So Much For Black Power in Congress

Just in from Yahoo
Pelosi Passes Hastings for Intel chair
WASHINGTON - In a decision that could roil Democratic unity in the new House, Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi passed over Rep. Alcee Hastings Tuesday for the chairmanship of the Intelligence Committee.

I hate to say I told you so, but DAMN!!!?!?!?!?!

It didn't take long for the Democrats to brush off the congressional Black Caucus. Rep. Hastings has a somewhat checkered past. But that is nothing new in that den of vipers, hormone's, and nonsensicalness we call Congress. In 1983, Hastings was charged, tried and ACQUITTED. (When you are white, acquitted means vindicated, when you are Black it means another Nigger got away with something.) Yeah, he was impeached, but we all know that impeachment is often more politically motivated than based on any real misconduct in our jacked up government. They tried to impeach Clinton for a blow-job, and some Democratic Congressmen supported it. But House Speaker Pelosi has stated she won't even allow the Democratic party to consider impeachment against the current administration, even before there has been any investigation.

So Rep Hastings, who has the obvious support of the majority of his constituency, by virtue of the fact that they keep electing him, is the first CBC member to be marginalized. Seniority doesn't really matter, but I guarantee you that RACE MATTERS.

Stay tuned, because this is just the first in what promises to be a long series of kicks in the butt.

Illusion of Freedom

MyUrbanReport has a fantastic post "Is Money the Root of All Evil?" Follow the link to a POWERFUL movie by Aaron Russo, "America Freedom to Fascism"

This synopsis from the website
The Film
Determined to find the law that requires American citizens to pay income tax, producer Aaron Russo ("The Rose," "Trading Places") set out on a journey to find the evidence. This film which is neither left, nor right-wing is a startling examination of government. It exposes the systematic erosion of civil liberties in America since 1913 when the Federal Reserve system was fraudulently created. Through interviews with U.S. Congressmen, a former IRS Commissioner, former IRS and FBI agents and tax attorneys and authors, Russo connects the dots between money creation, federal income tax, and the national identity card which becomes law in May 2008. This ID card will use Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips which are essentially homing devices used to track people. This film shows in great detail and undeniable facts that America is moving headlong into a fascist police state. Wake up!

If you watch this film and don't change any of your thought processes about this country and the world, you will soon have your very own embedded microchip. And it won't just be a locator or identification device, it will be something that can stop your heart if the ruling class pushes the right button.

I've been saying for years that mainstream movies are a window into what the ruling class has planned for this world. They put it out there on the big screen, so when they decide to make it a reality, most people will already be de-sensitizes, and willing to accept anything.

I also contend that even if the information from this movie gets out, most people are more than willing to trade freedom for the illusion of safety. As Benjamin Franklin said, they are deserving of neither freedom nor safety.

The only problem I have is the manifesto (or Primary Objectives) of the growing movement surrounding this film and the ideas it propagates. Again from their website:

Primary Objectives
Stop the polarization of America
Stop the domination of the Democratic and Republican parties over our political system
Shut down the Federal Reserve system
Return America's gold to Fort Knox and have it audited
Have Congress and the IRS, in a public forum, reveal the law that requires Americans to pay a direct, unapportioned tax on their labor.
Make computerized voting illegal in all 50 states
Keep the internet free and out of the control of large institutions
Rescind the law called the Real ID Act so Americans never have to carry a National ID Card
Make it illegal to implant RFID chips in human beings
Educate juries to the fact that they have the right to determine the law as well as the facts of a case
Educate juries to the fact that they are not obligated to follow the instructions of a judge
Stop Globalization because it is the path to a one world government
Protect our borders
Restore the environment
Put an end to the Patriot Act
Sign up millions of Americans so we can accomplish our objectives

Even if all these things are accomplished, it will not stop he ruling class from attempting to control the world. Protect our borders? From Whom? Who are you to say who can come and go on any piece of this planet? Make it illegal to implant RFID chips in humans? Anytime you make a new law you create a new criminal, and anyone who wants a GPS device in their butt should be allowed to get one. This objectives list is just designed to maintain the status quo, let the poor people stay in their own country and leave us rich Americans alone.

