Why Do Black Men Date/Marry Outside of Their Race?

A Facebook friend,Vanessa Mills, asked me on yesterday the age old question that circles through the black community everyday: Why Do Black Men Date Outside of Their Race? In a quest to find an all-inclusive answer to that query, all throughout my adult life I have asked everybody this question, whether no matter their gender or race. I wanted to know what everyone thought and it would help to shape my viewpoint as I add my own twist of personal experience to it. Here is my response to Vanessa's question and I shared on this fundamental issue.

"One thing I have always advocated in my adult life is the importance to understand the "Why Factor" in all things. There is a method to all madness and a reasoning behind every decision and action, whether it be deemed right or wrong by the... consensus. That being said, I agree with you that many Black men absolutely look at Black women in a different light than they do other races , but we must go deeper and understand WHY.

Most men look at most women as pieces of meat, tag alongs, opinionless creatures used for sexual stimulation and human reproduction. That's the God honest truth sadly. More specifically, many of my Black brothers look at black women the same way. Most men, no matter their race, look down on women. That practice has been ongoing since the beginning of time. If we look at history, as bad as America has treated Blacks, we recall that Black men had the right to vote before the White woman. When America began, the founding fathers said Blacks were not worthy of being a whole human being according to the Constitution. So basically America said a partial human's voting right is more important than a WOMAN'S. So we see from the outset, the lack of respect for a woman. America chose Barack Obama as its President when CLEARLY, Hillary Rodham Clinton was most qualified for the job. We can also talk about women for many years not being paid the same as their male counterparts in the corporate sector. We can talk about how domestic violence, rape, and sexual harrassment has not been taken seriously as it should. So we see there is a lineage of disrespecting and devaluing ALL women that has been taught to ALL men by the prevalent society.

Now, why do Black men evaluate Black women differently in the context of relationships? Why do Black men date outside of their race? To answer those questions, we have to search for the "WHY" in these complex questions and choices.

I'm sure I don't have to give you a history of slavery and its strategic practices, but briefly, we know that Willie Lynch's view was to beat the man into submission (if not death) in front of everybody else and mentally strip him of all pride and dignity. Therefore rendering him a big strong brute that was afraid to think for himself. If he thought for himself or went against the grain, he would be murdered. So at this juncture, you have alot of fearful men or dead men. Where is the Black woman? If she still has a husband, they are raising a fearful, "yessa massa" type household to stay alive. If her husband is dead, she is left to be independent and strong, raising a family all by herself. She also raises her children, especially her sons, to don't buck the system and do what the White man tells you, which is exactly what Willie Lynch and others strategically wanted to transpire. All the while, slaveowners would rape the helpless Black women many times in front of Black men. The black family, which was a strong staple from the days in the motherland, was now stripped of respect and dignity, things we consider basic human rights.

So lets fast forward to now. Black women are still leading families by themselves. Men have been absent from their homes therefore their sons continue to lead nomadic lives when it comes to the fundamental roles of social responsibility and fatherhood. Black men are still afraid to be strong forces because they will probably be put in jail on some trumped up charge, shot down like a dog, or simply they haven't been taught how to be responsible men because of a lack of good examples or the lack of VISIBILITY of the good examples.

We would be very naive if we didn't acknowledge that the African American experience has been deeply rooted in everyday struggle. A struggle to just be respected as a regular human being. A struggle to raise a family and be a decent human being, all the while staring the remnances of white supremacy in the face everyday. Who has been affected the most by the struggles of the AA experience? THE BLACK WOMAN. Langston Hughes' mother was so accurate when she simply told him "life ain't been no crystal stair". Grandmothers, mothers, aunts, cousin, sisters, and godmothers all have shouldered the burden of head of household over the many years because of the absence of a male and we absolutely salute and appreciate their many sacrifices.

I said all that to say this: BLACK WOMEN ARE TIRED. BLACK WOMEN ARE ANGRY. BLACK WOMEN ARE TIRED OF BEING LEFT WITH ALL THE RESPONSIBILTY TO REAR CHILDREN ALL BY THEMSELVES ON LOW WAGES. THEY NEVER HAVE A DAY OFF. THEIR FEET HURT FROM WALKING TO WORK THEN STANDING ON THEIR FEET ALL DAY AT A JOB THAT POSSIBLY DEMEANS THEM, ALL THE WHILE LIVING IN A MORALLY CONSTIPATED AND SPIRITUALLY MALNOURISHED SOCIETY THAT LOOKS DOWN ON THEM. ITS TOUGH TO BE A BLACK WOMAN IN THIS MODERN DAY AMERICAN EMPIRE. BLACK WOMEN ARE FULL OF A VERY JUSTIFIED RAGE THAT MANY WEAK MINDED,IRRESPONSIBLE, AND MORALLY POOR BLACK MEN DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH. AND TO ME THE KEY IS LEARNING HOW TO EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATE FEELINGS AND FRUSTRATIONS TO ONE ANOTHER IN A RESPECTFUL, NON-VIOLENT MANNER, WHICH IS AN ENVIRONMENT NOT CULTIVATED IN MANY AFRICAN AMERICAN HOUSEHOLDS.

So the myth is Black women fuss all the time or "they are always talking shit" or complaining. I will somewhat agree with that, but I have laid out "WHY" they behave in such a manner. The myth is that White women are the complete opposite of Black women. They are more easy going than Black women. Well I know what isn't a myth. There is no mistaking that White American women haven't seen a fourth of what our women have endured and if black men understood that psyche of their women, I think they would embrace them more, but we continue to run away from our heritage which is made rather easy by child support laws, or lack thereof, that allow men to shun their fatherly responsibilities. Some states will put men in jail for not taking care of their precious children, but that doesn't help the struggling mother, it only aids the prison industrial complex.

So to answer your initial question, many black men are AFRAID of the strong, independent black woman.

Another dynamic in why Black men choose other races is a quest for relational diversity and variety. When you've dated Black women all your life, you want see what else is available for you, especially when those relationships with Black women didn't pan out as planned. Men want to know what it will be like to date a Hispanic, White, Arabic, Asian, Indian, or Native American woman and they have every right to choice, as do women. And remember, MOST men treat MOST women like sexual commodities regardless of race or social, financial, and educational standing. Men are flat out dogs because we are taught to and we are allowed to so we must be careful when we paint the broad stroke of mysoginy on only the Black male. Its all men."

NOAH'S ARK. MARIAN WRIGHT EDELMAN.

What can we learn from Noah's Ark in order to better our children's future?

Dr. Jonathan Walton on CNN Rick's List 9-22-10

"A preacher should be measured by his service to God and mankind, not by the wheel base of his Cadillac."

Survey: Americans don't know much about religion

By RACHEL ZOLL, AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll, Ap Religion Writer – Tue Sep 28, 3:42 pm ET

A new survey of Americans' knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths.

Forty-five percent of Roman Catholics who participated in the study didn't know that, according to church teaching, the bread and wine used in Holy Communion is not just a symbol, but becomes the body and blood of Christ.

More than half of Protestants could not identify Martin Luther as the person who inspired the Protestant Reformation. And about four in 10 Jews did not know that Maimonides, one of the greatest rabbis and intellectuals in history, was Jewish.

