By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Well, despite the attempts of the meanstream press to slant the story in a hostile direction, Ms. Nafissatou Daillo will hold a press conference later today, at 12:00 noon in Brooklyn, on the steps of the Christian Cultural Center, 12020 Flatlands Ave.
This communique was received from The African View hostess/founder, Boukie Shonuga of Nigeria, who plans on attending the conference with a view toward interviewing the victim. She has requested that you, the readers, forward any questions you may want answered to her so that she may query Ms. Diallo on the situation.
Joining her will be a host of community and religious leaders from the African, African American, Christian and Muslim communities, who are all solidly supporting Ms. Diallo, as she stands for her rights as the victim of sexual harrassment and assault.
Present will be representatives from the United African Congress, members of Ms. Diallo's union; Mr. Kenneth Thompson, the victim's attorney, and Rev. A. R. Bernard, among others.
As usual, the meanstream media is trying to conduct hearings by newspaper, rather than allowing the legal venues to take their course. In doing so, they have alleged that she has made untrue statements, has crossed herself, etc. However, the preponderance of preliminary evidence points to the veracity of her story.
As with many other cases of this nature, it was assumed originally by the perpetrator that it would be his word against hers, and her story would be ridiculed and ignored - after all, who would take the word of a Black woman over that of a white man? When, as it turned out, Ms. Diallo's story was believed, they had to find a way to discredit her, poke holes in her story, casts shadows of doubt on her character.
And, while the Post and other publications have made it their business to make mincemeat out of her statement, the Black community, including Continental Africans, African Americans, African/Caribbeans and others from throughout the Diaspora, have begun to look askance at their reporting methodology and their bias against the victim.
The public is to come out en masse, to support as well as to stand solidily with her in her quest for justice. FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT: (212) 541-4316 - (347) 613-6330 - (917) 375-7141 - GDW
What follows is the formal press release itself:
"New York, NY, 7/27/2011— Ms. Nafissatou Diallo, the 32 year old immigrant hotel housekeeper from Guinea who was allegedly sexually assaulted by Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the Sofitel hotel on May 14, 2011, will personally thank the broad coalition of New Yorkers who have supported Ms. Diallo and her young daughter throughout this terrible ordeal.
On Thursday July 28, 2011, at 12PM at the Christian Cultural Center www.cccinfo.org, Ms. Diallo will stand with African community, religious and women’s organizations under the leadership of the United African Congress, along with union members, Pastor A.R. Bernard of Christian Cultural Center and her legal counsel.
Ms. Diallo is standing up for the rights of all abused women fighting for their rights and their dignity. And many community, women organizations and faith leaders stand with her. Bukola (Bookie) Shonuga, Executive Producer/Host The African View
www.africanviews.com, www.BlogTalkRadio.com" - B. Shonuga
You will note that among other elected officials, New York State Senator Bill Perkins has taken a very active stand in this situation, and has warned District Attorney, Cyrus Vance, as well as lawyers for Strauss-Kahn, that trying to dismiss her allegations based on perceived "discrepancies" wasn't going to cut it. He has consistently stood for her right to a fair and speedy trial, and has led demonstrations in her behalf to bring even more community support to bear on the situation.
Strauss-Kahn, who was able to buy his way out of Rikers Island, is apparently being coached by individual who are skilled at casting aspersions on key witnesses and victioms in order to weaken their testimony. However, the DNA evidence, which is supposed to be incontrovertible proof, as well as the "No means No" rule in New York, extends as much to Ms. Diallo, as a maid, as it does to anyone else.
The communities are coming out from every quarter to make sure an indictment is brought against Strauss-Kahn, and that justice is served.
See you there
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
Gloria Dulan-Wilson Blog/ ECLECTICALLY BLACK NEWS
For Eclectic Black People
VIP: Views . Interests . Perspectives
7.28.2011
7.22.2011
Event Alert: Meet Jean-Jaques Ekindi Camaroun Presidential Candidate Saturday
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
My sister/friend P. Sylvie Yonke sent me this information, and I am sharing it with you, because we African Americans need to be just as aware of what's happening on the Continent (a/k/a Mother Africa) as we are here.
On Saturday, July 23, there will be an opportunity to meet Jean-Jacques Ekindi, presidential candidate to Cameroun, who from what I can see is a very dynamic, stalwart and might I add, brave brother. He has run for president of his country on several occasions. These attempts are by no means to be construed as failed attempts, but more a study in perseverance, determination, and commitment. The Center for African Education (CAE) will be hosting the event, which takes place at Dodge Hall, from 5PM to 10PM in Room 179, 525 W. 120th St, between Amsterdam and Broadway.
Ekindi, who is known affectionately as “The Lion Hunter” is running for President in the upcoming election, but is taking the opportunity to interface with Camerounian students here in the US who have ties, interest and influence in the upcoming election. He will also be autographing his book entitled: Politiques du Cameroun et 'Afriqu La Defis
According to the CAE, “Cameroon and the Presidential candidates rely on the Diaspora to engage in the process of participatory democracy, and use their power to bring about progress and development at home. Don't miss this important event! “
What was compelling for me, however, was the bio Sylvie sent me in reference to this dynamic man. With just the little bit I’ve already read, I could see it making one heck of a movie - it’s got conspiracy, intrigue, pathos, success, failure, murder, betrayal, and resurrection, as our hero comes back from the depths of despair and try again at his goal to become the leader of his country.
Growing up in the US, we’ve seen movies set in Africa where the youth has to go out and kill a lion in order to prove his manhood - it’s a rite of passage we’ve all become familiar with (whether that actually ever happened, or still happens, I don’t know - but it’s part of our romance about African men). And those are the images we tend to conjure up when we hear the nickname “The Lion Hunter.”
According to his biographers, he received that nickname because he is smart and patient, bides his time, and never stops looking at his prey! He is a politician in a noble sense of the word!”
Ekindi evolved from vice president of the National Union of Kamerunian Students (UNEK); became information officer and Chief Editor of The Student of Kamerun Magazine, trhough which he expressed his opinions. He was and is an activist, starting in 1968, and continuing to the present date.
Like many African American brothers and sisters who have been incarcerated indefinitely because of their opinions, influence, and potential for leadership, Ekindi was arrested and “detained” indefinitely for a political speech made at the session of the National Commission for Scholarships in Younde` in 1970, for alleged “subversion and endangering the security of the state.”
Like the South Africans, and some US municipalities, the French regime sent him to jail without trial, using an arrest warrant to throw him into prison for an indeterminate time (sound familiar?).
Over the past 40 years, Ekindi has been involved in the political landscape of the Cameroun in one way or another. I could give you the whole story, but I think you’d get more mileage from attending the reception and reading his book.
Let’s just say that these last few elections have been full of trial and tribulations - from his being silenced by the prevailing government to his business wrecked, tottering on bankruptcy; from his wife, body guard, driver all dying mysteriously (??); to his having to leave the country more than one time in exile; to his being betrayed by those who pretended to be his allies. And he has still not let up! That's determination!!
The most recent 2009 election has turned out to be most propitious indeed, and he currently holds dual positions as Municipal Counselor, Representative, and Secretary of the Inter-parliamentary Finance Committee. Since 2009, he is the founder and organizer, with the support from the government, of the Douala International Fair for Development.
Poised to run for President, I am sure you are going to want to meet, greet and support this dynamic man, Jean-Jacques Ekindi, and applaud him for his intrepid spirit.
