Justice Wears a Hoodie.

Little Bird's Dad

“The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Skittles and Arizona Tea

“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it” Zora Neale Hurston

So whats next? How do we move on from this? It was proven yet again that it is ok to kill a black person who was blatantly protecting himself from someone who was following him. America, I blame you. I blame your racism that still exist. I blame your inequality that still exist. George Zimmerman was told to stay in his car, but instead he decided to take the law into his own hands. Growing up, it was told to some of us in school that you fight force with force. Meaning that if someone is using their fist, you do the same thing, not use a gun when they are using their fist. With that being said, George should have and could have defended himself by having a fair fight. We have to wonder if our justice system is really fair??? What do we do??? Well first off we don’t GIVE up. We continue to press on. We find and make ways to have laws changed. But this duty lies with US! We VOTE these people in….WAIT RIGHT THERE…WE VOTE THESE PEOPLE IN!! Meaning that WE must exercise the right that our ancestors fought for us to have. We vote because we can vote better in while voting the horrible people out. We can’t let the dream of Martin Luther King Jr be forgotten or go deterred. If you want to have a march, march on. If you want to have a rally, rally on. If you are encouraged to go law school GO and become the best attorney you can! Whatever you decide to do, do not let this go in vain. America must live up to what it is “supposedly” based on. This is in order to prove that a black boy should be able to walk home without being followed, racial profiled, and murdered. 

EDUCATE YOURSELF PEOPLE

The division of Black America

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Standing upon shoulders of giants”. A quote that will forever resonate with me. This is a quote I heard throughout my tenure at South Carolina State University. I never really made sense of what this actual quote meant until my senior year and I was working on my senior thesis.  Black America, we are not only descendents of Kings and Queens, we are descendents of fighters, soldiers, and warriors but we cannot fathom any of this. Our ancestors labored, suffered, and died so that we may have a better opportunity at life and what do we do? We fight each other, we diss each other, we KILL each other. Black people are our own worse enemy. If you ask a black person the latest Jay-Z songs and who their state representative, state senator, US congressman, and US senator may be, I bet Jay-Z wins. What most black people don’t realize is that Jay-Z is a BUSINESS MAN. When I say business man, he not only has made a name in the hip hop culture, he has a name in the business sector. Jay-Z can have dinner with Warren Buffet, a billionaire. Jay-Z now has his hands in the liquor business, video game business, and is part owner of a sports team. That is how you build wealth.  But we will spend 100s of dollars on the latest Jordans or we will go and buy the latest Benz, BMW, Lexus, park it in front of an apartment instead of creating ways to have long-term wealth. We are the biggest group of consumers in America but we don’t have wealth. In 2012 racism may still be evident, I do not deny that BUT what I do realize is that blacks must stop blaming “the man” on their shortcoming.

1. Gabby Douglas

This situation was very silly and childish. You would assume that as a race of people who have went through being labeled as chattel and 2nd rate citizens, we would be there for our own sister. But instead, some of black america brought her down. Gabby’s hair became the focal point. Gabby’s hair should not have been of anyones topic of discussion. Gabby’s mom sacrified so much so that her daughter could continue doing gymnastics and have the moment we all sat in front of the television and hoped for. What does black america do? Ridicule. We should have been celebrating with her as if she was our cousin, sister, best friend. That moment alone showed our division as a race…again.

2. The black church/Gay Marriage

Every since President Barack Obama stated his stance on gay marriage, the black church have went on a major crusade against the President. President Obama supporting gay marriage is his personal beliefs and has nothing to do with politics. He was not requiring all of america to support him in this endeavor.  The black church will lead a crusade against something as minor and something we have little control over such as gay marriage. We have people in the church who are having sex before marriage, making babies out-of-wedlock, and suffering from greed but we lead a crusade against gay marriage. Leviticus says no man shall steal, no adultery should be committed, we shall not eat anything with blood in it etc…but no crusade is being lead on any of this. God does forgive us of our sins but at the same time, no one sin is greater than the other. The black church should be helping the poor and homeless but we want to condemn the President because of his views and ostracised homosexuals.

