anotherlook

An insightful American Indian saying goes “Do not judge a man until you have walked two moons in his moccasins.” Based on this quote, I am having a hard time understanding why many whites, during this “teachable moment” are expressing so much anger in the blogs, tweets, comments etc.

Since race has reared its ugly head in what is being called a “teachable moment” with the arrest of Louis Gates, CNN has hosted many conversations regarding this matter. Two days ago they did a segment which posed the question “Does Your Doctor Judge You Based On Your Color?”

The consensus, based on several studies found that doctors do indeed show biases when it comes to treatment. In one case it was proven that “African-American cardiac patients were less likely than whites to receive a lifesaving procedure called revascularization, where doctors restore the flow of oxygen to the heart.” It was noted that “all of the patients had Medicare, which covers the costs of revascularization.”

Other studies proved “It’s absolutely proven through studies that a black man and a white man going to the hospital with the same complaint will be treated differently” however these biases did not stop there but included studies indicating that “doctors were significantly more likely to recommend lifesaving drugs when they thought the patient was white than when they thought the patient was black.”

Color was not the only bias shown to patients. Studies also show that doctors can be biased against patients because of their body size see the discussion on weight bias here:

Study on Weight Bias

I have to applaud CNN for attempting to open up dialogue regarding something that has been ripping the seams of the American fabric for decades. Even with this open dialogue, and noting the various attitudes and beliefs from both sides of the argument, there are those that still cling to “what is” by throwing insults, accusations and denials.

Statements can be made that speak to a collective realm (applying to a number of individuals taken together ‘in general’) causing those with issues on the subject of racism to take these statements personal rather than to remove the ego they carry with them and view the words objectively.

What amazes me most about this is the reaction of some white American’s and the anger they display when blacks verbalize what they feel or have experienced in white America. The anger I do not understand based on the saying quoted above.

While this incident with Gates has incited heated comments on both sides of the fence, blacks are speaking from their personal experiences while whites are speaking with anger on what someone who has experienced the racism feels - a bit irrational it seems.

Where does this anger come from? Is this anger justified? How can you be angry at someone for expressing their experiences and how those experiences have made them feel when your experiences as a member of the white race have been so very different? How can you sit in judgment of me when you have never lived my life?

Tim Wise, a prominent “white anti-racist” writer has a book out called White Like Me. Wise was a guest speaker on CNN yesterday in their open dialogue on race in America. Tim expressed some of the same concepts I have been forced to write about lately but I was shocked and amazed to hear the words he spoke yesterday based on the words I have been hearing and reading coming from whites as they post their anger filled post and comments across the web.
White Like Me: Reflections on Race from a Privileged Son

A description of the book is as follows with a critique of the book from a black perspective that follows the description.

“In White Like Me, Tim Wise offers a highly personal examination of the ways in which racial privilege shapes the lives of most white Americans, overtly racist or not, to the detriment of people of color, themselves, and society. The book shows the breadth and depth of the phenomenon within institutions such as education, employment, housing, criminal justice, and healthcare. By critically assessing the magnitude of racial privilege and its enormous costs, Wise provides a rich memoir that will inspire activists, educators, or anyone interested in understanding the way that race continues to shape the experiences of people in the U.S. Using stories instead of stale statistics, Wise weaves a narrative that is at once readable and scholarly, analytical and accessible.”

A critique by Kenita Jalivay

“Although I agree with the vast majority of the posts regarding the quality and insight of Wise’s White Like Me, I think that, as a community of readers, teachers, activists and concerned citizens who loathe racial injustice, we must take care not to exalt Wise as THE authority on race and privilege in this country (basing this on another post that used similar language). Many African American scholars and writers - W.E.B. DuBoise, David Walker, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Sonia Sanchez, Gwendolyn Brooks and Amiri Baraka - have been saying the same thing (from the black perspective) that Wise does in his book, and decades BEFORE Wise did. While I applaud Wise’s courage, I think that we shouldn’t fall into another white privilege trap, which is to exalt a white person for a revolutionary work on race, when this same type of revolutionary writing was done by people without privilege years ago. I would hate to think that we can only accept admissions of white privilege from whites, when people of color - who have suffered from it - took risks and challenged racism when the topic was far from vogue (dangerous, actually). There are many great thinkers and writers of color out there; read Wise, but supplement your knowledge from those who are survivors, too.
Peace to my fellow activists of EVERY hue.”