The only thing that an stop the apocalyptic scenario painted by "America Freedom to Fascism" is a universal realization that things must change completely. We must find a way to completely remove any temptation for one group to dominate any other. That will require a complete overhaul of our beliefs about property, resources, government, wealth, justice, and the world community for a start. Most people are too set in their old ways to even contemplate that kind of sweeping change.

Police Lie and Niggas Die

The police in Atlanta lied, the police in New York Lied, the police in Dekalb county lied, and the police action in Iraq is one big lie. And don't just think it's a couple of rogue cops. Just like in Iraq, the lies start at the top and work their way down. The police chief and all of the agencies investigating these police shootings are lying when they say it takes a long time to investigate these incidents. It doesn't take any time to give us the full story on any non-controversial arrest. They lay all the evidence on the table to show what a good job they have done, and give full scale interviews answering questions, and putting their theories out there real quick, until the incident involves possible police misconduct. Then all of a sudden, it takes weeks to interview witnesses, and process crime scenes. Police lie and Niggas Die.

Denzel Washington won an Oscar for his leading role in Training Day. At first, I was a bit put off that he would be recognized for such a despicable role. Then as I thought about it, I realized that somebody made a Freudian slip. They messed up, and put the truth out there for all to see, and then they gave the truth an Award for being so uncompromising. Training Day was the most realistic depiction of modern day police culture that has ever been made. You would do well to go back and watch that movie with an eye towards the little things. The rehearsed stories about what happened when they turn on their pet drug dealer (who was also an ex-cop). The relationships between the police and the bad guys. The willingness to do anything to get the "job" done. The fact that all the officers expected promotions to better positions after serving on the narco squad. The fact that entire police hierarchy was involved in the corruption, primarily because the top cops were graduates from the school of corrupt cops. The only thing that wasn't realistic was the one (white) cop who wouldn't go along with the program. They wouldn't have had to work that hard in real life to get him to turn. You see how quickly he was willing to use drugs to fit in. No way he would have drawn a line in the sand after that. He watched and participated in so much corrupt activity before he all of a sudden turned noble, it could easily be inferred that those illegal behaviors were not the exception but rather the rule.

But we don't want to believe that. We don't want to believe that the apple is indeed rotten to the core. We don't want to believe it, even in the face of centuries of evidence. Because to believe that is to finally and forever admit that the entire system is completely screwed up. The original "police" were called "Thief takers". They were in fact thieves who were set to catch other thieves. To this day, it is a maxim (largely unspoken outside of the police culture) that it takes a thief to catch a thief, or that the best cops would also make the best crooks. Before you dismiss me as a cop hater, understand that I am not condemning any individual police officer, rather this is an indictment the entire culture of law enforcement that creates the conditions that breed so many bad cop incidents. Any of these individual bad cops, have probably performed heroic acts of courage and humanitarian efforts during their careers. But the culture of law enforcement that we glorify in this society is rotten. Power does indeed corrupt, and the almost absolute power that law enforcement wields over much of the population has corrupted almost absolutely any chance that there will ever be consistent fairness and justice in law enforcement. I'll give you the fact that they do more good acts than bad ones, but the bad far outweighs the good. Police lie and Niggas die.

BTW, I know some of you won't appreciate my choice of words, but it's past time to call a spade a spade (pun intended). If the word "Nigger" or any of it's derivatives offends your sensibilities then you need to practice getting angry and offended more often and for better reason.

Update n Black Power in Congress

From the Huffington Post, Rev. Al Sharpton has this to say about the hoped for ascendancy of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and what that could mean for diversity and progress in government.

Democrats, It's Time to Sober Up
"Keep us forever in the path, we pray...Lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee," wrote James W. Johnson in "Lift every Voice and Sing," the Black National Anthem.
Now is a time of great celebration for the Democratic Party. But drunk upon our victories, we must not forget what all this winning is truly for...
For years Democratic candidates have courted the black community with promises, have played upon our fears of Republican rule. And it worked. In this election alone, we invested more than 90 percent of our vote in the Democrats.
And we would like to see some returns.
But signs that this will actually happen look bleak.

