ever achieve justice in this nation, is when the abridged historical narrative (to fit the tastes of those who have plundered and benefited from the plundering) of this nation's development and societal progress is edited in truth.

JuJuan Buford

 

Let's face it. There is no middle class anymore. You are either wealthy, a member of the working poor, or you are non working and poor.

Seriously. Wealthy people don't trade their time for dollars because they have something called leverage working for them.

The working poor... well they're sharecroppers. Some are better paid sharecroppers. But sharecroppers nevertheless. I know this is bruising some egos, but you have to be honest. Due to inflation and the increasing gulf between the wealthy and everyone else, we already know that most people who occupy this space will be dead or dead broke by their early to late 70s.

Seriously, how is the 40/40/40 plan working out for most people? Ever heard of doing the same thing over and over again and than expecting a different result being insane, eh?

Then there is everyone else. Hell, at least there is some relief for those who are the non working poor (not necessarily because they don't want to work). At least you can buy some cheap whiskey on Sunday mornings in Michigan now.

JuJuan Buford

Arizona rejected King holiday, now produces would-be assassin

Arizona rejected King holiday, now produces would-be assassin

 

Written by Bankole Thompson

Wednesday, 12 January 2011 16:17

 

The tragedy that occurred in Arizona last weekend is utter insanity. But I don’t believe the 22-year-old gunman is as insane as some of us are being made to believe. I am not buying that kind of excuse.

The reality is that Jared Lee Loughner is the product of a political philosophy that espouses violence as a means to an end. He is the definition of a movement that preaches hate, racial intolerance and violence as the answer to addressing one’s own insecurities about current political issues.

What happened in Tucson was nothing short of an attempted political assassination on the life of a moderate voice, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was targeted by the Tea Party for defeat in the November election.

Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which documents hate crimes and the activities of the Ku Klux Klan, explained on MSNBC how the ideas of Loughner are drawn from past right wing extremist ideologues.

I was glued to the TV all day Saturday afternoon in San Francisco last week after hearing the news of Giffords attempted assassination, the killing of a respected federal judge John Roll, who was pro immigration in some of his decisions, and five other people, including 9-year old Christina Taylor Green who according to her father was enthralled by the Obama candidacy in 2008.

Young Christina, inspired by the Obama campaign, was beginning to take an early role in politics. An impressionable young girl, she, like everyone who was at the scene last week, did not deserve to die.
I watched Christina’s parents struggle to explain on CNN Tuesday night how they bade farewell to their gifted daughter lying dead at the hospital, and it struck me as the father of a young son, the unimaginable horror of losing a child in such a callous act.

via www.michronicleonline.com

Amen Mr. Bankole Thompson. Amen. Do yourself a favor and read this article.

Haiti: Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier Returns from Exile - TIME

Who Let 'Baby Doc' Duvalier Back into Haiti?

By Tim Padgett Monday, Jan. 17, 2011

Jean-Claude Duvalier, the former Haitian leader known as 'Baby Doc', makes his way through the Karibe Hotel in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 16, 2011

Allison Shelley / Getty Images

 

This is a real atrocity. It's blatant. It seems Europe (& the United States, for those of us who know a little history) will never cease the venal punishing of the island. Check out the article by clicking the link below.

via www.time.com

A Luis Lopez Story

by JuJuan Buford

I've always found the responses to articles posted online so much more interesting (most of the time) then the actual commentary themselves. 

This one comes from an article posted on the theRoot titled What Do You Call a Black Man With a J.D.? I personally cannot understand where all the surprise comes from...seriously. I understand a little outrage, but come on folks. Death and taxes. Racism and apple pie. Neither set is going anywhere.

If you don't own the store, you can't make the rules. The bottom line is nothing will change...nothing! Until African Americans embrace a philosophy of business ownership and entrepreneurship (moreso than we do now), as opposed to shuffling around looking for work. And then of course patronize our business concerns as vociferously as we patronize others.

The wealthy (those who are in power) create networks (and those networks make the rules), while others look for work (and are made to follow the rules).

Luis Lopez
"I cant believe it. Look at me, I am white as white as white can get. Western European 100%. Caucasian by all ethnic definitions. But - and here is the catch - I happen to have the THREE MOST COMMON HISPANIC names in America. What does this mean? Banks, loan companies, insurance companies, LANDLORDS, credit card companies, potential clients, etc, etc. I lost count of the sort of vile things I have been called and the times that I have witnessed companies violate federal laws that prohibit any discrimination based on race. Just last week I "lost" a potential client in Atlanta because - you guessed it - "I ain't going to hire some Mexican from California to make my website...." So if this can happen to me, I imagine that African-Americans have to STILL put up with this sort of non-sense. Anglo-saxons, specially uneducated yokels from the Heartland, shiver in their shoes at the sight of any minority -real or perceived- that surpasses them in education and intelligence. That is a FACT I can attest to by my own experience. (I have two a bachelors and a masters in my fields btw)"

The New Negro?

posted by JuJuan Buford

This guy goes so hard I had to post his response. It can be found in response to an article, "W.E.B. DuBois' Talented Tenth in Pictures " on theRoot by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

I love it how negroes like Mr. Williams always seem to slip up when refuting perspectives articulated by the individuals below: "lower blacks". Lower blacks... for real?

Of course what is even more interesting, if not nauseating is how African American intellectuals (pseudo-intellectuals to be more accurate) who parrot the nonsense of the talented tenth, seem to exercise convenient ignorance regarding the fact that W.E.B. DuBois recanted his belief in a talented tenth.

Why?

Read below.

icantrememberallofmyaliases 
Dr. Gates,  
 
I see what you are doing in trying to deflect responsibility as if the the Black Intellectuals have done all they could do at this point and that your coterie had nothing to do with sustaining the class divide. I bet now after two years of 'After Obama" and the increase tabulation of results in seeing what the privileged children of Black Boomers have become in being your Black students who talk-the-talk as they were trained to do in show that they will exhibit more and more hubris, you all are scared of what you've created. The forthcoming and emerging young adults are not wanting to balance being cloaked in duplicitious intention to lead the race as prime Establishment-ready Blacks who will continue the schemes they were bred to lead in acting as if they are the next great crusaders when they don't have the heart to. They know to strive to be annoited as recipients to be crowned as leaders of us but they also know they have another agenda that will matter more to their long-term sustainability in a competitive world.  
 
I know they are in your company everyday and it is scaring all of your peers that created this culture that created them who have no intention to close the divide. You all act like you didn't create this but you know you did in allowing your generation to create them...hell, us. (We're just as screwed up.)  
 
These are Black Boomer children who don't have the desire to close the divide and they are don't have the core to really even be good at being two-faced about caring. They are not like the old models of us. They are new models of newer Black People who will too create models of incarnation of themselves. The divides will linger. There will be no resolution for Dubois the way you or most of think we should see it come to be.  
 
This world in the present that they don't care about the ways you do in respecting Dubois' intention does not connect to them the same way. They have jobs to go get and trips to go take and titles to amass.  
 
Black Intellectuals failed. Black Intellectuals from you, Black Boomers to my peers, those minion copy-cats, Black Generation Jones and GenX educators who just wanted to emulate your formulas, all of you created this. GenY Blacks and on are now obsessed with selling themselves. They don't have time to close the divide no matter how much they say it out the side of their necks.

Yesterday, 4:51:55 AM

________________________________________________________________ 

Mr Williams
Blaming Black intellectuals for the woeful performance of lower blacks is unfair and stems from a slave mentality that grips Black Americans. No one not the government, Obama, the white man, or black intellectuals are responsible for your fate, the individual is.

via www.theroot.com

Facebook Ruminations on the War on Black Men

by JuJuan Buford

Yep, this is what happens when you really don't have time to craft grammatically correct, cogent content. You post facebook conversations. Interestingly enough, I find some of them more interesting than much of my own or others choreographed content.  

So here's my response to another exchange. I need to get permission before I post others' responses.