As of late, I have been harassed, called a racist by individuals who have taken one word or phrase and made an issue out of the word or phrase instead of showing any type of understanding of what was basically being said – yet they continue to come back to my post and leave irrational comments and judgments. My suggestion is read a relevant book on the issues of race and then maybe we can talk otherwise spare me the useless words.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

The Beatles ‘Let It Be’ Poster

As I watched news coverage of the gang rape of an eight-year old girl perpetrated by Liberian refugees, living in Arizona, I was stunned at the implications that were made by the newscaster that this was a ‘carry over’ from their experiences in Liberia. The indignation seemed to imply that these things just do not happen here in America as they spoke to the President of Liberia via telephone.

I listened to the report while in the back of my mind I was disturbingly aware of the classification of “TSO” (teenage sex offenders) here in the United States. I know for a fact that in a number of neighborhoods, they have group homes for TSO’s in America.

Although this awareness has only recently come to my attention it has allowed me to see that this is not simply a problem facing other countries that may use “rape” as a form of warfare but it happens here, among American youth at an alarming rate.

The President of Liberia, being put on the spot by newscasters here in America, issued a statement denouncing this heinous act and stating that the country (Liberia) was trying to mend its issues with sexual violence.

While the details of this heartbreaking crime are indeed troubling, with the victim being only eight-years old, the oldest of the perpetrators being only 14-years old and the youngest of the four perpetrators being 9-years old, I am simply saying that America needs to clean up its own backyard before standing in judgment and indignation of another country.

What is most disturbing and heartbreaking about this story of rape is that the eight-year old victim has been shunned by her Liberian family and is now in foster care – living with strangers - while the oldest perpetrator will be facing charges as an adult. The girl’s parents have criticized her and even blamed her for bringing shame on the family, this according to police. However, when asked by CBS 5 News, the girl’s father did say he wanted his daughter back.

Clearly, with the background of the country these kids came from and the reaction of the victim’s family, extensive counseling is needed in the lives of all five of the children involved as well as the families of those involved. The callousness of the victim’s family to shun their 8-year old daughter after such a traumatic experience and the very act of rape is indicative of serious internal “problems.”

My question becomes if it is “common practice” to put American youth, who have committed crimes of this nature, sometimes equally as violent, into group homes, what would be the fairness or the purpose in trying this 14-year old as an adult knowing from whence he came.

Having mixed emotions regarding this practice of group homes for TSO’s in America based on my understanding of the recidivism of sexual offenders, this is an option for youths in America and an option that should be extended to this 14-year old perpetrator as well. Perhaps when caught and treated at an early age, the rate of recidivism declines or at least this is the hope of the courts as they place more and more teenage sex offenders in group homes rather than youth authority prisons.

And that’s the way I see it!!!!

Condolence Basket Deluxe Large - Kosher

Something that is becoming very suspicious to me is while Republicans (the party of “no”) try to force your attention away from many of the deceptive practices of the United States government during their “power days” by criticizing and placing stumbling blocks in the path of the current administration, some of these things are surfacing and are serious wrong doings.

When you look at the things done by the previous administration and the lack of oversight on different levels, I believe you will find that there were a lot of shady things that were happening over the last eight years;

Coupled with this, every other week, or at the very least when important matters are on the table for Congress/Senate to decide, there is a renewed cry out against President Obama’s “citizenship” even though newspapers posted his birth in the Hawaiian newspaper and the people in charge of records in Hawaii have verified and verbalized his birth happening in Hawaii.

Not to mention the vetting process, I am certain Obama went through prior to any nomination to run for President of the United States. Republicans are on a mission to stall any process Obama puts forth including the confirmation of Judge Sotomayor. I would not be surprised if Republicans were not behind this cry for proof of citizenship in some way; a cry that was demonstrated in angry tones at a “townhall meeting” yesterday.

The more I witness the ugliness of Congress, the more I realize just how slimy politicians are and the less respect I hold towards Republicans because they are truly showing who they really are and how they play the game. But what is most pitiful is that they can not see how desperate and obvious they are becoming now that they do not have someone in office who is willing to cover up their behavior or play the game of “business as usual” with them.

California’s budget solved through what are for the most part accounting schemes and budget cuts, in the areas of education and social services with a possible release of 27,000 inmates back into society, instituted by a Republican Governor, speaks volumes regarding government’s true interest in the people they govern yet we the people applaud this kind of behavior as long as we don’t have to pay higher taxes; negating the future of our children we seemed so concerned with during stimulus/debt conversations.

