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Mental Slavery

The Black community has two big problems on it’s hands:  the blind leading the blind, and those who can see leading the blind into traps.

With the progression of the Internet, misleading information can spread faster than ever.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of great information out there; but, one has to be willing to do thorough research, and then think for themselves on all the information they have gathered.  If nine sites publish a lie, and only one publishes the truth, how can you tell the difference?  Usually there’s some common-sense processes that will make you re-evaluate the article.  You can spot a lot of lies in the news if you pay close attention.

Here’s a perfect example, which brought me to write this.  Someone on Twitter said “There are more black men in prison than were in slavery!”  I have seen this similar tweet a few times.  I asked to the see where they read that.  And here it is. http://www.laprogressive.com/law-and-the-justice-system/black-men-prison-system/

The title of the post says “More Black Men Now in Prison System than Were Enslaved”.  In the first sentence of the article they quote law professor Michelle Alexander, from her book on the prison industrial complex, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.  Alexander states: “More African American men are in prison or jail, on probation or parole than were enslaved in 1850, before the Civil War began,”

Let’s compare these two sentences.  Read them a few times out loud.

1. More Black men now in prison than were enslaved.
2. More Black men in jail, prison, probation, or parole than were enslaved in 1850.

So really, Ms. Alexander is saying: there are more Black men in the American criminal system than the amount of Black men during ONE YEAR of slavery in America.

But the title of the post says something completely different.  That more Black men are in prison than all of the 300 plus years of slavery in America!

It wouldn’t make sense to compare the numbers anyway, since I’m sure the entire African American population has increased since 1850.  I also highly doubt that accurate population records were kept back then, especially since Blacks were considered property and not human.  It also doesn’t make sense because slavery is a LIFELONG status.  The men she speaks of could have been imprisoned for a few weeks, a few months, or a few years.  But they are all being lumped as “Black men in the prison system”.  The African slave trade occurred in North and South America, The Caribbean, Europe, and Africa itself.  This article is mixing apples and oranges with all kinds of other fruit.  But once someone writes the buzz words “slavery” “Black men” and “prison” in a sentence, we all rush to see the train wreck.

Some people are at least half complicit in this mental slavery, because they don’t take more time to analyze the information.  And some others, such as the writer of the article, mislead people on purpose.  Everyone spreads the information on tweets, Facebook, blogs, emails, and text messages.  The next thing you know we have a state of emergency that seems almost too overwhelming to solve.  This increases the insecurity of the Black identity, as we shake our heads and say “Yet another stain on the Black legacy.”  There is no doubt that Black men are disproportionately imprisoned and arrested.  And much of that disproportion can be linked to poverty and racism, which all tie into slavery and Black history in America.  But misleading comparisons such as this (from a Black “educated” woman I might add) do not paint Black men any better, nor do they serve to properly inform people about reality.

What if I told you there are more Black men that have graduated college than are in prison?  You’d question that I’m sure.  But you can see this video where a man does the math.

It never sat well with me when people would assert that there are more Black men entering prison than are rotating out of a 4 year college institution.  And when something doesn’t sound right, a lot of times it isn’t right.

Before you run with any information, carefully ask yourself who is writing it and why?  Half of the titles alone are to shock you into reading it.   As much as the Information Age can spread teachings and truths, it can just as easily, if not more easily, spread lies.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!
-Bob Marley

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10 Minute Break: Black Men Speak!

Listen in to a special edition of the 10 Minute Break! Black Men Speak about the Claire Huxtable prototype and the qualities a woman possesses that makes her a wife. Podcast guests include Chris Lehman, Tash Moseley, Ahshawn James (Mr. CEO), Yohance Serrant of MERC80.com,  Aaron Wilson, and Troy Moore.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Why We Have to Support Prop 19

This is not a ploy to get folks to make weed legal for my personal use. This is, rather, a plea to make marijuana legal so we can keep less black men out of jail.

Census data showcases that although blacks make up only 12% of the U.S. population, we make up almost 50% of the prison population – and 20% of that number are behind bars for non-violent crimes. State data analyses in California show that blacks are four times  more likely to be arrested for marijuana violations than their white counterparts, and the number imprisoned far outweigh the number entering four-year colleges or universities.

With this many of our men locked away on petty crimes such as marijuna possession, it’s a wonder the community has thrived in any capacity. Furthermore a blind eye is turned on all the illicit drug use that happens behind prison walls which, in turn, create ex-convicts (should they be released) to enter society with a greater desire to feed their addiction. That desire is enough to make drug consumption greater and also lead to user to experiment with a variety of drugs.

The fact is marijuana has been shown to have medicinal properties when consumed within reason, and with the government taxing it you can best believe that with its legalization will come a set of rules. As much as Californians might dream of a hippy-esque world where we are all toking up on the way to work, that won’t happen. Marijuana will most likely be treated in the same way as alcohol: not safe for work, high priced, and for those 21 and over. The ease of purchasing it will lesson the business of small-time dope dealers and narrow its access to minors. Furthermore, men and women who smoke occasionally won’t have the fear of getting arrested should the police pull them over with a nickel bag on their person.

Let’s support this initiative as it keeps law enforcement focused on the crimes that really matter – and keeps more of us from behind bars.

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Black Marriage Negotiations

After having many conversations about black male/female relationships, all I could do with these videos was post them and wait for feedback:

My single, successful sisters, is this us? Is this what we really expect from our men?

Brothers, are these your real fears about dealing with successful, black women?