The greatest trick the devil ever played was to convince people he doesn't exist. It's amazing, frightening, and enraging to hear people who share I hue ignore this simple fact, and at times refute it. Forces have made war upon our communit...y from the beginning, and it hasn't stopped. The reason why we (a small portion of us) enjoy some freedoms is because our people sacrificed, scratched and clawed, and died to make today possible. And somehow, we were duped and now parrot the idea that we have arrived when more black men are incarcerated than college bound. Way the F more.

In any war, the invading party kills the men and then the sons first. Why? We were brought here to serve as cheap labor. And because the slavery transpires behind prison bars (out of sight, out of mind) we ignore it. The room for error is so slim for black men (not making excuses, alot of ill isshht that happens black men bring upon themselves), however the room for error is so slim... like a lion chasing a gazelle... one slip and it's damn near game over.

Black men and women have been pitted against each other from the beginning. And it hasnt stopped. The tactics (how it looks and feels) have changed, but the strategy has been the same. Control black men's capacity to earn income and control... them physically. Then demasculate them. It would take a 500 page 8 font doc to outline the tactics employed during slavery. Today isn't much different. Think about how the welfare programs removed black men from the picture. Think about the history of adoption and child protection agencies in this country separating men from households, separationg sons (specifically) from families.

Most of us don't even realize it, but we are being conditioned daily to compete against each other. There's where the internal strife is coming from. Black men and women more than not see each other as competitors, agitators, whereas gamesm...anship (in damn near every arena) rules the day. Think about it..... Affirmative Action benefited white women, white mothers, white daughters, white sisters, white aunts, and white wives more than any other group. That point was made clear and was generally accepted in Michigan. Do you know that white women and men came out in mass against it! Why?

Because they understood implicityly that even if Affirmative Action benefited white women, the fact that white men would actually have to compete on a more level playing field with black men was incomprehensible. Their decision was very gutteral and carnal. Who is my daughter going to marry? Get it? I'm being rhetorical. We have had that gutteral response nearly slapped the hell out of us.

Black women (alot of them) don't want to acknowlege the aforementioned, so there's the loss of empathy. Black men too often don't recognize what black women have to endure, especially in the absence of protection. Afterall, if black men are... removed the equation...what happens? So the temperature rises. And if you are being programmed to be competitors rather than teammates, partners in a struggle, what do you get? What you get is what you're seeing. The divorce rates are not anomalies. The unemployment rates are not anomalies. The lack of marriages transpiring are not anomalies. The friction did not just appear out of thin air. Damn... not enough space. All I can say to our people is fuck... read a book, read a book, read a book. Read our history. Get out of your ignant (ignorant and stupid are two different things) skulls and read about what's really going on. If you don't know the origins (history), it's hard to submit solutions.

Ultimately, the answer is in us... African American men. That's goes for all of us. Me, our peers, our elders, our young ones. The answer is in us. We must start there.

Random Facebook Ruminations on Malcolm X

 by JuJuan Buford

So a fellow facebook friend (and genuinely beautiful person) asked the following question of me. The words came rapid fire full of grammatical errors, however I thought the question was interesting. Here's my take.

Hey JuJuan, if Brother Malcolm were here today, what do u thinking he would be doing now? I always wonder about that. Whatever it would be, it would be extraordinary, but what do u think?

It's difficult to project because Brother Malcolm was transitioning (maturing). He would have definitely been operating much more on an international playing field as opposed to operating primarily in the U.S. The pressure he would have bro...ught to bear upon the U.S. internationally for the conditions that exist in this country would have been a real headache to the US government. More time focused in and on Africa. Given the demographic shift that was rapidly occuring during his time, Brother Malcolm's influence in urban centers would have been something to marvel at. His gritty style, yet excoriating sophistication would have appealed to alot of disaffected, frustrated citizens.

It's so hard to tell. Black America would be so much different now, if the homicidal tendencies of this government were fettered. Malcolm & Martin receive the most attention. But so many were cut down...so many. The psychological trauma of ...watching so many get cut down did the most damage to freedom movements in this country. Coupled with the outright war on black men (the conditions of the warfare have become so common place now that it's normalized for us, and that's scary as hell), the black community has become demasculated. Brother Malcolm's presence, among us others would have offered their voices up in such a manner to offset the psychological offensive.

Remember as well. Back then, our leaders were willing to take people to task. The type of nonsense that occurs today wouldn't have much space. Malcolm that the street cred and the intellectual chops to really put his foot in someone's ass.

 

Remembering Malcolm

by JuJuan Buford

El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz aka Malcolm X was so ahead of his time. I grow a little somber when I reflect on the fact that given the ahistorical character of most African American households and a mainstream media that is determined to shield people from who he was, most will never really appreciate his significance.

One of the most constructive and salient arguments Malcolm outlined before his death was the idea that people of African descent should be pursuant upon our human rights, as opposed to civil rights. It's such a powerful statement. Indeed, the history of Africans throughout the diaspora is inextricably connected. The experience of African Americans cannot be measured within the small confines of U.S. society, nor should our strivings be relegated within these confines.

 

 

Why I'm Not a Sellout Because Sometimes I Disagree With Obama

Who You Callin’ Uncle Tom?

Just because I disagree with the conventional black political thinking does not make me a sellout. And I’m not any less black than you.

• By: Sophia Nelson | Posted: October 30, 2009 at 2:00 PM

 

 

  http://www.theroot.com/views/who-you-callin-uncle-tom#

No. Disagreeing with our POTUS does not make anyone a sell out. However, what makes individuals like Clarence Thomas, Ward Connerly, and perhaps the author (don't know enough about her) so nauseating is the idea that they support initiatives, flood the market place of ideas with, and champion causes that are antithetical to the well being Black America; despite many of them being benefactors of the same policies and movements they decry. That is why they are sellouts.

Nelson likening herself to folks of the same ilk as Thomas makes her suspect.

 

JuJuan Buford

 

What Black America (Detroit Specifically) Can Learn From the Tea Party

 by JuJuan Buford

 

The so-called Tea Party movement has been ridiculed, maligned, dismissed, but you know what, they were extremely effective. The tempest of dispraise regarding the Tea Party throughout the media and from all corners – including interestingly enough their primary benefactors the Republican Party – of the political spectrum has been so complete that there is really no need to bludgeon them in this blog.

The irony of the aforementioned is that the one community that has exhibited the most umbrage regarding the underlying motivations and vitriol exhibited by the Tea Party could benefit the most from their example: Black America.

Principled Stubbornness can be a virtue. I recall listening to an interview broadcasted on NPR WUOM Michigan Radio a number of weeks ago regarding a local Tea Party organization. The organizers spoke with an uncompromising fervor as it related to their cause. No amount of criticism, not even from their benefactors would dissuade them. The intellectually obtuse nature of their arguments, the in many respects justified characterizations of their antics as racist outbursts, the lack of coherent policy initiatives, etc., etc., meant nothing to them…they were committed to the end.

How often have initiatives birthed within African American communities died on the vine whenever those who reside outside of said communities articulate the slightest hint of disfavor? How many times have I heard the argument that our POTUS has no special obligation to Black America? How many times have Detroiters voted for representatives who fail (or to be honest choose not to) to deliver the goods: employment opportunities, small business initiatives, and or policies that empower and build up its citizens.

Ever hear of the squeaky wheel getting the oil? Birds chirp loudest when hungry or disturbed? Well, those tea party organizations screeched and they squawked loudly, and the end result was a massacre of the Democratic Party (and they deserved it for being so weak-kneed). And if you don’t think the marginalization of Black America (and the less fortunate) wasn’t obvious enough, you haven’t seen anything yet. Those who most need a government that is responsive to their pain do not deserve what’s going to transpire next.

Love them, like them, or hate them. Principled stubbornness can be a virtue in politics.

All politics are local. It was considered impossible at one point for the efforts of these loosely organized tea party activists to have a national impact. Conventional wisdom dictated that for the most part the organizations operated in pockets throughout the United States, and with no clear figurehead it just wasn’t plausible. So what happened?