I even heard a comment made by a guest on CNN/Lou Dobbs news that behind closed doors Republicans make it known that they intend to play this “political game” against any proposal placed on the table by Obama. This shows to a large degree their attitude towards “we the people.”

Evidence of this blindsiding is also seen in the new bill introduced by a Republican Senator from South Dakota to eradicate “states” rights to uphold gun control in their specific states by allowing the “concealed carry” law to be implemented across state lines. This is a desperate effort by Republicans to enforce what they believe to be a “fundament right” of people to bear arms but it over looks the states right to dictate what is right for their state based on the crime rate they hold.

Republicans have been operating on this level for so long and getting away with it that they are not wise enough to chose another way of operating and those gullible Americans who are still caught up in race, even though they voted for change, are slowly returning to what is comfortable to them – business as usual but citing the fact that people are basically just uncomfortable with Obama politics.

I am shocked and amazed at the things I see happening in this country today. The fact that Louis Gates can be arrested in his home even after showing proof, by state issued identification with his picture and address on the identification, should have led the officer in charge to simply apologize “sorry about the mix up” and walk away regardless of any angry words that may have been spoken by Louis Gates - the officer could have diffused the confrontation by simply saying “sorry”.

Louis Gates did not attack the officer, he was understandably upset at the thought of being harassed in his own home based solely on the color of his skin in a predomantly white neighborhood and while he may have hesitated to prove his identity - he did eventually prove it and the police officer should have just left. My second question has to do with money laundering.

Are Credit Cards An Effective Means Of Money Laundering?

I find the practices of Aspire Card suspicious, indicative of money laundering and wonder just what part of that card was influenced by government’s inability to properly screen, potential money laundering schemes; government’s oversight of a game played against our economic system by foreigners who could very well be working against us. What I find most suspicious is the fact that not once have I spoken to anyone at Aspire Card who speaks English with a proficiency.

I know this is way off track but this is something that has my mind traveling down a dark road in an effort to understand. Shortly after the election last year, Aspire Card cancelled numerous accounts with no explanation. The list of people posting complaints against Aspire Card is growing on the web. Any paid balance that was on the card was immediately removed. In some cases additional charges or debits where placed on the cards making it easier to eventually go over the credit line.

When you call to have these charges removed, the people answering the phone act as if they do not understand English and the monthly charges are not immediately removed from your card, forcing your account balance over the limit without having the cushion of the money you had previously paid towards your balance then being charge over the limit fees in addition.

The timing of these cancellations is very strange to me. I find myself wondering if these cards were issued by people from the Middle East (that is the accent over the phone), militants whose aim was to prosper from Americans in a deceptive way to finance their cause, like some of the websites that have collected, fraudulently, money from people looking to work from home; where is government oversight or Homeland Security investigations in matters like these. Aspire Card should be investigated by the federal government as a possible money laundering network for terrorist groups as far as I’m concerned along with some of these work at home websites.

And that’s the way I see it!!!

Motorcycle Goggles Dirt Bike Goggles EYGPeeWeeRed

An old saying regarding love goes like this: “If you love something set it free, if it comes back to you it’s yours, if it doesn’t it wasn’t meant to be.” While there is wisdom in those words sometimes the difficulty involved weighs your heart down. This story demonstrates the power of those words and I thought I would share this story with you.

I read an article this morning that kind of touched by heart. After sixteen years, two people where reunited in a love that lasted through time. As a foreign exchange student in southwest England, Carmen Ruiz-Perez met and fell in love with Steven Smith. After a year-long relationship, they became engaged.

Life happened and Carmen ended up moving to France and the relationship ended. Steve never forgot the love they shared though and a few years later he attempted to contact her by mail through her mother’s address in Spain. Carmen was not at home at the time and her mother placed the letter on the mantle and apparently forgot about it.

Time passed, the letter slipped behind the fireplace and life went on. Eventually, builders who were removing the fireplace located the missing letter over a decade later and it was put into the hands of Carmen.

Steve had reached out to her all those years ago and she had missed the call, or so she must have thought after reading the letter. She wanted to call him right away, but she felt too nervous. Curiosity I image made her know deep down that she would make that call soon; and she did.

They scheduled a meeting, Steve and Carmen, and Steve describes the meeting in terms of, it was as if time had stood still. Running across the airport and landing in each other’s arms, looking into each other’s eyes and kissing as though sixteen years had not passed by. They are now a married couple living the life they had planned, all those years ago.

