Still Marching 50 Years Later

In just a few weeks August 28, 2013 will mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. A mass protest that helped energize some of the most critical social legislation in the nation's history and inspired a generation of activists focused on ending poverty, racism and violence. I remember where I was on the day of the historic event as a small child and as time pasted I never thought 50 years later we would need to march for the same things - ending poverty, racism and violence.

But over time I have learned that as sure as things change – they remain the same. Attended by more than 250,000 people that was said to be the largest demonstration Washington had ever seen at the time. The march reached a galvanizing high point with Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which stands today as one of the best known and most beloved speeches in modern history.

The backdrop for the march was the outrage sparked by media coverage of police brutality in Birmingham, Alabama where attack dogs and fire hoses were turned against peaceful protesters - many of whom were in their early teens or younger. Martin Luther King, Jr., was arrested and jailed during these protests, writing his famous "Letter From Birmingham City Jail," which advocates civil disobedience against unjust laws. Dozens of additional demonstrations took place across the country, from California to New York, culminating in the March.

The March represented a coalition of several civil rights organizations, all of which generally had different approaches and different agendas. The "Big Six" as they came to be known organizers were James Farmer, of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); Martin Luther King, Jr., of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC); John Lewis, of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); A. Philip Randolph, of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins, of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP); and Whitney Young, Jr., of the National Urban League. There was only one female speaker that day, Josephine Baker, who introduced several "Negro Women Fighters for Freedom," including Rosa Parks.

The stated demands of the march were the passage of meaningful civil rights legislation; the elimination of racial segregation in public schools; protection for demonstrators against police brutality; a major public-works program to provide jobs; the passage of a law prohibiting racial discrimination in public and private hiring; a $2 an hour minimum wage; and self-government for the District of Columbia, which had a black majority.

President Kennedy called the leaders of the big six to the White House because he want discouraged the march supposedly for fear that it might make the legislature vote against civil rights laws in reaction to a perceived threat. Kennedy demanded that language was changed and that the voices for justice were toned down to almost meek words. Once it became clear that the march would go on, he stationed troops “on the ready” around the city while publically he claimed to support the march.

The AFL-CIO remained neutral and outright opposition came from two sides. White supremacist groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, were obviously not in favor of any event supporting racial equality. On the other hand, the march was also condemned by some civil rights activists who felt it presented an inaccurate, sanitized pageant of racial harmony; Malcolm X called it the "Farce on Washington," and members of the Nation of Islam who attended the march faced a temporary suspension.

Lewis represented the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a younger, more radical group than King's. The speech he planned to give, circulated beforehand, was objected to by other participants; it called Kennedy's civil rights bill "too little, too late," asked "which side is the federal government on?" It declared that they would march "through the Heart of Dixie, the way Sherman did" and "burn Jim Crow to the ground—nonviolently." In the end, he agreed to tone down the more inflammatory portions of his speech, but even the revised version was the most controversial of the day, stating:

The revolution is at hand, and we must free ourselves of the chains of political and economic slavery. The nonviolent revolution is saying, "We will not wait for the courts to act, for we have been waiting hundreds of years. We will not wait for the President, nor the Justice Department, nor Congress, but we will take matters into our own hands, and create a great source of power, outside of any national structure that could and would assure us victory." For those who have said, "Be patient and wait!" we must say, "Patience is a dirty and nasty word." We cannot be patient, we do not want to be free gradually, we want our freedom, and we want it now. We cannot depend on any political party, for the Democrats and the Republicans have betrayed the basic principles of the Declaration of Independence.

King's speech remains one of the most famous speeches in American history. He started with prepared remarks, saying he was there to "cash a check" for "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness," while warning fellow protesters not to "allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.

Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force." But then he departed from his script, shifting into the "I have a dream" theme he'd used on prior occasions, drawing on both "the American dream" and religious themes, speaking of an America where his children "will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." He followed this with an exhortation to "let freedom ring" across the nation, and concluded with:

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."

It appears Brother Martin was wrong! The KKK now wear black robes, justice is still denied, we see James Crow Esq. the son of segregation, a new Citizens Council called the Tea Party, poverty, and joblessness is worst than it was in his day. Now, for a man of peace who fought, struggled, and died for equality; he has been reduced to a four word phrase – “I have a Dream”.