The survey released Tuesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life aimed to test a broad range of religious knowledge, including understanding of the Bible, core teachings of different faiths and major figures in religious history. The U.S. is one of the most religious countries in the developed world, especially compared to largely secular Western Europe, but faith leaders and educators have long lamented that Americans still know relatively little about religion.

Respondents to the survey were asked 32 questions with a range of difficulty, including whether they could name the Islamic holy book and the first book of the Bible, or say what century the Mormon religion was founded. On average, participants in the survey answered correctly overall for half of the survey questions.

Atheists and agnostics scored highest, with an average of 21 correct answers, while Jews and Mormons followed with about 20 accurate responses. Protestants overall averaged 16 correct answers, while Catholics followed with a score of about 15.

Not surprisingly, those who said they attended worship at least once a week and considered religion important in their lives often performed better on the overall survey. However, level of education was the best predictor of religious knowledge. The top-performing groups on the survey still came out ahead even when controlling for how much schooling they had completed.


Read this article @ http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_rel_religious_literacy_poll

Bishop Long: Did you or Didn't You?

By Jonathan L. Walton, Special to CNN
(CNN) -- Over the past two decades, Bishop Eddie Long has built his public ministry at New Birth Missionary Baptist Church near Atlanta, Georgia, upon a testosterone-laden theology and a hypermasculine image.

His books bear titles such as "Taking Over," "Called to Conquer" and "Gladiator." Typical names for his sermons are "Conquer and Subdue" and "Reign or Maintain." The ministry motto, "Taking Authority," is signified by a golden sword and shield that adorns the bishop's ring finger.

This is why I was saddened to watch Eddie Long duck and dodge allegations that he seduced multiple teenage boys into sexual relationships. One would think that someone who constantly preaches about male headship, rulership, and power would deny these allegations with the same bravado that he defends his right to drive a $300,000 automobile.

Yet on Sunday we never heard the term "innocent," or a refutation of the charges. In fact, we witnessed a cowardly, rhetorical two-step that may mark the tragic end to this bishop's reign

Milquetoast quotes like "I am not the man being portrayed on television," and "I'm going to fight this," are at best nondenials. Anyone familiar with these sorts of civil cases knows that such word selection is common among those trying to deflect a potential perjury charge down the line. Either Long engaged in inappropriate sexual acts with these young men or he didn't. To hide behind legal counsel, biblical metaphors and spiritualized acknowledgments of one's imperfection insults the intelligence of those who respect him and his ministry.

The question on the hearts and minds of parishioners is not whether he is a "perfect man." Nor does this story have anything to do with David and Goliath, as Long so irresponsibly alluded. The faithful just want to know whether Long used his authority (and their money) to maintain a teenage male harem under the pretense of mentoring. Is this too much to ask?

As a professor of social ethics who trains aspiring clergy, you pray religious leaders adhere to two important points. First, although we all fall short of our professed moral ideals, one should never spiritualize indiscretions. And no religious leader is fit to be called a leader unless he or she is willing to acknowledge when he or she is wrong.

Second, we must draw a line between our position and the institution that we are called to serve. The latter should always be considered more precious and important than the former.

Eddie Long had four days leading up to Sunday morning to address these charges. But aside from a brief yet legally broad statement through lawyers saying that "the charges against me and New Birth are false," he did not counter the boys' allegations.

He did choose, however, to invite the media and the world into the house of prayer on the Christian Sabbath. By doing so, he appears to be the kind of pastor who puts his own protection and self-preservation before the community of faith. And rather than courageously defending himself, he looked like a coward using New Birth's congregation as human shields.

If the bishop wants to take authority, he needs to begin by taking some responsibility. Maybe for the good of New Birth, Eddie Long should take that sword out of his golden ring and fall on it.

The opinions in this commentary are solely those of Jonathan L. Walton.

Jonathan L. Walton is assistant professor of African-American religions at Harvard Divinity School. He is the author of "Watch This! The Ethics and Aesthetics of Black Televangelism" and the resident ethicist on the Tavis Smiley radio show.

Find this story @ http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/09/27/walton.bishop.long/index.html?hpt=T1

"Loving Your Enemies" by Martin Luther King (1957)

I am forced to preach under something of a handicap this morning. In fact, I had the doctor before coming to church. And he said that it would be best for me to stay in the bed this morning. And I insisted that I would have to come to preach. So he allowed me to come out with one stipulation, and that is that I would not come in the pulpit until time to preach, and that after, that I would immediately go back home and get in the bed. So I’m going to try to follow his instructions from that point on.

I want to use as a subject from which to preach this morning a very familiar subject, and it is familiar to you because I have preached from this subject twice before to my knowing in this pulpit. I try to make it a, something of a custom or tradition to preach from this passage of Scripture at least once a year, adding new insights that I develop along the way out of new experiences as I give these messages. Although the content is, the basic content is the same, new insights and new experiences naturally make for new illustrations.

So I want to turn your attention to this subject: "Loving Your Enemies." It’s so basic to me because it is a part of my basic philosophical and theological orientation—the whole idea of love, the whole philosophy of love. In the fifth chapter of the gospel as recorded by Saint Matthew, we read these very arresting words flowing from the lips of our Lord and Master: "Ye have heard that it has been said, ‘Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.’ But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that spitefully use you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven."

Certainly these are great words, words lifted to cosmic proportions. And over the centuries, many persons have argued that this is an extremely difficult command. Many would go so far as to say that it just isn’t possible to move out into the actual practice of this glorious command. They would go on to say that this is just additional proof that Jesus was an impractical idealist who never quite came down to earth. So the arguments abound. But far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies.

Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of Oriental hyperbole, just a sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips of our Master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command.

Now first let us deal with this question, which is the practical question: How do you go about loving your enemies? I think the first thing is this: In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self. And I’m sure that seems strange to you, that I start out telling you this morning that you love your enemies by beginning with a look at self. It seems to me that that is the first and foremost way to come to an adequate discovery to the how of this situation.

Now, I’m aware of the fact that some people will not like you, not because of something you have done to them, but they just won’t like you. I’m quite aware of that. Some people aren’t going to like the way you walk; some people aren’t going to like the way you talk. Some people aren’t going to like you because you can do your job better than they can do theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because other people like you, and because you’re popular, and because you’re well-liked, they aren’t going to like you. Some people aren’t going to like you because your hair is a little shorter than theirs or your hair is a little longer than theirs. Some people aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little brighter than theirs; and others aren’t going to like you because your skin is a little darker than theirs. So that some people aren’t going to like you. They’re going to dislike you, not because of something that you’ve done to them, but because of various jealous reactions and other reactions that are so prevalent in human nature.

But after looking at these things and admitting these things, we must face the fact that an individual might dislike us because of something that we’ve done deep down in the past, some personality attribute that we possess, something that we’ve done deep down in the past and we’ve forgotten about it; but it was that something that aroused the hate response within the individual. That is why I say, begin with yourself. There might be something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other individual.

This is true in our international struggle. We look at the struggle, the ideological struggle between communism on the one hand and democracy on the other, and we see the struggle between America and Russia. Now certainly, we can never give our allegiance to the Russian way of life, to the communistic way of life, because communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept. When we look at the methods of communism, a philosophy where somehow the end justifies the means, we cannot accept that because we believe as Christians that the end is pre-existent in the means. But in spite of all of the weaknesses and evils inherent in communism, we must at the same time see the weaknesses and evils within democracy.