Love makes you weak in the knees, gives you palpitations of the heart and makes life so much more worth living. True love never dies or so they say; true love, a connection of two souls combining into one spirit; pretty heady stuff. Some people go through life without one true love while others seem to find “many,” – is this a case of “love the one you’re with?” This story seems to imply that if it was meant to be time takes care of it and it will be. Still in some cultures marriage is arranged and love comes later.

Whatever the case for you, once you find love, cherish it and through the good and the bad remember love and the capacity to love, on any level, is a gift; be aware also before you “chase” that love away that another saying goes “you never miss a good thing until it’s gone!”

And that’s the way I see it!!!

Embroidered Jersey Dress

Time and time again people try to cover up the ugliness that is in their soul with niceness, failing to realize that who they are consistently comes shinning through every time. It comes through in motivation, in intent, in insincerity. Your ugliness shines through in the words you choose to verbalize your experiences, the jokes you think are funny. Your inner thoughts and feelings are constantly on display by your very persona and you can not hide these characteristics by wrapping them up in niceness.

People are always amazed at my ability to see who they are. I had one friend tell me I must have been touched by an alien (rather than an angel) while others have told me I need to stop trying to analyze everything and learn how to live. Still others will confirm my take on any and everybody else but when my analysis of them comes to light they deny and sometimes get angry at what I have to say.

I am always amazed at an individual’s capacity to deceive and deny themselves; their half hearted attempts at hiding who they are while I recognize, even in this denial that deep within themselves they know who they are. The first step towards change is acknowledgement.

When you think there are elements of yourself that are not conducive to your positive concepts or self image, when you have to dress up what you say with insincere words in an attempt to hide what is real and you think change is needed, you first need to acknowledge through verbalization or inside meditation that change is needed. Point being that if you have to hide who you are behind insincere niceties then even you know, under the layers of denial, that something is not right.

I think it is pitiful that in the white world, when the going gets rough, the racism gets strong because in the racism is familiarity a good feeling of superiority, power and comfort found in the irrational belief that they are somehow better. Truth is your racist attitudes are more of a burden, a blemish on your soul and a scar upon your heart than an uplifting enhancement of your character and your racist attitudes shine brightly in the glow of the noon day sun eclipsing the brightness of the sun with the dark ugliness in your soul.

Even though I try not to let racism bother me, it always stabs at my heart and turns my stomach but I refuse to let it alter who I am. While I truly feel sorry for those who are motivated by hate and racism, I can not help the very real affect of it touching my very soul and I thank God that I do not carry with me the hate that rules the life of so many in the world.

And that’s the way I see it!!!

All Shall Perish - Awaken The Dreamers CD

In this day of economic, political and personal betrayals who amongst us has not been betrayed? In this life, I have always felt betrayed. Betrayed by parents who showed no love which I sensed from an early age but could never put into words. I later found out from my mother, as she was dying, that she gave me no support because she knew I was the strong one of her two daughters. I was the third child born into a family of four. My oldest brother was the “one”. The pride and joy of the family – he became a lawyer.

My sister was next. My mother told me that she needed more attention, more support and so she was given that attention and support. Then there was me, I gave back to my mother what she gave to my sister. I cleaned her house every Saturday, gave her a break from her babysitting job; whenever she needed to take a break and I was available, I would take over with the kids and take them outside or watch them while she ran an errand. I was even her cane as we walked to the bus stop on Sunday mornings to catch the bus to go to church. My mother had polio when she was a teenager which made one leg grow more than the other so for the remainder of her life she had a severe limp. She would rest her arm around my shoulder and walk proudly to the bus stop.

My baby brother was next and he was the baby of the family so in that role he became the spoiled one. I gave and gave but whenever I was in need I got nothing in return. I bore that burden and proceeded in life. I got married and experience more betrayal from my first husband, who betrayed me with senseless violence; and by police who would come to the house and in their way accuse me of “provoking” the violence.

I took it for as long as I could, long enough to have two children, and I finally took my children and ran from everything that was familiar to me at which time I became betrayed by society as the bondage of my color worked against me in a society where bondage had always been the existence of my race.

I could tell you stories about interviews for jobs I have had in Cleveland, Ohio, a very, very segregated city, to this day. One in particular I remember clearly as I had taken their test and scored 100% (this was later in life). They called me in for an interview to find out how I had “cheated on the test” telling me that no one had ever gotten 100%.

There was a question on the test regarding timekeeping. I even got that question right (my daughter and I had just taken a test for the state and there was a similar question on that test. She got the answer right, I got the answer wrong but I learned from her how to figure it out) and they were amazed at that because most people got at least that question wrong. They did not want to hire me even though I had passed the test they wanted to know how I managed to get 100%.

