Navigating in Hopelessness

Right here..Right now...For many Black people living in America from the gritty urban venues of neighborhoods like Detroit to the contours of cul de sacs of suburbia these are perilous times even in the post racial era of a Black Man in the White House. The velocity of negativity is at web speed from the media accounts of entire industries collapsing and people being laid off into forever to tales of young children body parts being tortured and burned in shabby 3rd world urban shacks. Life in America is perilous the revolution is being televised and it is on every channel with surround sound and 3d pictures.

Right here..Right now..This is a moment for the community to step away from the insanity and madness and the aura of hopelessness and decadence and confusion and reach out and hold on to each other from family to friends to associates and maybe even strangers. People are under enormous stress and duress all manner of thoughts, excuses, plots are in the heads of even normal responsible people. The dreams people have now are nightmares full of nothingness.


Right here..Right now..The Black community more than any other aggregate of people in this nation must get a grip and stop the descent into raw insanity. Our pastors, uncles, aunts, cousins,sons and daughters must reach into their collective souls and memories to create a place where a safe refugee exists not just a real place but a sphere where the unspoken word is supreme and positive thoughts are cultivated and rewarded and embraced .The Black community needs a life altering transfusion of humanity and hope. This force must be new and novel and life altering . It must be more than prayers, testimonies and tired sound bites. We have to create a harvest of love even in dirt of concrete streets and alleys. We must crave out a new real time miracle that enters in our homes and our minds. We need a sound, a noise, a creation of powerful bond that elevates us from the present day insanities. We are in perilous moments 24/7 everywhere in America.


Right here..Right now...The Black community must regroup and create a safe haven where love, honesty, civility, decency, trust, sharing, all the ingredients of civility and love must break though. We are in dark era where fear, anger, frustration, pain, and evil is becoming an accepted norm and custom. Our values and purpose are floundering. We are shaky and unreliable for each other.


Right here..Right now.. Across this great nation in every enclave , backyard, front porch, pew, gym, office, basement, church, temple, playground, bedroom, kitchen our community needs a cultural reset and return to the genius of basic truths and straight forward truth. Our community must step up and correct all the wrongs which have us at the end of cliff.


Right here..Right now....We must save ourselves from each other .....This is where our lives must change ..Right where YOU are when YOU read this...Reach Out and help our community navigate to a new promise land..Right Here..Right Now.


Navigating though Hopelessness- Together

Story Teller

Chapter I

We both have been searching for this for years..Curtis was a true believer his travels brought him to this moment. The cell call came in late Tuesday night it was a frigid nite the moon was full the the chill was a deep raw cold.....I picked up the phone Curtis was breathing through his nose and his echo was heavy..."I got"..."I got it"....

Chapter II

Like the rest of the world of sleepy people waiting up to a wee morning phone call brings anxiety...I was even more concerned hearing the voice was Curtis..'What ya got Curt"..I have found the secret to the universe he yelled in my ear..I have found the sound and it is forever all around...Curtis started to sing this words"I found the sound and it is forever all around"...'I found the sound and it is forever all around"..Now I could not get this out of head..

Chapter III

I tell Curtis to meet me at the coffee shop on the Blvd cause I have a bucket list of things I need to happen right now..Curtis tells me that he tried the mystery sound at an art fair yesterday according to Curtis he approached a street musician to play the mystery sound on his drums and right after the sound was played people just started to dump money in the street drummer's hat!!

9/11 Memorials Deconstructed

I refuse to wave my flag and be a brain dead patriot cheerleader today on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. The dead of 9/11 and all who suffered deserve better. I will deconstruct 9/11 with an analysis that seeks to understand and explore why people would do such such horrific deeds this is how I intend to honor 9/11 today...

Peace & Love

The Help- Film Review

If you want a fictional protrayal of some aspects of life for Black woman working as domestic servants in the Jim/Jane Crow era of America this film provides a peek hole to observe.

Film as a historical and educational vessel works well in some situations when the subject matter is about the reality of race in America.

The Help is limited yet functional on some levels. I recommend the film for all ages and I would give it a 4 star ranking on a scale of 5.

Go see the movie and begin a discussion afterwards...

Prison Lessons for the Community

For the Black community whenever there is a discussion about prisons and inmates the media and politicians always plaster the airwaves with statistics about the rates of incarceration about Black inmates in our prison system. There is always an underlying theme that Black people are more criminally inclined than others and at any given moment will engaged in some criminal or deviant behavior. Quite often the publication and release of criminal statics are efforts by the media and those in the ruling class to alert and remind people that prison is the normal outcome and lifestyle for Black people. Media portrayals of crime in America have many underlying objective and hidden agendas. Black people in prison of course also impact local economies as well as political elections.