Democracy is the greatest form of government to my mind that man has ever conceived, but the weakness is that we have never touched it. Isn’t it true that we have often taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes? Isn’t it true that we have often in our democracy trampled over individuals and races with the iron feet of oppression? Isn’t it true that through our Western powers we have perpetuated colonialism and imperialism? And all of these things must be taken under consideration as we look at Russia. We must face the fact that the rhythmic beat of the deep rumblings of discontent from Asia and Africa is at bottom a revolt against the imperialism and colonialism perpetuated by Western civilization all these many years. The success of communism in the world today is due to the failure of democracy to live up to the noble ideals and principles inherent in its system.

And this is what Jesus means when he said: "How is it that you can see the mote in your brother’s eye and not see the beam in your own eye?" Or to put it in Moffatt’s translation: "How is it that you see the splinter in your brother’s eye and fail to see the plank in your own eye?" And this is one of the tragedies of human nature. So we begin to love our enemies and love those persons that hate us whether in collective life or individual life by looking at ourselves.

A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and every time you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points.

I’ve said to you on many occasions that each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality. We’re split up and divided against ourselves. And there is something of a civil war going on within all of our lives. There is a recalcitrant South of our soul revolting against the North of our soul. And there is this continual struggle within the very structure of every individual life. There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Ovid, the Latin poet, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do." There is something within all of us that causes us to cry out with Plato that the human personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions. There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Goethe, "There is enough stuff in me to
make both a gentleman and a rogue." There is something within each of us that causes us to cry out with Apostle Paul, "I see and approve the better things of life, but the evil things I do."

So somehow the "isness" of our present nature is out of harmony with the eternal "oughtness" that forever confronts us. And this simply means this: That within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good. When we come to see this, we take a different attitude toward individuals. The person who hates you most has some good in him; even the nation that hates you most has some good in it; even the race that hates you most has some good in it. And when you come to the point that you look in the face of every man and see deep down within him what religion calls "the image of God," you begin to love him in spite of. No matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never sluff off. Discover the element of good in your enemy. And as you seek to hate him, find the center of goodness and place your attention there and you will take a new attitude.

Another way that you love your enemy is this: When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.

The Greek language, as I’ve said so often before, is very powerful at this point. It comes to our aid beautifully in giving us the real meaning and depth of the whole philosophy of love. And I think it is quite apropos at this point, for you see the Greek language has three words for love, interestingly enough. It talks about love as eros. That’s one word for love. Eros is a sort of, aesthetic love. Plato talks about it a great deal in his dialogues, a sort of yearning of the soul for the realm of the gods. And it’s come to us to be a sort of romantic love, though it’s a beautiful love. Everybody has experienced eros in all of its beauty when you find some individual that is attractive to you and that you pour out all of your like and your love on that individual. That is eros, you see, and it’s a powerful, beautiful love that is given to us through all of
the beauty of literature; we read about it.

Then the Greek language talks about philia, and that’s another type of love that’s also beautiful. It is a sort of intimate affection between personal friends. And this is the type of love that you have for those persons that you’re friendly with, your intimate friends, or people that you call on the telephone and you go by to have dinner with, and your roommate in college and that type of thing. It’s a sort of reciprocal love. On this level, you like a person because that person likes you. You love on this level, because you are loved. You love on this level, because there’s something about the person you love that is likeable to you. This too is a beautiful love. You can communicate with a person; you have certain things in common; you like to do things together. This is philia.

The Greek language comes out with another word for love. It is the word agape. And agape is more than eros; agape is more than philia; agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it’s what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them. You look at every man, and you love him because you know God loves him. And he might be the worst person you’ve ever seen.

And this is what Jesus means, I think, in this very passage when he says, "Love your enemy." And it’s significant that he does not say, "Like your enemy." Like is a sentimental something, an affectionate something. There are a lot of people that I find it difficult to like. I don’t like what they do to me. I don’t like what they say about me and other people. I don’t like their attitudes. I don’t like some of the things they’re doing. I don’t like them. But Jesus says love them. And love is greater than like. Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody, because God loves them. You refuse to do anything that will defeat an individual, because you have agape in your soul. And here you come to the point that you love the individual who does the evil deed, while hating the deed that the person does. This is what Jesus means when he says, "Love your enemy." This is the way to do it. When the opportunity presents itself when you can defeat your enemy, you must not do it.

Now for the few moments left, let us move from the practical how to the theoretical why. It’s not only necessary to know how to go about loving your enemies, but also to go down into the question of why we should love our enemies. I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus’ thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. If I hit you and you hit me and I hit you back and you hit me back and go on, you see, that goes on ad infinitum. [tapping on pulpit] It just never ends. Somewhere somebody must have a little sense, and that’s the strong person. The strong person is the person who can cut off the chain of hate, the chain of evil. And that is the tragedy of hate, that it doesn’t cut it off. It only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe. Somebody must have religion enough and morality enough to cut it off and inject within the very structure of the universe that strong and powerful element of love.

I think I mentioned before that sometime ago my brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. They didn’t dim their lights; hardly any driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly, my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: "I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power." And I looked at him right quick and said: "Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway."

Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up, all but about seven have found themselves in the junkheap of destruction. It is because civilizations fail to have sense enough to dim the lights. And if somebody doesn’t have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in this world, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.

There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates. You just begin hating somebody, and you will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. For the person who hates, you can stand up and see a person and that person can be beautiful, and you will call them ugly. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater. And this is why Jesus says hate [recording interrupted]

. . . that you want to be integrated with yourself, and the way to be integrated with yourself is be sure that you meet every situation of life with an abounding love. Never hate, because it ends up in tragic, neurotic responses. Psychologists and psychiatrists are telling us today that the more we hate, the more we develop guilt feelings and we begin to subconsciously repress or consciously suppress certain emotions, and they all stack up in our subconscious selves and make for tragic, neurotic responses. And may this not be the neuroses of many individuals as they confront life that that is an element of hate there. And modern psychology is calling on us now to love. But long before modern psychology came into being, the world’s greatest psychologist who walked around the hills of Galilee told us to love. He looked at men and said: "Love your enemies; don’t hate anybody." It’s not enough for us to hate your friends because—to to love your friends—because when you start hating anybody, it destroys the very center of your creative response to life and the universe; so love everybody. Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away the best and the objective center of your life. So Jesus says love, because hate destroys the hater as well as the hated.

Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, "Love your enemies." Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.

I think of one of the best examples of this. We all remember the great president of this United States, Abraham Lincoln—these United States rather. You remember when Abraham Lincoln was running for president of the United States, there was a man who ran all around the country talking about Lincoln. He said a lot of bad things about Lincoln, a lot of unkind things. And sometimes he would get to the point that he would even talk about his looks, saying, "You don’t want a tall, lanky, ignorant man like this as the president of the United States." He went on and on and on and went around with that type of attitude and wrote about it. Finally, one day Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States. And if you read the great biography of Lincoln, if you read the great works about him, you will discover that as every president comes to the point, he came to the point of having to choose a Cabinet. And then came the time for him to choose a Secretary of War. He looked across the nation, and decided to choose a man by the name of Mr. Stanton. And when Abraham Lincoln stood around his advisors and mentioned this fact, they said to him: "Mr. Lincoln, are you a fool? Do you know what Mr. Stanton has been saying about you? Do you know what he has done, tried to do to you? Do you know that he has tried to defeat you on every hand? Do you know that, Mr. Lincoln? Did you read all of those derogatory statements that he made about you?" Abraham Lincoln stood before the advisors around him and said: "Oh yes, I know about it; I read about it; I’ve heard him myself. But after looking over the country, I find that he is the best man for the job."