CAE's mission is to promote research and teaching about education, broadly defined, in Africa and the African Diaspora. Its central aim is to create a community of students, faculty, staff, and New York residents with common interests and commitments to the fields of Education and African Studies. www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/cae/ 212-678-8139 - Please call the above captioned number for additional information and directions. Free admission, but contributions and donations aare accepted.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
My sister/friend P. Sylvie Yonke sent me this information, and I am sharing it with you, because we African Americans need to be just as aware of what's happening on the Continent (a/k/a Mother Africa) as we are here.
On Saturday, July 23, there will be an opportunity to meet Jean-Jacques Ekindi, presidential candidate to Cameroun, who from what I can see is a very dynamic, stalwart and might I add, brave brother. He has run for president of his country on several occasions. These attempts are by no means to be construed as failed attempts, but more a study in perseverance, determination, and commitment. The Center for African Education (CAE) will be hosting the event, which takes place at Dodge Hall, from 5PM to 10PM in Room 179, 525 W. 120th St, between Amsterdam and Broadway.
Ekindi, who is known affectionately as “The Lion Hunter” is running for President in the upcoming election, but is taking the opportunity to interface with Camerounian students here in the US who have ties, interest and influence in the upcoming election. He will also be autographing his book entitled: Politiques du Cameroun et 'Afriqu La Defis
According to the CAE, “Cameroon and the Presidential candidates rely on the Diaspora to engage in the process of participatory democracy, and use their power to bring about progress and development at home. Don't miss this important event! “
What was compelling for me, however, was the bio Sylvie sent me in reference to this dynamic man. With just the little bit I’ve already read, I could see it making one heck of a movie - it’s got conspiracy, intrigue, pathos, success, failure, murder, betrayal, and resurrection, as our hero comes back from the depths of despair and try again at his goal to become the leader of his country.
Growing up in the US, we’ve seen movies set in Africa where the youth has to go out and kill a lion in order to prove his manhood - it’s a rite of passage we’ve all become familiar with (whether that actually ever happened, or still happens, I don’t know - but it’s part of our romance about African men). And those are the images we tend to conjure up when we hear the nickname “The Lion Hunter.”
According to his biographers, he received that nickname because he is smart and patient, bides his time, and never stops looking at his prey! He is a politician in a noble sense of the word!”
Ekindi evolved from vice president of the National Union of Kamerunian Students (UNEK); became information officer and Chief Editor of The Student of Kamerun Magazine, trhough which he expressed his opinions. He was and is an activist, starting in 1968, and continuing to the present date.
Like many African American brothers and sisters who have been incarcerated indefinitely because of their opinions, influence, and potential for leadership, Ekindi was arrested and “detained” indefinitely for a political speech made at the session of the National Commission for Scholarships in Younde` in 1970, for alleged “subversion and endangering the security of the state.”
Like the South Africans, and some US municipalities, the French regime sent him to jail without trial, using an arrest warrant to throw him into prison for an indeterminate time (sound familiar?).
Over the past 40 years, Ekindi has been involved in the political landscape of the Cameroun in one way or another. I could give you the whole story, but I think you’d get more mileage from attending the reception and reading his book.
Let’s just say that these last few elections have been full of trial and tribulations - from his being silenced by the prevailing government to his business wrecked, tottering on bankruptcy; from his wife, body guard, driver all dying mysteriously (??); to his having to leave the country more than one time in exile; to his being betrayed by those who pretended to be his allies. And he has still not let up! That's determination!!
The most recent 2009 election has turned out to be most propitious indeed, and he currently holds dual positions as Municipal Counselor, Representative, and Secretary of the Inter-parliamentary Finance Committee. Since 2009, he is the founder and organizer, with the support from the government, of the Douala International Fair for Development.
Poised to run for President, I am sure you are going to want to meet, greet and support this dynamic man, Jean-Jacques Ekindi, and applaud him for his intrepid spirit.
CAE's mission is to promote research and teaching about education, broadly defined, in Africa and the African Diaspora. Its central aim is to create a community of students, faculty, staff, and New York residents with common interests and commitments to the fields of Education and African Studies. www.tc.columbia.edu/centers/cae/ 212-678-8139 - Please call the above captioned number for additional information and directions. Free admission, but contributions and donations aare accepted.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
7.13.2011
The Arrogance of being President While Being Black
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
I received this piece from one of my former Lincoln University Classmates, Vaughn Thomas, and it is so on point - especially in light of DWT (dumb white theories)that have emanated from Bachmann, Palin and the Rep-ugh-blicans.
I have two pin/buttons that I wear all the time - no matter what my attire, no matter what the occasion. One says "MISSION POSSIBLE" and depicts President Obama (then candidate Obama) with dark glasses in a "mission impossible" stance. I purchased it in Denver,Colorado at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. I met more than my share of rednecks there who vowed that they would never vote for a Black man for President, and that Barack Obama would never be President of the US. I would just point at the button, and smile. Whenever I find myself up against the proverbial wall with no were to turn, I look at that button for inspiration - because President Obama made mission impossible POSSIBLE. The other button is of President Obama's Inauguration in 2009 that a lady generously gave me as a gift.
People stop me in the street to compliment me on the buttons; little kids point to the buttons and that's President Barack Obama. And I smile.
One friend, when I was doing a TV taping, stated that I did not need to wear the buttons because President Obama was not running for anything. I responded, that as long as the brother was President, we should all be wearing buttons to show our tacit and active support. We could not just passively sit by the way we did with Clinton and Bush and think things were going to unfold in an orderly fashion. President Obama needs our backing physically, mentally, spiritually, politically, electorally, and any other way we can muster 25/8 - because those rep-ugh-blicans, and the so-called blue dog Democrats are working 24/7 to trip him up; destroy anything and everything positive he's doing, or trying to do.
If you haven't done so already, get out your original Obama buttons, tee shirts, banners, wrist bands and post them prominently where people can see them, so that consciously and subconsciously they begin to acclimate to the fact that Obama will be re-elected in 2012. This is not a seasonal thing - the devil and his minions do not take off - they stay busy - which means we should stay prepared.
There are quite a few more people out there who are white, Asian, Latino, and of other cultures who feel exactly the same way this author does. I would encourage them to also write their concerns. It appears that the only way to get around mean stream news, is to take it to the bloggosphere and the internet. Make an end run, so that Americans - Black and white - don't get duped into voting in another version of Dracula from the rep-ugh-blican right wing low life arena.
Read the following and see if you don't agree with his summation. There are some preliminary comments from other readers, then his treatise begins:
"Arrogance of being President while being Black: I don't like to send these but...This is right on target!!!! AUTHOR UNKNOWN but it is all over the web.
ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW!!!!! Be Blessed!" (VT)
"I thought that America had moved past this labeling by electing a President of whom we can all be proud. When President Obama announced that there would be a resident Grandmother in the White House, I was so happy for me! Some one I could relate to, a real live "Oma" in the White House to show how it was, with "'our folks". No Nannies were necessary, So, the "Gone With The Wind" idea of the position and relevance of the Black family has not changed, in the eyes of some fools.idiots, ignoramuses, etc. I hoped their eyes be opened wide to see the world as it is today.I am so very proud of this young couple and their family!"
"Lots of good people agree and it is heartening to see the reaction. This is an excellent article written by a someone who is realistic (and happens to be White).The very last paragraph says it all."
Arrogance of being President while being Black (UNKNOWN WHITE AUTHOR):
I don't think anyone was under some real illusion that the election of Barack Obama actually means the end of racism in America. I'm pretty sure that the president-elect knew it better than anyone. After all, he saw it every day, from the moment he announced his candidacy. To some degree, he saw it within his own party during the primaries. And he saw it in all ugliness during the general election.