Recently a number of media accounts have surfaced a study which purports that Black males live longer and have better healthcare outcomes if they remain in prison instead of being free from incarceration. Black inmates are by the very nature of being in prison are protected at higher rates against alcohol- and drug-related deaths, as well as lethal accidents and certain chronic diseases than those not in prison. These types of studies are dangerous in the hands of anti-Black political interest groups and yet they also have value and are informative for the Black community at large. It is therefore incumbent upon the Black community to examine and evaluate this data in such a manner that empowers and enhances our solutions in dealing with crime and prison inmates once they return to the community. Knowledge about inmate life should be circulated by those in the community and not remain within the confines of correction officials!!!

The stark truth is that for large segments of the Black community information and knowledge about the lives of inmates is unknown and many simply do not care nor want to know. We can no longer tolerate this level of thinking and posturing. The Black community given the reality of racism, negrophhobia and the flawed administration and operation of the criminal justice system does not allow us to remain on the sidelines with regard to this subject matter. To many of us are at risk of being injected into the penal system. There is value in knowing how some inmates improve their mental and spiritual life while being in prison. There is useful data to be learned about how healthcare options in prisons address inmates with regard to HIV , Diabetes , Alcohol, Mental Health related problems . When inmates return to the community all of us are impacted by the realties of life in prison these people have encountered. The community inherits all of the issues of former prisoners.

We need to understand all of the lessons good, bad and the ugly that impacts and shapes the lives of prisoners while they are incarcerated because the majority of people in prison will return to the community. It is simply in the best interest of all of us from the inmate to the community to become educated about the reality of life for these who have been incarcerated. Can parents of our youth become better parents upon learning about how prison officials deal with youth offenders? Could employers of former ex-felons get more production from workers who have not been in prisoner because of the habits of ex-felons? There is simply much to learn from the culture of prison life that can be productive even for those of us who cannot see any value in being an ex-convict.

Knowledge about the life style of human beings who live in prisons is critical for all of us. We must have the vision and courage to learn from those have experience life behind bars. Such information and knowledge has value on many levels and layers of life both in in and out of prison.

Global Themes

People everywhere are hungry for change...Let's give them a chance...

Sibling Rivalry

When I was young my brother would always argue with me about how to cut the lawn. I preferred a circular motion and he wanted a linear cut before my father would come outside to examine our body of work we would rant and argue some times even throw grass and weeds at each other..

Of course after our internal drama the grass would be cut and my dad would be happy later we realize that our sibling rivalry only made the lawn look better .

Cornel West and Al Sharpton are superb grass cutters for the community and the guy in the big white house

Black on Black Inhumanity

In too many venues in this region from the board rooms to the lounges of manufacturing plants to even church basements there is always some chatter or whispers about Black on Black crime. Often these exchanges involve a discussion about horrific criminal acts perpetrated against Black victims by Black assailants. The range and depth of Black on Black crime in the city hurts even now as I write these words yet these words must be written.

Many of these internal exchanges and chatter are constructive and warranted it is also true that many of them are nasty race tinged rumors and chatter often used to demonize the city and Black folks in general. Quite often those invoking this verbiage are Black people, from police officers to parents to pastors.

Yet my words here today are not about the criminal themes surrounding this potent and provocative subject matter but in this setting I want to engage in a dialogue about another incarnation of Black On Black crimes. I want to explore and discuss the crimes of personal inhumanity we commit against each other. The crime of Black on Black inhumanity. These are intra/inter personal negative actions just as lethal as crimes that violate our criminal laws.


The tragic behavior and destructive culture within the Black diaspora that negates the humanity and self esteem of Black people is sometimes beyond comprehension. The very nature of Black people shouting down each other’s dreams, ambitions and esteem and denying each other the basic dignity of humanity is reckless and impacts the every caliber of our lives.

No wound or injury hurts and stings and leaves life-long scars more than those which defeat our spirit and damn our personhood and self essence. When Black parents lecture to their children that they are ignorant, stupid and losers these words fill the air with arrows that pierce not only the heart but they puncture the mental ether of our children’s mental state of mind. When we attack the foundations of our children’s essence we destroy the currency of their consciousness and we harm their personal futures and we create obstacles in their dreams.


