BURNT RICE

To say that all parties involved DIDN'T see the whole video is BS. The courts, the police, the NFL and everyone involved in the decision process of Ray Rice ... they all saw the video. We the people were the only ones not involved in the process. As a matter of fact, the "re-releasing" of this video has in essence made the incident appear as if this is both NEW or giving the impression that Ray Rice is STILL abusing his wife. Manipulation of information and the incident paints Rice as an "animal out of control and a danger to all Women". Women whom he does not know, will not know and will never meet. It is a marketing that easily works for certain "types" of people. That same campaign can be applied to anyone (Males) who would speak in any way in support of Rice as a person, as a person who needs help and one who has the potential to be forgiven and becoming a better person. Watching the video (again and from a different angle), I wasn't shocked because I (we) knew what happened. We still do. Nothing new was added to the evidence. THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE ... this incident isn't NEW. It was discussed, debated, viraled, the topic of talk shows, made newspaper and magazine articles, PEOPLE GOT SUSPENDED from their jobs. careers were boosted and millions of social media posts were created etc ... and yet people are reacting like this is new News. If anything, the re-creation and creating Law to be applied 'retroactively' is the real monster. 

My last point is this, how is it we can see Ray Rice hit is wife in "GRAPHIC DETAIL" and have it looped all day for several days and the News can't show police shooting innocent people or even criminals in violent acts, the the end results of bombings in the Middle East and Gaza, or the beheading of Journalist? The excuse that it is "too violent" for TV or for the News become hypocritical when we can see Ray Rice. THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE this is more than just a domestic issue its politics and YES I will say "Race".

BOULE TO THE BONE

"There has never been a INALIENABLE RIGHT or a HUMAN PRIVILEGE achieved in the United States that wasn't fought for by People." - the poet Shazza

One, this is an old interview and I have since beat down this horse a long time ago. It is interesting that like a cycle, when Black people begin to speak TRUTH to injustice, discrimination and or progress towards civil disobedience, MEDIA digs out people like Morgan Freeman, particularly this video and of coarse Samuel Jackson; and a few others I don't have time to get into and won't list, to preach the "Accountability Speech". TRUTH BE TOLD ... Black people are responsible and are accountable. If you talk to Black people, we are actually more "conservative" than liberal. We are to a fault, more conservative than Whites. We do believe in all the principles that make up the foundation that is America. Our detour from that path had come with the political, social and economic change in landscape during the late 1970's and 80's and since then, policy, politics, economics and leadership waned. We can do a 4yrs of back and forth with this topic and still we would not Master the complexities that have effected Black people not just in the United States but throughout Africa. That being said, Freeman's criticism is like criticizing the classroom for not having books to read when the decision to provide books is/was determined by the Bd of Ed. And yes, parents and teachers can come out of pocket for them but there are 12 other classes without books as well. MORGAN FREEMAN just happened to be in the classroom with people who could provide those resources, yet he conveniently forgets to mention that.




For a Man who doesn't believe in GOD, his philosophy on life, responsibility and onus in life as a "formula of nature"a result of Nature and Perfect Nurturing. He totally ignores the reality that what worked for him, the experience, the time, opportunity and even type of competition , may not work for everyone and yet his monolithic vision is that on absolution, one and only, "walk my path and you too can be a MORGAN FREEMAN. He ignores history and individual circumstance. Even the worst of people can become the BEST and we already know that the Best can often do the WORST to people. Some people journey to get to a destination only to say they got there on their own merits. They rarely think about the ground saturated with blood and sweat paved in those roads. As respected an actor he is, I think he hasn't released from playing GOD or the voice of The Universe. HIS privilege came from both Black people that died, sacrificed, protest and protested not to mention the Whites that "decided" to give him his job. People like Sidney Poitier, Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, James Earl Jones have acknowledged that prior to being who they are, someone "White" gave them a break. If you look at people (especially form Morgan's generation) the door crack wasn't by a Black face but a White person in a position of privilege. Before that door was crack .... people knocked, kicked and sacrificed before that lock was turned. And still to this day, Morgan Freeman's privilege comes from people that don't look like him. And if my change he doesn't act or say the right thing, can be taken away.

Yes we have irresponsible and trifling Black folk as there are many White folks and all the ethnic groups in between that we can write-off but the demise of the Black community isn't in its inability to live RIGHTLY but in its complacency to continue to do Rightly after the Civil Rights Movement. Black complacency in the belief that its has overcome all that America has done to it and the progress of the Civil Rights era pace would continue absent of inertia into a deep American Dream. Then there is the generation born to the late 70's and 80's and those after that do not know or understand the sacrifices before them because they were the first generations born with RIGHTS. They do not know, understand or can comprehend what it took to give them that freedom any more than you or I can understand what it was like to be a Slave. I am blessed to be old enough to know and had seen signs that said "Colored People Only" just before they were removed but to others? They can't relate. Even in photos. Which brings me back to Morgan Freeman. THAT MOFO KNOW BETTER !!! His banter speaks only on the myopic and ignores the system that has created the very people he "down brows". He is the epidemy of the Boule. He speaks well and he looks good, but his "opinion" on those he is disconnected to is easy to do because he is far removed from their experience, their story, their soul and their spirit to exist. Then again .... he is an atheist and for him GOD HAS NO PURPOSE nor does their (Black peoples) struggle or existence.

STEPS TO BECOMING A GENIUS

 At a fundamental level, this is how we begin to fix what is broken in our community, specifically with young talented Men who fall between the cracks of our broken educational system. Too often, Black boys are ostracized and profiled as not interested in learning when the obvious is that the standards and methods for learning are outdated for the advanced minds of contemporary youth. Children embracing the "other" America, the one that is easily attainable by shortcuts, guile and imitation, a lifestyle where it requires those of weak resolution and determination to be rewarded, kills all chance for innovation, true creativity, collective work and responsibility to self-determination as a society. To be better than all Peoples as well has creating a legacy much like royalty to pass down like wealth and pride, we need our talented to be elevated, matured and ready to be better than the generation before them. We need to consolidate our geniuses.

