The Racial Impact of the Racial Impact of Eric Striker: A Year Later, "We Still Need To Talk..."

An interesting discussion about race and music this morning preceded an awesome article on racism and sports. We must continue to talk about race in an open and honest way.

First, music is just another area where some Black Americans want it both ways. They want to keep the music pure and untouched by big business. They also want to commercial success that comes from being recognized and accepted by the mainstream. Plainly, they want the Billboard numbers and the Grammy plaques and when a 'black' artist does that, they want to call that artist a sellout.

Mainstream music is simple. This is America. We are still the model for capitalism. Music is business. American businesses have the goal of selling to as many people as possible, ideally every person. The idea that a business will intentionally ignore 87% of the population (non-black Americans) is ridiculous. The minute an artist signs to a major distribution label, that artist 'sold out.' At the moment the artist signed, that artist committed to selling as many records/albums/downloads to as many people as possible, all 100% of America. In layman terms, that means 'black artists' want to sell to white music listeners. (White Americans being the current majority of the population.) Or, at least, the labels these black artists are signed to want to and those artists contracts say they agree and cooperate with that effort. Labels are preparing themselves for the next majority by signing Latin artists to sing pop songs so they can pass for now and be prepared to switch to catering to the new majority (Latinos) shift happens.

With that being said, we must be responsible in our discussion of race. That we have to discuss race is as certain as all humans needing clean air to breath. That we have to be responsible in that discussion is absolute. The race profiteers will not be tolerated nor entertained. America has no room for people who use race/racism as an excuse to be an asshole. Drug dealers are wrong. Black drug dealers cannot use the 'this is all they'll let me do' argument as an excuse to ruin communities. There are/have been/will be multimillionaire black drug dealers who continue to treat their front businesses like crap. Instead of actually helping their community by going legit; lowering the black unemployment rate to match the national average by hiring and paying above the table; growing their businesses into political powerhouses, these 'men' continually suck the life out of their communities. Drug dealing is just an analogy for black men/women who use race as an excuse for crime.

White Americans can neither determine when the race issue is over nor can they become frustrated when race is brought up. That is not a pass to use racial slurs against White Americans. Responsible discussion does not mean nor includes mud slinging. The fact is the majority of white America has suffered because of the invention of race. No where near as much as any other race but most of white America stands to gain by participating in a responsible discussion of race.

The main racial issue in America is parity. Parity is the final frontier in race. It may be the final frontier in democratic justice. Parity means much more than equality. Parity is a more complete term. Equality means social integration and cultural assimilation, as it pertains to race. Parity is a more than that. Parity means that 'white' schools become integrated but not at the expense of 'black' schools. Instead, 'white' schools AND 'black' schools get integrated and all schools share equal resources. Parity means the end of haves and have nots in the public realm. Parity means that statistics like black business ownership and black unemployment are closer to (if not equal to) the national averages. Parity doesn't require gifts or hand outs from one race to another. It simply needs and open and honest dialogue. This all means that Black America can solve many of its problems on its own. What is needed is a dialogue to erase many of the lingering resentments on all sides. What all races need to understand is that racism wasn't propagated in order to put down one race (or more) to promote another race. That is racism wasn't and isn't for the benefit of White America at the expense of Black America. Racism is about putting down ALL races, creating division and confusion so the rich (1%) can get and stay rich.

The key for America's growth is transparency. We must be able to discuss the merits of a sub-group's philosophies or actions as they apply to the country as a whole. Many militant groups, of all races, are a detriment to the country on their own. A dialogue will provide education and reveal profiteers to each group thereby fostering cooperation towards every group's common goal, the success of the nation. People who have blatant bias and prejudice should be allowed to express.themselves in hopes of gaining a better understanding of other groups. Once we are out and open with each other, we can come together as a nation to hunt out those closet racists and race manipulators who harbor secret feelings and stir up strife/division. We don't want to push racism into the closet. We want to be able to speak/talk about everything. We want to tell those 'white' frats across the country that their sophomoric jokes will not help race relations in the country. We want to hear their explanations then educate them on appropriate statements. After all, these are barely twenty somethings who have yet to experience the world. College students are often the best and brightest our country has to offer but we must always remember they are still learning the best ways to contribute their talents to the world. By making positive examples of incidents like these, we encourage stronger contributions to the racial dialogue.

