Gates and Beyond....

SO now what? Where do we go from here after an intense week of yet another racial dustup and fire storm? We have the usual blind spot posturing of Police Unions always speaking up to defend and support their brethren but never out front with constructive criticism of their members when they commit crimes against innocent citizens both white and non-white. We have usual passive posturing from both white and black politicians who lack the courage to confront the realties and truth about the racism inherent in our criminal justice system. We now even have the tragic spectacle of our president and even professor gates retreating when the pressures of being an ordinary Black male are visited upon their homes and professions. Into this impotent void I offer up to those who unlike Gates and Obama have the ability to run for cover a solution and a resource to engage when they are confronted by the raw and real life realities of being a Black male in our nation confronted with racial profiling by those in our law enforcement system. I recommend we seek the rights, privileges of our United States Constitution which even provides for those under attack by activities of those under the color of law the right to SELF DEFENSE.


I know it is an option I will have no problem reaching for...

Black Folks as Conduits & Carriers of Depravity

Recently one of the country's most famous Black educators and historians was racially profiled and his MUGSHOT was plastered all over the print and electronic media world. Every known media venue pasted his MUGSHOT for all to see and salivate.

I find it troubling to read a number of Black Websites , Black Pundits, also engaged in this virtual racial profiling by mirroring the MSM by also publishing the MUGSHOT.

Why must Black folks perpetuate this racial injustice by being the carrier of this racial falsehood. The good professor is not a criminal, charges were dropped and more importantly what is gained by racially profiling the good professor millions of times on the internet and other media venues.

I am tired of the shallow excuse and unproven inferences and questionable logic that argues such publication will remind and keep Black folks focused on the reality of racism in 2009.

Sorry but I am not going to be the carrier of hate more importantly I believe Black folks have evolved pass this tired parlor act and we have more progressive and positive alternatives to encourage and elevate our community. Count me out I am not a carrier.....

Black Folks & Best Practices

Best Practices Subject Matter Index for the following :

Where to start. Every week I will provide a detailed analysis with an action plan on the following topics. I will secure the most progressive and practical data, research, recommendations within which to design and impliment a real time interactive guide on BLACK FOLKS & BEST PRACTICES:

1. Black Families

2. Black Leadership

3. Black Economics

4. Black Living

5. Black Image

6. Black Health

7. Black Culture

8. Black Education

9. Black Politics

10. Black Religion


To be continued......

Obama & NAACP

Enough already with the tired rants of Black family shortcomings and the overkill about Black decay .... Obama finally spoke about Black issues in our nation as if Black issues are not American issues.. I imagine he had no choice to put Black issues on the agenda and radar given the NAACP was the venue...

Of course in the post racial world of Obama this mantra of calling out a segment of our nation's population has yet to take place with Obama giving "tough lectures in venues where asians, hispanics, gays, arabs, jews, muslims, reside....

The very idea that Black Americans are not always needy and in a state of crisis I guess does not fit the script of a post racial Obama society... That is tragic of course since Black Americans bring more than Rythm and Blues to the party...

Street Voodo Survival Skills

1. Stick photo of ex in ice tray for a week ... drink holy water..

2. Stick photo of lover in hot water for an hour.... see jesus in garden dirt piles..

3. Out of transportation call Enterprise Rental and rotate from offices..

4. Find Old box of popcorn in trash tell cashier dropped popcorn on floor..

5. Stealth move on free condiments at fast food venues..

6. Put Dollar Stores on GPS favorites...

7. Insert air into Bike tires ....

8. Bum rides from everybody.....

9. Visit parks and troll internet for freebies ...

10. Buy sun glasses and walking cain...

Ann Arbor Art Fairs..

More crafts every year but still the best in the midwest....More Black folks...Mike Jackson Street dances are terrible next time I am taking off my shirt and moonwalking...

Posters, Clothes, Colors, People...

Makes you wanna hollar..

Trainwreck...Shootings Carnage....Freeway Explosions...Swimming pool insults.....Makes you wanna hollar...

YAWN.......

Riddle tales...Obama's NAACP speech...GM woes...Health Care Plans...Downsizing Blues..