 How to become a genius:

1. Consider yourself being a genius and act like one in every moment of your life and you will very soon feel that you are one.
2. Work out your time in such a way that every hour is properly utilized and put aside as much time as possible on becoming better.
3. Established a good skill on recognizing data that is valuable and vital.
4. Learn something new and valuable each day.
5. In anything you read or observe, make sure you understand it. Clear up the words you don’t understand and ask or look up anything at the moment to understand observations which were not understood. Never pass by something you don’t understand.
6. Carefully choose a profession in which you earn your money for living and at the same time enables you to enhance your skill and abilities.
7. Read a lot and carefully select which literature to read in which to gain the most valuable and vital data.
8. Evaluate, look and make conclusions on anything you read and observe.
9. Expect much more of yourself than what is expected from others.
10. Help people around you to the best of your ability and establish friends who can support you if needed.
11. Be very self-confident and certain but on the same time be open to listen, look and reevaluate to make new conclusions.
12. Know that no matter how good or skilled you are you can always become better and never cease to become more skillful in anything you have selected to do.
13. The true genius knows that it is not enough for himself/herself having reached sky high levels – he has to take the rest of mankind with him up and has dedicated his life in making it happen.
14. Never refer to yourself or others as being "smart". Intelligence and Smart are polar opposites in meaning, intent and potential and should be considered an insult.
15. Leave a record of your evolution for others to follow and or continue. This is your gift to humanity.

As defined:

Genius - an exceptional natural capacity of intellect, especially as shown in creative and original work in science, art, music, etc.

Intelligence - capacity for learning, reasoning, understanding, and similar forms of mental activity; aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, meanings, etc. The faculty for understanding. Evolution in aptitude and potential.

Talent - a capacity for achievement or success; ability

Smart - having or showing quick intelligence or ready mental capability, socially elegant; sophisticated or fashionable. Witty.

WE STAND REVEALED

I struggle with human nature daily or at least its impact in the Western World. Standing consumed in its need to be in higher stations than the person next to itself so much that its nature alters its "state of mind" even within its own family. The consciousness to out do, out perform or relish in the fall of others can be described no different than vultures waiting for the sick or injured to die so it can strip it of its self worth and dignity. We all stand revealed in the end.

I say this only because I was recently shaken to the core and into a state of surrealism, sitting on a train ride home with the World around me moving in slow motion. A truth, an verbal epiphany that revealed a flaw in my humanity, the hope that defines my spirit. It hurt my heart and will as well as my sensibility. I was humbled by a friend who today told me, "You know what your flaw is? You expect everyone you meet to be equal to you in common sense and intelligence and the truth is, people aren't. You'll never enjoy living for you if you don't accept this."

 

Photo by Shazza Nakim 2011

The moment hit me hard when he finished the sentence. If this was a total stranger, a passing association or a bitter enemy, the moment would have been just that, a moment. But this is a trusted friend. Someone who has equal integrity and fortitude and is brutally honest. He demands his friendships to be honest and will not cut cause or pause with those he equally respects. So when his criticism of the World is spoken, I rarely, if ever disagree because we are like-minded in our desire to see a better World with better people, absent the myth, pageantry, serenades of BS that humanity would like to soft sell its consciousness allowing it to sleep at night. Only thing is, the vision, truth and honesty was directed at me. And it hurt only because it was true. I do see everyone I meet as being an elevated intellectual or possessing a degree of workable common sense, decorum and respect. And when I don't see it, I get depressed, angry, stressed and to a point confused. I deeply question how is it that people can survive being in their state of mental and spiritual absence. My frustration become paramount when I can find no answers for myself and the end result, I departmentalize it and absorb it into my being and work that much harder to try and elevate people through my art, my lecture or my living example. And again, my disappointment becomes more and more apparent when I see that people don't care; often turned off by the notion that someone exists wanting to make them better by bringing knowledge, hope and or inspiration in the living flesh. In a sense, "No one is Jesus or Jesus-like".

There are certain experiences in life as well as sayings that stay with you forever. Those that define your character; to the level of self worth and actualization, can be the deepest of cuts into the psyche. How do I continue to justify the blank slate I give to people when at each turn, the initial colors on it will be dark and murky. Few vibrant and bright chosen pallets to keep and display as I go through my journey in life. My standard greetings to the human spirit and humanity, or at least I thought, allowed me to keep a degree of peace of mind for hope that we can all be better and yet in the briefest of moments, I was shown a mirror reflecting a flaw in my personal philosophy that in the end, deep within my subconscious, I agreed with. In my hidden reality, I had a seed that I kept from fostering into the fertile parts of my mind so that it couldn't grow and my friend unlocked that door and exposed it. 

"I can tell you this because I am the same way, but I am learning to let go and allowing people to just be people."

That was his follow up statement before he changed the subject.

AN ABORTION OF JUSTICE

So I wake up in anticipation to the Sean Ball case. I pretty much stayed quiet on my opinion and public statements because many of the Community Groups decided to pull back and allow the justice system to work it's magic. In the past, the New York Justice System always used and accused community groups, especially Black and Latino Activist Groups for inciting Racism, manipulating the and or interfering with the structure of the courts, misleading evidence and pressuring litigators for political reasons by threatening the potential for Riots in decisions involving Police brutality and obsessive force. So this now was a test. A test to see that if a community were to NOT be involved, would the system own up to its word of carrying out JUSTICE without excuses and blame. So much was the non-involvement that the local media was asking, “Where is Al Sharpton?” as well as other locally known activist such as Councilman Charles Barron. The Black Church made mention of the events and the activities leading up to the decision. There was a conscious practice of non-involvement until the final days.