Maybe they were right when they said what he preached was just a dream! And that’s my thought provoking perspective…

Coincidence

In November of this year the assassination of John F. Kennedy with mark fifty-years (50). This was one of those seminal moments in time where everyone who was a live can remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. Or what you think you know – did you know this:

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.

John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.

John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. 

Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.

Both wives lost a child while living in the White House. 

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

 

Now it gets really weird.

 

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln.

 

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

 

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

 

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

 

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

 

Now hang on to your seat.

 

Lincoln was shot at the theater named "Ford."

Kennedy was shot in a car called "Lincoln" made by "Ford."

 

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.

 

And here's the "kicker":

 

A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.

A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

 

AND...................:

 

Lincoln was shot in a theater and the assassin ran to a warehouse...

Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and the assassin ran to a theater...

For months I have been working on two articles (1) The Kennedy Assassination and (2) The March On Washington. You don’t want to miss either! And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…

Beware Of The Snake

My Granddaddy use to tell me fascinating stories designed to make me a man. In fact, he would tell me every day that “I raised you to be a man and as a man, you don’t know what you may have to do but when the time comes, you do it.” He said it so often throughout my youth that it was embedded into my mind and to this very day a warm smile appears “when I have to do it”.

I loved this wise man more than life itself. I knew, even then, his teachings were an inspired declaration of his celestial will or more simply put - his vision that shaped my destiny and it defined my purpose. Pop’s would teach me lessons, often times, like an Aesop Fables to make me think and it was my job to figure out the moral of the story.

This is my favorite:

The way the story was told to me, Granddaddy’s friend, Mr. Bob whose job was to offer a prayer every Sunday morning at church during the service prior to the preacher’s sermon, a job he had held for years. Sunday was a special day for the community, and for him to have a position where he would have the attention of everyone was a big deal. More accurately stated it was a platform for him to perform. He would have been a great entertainer.

Mr. Bob would walk to church every Sunday morning, rain or shine, from his home. The trip was several miles up and down hills and around curves, and he would be dressed in his best suit for the morning service. During the walk he would practice his part for the service, the prayer, with the intention of making it a show complete with screams and tears. This show would sometimes last thirty minutes. There were many Sundays one would wonder how one man could have so much to ask of the Lord and maybe say, please, let somebody else get a blessing.

On his way to church this particular Sunday, Mr. Bob came across an injured snake. In what he perceived as divine intervention, God said to him, help this poor creature. He realized he did not have a prayer for that day’s service, so he thought, wow, if I help the snake I can pray for us to have the strength to help all of God’s creatures. Since the snake is the lowliest of all creatures, this would really inspire the congregation and hopefully give them the encouragement to do the same at least until next Sunday’s message. So he picked up the badly injured snake and placed him in a safe place until he could return from church.

With great energy, and now inspired, Mr. Bob went on his way. He planned and practiced his prayer as he marched on to church. After he arrived and exchanged a few greetings, the service began with a joyful noise, as they say, meaning full of song. Then it was his turn to pray. He began to pray with a powerful tone, full of emotion. He asked God to give each person within the sound of his voice the strength to reach out and help all God’s creatures, from the loving dove to the lowly snake. His message had many in the tiny church standing with shouts of Amen. He felt he had done his job as he closed, asking God to bless the church and said Amen. In his usual style this took about a half hour.

To his surprise, the pastor also chose a sermon nearly identical to his message which took about another hour and a half, talking about helping all of God’s creatures. What a great day it was, Mr. Bob thought. Normally after the service ended everyone hung around to fellowship as it was one of the few chances they had to socialize. Mr. Bob would not hang around on this day - he had a mission and left church in a hurry. He rushed back to the spot where his injured snake was placed hoping it would still be there. He was very excited when he arrived to find it was where he left it. He put his snake in a burlap bag he had gotten from the church and took the snake home.

Over the next several weeks Mr. Bob cared for this creature, desperately trying to save the snake and nursing it back to health. About three weeks later he thought it was time to take his snake back to where he found it, thinking it was well enough to be set free. The following Sunday, he put on his best suit and started his journey to church with snake in hand. As he arrived at the spot where he had found it, he thought, what a wonderful thing he had done. He was sure to receive God’s blessing for this act of kindness.