Then there was an interview in Texas I had where the person interviewing me actually made a statement to the effect that Mexicans were the second class citizens there and tried to imply that racism towards blacks did not happen there. Although I did get that job, his statements made me angry and I did not work there long, because I immediately started looking for work elsewhere only to get hired by an organization where I was the one and only black. Even in this position, they could not believe that I handled the job so well and Management called me into their office to give them a step by step process as to why I seemed to get the work done in such a timely manner because it had never happened like that before.

Then there was the job I walked away from working for the State of California. Without going into detail that was the biggest betrayal of all in a job situation. I survived that and on some levels became stronger from the experience but I am left wondering just why I am even on this earth being betrayed by everyone I come in contact with.

Betrayal – my betrayals did not end with these things. My mother called me one day and told me she was sending my sister to where I was living because of a situation she found herself in with the “man” in her life. I allowed my sister to stay with me and my second husband thinking she would come here and attempt to get her life together. She stayed with me for six months, not trying to find a job, hanging out every night at this neighborhood bar, leaving her two children at my house. Finally, I had to tell her she had to find a place of her own.

I remember after she moved out, I would give her money for cigarettes, give her food from my cabinets and she would still take money from me. She always denied it though but I remember once I had my last five dollars out and I was going to stop by the store to get a pack of cigarettes for myself. Only I and she were in the car. I never got out of the car but somehow the money disappeared. I looked all over the car for that money once we stopped at my house; under seats on the ground everywhere while she sat there looking guilty but saying nothing.

I went totally off on her because I knew in the very essence on my soul that she had stolen it. I told her to get out of my car and get home the best way she could because in that moment, I was so sick of her and her manipulative act of playing crazy. The same act she had manipulated my mother with for so long. She use to act real nervous and start scratching her arms like she was losing it, however once I told her she could not play that game with me she suddenly stopped having the itch.

All of this leads me to why I am even writing this. The one betrayal that hurts the most is the betrayal of my kids and granddaughter. I raised my children to be responsible adults. I may have been hard on them at times but mostly I was there for them. It was difficult because they both have a mean streak in them. My daughter to this day believes she is Ms. Queen B**** and she refuses to talk to me even though she is still sleeping on my bedroom set working at a good job I helped her get.

When she was knocked up in Dallas, feeling alone and deserted by the “sperm donor” as she calls him, who went up there to bring her home? When she was ready to move to California to take the test for her job, who arranged for her to get here? When she was working during her final year in school, who used their lunch hour to go pick her up to take her to work and picked her up at the end of the day? Who babysat for her daughter when she worked nights? Who allowed her to grow and experience life from active participation? Who took her out to lunch when she was feeling down?

My son was no different. Who attended his basketball games? Who took him to the college that was offering a scholarship of sorts? Who taught him how to drive? Who let him use their car even when he could not respect me enough to come and pick me up from work in a timely manner even after we had words about being on time? Who came and got him from his father’s once he realized he did not want to be there any longer.

Yet they have both betrayed me with the hate that is in their hearts; the hate that has them disrespecting me, refusing to talk to me, as well as refusing to articulate just why the hate towards me is so strong but instead denies the fact that they hate me. In a previous post I shared the attitude my granddaughter showed towards me when I took her in after she ran away from home. It did not change, in fact it got worse and I had to send her back because I did not raise her to this point and I refused to allow her to attempt to bully me and curse at me. She is no longer speaking to me so she is the final family betrayal.

I have come to realize that everybody in my life is seasonal; that my destiny is not tied to those who walked away. They went from me because they were not a part of me; possibly that betrayal is my personal cross to bear and though this is a heavy cross to bear, I survive and for the most part I thrive. I am employed, I can laugh, I can take care of myself and through it all, God is in my heart; God who has kept me strong in the face of all the betrayals I have experienced.

Keep God in your heart as you go through life’s ups and downs and my hope for you is that life gives you more ups than downs although with the economy the way it is, for a while the downs may be many, but God will not leave or betray you and with God is peace. Stay strong in the power of God!!

And that’s the way I see it!!

Sorry that I have not posted lately but I have been re-evaluating me. I am the type of person who is very cognitive of people around me. I grew up with a sister and two brothers in a home with a mom and dad. I raised two kids, have been married twice but for the last fifteen years I have lived by myself and have greatly enjoyed my solitude. I had just begun to come back into myself, being cleansed of the vibrations of all of those people I have lived up close and personal with and had come back to writing, something I have not done in years.