In towns like Ferguson, MO it is up to all Americans to see that the problems are much bigger than police-community relations. No matter what twists and turns society takes, there will always be laws and men/women appointed to enforce those laws. Probity dictates that the American issue is the quality of our law enforcement and the protocols we are using to fight crime. The issue in Ferguson is race. In Ferguson, we see that the black community is ill prepared to govern themselves as a result of decades of race profiteering. There are some major problems when a locality is not governed in a representative way, especially in a republic. Democracy is not working and we have to ask why. We would not expect a city like Portland. (70% white) to be run almost exclusively by black people including a 99% black police force. That is not to say Ferguson should have an all black police force, city council and mayor but one would expect a more representative government.

Nearly a year later, Eric Striker is out of college and the NFL and Colin Kaepernick has taken up Eric Striker's banner of demanding a dialogue. The resistance is just what we might have expected. In 2016, White-Americans are violently resistant to the idea that they could be racist or related to a racist. At the same, more and more Americans are being exposed as racists.

But we are talking, even if, being that awkward beginning stage, a great deal of people are talking stupid. We have to realize that irrationality is response to change. We tend to be ridiculous in our resistance to change. Change is certainly coming. It will be radical. It will be difficult and it will be painful.

But we will survive. And we will be better for it. 

Malcolm X's Independence Speech and Black Nationalism Today

On March 12, 1964, after being censured by the Nation Of Islam, Malcolm X broke his silence with this statement on his beliefs and his plans for his community.

In 1994/5, I performed this speech many times at speech and debate competitions. Mostly I wanted to be different from the Martin Luther King crowd. back then, I thought there was a difference between Martin and Malcolm. I believed there was a split in the Black thought. I chose Malcolm. My journey showed me there could be split. Once I removed divisive thoughts from my perspective these words made a lot more sense.

After twenty years of forgetting theses words and not seeing them, today I am amazed at having developed a much deeper understanding of Black Nationalism that leads me back to these words...

This is everything I've learned and believe in as it pertains to Black Nationalism. It seems very timely given the atmosphere today...

Because 1964 threatens to be a very explosive year on the racial front, and because I myself intend to be very active in every phase of the American Negro struggle for human rights, I have called this press conference this morning in order to clarify my own position in the struggle, especially in regards to politics and nonviolence.

I am and always will be a Muslim. My religion is Islam. I still believe that Mr. Muhammad's analysis of the problem is the most realistic, and that his solution is the best one. This means that I too believe that the best solution is complete separation, with our people going back home, that is, to our African homeland.

But separation back to Africa is still a long-range program, and while it is yet to materialize, 22 million of our people who are still here in America need better food, better clothing, better housing, better education and better jobs right now. Mr. Muhammad's program does point us back homeward, but it also contains within it what we could and should be doing to help solve our own problems right now while we're still in America.

But internal differences within the Nation of Islam forced me out of it. I did not leave of my own free will. But now that it has happened, I intend to make the most of it. Now that I have more independence of action, I intend to use a more flexible approach toward working with others to get a solution to this problem.

I'm not out to fight other Negro leaders or other Negro organizations. We must find a common approach, a common solution, to a common problem. As of this minute, I have forgotten everything bad that the other leaders have said about me, and I pray they can also forget the many bad things I've said about them. The problem facing our people here in America is bigger than all the other personal or organizational differences. Therefore, as leaders, we must stop worrying about the threat that we seem to think we pose to each other's personal prestige, and concentrate our united efforts toward solving the unending hurt that is being done daily to our people here in America.

I am going to organize and head a new mosque in New York City, known as the Muslim Mosque Incorporated. This gives us a religious base, and the spiritual force necessary to rid our people of the vices that destroy the moral fiber of our community.

Our political philosophy will be black nationalism. Our economic and social philosophy will be black nationalism. Our cultural emphasis will be upon black nationalism.

Many of our people aren't religiously inclined, so the Muslim Mosque, Incorporated, will be organized in such manner to provide for the active participation of all Negroes in our political, economic, and social programs, despite their religious or non-religious beliefs.

The political philosophy of black nationalism means: we must control the politics and the politicians of our own community. They must no longer take orders from outside forces, and we will organize, and sweep out of office all Negro politicians who are puppets for these outside forces.

Our accent will be upon youth. We need new ideas, new methods, new approaches. We will call upon young students of political science throughout the nation to help us. We will encourage these young students to launch their own independent study, and then give us their analysis and their suggestions. We are completely disenchanted with the old, adult, established politicians. We want to see some new faces, more militant faces.