Mr. Stanton did become Secretary of War, and a few months later, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. And if you go to Washington, you will discover that one of the greatest words or statements ever made by, about Abraham Lincoln was made about this man Stanton. And as Abraham Lincoln came to the end of his life, Stanton stood up and said: "Now he belongs to the ages." And he made a beautiful statement concerning the character and the stature of this man. If Abraham Lincoln had hated Stanton, if Abraham Lincoln had answered everything Stanton said, Abraham Lincoln would have not transformed and redeemed Stanton. Stanton would have gone to his grave hating Lincoln, and Lincoln would have gone to his grave hating Stanton. But through the power of love Abraham Lincoln was able to redeem Stanton.

That’s it. There is a power in love that our world has not discovered yet. Jesus discovered it centuries ago. Mahatma Gandhi of India discovered it a few years ago, but most men and most women never discover it. For they believe in hitting for hitting; they believe in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth; they believe in hating for hating; but Jesus comes to us and says, "This isn’t the way."

And oh this morning, as I think of the fact that our world is in transition now. Our whole world is facing a revolution. Our nation is facing a revolution, our nation. One of the things that concerns me most is that in the midst of the revolution of the world and the midst of the revolution of this nation, that we will discover the meaning of Jesus’ words.

History unfortunately leaves some people oppressed and some people oppressors. And there are three ways that individuals who are oppressed can deal with their oppression. One of them is to rise up against their oppressors with physical violence and corroding hatred. But oh this isn’t the way. For the danger and the weakness of this method is its futility. Violence creates many more social problems than it solves. And I’ve said, in so many instances, that as the Negro, in particular, and colored peoples all over the world struggle for freedom, if they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Violence isn’t the way.

Another way is to acquiesce and to give in, to resign yourself to the oppression. Some people do that. They discover the difficulties of the wilderness moving into the promised land, and they would rather go back to the despots of Egypt because it’s difficult to get in the promised land. And so they resign themselves to the fate of oppression; they somehow acquiesce to this thing. But that too isn’t the way because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.

But there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way. Jesus discovered that.

Not only did Jesus discover it, even great military leaders discover that. One day as Napoleon came toward the end of his career and looked back across the years—the great Napoleon that at a very early age had all but conquered the world. He was not stopped until he became, till he moved out to the battle of Leipzig and then to Waterloo. But that same Napoleon one day stood back and looked across the years, and said: "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I have built great empires. But upon what did they depend? They depended upon force. But long ago Jesus started an empire that depended on love, and even to this day millions will die for him."

Yes, I can see Jesus walking around the hills and the valleys of Palestine. And I can see him looking out at the Roman Empire with all of her fascinating and intricate military machinery. But in the midst of that, I can hear him saying: "I will not use this method. Neither will I hate the Roman Empire." [Radio Announcer:] (WRMA, Montgomery, Alabama. Due to the fact of the delay this morning, we are going over with the sermon.) [several words inaudible] . . . and just start marching.

And I’m proud to stand here in Dexter this morning and say that that army is still marching. It grew up from a group of eleven or twelve men to more than seven hundred million today. Because of the power and influence of the personality of this Christ, he was able to split history into a.d. and b.c. Because of his power, he was able to shake the hinges from the gates of the Roman Empire. And all around the world
this morning, we can hear the glad echo of heaven ring:

Jesus shall reign wherever sun,
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom spreads from shore to shore,
Till moon shall wane and wax no more.

We can hear another chorus singing: "All hail the power of Jesus name!"
We can hear another chorus singing: "Hallelujah, hallelujah! He’s King of Kings and Lord of
Lords. Hallelujah, hallelujah!"
We can hear another choir singing:

In Christ there is no East or West.
In Him no North or South,
But one great Fellowship of Love
Throughout the whole wide world.

This is the only way.

And our civilization must discover that. Individuals must discover that as they deal with other individuals. There is a little tree planted on a little hill and on that tree hangs the most influential character that ever came in this world. But never feel that that tree is a meaningless drama that took place on the stages of history. Oh no, it is a telescope through which we look out into the long vista of eternity, and see the love of God breaking forth into time. It is an eternal reminder to a power-drunk generation that love is the only way. It is an eternal reminder to a generation depending on nuclear and atomic energy, a generation depending on physical violence, that love is the only creative, redemptive, transforming power in the universe.

So this morning, as I look into your eyes, and into the eyes of all of my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, "I love you. I would rather die than hate you." And I’m foolish enough to believe that through the power of this love somewhere, men of the most recalcitrant bent will be transformed. And then we will be in God’s kingdom. We will be able to matriculate into the university of eternal life because we had the power to love our enemies, to bless those persons that cursed us, to even decide to be good to those persons who hated us, and we even prayed for those persons who despitefully used us.

Oh God, help us in our lives and in all of our attitudes, to work out this controlling force of love, this controlling power that can solve every problem that we confront in all areas. Oh, we talk about politics; we talk about the problems facing our atomic civilization. Grant that all men will come together and discover that as we solve the crisis and solve these problems—the international problems, the problems of atomic energy, the problems of nuclear energy, and yes, even the race problem—let us join together in a great fellowship of love and bow down at the feet of Jesus. Give us this strong determination. In the name and spirit of this Christ, we pray. Amen.

Find these article @ http://www.mlkonline.net/enemies.html

Success vs. Greatness

I have watched this clip probably about 100 times, but it's so powerful I chose to share it with you. Many of us don't understand the fundamental difference between success and greatness. To understand that is crucial in shaping and forming the human being you decide to be. Enjoy and leave a comment. Then afterwards, I would ask you to read the essay by Tennessee Williams called "The Catastrophe of Success". I have posted it below. It will really enrich your soul. Thank you for visiting.
You can find this video in its entirety @: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7883355051687073820&q=cornel+west&hl=en#

"The Catastrophe of Success" by Tennessee Williams

"The Catastrophe of Success" is an essay by Tennessee Williams about art and the artist's role in society. It is often included in paper editions of The Glass Menagerie. The essay is as follows:

This winter marked the third anniversary of the Chicago opening of “The Glass Menagerie,” an event that terminated one part of my life and began another about as different in all external circumstances as could well be imagined. I was snatched out of virtual oblivion and thrust into sudden prominence, and from the precarious tenancy of furnished rooms about the country I was removed to a suite in a first-class Manhattan hotel. My experience was not unique. Success has often come that abruptly into the lives of Americans. The Cinderella story is our favorite national myth, the cornerstone of the film industry if not of the Democracy itself. I have seen it enacted on the screen so often that I was now inclined to yawn at it, not with disbelief but with an attitude of Who Cares! Anyone with such beautiful teeth and hair as the screen protagonist of such a story was bound to have a good time one way or another, and you could bet your bottom dollar and all the tea in China that one would be caught dead or alive at any meeting involving a social conscience.

