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....