The damage of anti-esteem words punishes the very soul of a child’s imagination. When a Black person hurls bitter rage at a senior person it augments the velocity of our elders’ life span. When Black people wage a civil war within the community we commit crimes against humanity that prevent our communities from prospering and even recovering from tough times and duress.

The prisons of anger, rage, contempt, shame, ridicule, humiliation, envy, jealousy, sadness, despair, and sorrow handcuff the very essence of our community. Detroit cannot recover if the crimes against our personal dignity and self worth continue at the present velocity.

We need rallies and protests which focus on ending the civil war of personal self hate and incivility we share and exchange with each other to often on a daily basis. Instead of a day of prayer and atonement, we need endless moments of recognizing each other’s personal essence and self worth. We need to schedule appointments and meetings with each other with agendas that promote our humanity for each other.

The foundation of this collective self hate and contempt for our very essence and personhood has a history in the development of America. I will leave the origins of our collective self hate for another day. If we intend to create a city which has a future, we must as a Black community begin this journey with the affirmation of our collective self worth. We must end the crimes of inhumanity we are waging against each other beginning within our families and extending out into our relationships with our friends and others.

We can live a purposeful life in the city of Detroit and other urban venues across America. We must end the internal civil war within the Black community which places our very collective being in peril. Our future starts now only if we affirm each other’s humanity and self worth every moment we interact with each other. Right here…Right now…

The End of Detroit An Opera in 4 Acts

Act I:The original people were swept from under by the explorers from Europe

Act II: The industrial revolution created machines that build the city

Act III: The information age destroyed the labor force and the nature of work

Act IV: The destruction of the family sealed the fate of the city

THE END OF THE CITY IN AMERICA COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SOON

This Opera is sung to the music of Miles, Hendrix, Beatles, Supremes, Simone, Ella

Family Tradition: The Star Circle(c)

Whenever there is a birthday or important event in the family we have a celebratory ceremony ritual. We place the honored person in the middle of a circle and all who are present family and friends we hold hands and create a embraced circle then each person in the circle tells a story, remembrance, joke, chatter or something significant about the honored person. Sometimes the tribute is short and sweet often no more than I love you.

It is a great family event that makes for wonderful moments full of humor, tears and love...

Please start this Star Circle Celebration in your family.. It will become a family tradition.

Currency of Attitude the Blueprint to Everything

The currency of attitude can alter the very essence of life...It exists within all of us..An attitude is unlimited power ...An attitude can elevate above poverty, ignorance and the barriers of failure, negativity and despair...

The Blueprint to navigate the menu of life begins with the ingredient of ATTITUDE

Uncle Toms and other Pathologies in Post Slavery America

Of late in the terrain of social commentary there has been a resurgence of the topic of internal racial themes within Black America. One of the themes has been the discussion of class and Black personalities like the Uncle Tom aka the modern day Black Apologist.

Any candid discourse and examination of race within the Black community must be viewed from the platform of minority and majority themes. Black americans are a distinct cultural minority collective in a white nation that suffered through one of America's domestic holocausts.

The legacy of white supremacy in America has been lethal it stings and wounds even in the post racial era of an Obama tenure in the white house. The pathology of racism not only is lethal for those who are victimized by it but this evil also causes damages to those who authored white privilege and white supremacy.

For the Black folks who are stained and contaminated with white racism it produces a number of outcomes and side effects from hopelessness, anger,despair, militancy and the like. The drama of personalities like the Uncle Tom are not new in the Black community.

One of the incarnations of a community subject to the pathology of white racism in our nation is the character of an Uncle Tom a person whose self esteem is only measured by his acceptance and validation from whites. Despite the conventional themes about the negative portrayal of Uncle Toms. In our history the Uncle Tom was not always a terrible figure people ignore how talented they were in navigating and leveraging their race status during the plantation era and the post slavery era in America.

These personalities in very oppressive situations produced effective outcomes from elevated employment opportunities on the plantation to creative tatics in avoiding and deflecting the wrath from racist whites. The Uncle Tom was a living excercise a role model in how to managed the lethal system of slavery while creating effective strategies to excell in this inhumane and oppressive paradigm.

Yet some Uncle Toms were/are tragic personalities but they would not exist unless there was white supremacy and the pathology of white privilege in America. The intra cultural clash that exists in many Black communities, families, fraternities, organizations, churches and related groups are linked to the institution of slavery in America. This evil complex altered and influenced the very essence of family and social life in America for Black folks. All the words, studies, classes, novels, lectures will never be able to comprehend or give a full measure to the impact of this holocaust on Black Americans.