The media played the day-to-day strategies of the court, its inconsistencies, the play on words, legal analysts read their tea leaves trying to predict what was going to happen but BLACK folk knew what the endgame was going to be, and YET they still Hoped that the Legal System would do the right thing. Black folk knew what the final decision was going to end up being the moment the courts ruled to forgo a jury and have a SINGLE JUDGE make the decision. Common Sense would say that anyone, unarmed and in a closed environment (a car) being shot with 50 bullets, some of which fired haphazardly at innocent bystanders, and others still having bullets lodged in their bodies of the defendants, it would stand to reason that someone would be found guilty of at least the minimum charges. So as a statement of calm, we all sat, and waited and PLANNED until the final conclusion was made.

The Sean Bell case is a clear example of Police Brutality 101 by the NYPD. You could not write a better “script” than this. Without building a coalition, the story itself took on a life and lived in the hearts and minds of all New Yorkers because no one in their right mind could comprehend how 50 bullets were needed to stop three men in a car when all three were innocent. In events past when there were questions about OVER POLICING by the NYPD, sides were drawn, but in the Sean Bell case, people know what sided to be on and the NYPD had very little support. There was no need for massive protests in the streets because the American justice system would rule correctly on this one. The possible reason for lack of overt activism in the beginning may have been the lack of media enticement or lack thereof without Black Community Leaders as a catalyst for fanning the flames and decent as material to work with. Then again, it could have been due to the event’s simplicity. This was an Open and Shit Case. It took very little to keep the importance of Sean Bell’s life out of the media everyday. Sean Bell was what you would call a "Clean Cut Kid" with no record, no violent background, no drug usage, well educated, and a hard working family man. Even with the conscious strategy of having Black Lawyers representing the police officers and their use of the term, "GOOD BLACKS vs. BAD BLACKS" used against Sean Bell and his associates throughout the case, there was a public acknowledgement that the courts were really stretching to find something to justify his murder. Here you had an American, attending a Bachelor Party the day before he was to get married to his wife and begin his family with a child, not having a criminal background and you end up being shot by several police officers because they “thought” they heard he was going to "get a gun". As the lawyers continued to dig deep into the officer’s story, the initial causes for shooting went from "fear of being shot" to "fear of being run over with a car" to the people who were all shot had "criminal affiliations" (Trent Benefield and Joseph Guzman) to their stories changed and consistent because they wanted to sue the Police Department and make money from Civil Case. Open and shut case right? Wrong. Somewhere along the line, Sean Bell's Human and and Civil Rights were left at the door and walked over.

The officers; Michael Oliver, Gescard Isnora and Marc Cooper were all the central players in this Legal Drama. Marc Cooper, 40, was noted for firing so wildly, that his bullets sprayed into a near by train station, almost hitting an idle standing bystander. Cooper faced charges of reckless endangerment. Officers Michael Oliver, 36, and Isnora, 29, faced Manslaughter charges and Assault and Reckless Endangerment with their uncontrolled weapons. In the end, it was Justice Arthur Cooperman delivered the verdict, Not Guilty.

When those Words were uttered, the Bell family broke down but they remained strong. Deep down, behind the Hope, they KNEW. They knew that the Police would not get what normal people who murder indiscriminately would get. As things would go, the Bell family would have HOPED to get an apology from the System for their loss and as of the decision, had not. As Black folk, the understanding of bias, double standards, two legal systems, police brutality, over sentencing, under reporting, over policing, militia style policing, creating name and affiliation data bases and profiling is power for the course when living in Inner City New York so HOPE is the ideal word for what Black folk prophetical live by. When Community Leaders put out the message to stand down and allow the System to function without intervention, the tensions had never subsided. Knowing that “if” and “when” THAT decision is made, that ENERGY will be directed not into Destruction BUT into a wave that will flow ALL OVER THE CITY.

"This verdict is one round down, but the fight is far from over. What we saw in court today was not a miscarriage of justice. Justice didn't miscarry. This was an abortion of justice." --http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=244770 Rev. Al Sharpton

I sat in the audience, as did the community when Sharpton explained that when a Woman miscarries, medically this means that the body was unable to handle the life that is was given. It means that due to no fault of the Woman or accident, life CANNOT be carried and it fails. When a life is “aborted”, it is a conscious decision, a planned killing, and a methodical step-by-step murder of life. In the case of Sean Bell, from the shooting to the systematic structure of the court to bring about a decision of Not Guilty, their was a premeditated plan for an ABORTION of justice and it should be seen, understood and explained as such.

"Obviously, there are some people who are disappointed with the verdict. ... We don't anticipate violence, but we are prepared for any contingency." http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=244683-- Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly.

The lack of “expected” criminal and destructive actions has stunned the NYPD and its Legal Community. There were no riots, no fighting in the street, no rocks thrown, cars being turned over, gun shoots in the distance or threats and cursing after the decision. Black folk gathered their anger and their fears tied together by their HOPE and made way to their Churches, Community Groups, Local Organizations, Homes and Schools and coming out with all the RESERVED ENERGY needed to CLEAN HOUSE. This was easy to do because prior to the decision, Black folk in New York prepared and had a "CONTINGENCY" as well. In the past 10 years in New York when citizens thought that the worst the NYPD can do is murder Amadou Diallo, it had gone complacent and bored and decided that 21 shots needed to grow to 36 to 41 to 50 shots. Now New Yorkers know that 50 shots will grow to 60 and into 70 and ultimately into an arsenal of body holes and it needs to stop. But how will Black folk do that? They aren’t telling nor advertising their strategy this time. This lack of knowledge has begun to increase the NYPD and New York City “fear”. This much they all know, Uptown WILL be coming Downtown.

