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50 years after the first March on Washington led by Martin Luther King Jr, a March on Washington happened again but this time led by Al Sharpton. I’m not sure about you but that’s like going to a rap concert expecting Wu-tang and getting CB-4. Just not the same thing. REFUND PLEASE ! Are Sharpton and King the same kind of civil rights leader ? And who keeps pushing this idea/agenda that he (Sharpton) speaks for us ? Many would argue that Sharpton isn’t a leader at all. I wonder if Martin would have even invited Al, Jamie Foxx, Obama or many other of the so-called “activists” that spoke to the 50th anniversary remembrance. Who knows?

This march does begin our love affair with our new legacy of distraction and second class citizenship.

As of recent (recent could mean damn near the last twenty years) in addition to the March on Washington there has been some news that should scare black people (voting rights). As if everything else (the prison industrial complex, unemployment, poverty, unequal health care, sub-par education) isn’t creating a situation that leads to or has our people in dire circumstances. For us to fight for voting rights in america circa 2013 we would have to believe in the american system of governing. And what black person in their right mind believes in anything dealing with this system of government. Redistricting is happening in every corner of the country or so it seems.

I mean damn, since the minute these pigment lacking people stepped on this soil it has not been the land of opportunity its been the land of exploitation. But for some reason we allow white dominated media the opportunity to dictate to us what WE should be fighting for. Then again WE don’t own any media so it shouldn’t be expected of the media to really give a damn about anything other than ratings.

We don’t stay focused on our important issues. We get distracted so easily its unreal (see twerking white girl). Don’t believe we get distracted just look how fast the name Trayvon Martin has disappeared out of our lexicon of language. Read your news feed nightly and see how fast we get distracted by television and the gossip of Holly-Weird. We must be happier than a pig in slop to focus on that rather than what may be killing us. We’d have to be to so readily accept what is being given to us. Angry people let it be known how they feel. BY RAISING HELL !!

Our fight has gone. Now I have no blame for us as it pertains to our current situation because of the hundreds of years of abuse, slavery and systematic oppression. It was no easy job creating the chaos we now call our lives as black people in America.

What does frighten me is our seemingly succumbing to a second class citizens role.

Do we love what is killing us?

We watch what we’re told to. We believe the lies about our story.
Eat the poisons we are told to. We’ve become the consumerist zombies they’ve programmed us to be. It sure does seem like we love it.

Where is the argument we don’t love what is killing us ?

Lovelies, I just ran across this and while I get where the artist was coming from, it didn’t give me good feelings…I want to know how you felt about this…

With the Trayvon Martin case still fresh on our minds the nation is still a little sensitive. A mural was unveiled at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee Friday. The picture depicts a young black boy in a hoodie who looks much like Trayvon Martin being shot in the head by a guy who sure looks a lot likeGeorge Zimmerman.

Reports have it that there is a mirror in place where Trayvon’s face would be so spectators can visualize themselves in the circumstances. The mural is titled,” We all are Trayvon Martin.” In this mural the artist who is simply known as Huong also depicts civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. with blood flowing down the side of his head.

The artist wrote in a description of the mural on her website, “The Trayvon Martin trial captured the country like no other had since O.J. Simpson it was more than just a heinous crime, it was social injustice. No one ever imagined that on that dark, rainy night, the life of a young man would be stripped from him in cold blood. Carrying nothing but a bag of Skittles he had just bought from a convenience store, the only crime he committed that night was walking into the path of George Zimmerman.”

Huong’s mural is a part of the nonprofit Peace Mural Foundation that raises awareness of human suffering through art.

This is a powerful mural to say the least; do you think that this is an insensitive depiction?O or is it an artistic expression enough to evoke thought in our society?

The hate mail has been literally POURING IN since this was revealed…but the artist says she won’t back down, as this wasn’t about hate.

I don’t know, family… is this too much, too soon?

This past Saturday, mega-moguls Jay-Z and Beyoncé attended  the peace rally for Trayvon Martin which took place in lower Manhattan, New York. The rally was a world-wide event  that took place in over 100 cities across the country in support against, the “Stand Your Ground” law. The same law that was associated with George Zimmerman, a neighborhood watchman who shot and killed Trayvon Martin, in 2012 in Florida, and allowed him to be acquitted of all charges just one week ago.

In honor of Martin, Beyoncé and Jay-Z refused to allow any interviews, or speak stating that they just wanted to show respect to Trayvon and were not looking for publicity at the time. Speaking at the event was Rev. Al Sharpton and Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton who were amongst an illustrious crowd.

The Dream Defenders are proof positive that there is a group of educated, motivated, and organized youth in Florida (that is constantly growing) that are in pursuit of positive changes within the state that they call home.