The Tea Party movement quickly morphed into the Republican Party’s bad little stepchild – inconsolable and not easily bought off (not completely). Republican candidates (locally and nationally) soon discovered they had to placate the child wherever they campaigned because of the child’s fervor and relentless squawking for attention. The media’s attention on the extent that tea party activists hindered the Republican Party is not nearly as important as the fact that they became a force to be reckoned with.

All. All politics are local. When a group or community focuses its energies (voices, capital, activity) towards a set of demands (whether ideologically bankrupt or not), attention must be paid. Many of the challenges facing African American communities are indelibly connected enough to organize around. In other words it would only take enough intellectual prowess to identify a couple galvanizing issues to rally people around, and the will to make politicians locally and nationally pay if they choose to disregard the ensuing clamor.

Detroit. There is no reason whatsoever that Jocelyn Benson lost her bid for Secretary of State by such a slim margin. The loss is alarming because it speaks to the extent that Detroit is becoming increasingly impotent politically, and thus easily marginalized by the Michigan Democratic Party establishment. Of course, the flip side of the coin is that given the weakened state of the Democratic Party, coupled with a Republican Party that is ideologically bankrupt, plenty of opportunities exist to quickly turn things around.

All politics are local. The answer to many of the challenges ahead is to make some folks pay attention or pay the price.

Why Detroit Won't (Didn't) Vote

By JuJuan Buford

Here’s the thing. I seriously considered posting this article before the mid term elections; knowing full well what was going to transpire last week. And sadly enough, it was and mostly likely will be applicable for a couple more election cycles to come.

The reasons for Detroit’s citizens’ disinterest in the electoral process are too innumerable to account for and the conditions that gave rise to it deserve more than can be squeezed into one post. However, there are a couple of factors that scream out loud and clear.

Yes, Our Ancestors Died for the Right to Vote. And so what!?  It’s not a compelling reason anymore, because most African Americans refuse to teach our children our history. Most of our children can’t name a single country in Africa, know nothing of the Middle Passage, are totally unfamiliar with the warriors that emerged during our forced bondage, Toussaint L’Ouverture, the Nadir, the initial Civil Rights Movements that occurred during the early 1800s, Ida B. Wells-Burnett, T. Thomas Fortune, David Walker, Patrice Lumumba, Carmichael, Angela Davis, the unfettered story of brother Malcolm X (free of bourgeois bullshit in our community), or the real Rosa Parks.

We don’t teach them. Indeed so many of us have run so far from our history, our communities, and embraced the Matrix so wholeheartedly, that any semblance of a collective consciousness (a necessary tenet of activism) is almost nonexistent. Matter of fact, its almost imbecilic to expect anyone to care what your ancestors died for.

This is the end result.

I’ve always found it rather comical (like cooning comical, not funny comical) when I’d hear those who share my hue poke fun at Pan Africanist – by the way W.E.B. DuBois was a Pan Africanist. He just happens to be the grandfather of what is known as the study of Sociology, one of this country’s greatest scholars, one of the founding fathers of the NAACP, etc., etc., but I digress.

I remember when African Town was introduced as an initiative within the city of Detroit, and the same voices that cry out why won’t citizens vote, opposed it…. vehemently. Then turn around and scream that our ancestors died for it.

What!?.

Look boogie Negroes. Until we embrace all of our brothers and sisters as a whole, begin to advocate vociferously for issues like discriminatory employment practices; address unfair criminal justice policies that disproportionately target and detonate the lives of our youth; teach our history, our narrative, our collective struggle to our children.

Nothing will change. Ancestors what? Ancestors who?

It’s a damn shame when the last time I can recall carrying on a brisk discussion regarding African & African American history and the relevance of black identity on a historical and contemporary level, it was with a Yugoslavian taxi cab driver. Go figure.

We are the only ethnic group (aside from white Americans (not an ethnic group, but rather a racial construct), who have the liberty to do so) that refuse, absolutely refuse to embrace a collective consciousness in such an overtly, destructive manner.

We Have No Leaders. At least not enough of them. We have a few no doubt, but not nearly enough. I remember calling into the radio show, AM1200 with Mildred Gaddis, after listening to Gaddis and company bellow about how bad the conditions were in Detroit. I had had enough, so I called and stated quite plainly, the city lacks leadership. In response she promptly hung up the phone, and retorted “that we have plenty of leaders in the city.”

Really Mrs. Gaddis. Do tell? Where the hell are they? Where are thou hordes of leaders? Where they at? Show them to me. Look at the city.

How is it that the mayor of the city of Detroit, David Bing, was virtually silent during the gubernatorial election? That the city’s community of lawyers remained silent up until the last minute regarding Bob Young? How is it that the same media caricatures keep choosing losers, fakers, folks that won’t stand with the community when it really counts? Where is the media in this state to expose the real leaders walking among us? Where are the religious leaders, stomping the concrete against violence, rape, spiritual, and cultural poverty?

Where they at?

Where’s the voter registration drive at? And when one of us decides to step up, will they be given the support they deserve? See leaders, activists, and historians understand the dynamics that exist here. The folks who don’t have the material means available to change their circumstances will remain skeptical until their bellies get fed a little, and genuine figures engage them.

See Mr. & Mrs. Talented Tenth. The lack of leadership starts right with you. So lead, shut the hell up, or support those who actually care and have an agenda above their own self-aggrandizement.

I can hear the familiar retort now. So what are you doing? Fair enough. But don’t deflect the issue. For those who would call themselves leaders…this is for you. As an aside my resume stands for itself, and many of those who share my perspective are building quietly for good reason.

A Loss of Hope. The bottom line is Detroit’s citizens don’t believe that the electoral process will deliver the goods. After all, Detroiters are Detroiters. We are a gritty, cynical, stubborn bunch.

After years if not decades of watching the city deteriorate and politicians who share our hue prostitute themselves to suburban interests, or just flat out burglarize the city, many have thrown their hands up. In other words, with the exception of a couple active enclaves, Detroit’s will has been broken.

The first step to recovery is admittance.

As an aside, if you are going to catch an L, don’t go out so cheap. If you are going to be a crooked, unscrupulous bastard can you at least sell us out for at least a million or two? It’s embarrassing.

But the beautiful thing about being human is we have the choice to recover. Ever been in a serious car accident. I mean a watching your life pass before you. It’s like slow motion. The adrenaline is pumping, you’re moving with speed, but it’s like the seconds feel minutes. Most of us needed a minute to get comfortable again. You become acutely aware of the loss of control. It takes a minute before you’re really comfortable driving above 55mph again.

You have to ease a boxer that’s been knocked out back into the ring; or a racecar driver that has nearly killed himself back into the saddle.

What we need are some small victories. Low hanging fruit.  The kind of issues that the supermajority of us can agree on. We desperately need a voter registration drive. It will require buy in from the business community; an infusion of talent and money (from elsewhere if necessary); the mobilizaiton of the youth, armed with purpose, and information. Some who have occupied positions of influence (gatekeepers) will need to play their position as consultants rather than stumbling blocks.

A leader without successors is not a leader at all.

The importance of young legs and minds that are still open to the possibilities rather than the distractions of repeated failures cannot be understated. It will require sacrifice. It will take time to build confidence.

However hope can be restored again.

_____________________________________________________________________

As an aside…many of those who continue to blame our POTUS for the bludgeoning the Democrats endured here in Michigan, need to look no further than themselves. Yes, I’m about to say it.

We have the most ridiculously stupid, inept collection of politicians and subordinates in the country. These are the same knuckleheads that snubbed our POTUS on the campaign trail. They turned around and snubbed him on several occasions since then. And quiet as kept, weren’t too keen on inviting him back into town.

Guess who voted for these idiots?

I just can’t help myself. Remember all those African American union members and delegates that were flocking to Billary’s tent during the presidential campaign? What goes around comes around. This is politics. And wow did it come around.

Congratulations Mr. Rick Snyder. I pray that you are the practical, conscietious politician I'm tempted to believe you are.  