Walking the streets of Harlem and I saw no Beat Walkers. All of the Officers are in Patrol Cars. Driving. Searching. Wondering if and when the time will come and the "explosion" begins. With the weather getting warmer, the children on their Spring Break, what now? No longer comfortable to walk the streets, the command offices now feel that Black folk will became dangerous, uncontrollable and detrimental to their livelihood. Not true, Black folk have decided to change the script.

"Today we're grateful that this court ruled on the evidence presented in this case. But with this case, there's no winners, there's no losers. We still have a death that occurred. We still have police officers that have to live with the fact that there was a death involved in their case. ... It's a tragedy for all police officers who have to live with the difficult job we do but nevertheless we're grateful for this outcome." http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=244688 --Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Patrick J. Lynch.

The comments of Patrick J. Lynch read from the typical and old NYPD script. Translation: “Yeah people got shot, and some N____ got shot too but Shyt happens. You’ll get some money from this but HEY, as Police, we are under a lot of pressure so get off our backs aiight.”

"There are no winners in a trial like this. An innocent man lost his life, a bride lost her groom, two daughters lost their father, and a mother and a father lost their son. No verdict could ever end the grief that those who knew and loved Sean Bell suffer. Judge Cooperman's responsibility, however, was to decide the case based on the evidence presented in the courtroom. America is a nation of laws, and though not everyone will agree with the verdicts and opinions issued by the courts, we accept their authority. Today's decision is no different. There will be opportunities for peaceful dissent and potentially for further legal recourse -- those are the rights we enjoy in a democratic nation. We don't expect violence or law-breaking, nor is there any place for it. We have come too far as society -- and as a City -- to be dragged back to those days. http://video.wnbc.com/player/?id=244865 -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Politically and Publicly speaking, the Mayor of New York cannot tarnish the NYPD and yet when this whole incident occurred he did say that the shooting was, “obsessive”. Not the NYPD and it is because of this attitude towards Black life, the people are DONE, no more passes.

"We ask people to be calm as they protest, if that's what they choose to do. ... On the same token, though, we ask police to be calm as people protest. ... We have not heard what these men did that caused police to act as though they were America's most wanted, yet still we hear a verdict of not guilty. We will go to the next level, whatever that might be, to seek justice." -- Leroy Gadsden, president of the Jamaica, Queens, branch of the NAACP.

The role of Youth is heavily highlighted in the movement. The numbers on the streets swelled to a major capacity. This is good for several reasons. Through the marches, the interviews and rallies, the main theme spoken was, "This could be you. This could be Me. This could be your child? Sean Bill is me." for what is it worth, the Mothers and Fathers that broke down in tears and stood tall and shouted know that this is a TRUTH that cannot be ignored. When asked, during Al Sharpton's National Radio Show, how do you think the current political figures running for president should react? It was noted that it was not anyone's place to predict but Black folk will put Hillary Clinton and Governor David Peterson on NOTICE and an active commitment to making this RIGHT will be DEMANDED.

Later, as the groups retired to meet the next day, some of the protesters heard Barak Obama's reaction to the decision, the skepticism and wariness rose to the top with some when Obama said:

After watching Obama's comment, many of the people who left the rally gave pause to the response. After a few minute of dialogue one man's thoughts were this:

"It's in moments like this is why I feel Obama will fall short of addressing Black issues. Sure he may be able to fix the economy, bring back the troops, possibly bring about a solid foundation for jobs in America but for the individual Black person, what do he bring to the table in situations like this besides Hope. I don't want any more Hope, I want justice."

I would have to agree. The response was a bit disconnected, generic and dismissive to the Pain and Hurt that Black and Brown people feel and have felt for years in relation to Police brutality by the NYPD. Like the "bitter" comment that offended the people of Centeral Pennsylvania and Small Town America, the Obama Multiculturalist Philosophy of "let's come together" aren't the words for calm that Black folk want to hear just about now. I mean, how do you tell a HURT PEOPLE to accept a people that greets them with open arms; flowers in one hand and guns and bullets in another?

COLD DECISION FOR COLD BODIES

Paint is Red
Paint it Dead
For fear of Black Worlds
Increasing numbers of Boys and Girls
Casting off God’s Shame
Accepting the Devil’s Blame
Badges cold and Blue
Can do whatever the FUQ they want to

No bleeding of emotion
For blood shed in a commotion
Passionless in the Law
When human-less decisions creating Awe
Still a part of the American fabric
Standing silent surveying the havoc
Thick in association cased by a decision
This is American History by way of revision

Now is the time we all should appeal
That our justice in surviving will grow to reveal
That Black life taken should come with a fee
And our Fear of a White World will cease to be
Going beyond blame
Beyond the media Shame
It is a matter of response
Reacting to life and living in African nuance

(my heart goes out to the Bell Family on this day of tragedy and Injustice)

Cold Decision for Cold Bodies by Shazza Nakim
Copyright © by Peace of Mind Publishings and with permission by Shazza Nakim

THE POWER OF THE FEW OR THE ONE

I am an avid movie watcher. I like the art as much as I like a good song. It bugs people that here I am knee deep in to the Arts; written, performance, graphic, underground expressive and then on a turn will sit and watch PBS, The Discovery Channel, The History Channel and then talk about the intricacies of calculating the probability of Cosmic Strings in the Universe and Nuclear Clusters being attracted to Dark Matter in space. As an unpredictable Nerd, I can see how I could clear a room in one of my typical Schizophrenic Gemini Sybil Brain Farts but then again, I always made good company in my head anyway. It takes a unique mind and a lot of patience to understand and be around me much less, keep up in a conversation. So it is safe to say that when watching movies, I get the chance to rest my brain and just go with the flow. (even though while doing that I am dissecting the parts from beginning to end just to make sure all the elements of a good movie were in place. I can’t help it, I took a few film classes back in the day). This one film came to mind recently and I had this burning desire to Blog about it because as much as it is fantasy, its message reaches at the very foundation of human existence.