Those are Rev. Al's words on the subject. It seems I'm not the only one who is pessimistic that the so-called victories of the 2006 Mid-Term elections will mean anything substantive for the Black agenda. I read another article recently that referred to a memo leaked from some major pharmaceutical company. The memo basically state that since they had lost many of their republican supporters in the House and Senate, it was time to find Democratic supporters. In layman's term that means they have to find someone else to put on their payroll. Don't fool yourself into thinking that the new powers that be aren't just as interested in the perks and profit that the old regime has monopolized the past decade. Ever hear about the"K Street Project"?

But the real juice in this post is the comments. For example this one,
"We are in a very critical point in our history. We need smart people who get things done. I do not care what the color or ethnic background is, I want the best people to do the job because this country is going down the poo poo chute. With all due respect, Rev. Sharpton, your logic gave us Clarence Thomas and Condi Rice. Color should not be the criteria!!! "

Or this one,
"As much as I agree with The good Rev. of many issues, he should be reminded that diversity should also include Hispanics, Asians and anyone not named. Unless, the good Rev. is seeking a Black and White US, he should justify his role as a civil rights activist that promotes the inclusion and promotion of all racial and ethnic groups"

Most of these comments (on every blog but the obvious Black-owned and operated blogs) are posted by non-black people. Read through those comments and what you see is a microcosm of "liberal" white America. Not one of them is bold enough to really speak the truth, but read between the lines and most of the comments speak to a need for even more assimilation by Blacks. They don't see any need for a black agenda, as if the problems facing Blacks in America are the same problems that every other person, minority or otherwise faces. They say the time for seeing color is past. They want us to believe that this country is a Meritocracy, and that Blacks will be better represented if/when we make ourselves "qualified" for leadership positions. They want us to go back to the old days of a little singing, a little marching, and very little real progress. They could care less about the Black agenda, diversity, or any of the CBC members. They needed the Black vote to win, the pandered to us to get that vote, and now they will ignore us until the next time they need us. Why? Because we have already shown time and time again that we will continue to vote for the lesser of two evils and continue to hope that somehow, this time things will be different. That's the definition of insanity, and they will continue to take advantage of our insanity as long as we allow it.

Blacks Gain Power in New Congress

Over on Topix.net there is a reprint of an Associated Press article on how Congressional Black Caucus members who have been getting re-elected time and time again by communities with little choice in the matter, will now reap the benefits of that seniority by being appointed as leaders of several influential House committees and sub-committees.

This is it, right? This is what we've been waiting for? We are finally going to be in a position to do things that we always wanted to do. Make laws that help us, and affect real change in the government of these United States. This is the moment that Jesse, Al, and others have prophesied.

I want to be the first to go on record saying that I do not believe that the ascendency of our Black elected officials is going to make one bit off difference in the overall scheme of things. I have seen how White Republican and Democratic party leaders wield their power in congress. I predict that things will be much different in the upcoming Congress. I do not think that the Black agenda will be served anymore with our so-called leaders in more powerful positions. I'm not even sure there is a Black agenda, in spite of the fact that there is a Black Caucus.

Stay tuned as I plan to follow this particular item closely. I'd really love for them to prove me wrong, but.......

Update on Police Shooting Groom

Information is slowly beginning to leak out, as the authorities scramble to frame this deplorable incident in the best possible terms for the powers that be. I know for a fact that it doesn't take this long to firgure out the details in an investigation where all the physical evidence and all of the witnesses are immediately available for processing. Cover-ups, now there's a different story. It takes a while to get a good cover-up in place.

Pay careful attention to the recitation of police procedure. NYPD procedure, as well as most other police departments with policies updated in this century, states unequivocably that shooting at moving vehicle is a No-No.

Talking Reparations with MyUrbanReport

From the MyUrbanReport Blog:

A Conversation About Reparations
From A.man.I
I recently spoke to Minister Ishmael Abdul-Salaam about reparations. He's a National Chairman with AFRE (All For Reparations and Emancipation).The group is working to obtain reparations for people in the African diaspora who've been affected by the slave trade. Slavery was an interntional business that many countries participated in, including the U.S. Congressman John Conyers (D) Michigan has been trying to pass a reparations bill since 1989 (H.R. 40).