He rubbed the snake gently and said goodbye. However, when he reached into the bag to grab it, suddenly the snake raised his head and bit him. Then bit him again and again. Mr. Bob cried out, “Why would you bite me after all I’ve done for you? My God why?” I guess he was expecting an answer from God, but none came. He repeated his cry once more. Then the snake stuck his head out of the bag and said, “I am a snake and that’s what we do.”After hearing this story over and over again, I finally figured out what it meant. It was a lesson that would prove to be invaluable.

Be careful in your dealings with people because people, just like the snake, will hurt you - that’s what they do.

Book Reviews

Taken from the phenomenal novel “Just a Season”
© 2009 All Rights Reserved

The Ghost Of The Greats

I woke up this morning to the sweet sounds of soul blasting from my radio which inspired and lifted my spirits immensely. Having been awakened to a new day in such a profound way I decided to offer my remembrance to the amazing crooners, songstress’, prolific singer-songwriters and record producers who've transitioned to that wonderful place all of us wish to go. Their amazing talent must make up a most amazing heavenly choir.

I began my day wondering what it must be like as the ghosts of the greats walk around heaven gathering for a concert to sing in that heavenly choir. The harmony must be simply amazing. When these great artist where alive and with us black music – soul music – was awesome. Thankfully, they left us their gifts of sound for us to forever enjoy. 

I’ll just name a few choir member that are walking around haven all day: Whitney Houston, David Ruffin, Eddie Kendricks, Ali Ollie Woodson, Marvin Gaye, Billy Preston, James Brown, Etta James, Donny Hathaway, Isaac Hayes, Nic Ashford, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, Tammie Terrell, Teena Marie, Levi Stubbs, Barry White, Grover Washington, Johnny Taylor, Bob Marley, Gerald Levert, Ray Charles and Michael Jackson. Although it’s impossible to name them all - BUT WE MISS AND LOVE YOU!

Times were much difficult for black people because of your work. You added hope to our struggle and your souls brought out such creative music albeit from the secular world and the church – we were overjoyed. Today’s black artists do not know what it is to be innovative or create their own music and if they do, they do not have what I know as soul, you hardly feel anything. The new generation started producing their music, often times, in such negative way that affects the black community, because they did not learn from the great artist that came before them or know what it means to be creative.

What I see and hear, for the most part, black music could be at the point of no return. Furthermore, the artists who are now deceased singing in that glorious choir in this place called haven were originals who never imitated to gain fame. These days, you have a lot of imitators and this is one of the main reasons why we have few black artists today that touch our souls.

Moreover or sad is it that the new generation of artists, for the most part, seem to have no knowledge of what soul music means spiritually or simply understand how to just be original. So to the ghosts of the greats – Rest In Peace - you will be remembered for all times. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…

Apocalypse Now

The Bible tells us about the end times when there will appear Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse described in the last book of the New Testament as the Book of Revelations. Most Christians know the story of fear and damnation. The chapter tells of a book in God’s right hand that is sealed with seven seals. Jesus opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons forth four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and pale horses.

The four riders are seen as symbolizing Conquest, War, Famine, and the last rider is death. Yes, this is scary stuff but to most believers it is expected and very real. Could it be upon us now? There are many who have refer to our president as the Anti-Christ, so its reasonable view the obstructionist as purveyors of doom. They are false idols intent upon destroying the middle class and the needy through the policies.

The first horsemen called represents Conquest and we have seen and can confirm that this rider has visited because the rich get richer and the powerful has conquered the least of thee. The second horseman as depicted in a thirteenth-century Apocalypse manuscript is a fiery red one whose rider is given the power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other and to him was given a large sword. [Revelations 6:3-4] This horseman may represent civil war as opposed to the war of conquest that the first horseman is sometimes said to bring.

The third horseman rides a black horse which is generally understood as Famine. The horseman carries a scale, indicating the way that bread would have been weighed during a famine. The indicated price of grain is about ten times normal, with an entire day's wages buying enough wheat for only one person, or enough of the less nutritious barley for three, so that workers would struggle to feed their families much in the way life is today.