Recently there was a Lord of the Rings Marathon, which I watched. Anyone who has seen one of the three movies (Trilogy) knows that these films are not in the tradition of your 90-minute cinema. Besides the whole “epic” thing, what stands out through out the whole film is that there is a HUGE problem that is affecting everyone in the movie; EVIL, and that one thing that can prevent EVIL from winning, is by destroying a single ring. Thus the title, "Lord of the Rings". Well I won’t bore you with all the details but for the most part, what stood out is that throughout the Trilogy there was a Fellowship, a handful of “Warriors” who committed to help one individual, Frodo, to destroy the Ring of Power and defeat the raise of EVIL from conquering Man. A pretty simple premise don't you think?

As a teacher, the whole creating of the Hero and Adventure motif would be the obvious to concentrate on but I like the concept of the selected; the Fellowship, or as I would like to refer to as The Critical Mass needed to get the job Done.

Critical Mass, a theory taught in Sociology, Management and Political Science is a product of “group dynamics” and or “sociodynamics”. Critical Mass defined as the sociodynamic term describing the existence of sufficient or a minimum amount of people creating a momentum in a social system, which by its actions becomes a self-sustaining movement. Much of what Barak Obama's Campaign represents is an example of this.

I watched as this practices was exercised very early in life from my family’s involvement in the community and watching people gather and protest in the streets. It wouldn’t be until I became an adult that I truly understood its impact on a grander scale. Often in discussion groups and in my days at a teacher I would explain that the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s was just that, an exercise in pockets of critical mass movements. Not all Black Americans were actively participating. In some cases, many were too afraid to take action and others were just too critical to be involved period. Regardless of the reason why people did not participate, a small number of bodies were only needed to begin “a movement” which was enough to shift a nation’s attention into the right direction.

When it comes to activism, those people NEW to the practice always make the mistake in thinking that one need hundreds of thousands of people to impact change when the reality is you only need ONE. In the film, “Lord of the Rings”, the character Frodo was told that there only needs to be One person who could save them all and if HE did not bear the burden, no one will. I mean, just think, you wake up in the morning and someone tells you that your Single Sacrifice MUST and WILL save the World? Kinda Jesus Like Don’t You Think?

So why my need to Blog about saving the World? It’s not about the saving of the World but how the pressures of being a single person doing positive things can be adversely affected by a Critical Mass of people. It is just as important to understand that just as a few people or ONE can do extraordinary things, the net opposite can break it down as well. Take the recent events with Tavis Smiley for example.

Pull back from THE BANQUET TABLE of the people because I know you are hungry, we really need to see the full bounty that is on display. The big picture is this, Tavis Smiley is a Doer in a World where people fit in three categories; those that Do, those that Don’t and those that Complain. He also is a good man with GOOD INTENTIONS. Now I have made note that people with good intentions do need to be watched, critiqued and held accountable when their intentions fall on the side of personal gain, abuse and or “evil” but in the case of Tavis Smiley, the Brother’s intentions are as transparent as a Glass of Arctic Water in Spring. The beauty of his Good intentions is that he is willing to be the ONE that will ask the questions that Black folk either do not think about or are afraid to ask due to this Nation’s unique political climate.

As a journalist and social analyst, Tavis Smiley has to ask the questions that will make people think, laugh, cry, become retrospective, introspective, create a pro-active consciousness and even make a person uncomfortable with accountability. His, like all good journalists, actions allow for TRUTH in character. In politics that is paramount. In American politics it is not only a must, at its core, character will be the glue that will determine the very nature of the US Super Power Status in the World. As a journalist, Tavis MUST walk as straight a line of non-bias practice as humanly possible for fear of being prejudiced towards the subject matter, showing favor and or doing an Oprah (catering to a specific audience or demographic). As a Black Man who has a non-negotiable COMMITMENT to Black People as well as having a proven commitment to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AFRICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA AND THE AMERICAS, prior to the Obama phenomenon, Tavis Smiley was, without question, a dynamic individual. So as a fan, a political analyst, supporter, and a writer, I see Tavis Smiley as being one in a few who is truly dedicated to what he does and not loosing his way along the way within his own community YET when his own people turn on him for doing what he has been praised for doing for years, one has to wonder, "What if Frodo had kept that ring"?

No, serious I asked, What if Tavis did not do his job property and allowed certain People a pass on answering REAL questions or just fell in line with Corporately Run Journalism and read from the same TOP 10 Questions List of safe political questions and ignored the other questions, 11 through 50?

Fast-forward a few months in to the primaries and now we have a major violation committed by Tavis Smiley. Tavis’ crime against Humanity is he dared to do his job and asked or wanted to ask Political Questions 11 through 50 to Barak Obama. This, in our unique state of Politics is Taboo for Black folk in mass support of Obama. The temperament for doing this is somewhat a betrayal to RACE and looking even deeper, the Democratic Party, the Economy, the War, Immigration, Africa, Legal Issues, Prison Systems, Corporate Profiting, Labor, Universal Health Care, Education, Selling-Out to Hillary Clinton, Religion, Women, The Drug Trade, Gun Control, Trade and Exports, Political Fundraising, Terrorism and a whole host of American ills. What amazed me is that in the Black Community’s public ridicule of Tavis Smiley's attempt to ask or even criticize All the candidates (All meaning Obama would also be included in his critique) the very questions that each candidate had and has not answered to this very day. These are also the same unanswered questions that are frustrating the whole of America, Tavis included. So if one cannot ask the source, then asking around the source to get to the center is a necessary and professional process at getting to information and or the truth. When Tavis did this, he crossed into Taboo territory once again. So what happens when this occur? Black People complained and those complaints took on a movement to silence that “anti-Obama” hypocrite.