Concerning nonviolence: it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks. It is legal and lawful in this country to own a shotgun or a rifle. We believe in obeying the law. In areas where our people are the constant victims of brutality, and the government seems unable or unwilling to protect them, we should form rifle clubs that can be used to defend ourselves and our property in times of emergency, such as happened last year in Birmingham Alabama, in Plaquemine, Louisiana in Cambridge, Maryland and in Danville, Virginia. When our people are being bitten by dogs, they are within their rights to kill those dogs. We should be peaceful, law-abiding—but the time has come for the American Negro to fight back in self-defense whenever and wherever he is being unjustly and unlawfully attacked. 

If the government thinks I am wrong for saying this, then let the government start doing its job.

Donald Sterling and Black America's Responsibility

 I’m not happy because none of my questions were answered. And I have a ton. Unfortunately for Black America, they aren’t for Donald Sterling or the NBA. They are for the rest of America, the 99%. I like how every is scrambling to distance their selves from Donald Sterling. However, they cannot distance themselves from all the questions and revelations I’ve had since Friday. And they are legion. 

I've known that Donald Sterling was racist. I did forget about it because I don't think of him much. What I do remember is bringing his racism up in the 90's and being met with excuses to keep supporting the NBA and pro sports from some of the same people feigning outrage today. I've supported the Clippers despite Donald Sterling for a long time. I will continue to do so without him now. 

I don't know what makes people think their team's owner is any different. His friend Dr. Jerry Buss advised him to buy an NBA team so many years ago. What if their only difference was management styles? And even if no other NBA owner is as racist, elitist as Donald Sterling, aren't there some bigger economic issues with the structure of professional sports and their main feeder system, college athletics?

This thing got so big so quick that my economics professor had to make a connection as she was describing how the Confederacy convinced poor white men to fight and die for rich white men. "Americans have a tendency to connect with their betters" But why? Why does every black person believe they are the specific black people that he doesn't want in his seats? Does she have some special charity where she puts gold digging to the side and dates middle class black men? You, the middle class black people, are more than welcome in the Staples Center. Just don’t sit in his seat and don’t touch his gold digger.

Speaking of gold digging, who made the tapes? We now know it was the mistress. Who sold the tapes? TMZ admitted to paying someone for the tapes. Obviously it was also the mistress. Who stands to benefit the most from them being “leaked”? (Tearing another team down is of no benefit to any other team, so it's not the Lakers) Sterling is actually estranged from his wife who was supposed to have been given the Clippers as a gift. Maybe she wants her team…

Some questions for Black America:
The NAACP is hoping that no one will ever question them for obviously selling a lifetime achievement award. Something tells me Donald Sterling is not the only one. How many of these ‘leaders’ and organizations are complicit in selling out our community for the maintenance of the status quo. I listened to this woman who was 'active' in the community call in to Front Page with Dominique Duprima Monday morning call for a rally and a panel... Basically, she wanted to get paid to, once again, stand up and cry for change but never enact any change.

This constant begging for justice from outside our community is disheartening. Justice is always in our own hands. I’m reminded of the common saying, “There is no justice, it’s just us.” What’s wrong with it being just us? Why can’t we be responsible for our own destiny? Whenever we encounter an employer from outside our community mistreating us, it occurs to me that we could just employ ourselves. I am reminded of how quickly we abandoned the Negro Leagues after Jackie Robinson’s success. I am reminded of the decline of HBCUs in the years following Brown vs The Board of Education.

Why speak on boycotting the Clippers? Donald Sterling owns A LOT more than The Clippers. Why wasn't their initial reaction enough? Why can’t we ever wait for a proper response? Someone tried to compare the inside out jerseys to the 1968 Olympics.  Tommie Smith and John Carlos won and made their statement from the winners stand. Why can’t we support our players for 14 more wins and let Doc Rivers and Chris Paul make their statements with trophies in their hands?

Tony Muhammad made the statement, "This is a moment in history" and the problem is that we keep waiting on "moments in history". We keep waiting on jobs instead of creating jobs. Sometimes when people talk about us walking around with our hands out, they are not talking about welfare programs. They are talking our refusal to be responsible for ourselves. This is and always has been a country of owners. On that level, we refuse to participate. We’d rather be employees instead of employers.