The fourth horseman who is the most ominous has a rider who’s named is Death known as the pale rider. These horsemen are to be given power to kill by sword, famine, and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. Unlike the other three, the forth horseman is not described as carrying a weapon although illustrations commonly depict him carrying a scythe - like the Grim Reaper. The verse beginning "they were given power over a fourth of the earth" is generally taken as referring to destruction.

As I wrote this piece I could not help but compare this story of the end times to what I see in our politics, particularly from the obstructionists. The ideology of states’ rights and the injustice of stand your ground laws enacted by the right-wing, who call themselves conservatives, take us back to days of the Citizens Council’s of old. Like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse their purpose is to bring Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…

Rest In Peace George Duke

Today, we learned that the Grammy-winning jazz keyboardist George Duke passed away at age 67 from chronic lymphocytic leukemia in Los Angeles. Mr. Duke was a producer whose sound infused acoustic jazz, electronic jazz, funk, R&B and soul.

Duke’s son, Rashid, thanked his father’s fans in the following statement:

“The outpouring of love and support that we have received from my father’s friends, fans and the entire music community has been overwhelming… Thank you all for your concern, prayers and support.”

Duke was born in San Rafael, Calif. During his stellar 40-year-plus career he appeared on a number of Frank Zappa albums and played in the Don Ellis Orchestra, Cannonball Adderley’s band and with jazz musician Stanley Clarke. Duke also played keyboard on Michael Jackson’s multi-platinum 1979 album, “Off the Wall.”

Duke began taking piano lessons when he was 4 years old, after seeing Duke Ellington perform. He said on his website, “I don’t remember it too well … but my mother told me I went crazy… I ran around saying, ‘Get me a piano, get me a piano!’”

Like most of the greats Duke learned a lot about music from going to church, which helped him add a funk style to his sound. He played in high-school jazz groups and was heavily influenced by Miles Davis. He earned degrees from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and San Francisco State University.

On tour as part of the George Duke Trio, he performed in Los Angeles at a show where Adderley, Zappa and Quincy Jones were in attendance. Duke soon joined Zappa on a tour for a year in 1969. He joined Adderley’s band in 1971. He met Clarke through Adderley, and they formed the Clarke/Duke Project. Their song “Sweet Baby” was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard pop charts.

Mr. Duke became a solo artist in 1976 and released more than 30 solo albums. He also produced for Miles Davis, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, Dionne Warwick and Natalie Cole. His latest album, “DreamWeaver,” was released last month and features a touching tribute to her. He worked as musical director for the Soul Train Music Awards and other special events. He also scored songs on soundtracks for “The Five Heartbeats” and “Karate Kid III.”

Every life is born with purpose. I am honored that I had the pleasure of being inspired by the wonderful music from this man of class and stature. I send my love, respect, and sympathy, from the depth of my heart, to the family of George Duke for all the love he left the world. Rest In Peace and we will remember the "Dukey Stick"! And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective… 

America's Hidden Secret

In my novel, “Just a Season” titled for the religious knowledge referring to a period of time characterized by a particular circumstance, suitable to an indefinite period of time associated with a divine phenomenon called life.

During this passage through time I have come to realize that there are milestones, mountains, and valleys that we must encounter. This speaks loudly to the challenges of a proud people - African Americans. So as I continue the twenty nine days of Black History this writing is about the rise and fall of a great legacy.

Let me tell you about one of America’s best kept secrets - “Black Wall Street”. This story is will inspire, enlighten, empower, and make you aware of the history of a people at a time when the odds were against all odds. It was during a time called segregation, when Jim Crow ruled and “separate but equal” was the law of the land. Because of this de facto Apartheid like system African American were forced to live in communities dependent upon each other in order to survive, and survive they did. Every town had such a place to which I will share the rich history of several of these communities. I like to call the places “Brownsville”.

Let me introduce you to the most infamous of them all that was located in Tulsa Oklahoma that came to be known as “Black Wall Street”. The name was fittingly given to the most affluent all-black community in America. This community was the epitome of success proving that African Americans had a successful infrastructure known as the golden door of the Black community during the early 1900’s. Although, it was in an unusual location Black Wall Street was a prime example of the typical Black community in America that did business far beyond expectations.