“I personally am SICK of Tavis Smiley, he claims to love Black people and I certainly think the (un-appointed) black spokesperson should be compensated for his work but he was beginning to pontificate his opinions as if his and only his opinion counted. I started to turn TJMS off when Tavis had his commentaries; he was preachy and full of self-importance. I say GOOD RIDDANCE Tavis.” – Dililia from Blog: BlackMenInAmerica

A movement developed in the form of phone calls, e-mails and Blog attacks on the very person that in Public and Private stated and displayed he has more LOVE for Obama than the Hate directed towards him personally. One day, Tavis Smiley is a product of the very best that the Black Community has to offer into the next where he had become the most Stuck-up, Arrogant, Self-Centered Opportunist to wear the mantle and badge of Sellout. Tavis’ Annual State of the Black Union once hailed as a positive event for Black representation and focusing of Black America towards a National Mission and Agenda, now is the Tavis Smiley Soapbox for Personal Grandeur. So the Tipping Point (also know as Critical Mass) of the movement was to limit Tavis Smiley’s exposure and speech.

“Tavis got hammered not because Obama supporters are crazed cultists operating in zombie mode, but because he insisted on trying to pull Obama's black card for trivial reasons, and TJMS listeners and many others called him on his crap.” – Political Session from Blog: Black Agenda Report 4. 16-22, 2008

"Barack Obama's campaign must come first. Hate mail is reprehensible, but Smiley's ego started most of it. If he really cares about the future for all races instead of his puffing ego, he'd shut up. Maybe he'd better go see Bill Clinton. Two blowhards in a state of denial." -- NoMugwump from the Blog: The Trail 2/16/2008

Although many people (knowingly or not) who participated in this addictive protest on Tavis’s journalistic style, now cheer in his radical bid to go into a self censoring from commercial radio where he spoke the most about the State of Black Liberal Politics. This Critical Mass of self-styled activist, feeling vindicated that Tavis Smiley has decided to leave Tom Joyner’s Nationally Syndicated Radio Talk Show. Actually what they did was become successful in maintaining the current status quo for keeping the REAL ISSUES off the table for any discussion from Black Americans as well as the Whole of America thus placing them deeper in limbo, possibly never to be asked of by Barak Obama, Hillary Clinton or John McCain. It is no accident that Tavis Smiley prefers PBS to Commercial media outlets where the pressures of Commercial Advertising Dollars cannot interfere with his honest reporting.

I wrote not too long before the New York Democratic primaries in relation to the Cultural Group Think Mentality towards each other and how there was a vicious line draw between Black Clinton and Obama supporters:

“Some people are Liberal-Conservatives (Hillary Clinton) and some are Democratic Socialist (Barak Obama). The differences are slight but it is in that difference which is enough to be divisive and pit one Democratic ideology against the other. This is what we see now between Obama and Clinton supporters, the differences are that slight enough to split a Party in half and the national vote. The truth is, Blacks on a whole are voting on Racial Lines and it makes me crazy that NO ONE WANTS TO OWN UP TO IT. There has yet to be a dialogue that brings to question IF Black folk voted for Obama because he is Black? Just the same, people are slowly allowing for the reality that Women are voting on Gender Lines and are truthfully saying as much.” -- Shazza Nakim from the Blog: Mirror On America 2/29/2008

Tavis, the professional that he is was bold enough to have this Dialogue with Black America but as the Critical Mass dictated, it was a conversation that was not going to happen. Either now or later, if ever. One could argue that the conversation was trivial in comparrison to the importance of what is at stake. True enough, but what about the other questions not asked; Political Questions 12 through 50? From the very beginning Tavis Smiley have stood by his principles, his responsibility and dedication as a journalist to get at the REAL ISSUES. In his defense, he has often had to distinguishing himself from Celebrity or Entertainer and the Tabloid Reporter from that of the serious Journalist. In parting from the Tom Joyner Show, Tavis was noted as saying the following, "My job is to ask the critical question, to raise these issues and keep these guys focused. There are some people who are disappointed that I'm not jumping up and down saying, 'Vote for Barack Obama.' That's not my role as a journalist. That's not what I do.


And there lies the difference between a Tavis Smiley and an Oprah Whinfrey, Steve Harvey, Tom Joyner or a Whoopie Goldberg on MX Radio. Tavis is a Journalist with a stated Journalistic Ethic and an established and clear line that cannot (should not) be crossed and an Oprah and Whoopie which are more Media Personalities than Journalist hosts shows dedicated to demographics and specific audiences. For either Oprah or Whoopie (whom have Publicly endorsed candidates), to ask bias questions, the reactions would be slight or non-existent. For Tavis, his credibility as a legitimate, non-bias and honest journalist would always be called into question. Once that happens, he might as well do Access Hollywood or go back to BET.

For now, Tavis Smiley is taking an active break and waiting for the fever to burn itself off. Once the Body that is the Black Community cools, Tavis will returrn to ask the one question he has asked from the start, "What if Obama doesn't get the Democratic nod for President or even looses the election? What now? Where does all the energy and inspiration go for Black America and the Greater Nation?" I have an idea that this is a Contingency Plan Tavis is not hoping for but as a journalist, is preparing for.