Black self worth and community values and mores still suffer from the disease of slavery.It is not an excuse or a plea of victimhood to understand and recognize this truth. Black victimhood, class envy, petty jealousy, twisted rage and even some degree of Black crime, parenting, goal shaping, psychosis all of these relations and conditions have origins in the creation of a America that viewed Black folks as inferior beings not worthy of basic humanity.

The saga of the Black Uncle Tom shares a shelf life with White racism in our nation it is a pathological scar, obstacle and part of the cultural dna that still wounds and inflicts to many even in the post racial era of America....

The End of the City in America

The fate of cities across America is fragile many cities are on the edge of insolvency and bankruptcy. The states in which these cities are incorporated in are also facing severe fiscal problems and budgetary shortcomings. It is prudent therefore to have a discussion on a number of issues from regionalism to quality of living in face of these severe financial realities confronting american cities.

Many of these cities because of these dire financial distress provide less services to their residents from fewer police and fire department services to street lights being shuttered to EMS response times being extended and certain calls being ignored completely. The spectrum of a complete shutdown of city services is no longer a script in a science fiction novel but a real time reality for public employees in our cities.

Some residents in city neighborhoods are locking themselves and families in barricaded homes. The very idea of state national guards taking over law enforcement duties in many bankrupted cities across the nation is real and on the agenda of many city planners and state legislatures. The EFM legislation currently unfolding in Lansing many have argued is a blueprint for the takeover of Detroit .

With this new downsized urban centers there has been an increase in vigilante groups, religious cults and people hibernating within their homes only coming out in the day time and rushing to return to home before the night comes to fill the air. When there is despair in the city air it fosters and cultivates paranoia, urban myths, and fear.

In the face of this devolution of american cities across the country it is imperative that strategies and ideas must be developed to confront the end of cities. This examination of cities and life in this new economic and social, political reality however dos not have to be a negative or crisis proposition. Life can be come renewed and reenergize if we have the courage to design a new urban frontier.

Regionalized cities which are the consolidation of other failed cities could create a platform of better services, improved schools and better over all quality of life in the neighborhood that are arteries of life in our urban locations. People simply are no longer loyal to cities and are more interested in their quality of life.

What is driving people living in the new world order is the right to live quality life styles and living conditions that empower good food, safe streets, fresh air, beautiful surroundings, people who want to love life instead of battling decay and decadence.

The equation for a new city maybe the complete destruction and collapse of the old city and its borders and boundaries. People want their lives to be purposeful and meaningful, they don't care who or what government agency is picking up the trash, policing the streets and where the water and lights come from. People want service that work and make their lives more livable.

Designing a new city begins with the objective and desires of those living in the old city and those living outside the city. It may even require that cities no longer be called cities but renamed and redefined as Urban Regions with one police department, one school district, one water board, one energy company, one health department, one park and recreation department...one.....one.....one...

Alive and Living Black Life creates Black History..

For some folks Black history is already dead and not deserving of any attention..I am not one of those folks but I always want to champion the living legends and icons right here and right now..

Living Black Life creates Black History.... That is why I am a Black Icon and a Living Legend...Just sayin....

Idea to increase readership of Detroit News & Detroit Free Press

Background: This region is home of major corporate companies and footprints which impact the entire nation but more importantly this region.

Objective: Increase Readership in both newspapers

Idea: I propose a daily section dedicated to the fortune 500 firms and small business companies which provide a detailed narrative of the products and services of the companies and small business but it also includes profiles of the various employees that work at the companies, these profiles are in depth and provide tips, inspirational themes with photos of key workers, web sites,significant events, coupons, t-shirts. At end of the week both the Detroit News & Free Press can published an on line blog which continues the dialouge of the designated company or small business.

Outcome: This idea will immediately increase the daily readership of those working for the firms as well as family, friends, vendors, church members, organizations' associated with the companies. This theme driven focus could increase add buying, subscriptions and related collateral benefits.

Urban Frontier

Detroit like many other urban venues across the nation is on the edge of a massive gentrification and urban migration movement that not only means housing and property changes but a cultural and political upheaval is also percolating and is currently underway. From the regionalization of the city's water department to the resurgence of the mid-town area to a dismantling of DPS. Urban renewal, gentrification, suburban sprawl, regionalization, and even resizing of the city speaks to the new landscape in Detroit and other urban venues in America.