The state of Oklahoma was set aside to be a Black and Indian state that included over 28 Black townships. Another point worth noting, nearly a third of the people who traveled in the terrifying "Trail of Tears" alongside the Indians from 1830 to 1842 were Black people. The citizens of Oklahoma chose a Black governor; there were PhD’s, Black attorneys, doctors and professionals from all walks of life contributing to the successful development of this community. One such luminous figure was Dr. Berry who also owned the bus system generating an average income of $500 a day in 1910. During this time physicians owned medical schools to empower and develop African Americans.

The area encompassed 36 square blocks, over 600 businesses with a population of 15,000 African Americans. There were pawn shops everywhere, brothels, jewelry stores, churches, restaurants and movie theaters. Their success was monumentally evident in that the entire state of Oklahoma had only two airports, yet six blacks owned their own planes. Just to show how wealthy many Black people were, there was a banker in a neighboring town who had a wife named California Taylor. Her father owned the largest cotton gin west of the Mississippi. 

When California shopped, she would take a cruise to Paris every three months to have her clothes made.

There was also a man named Mason in nearby Wagner County who had the largest potato farm in the west. When he harvested, he would fill 100 boxcars a day. Another Black man not far away was doing the same thing with a spinach farm. The typical family averaged five children or more, though the typical farm family would have 10 kids or more who made up the nucleus of the labor.

What was significant about Black Wall Street was they understood an important principle - they kept the money in the community. The dollars circulated 36 to 1000 times within the community, sometimes taking a year for currency to leave the community. Something the African America community of today does not fully appreciate or practice because a dollar will leave the Black community today in 15 minutes. This community was so tight and wealthy because they traded dollars hand-to-hand because they were dependent upon one another as a result of the Jim Crow laws.

Another powerful image, and extremely significant, was education. The foundation of the community was to educate every child because they understood that education is the single most important ingredient necessary to neutralize those forces that breed poverty and despair. When students went to school they wore a suit and tie because of the morals and respect they were taught at a young age. In addition, nepotism contributed greatly to the success of this community as a way to help one another – a tactic that needs to be instilled in our culture today.

A postscript to Tulsa’s legacy is the world renowned R&B music group the GAP Band. The group of brothers Charlie, Ronnie & Robert Wilson chose the group’s name taken from the first letters of the main thoroughfare Greenwood Avenue that intersects with Archer and Pine Streets; from those letters you get G.A.P. Another legendary figure from Tulsa is their favorite son, basketball great and jazz musician the late Wayman Tisdale. These are just a few luminaries that Tulsa has produced, surely the most recognized today.

An unprecedented amount of global business was conducted from within the Black Wall Street community, which flourished from the early 1900 until 1921. Then the unthinkable happened and the community faced a valley or more accurately stated feel of a cliff. The Black Wall Street community suffered the largest massacre of non-military Americans in the history of this country.

As you might well imagine, the lower-economic Europeans looked over and saw how prosperous the Black community had become and destroyed it. I don’t know the true reason, jealousy was mentioned, but racism was certainly at its core. Lead by the infamous KKK, working in concert with ranking city officials, and many other sympathizers.

The destruction began Tuesday evening, June 1, 1921, when "Black Wall Street," the most affluent all-black community in America, was bombed from the air and burned to the ground by mobs of resentful whites. In a period spanning fewer than 12 hours, a once thriving black business district in northern Tulsa lay smoldering. A model community destroyed and a major Africa-American economic movement resoundingly defused. The night's carnage left some 3,000 African Americans dead and over 600 successful businesses lost.

Among them were 21 churches, 21 restaurants, 30 grocery stores and two movie theaters, plus a hospital, a bank, a post office, libraries, schools, law offices, a half-dozen private airplanes and even the bus system. This historic event, you would think should be common knowledge – but not so. One would be hard-pressed to find any documentation concerning the incident, let alone an accurate accounting of it.

Not in any reference or American history book documenting the worst incidents of violence ever visited upon people of African descent. This night of horror was unimaginable. Try if you will to imagine seeing 1,500 homes being burned and looted, while white families with their children standing around the borders of the community watching the massacre much in the same manner they would watch a lynching. It must have been beyond belief for the victims.

I wonder if you aware of this little known history fact, where the word "picnic" came from? It was typical to have a picnic on a Friday evening in Oklahoma. The word was short for "pick a nigger" to lynch. They would lynch a Black male and cut off body parts as souvenirs. This went on every weekend in many part of the country with thousands lynched in the first part of the last century. Unfortunately, that is where the word actually came from.