NAM MYO HO REN GE KYO

A Chant spoken to the world in 1253......

NAM MYO HO REN GE KYO

My food......

My worship...

My prayer.....

My Me.......

Crime a Political Construct

Behaviors that the community has been programmed to view as negative become behaviors that are codified into the penal code and the violation of these politically created behaviors become public crimes..

Some behavior has always been subject to community sanctions from homocide to sexual behavior involving both minors and adults. The more laws you have the more crime you have..The volume of police create the volume of documented criminal behavior.

The community determines the level and volume of crime it wishes to be controlled by the police. Certain behaviors i.e drug usage has always been underreported and subject to political variables at best.

Crime is more a myth than a reality.Most victims of certain crimes know the perp and most crimes involve some degree of property loss and personal assault..

Cultural Devaluation

Yet again the state of nothingness has inflicted carnage on the streets of Detroit. An entire city is being held hostage to the forces of hopelessness, despair, decay and now random violent displays of inhumanity and depravity....

Yet we travel these desolate trails before and still our wounds and broken egos cannot muster the attitudes to not only stop the meltdown but cultivate and harvest a new way of living for all in the city....

I know the modern american city is a lethal and dangerous zone where love, warmth, and shared respect is drowned by the noise and drama of nothingness. ..

Yet now is not the moment to lament and navigate around the truth about the state of life in our urban venues our existence is in peril as well....

To be continued.......

Myths of Education..

Often when I lecture to children I always incorporate a discussion about vocational opportunties as well as college . When I lecture with adults I often engaged in a discussion about how most of our state leaders have credentials that reflect the finest schools in America yet our state is almost a 3rd world venue under the tenure of these so-called educated elites..


Fact is often the most backward and underdeveloped people are the educated...These people will eat an egg roll and think they are experts on asian issues...They will drink a corona and become experts on hispanics..They will eat fried chicken and become subject matter experts of Black folks....

I have discovered in my adventures in life the most profound people are seniors, ex-inmates, unemployed, and children....hands down....

Immigrants Protests

I support the political activism which is coming out of the various immigrant communities across the country. The call for protests is long overdue these political activities by our country's silent immigrant communities hopefully will include an acknowledgment and recognition of the civil rights efforts and achievements made by Black Americans which has created a model for this type of political activism. There is a lot of tension between Black Americans and the immigrant communities for a number of reasons including our fear of no longer being this country's favorite victim and scapegoat. Black Americans can continue to make this country great by assisting these immigrant communities in achieving life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness..

Slavery Marketing

Our country's racial legacy is not only tragic but it still stings today, recently a number of well intentioned people expressed upset and discord over a political advertisement which invoked a background of a lynching as a part of the content of the advertisement. Many of these reactions from my vantage point were not only misplaced but are in reality actually counter productive. When a society seeks to suffocate and sometimes even bury and ignore its own evils it does so at the peril of our future and at the expense of those it claims to be protecting. When a society only allows for designated groups to promote and utilize provocative historical materials if increases the potential for censorship and ignorance. The idea that Black Americans should follow the rules and decorum of a civil and gentile white society with regard to this subject matter is unacceptable . Such a underdeveloped and myopic posture handcuffs the free flow of information and it allows for those in the dominant society to be the architect of honesty and truth even when such truth is graphic and ugly. It is a cultural conflict of interest which should not be the prerogative of those in the very dominate society which perpetrated the acts of evil. At the end of the day such a posture is inequitable and continues to rewards the beneficiaries of slavery while preventing the victims to used the capital of slavery for their own designated agenda and objectives. Black people should never be restrained by the decorum of a gentile society with regard to slavery and related historical topics. Black people in America should always have the complete spectrum of choices to employ this historical landscape including the use of slavery images and artifacts to not only educate and but to memorialize our country's disregard for our humanity. This scope of leverage in my view includes the marketing and distribution of slavery images for political campaigns and informational objectives . Black people should never seek pc permission to articulate our reality and history despite how dark a story it is. The suggestion by those that this materials should have selective shelve life is patronizing and wrong. To allow others to not only define but license how evil should be portrayed also handicaps those in the dominant society from understanding the depth of evil . Such a demeanor can also hamper those in the dominant society from sharing with the victims ideas and programs to address the destruction that such evil created. I reject the convention which claims it is offensive for people to employ lynching, slavery, and other dehumanizing images as a means to articulate a political objective in a campaign. When such images can galvanize and turn up the volume then by all means we need more not less of this type of graphic and brutal advertisement. Those in America who reject this type of advertisement are making a hugh mistake. The victims of America's inhumanity to its own brethren reserve the right to determine how such material is marketed and utilized...