No, my experience was not exceptional, but neither was it quite ordinary, and if you are willing to accept the somewhat eclectic proposition that I had not been writing with such an experience in mind and many people are not willing to believe that a playwright is interested in anything but popular success—there may be some point in comparing the two estates.

The sort of life that I had had previous to this popular success was one that required endurance, a life of clawing and scratching along a sheer surface and holding on tight with raw fingers to every inch of rock higher than the one caught hold of before, but it was a good life because it was the sort of life for which the human organism is created.

I was not aware of how much vital energy had gone into this struggle until the struggle was removed. I was out on a level plateau with my arms still thrashing and my lungs still grabbing at air that no longer resisted. This was security at last.

I sat down and looked about me and was suddenly very depressed. I thought to myself, this is just a period of adjustment. Tomorrow morning, I will wake up in this first-class hotel suite above the discreet hum of an East Side boulevard and I will appreciate its elegance and luxuriate in its comforts and know that I have arrived at our American plan of Olympus. Tomorrow morning when I look at the green satin sofa I will fall in love with it. It is only temporarily that the green satin looks like slime on stagnant water.

But in the morning the inoffensive little sofa looked more revolting than the night before and I was already getting too fat for the $125 suit which a fashionable acquaintance had selected for me. In the suite things began to break accidentally. An arm came off the sofa. Cigarette burns appeared on the polished surface of the furniture. Windows were left open and a rain storm flooded the suite. But the maid always put it straight and the patience of the management was inexhaustible. Late parties could not offend them seriously. Nothing short of a demolition bomb seemed to bother my neighbors.

I lived on room service. But in this, too, there was a disenchantment. Some time between the moment when I ordered dinner over the phone and when it was rolled into my living room like a corpse on a rubber-wheeled table, I lost all interest in it. Once I ordered a sirloin steak and a chocolate sundae, but everything was so cunningly disguised on the table that I mistook the chocolate sauce for gravy and poured it over the sirloin steak.

Of course all this was the more trivial aspect of a spiritual dislocation that began to manifest itself in far more disturbing ways. I soon found myself becoming indifferent to people. A well cynicism rose in me. Conversations all sounded as if they had been recorded years ago and were being played back on a turntable. Sincerity and kindliness seemed to have gone out of my friends’ voices. I suspected them of hypocrisy. I stopped calling them, stopped seeing them. I was impatient of what I took to be inane flattery.

I got so sick of hearing people say, “I loved your play!” that I could not say thank you any more. I choked on the words and turned rudely away from the usually sincere person. I no longer felt any pride in the play itself but began to dislike it, probably because I felt too lifeless inside ever to create another. I was walking around dead in my shoes and I knew it but there were no friends I knew or trusted sufficiently, at that time, to take them aside and tell them what was the matter.

This curious condition persisted about three months, till late spring, when I decided to have another eye operation mainly because of the excuses it gave me to withdraw from the world behind a gauze mask. It was my fourth eye operation, and perhaps I should explain that I had been afflicted for about five years with a cataract on my left eye which required a series of needling operations and finally an operation on the muscle of the eye. (The eye is still in my head. So much for that.)

Well, the gauze mask served a purpose. While I was resting in the hospital the friends whom I had neglected or affronted in one way or another began to call on me and now that I was in pain and darkness, unpleasant mutation which I had suspected earlier in the season had now disappeared and they sounded now as they had used to sound in the lamented days of my obscurity. Once more they were sincere and kindly voices with the ring of truth in them and that quality of understanding for which I had originally sought them out.

As far as my physical vision was concerned, this last operation was only relatively successful (although it left me with an apparently clear black pupil in the right position, or nearly so) but in another, figurative way, it had served a much deeper purpose.

When the gauze mask was removed I found myself in a readjusted world. I checked out of the handsome suite at the first-class hotel, packed my papers and a few incidental belongings and left for Mexico, an elemental country where you can quickly forget the false dignities and conceits imposed by success, a country where vagrants innocent as children curl up to sleep on the pavements and human voices, especially when their language is not familiar to the ear, are soft as birds'. My public self, that artifice of mirrors, did not exist here and so my natural being was resumed.

Then, as a final act of restoration, I settled for a while at Chapala to work on a play called “The Poker Night,” which later became “A Streetcar Named Desire.” It is only in his work that an artist can find reality and satisfaction, for the actual world is less intense than the world of his invention and consequently his life, without recourse to violent disorder, does not seem very substantial. The right condition for him is that in which his work is not only convenient but unavoidable.

For me a convenient place to work is a remote place among strangers where there is good swimming. But life should require a certain minimal effort. You should not have too many people waiting on you, you should have to do most things for yourself. Hotel service is embarrassing. Maids, waiters, bellhops, porters and so forth are the most embarrassing people in the world for they continually remind you of inequities which we accept as the proper thing. The sight of an ancient woman, gasping and wheezing as she drags a heavy pail of water down a hotel corridor to mop up the mess of some drunken overprivileged guest, is one that sickens and weighs upon the heart and withers it with shame for this world in which it is not only tolerated but regarded as proof positive that the wheels of Democracy are functioning as they should without interference from above or below. Nobody should have to clean up anybody else’s mess in this world. It is terribly bad for both parties, but probably worse for the one receiving the service.

I have been corrupted as much as anyone else by the vast number of menial services which our society has grown to expect and depend on. We should do for ourselves or let the machines do for us, the glorious technology that is supposed to be the new light of the world. We are like a man who has bought up a great amount of equipment for a camping trip, who has the canoe and the tent and the fishing lines and the axe and the guns, the mackinaw and the blankets, but who now, when all the preparations and the provisions are piled expertly together, is suddenly too timid to set out on the journey but remains where he was yesterday and the day before and the day before that, looking suspiciously through white lace curtains at the clear sky he distrusts. Our great technology is a God-given chance for adventure and for progress which we are afraid to attempt. Our ideas and our ideals remain exactly what they were and where they were three centuries ago. No. I beg your pardon. It is no longer safe for a man to even declare them!

This is a long excursion from a small theme into a large one which I did not intend to make, so let me go back to what I was saying before.

This is an oversimplification. One does not escape that easily from the seduction of an effete way of life. You cannot arbitrarily say to yourself, I will now continue my life as it was before this thing, Success, happened to me. But once you fully apprehend the vacuity of a life without struggle you are equipped with the basic means of salvation. Once you know this is true, that the heart of man, his body and his brain, are forged in a white-hot furnace for the purpose of conflict (the struggle of creation) and that with the conflict removed, the man is a sword cutting daisies, that not privation but luxury is the wolf at the door and that the fangs of this wolf are all the little vanities and conceits and laxities that Success is heir to—-why, then with this knowledge you are at least in a position of knowing where danger lies.

You know, then, that the public Somebody you are when you “have a name” is a fiction created with mirrors and that the only somebody worth being is the solitary and unseen you that existed from your first breath and which is the sum of your actions and so is constantly in a state of becoming under your own violation— and knowing these things, you can even survive the catastrophe of Success!

It is never altogether too late, unless you embrace the Bitch Goddess, as William James called her, with both arms and find in her smothering caresses exactly what the homesick little boy in you always wanted, absolute protection and utter effortlessness. Security is a kind of death, I think, and it can come to you in a storm of royalty checks beside a kidney-shaped pool in Beverly Hills or anywhere at all that is removed from the conditions that made you an artist, if that’s what you are or were or intended to be. Ask anyone who has experienced the kind of success I am talking about— What good is it? Perhaps to get an honest answer you will have to give him a shot of truth serum but the word he will finally groan is unprintable in genteel publications.