The riots weren't caused by anything Black or white. It was caused as a result of Black prosperity. A lot of white folks had come back from World War I and they were poor. When they looked over into the Black Wall Street community and saw that Black men who fought in the war came home as heroes also contributed to the destruction. It cost the Black community everything - justice and reconciliation are often incompatible goals because not a single dime of restitution was ever provided, to include no insurance claims have been awarded to a single victims.

As I began, there are milestones, mountains, and valleys which surely encompassed this community and its people. This is why it is so important to teach these lessons because those who neglect the lessons of the past are doomed to see it repeated. Life is not a race you run, it is a relay and it is your responsibility to pass the baton.

Our youth, the next generation, must be prepared and know when they look at our communities today that they came from a people who built kingdoms. And that's my Thought Provoking Perspective...

This like offers a detailed account of the incident: 

http://www.theroot.com/views/who-killed-black-wall-street?page=0,1

http://johntwills.com

Just a Season

Legacy – A New Season 

AMAZON

A Columbus Experience

I suppose you are wondering about the title I’ve chosen for this article because we know for sure Columbus did not discover anything. Let alone America! With that said, it is the perfect metaphor for what so many uppity Negroes are witnessing today; meaning the days long past have returned revealing that it never left with respect to injustice and overt racism in America. At a time when the people who live in the wealthiest and the mightiest nation on this little rock called earth; its many citizens of color continue to endure an apartheid like system.

Maybe it’s just me, but I find phrases like “keep America American” kind of creepy. I mean creepy in the sense that the president has been called everything but the N word. Well, not openly yet! But you can bet he is surely being called that often by many who have a problem with his color. I am old enough to remember the likes of David Duke, George Wallace, Bull Connor’s and others who viewed segregation and voter suppression as the American way. They operated under and use Jim Crow as a tool to maintain their privileged like many of the good old racist – Jim Crow, as it was known then – is dead.

More troubling, however, is the new Jim Crow, which is the grownup more sinister version we see today. They use the same dog whistles – something that only a dog hears – as coded language that is understood by those who long for this fantasy of what they say America was like in a time of legally sectioned racism. Frankly, it was not all that wonderful for African Americans or the poor in this time they want to return to when open racism was the law of the land.

There are many blacks who have believed or felt that they have been accepted like the fools you see on Fixed News who “step and fetch” for the right are little more the what Malcolm X called “House Negroes”. What is the difference in the killing of unarmed child and black people then a lynching? Yet, we saw many who look like use defend the murders and a law that indiscriminately search innocent citizens simply because of their complexion.

Here is another example, the last guy hoping to be the next president used a phrase: “We have on one side a president who wants to transform America into a European-style nation and you have on other hand someone like myself that wants to turn around America and keep America American….” In that context, it sounds innocent – right. Well in the 1920s that phrase “keep America American” was use as a slogan by KKK. The Washington Post reported that the "keep America American" line was used even before the 1920s by members of the anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic group called 'Know Nothing Party" in the 1850s.

It is also worth noting that the Tea Party’s continued preoccupation with the code word “take back our country” is ominous because we hear what they are not saying. Coupled with “Stand Your Ground” and the call for “States Rights” clearly indicate a movement that wants to return the Jim Crow era and what they call the American way of life.

So wake up people, we are about to discover America, the real America, which I call a Columbus Experience. The shameful ghost’s of the past is ever present. And that’s my Thought Provoking Perspective…

http://johntwills.com

The Right-Wing Zealots

Some may not be aware that we are living in the year of our Lord – 2013. If you listen to the Tea Party and GOP, you might think we or they are living in a time long past - like it a few centuries ago. I would argue that brains can be altered by how they are abused and misused. I am of the opinion that just as sure as things change they remain the same. Most reasonable people would agree, particularly when we look at the “lies” contained in the stories of history. This can well be how we explain the insanity or zealotry that exists within the Grand Ol’ Party.

The evangelical, Tea Party, and conservative fundamentalists are really damaged people. They are lost and lashing out at reality itself. These people have literally been conditioned to fear their own brains through a psychology of racism base on supremacy. Their so-called religious indoctrination has actually destroyed their ability to reason. They have literally taken this alternative reality and fear so far too extreme for even the extreme and it is scary!