For half of this country, he was "That One". No matter how big and clear his victory was. No matter how smart he is. No matter how decent he is. No matter what a true patriot he is. No matter how optimistic and positive his vision for America was. All that didn't matter. Because at the end of the day, he was still black.
I'm quite old. I remember, vaguely, where my parents were on November 22, 1963. I've seen so many presidents. Some were feared, some were hated, some were adored, some popular and some not. But all of them, without exception, were treated with the highest respect deserving the office of the president of the United States .
That is until a black man won the right to occupy this office. It's been 13 months now, and in the eyes of so many, Barack Obama is still that one. He is being disrespected and at the same time being held to the highest standard of any president I've ever seen – and not just by the Republican side! He has to perform three times better than any president in history, and even that may not be enough.
For the media, he is many more times just "Obama" than "President Obama". They create scandals out of nothing issues. It took them at least 6 years to start giving Bush a small part of the shit he deserved. It took them 6 months to begin crap all over Obama because he's yet to fix the catastrophe that was left for him.
They use condescending tones when they talk about him, and only mildly less condescending when they talk TO him. With anyone else, CNN wouldn't dare go to commercials every time the president speaks, like they did during that summit on Thursday. They wouldn't dare be counting how many minutes George Bush or Bill Clinton were talking. Chris Mathews wouldn't dare make an issue out of Ronald Regan calling members of congress by their first name, like he is not actually the president. They fully cooperate with the Right-Wing smear machine when it comes to president Obama's national security performance – even if almost every independent and military expert actually thinks that he's a terrific Commander-in-Chief. You'll never see them on TV, and virtually no one from the Left, in congress and outside, defend the president on this matter.
I don't care about the Far-Right. They're just crazy ignorant Neanderthals. It's the way the beltway and the mainstream treats this president that is shocking. On Thursday, almost every Republican had no trouble interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. They looked like they're going to vomit every time they had to say "Mr. president". They all had this Eric-Cantor-Smirk whenever he spoke. Then they went out and started to spit their stupid talking points, to the delight of the media. Sarah Palin, a woman who can hardly read, thinks that he was "arrogant" towards John McCain, and somehow this is an important news. Because you see, "Obama's Arrogance" is the talking point of the day.
Oh, those talking points. He is arrogant (because he knows the facts better than all of them combined). He is an elitist (because he uses big words that they don't understand). He is weak on national security (because he actually thinks about the consequences). He divides the country (well, he did that the day he had the audacity to win the election). Worst of all, he actually thinks that he's the president. He even dared to say so on Thursday. How arrogant of him. You'd think that previous presidents didn't have any ego. Somehow it turned out that the one president who treats even his biggest opponents with the utmost respect – is the arrogant one. I wonder why?
I expected that his winning the Presidency would bring out some ugliness, but it's been far worse than I imagined. The racism coming from the Right is obviously clear and shameless, but there's also some hidden and maybe subconscious and disturbing underline tone behind some of the things that I read here and throughout the Left blogosphere, even before the end of Obama's first year - 'He's weak, he's spineless, he's got no balls, primary him in 2012'. It'll be dishonest to deny that.
The fact is that for millions in America, Barack Obama is this uppity black man (Not even a "real" black), who received good education only due to affirmative action, and has no right to litter the sacred Oval Office with his skin color. They just can't accept the fact that the president is a black man, who unlike his predecessor, was actually legally elected. But what's really sad is that it's not just the fringe, its deep deep in mainstream America .
Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is and He never makes a mistake.
Sometimes, they make me feel ashamed to be a white man!!
Now the sad thing is that there are a few negroes who are as guilty of these acts as there are whites - and you know who you are (by the way, so do we - hint - you can run but you can't hide). There are those who are politically jealous; there are those who call themselves being "Objective" (hogwash). There are those who say they want balance (but they never once opened their mouths when Bush was trampling all over them and everybody else). There are those who call it "freedom of speech" and want to have arguments just for the sake of arguing - not realizing that the realm of the subconscious ingests this crap and kicks it back out at us at the most inopportune moments.
There are those who actually have the audacity to say that President Obama is not Black because his mom was white, when the law of the land of racism is that if you have one tenth of one percent of Black blood in your veins, you are Black!! There are those who actually sided with Trump in that because his dad was from Kenya he was not a citizen -- he was born here; he was raised here; if his mother had him on a desert isle in the middle of nowhere, she was American, so therefore he is American. So we can all cut the crap now.
I once stated that certain people are so prejudiced and so racist, that they could see President Obama walking across the Potomac, and point to him and say "See, he can't even swim!"
This is a brother who has kept his word and continues to do so. We got an election to win - we have some lines to hold; we have some gains to defend. And we have to also be about building our own communities after operation Bush damned near wrecked us all. So let's be about it. Take this Unknown Authors (and my) words and pass it around to all those nay sayers - negro or white - (Black people are already on board by definition). Tell them to get with the program. Barack Obama will be re-elected President in 2012.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
I received this piece from one of my former Lincoln University Classmates, Vaughn Thomas, and it is so on point - especially in light of DWT (dumb white theories)that have emanated from Bachmann, Palin and the Rep-ugh-blicans.
I have two pin/buttons that I wear all the time - no matter what my attire, no matter what the occasion. One says "MISSION POSSIBLE" and depicts President Obama (then candidate Obama) with dark glasses in a "mission impossible" stance. I purchased it in Denver,Colorado at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. I met more than my share of rednecks there who vowed that they would never vote for a Black man for President, and that Barack Obama would never be President of the US. I would just point at the button, and smile. Whenever I find myself up against the proverbial wall with no were to turn, I look at that button for inspiration - because President Obama made mission impossible POSSIBLE. The other button is of President Obama's Inauguration in 2009 that a lady generously gave me as a gift.
People stop me in the street to compliment me on the buttons; little kids point to the buttons and that's President Barack Obama. And I smile.
One friend, when I was doing a TV taping, stated that I did not need to wear the buttons because President Obama was not running for anything. I responded, that as long as the brother was President, we should all be wearing buttons to show our tacit and active support. We could not just passively sit by the way we did with Clinton and Bush and think things were going to unfold in an orderly fashion. President Obama needs our backing physically, mentally, spiritually, politically, electorally, and any other way we can muster 25/8 - because those rep-ugh-blicans, and the so-called blue dog Democrats are working 24/7 to trip him up; destroy anything and everything positive he's doing, or trying to do.
If you haven't done so already, get out your original Obama buttons, tee shirts, banners, wrist bands and post them prominently where people can see them, so that consciously and subconsciously they begin to acclimate to the fact that Obama will be re-elected in 2012. This is not a seasonal thing - the devil and his minions do not take off - they stay busy - which means we should stay prepared.
There are quite a few more people out there who are white, Asian, Latino, and of other cultures who feel exactly the same way this author does. I would encourage them to also write their concerns. It appears that the only way to get around mean stream news, is to take it to the bloggosphere and the internet. Make an end run, so that Americans - Black and white - don't get duped into voting in another version of Dracula from the rep-ugh-blican right wing low life arena.
Read the following and see if you don't agree with his summation. There are some preliminary comments from other readers, then his treatise begins:
"Arrogance of being President while being Black: I don't like to send these but...This is right on target!!!! AUTHOR UNKNOWN but it is all over the web.
ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW!!!!! Be Blessed!" (VT)
"I thought that America had moved past this labeling by electing a President of whom we can all be proud. When President Obama announced that there would be a resident Grandmother in the White House, I was so happy for me! Some one I could relate to, a real live "Oma" in the White House to show how it was, with "'our folks". No Nannies were necessary, So, the "Gone With The Wind" idea of the position and relevance of the Black family has not changed, in the eyes of some fools.idiots, ignoramuses, etc. I hoped their eyes be opened wide to see the world as it is today.I am so very proud of this young couple and their family!"
"Lots of good people agree and it is heartening to see the reaction. This is an excellent article written by a someone who is realistic (and happens to be White).The very last paragraph says it all."
Arrogance of being President while being Black (UNKNOWN WHITE AUTHOR):
I don't think anyone was under some real illusion that the election of Barack Obama actually means the end of racism in America. I'm pretty sure that the president-elect knew it better than anyone. After all, he saw it every day, from the moment he announced his candidacy. To some degree, he saw it within his own party during the primaries. And he saw it in all ugliness during the general election.
For half of this country, he was "That One". No matter how big and clear his victory was. No matter how smart he is. No matter how decent he is. No matter what a true patriot he is. No matter how optimistic and positive his vision for America was. All that didn't matter. Because at the end of the day, he was still black.
I'm quite old. I remember, vaguely, where my parents were on November 22, 1963. I've seen so many presidents. Some were feared, some were hated, some were adored, some popular and some not. But all of them, without exception, were treated with the highest respect deserving the office of the president of the United States .
That is until a black man won the right to occupy this office. It's been 13 months now, and in the eyes of so many, Barack Obama is still that one. He is being disrespected and at the same time being held to the highest standard of any president I've ever seen – and not just by the Republican side! He has to perform three times better than any president in history, and even that may not be enough.
For the media, he is many more times just "Obama" than "President Obama". They create scandals out of nothing issues. It took them at least 6 years to start giving Bush a small part of the shit he deserved. It took them 6 months to begin crap all over Obama because he's yet to fix the catastrophe that was left for him.
They use condescending tones when they talk about him, and only mildly less condescending when they talk TO him. With anyone else, CNN wouldn't dare go to commercials every time the president speaks, like they did during that summit on Thursday. They wouldn't dare be counting how many minutes George Bush or Bill Clinton were talking. Chris Mathews wouldn't dare make an issue out of Ronald Regan calling members of congress by their first name, like he is not actually the president. They fully cooperate with the Right-Wing smear machine when it comes to president Obama's national security performance – even if almost every independent and military expert actually thinks that he's a terrific Commander-in-Chief. You'll never see them on TV, and virtually no one from the Left, in congress and outside, defend the president on this matter.
I don't care about the Far-Right. They're just crazy ignorant Neanderthals. It's the way the beltway and the mainstream treats this president that is shocking. On Thursday, almost every Republican had no trouble interrupting him in the middle of a sentence. They looked like they're going to vomit every time they had to say "Mr. president". They all had this Eric-Cantor-Smirk whenever he spoke. Then they went out and started to spit their stupid talking points, to the delight of the media. Sarah Palin, a woman who can hardly read, thinks that he was "arrogant" towards John McCain, and somehow this is an important news. Because you see, "Obama's Arrogance" is the talking point of the day.
Oh, those talking points. He is arrogant (because he knows the facts better than all of them combined). He is an elitist (because he uses big words that they don't understand). He is weak on national security (because he actually thinks about the consequences). He divides the country (well, he did that the day he had the audacity to win the election). Worst of all, he actually thinks that he's the president. He even dared to say so on Thursday. How arrogant of him. You'd think that previous presidents didn't have any ego. Somehow it turned out that the one president who treats even his biggest opponents with the utmost respect – is the arrogant one. I wonder why?
I expected that his winning the Presidency would bring out some ugliness, but it's been far worse than I imagined. The racism coming from the Right is obviously clear and shameless, but there's also some hidden and maybe subconscious and disturbing underline tone behind some of the things that I read here and throughout the Left blogosphere, even before the end of Obama's first year - 'He's weak, he's spineless, he's got no balls, primary him in 2012'. It'll be dishonest to deny that.
The fact is that for millions in America, Barack Obama is this uppity black man (Not even a "real" black), who received good education only due to affirmative action, and has no right to litter the sacred Oval Office with his skin color. They just can't accept the fact that the president is a black man, who unlike his predecessor, was actually legally elected. But what's really sad is that it's not just the fringe, its deep deep in mainstream America .
Barack Obama's ability to remain above all this slob, to keep his optimism and his strange and mostly unjustified faith in people, while continuing to gracefully deal with an endless shitstorm – is one of the most inspiring displays of human quality I have ever seen. And I can only hope that the Cosmos is on his side because God is and He never makes a mistake.
Sometimes, they make me feel ashamed to be a white man!!
Now the sad thing is that there are a few negroes who are as guilty of these acts as there are whites - and you know who you are (by the way, so do we - hint - you can run but you can't hide). There are those who are politically jealous; there are those who call themselves being "Objective" (hogwash). There are those who say they want balance (but they never once opened their mouths when Bush was trampling all over them and everybody else). There are those who call it "freedom of speech" and want to have arguments just for the sake of arguing - not realizing that the realm of the subconscious ingests this crap and kicks it back out at us at the most inopportune moments.
There are those who actually have the audacity to say that President Obama is not Black because his mom was white, when the law of the land of racism is that if you have one tenth of one percent of Black blood in your veins, you are Black!! There are those who actually sided with Trump in that because his dad was from Kenya he was not a citizen -- he was born here; he was raised here; if his mother had him on a desert isle in the middle of nowhere, she was American, so therefore he is American. So we can all cut the crap now.
I once stated that certain people are so prejudiced and so racist, that they could see President Obama walking across the Potomac, and point to him and say "See, he can't even swim!"
This is a brother who has kept his word and continues to do so. We got an election to win - we have some lines to hold; we have some gains to defend. And we have to also be about building our own communities after operation Bush damned near wrecked us all. So let's be about it. Take this Unknown Authors (and my) words and pass it around to all those nay sayers - negro or white - (Black people are already on board by definition). Tell them to get with the program. Barack Obama will be re-elected President in 2012.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
7.11.2011
There is nothing worse than an educated fool
by Gloria Dulan-Wilson
My father, Warner Dulan, Sr., used to say to me when I was a kid: There's nothing worse than an educated fool; and a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. You only get a part of the information and go running off half-cocked as though you're an expert." (for those who are not from Oklahoma Indian and Cowboy country, "Half-Cocked" refers holding a gun, and prepared to shoot without having all the info. It comes from the shoot first and ask questions later mentality).
It must be something about people raised in the extreme north, where there is a lot of snow, ice and cold - they just can't seem to get a firm grasp on reality and common sense. First you have Palin from Alaska - real piece of work. Now you have Michele Bachmann from Minnesota - people who have no clue whatsoever about Black people; the closest they have ever been to us is either via national geographic, or some weird mandatory high school tour to an "urban" community. But now they want to pontificate on our history and experiences as if someone suddenly gave them the magic insight to all things Black/African American. She knows just enough to start trouble, but not enough to be intelligent or conversant about it. (but then all she really wanted to do is start the trouble in the first place.)
My colleagues from Black Women For Obama For Change (BWFO4Change) just emailed me a bunch of roadkill that this Bachmann woman has spewed out in reference to the "benefits" of slavery. BENEFITS!!!