_____________________________________________________________________

Oh, one more thing. Yes, I dropped the moniker J.S. Buford. Seems someone decided to post some misinformation about my person on the internet. A misquote if you will. Too bad integrity is not a precept for posing as a legitimate source on the internet. And a fellow Cass Technician, Wolverine, and Detroiter at that. Go figure.

Black Marriage Negotiations

J.S. Buford

I normally wouldn't post such content, but this video is truly hilarious. The expressions on the animated brother's face are priceless.

I'm sure it sparked quite a brouhaha initially.

How about that Eddie Long?

by J.S. Buford

It’s been a moment since I’ve posted. It just hasn’t been in me. Much of Michigan is depressing. And as much as I love Detroit, reflecting on just how dire things are is enough to evoke a vomiting attack. Life is exciting, the Creator’s grace is truly something to marvel at, but I’ve never been one for self-aggrandizement.  In other words, I just haven’t been up to it.

And I’m still not. But writers write. Even when so little seems compelling at the moment, or you’re just tired of beating dead horses. And speaking about a dead horse….

How about that Eddie Long?

For the longest I refused to read any articles regarding Long’s lunacy, and was dead set against blogging about it. It’s a story that is certain to attract media coverage from all circles ad nauseam for some time. But writers write. So, here’s a quick hit. And let me preface what follows by stating there are many churches and religious leaders doing phenomenal work in our communities. But if it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, chances are…

The law is legal, not logical.  

Eddie Long may be acquitted in the courtroom. Despite the photos, possible text messages, and various other displays of Long’s narcissistic pursuit of young men (excuse the pun), no hard evidence has been produced indicating he forced these men into being intimate with him. Not yet.

Nevertheless, Long is guilty as sin. We all know it. Long’s behavior was totally, and inexcusably inappropriate. And these chicken heads that are more vested in their adoration of Long, as opposed to their commitment to being Christians are beyond absurd.

How about praying for all the victims of this travesty; including the real victims potentially.

What would Jesus do?

Do you see the incredible opulence of these Churches? Do you see the incredible poverty and struggle that people of African descent are enduring? Do you hear the silence? The Black Church used to be the bedrock of Black America. They were the epicenters where most of our socio-political movements were born out of; responsible for the inception of so many of our black enterprises and educational institutions; they were our a Source, like in the Matrix.

They were the protectors of the least among us, and the progenitors of the best of us. Do you hear the silence?

How do you believe Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. would respond to the presence of these mega churches amidst the socioeconomic and spiritual nadir that is afflicting our communities today?

Yo chicken heads! What would Jesus do? Same thing the good book says he did before, eh?

Pray the Black Church doesn’t repeat the Catholic Church’s mistake.

It’s rarely the crime, but rather the cover up that catches up with you. Indeed, the efforts of one to avoid their destiny, so very often results in them running smack into it. The grotesque behavior of the priests involved in the sex scandals that rocked the Catholic Church is not what did the damage. Those priests could have been easily dismissed as anomalies.

It was the cover up. People knew. A lot of people knew. Thus, the institution itself became culpable.

People knew about Long. People know about the others. I pray that religious leaders throughout Black America meet the challenge head on. Our relationships with our churches are all some of us have to hang on to given the economic upheaval that has occurred. If Long’s problem becomes systemic, there will be hell to pay.

Quick Hit

by J.S. Buford

Just for the sake of full disclosure. I'm not a Democrat or Republican. Both parties have done a tremendous disservice to the community that raised me, and when it's all said and done neither party is truly committed to accomplishing much more than the status quo. This is a Quick Hit, so I'll elaborate later. Just take a moment to reference Brother Malcolm X's The Ballot or the Bullet before you summarily dismiss the aforementioned statement.

All that being said, I'm leaning towards Mr. Rick Snyder for Governor of Michigan. Yep, I said it. Why? Whenever I've heard the man speak, he simply hits the nail right on the head. Snyder has repeatedly spoke to the need to develop and support Michigan (and Detroit) based entrepreneurship, as opposed to begging corporations to relocate here; corporations that will not (I repeat, will not) hire enough natives to make a difference. Detroit we need jobs. Small business owners create jobs. Well over 70% of this nations jobs. It's commonsense.

Entrepreneurship creates wealth and financial independence. Snyder repeatedly beating this drum is music to my ears.

Snyder appears to be far more pragmatic in his responses regarding issues regarding the Detroit Public Schools and the possibility of receivership concerning Detroit. He has not promised anything one way or the other.... I like politicians that don't make promises they know they may not be able to keep. Unlike Granholm for instance who seems to do an about face every week nowadays.

As an aside, I recently heard Snyder state quite clearly that he believes the citizens of Detroit should control their own schools, and expressed a decided distaste for being directly responsible for the school system or the management of Detroit. Like a true business person, Snyder would rather delegate.

Lastly. When was the last time a Republican running for anything made multiple forays into the city of Detroit, and actually fielded questions from the citizens? Whether you like his responses or not, Syder does not strike the type of disrespectful tone that his predecessors have. Matter fact, he seems more engaged and concerned about Detroit than its own mayor at times.

So where is Bernero? I don't know. He is certainly not nearly as accessible as Snyder. Yep, I said it. I haven't heard a particularly potent agenda regarding urban development from neither candidate. For Bernero, that is totally unacceptable.

Where are you Bernero? By now, I should be hearing about your agenda on every radio station; there should be broadcasts of your intentions on YouTube, late night television spots... Where's your ground game? Why I don't have much affinity for either party, historically I have voted Democrat. I've chosen the python as opposed to the rattlesnake. I'm searching for a reason to vote for you, but all I'm hearing is why I shouldn't vote for Synder.

Yes, I do fear a state government dominated by Republicans. However, I'm done voting out of fear. I want to be inspired to vote for something for once. Snyder is presenting alot of that something.

Where ya at Bernero? Where ya at? Do you hear my frustration? Know that I'm not an anomaly. So much for a Quick Hit.

Detroit - When Reality Bites Or Takes Flight

by J.S. Buford

It was my intention to pour into a piece outlining a variety of solutions concerning the horrendous unemployment rates Detroit is afflicted with; accompanied by a little soul food for aspiring entrepreneurs.

However, I happened to tune into a pretty spirited discussion this morning during Rhythm & Praise on 92.3 regarding the future of Detroit. And what I heard just couldn’t go unanswered. Not now. Not given the circumstances coloring the lives of Detroiters today.

An older gentleman called in and shared a perspective that was so on point; (I almost called in myself) only to be assailed by Pastor Marvin Winans of Perfecting Church in particular. The caller spoke with passion regarding the need to embrace young professionals, business owners, and civic leaders in the city; given the inadequacy of the current establishment: the current crop of incumbent politicians, political appointees, and so-called civic and religious leaders. He testified to the bourgeoning talents, intellectual activity, and commitment exhibited by participants of the Detroit Black Expo, hosted by Kenneth Harris.

Winans responded with invectives regarding the negative impact of outsiders having agency in Detroit’s affairs (referencing Mayor Dave Bing in particular), and how they lack credibility. If that isn’t a straw man argument, I don’t know what is. Winans continued that the reason why new faces haven’t emerged is because they have not spent enough time in the community being of service to the constituents. Detroiters don’t recognize them.

My initial response was, what the fuck!? When did actually being of service to Detroit's citizens become critical to being elected in Detroit? I’m just saying. Lets be real.

As I listened to Winans’s bullshit (apologies)…I mean his cacophony, I became sickened by temporal feelings of frustration, disgust, and resignation. For the perspectives he shared and those that parrot them, are in part what’s killing this city.

Reality

Detroit is in trouble. Big trouble. For Winans and the establishment, things might be ok. The status quo might be at least tolerable. I’m sure he doesn’t miss too many meals, sleeps well, and lives a life of relative comfort; but the issue is an escalating number of Detroiters do not. And haven’t for a long time now. There are neighborhoods that more closely resemble provinces in Somalia as opposed to a major U.S. city. Violence, crime, and poverty are as familiar as the morning sun.