Failure of Black Conservatism

The failure of the politics of conservative thought in the Black community has never been a surprise for me I have always known that black people are>very astute in rejecting backward ideas,underdeveloped thoughts and philosophies. The media fiction that the GOP and conservative principles are gaining a new foothold with Black folks is nonsense and is nothing more than the exaggerated press releases of GOP balloon blowers and black apologists seeking affirmation from conservative whites as they mine the lucrative cottage industry of black conservatism.Conservatives when they dressed themselves in black face become even of a more losing proposition because this partnership only insults the audience the conservatives wish to recruit and indoctrinate. It should however be pointed out that the failure of conservative politics in the Black community is not based entirely on the underdeveloped core themes and ideas of conservative politics nor on the legacy of its racists beliefs as marketed by white republicans. Some of the failure of conservative thinking in the hood is a direct result of black folks who have embraced conservatism as a panacea for the ills of black folks as manta from heaven . Black conservatives are always their own worst victim in this parade. Black conservatives continue to display a patronizing and condensing posture when they interact with those who are not card caring members of the GOP. In addition these Black operatives never seem to get pass touting the usual Black token darlings of the GOP. It should be noted that the very ideals of some conservative principles have existed in the Black community long before whites even entered the soil of North America.Black conservatives who have embraced conservative politics fail miserably in the black community because they are viewed as agents of a political philosophy that at it's core has contempt for black dignity and humanity.Black conservatives simply cannot navigate around the ugly legacy of white racism so when black conservatives seek to uplift and elevate black masses with the failed themes of conservative politics they look like minstrels and fools to the majority black electorate.The truth is of course liberal political ideology and conservative ideology both are on their last days in the black community neither has been effective in truly changing the life conditions of the majority of Black Americans. Black cultural traditions and our very essence as a people have liberated us from the obstacles that life has brought us in America not the partnership with whites marketing political dogma from either side of the aisle right or left.The Black electorate has always been vulnerable to the prospects of a movement which values and respects the vast cultural and social capital>the Black community has. Liberal conventions have at least offered some basic features which have contributed to the well being of Black folks in this country of course none of us are enshrining white liberals as our saviors or liberators we have done that ourselves and no doubt we will continue to be our own icons and legends.Black people generally are not obsessed with politics nor do they view the political arena as being an integral aspect of their lives. Our greatest assets have always outside the traditional mainstream orthodoxies.Black folks will embrace a political construct that has them at the core of its paradigm. We are hungry for a new meal with a menu full of new recipes and ideas. Black conservatives would be best suited if they were the primal beginning of a new political movement one which is without the legacy of white supremacy nor the result of white architecture. The question is where is the origin of this fertile spring it is apparent that the stream of conservative dogma and propaganda have never truly flowed with our interests at heart....