Then what is good? The obsessive interest in human affairs, plus a certain amount of compassion and moral conviction, that first made the experience of living something that must be translated into pigment or music or bodily movement or poetry or prose or anything that’s dynamic and expressive—that’s what’s good for you if you’re at all serious in your aims. William Saroyan wrote a great play on this theme, that purity of heart is the one success worth having. “In the time of your life—live!” That time is short and it doesn’t return again. It is slipping away while I write this and while you read it, and the monosyllable of the clock is Loss, loss, loss, unless you devote your heart to its opposition.

Find this article @: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Catastrophe_of_Success

"SHE"

She has a passion for life. She listens to my rhetoric on life and philosophical pontification as I listen to her beliefs. She is a prisoner of hope, fanatic of fairness, and an extremist of love. She understands what love is and what it is to love. She understands what it is to be human. She understands what it means to be a featherless two-legged linguistically conscious creature born between urine and feces, stank and stench. She knows that she is a funky saint. She is trying to figure out how to purposefully utilize the time and space we occupy between womb and tomb. She prepares herself for death by living an examined, transparent life. She drapes herself in class, sophistication, grace, integrity, honesty, compassion, pride, and humility. She appreciates the Arts and what it means to be an artist. She appreciates the life of the mind and what academia has to offer. She waits for no Man; she's self sufficient. She enjoys debate ranging from Bush Tax Cuts to the greatness of Lil' Wayne's album, "The Carter 2". We agree to disagree. So beautiful. She pursues truth and paideia. Her paideia has a purpose which gives her life more purpose. She knows what she wants from life and what she doesn't. She loves herself. She respects herself and demands the same from others. She has standards. A library/bookstore excites her as much as rocking on the front row of a Lauryn Hill concert. She embraces her people which are all people. She administers the laxative of love to help cure society of a bad case of moral constipation. She is amazing. She is outstanding. She blows me away. She doesn't exist.

WHAT IS MY MISSION? WHAT IS LOVE?

My mission is to be a voice to the voiceless. Many say they want to be successful, meaning attaining high positions, lofty titles, creature comforts, so forth and so on. I understand that all those things are nice to have, but greatness means a little more to me. Greatness is to love, and if you love somebody you will have no problem serving them. Everybody won't have a Mercedes in the driveway of a mansion by the lake, but anybody can serve another, therefore any and every human being can be great. A Palestinian Jew named Jesus left us with this line: "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant". So as I look at the world and life through the lens of the cross, I take my cue from from the life of Jesus. He was a humble servant who achieved greatness.

Martin King mentioned in one of his best oratorical offerings, "The Drum Major Instinct", what the criteria for greatness is. "And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important, wonderful. If you want to be recognized, wonderful. If you want to be great, wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness."

"And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant."

So to come full circle and answer the mighty question, my mission is to love and serve some folk by putting myself last and others first, like Christ.


The greatest commandment is love. The word love appears 314 times in the bible. Jesus uttered it 51 times. We are supposed to love God and our fellow brother, so for me, love is a bittersweet war we fight as humans every day.

Trying to forgive our dear brothers and sisters for whatever wrong they do unto us, not being judgemental, and not harboring grudges and feelings of hatred is hard for us being that we are cracked vessels with crooked hearts attempting to love our crooked neighbors. But we have to familiarize ourselves with real, true, genuine, substantial love.

It's called agape love. Agape love is the love you must house inside of you for every single human being before you look to develop any type of relationship. Agape love can be represented best in one word: unconditional. No matter comes your way or whomever brings whatever your way and I don't care how and you may get or how cynical this person may be or how horrifying an act they performed, if you want to prosper in your life you better start loving and serving some folk in spite of whatever has occurred or not occurred.

And don't get me wrong, it can be very challenging to love all the time. Loving flawed people can be tough, but if you really think about it, loving folk shouldn't be that hard because you are flawed and I'm sure you love yourself, right? What is love? Love is unconditional.

The FULL Shirley Sherrod video

DOES SHIRLEY SHERROD'S RHETORIC WARRANT FORCED RESIGNATION? HOW DO YOU FEEL?

Cornel West at West Virginia University

A Day at the Park

"The Low Points of Higher Education"

When one thinks of the term “higher education”, many things race through the mind. The student envisions the high of graduating from an esteemed college/university and the parent experiences the pride of watching a child receive a degree that will further their chances of financial success in society. There is the high of receiving that long sought after acceptance letter from your favorite school or for many just being accepted is cause for jubilation. But as realists, we must honestly acknowledge that there are two sides to every story. Everything about higher education can’t be as pleasant as the final outcome portrays. Through critical analysis of higher education and just plain old common sense, we find the low points of 25% of college freshmen will drop out of college at some point during their first year! Frankly, that’s ridiculous, but let’s looks into why they drop out. More research revealed to me a plethora of reasons why people discontinue their college education: emotional issues (3%), distance from home (4%), health problems (5%), family support (9%), poor social fit (13%), academic disqualification (28%), and FINANCIAL PRESSURE (38%). In a country where we claim to be the best and brightest, we still have problems in proper allocation and budgeting of educational funds. There is a triad of issues within that financial pressure that I feel will be best to elaborate on: lack of Pell grants, working students, and investing in the wrong students. Financial pressure has ruined marriages, empires, fortune 500 companies, and higher education is next on the list. Join me as we navigate the labyrinth of why degrees are declining in America.




What are Pell grants? The Pell Grant program is a type of post-secondary, educational federal grant program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. As far back as 1965, between the GI Bill for veterans and Pell grants for average families, the government was footing the bill for the higher education for many Americans. Going to college was pretty much a given for many. There was no FINANCIAL PRESSURE (there’s that phrase again). All a student had to do was go to class and learn. Simple right? You would think so but, then in 1980 corporate greed put its idiot poster boy, Ronald Reagan in the oval office. Now history teaches that under most republican regimes, war expenditures increase and social programs such as education suffer. That’s fact. Reagan, a moron in my opinion, drastically cut the funds for federal contributions to Americans’ education. He placed a cap on borrowing as well as attached an income requirement to borrow. This stupid move opened the floodgates for big banking, little government, predatory lending, preying on the poor, widening the gap between the “haves” and “have-nots”, and simply making the pockets of fat cats fatter. He simply cared less for Joe the Plumber and his family. Now Joe may not be able to put his daughter through college, so in turn his daughter becomes Jenny the Plumber because she has no education. That legislation put a huge strain on the American student then and now. 77% of students that attend college borrow a whopping average of $23,600! So, now you’re telling me that before Bobby Booshay, graduate of Pickle Jar State University, will begin his adult life $23,600 in debt and he hasn’t a job yet! This is what the Reagan/Bush administrations did to higher education. Now since students are accumulating massive debt at alarming rates and they come from blue-collar working families, they got out and get part-time or full-time jobs. That’s the logical thing to do right? It may be but it leads us to the next issue in higher education: the working student.