Our educational system, despite the gems that do an excellent job, is abysmal. The bottom line is our communities are becoming more proficient at producing prison fodder then the game changers of the future. The literacy rates in Detroit mirror those that existed in Black America during the late 1800s. There are thousands and thousands of able bodied, willing individuals desirous for work and educational opportunities, who are being left adrift.

Never mind, those who aren’t willing, I’m talking about those that are.

Whether it is due to the lack of reliable transportation, under-resourced initiatives to address the myriad issues, or/and a crippling lack of personal financial resources to access opportunities, too many are swirling in lives of stress and hopelessness.

Detroit. The so-called victory that occurred regarding the proposal to transfer oversight of the Detroit Public School system, should be considered anything but. It was a skirmish, and a warning. The reality of the matter is (regardless of what side of the fence you fall on) the proposal failed because its proponents failed to follow the rules: have the signatures certified, and the proposal submitted before the established deadline. The Detroit City Council upheld democracy in the face of others who wished to subject Detroiters to plutocracy. Opponents won on a technicality. Know this. Recognize this.

It was purported that supporters of the proposal had amassed a seven million dollar…let me repeat, a $7,000,000 (that’s six zeros folks) war chest to influence voters come November. The aforementioned reality, coupled by the fact that many of the so-called soldiers for democracy that opposed a similar measure just a couple years ago were now advocates for it, meant that it more than likely would have passed.

Reverend Wendell Anthony ring a bell?

The Establishment

As of the present, Detroiters don’t vote. And those that do, vote for the same usual suspects time and time again. The elections are really a ceremonial game of musical chairs, whereas the same crops of folks who have repeatedly failed this city are allowed to do so again. Then recycled again with different labeling, but ultimately just more of the same.

Look at the city. The current establishment has failed. Failed!

The reality of the matter is the current establishment is more committed to hoarding pennies and maintaining the status quo, settling old scores, and securing position than delivering change. These so called servants' primary goals are to accumulate what little monetary security exists for themselves, rather than create environments of prosperity for Detroit’s citizens.

Look at this city. It cannot be denied. The alternative explanations…let’s see. Else we have the most ignorant, complacent crop of negroes, ever, running the city, or we have the most corrupt collection of politicians ever to walk the face of the earth.

Detroit is not Benton Harbor or some other town with only one thousand residents and some change. Detroit is one of the most blessed cities in the United States of America in terms of natural resources, manufacturing capacity, has some of the best housing stock in the country, etc., etc., etc. And Detroiters are still some of the grittiest, astute people on the face of the earth.

So which one is it? You choose.

The Future

Pastor Winans. There are plenty of young, compassionate, capable, intellectually gifted, striving, and principled minds among us.

And so what if some of them have relocated to the burbs or elsewhere. They love this city, bleed Detroit wherever they go, remain Detroit zone. So should many of my peers be ignored because they had sense enough to relocate elsewhere to seek abundance, as opposed to contend with the trifles of established attitudes and individuals, with intellectually obtuse mindsets.

The gifted among us are leaving in droves. They are seeking opportunities, cities, and environs that value their tremendous talents, savvy, and leadership. They are the future civic, business, religious, and political titans the world is waiting for, and Detroit desperately needs. Why should they remain here after hearing the nonsense you spouted this morning, when there are civic apparatuses elsewhere that will gladly gobble them up, and provide space for them to flourish?

Leaders. Those that know they are talented are recruited, not employed. Talent produces and creates opportunities, whether they receive recognition or not, and gravitate towards spaces whereas opportunities exists to enhance their skill sets and lifestyles. Lame excuses like, maybe the talented among us need to show up is ridiculous. They, we, the strivers are here, staring you in the face on a daily basis.

Perhaps people should open their eyes more widely, and make creating opportunities for their transcendence the first order of business, as opposed to shoring up toothless tigers. That is unless; they’re preying on Detroiters.

Get real Detroit. Or else the future will continue to get gone. Then what will Detroit have? See that's an easy answer, eh?.

You’ll have the comfort of knowing the folks that are abusing you.

How comforting, indeed.

Who You Calling A Deadbeat?! - Part VI

by J.S. Buford

greetings. thank you for including her medication, as i was preparing to inquire why they weren't forwarded last week tuesday. i spoke with her teacher two weeks ago concerning her graduation, and will insure that she is properly prepared.

in terms of her hair. touch up? you and your family have been neglecting our daughter's hair for months now, among other things. are you really going to force me to go in court and produce the photos that i have been recording. i'll do her hair as i have been doing, in a style that will accommodate her graduation cap.

dresses? she leaves with dresses that i've purchased her, and the dresses don't return. t-shirts, jeans, sweats... those things return. expensive jewelry and dresses... these things don't return. we'll make due.

apologies.

you are well aware of the fact that i have no interest in your apologies. i have been contending with gutbucket behavior for years... years. your words won't find audience here.

what i do have an interest in is being able to father our daughter peaceably. what i have an interest in is being able to spend time with our daughter, love her, and care for her absent disruptions and unnecessary stress. what i have an interest in is our daughter being able to grow up free of the conflict that is constantly being stoked.

what i have an interest in is you abandoning selfish, self serving ambitions and putting her first.

how many years must this continue? seriously. don't you have better things to do? would it not be easier to just let whatever you are harboring go? wouldn't you be so much happier? wouldn't our daughter be so much better off?

save your apologies. pray. go to counseling..... do whatever you have to do. set aside the acrimony and practice harmony. my only interest is fathering her? is that so bad? a father who loves and wants to father his daughter? is that not worthy of a small modicum of respect... enough for you to simply allow our daughter to know the love of her father without years of this.

and as an aside. father's day is approaching. please, find it within your heart, or pretend, not to disrupt father's day too.

jb

And next time you find the audacity to utter the aforementioned words, think about it, think about “Who You Callin a Deadbeat Daddy!?”

Why Arizona Matters to Black America

by J.S. Buford

With the passage of Arizona’s anti-immigration law, a debate as rancorous as any regarding racial dynamics within the United States has ensued and promises not to abate any time soon. The steadfastness of this issue within the national media in and of itself should be a clue to African Americans by itself.

The issue is not unique. The underlying arguments issued by proponents of the law are racist, and should be all too familiar to conscientious U.S. citizens in general, and African Americans specifically. The anatomy of the most vigorous proponents advocating measures such as the one adopted by Arizona are quite frankly, analogous to the usual suspects within this nation that have sought to marginalize and disenfranchise citizens with darker hues.

Proponents of the law submit that the law is necessary to stem the tide of hyper violent hordes of brown people (Mexicans, Latinos, etc., etc.,) entering the country, bringing with them all manner of criminal mayhem. Additionally, adding insult to injury they are taking good jobs from honest, industrious, deserved Americans. Couched within these arguments, are sentiments that somehow America is being undone by those people, and that it is necessary to take our country back.

Listen to the rhetoric. Read the placards. Those people. Our country. Does it not sound like the chorus of tea party participants railing against taxes, despite the fact that the Obama administration just delivered a huge tax break to the supermajority of U.S. citizens? How about the birthers? Familiar? Ever listen to Rush Limbaugh’s gleefully ignorant, racist, fear mongering diatribes? No?

Remember a time when the same arguments were used to hang men and women from trees, deny access to bathrooms and housing, and openly discriminate within the workplace? Black America have we really transcended these stereotypes and accompanying issues?

The reality of the matter is Mexicans and Latino Americans don’t have a monopoly on crime and general malfeasance anymore than African Americans, white Americans, or any other ethnic group residing in the United States. Remember the specter of lazy, African American women collecting food stamps that was raised to sponsor welfare reform, despite the fact that the supermajority of welfare recipients were white Americans?

The issues of criminality and the evisceration of the job market are simply red herrings, predicated upon fallacious presumptions, led by a desire among a loud swath of white Americans who feel as if the world they knew is coming to an end. Their voices hearken back to the days of “Leave it to Beaver”. A time when being American and whiteness were inextricably connected.

The changing demographics of a nation that by the year 2050 will be populated primarily by people who are not white; the election of a black President; accompanied by the reality whereas people of color will be in position to exercise greater agency socio-economically and thus politically, is frightening. The mob is afraid.