I keep hearing people talk about eradicating racist ideas from everyone’s minds. None of that matters. There is this crazy idea that we can force everyone to be nice or, better yet, that someone being nice or not has any effect on our success. We can't and it doesn't. This event is a call to action for Black America. We can continue to keep our hands out for whatever scraps the rest or America sees fit to drops us. Or, we can build/rebuild/create strong businesses and institutions within our community that will withstand whatever name calling/bigotry others will try to distract us with.

I will not stand by and maintain the status quo. We cannot afford to let any of the traditional institutions stand. They have all failed to serve anyone but themselves. Jason Mitchell called for the pulling of the Los Angeles NAACP‘s charter. I call for a complete abandoning of the NAACP. They’ve been for sell to the highest bidder for over a century. We can start supporting and encouraging the building of black business. That is an immediate MUST.  The current black business leaders are fine but we need more. We need enough options so that Magic’s ownership group doesn’t have to include people from outside our community. 

Battle Blog #1: Michelle Obama vs. Clutch

So I’m on a mission to become a battle blogger. My new deal is finding bad writers, sell-outs and frauds and starting shit with them.

            Target 1: Althea Legal-Miller’s article in Clutch Magazine this morning

From the title I could tell where she was going with the article. Michelle Obama Undressed: Lost in Translation or Just Racist? Who wouldn’t pick racist? Racism is popular again. And who’s responsible? Clutch and Althea Legal Miller for taking the easy way out.

While she is aware of the background behind the image of Michelle Obama, Legal-Miller chose to gloss over the details and direct the readers to her simplistic view of things. “We must be vigilant” So look at things my way. I have to make it under the word limit so let me NOT bother to explain the article or the portrait. Let’s not bother with the fact that Michelle Obama is the only black subject in a portfolio of art nudes that includes Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, Kate Middleton, Albert Einstein and The President. That doesn’t matter neither does it matter that the portrait is based on a portrait of a recently freed French slave, a symbol of freedom (for women and black people) in France.

            “Michelle Tataranieta De Esclava, Dueña De América” (Michelle Granddaughter of a Slave, Lady of America) It’s (Michelle great-granddaughter of slave, owner of America) Lost in Translation? How about, I didn’t even bother to translate? I’m just mad about a bunch of stuff in America so let’s just call it racist. That way, we don’t have to bother learning about other cultures or histories. Understanding people’s differences is not our job. They’re just supposed to understand us. How hard is that?

            Apparently, it must be easier to understand us than it is for a writer/journalist to use google chrome to translate the Spanish newspaper into English. And, of course, we’ve never met an artist who assumes we should already know what message they are trying to convey. So “obvious reasons” HAS to mean racism to us. Racism is the most obvious thing in America. Not freedom. Not growth. Not success. It’s all racism. Just ask Madame Noire (That’s right! I went in on two magazines) and listen for while to the video on the side. They actually mention judging people on character not race. Imagine that.

If Althea Legal-Miller and Brande Victorian are so concerned with being seen as slaves, maybe they will consider actually educating and informing readers instead of selling out their intelligence.

The King Children

Current mood: argumentative
Category: Life

So I live in Atlanta (The Metro Area). My church is across the street from the King Memorial and around the block from the King childhood house. The King family still holds a little weight around these parts. However, since Coretta passed, all HELL has broken loose.

Most recently, Dexter King is suing Bernice King and Martin Luther King III claiming they've opened competing centers. In July, Bernice and Martin sued Dexter to get him to open the King Center's books.

So, too sum up. the middle remaining child is throwing a public tantrum over the oldest and youngest children's new toys. All of this is probably in response to the oldest and youngest's previous tantrum over the middle child taking over the old toybox. Three 40 and 50 year old babies acting out because they miss mommy and daddy.  

I'll tell you no one misses Mommy and Daddy more than the rest of us. Martin Luther King Jr. is a rare breed not because he could walk on water like Jesus, and he didn't starve himself like Gandhi. He was like all three because he gave up being a regular husband and father to be our leader. His connection with the world went beyond his family. Maybe that's is the biggest sacrifice he made. Even bigger than his own life. Because all we left with is his legacy and three crying ass babies.

People always ask if we are living Dr. King's dreams today. Barack is going to win the presidency, largely due to the help of "The Queen of All Media" Oprah Winfrey. We feel a little less scared to talk crazy to white people. Some people say we still have a way to go.


I wonder what Dr. King would say.