Then, bam, I get the “pleasure” of having my 17 year old granddaughter come live with me. This is the reason I have not written anything lately. What an interesting age for a girl. She does not believe that her granny knows anything about life as “she” knows it because I am so much older than her and maybe if I had not stepped away/ran away from “office” work and decided to become a school bus driver for a while, I would be a little out of touch with youth today.

However, as a direct result of having hung out with some sixty plus, wild teenagers, on a daily basis, on a school bus with me playing temporary guide to the minds of some of these kids, I came to truly feel the phrase “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” In turn I have applied that saying as I have looked around the world and realized that these words are evidence of the totality of mankind’s existence.

While we have built better housing, harnessed energy from the very ground we walk on, sent men to the moon, created bigger, better everything, been able to communicate the predicted behavior of certain individuals, as well as prevent certain illnesses, we the people are still the same as the curious, manipulated Eve, the perplexed and enthralled Adam whose union spawned the good child Abel and the jealous hearted child Cain and so it was then, so shall it be now and forever.

Mankind, it appears, can change all around himself, in the physical world, but what motivates him from within, never changes; the picture of how we deal with each other, our basic needs of survival, the feelings of love, hate, insecurities, loneliness; what makes us happy and what leads us to despair, these things never change and are inherent in each and every one of us to various degrees.

It is hard for me to live with another person. I feel their pains, their frustrations too personally. Their thoughts become my thoughts and sometimes I can look into their eyes and know. Over the years of living and working with others, I have learned this is not a good trait to have. To get to this point of observation you need to cling to things that are verbalized, read body language and facial expressions and sometimes read between lines that are sometimes obscured by words not relevant. Nobody wants you this up close and personal and will do and say things to throw you off target of them.

My daughter was good for not looking me in the eye during certain conversations and while I knew something was amiss, I could not see her eyes to determine just what was amiss – I did not trip too much on this until later in life because basically, I trusted who she was, a responsible, work oriented, obedient child. She is still responsible and work oriented but has not been “obedient” in many years; but there was a dark side in her that I only felt but did not see – now that we are estranged totally, I am hosting her 17 year old daughter who incidentally, is so much like her mother at that age I am forever calling her by her mother’s name because her basic vibration is so, so familiar to me.

Needless to say this past month or so has been a very interesting step back into a past I thought I had left behind. Dealing with my granddaughter at an age where she “knows” she is grown, having not raised her to this point yet knowing to a great degree where her head is and taking into consideration that young folks of today have no real concept of what “respect” means, it has been confrontational, emotional, stressful to say the least.

She has even used the “F” word to me and I was about to send her back but we are growing in understanding, hopefully, and although, I do not get the opportunity to use my computer anymore and my thoughts and feelings are tinged with the essence of my granddaughters’ thoughts and feelings, I hope to get more times like this time so that I can occasionally write an article or two or maybe share my experience with dealing with a 17 year old or just dealing with living with someone after all these years.

How easy it makes your life when you can just hand your responsibilities off onto someone else and feel comfortable with that decision even when you yourself cannot stand the person you have just given responsibility of your child to. Life is very curious indeed the way things sometimes work out. To be 17 years old and think you know the real deal - how refreshing.

And That’s The Way I See It!!