SHARPE JAMES OF NEWARK GUILTY, DIRTY AND KNOWINGLY CORRUPT

OK lets get this thing started, I use to live in Newark, New Jersey just over the Hudson River and have had family and friends there as well. I even worked there for a short time so my experience with the city is personal and professional. As a citizen of the city I made it my responsibility to KNOW the city, its history, its economics, the politics and its people. Much like New York City, it is composed with many ethnic and cultural groups but UNLIKE New York, it is an extremely segregated city. My experience there not only had a major impact on my life but its current make up not only prompted me to turn away from becoming a part of the World of Politics but on the other side of reporting it and or exposing the underbelly of it. The atrocities in Newark, New Jersey also was institutional in gaining me recognition as a Poet in winning my first Writing Award for a piece called OPPORTUNITY, detailing in verse, how the City of Newark had destroyed generations of its youth over the years. If Denzel Washington portraying an American Gangster, Sharpe James is America's Pimp.

Blacks over there, Latinos of here, Whites on the outskirts way over there, the poor in the center in the Projects and Portuguese, Asians and Italians beyond the underpass past the trains and the west Indians on the boarders on the extreme opposite side of town, Newark is a social experiment on How To Not Run An Ethically Diverse City. With it’s Lightning Rod History and Controversy, Newark still maintains a “fear” mongering form of policing where patrols on the boarders of the city keep those people that might be from the city, from crossing over into their own. What I always experienced while living and working there was as close as Newark was to New York City, specifically Manhattan; it was more Southern in style than Northeastern. Newark, New Jersey; the major hub for transportation, shipping, manufacturing, economic advancement, education and music was more like Chicago IL., Baltimore Md., Charlotte NC., Atlanta Ga. than a Brooklyn NY, Boston Mass., or Hartford Ct. Even with Newark’s history as being a city built by Immigrants, it also has had a long account of being corrupt in its politics. What always amazed me was that in its downtown area, at any given time, you could not find a movie theater (unless you wanted to choose between two Porn Theaters), no Ice Cream Shops or Bakeries, no places to get simple Computer supplies or Electronics, no Bookstores, very few Restaurants, no Hardware and Home Supplies shops and I can go on with a listing of "have-nots" that any small town would have but not the largest city in the state of New Jersey. This lack of Private and Public investment for the past 40 years is what tittered Newark on the brink of being a ghost town way before the Bush Administration's Big Score. The state of the city existed in this type of limbo through several presidents; Ford, Cater, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush and only until recently has the cycle broken with the aid of Newark’s present Mayor Cory Booker. For all accounts, Newark was a Ghetto City and that was what it existed as under the combined leadership of two mayors and 40 years.

So why was this? There are many reasons which date back since the later 1960's. Some would argue the White Flight into the suburbs, others would argue the lack of know how by Black Leadership that filled in the void of those that left. Still others would argue the unstable economy that had befallen the City but residents of the City of Newark will tell you that the perpetuation of the city’s misery to be with two men selling and carving out the spoils than an entire Federal and State economy; former mayors Kenneth Gibson and Sharpe James. I would blame it on Black Loyalty at its worst.

I had recently posted on my blog the concerns I had about Black Loyalty (THE FATE OF BLACK LOYALTY). In this posting I discussed the pitfalls of Black Americans voting for political candidates just because they look like them and or use all the words of Hope and Change layered in Sermon and Gospel while wearing the Cloth of a Politician. As part of this analysis I used the current state of Newark as a grand example as to what happens when Black Politicians go BAD and Newark, New Jersey has had some BAD Politicians.

Concentrating on the TOP thrones of political responsibility, the mayor is always the figurehead that ultimately gets the hardest look. Looking at almost 20 years of non-transparent management under Sharpe James’ rule, the state of the city had grind down to almost a complete halt with its high crime statistics, corruptions, government abuse, misappropriation of funds, personal and family favors, money laundering, document and witness tampering and the list continue. What more, as the city continued to descend into near bankruptcy, the city was facilitating no-bid contracts, property sales, tax abatements and pushing Imminent Domain upon the city home owners while raising taxes to offset the cheap land that Developers where receiving without challenge. You had Councilmen and women with budgets that would just disappear into thin air without question. Newark was the place to learn, live, profit and love “Dirty Politics”.

What makes this act so shocking is that one would deem this to be the actions under a Republican Administration (President to Governor down to the Mayor) and yet these actions were all from a Black Democratic Mayor whom had won over a previous Black Democratic Mayor, Kenneth Gibson, who did the very some thing for nearly as longs as James. In essence, one mayor past the baton of corruption to the next to continue the raping, robbing and pillaging of the life force and livelihood of a city with the majority being the Black population. A city, which fought in the late 60’s to remove the gangster-type politics that segregated and oppressed a people to only replace it with another (with the help of corporate, special interest and ex-Newark officials whom had moved up in the Private and Public sectors and still had an investment in gutting out the new GAME that was to be Newark Politics). Think clearly then, you enter into a city where the evidence of riots still remain in public sight, where you allow fortune 500 corporations to exist at the center of your city and are allow to practice a "no-hire" practice for the residence within your city, where you allow (under the guise of Imminent Domain) State and County Universities and Colleges, Catholic Organizations, New Jersey Port Authority, State Hospitals and Manufacturing and Pharmaceuticals and Private Developers to expand into the city maintaining a "no-hire" status for its citizens while gifted with the prize of Pay No Taxes. And as each group gutted out the City of Newark, you heard the rallying call of Sharpe James calling these changes THE NEWARK RENAISSANCE.