And now it's his children showing their asses. So, even in a family that represents unity there is discord. We may be working so hard to get the outside world to accept each other that we are neglecting our own families, our own communities, our own congregation, and our own co-workers. Are we being lazy and disguising it as lofty ideals. "Yeah let's save the world. Who cares if MY child falls off, I'll be a hero to the world."

We forgive geniuses for having messy rooms. We marvel at the successful business woman with a meticulous house and the messy love life. We pay tithes to pastor who can't keep his dick in his pants. It's been OK to neglect certain parts of our lives for success in others. How can we feel complete as a community if we look down on some and look past others?

Church members look into each other's bedrooms, love lives, businesses, bank accounts. Let's stick to the basics. Make sure every member has a bible. Make every member knows how to read. Let's do what we can for our family members. If we are getting played and playing games in our own family, what are we going to put out to the world when we go out there? If we can't keep it real with people we've been around all our lives, who is going to trust you outside your house.

What do you all say? Is it OK to neglect your family to focus on the world? Is the King family just keeping it real? Don't all families have problems? Or is that the problem with the world? Is it wrong that we assume families should be dysfunctional?


Let me hear it. All I know is I'm tired of fighting over dumb shit!


well my brotha you have brought up a good point. Have many of us gotten so focused on what the world thinks that we have forgotten about family. Are we to buy trying to make a dollar instead of spending quality time with our children. What are we teaching our children about family. You know they learn rom example. Have many of us gotten to tired and lazy to even take the time to focus on family. Or are we to busy minding others business and judging others instead of caring. What did Martin give his life for. I thought it was for us to have the freedom of caring for our family as a people not individuals. Why does it seem like other races are taking full advantage of the door Martin opened when he opened it for all of us. Makes me wonder. So many people need to stop talking and start listening and doing something positive. Change is now and these fools don't even see it. So sad.

THIS IS MY SISTER EVERYBODY!!!

That's how we ROLL!

Hey Jason...(jus wanted to say hi first)..anyhoo do u remember the times when ur parents would leave u and ur sibling(s) @ home alone? Same thing..let the chaos begin... Being the middle girl of three girls there was always some sorta double teaming going on and sometimes I was on the outside of the duo determined to cause some mess.. "It's a family affair" that's what they say...even the Cosby's(in real life) didn't live upto the persona they displayed on television. Bill possibly fathering another child (proven to be false but he clearly had an affair)...Lisa Bonet's sex scene @ age 19 in "Angel Heart" It's all simple til that child starts to see themselves as an individual and there decisions grow beyond deciding on what cereal they want in the morning....nurturing, loving, and caring for them doesn't always determined that that seed will grow into a beautiful "Afican Violet".. Thank u for Jason Pearlicia

Oh yeah when the parents left...

But I'm no porn addict or sex fiend. (I think) In fact, I am pretty sure that all the unsupervised shenanigans in my life were over ruled by what I knew my parents believed was best for me. I'm not a perfect child and a far from perfect as an adult but I work towards honoring my parents with the work that is my life. I'm an individual but I still come from a family and maybe it's the competitive edge in me but I want my family to improve not disintegrate.

I think that the family is having every regular family problems, but since their family before them were public figures, it gives them another way to whine and cry about the others.
We have a local lady who owned a pizza place, and had 4 kids. The one moved back, and forced the other two into lesser roles, so they opened their own. The mom and sister immediately blocked them from using any recipe's that the old place had. But it didn't get into the public eye, because they didn't have the popularity that Dr King had obviously.
Unfortunately, people like to surround themselves with yes people, and not common sense people, so we get stupid things like this

Damned Yes people! That's why I only deal with people different than me. Everybody is not supposed to match all the time!

All families are dysfunctional. All you have to do is catch them when they think nobody's watching. The question becomes how readily do we throw our business into the public spotlight? How eager are we to put each other down in order to uplift ourselves? I am the oldest of 4 kids. My mom worked hard to make up for what my dad wasn't around to do. We fought like cats and dogs when she went to work. But when she got home she'd line us up like little soldiers. I can almost remember the speech word for word... the theme was that this world is full of obstacles and it is the family's responsibility to always uphold and support the other members. We were punished more severely for hurting each other than for any other offense. Even as adults, we know that we are not perfect, and we don't always agree, but we never tear each other down. No matter what. Charity starts in the home. That's how you build good citizens.

Wonderful family values! The problem with people in public demand sometimes is they have to sacrifice the home life for the public one. And we see what happens to the neglected children, no matter who their parents are.