With the election of the first black President of the United States, I tried to convince myself that things would start taking a turn for the better in the black neighborhoods where, if kids are not killing each other then cops are killing blacks continuously, however with the new year, three (3) senseless, unprovoked, homicidal shootings took place perpetrated by small minded, trigger happy police officers.
Although one of these victims is still in the hospital and even if he lives he will carry the bullet, in his liver as a constant reminder of the violence perpetrated against him by a trigger happy, racial profiling cop, for simply driving while black.
The same police officers that are suppose to “serve and protect” have been killing blacks on the streets for as long as I can remember and just because you do not read about it in the paper or see it on the news does not mean that it is not happening with a frequency that is alarming all across America.
As you rise this morning, heading to your job that pays you enough money to own one of these ostentatious homes, driving to that job in your gas guzzling SUV and arrive back to your comfy home tonight, untouched by the madness that still exists in the black community across town from where you live, recognize that there is a silent, violent war happening on a daily basis, for as long as I have been on this earth, in the black communities of America.
While you attempt to put the blame on the blacks who live in those neighborhoods saying those ignorant people are killing themselves and that’s a good thing, recognize that your view of what is really happening stems from just that attitude and a total lack of empathy for the injustices directed towards a people you refuse to see as human, you disrespect in passing and have ignored our cry for equality for centuries.
Black people struggle in American. They have struggled from the day I was born and before; they will continue to struggle until the day I die and beyond. The reason for this struggle is the attitudes of white America that refuses to change even though they elected the first black president of the United States of America.
Since segregation ended, it took a while, but now there is always that token black that America holds up to the world to say we have changed our perception of the blacks in America but the reality is, behind the scenes nothing has really changed.
Black people struggle to find jobs and keep them; not because they do not want to work but because they are not as readily hired as whites. Once they are allowed on these jobs the racism they experience is so blatant with the attitude of racism it becomes a challenge to remain on the job and to be positive.
Growing up in America and coming from a black community, I heard the stories daily of what it was like in the working world. How blacks got skipped over for promotions, how whites would make racial comments regarding blacks, in the presence of blacks, as though they were invisible or deaf. How blacks were being paid less for the same jobs which paid whites more. Those things have not changed.
Although laws have been passed in an effort to alleviate the harshness of the wording allowed in a racial display of disrespect, those laws have not changed the attitudes or the struggles of blacks in the American society. I know this to be true because I have experienced it first hand. I worked for a state office that was in the business of finding jobs for people.
Within that job setting, I experienced undercover prejudice, and the lies that followed, that was so intense, that I am still affected by the racism and injustices I experienced and, to this day, I refuse to work, up close and personal, in the limited space of an office, ever again.
When I called this to the attention of those people designated to alleviate the racism in the work place, they refused to listen and asked me questions like “did anyone there call you a “nigger” as though that is the only manifestation of racism. Yet, because no one actually called me the “n” word, their behavior, regardless of how obvious racism was, did not constitute racism.
I have no patience for racism and I knew that if I stayed there I would begin to act out in the ugliness I was experiencing. While the experience was just affecting me emotionally (I cried daily), I decided the best thing for me to do was leave this high paying job and so that is what I did. I left the job and left the state but not before saying everything I felt I needed to say to them, in writing.
The damage done by my experience with these racist in denial, has affected my ability to work in an office setting, to this day. I tried on several different occasions, after this, to work in the field I was most familiar with but in each case, the attitudes I had experienced with my state employment had caused me to become hypersensitive to the attitudes whites have towards blacks and I just could not function in that atmosphere for eight, long, restrained, uncomfortable hours everyday.
My experience led me to what I do today. I first started out as a school bus driver. Working with children was a little nerve wracking at first because children today do not have too much respect for other people, they have foul mouths and some of them love to fight but on some levels, I really enjoyed working with them. I was on the bus, no grown white people playing racial office politics and I enjoyed the freedom.
Although, I no longer drive the bus because I have moved back to the state that I ran into my racial experience, I am instead a bus assistant on a special needs bus, I enjoy this even better because I do not have to listen to the foul mouthed kids on a regular school bus and I am just passing my time until I no longer have to deal with a job at all.
My point is, you do not have to be on a job to experience the racism in America, you can be in your neighborhoods being harassed by racist police officers, you can be driving down the street and be harassed by profiling police officers, you can be in a store getting followed around like you are a potential thief by small minded security officers who think just because you are black you will “most likely” attempt to steal something - when will this narrow view end?
My only hope is that with the inclusion of a black man, for the highest office in the country, that people begin to see that blacks are indeed human beings and deserve the same fundamental rights, the same job equalities, the same respect because they indeed have the same needs and responsibilities as whites, but my reality tells me there is a long road to travel to get to that point.
Truth be told, I am scared for Barrack Obama everyday that he is in office, simply because he is a black man in the highest office in the United States of America and I know how that must be affecting some small minded white male in this country - how pathetic is that?

And that’s the way I see it!!