Admittedly, while I find the Republicans kowtowing to a constituency that is becoming increasingly irrelevant immensely entertaining, their efforts are dangerous.

Measures like the one adopted in Arizona exonerates and codifies (racial discrimination) the interests of those who have sought and seek to marginalize and disenfranchise those who don’t share their hue. And given the general public's ambivalence, if not tacit support for Arizona's machinations, a growing number of states are considering adopting similar laws.

For Detroiters in particular and Black Americans in general, are there still not neighborhoods whereas regardless of the balance of your brokerage account, you best remain under the speed limit, and pray for an intervention if you are pulled over? When racial discrimination is codified in law, it is tantamount to pointing a loaded gun into a crowded room. Bullets don’t discriminate.

Black America's double consciousness, articulated so eloquently by W.E.B. Du Bois, explains in part why the measure is supported by significant numbers of African Americans. However, there is something else afoot as well. African Americans know all to well the sting of rejection, ridicule, and racist derision of non-white ethnic groups who arrive in this country and benefit from the blood, sweat, and tears of our ancestors since the inception of this nation. The media won’t report it, it’s distasteful for the conscientious among us to vocalize such undercurrents, but it’s there.

However, now is not the time to allow emotional resentments and animosities to stymie the progress that has been made in this nation. This is the same Arizona that refused to acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just passed a law forbidding state public schools from teaching ethnic studies courses, and is now looking to be a progenitor of a series of legal measures that (if unopposed) would certainly lay down the groundwork for a swift return to the days when they “better understood their place” under their foot and at the back of the bus.

______________________________

As an aside, do we have a legitimate right to restrict our borders as United States citizens? Sure we do. However, if we can find a way to travel to the moon, can we come up with a comprehensive immigration plan that protects our borders, punishes those who provide incentives for illegal immigration, and still behave like enlightened human beings. I read an article on Salon.com that quoted one of Dr. King’s greatest statements regarding the potential of our society to create a “beloved community”.

Let me tell you, I particularly get a kick out of how negroes in particular love to quote and worship great leaders like King, and then bastardize his example with their actions. Just a thought.

_______________________________________

One more thing. Arizona passes a racist law. The nation becomes inflamed, and it continues to steam in the mainstream media. Interesting, eh? Has the influx of African American men being incarcerated due to laws that disproportionately impact Black America abated? Hey Detroit, do you know anyone who has more phone calls regarding job opportunities then they can handle?

Black folks wake up! The gig is up! We are slowly but surely becoming more marginalized with each passing election cycle. Expendable. Don’t let negroes smiling in shiny suits at political conventions, driving nice cars, while steadily looking to profit off your toleration of them. If our communities do not begin to operate more cohesively and partner with folks who have like interests, influencing presidential elections will be the least of our worries.

The Nation of Islam’s Permanent Stain

by J.S. Buford

The New York Times recently published an article regarding the paroling of one of the men responsible for the assassination of El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz - also known as Malcolm X. Thomas Hagan was apprehended following the killing of Malcolm X in the Audubon Ballroom February 21, 1965. Reportedly, after being turned down for parole 16 times, Hagan also known as Talmadge X. Hayer was granted parole on his 17th attempt March 3, 2010.

Inarguably the Nation of Islam (NOI) has made invaluable contributions to the lives of thousands upon thousands of African American men (many of them abandoned by their own community), and the community in general for that matter. Very few doubt Minister Louis Farrakhan’s commitment to the uplift of Black America, regardless of how you feel about the philosophical underpinnings and methods of the NOI.

I remember what it was like growing up in neighborhoods where NOI and orthodox Muslims resided. Unlike many of my fellow Christians, I recall their commitment to living good lives absent the random violence, drug abuse, and blatant disrespect of women that is so much more pervasive today. I respected them. They lived their creeds seven days a week as opposed to just on Sundays. I’ve crossed paths with quite a few young men rather recently that I was certain wouldn’t make it to their thirties, who have joined the NOI and are now respectable contributors to their communities.

I’m going to save my fodder regarding the Black Church; specifically in Detroit. Just take a stroll around some of the neighborhoods where many of the larger, more established churches are located. Tell me what you see.

Malcolm X.

I have yet to hear anyone capture Malcolm’s meaning better than Ossie Davis: “Malcolm was our manhood, our living, black manhood. This was his meaning to his people. And, in honoring him, we honor the best in ourselves. / And we will know him then for what he was and is – a Prince – our own black shining Prince! – Who didn’t hesitate to die, because he loved us so.”

The aforementioned quote reminds me of a line in a speech Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave. You know, one of those inconvenient speeches that supposed lovers of MLK typically omit when they are gushing over his legacy. “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”

Brother Malcolm.

There are those who to this day, would rather forget or are outright dismissive of Malcolm. They are the toads within our community. However, their croak is loud, and their appetites crude. For the reality of the matter, Malcolm’s life and contributions could not be anymore salient, given the deleterious circumstances coloring African American neighborhoods across the nation presently. Indeed, very few of the leaders often hailed within our communities would be as well received and effective as Malcolm would have been today among those who need a sense of hope, worth, and esteem.

I remember the first time I read Malcolm X and the transformation it inspired in me. I knew as I know now that the book was not perfect, but no other production, play, movie etc., has come close to capturing the temerity, strength, intensity, the power of change, and ascendance that Malcolm exemplifies.

When Malcolm was murdered, followed by Martin’s murder, it was if Black America gave up the ghost. One too many times have I engaged an elder regarding the merits of activism and resistance in the face of the systemic destruction of our communities, only to have them point out…those who fight, die. And often by our own hands. It is for this reason that I have never been able to forgive nor forget.

The NOI will forever be stained.

However, it is a shared stain. The killing of Malcolm X was an attrocity, but the extent to which many of us are complicit in the killing of his memory is just as tragic. In doing so, we only do a disservice to ourselves. No wonder we’ve become more proficient at producing male fodder for the prison industrial system, then fathers, brothers, and producers within our communities.

Black America Needs to Have A Come to Jesus Moment

by J.S. Buford

The plethora of articles and blogs regarding the continued relevance - or perhaps more appropriately lack of relevance - of what were once venerable organizations (e.g. NAACP, CBC, Urban League, etc) are right on time.

It’s time to be honest with ourselves. Yes, an African American man is President of the United States of America. We occupy boardrooms. There are discernible numbers of African American households with substantial incomes. HBO’s the Black List Series was phenomenal. Absolutely inspiring.

However.

The federal government’s response to Katrina initially and presently is horrific. However, what is even more disturbing is that such conditions were allowed to fester in the first place. What does the prevailing conditions that left New Orleans so utterly vulnerable say about the progress of Black America?

What of Detroit? African American representation? Check. Hub of one of the most quote unquote powerful branches of the NAACP. Check. Black folks hosting expensive parties, sipping wine with high profile political figures, dressing and smelling well. Check, check, check.

What of the absurd levels of illiteracy? What of the diminishing numbers and influence of African American business owners, coupled with third world like homelessness and unemployment? A public school system that is more efficient at producing fodder for the prison industrial complex, then the future leaders of tomorrow. The loss of hope.

Detroit and New Orleans are not anomalies, but you wouldn’t know it.

So you believe that the usual suspects are still relevant, eh? Tell me Chappy. Riddle me this. Come on Chappy. What are they doing right now? How are they relevant? Why are conditions that afflict residents of Detroit and New Orleans so prevalent?

And don’t respond with the usual cop out…well what are you doing? Some don’t have patience for high-class chicken dinners and chitlin politics. Matter of fact, do ask. I can’t wait to issue the response.

So where ya at Chappy? Where ya at?

Welcome Back Jim Crow! We Missed Ya.

by J.S. Buford

Not surprisingly, opinions vary wildly regarding whether any progress has been made since the appointment of Robert Bobb as Detroit Public Schools emergency financial manager. Of course the lion’s share of the discord regarding Bobb’s performance can be attributed to money more than anything else.