Crime in the Burbs

The candid perspective of criminals in the suburbs has been revealing, troubling and at the end of the truly disheartening.. The media of course instead of developing a dialogue which disarms the disinformation and propaganda about Detroit and its students instead fuels another circular and destructive angry saga of Detroit versus the suburbs. Parents of Detroit students have for years challenged and the notion that their children are drug users, criminals and cultural savages yet those pleas mean nothing to the region's media machines eager to profit on their new ownership configurations. It is apparent that many suburbanites are in denial and resent the truth about their own behaviors and that of their next door neighbors. Many suburbanites in moments of clarity and honesty know their children become deviants, criminals and predators against the citizens of Detroit.These attacks include the usual garden variety street crimes like drug buys, sexual transactions with prostitutes to more complex crimes like arson for hire, identity theft, to lifestyle crimes like the business of slum land lords to white collar crimes which target homeownership of Detroit residents. Often Detroit residents are nothing more than easy targets for the criminal appetite of its suburban hustlers and criminal business executives.Yet that type and scope of media coverage is a good tease.Instead of acknowledging the lethal and vicious behavior of these suburban predators against Detroit citizens what we get from suburban public officials and commentators is a series of excuses, deflection and twisted denials. We have folks without any once on integrity seeking to stain and taint the volunteer projects between students from the suburbs and the city because they are angered by the truth of the mayor's comments. Apparently some of these efforts were just pc projects to score sympathy and appearance points for helping the savages of Detroit. We have impotent college students patronizing Detroit citizens by lecturing to them about how suburban doctors and lawyers performed miracles in the jungle streets of Detroit while ignoring all of the reciprocal and lucrative opportunities Detroit residents have provide to suburban lawyers and doctors. All of these denial and and excuses from these suburban apologists really never do confront and address the truth. Many urban residents have often been at the end of unwarranted attacks on their personhood. Bashing Detroit with fictional claims of decadence and decay has been a lethal knee jerk birthright of many suburbanites for decades. It is amusing observing the critics of mayor's comments vent their venom when the shoe is now the other foot. Crime of course never stops at the water's edge nor does Crime take the time to register the area code and zip code of its victims. Crime flourishes often because it knows that division's and underdeveloped attitudes make it easy for it to prey on good people. Drug use and criminal activity are fixtures in the suburbs as well as the city. Those who make excuses and wage open attacks and whisper campaigns against people who have the courage to discuss these truths only make it easier for the culture of crime because of course Crime does not care where its victims live or their ethnic or racial or national origin . Crime is an equal opportunity product of america.

Acting White???

I have never read nor observed any studies on the underdevelopment of white students and the failure of white students to become icons like MLK, Mandela and the like. In this society there is always currency and a marketplace to dissect black life and have cocktail discussions on how contemptible we are.. I will continue to reject, defeat and attack those in this country who have contempt for black life and our cultural genius. The proliferation and marketing of destructive propaganda like notions of black children rejecting their own genius and skill set because of political propaganda being cultivated by right wing conservatives will never be accepted in this quarter...

Margaret Garner

I attended the premiere of Margaret Garner to acknowledge not only the efforts of the MOT but to also pay a continuing homage to the ancestors of one of America's two holocausts on these shores. It was not my first opera nor will it be my last . I had hopes of observing up close and personal the spectacle of a masterpiece but it was not to be partly no doubt because of the nature of the subject matter and the continuing inability of those in the high art world of Opera to grasp the attention and the essence of its modern day patron. Young people and others regardless of their ethnicity do not find the world of Opera as a place which appeals to their interests. The theme of Margaret Gardner from my perspective as a person of color also suffers from this same thread of thought, slavery and its stories simply do not resonate today not because they lack substance or importance but because there are so many other more contemporary themes and stories which have verve and have the ability to echo and reflect the themes of tales like Margaret Gardner. In America with regard to cultural issues many always prefer the safe route by revisiting the slavery landscape or other familiar tales of woe. I find it revealing that white theatre critics are bending over back ward to lavish praise on what is at best an above average opera. Instead of providing comments based upon the metrics of the opera reviews many opera reviewers are acting like publicists, for the MOT. I have no problem asserting that those in the high art world of opera should elevate their art form and start developing works which are not only cutting edge but cultivates and creates a marriage between the opera world and those on the outside thinking about coming a part of this wonderful art form and cultural treasure. For once I wish those in our artistic ruling class will forsake its reliance on tradition and take a leap into the high art of present day icons and spectacle . I would love to attend a premiere of a New American Opera that reflects the passion, genius, wit,drama of today's living legends and stories. What I experience this past weekend was not spellbinding opera.