I hate to sound pessimistic, but you can call, write , or stalk your congessional representatives forever, and they will never take a stand for reparations for descendents of slavery and government sanctioned oppression against Blacks in the U.S. It's not going to happen because your representatives have little or no real power. They are simply pawns in the great game of Capitalism.

Little Kim said it best, "MONEY, POWER, RESPECT, it's the key to life." The Japanese got reparations because this country could no longer afford a bad relationship with the global Japanese market. They own half of America now. Can't have them calling in all those loans cause we didn't apologize. Blacks have no real money, power, or respect in the Global community, and therefore, no foundation from which to DEMAND (not beg for) obviously long overdue reparations.

The Most Dangerous Man in Iraq?

Over on HuffPo...........
From msnbc.com
One way to understand Moqtada al-Sadr is to think of him as a young Mafia don. He aims for respectability, and is willing to kill for it. Yet the extent of his power isn't obvious to the untrained eye. He has no standing army or police force, and the Mahdi Army gunmen he employs have no tanks or aircraft. You could mistake him--at your peril--for a common thug or gang leader. And if he or his people were to kill you for your ignorance, he wouldn't claim credit. But the message would be clear to those who understand the brutal language of the Iraqi Street.
American soldiers who patrol Sadr's turf in Baghdad understand. They can spot his men. "They look like they're pulling security," says First Lt. Robert Hartley, a 25-year-old who plays cat and mouse with the Mahdi Army in the Iraqi capital. The Sadrists use children and young men as lookouts. When GIs get out of their Humvees to patrol on foot, one of the watchers will fly a kite, or release a flock of pigeons. Some of Sadr's people have even infiltrated top ranks of the Iraqi police. Capt. Tom Kapla, 29, says he knows who they are: "They look at you, and you can tell they want to kill you."

My take on this is simple. We can kill any Iraqi we want to, or as many as we want to, and there will always be another to take their place as the "most dangerous". How would any "American" react if some other country decided to come over here and enforce their way of life on you by bombing you into submission? I know I trained my children to fight to the death against any attacker. Live free or die fighting; Never give up. Why should we expect anything less from anyone else?

Some people say you can't achieve peace through war. I beg to differ. There is one way to do it. You simply have to be willing to kill all the enemy. Every man, woman and child. In fact, that's been the only real plan any of these warmongers have ever had, and too many of us are too foolish to realize it. Look at the story on Huffington Post and read the comments. Discount the obvious imperilists who think we should turn the entire Middle East into a glass parking lot. (For those who don't know it, that's code speak for nuking the hell out of them. Lots of heat + losts of sand = lots of glass.) Even the supposed liberal and anti-war comments seem to believe that we can achieve something positive with just a little more targeted killing. The brown man all over the world is wise to the ways of the white man. Some of them, like many Iraqi people, have adopted a position that we applaud when it's coming from the anti-defamation league. "NEVER AGAIN".

Cops Shoot Up Bachelpr Party - Kill Groom

It's undisputed that there were no guns here except the police guns. One cop fired 31 shots by himself. That's two full clips and one more from carrying a chambered round. Any justification for that much shooting should be readily apparant to anyone, therefore there is no justification for it. This goes beyond excessive. Nobody who is not under intense return fire can justify having to fire that many times. For example the police in Los Angeles who had the massive shootout against the commando bank robbers several years ago. That's the kind of clear justification that I'm talking about. That cop should be fired first and investigated next. To make matters worse, These pitiful police officers put less than 50% of their shots on a target as big as a car. (Remember the old lady in Atlanta hit at least 5 of 6 rounds, maybe 5 of 5.)

The police are trigger happy sometimes, probably this time, but it's more about how we allow the police to operate. We want them doing undercover stings in strip clubs to stop consenting adults from having sex and smoking weed. We want to see the big drug bust or the sordid sex spots raided. I'll say it again, We are asking for this partly because we have confused morality with law and order.