3. HBCU/PWI

HBCUs were created so that african americans may have access to higher education and so that they may be able to stay out of PWIs (predominantly white institutions). In 2012, HBCUs still create a world of scholars. But to the one person who has never experience the HBCU life and only go off of what they hear, their perception is otherwise. This divides us as “some” blacks who attend PWIs have a very judgemental view of blacks who attend HBCUs. Their stance is that HBCUs create drama, are ghetto, and filled with “hoodness” behavior. These same attributes occur at PWIs as well. Being at a HBCU, I was surrounded by people of many different races and cultures. Being at an HBCU, I was very prepared for the real world. To be honest, HBCUs have divisive cultures that have been created by class and geography which is found on any college campus. HBCUs deal with their issues of bad leadership  like any other school. Poor funding has made life harder at HBCUs. This one stance has caused a disconnect with the black community. Because we focus on monetary value so much, we feel it’s easier to sit back and judge instead of offering a helping hand.  What I have learned throughout my collegiate career is that you make your degree work for you once it is received. I had a discussion with 4 human resource professionals from 4 different career sectors and they all stated that they are not focused on the institution that you attended, they are focused on your background (internships and knowledge)and what  you can bring to their company.

These are only a few of MY viewpoints on Black america. I love my people, our culture, and our history (even with its bad parts) but as a people we must do better.

 

 

Marijuana Legalization: Obama’s Key to the Youth Vote

 

Reblogged from: http://fidlerten.com/2012/06/20/marijuana-legalization-obamas-key-youth-vote/

President Obama has proven over his presidency to be very smart; he knows who his base is and he knows what they want and most importantly, he knows how to give it to them.

He has come out for Gay Marriage and by doing so not only secured the gay vote, which he already had, but he also motivated gay people. Gays will be very motivated in November for the first president who has openly endorsed same-sex marriage.  We’re very motivated when we understand the potential for gay marriage to become legal federally with an Obama second term.

Then most recently, he announced that his administration would no longer deport young Hispanics under the age of thirty who came here with their parents when they were too young to make their own decisions. Hispanics know now that he will also do what he can in a second term to pass the American Dream Act that he was unable to in his first term, thanks to Republicans in Congress who has blocked that bill from becoming law.

In 2008 Barack Obama won the presidential election thanks to a large turnout of the youth vote.  Even though he still overwhelmingly holds the vote of the young in this country, the young aren’t as motivated as they were in 2008.

Young people in large numbers support the legalization of marijuana. In fact, the possibility of the legalization of pot in the near future has a great deal of potential to motivate young voters to get out and vote this November.

I have no idea if Obama has any plans to make a campaign promise when it comes to marijuana legalization but I do think that he should strongly consider it. If he succeeds, once he’s won a second term, it will depend a great deal on the makeup of the new congress he’s going to have to work with to get a marijuana legalization bill passed.

When it comes to the question if marijuana should be legalized, or at least decriminalized, personally I think the time has come.  Currently, 17 states and DC have medical marijuana laws. That number will surely grow over time.

One of the myths about marijuana – about it leading to stronger more dangerous drugs – has never proven to be true. And, with an economy struggling to recover, the complete legalization of marijuana – not just decriminalization – would lead to a boondoggle of new, very much needed tax dollars for municipalities, states and the federal government.

Not only could the legalization of marijuana bring in new tax dollars but it would also save billions of dollars for all levels of government, as no longer would the cost of arrest, prosecution and incarceration of marijuana possession offenders be costing government entities billions of dollars annually, as it does now.

I’m not advocating the legalization of all drugs, as there are drugs which are highly addictive and deadly. Marijuana is safer than alcohol which is legal. In fact, the government should handle marijuana much like they do alcohol when it comes to taxation and law enforcement.

There’s much talk that Obama may have an October Surprise up his sleeve and that surprise could be him coming out in favor of the legalization of marijuana. He would have a good reason to with the possibility of the tax dollars it could bring in to help local, state and the federal government with their fiscal difficulties.

I don’t know if Obama will take that plunge and commit himself to the very liberal standing of support for the legalization of marijuana but he seriously does need young adults to pour out to the polls this November and the single problem holding back the youth is motivation.

Obama also becomes a much more viable choice for Libertarians who generally support the legalization of marijuana. Mitt Romney is not a great choice for Libertarians, now with their own candidate, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex) off the ballot.

I realize that there’s some political risk involved with Obama supporting marijuana legalization as some independents voters who otherwise might support the president, may feel he’s just too liberal. But like his coming out for gay marriage, the political reward could well be worth the risk of alienation of a few voters.

Besides, Republicans already call him too liberal when in fact, many of his policies, especially foreign policies, have been anything but liberal. He might as well live up to some of the GOP’s accusations, especially if it will help him secure yet another four years in the White House.