There is one thing I like in life and that is humor. The ability to laugh is truly a gift but to be able to laugh at ones self is even better. For this reason, as much as I try to dislike President Bush, when I see him on the news and he can make fun of himself about his speech issues, the shoe throwing incident, his knowledge that some of the people in America do not appreciate “all he has done” while in office, I realize that he can not be all bad.
He was just a man given the great responsibility to lead a country he loved. He made some wrong choices but in the end and like he said, he did what he thought was best at the time. Can you really fault him for that?
In the eight years he was in office, I have questioned many of the decisions he has made and blamed him for the state of our economy however, truth be told, we are all responsible for the way things are.
As I drive around the area I live in and I see these extremely large houses that are being built, I have to wonder how much energy these houses take to cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
I look at the size of the cars people drive and know that basically, people are not concerned with the energy crisis that is happening all around them, all they are interested in, is driving the nice SUV or Hummer around town and having everything material, in life, that they want regardless of how it is affecting the environment or the availability of fuel in the future.
Bush may have done some wrong to the economy but if we, as American citizens, do not do our part in working towards an end to the selfish overindulgence that has created the crisis that we are now in the middle of, we ultimately have no one to blame but ourselves.
In the final analysis, while I am glad to see Bush leaving office, I have revisited my opinion of him and based on his ability to laugh at himself and in that laughter, see himself through the eyes of others, I find him a little more appealing as a person, just doing his job to the best of his ability. Nothing is ever 100 percent nor is anybody.
A plan is only viewed as a “good plan” if it turns out that it works effectively, however no plan at all leaves everything to chance and sometimes it’s not a chance that I would be willing to take.
If we could all see into the future, we would better be able to plan and to see if a proposed plan of action would work - since none of us has that ability, when something looks good on paper, we are more incline to go for it and allow for time to see how it works out. Time tells on everybody and everything and so it shall be with the next President of the United States of America.
Although Bush’s legacy is looking a little shaky right now, I’m sure that history will portray him in a different light, but as long as I live, I will always remember his humor and his ability to laugh at himself which for me tells a lot about the inside person.
And that’s the way I see it!!

Terrorist – Somebody who uses violence, especially bombing (both are guilty, however who is most guilty), kidnapping (Israel kidnaps basic needs from Gaza), assassination (Israel has assassinated 400 people some innocent bystanders, while Gaza has assassinated a handful), to intimidate others (intimidation was, surrounding the borders of Gaza with a military, ready for action, while bombing, from the air), often for political purposes. 

If there were only a couple of hundred people involved in the Hamas organization, and they were clearly identifiable, why couldn’t Israel deal with them in another way, in a way that would not jeopardize the very existence of the people of Gaza, in such a demoralizing and intensely violent way, after all Israel controls the entrances and exits of the land of Gaza. 

As I watch the coverage of this violence and listen to both sides, something just does not feel right, in terms of what I see as being real and what the news media is reporting.  Yesterday I wrote a story for another site in which I, in my wild imagination and my “God given ability” of empathy, put myself in the heart of a “militant”.  I will replay a portion of it here: 

This lack of empathy towards the vital needs of a people, is causing them to become more and more angry, more and more hopeless and more and more violent as they justify their sacrifice, with the need to be accepted and loved, but most of all free from the violence and madness that has marred their existence since the beginning of time, with the knowledge that when they die, they die for a cause, they die for Allah and their reward will be glory and everlasting life away from the injustices, hate, death and destruction that they are currently experiencing in this world.
Better yet, my death may have a direct bearing on the lives, I have left behind in calling attention, in the world, to our plight. Therefore, through my death and the deaths of some of my “enemies”, I will be made strong and I will gain acceptance from my God, an acceptance I have never felt before on earth, my suffering and witnessing will end and finally, peace will come.
I have put myself in the life of a “terrorist”, I have viewed my great grandparents, my grandparents my parents, my friends, my cousins, my uncles and in some cases my kids being murdered while the world looks on, my anger builds and my justifications become etched in the very fiber of my being and I rebel!!!
The injustices that the people of Gaza have been experiencing through Israel’s control have, on some levels, caused the people of Gaza to join forces with the Hamas.  In their desperation to be free from Israel’s control, being witness to the positive things Hamas has done for their community, and there desire, for their basic needs to be met on a consistent and continuous basis, which is not happening under Israel’s control, Gaza has joined, discomforting, forces with Hamas. 

Understanding all of this I have to ask, who is the real terrorist is this picture?  You just can not label people, collectively, under one phrase because then you draw limited view points or erase relativity from the totality of the picture.  Based on your narrow perspective of a given situation, you fail to effectively view the underlying causes of the problem therefore, you deal with the problem in a limited, ineffective way.   

When relativity is erased you are not viewing the true picture. In this case, relativity, to the basic cause and effect, are very important, however the view has been narrowed because of the assumptions caused by stereotyping one group as a terrorist.  While on some levels they are both terrorizing each other, based on the definition of terrorist,
Israel is and has been the biggest terrorist in this instance.   

Somebody stop the madness…please!!

And that’s the way I see it!!