Well, we have some live witnesses this time, for all the good that will do. Rev. Al is all over this one, and while I respect the man for everything he has done, his involvement is necessarily going to have this issue framed as nothing more than the same old racism. It's more than that, but that's what will dominate the coverage of this incident. What little coverage there will be.......

Response To Nigger Controversy

Response to Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Nigga Please.
Are you offended by that statement? I intended to offend you. (I couldn't figure out any other way to get through to you.)
Intent is the key here. Words have value, express concepts and ideas. That's what words are for. Intent can come through no matter what words are used. It's o.k. for me to have a coon dog, but I will smack down anyone who calls me a coon in a derogatory manner and with malicious intent.
No one needs any particular word(s) to reinforce racism. Any word or no word at all will do. Every word that has ever been used to refer to non-white people has also been used to denigrate them. When those words aren't enough, they will invent or co-opt words that have other meanings. Has anyone ever called you a Black bastard? Bastard wasn't bad enough, they had to denigrate your racial heritage as well. It wouldn't matter if they called you a Nigger bastard, a African bastard, a Darky bastard, or a Spade bastard. They have an intrinsic antipathy towards your racial heritage.
The problem with your analysis of the word nigger is that it is based on a faulty premise that confuses racism with prejudice, and racial xenophobia with ethnocentricity. Dr. Frances Cress Welsing presented the only good definition of racism that I have ever seen in, "The Cress Theory of Color Confrontation". Racism has, is, and always will be synonymous with white supremacy. The rest of us cannot be racist because we do not have the Power to be racists. No non-white person in the history of the world has ever had the intent to subjugate and oppress the entire white race or any other race. The stated goal and insidious purpose of the system of white supremacy, under which the entire world are now exists, is to reduce non-white people to a submissive, powerless state.
Words are just words. Maybe you should look deeper.

Police Shoot Because We Let Them

A 92 year old woman is shot and killed in a police raid. (As disgusted as I am with the insane events and conditions that caused her death, I have to smile when I think of this courageous elder defending herself, fighting fire with fire, however mistaken her actions. I don't know what she was holding or how many shots she got off, but I do know from experience that putting five shots on three attacking targets in a low light gunfight is outstanding for a trained professional.) A Dekalb county, Georgia police officer shot and killed a knife wielding woman. This is the 12th fatal police shooting in Dekalb County this year, and people are beginning to notice. Across the nation there has been a marked increase in police involved shootings and a concurrent increase in the number of fatal police shootings. There is a problem and nobody is going to acknowlege it. For what it's worth, here's my two cents.

I grew up few miles from where the 92 year old was killed and I live in Dekalb County so these shootings are very personal for me. I am a former police officer, former criminal defense investigator, former public defender law intern, former military security specialist, and current lawyer. I'm not blowing my own horn here, just letting you know I have a bit of experience and knowledge in this area. I have the highest respect for the law enforcement profession, because I know what it takes to be good at it and I know what it can take out of a good person. Many police officers that I have known really do intend to help. They will throw themselves into harms way for complete strangers, displaying every day what the bible calls the greatest love, giving their lives for another.

Unfortunately, there are fundamental flaws in law enforcement that contribute to the disturbing upward trend in police shootings. Minorities are most likely to be on the "bullet end" of police shootings, and that continues to raise the specter of racism and and discrimination in law enforcement. There have been numerous studies, speeches, and marches conducted on that subject, and although I agree that race is very much an issue in law enforcement, that's not my main point. I am not discounting the impact that the proliferation of guns in this society has on this trend, but that's not my main point either. (In fact, often the victims of police shootings do not even have guns. Not counting "mistakes" where the police "thought" they saw a gun, I'm talking about cases where officers felt the need to shoot unarmed suspects or ones armed with something other than a gun.)

The fundamental flaws that concern me are the direction and mission that law enforcement has been given or taken upon itself, and the training and procedures that support that mission. Most of us would agree that we expect police to protect and assist when needed, to investigate crimes, and to catch criminals. The police function is more about being the overseer and enforcer of government authority. This prime directive permeates all law enforcement agencies and is clearly reflected throughout the police culture. We have been bamboozled into believing that the world is so full of bad people that we need commando cops to keep us safe. Not true, but it allows the police to justify their para-military demeanor and practices. More and more we are confronted with the price for allowing this to culture to continue to exist.