I do believe that there is nothing that could stir up and send young voters out to the polls in huge numbers more than the prospect of legalizing pot. Obama should consider it well.

Which way higher?

Our Son Trayvon Martin

 

 

 

 

How do we sleep at night knowing a young mans innocent life was taken away? How do we continue to go through our day with crimes like this happening in our own backyard?  Trayvon Martin was murdered all because he looked suspicious by George Zimmerman who has yes to be arrested. George Zimmerman has yet to be arrested due to Florida “Stand your Ground” law which states that a person is justified in using deadly force and does not have to retreat if they believe such force will prevent death. In this case George Zimmerman would be the aggressor as he was following Trayvon and stated that Trayvon LOOKED suspicious. George Zimmerman was also told by police dispatch that they will handle it from there and George still went above his power to handle a situation that could have easily been solved by the cops and America would still have their son. George Zimmerman is still free all because of this law. George Zimmerman may even REMAIN free. But it is evident that Trayvon was afraid of George. Some random man who a kid does not know following them at night, he had every right to be scared. All of this is portrayed in his last phone call. George Zimmerman brought a gun to a fist fight. George Zimmerman was not trying to protect himself when he was the aggressor in this situation. Trayvon had no weapon(s) on him, how was he a threat? Trayvon was a 100+ pound boy compared to George Zimmerman over 200+ pounds, Zimmerman was well equipped to protect himself WITHOUT using a gun. Amazingly the FBI has decided to step in on this case since the Sanford Police Department seems to be moving slow with this case. George Zimmerman may only face a manslaughter charge which is only up to 15 years. Not nearly enough for this crime. Lets continue to fight injustice in America, once we give up, crimes of this nature will continue to happen.

Ways to get involved:

http://www.change.org/petitions/prosecute-the-killer-of-our-son-17-year-old-trayvon-martin

Office of the Attorney General
Eric Holder, Jr., Attorney General
(202) 514-2001
(202) 353-1555 Public Comment Line

U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division
Criminal Section
Mark Kappelhoff, Chief
(202) 514-3204
(202) 514-8336 FAX

GOP March 6 2012

 

 

 

 

 

 

Four Candidates still in the race for the GOP nomination. At this point, they are pretty entertaining but they are pretty boring as well. Its March and still all the GOP talk about is “beating Obama”. Isn’t there another premise for running for President of the United States of America? The economy has faltered but it is slowly improving, jobs are far and in between, and healthcare is a major pressing issue but all the GOP talk about is “beating Obama”. Newton Gingrich won his home state of Georgia, if you can’t win your home state, that speaks volumes. When Gingrich gave his victory speech in Georgia he didn’t discuss the people of Georgia, he did a lot of bashing of his opponents. What has been admirable about Ron Paul tonight is that he admitted this administration is not 100% to blame for all of the fallacies of America at this point. All the issues dealing with America right now can be attributed back to the Bush Administrations. This is something no other Republican has yet to admit. Contraception has been a major topic with the GOP in the past few weeks. All republican candidates opposes abortion and most forms of birth control. Ron Paul wants all forms of abortion abolished, with that being said what happens when the woman is raped by her father, brother, uncle, cousin and gets pregnant? Should she be forced to keep the child? This leaves all types of emotional trauma on the woman but some say what about the baby? Babies should be made out of love and rape is not love. Some women have reproductive issues and have a world of pain carrying a fetus that will eventually go into a child. Should they have to be on bed rest for 9 months and basically risk their life because some MAN says abortion should not exist? GOP candidates should leave women ovaries and reproductive issues alone. Santorum feels as birth control only encourages kids to have sex and for people to have sex outside of marriage. Truth is, people will do what they want. Once someone tries to restrict them of something they want to do, they will find ways to make it happen. Birth control helps regulate women’s cycles and help with menstrual pain but did and GOP candidate think of this? Apparently not. Most candidates are not speaking on how to bring jobs they only say they WILL bring jobs. Most are not talking about helping the poor and/or middle class. They say they will help but they never discuss how. At this point all GOP candidates are being selfish. They are only looking out for themselves, they really aren’t looking out for their voters. Most people in this country are poor or middle class meaning that the GOP candidates are still only looking out for a select few. I believe in the idea of working hard as this country was built on hard work but I also believe in helping people get to that point. We live in a country full of homelessness and veterans who come home to America and do not have jobs. We live in an America with failing public schools and the GOP wants to diminish the department of education. This can go on and on but it will not make a difference if America does not wake up and take a stand on it’s on.