There are those who applaud Robert Bobb’s efforts. They point to his willingness to make many of the tough, necessary decisions that others refused to previously. In a nutshell Bobb has made a concerted effort to right size DPS; brought some semblance of order to the school system's finances; and is now implementing measures to insure greater accountability in terms of students' academic performance.

On the other hand, there are those who accuse Bobb of being an overseer, zealousyly implementing a design to effectively eradicate DPS. They point to his unflinching, maybe even bullish implementation of various initiatives; a lack of transparency regarding an ever-growing list of significant monetary expenditures made to outside entities; and perhaps rightfully, Bobb’s willingness to make academic decisions that could be considered out of his purview as a financial manager.

However, let’s be real.

Change was and is necessary. DPS is failing our children. Failing! In other words consigning our children to lives of financial insolvency and incarceration. The folks who exercised agency over DPS were either unwilling or unable to deliver that change.

Am I arguing that charter schools are the answer? Not necessarily.

Nevertheless, I’d submit that the greatest threat to Detroit’s children was actually outlined in Rochelle Riley’s column, Robert Bobb: No more unearned promotions for students. Riley quotes state Superintendent, Mike Flanagan, sharing:

"It's shameful," an obviously frustrated Flanagan said of the practice. "'Let's move these kids out that don't get it. ... Let's keep the kids who are fun to keep and move the rest to alternative schools!'"

Alternative schools?

Taken to its logical end, it appears that there may be a plan in place to herd children into two separate systems. And if that doesn’t scare the hell out of parents, nothing will. There will be a system for the good kids who are fun to keep. And a system for the bad kids that don’t get it... Hmmm… So what will these bad kids get?

And that is the million-dollar question. Seems to me, rather than fighting to maintain the status quo, those who are truly concerned about the welfare of our children need to be about pursuing answers regarding this two tiered system that is in the works. However, that requires folks actually become pro-active for once, eh.

‘Detroit just like Port-au-Prince’ - Really?

by J.S. Buford

After reading an article titled 'Detroit just like Port-au-Prince' published by The Michigan Citizen, it has become readily apparent that people just don't get it, and quite frankly don't want to.

Centuries ago, Haiti had the unmitigated nerve to throw off the chains of slavery, and as a result drew the ire of European nations and the United States ever since. The earthquake pushed Haiti over the edge, but the pre-existing conditions were man made.

The United States government, President Obama in particular, is exhibiting a kind of feigned naivete, and it's like the rest of this country's citizenry is superbly content wading around in ignorance. It is what it is, eh?

To the point. If people really want to see Haiti rebound from the catastrophe, how about we start by allowing their last democratically elected leader, former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, to return back to his nation. However, it would be difficult for President Obama to pull the trigger on that one, since the U.S. was primarily responsible for depriving Haiti of him.

Next, perhaps the United Nations and accompanying global conglomerates, should relieve Haiti of its debts, incurred because it freed itself. Allowing Haiti to operate with a clean slate as opposed to like a repeatedly punished sharecropper would go a long way in allowing the nation to get its footing. Additionally, it would be a nice gesture if the United States and other European nations would cease their centuries long embargo against the impoverished nation, and stop disrupting channels of commerce with potential partners.

The aforementioned wouldn't solve much in the short term, but it would be a good start.

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The comparison to Detroit? Yep, Detroit's problems are certainly man made. The reality of the matter is Detroit no longer has any heart. What do I mean?

Oh, there are plenty of folks running around, willing to knock out a bystander with a steel pipe, curse ya out, lie, cheat, steal, and do so openly. Nope, that's not what I'm talking about.

Detroiters repeatedly choose the circumstances that are wrecking the community year in and year out. It seems no matter how bad things get, Detroit loves to elect miscreants. And sit by idly as the domestic abusers elected to public office pimp slap them every single day. Indeed, both cities are suffering from a crisis that simply ripped the scab off man made problems. In this respect, that is where the similarities between the conditions in Detroit and Port-au-Prince begin and end.

The Enemy Within – U.S. Politics

by J.S. Buford

Frustration.

One would have thought the recent terrorism scare that transpired as a result of a failed attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight to Detroit last week would have resulted in an effort to unite the country against the threat of the killing of innocents. Not so.

It would have been reassuring if statesmen and stateswomen took to the political stage to assert the importance of a coalesced citizenry and government working in unison to neutralize the imminent threat of those who are committed to senseless bloodshed. However, that would have been too much like right. Instead the response was to politicize what occurred.

Republicans sought to score political points by fingering the supposed nonchalance of President Barack Obama for the failed attack. And Democrats countered by outlining the incompetence of the previous Bush administration.

However, let’s be real. If someone waltzed into a Starbucks tonight and blew his a%! up, pulverizing the lives of citizens as they sipped on their lattes and vitiating the bodies of the remaining survivors, how in the hell does the politicization of terrorism serve us?

The real question is not who is to blame. People would have died. And you know what, people will die. Those who are committed to the annihilation of lives will stop at nothing to penetrate our borders and as a matter of fact, are walking among us now.

The political posturing between both parties is nauseating and frightening. At this point, political ideology and or party affiliations are irrelevant. If we, citizens of the United States of America, awake to news of a supermarket, coffee shop, or an air plane exploding as a result of a terrorist plot, finger pointing will not salve the fears and heartache that would follow.

The bottom line is how do we insure the safety of our mothers and fathers, daughters and sons, grandparents, and loved ones as best possible? How does a country that aspires to be a beacon of freedom, justice, and hope respond to the reality (god forbid, but let’s not be ignorant) that those who wish to prosecute death will strike again?

Democrat Republican. Black White. Christian, Muslim, Jew. Red State Blue State. Irrelevant. We need statesmen and stateswomen. And it appears as if there are none.

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As an aside, a good friend of mine asked me how I would grade President Obama’s performance thus far. For all my fellow activists out there…I accepted Obama for what he was a long time ago. He is not a populist, Pan Africanist, and has no interest in revolutionizing anything. It is what it is. He is President of the United States of America.

President Obama did the right thing in the beginning. He reached out to the Republican Party. The response was a visceral commitment to simply operating as an opposition party. Opposition to anything and everything Obama is the sole purpose of the Republicans.

Once the aforementioned became apparent, President Obama should have dangled carrots in front of stragglers, wielded his political capital like a sledgehammer against weak-kneed Democrats, and simply deboed his agenda through.

I get it. Even I believed for a millisecond that Obama might be able to bridge the gap. Now it’s a wrap.

B-

Can Black America Get A Dollar?

by J.S. Buford

Is anyone else besides me a tad bit concerned about the impact the Great Recession is having on black communities across the Untied States of America?

It’s almost certain, that Time Magazine’s article, “Will Minorities Get Enough Out of the Economic Stimulus?” simply scratches the surface regarding the paucity of stimulus dollars that have actually trickled down to African American business owners and other non-white ethnic groups in general.

Seriously. Will anyone be surprised by an abundance of exposes and books a couple years from now outlining just how deleterious this period in United States history has been for Black America?

Yeah, I know some will say there he goes again being overly dramatic.

My response is…really?!

When you consider the slippage that has occurred concerning the progress black folks made over the last two decades…trust the sentiments expressed in this note will be considered very prophetic. Very prophetic.

On a side note its about time the Congressional Black Caucus exhibited some type of concern regarding the aforementioned.

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On another note, was not Have Plenty just one of the most terrible, yet entertaining movies ever, just because of how terrible it is?

Charles Pugh: Contender or Pretender?

by J.S. Buford

Earlier this week, I found myself listening to a radio interview on NewsTalk 1200 WCHBAM hosted by Mildred Gaddis with Detroit City Council Candidate, Charles Pugh.

Let me preface what is to follow by stating I’m not a fan of Mildred Gaddis or Charles Pugh, certainly don’t agree with a many of the opinions and perspectives espoused by either Gaddis or Pugh, however I do recognize the value of their contributions to the Detroit community. That being said, I found myself thoroughly nauseated by the response from listeners in general following the interview.