I will be honest with you, I DON’T WANT TO WORK. I work because I have to. In a perfect world, I could just go to school all day and feed my desire for paideia. After to talking many classmates, I find we share those sentiments. 78% of all students enrolled in college have a part or full time job. Working students can be categorized into two groups: those who primarily identify themselves as students but who work in order to pay the bills and those who are first and foremost workers who also take some college classes. Almost two-thirds of undergraduates who work consider themselves "students who work"; the other third consider themselves "workers who study." Part-time student employment may have beneficial effects: for example, an on-campus research position may spark a student's interest in further academic programs or provide important work experience that will improve future labor market prospects. Working part-time as a student generally appears to supplant only non-productive activities, such as watching television. In addition, students who work fewer than 10 hours per week have slightly higher GPAs than other similar students. However, full-time employment may impair student performance. For example, 55 percent of those students working 35 or more hours per week report that work has a negative effect on their studies. Students working full-time also reported the following liabilities: 40 percent report that work limits their class schedule; 36 percent report it reduces their class choices; 30 percent report it limits the number of classes they take; and 26 percent report it limits access to the library. Students who work full-time are also more likely to drop out of school. For example, the available evidence is consistent with a roughly 10 percentage point differential in graduation rates between full-time and part-time workers. In 2008, nearly 830,000 full-time college students worked full-time. Because of the adverse effects of such full-time work, tens of thousands of these college students are likely to drop out of school and fail to receive a college degree. So I hope you can see how forcing a student to work opposed to studying ruins their chances at being productive in class. They will be too fatigued to attend class and eventually drop out. Or if they attend class, they won’t be able to give their best effort. All in all, students need to work less to be successful in college.



The last issue I have with higher education (for the sake of this essay) is rather disgusting and downright selfish, but then again, this is America that we live in and anything goes in the name of Capitalism. Somehow these nitwits in these ivory towers across the country still haven’t figured out where to effectively allocate funds in higher education. Where is it going? Well, I will tell you since you asked. Let’s pick on Auburn University for a while. Auburn is a well respected school in Alabama and aligns itself with the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Auburn boasts one of the elite football programs in the country and participates in the most competitive football conference year after year. They bring in the best student-athletes to their schools and give them the best education money can buy. Yay!!!!! Let’s celebrate!! Okay, let’s cut the crap. First, college is to get an education. Anything else should be secondary to learning. I guess that’s why students are pegged “student-athletes”. The student comes first I would assume. Absorb these numbers. In 2009, Auburn paid its President Jay Gogue a salary of $727, 761! Whoa, he’s really doing well for himself! I mean that’s great seeing that his school graduates 60% of its students. Now, here’s the problem. Auburn football coach, Gene Chizik, made 2 million dollars in 2009. He graduated only 57% percent of his football players. Something is wrong with that picture. No, not really. That is the norm in college athletics today. Coaches make droves more than chancellors. The national average for student athlete graduation is 79% but the bigger schools that pull in the most money have rates around 45%-55%. My dad always told me people show you what’s important to them in how they spend their money. According to this adage, Auburn University doesn’t care about academics. In 2009, they spent 127 million on all academic departments’ combined, opposed to 121 million on sports alone. Sickening huh? I know. Millions of dollars are shelled out in scholarships to students who will not even graduate as they pursue professional athletic endeavors. Colleges are using these kids to line their own pockets. These facts obviously show you where the focus is in higher education and it isn’t education.



Brothers and sisters I know you probably feel as though I'm preaching to the choir, but these are burning issues for me, especially the latter discussed. I hate seeing corporate greed ruin the lives of budding young minds. Coaches’ salary shouldn’t dwarf that of their bosses. Who does that? Congress should step in and set a mandatory graduation rate for athletic programs. Congress must step in and regulate big banking and predatory lending to students. More money needs to be allocated for the Pell grant program. A better life shouldn't cost you $26,000 before you even start this “better life”. If college is affordable, if not free, students can focus their energies in the classroom instead of the break room. According to history, these things may happen because we have a democratic regime now. But wait! Isn't this the same regime that just gave away 700 billion dollars of taxpayers' money to bail out these same banks that have us in this financial mess? Oh hell, why bother? Well at least you know how I feel and that’s all that matters. :-)

IS MINISTER FARRAKHAN THE "NEW" AFRICAN AMERICAN VOICE?

"The force that surrounds power, is the real power." Minister Farrakhan

As I watched the "We Count" forum that Tavis Smiley orchestrated so well, I came away feeling that Min. Farrakhan is the strongest voice in the African American movement of America. Many have said that he is polarizing for his controversial stances on various issues, but I say within a whole, every part will not see every specific the same, but that whole must be rooted in one central premise of justice draped with love. Polarizing Farrakhan may be, he speaks and lives love and justice. Many get hung up on a religious difference, but we know that every religion promotes love and justice in its scriptures and if we look at the brother's body of work, we see he embodies those traits. They said Martin, Jesus, Gandhi, and Malcolm were polarizing. "They", whomever they are, throughout history have blurted out many invalid assertions that we now characterize as idiotic. Often we can deem unabashed courage for being "polarizing". Polarizing figures help to evoke and promote real, authentic thought to our social miseries whether you agree with those figures or not. Without these people, we would be too comfortable in our box of silence and inactivity.

Tell me how YOU feel.

Damien Thaddeus Jones (Damien Speaks) is an independent blogger, student, activist, veteran, and a motivator of our youth fighting to promote effective literacy for our children.


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Honoring Trailblazers from March 4, 1960

I was honored to attend a panel discussion/dedication of the brave men and women who literally sat down as a way to stand up for equality. On March 4, 1960, TSU students Earl Allen, John Bland, Deanna Lott Burrell, Eddye Ridgsby Hamilton, Holly Hogrobrooks, Otis King, Bill Lawson, Halcyon Sadberry Watkins, Eldrewey Stearns, and Harold L. Stovall participated in a sit-in at Weingarten's grocery store in Houston and ignited a local movement that opened many doors and helped to expose and eradicate prejudicial treatment of minorities. The event was a true blessing in itself. To be among such civil rights royalty was spine-chilling. Also to see a plethora of students and alumni there to show there genuine support was very fulfilling. I have to note that I was running a bit late and had to sneak in the back door! There was a extensive panel discussion along with Q & A from the masses followed by a symbolic march from the campus of TSU to the very spot that the movement began. The former grocery store is now a post office in the local community. The post office was the setting for an official outside gala attended by many city dignitaries. As we marched to the gala, I was fortunate to catch up with two individuals closely linked to this movement: Dr. James Ward (Dean of Communications at TSU) and the dear brother Marcus Davis (President of TSU National Alumni Association/Owner of Breakfast Klub/Radio Personality 102.1 FM). And also let me note that Dr. Ward is very proud of his New Orleans Saints and not bashful to let you know he is! Who Dat!

Damien Speaks: Dr. Ward, thank you for taking time to speak with me on such a grandiose day. What did this movement mean to you?

Dr. Ward:It meant that people fought for our freedom. It meant that people had the goodwill to say "We no longer will sit in the back of the bus" and it started other movements. I feel that the greatest movement was the civil rights movement of the 60's because it opened so many doors and people just simply said "I want my piece of the pie now, I don't want to wait to get these rightful freedoms". Today is just remembering what happened 50 years ago.

DS: Now, Dr. Ward, how have you seen this movement directly affect your life?