Over the Fence

Over the years much has been written and spoken about Detroit and its suburbs often the exchange has been negative, emotional, destructive and of course racist depending on what side of 8 mile the comments originated from. During the evolution of Detroit's suburbs the early dialogue was often just predictable banter between city versus suburban lifestyles however after the riots of 1967 the exchange between the two venues became more racial and more adversarial. The emergence of Coleman Young on the scene and the bitter aftermath of the 1967 riot increased the temperature between the city and the suburbs. This bitter fallout in conjunction with the usual differences of opinions between a city and and its outsiders has been a thorn in this region's side for decades. The depth of interaction between Detroit and its suburbs remains stained with race . Now this interaction is being impacted by the emerging issues of class, non-white ethnic groups and new immigration trends. As with all things in life change never stops and new realities emerge out of the texture of change. Detroit remains a predominately black city but now it's ring suburbs are no longer lily white enclaves. Today Detroit's suburbs have large black populations and the usual battles between black Detroiters and white suburbanites is now complicated by interactions between Black folks on both sides of the border. Today many black Detroit residents now reside in the suburbs yet they still seek to retain ties with the city. Many of us have family, friends, memories and a special love for the city and we want to be part of its past glory and its future destiny. However, like our white neighbors we face anger, resentment and even contempt we when dared to offer up opinions and ideas on the city's ills and decay. It can be stated that some of the attacks from those in the city who resent and reject our overtures are as intense and ugly as the early confrontations between black detroiters and white suburbanites back in the day. Detroit residents of course have a right to their own sovereignty and should reject unwanted and unwarranted intervention from outsiders when such intervention insults and causes hardship for Detroit residents. However black suburban residents who have love for the city should also reject and attack those in the city who harm the city. Backward notions like zip code envy and hometown loyalty based upon denial should never be allowed to block solutions and ideas which enhance the growth of the city. Petty grievances based upon one's zip code and area code should not be tolerated while the city to falls into an abyss. Black folks who reside in Detroit's suburbs have a wealth of intellectual and social capital. Detroit deserves access to these assets . The future of the city no longer resides exclusively with those in the city. We must partner and collaborate because at the end of the day we share the same objectives! The old paradigms of city versus suburbs and of White suburbanites against Black Detroiters no longer has any currency. I have a lot of interests in the city and I intend to protect, cultivate, and harvest these concerns. I will not allow those who harbor contempt for my zip code and my class status prevent me from being a partner with the city I love. We are partners for life....

Open Range aka Universal Candidacy

At every level of public governance across the country and here locally in our state there has been a huge outcry about the lack of quality candidates in the market place for voters to select from when a civil office is open and a election is required. The candidates who decide to run for public office on every level have in many elections left a lot to be desire from the nature of their platforms to the degree of their character. Voters are clamoring for a new paradigm in which to select candidates to represent their interests in all matters of public business and service.

There is simply a demand for a process which provides for more qualified candidates especially in venues where arbitrary residency rules and eligibility protocol often acts to limit the probability of better and more qualified choices for the electorate to select from. The basic truth is that many ex residents of a city still have a stake hold in the city and many seek to help and give back in a meaningful way but are banned from becoming elective candidates because they do not live in the jurisdictions of the public offices.

To addressed this political reality my firm has developed an protocol which has the potential to improve governance at every level of electoral politics. We created this evolutionary idea with respect for the legacy of democracy, one man one vote, home rule , voting rights act and our constitutional rights and safeguards.

PLANE IDEAS Political Construct:

ANYONE can run for an elected office regardless of their domicile but only the voters of that city, district, county have the vested right to cast a vote for a candidate . This posture allows for the local eligible voter to retain sovereignty and final control over their political affairs. No voter disenfranchisement exists and home rule remains the sole province of the voter. Exclusionary residency rules and other non-inclusive candidacy eligibility measures are not in play when elected public offices are up for grabs. This is not a paradigm for a metropolitan type of government.

This approach provides all voters with an increased pool of candidates and it does not penalize anyone because of one's domicile. What drives this enhanced approached is the voters demand for an larger pool of qualified candidates who are not precluded or banned from seeking public office because of the candidate's eligibility and domicile.

All citizens and voters deserve the best candidate in the marketplace not just those who live within the electoral borders . Citizens and voters should not be handicapped or handcuffed by the lack of qualified candidates when so many of them are available and seeking to serve