The majority voice is most often heard asking for the police to solve issues that overseers and enforcers are ill-equipped to handle. Put simply we don't need the police if we are serious about living in a safer world. Drug abuse is a medical problem, not a law enforcement issue. Drug dealing is pure economics, and violence associated with it is mostly becuase it's not legal. Otherwise, it would be conducted much like any other commerce. Heard of any local liquor store or legal drug store owners in a shootout over territory? As long as there are buyers there will be sellers. Nothing the police can do about any of that.

If you want to stop speeding, and drunk driving, we are technologically capapble of controlling the speed of every vehicle on the road and keeping intoxicated people from operating cars. Licensing, registration, and insuring vehicles is simply a way to criminalize poverty. The government wastes enough tax money already, and if insurance for everyone was so important then it should be part of the national budget rather than left to individual idiosyncrasies and economic stability. Too many police use traffic offenses for revenue generating, or improvised probable cause when profiling.

Most crimes are the result of mental illness, economic necessity, or domestic crimes of passion which are often fueled by drug abuse or the stress of economic desperation. Corporate criminals pillage billions each year, but get scant attention from law enfordement. It's obvious that the overseer/enforcer is not able to deal with any of the core issues causing crime, but they are the front line anyway. Few people even pretend that our prison system does anything but create and harden a permanent criminal class, and inhumanly house societies undesireables until they are past their "prime offending years". Yet we continue to call for more of the same old "law and order".

It's time for a serious debate about the core issues contributing to the failure and frustration of contemporary law enforcement. Or we will continue to focus on the superficial symptoms and bury the collateral damage.

Video the Vote

I have volunteered to be a videographer for the Video the Vote effort. I still think today's election is about as legitimate as your average online casino. The fix is in. See HBO's special on Hacking Democracy, or American Blackout if you don't believe me. There is little doubt that there have been at least two very questionable elections in 2000 and 2004. I know that electronic voting machines can be tampered with, I know that elections are important enough for someone to try to cheat, I know that there are people in a position to cheat and not get caught. What kind of fool am I to think there will be no cheating?

I refuse to sit down and play a fixed poker game, and I refuse to play a fixed voting game either. However, in an effort to demonstrate that I am not divorcing myself from the process completely, I am working to try to defend the right to a fair election and fair voting for those of you who still think it matters. It's kind of like when I was a policeman, I knew that what I was doing wasn't helping, but I still went through the motions. So today I will be helping to police the election. I was a good cop, and I will be a good videographer if need be.

I just don't think that documenting, yet again, the myriad ways people try to unfairly influence elections begins to address the really problem that elections are now being stolen behind the scenes. Whether it's electronic voting, or punch cards, or any other secret ballot method, in today's highly advanced technological society, the opportunity for abuse is rampant. Those who would wish to tamper with an election are intelligent enough to do so without being completely transparent, although they tend to leave plenty of evidence if one chooses to look for it. They also recognize that they only have to accomplish relatively small amounts of tampering (i.e. swing one state out of 50, like say Florida or maybe Ohio, or within that one state they would only need to tamper with a small number of votes to swing usually close elections.)

The State Of Black Atlanta (or America)

The State of Black Atlanta, or Black America, discussion has been around for the entire 40 years I have been alive. We have framed the discussion incorrectly all that time. As a lawyer, I know that when you ask the wrong question you will most likely get the wrong answer. But nobody, especially no political or public figure, wants to speak on the real problem. The real problem is POVERTY AND THE INEQUITABLE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND RESOURCES. Every other "problem" we face is directly related to that core dynamic. Education, healthcare, social security, crime, jobs, terrorism, wars, taxes, and any other “issue” that politicians and pundits imagine, are all just symptoms of the larger problem. Most of the corruption in government can be traced back to the great paper chase. Politics is a very lucrative racket. “Morality” issues would not be issues at all if we had better things to do than getting in other folks business, and are only used to drive wedges between people. Divide and conquers is a tool of the ruling elite.