Dr. Ward: Well, I grew up in an era of segregation and I had a chance to have an opportunity to do the things that I wanted to do, as well as things my parents and grandparents could not do, so it affected me in a great way. Have you ever heard the phrase "I don't want anyone to do nothing for me; I'll get it myself?"

DS: Yes sir.

Dr. Ward: So, it allowed me to come out of that mode of thinking.

DS: Dr. Ward, thank you for your insight.

Dr. Ward: Thank you.

Damien Speaks: Brother Davis, how does this movement resonate with you on a personal level?

Marcus Davis: Brother this movement means everything. This is what Texas Southern is about. Texas Southern is historic, not only because of this particular act, or its affect on the 3rd Ward or African Americans, but this movement changed the landscape of the City of Houston. It was a major part of the Civil Rights Movement as a whole. So, it means a great deal to me to be able to take part in the liberties I have today because of the courage of these men and women that came out to share with us today.

DS: As the newly elected President of TSU Alumni Association, what will you do to energize the alumni to continue to be of service to their community?

MD: Remind them that this was and is the nature of TSU; this is the DNA of Texas Southern. And hopefully they will be able to draw energy from it. You know its the idea of if you don't know who you are, then you don't know where you're going. We have to acknowledge that this is who we are and this is what we do. You talk about the Mickey Lelands, the Barbara Jordans, the Otis Kings, the Eldrewey Stearns, well we have to be those people today in order to have the significant impact on this city, this state, this country, this world.






Damien Thaddeus Jones (Damien Speaks) is an independent blogger, student, activist, veteran, and a motivator of our youth.

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damienthaddeus@yahoo.com

Ode to Malcolm

          There have been 7 great males that have influenced and still influence my life in a major way (Bill Jones, Jesus, Muhammad, Gandhi, Malcolm, Martin, and Cornel West). These men have changed the world as we know it, and the least I can do as a student of truth is to absorb as much as possible from these prophetic servants. But on this day, February 21, 2010, one of those men stand out to me because he touched my life in such a glorious way. He helped shape the foundation of who I am today and will be in the future. He told me who I was and more importantly, who and what I was not. He gave me tremendous pride and confidence, he helped me with my homework and writing assignments; he showed me what evolution was all about. I never met this man. Never dined with him or ever heard him speak. The day I read his autobiography, I was around 16 or 17 and it changed the landscape of my life tremendously. So on this enlightening day, February 21, 45 years after his untimely assassination, we honor El Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X) for his massive contributions on my life thus far.

          Did Malcolm have an impact on my spiritual life? Well I'm from a small, narrow-minded city called Jackson, MS. So as you know, in the rural south, if you're not Christian, you're going to hell and there is also no respect for other religions. Everything was Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and more Jesus. As a bright kid, I questioned everything, in respect to the Socratic method of questioning. When I stumbled across "The Autobiography of Malcolm X", I was about 16 and knew nothing of Islam or Muslims. My only narrow view was that they wore bow ties and peddled the freshest fruit on the corner of our inner cities. My schools didn't talk about Malcolm, nor did my parents. Everything regarding black history was surrounded around MLK and this passive image the media had created along with the "I Have a Dream" speech. By that juncture in my life, I was fed up with Martin and I longed for something with a little edge. "Who was this Malcolm X guy that people wanna sweep under the rug?" were my thoughts. I read his book and got as much understanding from it that a naive, southern black kid could get from it at that time. The story made me want to find out what Islam was all about. If it changed this man so drastically from his wicked past, what could it do for me? After much study, I was ready to convert to Islam, all because of Malcolm, but amid so much criticism and ridicule in my family and community, I was afraid. Later I got the guts to convert and it was a beneficial decision. I found a small pocket of Muslim brothers and sisters and we gathered in an office building as a mosque and my relationship with God (Allah) grew in levels. The Imam was a former NOI member who told me the stories of how they impacted the black communities they lived in and also the hate they endured. He talked about the profitable businesses they ran and so forth. I would sit and absorb wisdom from this respected elder. He encouraged me to stay in school and better myself, something my own family failed to do. He told me the old adage "opportunity costs". I love that brother for that. Being a part of that mosque taught me tremendous discipline. It takes discipline to acknowledge God 5 times a day in a uniform fashion, reciting "The Opening" each time. It takes discipline to stop eating pork when its 80% of your diet. It takes discipline to give up alcohol at the age of 22, and that task I had a great deal of trouble with. Those were the most loving, non-judgmental religious affiliated people I had ever met. No longer did I make the racist 9/11 anti-Muslim jokes. True Islam is a beautiful religion and way of life and I love and adore all my Islamic brothers and sisters all over the globe. All of that never would have happened if I never picked up Malcolm's book. For helping me to find spiritual clarity, I thank you Brother Malcolm.

          Now if you have ever read or listened to any of Malcolm's speeches, you would be astonished to know that he never earned one single collegiate credit. Later on, he lectured at many institutions of higher learning and starred on many panels, but he was never a student. Malcolm's oratory was so polished and fine and he enunciated his words so precise and possessed a special knack for wordplay, but you could still hear the hustler in his delivery. He never lost his everyday connection with the streets; the people he called "those stuck the deepest in the mud". When I found out this fiery speaker was educated in the school of hard knocks and studied the dictionary back to front while incarcerated, I figured a free black student could do the same or better. I began to feverishly study the English dictionary. If you ask any of my classmates from my years at the Piney Woods School, they would tell you that whenever they saw me, I had a bible and dictionary. I would challenge my peers to pick any word in the dictionary and I would know the meaning and word origin. No lie. I would be right 80% of the time. I almost never misspell words. Many times I have been accused of being an elitist because of how I speak. I would search far and wide to provide a defense to their accusation and now I've found that answer. It is all Malcolm's fault. He inspired me to want to improve my vocabulary and my diction by way of his real example.

          Malcolm also gave me confidence. There was no better person to play him in the movie "X" than Denzel. Denzel's natural walk displays immense swagger, which was a carbon copy of the real Malcolm. For me growing up in a racist MS, Malcolm's voice saying "hold your head up high and to be proud of who you are" was something young black males needed. He provided that bravado for me. He told me to love the women/children and protect them. He taught me never to fear any man or any obstacle. His story taught me to seek the truth, no matter who criticizes or how you may look to the natural world. Malcolm taught me to always seek God. Malcolm taught me to love myself in the midst of racism that wanted me to hate myself and who I am. I used to be ashamed of my course hair and wide nose, but when Malcolm finished with me, I was almost arrogant.

          Malcolm is to the thugs and underprivileged what MLK is to the Rhodes Scholar. With most black people being poor and our men being hustlers and ex-cons, his story was a real story that spoke to to that hollow space of hope inside them. His story said that one can overcome no father, racism, drug use, imprisonment, and hate from your fellow brother(all of which our men still endure). His story said that black men can have a genuine relationship with God. His story bled with evolution. His downfall was that he felt he owed his life to the Hon. Elijah Muhammad and therefore never questioning the teachings of his teacher. That is the worst attribute of a teacher/pupil relationship. But Malcolm always sought truth and what is right and truth showed him he had been teaching hate, all within his genuine message of love. A flawed man he was. How real is that? Malcolm was real. That's all we ever asked for, reality. Thank you Brother Malcolm for keeping it real. We love you. We miss you. Salaam Alaikum.