Are these your expectations?

Let’s check ourselves people.

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Black Men Revealed: The Problem or the Solution?

This morning I caught an episode of “Black Men Revealed” on TV One. The segment topic was cheating. Representing black men were an old cheater, a young “pretty boy”, a “reformed” cheater, and a man who is in a committed relationship. They initially began to reminisce about times they were caught cheating and how their partners reacted. The pretty boy bragged about how he had sex with the mother of one of his “Starting 5” ON Mother’s Day. He called it her “present”. Then he was heralded “the man” when he confessed his starter was so angry with him he felt obliged to put her twin sister in the game.

The men also discussed ways to avoid confrontation when their woman suspects them of cheating. One man revealed, quite proudly, that whenever his girl suspected something he turned it right back on her and accused her of cheating. He said she became so obsessed with proving her innocence she forgot all about his dirt.

I could go an and on about the ridiculous inferences made during the show, but it ended with the revelation that most men on the panel had been cheated on at one time or another. It was then I realized these men are no different than all the women who have been cheated on and are jaded because of it. These harsh realities have left men and women furious with one another, questioning the merit of monogamy and naturally mistrusting of others.

Optimistically speaking, the producers of the show had good intentions when providing a forum to discuss issues related to black males. Unfortunately, the show serves as a vehicle to reinforce stereotypes about black men, such as them being pimps, cheaters, users and abusers. The show leaves much to be desired. Rarely if at all was there mention of these men or women being WRONG when they cheated. Rarely if at all did they mention how their families were affected. Not once did one man say to another “we gotta do better”. Not once did they mention the rising number of HIV/AIDS infections and other STD’s. The show glorified cheating and portrayed men on the hunt as a part of natural selection. ANIMALS hunt multiple prey. Doesn’t man possess the ability to reason and control instincts?

Is “Black Men Revealed” the problem or the solution?

Haaaaay girl signing off.

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Let’s Keep the “Thug” Ball Rollin’ – Part II

Slim Thug recently participated in an interview with Vibe where he disclosed a bias he has towards black women. In this interview he states: “My girl is Black and White. I guess the half White in her is where she still cooks and do all the **** that I say, so we make it. She just takes care of me and I like that.” However despite this controversial comment he continues and manages to pick up the dirty laundry he threw on the floor by saying, “White women treat they man like a king and Black women feel like they ain’t gotta do that *****. Black women need to stand by their man more. Don’t always put the pressure of if I’m ******ing with you, you gotta buy me this and that. Black men are the ones that mother****ers need [but] I think a lot of them need to step it up too. A Black man who gets a little bread will go make it rain in the club and be broke the next day or instead of him going to invest in a business he gonna go buy new jewelry or a new car and still live in the hood. Black peoples’ mentality is real ****ed up in general [and] it’s affecting everything.”

On my first read, I couldn’t make out half of the argument because every other word was a curse word. He’s right: the world does NEED more black men however; we NEED black men with an extended vocabulary and proficient writing skills – in other words EDUCATED.

I am not here to degrade any ethnicity because that would be counterproductive; however I will say that certain people are born into wealth and therefore a job is not a requirement. Things mean a lot more to you once you have worked hard to get it and some people do not have to work at all to get what they are given in life. Also, black men and women need to start investing their money to gain wealth.  Everyone wants to be rich, however wealth is where the money really is.

It’s shocking and a shame that black men think like this and to be honest, I am grateful that Slim Thug did have the balls to call it like it WAS. We need to change this negative idea society has of black women being loud, nosy, rude, aggressive and, for lack of a better word, “ghetto.” However the image of black men needs to change too. We need to change the gang banging, baby daddy, no job having, high school dropout image. Black women are slowly progressing to change this image and we need a strong black man beside us. Why would we bend over backwards for someone who won’t make the effort to bend? If you think looking for a black man with an education and a stable job, who can afford to not support but spoil their girlfriend or wife is too much, then you have some soul searching to do. If you tend to attract gold diggers then you need to be extra careful about the company you keep and the decisions you make.

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Let’s Keep the “Thug” Ball Rollin’

Slim Thugs’ profound insight regarding what’s “wrong” with sistas initiated a conversation worth continuing. Basically sistas are too opinionated, independent , and self-righteous-shocker! Any woman of black descent who never heard that must not be from America. I’m certain sistas need to assume responsibility for their part, however they are not the problem in its entirety. So why are they often portrayed to have expectations that are too high as opposed to brothas having expectations that are too low?

If brothas choose women from other races because they’re more submissive, are sistas to blame for checking out on black love because they won’t play the submissive role? Or do brothas check out when they choose a submissive woman who aspires to do nothing more than cook, clean, and suck him raw? If brothas were really worried about preserving black love, wouldn’t they seek those successful and lonely sistas from the previous blog?  If black really is black love… no one knows a brothas struggle like a sista. Where there are commonalities there are souls intertwined. Sistas can cook, clean, care for children, carry on an intellectual conversation AND contribute financially. So what’s the problem?

Perhaps brothas expectations for themselves are so low they are incapable of sustaining a relationship with a powerful, ambitious, well-rounded renaissance sista of the 21st century. Maybe because they know if their ducks aren’t in a row an independent sista may walk away before a woman who is entirely dependent on her husband. So brothas seem to choose women who are more docile, dependent and low-maintenance who require nothing more than for you to change your Myspace status to “In a Relationship” and get her some followers on Twitter.