Mind you, Bachmann and her colleagues are the same now as their ancestors were when their cousins brought us over on the middle passage. These are the descendants of people who piled other human beings on top of each other, and threw them over board when they got sick. Sold them on auction blocks, walked away with the money; built plantations, factories, steam ships, cotton gins, (Basketball Arenas?) Whether she had made this statement 5 or 10 years ago, or something even more insipid, who is going to stop her? (rhetorical question)
Now, sadly, I have to admit I heard an ignorant "negro" say the same thing at a Caribbean cocktail reception, and I thought maybe I had had too much rum. He actually said he would rather go back to being a slave than to accept charity or welfare. That slavery was more honorable and families were kept together (???) I grit my teeth, held my breath (and nose) counted to ten and persuaded my Aries self to turn and walk off without reading him the riot act. Now at least I know where the fool got it from.
But, back to Bachmann - Wow! Why are we even giving her any space in our writing? She and Palin are the official diversionary tactics the Rep-ugh-blicans are using to keep us from focusing on the real issues. You know, how they are trying to dismantle what President Obama has put together. How they are trying to put the banks back in the positions of being predatory lenders and preventing low and middle class families from having affordable homes; how they are trying to destroy the health bill so that by the time we get it it will be a mere shadow of its former self. How they do outrageous, egregious stuff to see what kind of rise they can get out of us, so they can sneak some other crap in under our noses. They have a trojan horse they don't want to reveal yet, because they don't want to scare the beejeebers our of America - probably some Neo-Hitlerian Dude who has blonde hair, blue eyes, smiles, and has a mind like Simon Legree (or was that George Bush? one, or two? - oh well, very little difference, except for the looks).
No matter what they throw at us, I am perfectly clear, President Barack Obama is the best president this country has ever had, and will be re-elected in 2012. I am not at all surprised that they would try to claim that he is somehow responsible for the mess their Rep-ugh-blican president George Bush has caused. He spent trillions driving the economy down the sewage hole; he undid practically every diplomatic relation we had with practically every country there is. Now they are desperately throwing ideas up against the wall to see what sticks. What can they do to undermine Obama's leadership and charisma. Oh let's tie him in with slavery - let's see if they will go for that one. Expect more of this kind of crap as it gets nearer to their naming their candidate.
The Bachmann woman has no credibility - not with me. All I needed to see was Rep-ugh-blican and Tea Party, and the picture was clear.
As for the peculiar institution called slavery - which was the most heinous, horrendous, inhumane criminal acts perpetrated by one group of human beings against another, did you really expect her to have an inkling of what kind of devastation it had on nuclear families from Africa? When do we stop trying give people qualities they don't and will never have. A sense of humanity was/is totally lacking in a relatively large majority of the slave monsters here in the US. And you aren't going to change them.
It becomes a case of try to make it real compared to what? One thing I must say about the holocaust survivors, they made sure their children never forgot their history. We are being told to get over ours. Well we can't - because so much of their residual crap hits us in the face every day - from environmental racism, where we're positioned in the worst neighborhoods, to educational racism, where our classes are dumbed down - no doubt by teachers like Ms. Bachmann; to health racism, where you can't get decent up to date medical attention; to employment racism, where you are still the last hired and the first fired, no matter how skilled you are; to economic racism, where you are paid less than your white counterpart, and you work twice as hard, and know ten times as much. Or you are the subject of experiments without your knowledge, permission, or compensation, like Henrietta Lacks, and they let you die, while they harvest the very cells for others that could have saved your life as well.
Since we can't get real Black History and leadership classes in our public schools, perhaps this is the appropriate time to get it done in the Churches, Saturday Schools, and Home Schools. This does not take an act of Congress (though it would help), or a Presidential Executive Order, which would likewise be helpful. It only takes us. We the Black People. It's our responsibility to make sure this information is kept alive across the board. This is our story, and we must not allow anyone else to tell it, or distort it; or shut it down!!
We should have code words when we read this kind of nonsense - and we should make sure we all know it and our kids know it as well. We can call it "DWT'S" which stands for Dumb white theories - it's our inside codes - so when you see it in writing, hear it on CNN or radio - you can call it for what it is DWT (I almost said DWS, but didn't want to get in trouble). The "T" can also stand for Twit.
For those of you who want to take it further, I guess you could read Frederick Douglass' My Bondage and My Freedom - everytime I read it I get a clearer and clearer understanding of who these people are - and the fact that, other than modern equipment and a better perfume and deodorant camouflage, they are the same people who smelled like "wet chickens" in "Roots".
And if you want to take it even further, get our elected officials up off their keesters and make sure they they are including in all their legislation, interaction, and programs Black historical information and clarification programs.
Someone once said that the most dangerous thing is an "educated Black mind." Well we definitely need to make sure that we and our children are armed to the teeth. Knowledge, coupled with action is power. So here's what we can do - whenever we feel we must vehemently disagree with a DWT, find a school or a church, take a camera and a tape recorder and do a teach in so that it won't be filtered through the mean stream newspaper, and our kids (and adults) who need to hear it most, will have the benefit of doing so first hand.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
The letter from BWFO4Change follows:
To: BWFO4Change Journalists
People like Michele Bachmann are saying things they wouldn't have dared to say 5-10 years ago. The article below says Bachmann and Christian Social Conservatives have the audacity to imply Black children were better off during slavery because Black families were together. She is truly ignorant and doesn't know American history and deliberate efforts to destroy Black Families.....
What has happened to white women like Bachmann and Palin who don't understand the politics of oppression?
Stephanie M.
Michele Bachmann Salutes the Upside to Slavery
ForbesBy Osha Gray Davidson | Forbes – 23 hrs ago
Michele Bachmann Salutes the Upside to Slavery
Say what you will about slavery, at least the 'peculiar institution' kept Black families intact.
That's according to a "marriage pledge" signed recently by GOP presidential aspirant, Michele Bachmann.
Representative Bachmann's grasp of American history has never been firm, particularly when it comes to slavery. She has stated that the founding fathers "worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States," despite the fact that several of our Nation's founders owned slaves and fought to keep slavery alive in the new republic.
Not that the two positions are necessarily mutually exclusive. Slave owner Thomas Jefferson wanted to use the Declaration of Independence to outlaw slavery. That was a minority opinion among the founders, however, and Bachmann's generalized assertion is a clear misreading of American history.
The pledge Bachmann signed this week is sponsored by The Family Leader, an Iowa-based group of Christian social conservatives. The "Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family," attempts to buttress its argument that "the Institution of Marriage in America is in great crisis" with statistics and scholarly citations. Here's one such attempt:
Slavery had a disastrous impact on African-American families, yet sadly a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African-American baby born after the election of the USA's first African-American President.
If that sounds questionable to you, there's a good reason. Leaving aside the implication that President Obama is somehow responsible for all problems within the Black community, the institution of slavery didn't recognize the very concept of "family" among captive Blacks. Marriage between slaves was, after all, illegal. And parents and children were routinely separated, forever, at the auction block.
The pledge provides a footnote to support their claim, citing a 2005 study, The Consequences of Marriage for African Americans. I decided to ask one of the study's authors, Dr. Lorraine Blackman, what she thought of The Family Leader's "pro-family" interpretation of slavery.
"That's just wrong," she said. "It is a serious error."
Blackman, an associate professor at Indiana University's School of Social Work, pointed out that she wouldn't have objected if, instead of 1860, the pledge Bachmann endorsed had selected a year sometime after slavery ended.
"As soon as they could," Blackman said, "former slaves rushed to get married." This led to a relatively high -- and quickly growing -- rate of marriage among African Americans.