Some of you may already know who they are but for those of you that don’t let me introduce you to the Dream Defenders.  Tuesday July 16, 2013 #takeovertuesday they (with the support of other Organizations such as Advancement Project, Florida New Majority, and NAACP) assembled in Tallahassee, FL at the State Capital with the goal of getting an audience with Governor Rick Scott.    They prepared a list of demands for their elected Governor.  The Dream Defenders want Governor Scott to call for a special session of the Florida Legislature to address issues that led to the tragic death of Trayvon Martin.  They want to take a critical look into what actually happened.  Meaning the environmental factors that grew a George Zimmerman and ultimately lost Trayvon Martin as it pertains to how the public seems to be increasing afraid of black and brown youth.  The reason these young activists want to speak with Governor Scott is because he has the power to call a special session of Congress.

On day one the Governor wasn’t there to meet the people but this resilient group has plans to stay for the long hall.  In order to occupy their time they began singing, told insightful stories of self, expressed why they are individually committed to change, and had one on one conversations with others from different areas of the state revealing that many of their concerns were the same.

A win is considered to be able to ensure that things of this nature do not continue to happen on a reoccurring basis.  The Dream Defenders Movement is about using that anger, frustration, love, and passion and channeling it into a movement.  They want social change and believe that it comes with training and organizing youth and students in nonviolent civil disobedience while creating and cultivating leaders to create change in their individual communities.

It was truly amazing to see this group of individuals standing together behind a common goal.  Oblivious to obvious differences in race, gender, ethnicity, and social status.  It seems as if not only Florida but our country as a whole would fare much better if we are able to look past those differences as the Dream Defenders are doing right now.  Which would pave the way to make this country what it was intended to be a nation of the people for the people.

At the time of this piece the Dream Defenders are still in Tallahassee, FL at the State Capital.  If you are in the area feel free to stop in then some of you may not so I will take this opportunity to introduce you to them.  The Dream and show your support!

 

It’s official not guilty is the verdict. weather you agree or not ask yourself can our nation recover from crimes & verdicts or this nature. It’s sad to see the life of a young black man ended in violence. Trayvon’s gone can we come together. Honestly no we won’t be able to come together.  Everyone is looking at this from one side. Like it or not this man has gotten away with murder. First of all he is a neighborhood watchman. Not a police officer. Second of all he was off duty not suppose to have a fire arm. Third he continued to follow Trayvon when the authorities told him not to. If that’s not A reason to be charged with murder I don’t know what is. What was Trayvon suppose to do run home & have Zimmerman jump in his car & follow him there.

If it was in Hollywood & a young white man looked suspicious & the neighborhood watchman was a off duty black man. Would he get a not guilty verdict. Race has a big part in everything we do. You can fool yourself & thing color don’t matter but your wrong. How many times we see Arabs & other suspicious looking races at the airport & we say to our self. Awh shit they look like terrorist. We judge each other by the color of our skin. So our justice system does the same. How can justice be blind if  we are looking thru our eye’s & not the eyes of justice. It’s sad to say but in a way we all knew he would walk away. It’s time we stop letting others walk all over us & fight. We had to fight to vote, fight for equal right. So why in the fuck you would think you didn’t have to fight for justice.

Now i’ll admit this shit is getting outta hand with all the hateful tweets, facebook posting & crazy comments from each side. The land of the free that’s such bullshit. We came together as a nation during nine eleven. We came together during the Boston bombings. We came together after the violence from the D.C Sniper. Our troops came together to fight for our nation. But once again a crime has a way of dividing us as a people & revealing our true feeling & emotions. What do you tell your child when they hear a child was killed coming home. How do you explain that A armed man felt he was endanger & had no choice but to kill that other person. How do you explain it. Who’s at fault. How can we teach our kids violence is not the answer when it’s all around us. How can we teach our children to respect each other , when we secretly despise each other.

How can we rebuild when we can’t forget. How can we move forward when our system of love is blind to justice. Obama claimed it was time for change during his first election. But i’m hear to say nothing has changed. In my opinion Obama hasn’t done nothing but con us all. He maybe the only black president we will ever have & his accomplishments won’t mean shit if he can help his race. In fact if he doesn’t make a effort to help the black community. Then we will be the only race who had the opportunity to force change but failed to do so. Cut the bullshit if we don’t fix our communities & our neighborhoods then no one else will. If we don’t care what happens in our community then no one else will. Here we have a black president that can’t help his community. Where’s the justice. What’s going on. it’s bigger than Trayvon & Zimmerman. We been dealing with these issues for the beginning of time.e are like a volcano & we are about to explode when that happens who side will justice be on. When all hell breaks loose will the laws of our land be enough to execute justice or will it ignite more rage & violence. Can our nation rebuild when it’s roots were founded on racism & other races being anything but equal.