At a time when Detroit is sitting at the precipice of insolvency and the citizens of the city are being bludgeoned by truly deleterious conditions – widespread unemployment, escalating foreclosures, ineffective governance, the evaporation of our youngest and most talented minds, and the flight of those with means to name a few – I could not believe folks would rather focus on some of the most supercilious of factors in determining Pugh’s suitability.

I don’t know Pugh personally. However, this is what I do know…he quit a quote unquote good paying job to run for an elected position that pays far, far less. So, if the man is having financial woes, go figure. In this economy; when there are business owners whom have suffered such a decline in their net worth that they’re living like paupers presently. Indeed.

Others took issue with him being a single man with no children. Are you serious? How about we be honest and admit it’s his sexual orientation that’s really motivating the supermajority of these folks. Pardon me, but let’s take inventory of the tremendous accomplishments the current cadre of elected officials whom have sat at the City Council table, the Mayor’s office, and various other elected positions that fit the acceptable profile for a moment.

Hmmm… a public school system in disarray; an environment that dissuades, rather stifles small business development; year after year of scandal after scandal; lack of safety; the glaring failure to leverage the city’s geography and resources; failed advocacy in Lansing regarding issues of import to residents (car insurance rates, revenue sharing, public transportation…you get the point hopefully).

So, how is it going Detroit?

An exceptional Detroit Public School teacher shared the following maxim with me a number of years ago: “Small minds talk about people. Good minds problems. Great minds philosophize.”

Now is not the time to eviscerate potential candidates on the basis of such nonsense. Not at a time when Detroit needs visionaries, good ideas to solve our most nascent problems, dynamic solutions, and individuals who care something other than the hook up.

If Pugh or any other candidate for that matter is to be challenged, how about we focus on whether or not his ideas make sense, question his willingness and capacity to leverage an elected position to enhance our standard of living, and critique his vision for Detroit.

I’m not advocating for Pugh. Still, I do believe, like it or not, that his campaign has engaged various segments of Detroit’s population that are typically ignored. And that’s a good thing. Nevertheless, what I am advocating for is for Detroit to finally wake up, focus on what will result in positive outcomes, and elect officials who are deserved of our votes.

CITY CHARTER ELECTION: And speaking of selecting candidates based on their merits. I support Mrs. Tonya Myers-Phillips unabashedly. Phillips is qualified academically (University of Michigan Law School) and professionally as a practicing attorney. In other words she is not seeking relief from a promising legal career in favor of dependence upon the public dole.

Additionally, Phillips is one of the few candidates with hands on experience related to the position she is campaigning for. Phillips has experience working in municipal law, and with the Charter in particular. She worked with the Detroit City Council and its Special Counsel William Goodman to analyze and interpret the Council's removal and forfeiture powers under the Detroit City Charter. Ms. Phillips also worked with the Guild Law Center and the Detroit City Council to strengthen the investigatory and enforcement provisions of the Detroit Living Wage Ordinance which mandates workers be paid a "living wage" for their services on high-value city contracts.

Yep, plucked it right off her homepage.

Tonya Myers-Phillips envisions Detroit as a world-class city, spurred by a renaissance where progressive ideas and innovative solutions are at the forefront of restoring the city to international prominence. Phillips’s candidacy for the Detroit Charter Commission is inspired by her belief in the tremendous potential blossoming within the city, and the real possibility of transformation given the temper of city residents at this moment in history. However, it is under girded by the sober realization that Detroit’s reemergence cannot be achieved without an almost wholesale reconstruction of the prevailing conditions impairing city governance

Phillips believes improved city governance will ultimately be determined by a number of factors, namely: a concerted effort to increase the efficacy (communication, synchronization, uniformity of operations) of city government; abandonment of the old provincial ideas dominating public policy decisions in favor of research-based "best practices"; enacting measures to hold elected and appointed officials directly accountable to the citizenry, including but not limited to, electing council persons by district; and tough ethics reform.

How’s that for vision?

And remember you get what you pay for. So go to her website and support her.

Who You Calling A Deadbeat? – Part IV

by J.S. Buford

Recently, while relaxing at a cyber café, sipping on some coffee, reading a good book (Slavery by Another Name by Douglas A. Blackmon is a great book by the way) – basically minding my own business – I couldn't help but to overhear a heated exchange between a thirty-something year old man and woman sitting at a table across from me.

It was surprising. Both were dressed professionally, and up until then carrying themselves with a calm, sophisticated comportment. On top of that we were in a suburban zip code (would have liked to be in Detroit, however does anyone one know of any cyber cafes that remain open past 8:00pm for a couple hours in the city), and know that the regular inhabitants were straight up clutching their purses and walking briskly as their voices began to elevate.

Before the verbal warfare broke out, I admittedly was angling to introduce myself with a business card and an invitation to lunch next week. Unfortunately, it was not to be. The two were sparring over the circumstances involving the man’s pursuit of his son in a custody case.

I was having a phenomenal day; feeling pleased with the progress of my practice, periodically reflecting on a cute photo of Chookie I had just taken, and texting it up with the woman I intend to spend the rest of my life with in between chapters. So, given the subject nature they were discussing, not interested in anything that would remind me of my own trials and tribulations as a single father, I attempted to ignore them.

Then the woman made a critical error. She asked the following series of questions, “Well why do you think she would do that? Why is she behaving this way? Have you considered that?”

As surely, as I was unaware of the genesis of the discussion, I was well aware of how it would end. The brother simply stood up, put the sista’s coat on her, walked her to the door, and wished her goodbye. He returned to his seat and sat quietly and motionless for at least five minutes staring blankly through the window.

And I understood, what most single fathers understand.

Very few ever will and the super-majority of people are not capable of empathizing with the swirl of emotions and thoughts that entered that man’s mind.

After a period of time, I eventually approached him, exchanged business cards, and commended him for how he conducted himself during the conflict. Then you know how brothers do, we began to trade war stories, tactics and strategies to resume normal lives and insulate ourselves from the insanity, information regarding competency of our attorneys, etc.

Unfortunately, we didn’t need to converse long before the typical script emerged:

• Accused of physical abuse and unabashed ni%$a ishtt: check.
• Accused of grotesque behaviors (sexual abuse, unbridled beat downs, neglect, etc., etc.) towards your child: check.
• Almost go bankrupt defending yourself, just to see your child: check.
• Continual attempts to disrupt or limit time together: check.
• Disruption of familial and cultural traditions, attempts to provide extracurricular stimulation, and dote over child: check.
• Refusal to release unimportant stuff like medical records, health status, birth certificates, access to academic reports, etc.,: check, check, and check………

If you’re reading this, and you still don’t get it, well… I’ll give it a try.

Single fathers (particularly black men) who pursue, love, and care for their children, are inundated all day every day with news reports, table talk, and insinuations that there is an epidemic absence of men who care to father their children. On top of that, those of us who do, still have to deal with the scowls, alarm, and confused looks as we chaperone our children to the park, the movies, to school, the museum, etc, with occasional words of encouragement and support sprinkled in between.

You following me?

Consider the aforementioned. And next time you begin to fix your tongue to query a man regarding the subject matter of this note, know that we – most single fathers – don’t care why women believe it’s okay or acceptable to attempt to deprive sons and daughters of their fathers. After enduring the hell most of us have to endure just to be in our children’s lives, most single fathers concern themselves with simply being good fathers.

And consider it a good thing if single fathers don’t care to think about or discuss why a woman would behave in such a heinous manner. It means they have reached a place of harmony in their lives, and are content on building happy, productive existences having moved on from the negativity and wretchedness that some would like to inflict upon them.

See, here’s the bottom line. If you ever presuppose to pose such questions to a single father, reflect upon whom the question should really be directed to. Should it not be directed at women who conduct themselves in such manners?

Before you assume, dig a little deeper. And know that the idea that there are hordes of men who choose to be quote unquote deadbeats, is nothing more than a myth. They exist, no doubt. But dig a little deeper.

And next time you find the audacity to utter the aforementioned words, think about it, think about “Who You Callin a Deadbeat Dad!?”