According to the study Blackman co-wrote, by 1880, 56.3 percent of Black households were what we now call "nuclear families." (For Whites, that figure was 66.9 percent.) By 1950, nearly 80 percent of Black families were headed by married couples. By 1996, that figure had dropped to just 34 percent.
This is a serious problem, argues Blackman, but it won't be solved by rewriting history to make slavery appear to have any redeeming qualities.
FOOTNOTE: I have to close by saying that Blackman's argument has merit historically;there were more intact Black families before the 60's. So we really need to be looking at what's happening to our nuclear families now, in the 21st century - not because of Bachmann, but because our own enlightened self interest. (Oh by the way, whites are having baby mama drama too - but I know I didn't need to tell you that; our country is in a sort of moralistic downturn - not unlike the economic one we're dealing with.) We have played fast and loose with some folkways and mores that were deeply embedded in our psyches as far back as before we left the Continent (were stolen from the Continent, pardon me). It was what carried us through the entire 400 years of hell we endured here. But we suddenly now don't seem to be able to conjure up the love, respect, support, and regard for each other. I could attribute it to subtle forms of brainwashing. But I now have to say that whatever it is, we have to be diligent (militant) in putting a stop to it, and redirecting ourselves back on the path to autonomy, self sufficiency, health, wealth, and love. There will be more Black seniors living than youth, because so many of our children are killing each other and themselves -
So rather than argue with Bachmann, who has no merit, let's deal with the issue that we got issues, and they have to be dealt with (nice little circulatory ending, what?)
Stay Blessed
&
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
GDW
7.10.2011
Nobody Get Sick - Nobody Die - It's a New Rule
By Gloria Dulan-Wilson
I know you in the blogosphere have been wondering why I've been so silent lately. Why I haven't risen to the bait of so many outlandish, and just plain insipid issues and articles that have been proliferating as of late. And the reason is simple: I was allowing myself an official period of mourning and regrouping. During the month of June I attended six (6) SIX!!! funerals - three of them peers, three were elders - all of them had lived wonderful, full, meaningful, impactful lives.
You know, when you lose your peers, it's a gut wrenching feeling - and I didn't really realize how much pain I was in until someone asked me to write about my feelings for my brother/friend/classmate Gil Scott-Heron. And that's when I really began to kind of disintegrate. Yes, I did some side writing in response to some of the inanities that came across my computer screen. But I had not gotten back to full bloggability. So most of my comments were circulated among friends and associates.
I had to take a moment to just grieve and breathe and thank each of my departed friends and relatives for being such an integral part of my life. I always wanted to beautiful like my Aunt Mary (Los Angeles, CA); a dynamic, charismatic woman like "Aunt" Clara Luper (Oklahoma City, OK); and a diva at any age like Clarice Taylor (New York, NY), who was such a sweetheart and an inspiration - each taught me how to keep on keeping on regardless of the circumstances. These were the elders. They were and are still around me in spirit. Still working on what they've taught me. How am I doing?
But the sadness is that my three friends, Gil Scott-Heron (poet, artist, activist), Rev. Frederick "Rocky" Bryant (minister), and Jackson Burnside (architect in Grand Bahamas, nephew of Sir Sidney Portier), were all males, all peers, all Lincoln University classmates, all so essential, and all so gone too soon to my mind. These were my brother/friends, who I felt, were just hitting their pace in life; who were really making their indelible marks on the world - and who are now gone. Sure, they have left a legacy - but, truth be told, I'd much rather have the flesh and blood personage here than just a memory.
While the three aforementioned ladies were 89, 88 and 93 respectively, these three brothers were just barely in their sixties. It gives rise to the statements of women outliving men. But in truth, I don't want to give credence to that. I don't want us to continue being a self-fulfilling prophesy. It's that kind of programming that has gotten us into the mess we're in now.
No, I don't want to die sooner; but I do want my Black men to live longer. I want to have the pleasure of knowing that there are still plenty of fine Black men on the planet when I hit 90 (and I do plan to hit 90+, and I plan to look good too).
So, whatever the heck you guys are doing to check out of the planet decades before your time -STOP IT!!! And whatever you are not doing to make sure you live long healthy virile lives - START IT!!! There is no way that our parents should be outliving us.
Who was it that said, on their 80th birthday: "If I had known that I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself"???
Someone else said: "It is better to be seen than viewed?"
Well I want to SEE all you guys (and us ladies) healthy, energetic, happy, rich, and active - no tubes emanating from or into various nether regions. We have to be as vehement about our health and longevity as we are about political and economic issues. Longevity should be as much a part of our program as our one-upmanship. We gotta get this right - we only really get one chance - and it's our lives we're talking about.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO NEED SPECIFICS, THIS IS WHAT I'M SAYING: Stop eating pork, lower your salt intake, cut down on the beers, and liquor (I did not say eliminate, just moderate) walk more & dance a whole lot more!! Take your Vitamin E - 1000 Units/daily; B Complex at least 50 units/daily; Vitamin C - 500 Units/daily; DHEA - 200 Units/daily; HGH - precursors - 500 units; Calcium 1200 units/400 units D; Ginkgo Biloba 250 Units; Ginseng - 250+ Units. Eat fresh stuff; stop over cooking the greens, green beans, they are supposed to be bright green, not army green; stay away from Mickey D's, Booger King; and all those other fast food joints. Eat stir fry brown rice with vegetables - not pork; no spare ribs (pork); try baby back ribs (beef); pull the skin off the chicken before you fry it; and eat plenty of fish and seafood - if you're not allergic. Also, when you do have to go to a doctor, ask them specifically about the SIDE EFFECTS of the medication they are giving you - nine out of ten times they have no clue. Go on line and look it up STAY AWAY FROM WEB MD - they are paid to push the pharmaceuticals, you will never get an honest answer. (In the subject line, always ask for the "Natural cures and alternative remedies for the particular ailment - they have a wealth of information your doctor will never tell you - unless he is a wholistic medical practitioner).
Notice, I did not say become a vegetarian - you and I need our protein - and vegetables don't have the right quality proteins for human brains. And, my great grand mother-in-law, Evadne Brathwaite - who lived to 104- always took 2 ounces of Apple Cider Vinegar in either her orange juice or on her salad twice a day - the woman could hear what you were saying at 1,000 paces.) She got up and danced for her 100th birthday, while women half her age were hobbling around talking about their ailments and pains!!
We are in an age of modern technology and science. We are in an age of computers and information. We are no longer limited by some local quack who thinks it's okay to amputate your leg because you have diabetes (hyperbaric oxygen chambers can cure gangreen and burns; can heal kidneys and other ailments). If you have a doctor who dopes you up on all kinds of medication because you have high blood pressure and the pharmaceutical industry is paying them to use you as their private guinea pig, start doing your homework and find what your alternatives are. They're making money on your misery.
We are also in an age when we are supposed to be able to tune into our own inner clues, and not ignore them because we think they will go away, or because we're frightened. You are not too old to learn or adapt to new concepts. We are the smartest, brightest, and the best - but no one will know it if you end up in a box before you hit that mark.
If your doctors are not using either platelet rich plasma (PRP), or stem cells to cure basic illnesses here in the US, take a jet and go to Germany, England, Japan, Singapore - or any one of the other countries who are really healing people (more info about this in another blog).
If know more about Jay-Z and Rihanna than you know about real food and nutrition, then you're wasting your mind and your time. If you think that the green revolution was started by whites, you need to visit your grand and great grandparents who have been using Aloes, herbs, spices, and cocoanuts when whites were calling them superstition and substandard.