"How on earth could they believe (fill-in-the-blank) that global warming is not real, that evolution never happened, that an embryo is a "person," and that the right to carry a gun equals "security" through stand your ground. Many of this ilk continue to believe that President Obama is a socialist, communist, Muslim, the Antichrist, not a Christian or that he is simply the wrong sort of Christian. Moreover, how could they really believe that Cruz or Paul could ever become president!

First of all the backbone of the Republican Party is a group of Zealots masked as the Tea Party. Secondly, the American Evangelicals and conservatives are raised from birth to reject common sense, learning, and progress in favor of their literal interpretation of reality meaning most sane people. Having said that if your base is a group that has been trained to reject truth in favor of faith in a false faith.

They will believe anything because rejection of what "everyone else believes" is a bedrock article of their faith and very identity. Science has rendered a literal interpretation of scripture, be it the Bible, Koran, or whatever. For many religious people this means that they have sought out deeper meanings in a spirituality that depends on a more intuitive sense of meaning and purpose than a mindless attempt to rewrite or interpret a reality based in fear.

The rise of the religious right within religion is designed intentionally to isolate, indoctrinate and "protect" supremacy from challenging rational ideas. Fundamentalist leaders, be they conservatives or Tea Party leaders, do this because actual true information is no longer helpful to the fundamentalist religious cause. So that cause becomes about controlling the minds of the faithful by cutting them off from other opinions.

Having circled the wagons and gone inward, the Republican Party now speak their own language, have their own revisionist culture, and despise the country they dwell in where they will soon become the minority, which is a scary thought. I liken this to the fear of being exiled from the land they claimed as their own.

I am old enough to remember similar group like the Citizens Council, the Klan and a nut named Hitler, who were able to convince enough people to cause unthinkable devastation to millions to which in hindsight we ask "How could so few control so many? Of course, the question is asked after the damage is done! And that's my Thought Provoking Perspective...

"Just a Season"

http://johntwills.com/

AMAZON

Legacy – A New Season

Our Reparations

As long as I can remember, there’s been talk of reparations for the atrocities black people have endured by the country we so dearly love. Yes, we love America and in many case’s more than we love ourselves! African Americas have fought and died in every war that really had nothing to do with us. In return, black soldiers came home to dreadful conditions and up to the war in Vietnam - could not eat in public places or drink from the same water fountains as other citizens.

America watched as we endured suffering created by her that has placed African America’s number one in almost every negative category from healthcare, unemployment, housing, and justice that has created turmoil in the black community. Yet, America helps everyone in need around the world and has money for wars but can't feed the poor or needed here at home.

People of African descent made this nation prosperous. This group of disenfranchised people have waited and begged for equality for four hundred years, and still they don’t have equality. For those who say we should receive reparations, like that of other cultures wronged by America - get real - the world will end first. It will never happen because no matter what our contributions are – we get the same as we always got – very little to nothing.

It is said, African Americans spend nearly a trillion dollars a year with almost all of it going to others. During segregation a dollar circulated in the black community for nearly a year. Today, it leaves the community in fifteen minutes going to others. We will support anyone who comes into our community to setup shop but not our own people. This begs the question; if we don’t support each other – why should we expect the people who have oppressed us for so long to give us anything.

We’ve had leaders who have tried to empower us to be self-reliant and do for ourselves. Malcolm X, Elijah Muhammad, Carter G. Woodson, WEB Dubois, and others but the man that said this more succinctly was Marcus Garvey who offered a message that would have “raised up you might people”. But we did not listen!

Here's a revolutionary thought:

There about forty-two million African Americans in America. If each person contributed one-dollar each week to a fund for our benefit it would amount to $42,000,000 a week. Now, multiple $42,000,000 times 52 weeks = $2,184,000,000. Then multiple that times five years; $2,184,000,000 X 5 = $10,920,000,000 plus interest will give us the resources need to buy our freedom. This is how we get out of bondage by creating an economic base.

For those who might question such an idea just think about how much you give to your religion each week and get virtually nothing in return, except in most case a performance. And that’s my thought provoking perspective…