Poverty, the most fundamental of issues, isn’t addressed directly because we are socialized to love wealth. We aspire to wealth above all else, and we won’t demonize that which we fervently hope to achieve. Those who currently have wealth consider themselves to be deserving of their circumstance, and rarely speak against their obvious self-interest. In fact the problem is not wealth; rather it’s inequitable distribution of wealth. This is a nation and world of “haves” and “have-nots”. The “haves” are a tiny minority but exercise control over most of the resources. Their only motivating factor in their actions is the bottom line of more profit. My father, a retiree from Ford, just had his health insurance snatched away because the “haves” decided that even though he worked all those years and was promised health insurance for his service, their bottom line was ultimately more important. No local, state, or federal elected official has said, or will ever say, a mumbling word about it. There will be no mention of this because Ford has lobbyists and more money than my poor father and all the other employees combined who labored under the delusion that there was light at the end of that tunnel.

The conversation about the State of Black Atlanta (or America) is the same superficial rehashing of superficial issues, combined with the same call to action of participation in the electoral process. I don’t mean to appear demeaning to the organizers or participants in these discussions, but that is reality as I see it. We continue to frame the discussion in the wrong terms therefore nothing improves. An age old truth is that if you continue to do what you always do, you will continue to get what you always get. It is not now, nor has it ever been, all about voting for the right candidate. There are times when there is NO RIGHT CANDIDATE. I heard the most popular radio personality in Atlanta applaud a caller for going to vote after she admitted that she had no idea about the issues or the candidates. Is this what our precious right to vote is reduced to? I hear all the time that if I don't vote then I am afraid, apathetic, ignorant, irresponsible, or some other negative that makes me less than a good citizen. None of that is true. It is also a blatant and callous attack on the messenger rather than a sober reflection on the message. I and millions others like me simply refuse to continue to play a fixed game. Just like I don't play “three card monte” on street corners, I don't play any game that I know or have reason to suspect the outcome will be unfairly manipulated.

I felt so bad for all the people who were kicked in the stomach by that reality in 2000, and again in 2004. But I am a realist and I knew it was coming, even as I participated in the elections and “get out the vote” efforts. It's going to happen again this year, and it has absolutely nothing to do with how many of us play the voting game. I am simply not under the illusion that the “haves” will allow anything to threaten their position. I don’t offer an alternative or solution here because we have yet to acknowledge the actual problem. Solutions in that environment are useless. I will say that the alternatives and solutions require an understanding that "Power Concedes Nothing, Except to a Greater Power." I went to Frederick Douglass High School in Atlanta, and every school day for 5 years I walked past that quote from Mr. Douglass. We continue to ignore the wisdom of our ancestors at our peril.

My position won’t get equal time, because it runs counter to everything the mainstream wants to believe, and everything the powers that be want them to think. I know I will be accused of being divisive, distracting, and detrimental for even raising this issue the day before the election. I know that proponents of voting won’t welcome a serious debate over their core philosophy. They are devoting all of their time and energy to the eminent elections. Most people aren’t very willing to hear challenges to their fundamental belief systems at any time. I don’t get that luxury because my beliefs in this area run counter to the mainstream. I am challenged constantly. As I write this on the eve of the November 2006 mid-term elections, I am barraged by the “get out and vote” message from all sides. So I have little sympathy for the unfortunate timing. We only think about voting when it’s time to vote, so this must be the time to address all reasoned positions on the issue.

I know the sacrifices that were made to get us the right to vote. I understand why there is such a reluctance to admit that the path we believed would take us to the mountaintop has instead left us wandering in the wilderness. Dr. King realized this near the end of his time. He articulated his concern that we were integrating into a burning house, and that we had focused on civil rights when we should have addressed poverty as the major focus of the movement. Unless and until we begin to realize that the challenges ahead of us must be met with a new plan and a new program, we will continue to address 21st century issues with a 19th century mentality. We will continue to treat the symptoms of the cancer, more concerned with skin blemishes than with the fact that our vital internal organs are in the grips of a deadly disease. We will continue to do the things we have always done, and expecting things to change. We continue to practice this insanity and we will ultimately reap the disaster we have sown.