When I speak of health, I'm not just talking about physical food. I'm also talking about the spiritual food that permeates your mind, your psyche, your subconscious. I personally have nothing against the different religions that proliferate in the U.S. This country was founded on freedom of religion - Christianity, Muslim, Hebrew/Judiasm, Buddhism, etc. But there is a difference between being "religious" and spirituality. I've come across more than my share of fanatics (as I'm sure you have as well). As far as I'm concerned there is ONLY ONE GOD - and we call Him by many names, and have many approaches to worshiping Him; so no one has the right to condemn another's choice.
However, if you think you are spiritual because you go to a church every Sunday, but by Monday you've called at least 10 people everything but a Child of God; and you've "laid down your religion" more times than you've actually walked with it - then you are actually more negative than you realize; and are fooling yourself about the corrosive effects it's having on your insides. If you use religion as a weapon, a guilt trip, to brow beat people; to hoodwink them into submission, there are some karmic laws headed towards you - big time! If you think you can get by without a Supreme Being, try holding your breath for 15 minutes; or try not thinking for 10 minutes - Hah!!
Even with all we as writers deal with, in terms of the political corruption, pervasive racism, the "black" on "black" crime issues (notice I put "black" in lowercase "b" - because it should really start with an "n" and end with and "r" - but that's not politically correct); somewhere in the midst of all this agita, and harping, and scrutiny, take a moment to still yourself and find that Still Small Voice -- and LISTEN & PAY ATTENTION!
St. Elim Church in Brooklyn, has prayer stations set up on the sidewalk throughout the community.They pray with people on the spot if they need help - Free! No Proselytizing! Another church hands out little cards that simply say "STOP SUFFERING" - how profound! Many of us have walked with privation so long we really did not realize we were actually suffering. Some call it depression, others call it stress. In many instances you can see it on the faces of brothers and sisters as they walk through the streets, ride the buses or subways. While we are arguing about political issues -what we are missing is that many of us really are SUFFERING. That's something that no President, Congress, or legislation can handle. That's something we have to deal with right here in our own communal settings.
As a result, I've came to the conclusion that not everything constitutes LIFE AND DEATH. Especially that crap they run in the "mean stream" newspapers, and on the Continuously Negative News (CNN). And in a great many cases, if it isn't life and death (with the exception of Libya, of course), perhaps we still need to point out the flaws we see, but let's also come up with some viable solutions that we can apply by using some sweat equity - SELF HELP - principles that Black people can actually use. Because in pointing fingers of blame, we're giving waaaaaaaaaay too much power to outsiders, when a lot of this is an inside job - our job. Nobody should or could be able to oppress or deprive us without our permission. It really, truly is time for a major Paradigm Shift. One that makes Black Power look like a cake walk.
I want to write that we not only survived, but we SUCCEEDED AND SURPASSED the oppressors, the colonial monsters in Africa and the Caribbean; the slave monsters in the US, the jim crow monsters (stop calling these m/f's "masters" - they were and are monsters); the health demons that keep decimating our populations are primarily generated from them. I want to chronicle how we survived and succeeded and opulently surpassed them by our own strength, might, intelligence, creativity, IMAGINATION, diligence and discipline (it ain't impossible - other nationalities have done it; it's a mind set, you know, followed by action).
I want to be able to say that we - brilliant Black people that we are, solved these problems IN OUR LIFE TIME and lived to bask in the glory and get those accolades.
NOT JUST YES WE CAN, BUT YES WE DID - But we have to be alive and well to do so.
As I started out at the beginning, and in keeping with the title of this Blog: NOBODY GET SICK, NOBODY DIE - it's a New Rule. We have to be about the business of taking care of ourselves and each other - from the US, to Africa, to the Caribbean, to South America - and where ever else we as people predominate (or just live). When I say ECLECTICALLY BLACK, I mean it - the best and brightest we have to offer from our cultures, brought together for our own benefit - We, the First World People (yes, I'm selfish like that).
So, yes I'm back. Yes, I've got a lot to say. And, as a very famous minister once said: "I never let the subject get in the way of what I have to say." (Rev. Ike) So, I'll be trying to put just a little bit of a different spin on my blog, because SELF PRESERVATION IS THE FIRST LAW OF LIFE and I want you and me to be alive, well, abundant, and blessed.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
PS: You will notice that other than my friends, not one political figure was mentioned in this entire piece. 'Cause it's really all about us - we have the power, we are the power; we just need to make it work for us. UP YOU MIGHTY RACE...!
GDW
STAY BLESSED/GDW
I know you in the blogosphere have been wondering why I've been so silent lately. Why I haven't risen to the bait of so many outlandish, and just plain insipid issues and articles that have been proliferating as of late. And the reason is simple: I was allowing myself an official period of mourning and regrouping. During the month of June I attended six (6) SIX!!! funerals - three of them peers, three were elders - all of them had lived wonderful, full, meaningful, impactful lives.
You know, when you lose your peers, it's a gut wrenching feeling - and I didn't really realize how much pain I was in until someone asked me to write about my feelings for my brother/friend/classmate Gil Scott-Heron. And that's when I really began to kind of disintegrate. Yes, I did some side writing in response to some of the inanities that came across my computer screen. But I had not gotten back to full bloggability. So most of my comments were circulated among friends and associates.
I had to take a moment to just grieve and breathe and thank each of my departed friends and relatives for being such an integral part of my life. I always wanted to beautiful like my Aunt Mary (Los Angeles, CA); a dynamic, charismatic woman like "Aunt" Clara Luper (Oklahoma City, OK); and a diva at any age like Clarice Taylor (New York, NY), who was such a sweetheart and an inspiration - each taught me how to keep on keeping on regardless of the circumstances. These were the elders. They were and are still around me in spirit. Still working on what they've taught me. How am I doing?
But the sadness is that my three friends, Gil Scott-Heron (poet, artist, activist), Rev. Frederick "Rocky" Bryant (minister), and Jackson Burnside (architect in Grand Bahamas, nephew of Sir Sidney Portier), were all males, all peers, all Lincoln University classmates, all so essential, and all so gone too soon to my mind. These were my brother/friends, who I felt, were just hitting their pace in life; who were really making their indelible marks on the world - and who are now gone. Sure, they have left a legacy - but, truth be told, I'd much rather have the flesh and blood personage here than just a memory.
While the three aforementioned ladies were 89, 88 and 93 respectively, these three brothers were just barely in their sixties. It gives rise to the statements of women outliving men. But in truth, I don't want to give credence to that. I don't want us to continue being a self-fulfilling prophesy. It's that kind of programming that has gotten us into the mess we're in now.
No, I don't want to die sooner; but I do want my Black men to live longer. I want to have the pleasure of knowing that there are still plenty of fine Black men on the planet when I hit 90 (and I do plan to hit 90+, and I plan to look good too).
So, whatever the heck you guys are doing to check out of the planet decades before your time -STOP IT!!! And whatever you are not doing to make sure you live long healthy virile lives - START IT!!! There is no way that our parents should be outliving us.
Who was it that said, on their 80th birthday: "If I had known that I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself"???
Someone else said: "It is better to be seen than viewed?"
Well I want to SEE all you guys (and us ladies) healthy, energetic, happy, rich, and active - no tubes emanating from or into various nether regions. We have to be as vehement about our health and longevity as we are about political and economic issues. Longevity should be as much a part of our program as our one-upmanship. We gotta get this right - we only really get one chance - and it's our lives we're talking about.
FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO NEED SPECIFICS, THIS IS WHAT I'M SAYING: Stop eating pork, lower your salt intake, cut down on the beers, and liquor (I did not say eliminate, just moderate) walk more & dance a whole lot more!! Take your Vitamin E - 1000 Units/daily; B Complex at least 50 units/daily; Vitamin C - 500 Units/daily; DHEA - 200 Units/daily; HGH - precursors - 500 units; Calcium 1200 units/400 units D; Ginkgo Biloba 250 Units; Ginseng - 250+ Units. Eat fresh stuff; stop over cooking the greens, green beans, they are supposed to be bright green, not army green; stay away from Mickey D's, Booger King; and all those other fast food joints. Eat stir fry brown rice with vegetables - not pork; no spare ribs (pork); try baby back ribs (beef); pull the skin off the chicken before you fry it; and eat plenty of fish and seafood - if you're not allergic. Also, when you do have to go to a doctor, ask them specifically about the SIDE EFFECTS of the medication they are giving you - nine out of ten times they have no clue. Go on line and look it up STAY AWAY FROM WEB MD - they are paid to push the pharmaceuticals, you will never get an honest answer. (In the subject line, always ask for the "Natural cures and alternative remedies for the particular ailment - they have a wealth of information your doctor will never tell you - unless he is a wholistic medical practitioner).
Notice, I did not say become a vegetarian - you and I need our protein - and vegetables don't have the right quality proteins for human brains. And, my great grand mother-in-law, Evadne Brathwaite - who lived to 104- always took 2 ounces of Apple Cider Vinegar in either her orange juice or on her salad twice a day - the woman could hear what you were saying at 1,000 paces.) She got up and danced for her 100th birthday, while women half her age were hobbling around talking about their ailments and pains!!
We are in an age of modern technology and science. We are in an age of computers and information. We are no longer limited by some local quack who thinks it's okay to amputate your leg because you have diabetes (hyperbaric oxygen chambers can cure gangreen and burns; can heal kidneys and other ailments). If you have a doctor who dopes you up on all kinds of medication because you have high blood pressure and the pharmaceutical industry is paying them to use you as their private guinea pig, start doing your homework and find what your alternatives are. They're making money on your misery.
We are also in an age when we are supposed to be able to tune into our own inner clues, and not ignore them because we think they will go away, or because we're frightened. You are not too old to learn or adapt to new concepts. We are the smartest, brightest, and the best - but no one will know it if you end up in a box before you hit that mark.
If your doctors are not using either platelet rich plasma (PRP), or stem cells to cure basic illnesses here in the US, take a jet and go to Germany, England, Japan, Singapore - or any one of the other countries who are really healing people (more info about this in another blog).
If know more about Jay-Z and Rihanna than you know about real food and nutrition, then you're wasting your mind and your time. If you think that the green revolution was started by whites, you need to visit your grand and great grandparents who have been using Aloes, herbs, spices, and cocoanuts when whites were calling them superstition and substandard.
When I speak of health, I'm not just talking about physical food. I'm also talking about the spiritual food that permeates your mind, your psyche, your subconscious. I personally have nothing against the different religions that proliferate in the U.S. This country was founded on freedom of religion - Christianity, Muslim, Hebrew/Judiasm, Buddhism, etc. But there is a difference between being "religious" and spirituality. I've come across more than my share of fanatics (as I'm sure you have as well). As far as I'm concerned there is ONLY ONE GOD - and we call Him by many names, and have many approaches to worshiping Him; so no one has the right to condemn another's choice.
However, if you think you are spiritual because you go to a church every Sunday, but by Monday you've called at least 10 people everything but a Child of God; and you've "laid down your religion" more times than you've actually walked with it - then you are actually more negative than you realize; and are fooling yourself about the corrosive effects it's having on your insides. If you use religion as a weapon, a guilt trip, to brow beat people; to hoodwink them into submission, there are some karmic laws headed towards you - big time! If you think you can get by without a Supreme Being, try holding your breath for 15 minutes; or try not thinking for 10 minutes - Hah!!
Even with all we as writers deal with, in terms of the political corruption, pervasive racism, the "black" on "black" crime issues (notice I put "black" in lowercase "b" - because it should really start with an "n" and end with and "r" - but that's not politically correct); somewhere in the midst of all this agita, and harping, and scrutiny, take a moment to still yourself and find that Still Small Voice -- and LISTEN & PAY ATTENTION!
St. Elim Church in Brooklyn, has prayer stations set up on the sidewalk throughout the community.They pray with people on the spot if they need help - Free! No Proselytizing! Another church hands out little cards that simply say "STOP SUFFERING" - how profound! Many of us have walked with privation so long we really did not realize we were actually suffering. Some call it depression, others call it stress. In many instances you can see it on the faces of brothers and sisters as they walk through the streets, ride the buses or subways. While we are arguing about political issues -what we are missing is that many of us really are SUFFERING. That's something that no President, Congress, or legislation can handle. That's something we have to deal with right here in our own communal settings.
As a result, I've came to the conclusion that not everything constitutes LIFE AND DEATH. Especially that crap they run in the "mean stream" newspapers, and on the Continuously Negative News (CNN). And in a great many cases, if it isn't life and death (with the exception of Libya, of course), perhaps we still need to point out the flaws we see, but let's also come up with some viable solutions that we can apply by using some sweat equity - SELF HELP - principles that Black people can actually use. Because in pointing fingers of blame, we're giving waaaaaaaaaay too much power to outsiders, when a lot of this is an inside job - our job. Nobody should or could be able to oppress or deprive us without our permission. It really, truly is time for a major Paradigm Shift. One that makes Black Power look like a cake walk.
I want to write that we not only survived, but we SUCCEEDED AND SURPASSED the oppressors, the colonial monsters in Africa and the Caribbean; the slave monsters in the US, the jim crow monsters (stop calling these m/f's "masters" - they were and are monsters); the health demons that keep decimating our populations are primarily generated from them. I want to chronicle how we survived and succeeded and opulently surpassed them by our own strength, might, intelligence, creativity, IMAGINATION, diligence and discipline (it ain't impossible - other nationalities have done it; it's a mind set, you know, followed by action).
I want to be able to say that we - brilliant Black people that we are, solved these problems IN OUR LIFE TIME and lived to bask in the glory and get those accolades.
NOT JUST YES WE CAN, BUT YES WE DID - But we have to be alive and well to do so.
As I started out at the beginning, and in keeping with the title of this Blog: NOBODY GET SICK, NOBODY DIE - it's a New Rule. We have to be about the business of taking care of ourselves and each other - from the US, to Africa, to the Caribbean, to South America - and where ever else we as people predominate (or just live). When I say ECLECTICALLY BLACK, I mean it - the best and brightest we have to offer from our cultures, brought together for our own benefit - We, the First World People (yes, I'm selfish like that).
So, yes I'm back. Yes, I've got a lot to say. And, as a very famous minister once said: "I never let the subject get in the way of what I have to say." (Rev. Ike) So, I'll be trying to put just a little bit of a different spin on my blog, because SELF PRESERVATION IS THE FIRST LAW OF LIFE and I want you and me to be alive, well, abundant, and blessed.
Stay Blessed &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson
PS: You will notice that other than my friends, not one political figure was mentioned in this entire piece. 'Cause it's really all about us - we have the power, we are the power; we just need to make it work for us. UP YOU MIGHTY RACE...!
GDW
STAY BLESSED/GDW
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