Cities like Detroit are now the new Urban Frontier and as such all of these themes and movements create tension, economic shifts, cultural sparks and of course political posturing. From who gets to be the new sheriff in town to how the city is to be governed this new urban landscape brings with it all manner of opportunity including the specter of conflict and growth. How one navigates in the new Urban Frontier remains a critical issue for this new urban terrain for those living in the new urban frontier and for those observing it from afar.

Some have argued that old neighborhoods would never return become renewed and refreshed without the injection of new capital and new people . Others have argued that such injection of new people destroy the historical fabric of a community and makes the new landscape a reflection of new money, different hues and different agendas.

Detroit's demographics reflect a majority Black population yet the latest wave of gentrification is a diferent hue and class orientation . The emergence of class and elitism is reflective of this new urban frontier. The recent recession in the nation has slowed the emergence of the new urban frontier but it will not stop it.

With the new urban frontier expect the following a more diverse array of public officials, an educational system that is driven by demands of class and higher expectations, an urban poor that becomes more hostile and hopeless. Plus with the new urban frontier demographic we can also expect a cultural terrain that is inspired by Robo Cop statues , gritty literature and cultural artifacts that doe not embrace the lyrics of rhythm and blues but the sounds of world music and the chatter of social networks.

The New Urban Frontier could be the gateway for all of America in the 21th Century.....

Midnight in Tunisia....( Read this to Dizzy's Iconic Jazz Tune)

Our government has a long and ugly legacy of influencing our domestic media in all kinds of areas from accurate data about the rates of crime, cancer, wealth, poverty to the truth about the existence of UFO’s and related usual phenomena. The massive scope of technology also lends itself to the government ease in influencing media accounts and information. The barrier between truth and fiction is the most important question in the media and it is a question that no longer is under the privy of media corporations.

Our government has secretly spied on civil rights leaders and invoked national security themes to get our media outlets to partner with them on the creation and development of propaganda and disinformation. Our media outlets have partnered with the government on all types of filtered news that is reported to the American public. On many occasions this interference with the free flow of information, data and knowledge has been welcomed by our political parties and our leaders in both the private and public sector.

When the news accounts involve foreign affairs and military concerns the injection and excuse of national security surfaces, which provides cover and rationales for our government’s control, filtering and manipulation of news and information. The events in Tunisia & Egypt scare the ruling class in America, from concerns about the economic fallout to the notion that America’s poor will parrot the protests of those in the streets of Tunis & Cairo.

It is to longer a secret or a conspiracy in the modern world many governments engaged in propaganda and information for a number of reasons. It is not a far-fetched fiction that those in the ruling class and our political parties fear the possibility that America’s poor will take to the streets and engage in an American regime change.

The poor and underclass here in America share the same misfortunes , poverty, hopelessness and impotency as those in the streets of Tunisia and Egypt. The plight of the poor is a universal condition and international boundaries are not relevant nor a barrier to those suffering common fates and realities. There is hunger and homelessness right here in Detroit, whose streets share the visuals of any third world country.

It is therefore incumbent to understand how close to the edge our nation is to a civil war right here on Main Street in America, from foreclosures to high unemployment to educational systems that fail our inner city youth to prisons and jails which warehouse large proportions of America’s population.

These are perilous times for the entire world the events in the streets of foreign nations matter here in streets of America as well.

Turn it Off

In this world of the internet,cable tv,smart phones, earphones, big screen tv,social media, our very existence is frought with the banter of everything...Yet present in our very midst of existence is the simple genius of nothing.

We must become detached from the wealth of technology not because we fear the excessive usage of technology . I seek not to wage a war against technology but to begin a trek to another reality that is parallel to the world of machines.

My thrust is to appreciate and value the beauty of empty space. The landscape of silence is beautiful when the machines are not present to cloud the terrain.

Consider the moment of nothingness even if it is only a minute....The bliss of silence. The pastoral vision of nothing..

Turn if Off....

The Danger of Historical Fiction

The latest pc rage is the volume of pundits, bloggers, educators and others rushing to reject the new revised publication of Huck Finn by Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain a fictional person. PC run amuck!

A fictional person wrote a fictional novel about a fictional account of slavery, racism etc . This novel of course was a imaginary tale that had nothing to do with the authentic reality of racism during Twain's era.

I have no reservations about the removal of fiction from fiction by a fictional writer. The construct of nigger was created and invented and invoked by whites who also invented the race card.

There is nothing historical about revision of fiction. When folks start revising history and reality then I will join the herd...

AA: An Approach to Attainment

Attitude Altitude: A solution to the urban crisis in education and community growth and development.