I made this statement publicly and in writing, which had gotten me in some hot water, not because I was being a racial or radical, but because my words went out and also included Barak Obama:

"I am a skeptic in all things POLITICAL. For Obama, my concerns are his UNKNOWNS. There are many Blacks in politics that are doing great things and there are many that use their positions to line their pockets. Initially they (Black Politicians) all are inspirational and agents of CHANGE. As Black people, we end up on the loosing end when BLACK politicians go BAD or CAN'T do right by Black people due to political promises and pre-conditioned obligations.” – Shazza Nakim from the Blog: Field Negro

My words were not anti-Obama or anti-Black Democrat (as Obamaholics see the World, the statement read between the lines as being Pro-Clinton) the words spoke from a simple truth of past evidence and repeated examples of mismanaged government, not only of Black Politicians, but all Politicians globally. The politics of Newark, New Jersey isn’t unique to just that city but is does show a pattern in many predominately Black cities with Black Politicians at the helm. We can make claim to the same argument that those surrounding Mayor James and Gibson did this but reality the people's lack of the truth, their lack of ownership, false loyalty, lack of transparency, active participation, human nature and a Politician's bid to be like other political officials. The direction one needed to deal with Black Cities (and YES I will make the claim that a predominately populated city IS a BLACK CITY when the majority residents are BLACK) in a uniquely different way than non-Black Cities. Sharpe James has only done what other politicians have done and like those that were TOO greedy, felt they were TOO powerful and got TOO sloppy, he walks out in MUCH SHAME AND RIDICULE.

So what is the end result, does the City of Newark get back its Billions of lost revenue and government funding dedicated to rebuilding it back to its past luster? Do the children reclaim the loss of broken schools; poor education, undo their drop-out status, get off the streets and back into the classroom of the schools that were either closed or condemned, decrease the incarceration numbers because the after-school programs and summer work programs will be re-financed? Do people get to reclaim their homes lost in the vicious cycle of TAXATION? Do you mandate that those people who purposely set fire to their homes and businesses for Insurance in order to leave the city and add to the decay? Do you make accountable the Corporations that had systematically denied employment to Newark residents for generations thus keeping the unemployment rates consistent and steady? Do the city now balance the budget by cashing in all the Planes, Trains, Yachts, Cars, Private Mansions, Manors and Vacation Homes paid for by the tax payers? Do the people of Newark get back the KICK BACKS the Mayors signed off and granted to Developers for years? How about the subsidized resources given to businesses outside Newark with no return back from where it came from? A person can scream to Heaven, “MY GOD” with the type of abuse that had gone on unfettered all because of Black Loyalty in the City of Newark.

I do not like to wish Bad Luck and Ill Will on anyone and yet like Al Capone, the notorious Gangster of Chicago, if the best the FBI can get on Sharpe James is his hooking up his Side Piece on  with STEALING MONEY AND OPPORTUNITIES from the citizens of Newark, just like generations of other corrupt Black and Brown politicians were doing under his watch, THAN I AM SATISFIED WITH IT. My soul isn’t full with the justice but I think the people of Newark will have a sense that some HIGHER POWER is reminding them that "Not All Devils Go Unnoticed".

THE POLITICALLY CORRECT NIGGA

Don't say African, say Slave.
Don't say Slave, say Nigger.
Don't say Nigger, say Negro.
Don't say Negro, say Colored.
Don't say Colored, say Black.
Don't say Black, say Pan-American.
Don't say Pan-American, say Afro-American.
Don't say Afro-American, say African-American.
Don't say African-American, say Nigga.
Don’t say Nigga, call me the Jigga
Jigga this my Nigga that, say it Politically Correct.

Correct me if you may.
Is there something wrong with what I have to say.
To think my essence is still the same,
Yet my true being existing in a hollow frame.
Not knowing what to be called
When I enter a room filled with gasping breaths of people awed.
Whistled and jeered,
Shunned and revered.
And all in all I still do not know my name,
Oh mother and father, what a crying shame.
Who is to blame? Me. Myself. I
Really do not know if my existence is but a lie
When my pictures and books do not open up to tell me.
Not showing me what my skin is suppose to be.
So says philosophy, psychology, history, sociology
All of which painting my world in shades of mythology.

I may never know why I am king no more.

The Politically Correct Nigga by Shazza Nakim
Copyright © by Peace of Mind Publishings and with permission by Shazza Nakim

AND I ENDORSE THIS AD .... I THINK?

There is a saying that there are three things you never talk about; Race, Religion and Politics (although I’d argue a fourth topic which is Income and Salary but that’s just me). To put what you know or the lack of knowledge to an adult and or legitimate conversation can do more than make a person like an idiot, a racist or extremist, it can make you dead. For instants we have in the GOOD OLD UNITED STATES actions that we normally see in the Japanese Cambers of Government when they disagree. this just happened the other day:

FEBRUARY 25--Meet Jose Antonio Ortiz. The Pennsylvania man allegedly stabbed his brother-in-law in the stomach after the pair quarreled about their respective support of Democratic presidential candidates Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton. According to cops, Ortiz, 28, stabbed Sean Shurelds last Thursday night in the kitchen of an Upper Providence Township home. According to a criminal complaint, a copy of which you'll find here, the 41-year-old Shurelds, an Obama supporter, told Ortiz that the Illinois senator was "trashing" Clinton (apparently in regard to recent primary and caucus results). Ortiz, a Clinton supporter, replied that "Obama was not a realist." While not exactly fighting words, the verbal political tiff led to some mutual choking and punching. And, allegedly, a stabbing in the abdomen. Ortiz, pictured in the mug shot below, was charged with a felony aggravated assault count and two misdemeanors and jailed in lieu of $20,000 bail. Shurelds was flown to Hahnemann University Hospital, where he was admitted in critical condition.

I recently Blogged about the changing psychology of Black and Brown folk over this election and it would appear, the pockets of America are being turned out all over the country. I am not as much up in arms over this event because I have witnessed this type of behavior already. What I now have thrown in my face FRONT PAGE bombardment with is the shear ignorance of a CULTURAL PHOTO. The dreaded Barak Hussein Obama in Kenya, Africa photo. A non-issue of a photo and yet it is something of a conspiracy to OVER THROW AMERICA from within. I mean HOW DARE OBAMA BE IN AFRICA? HOW DARE HE PUT ON THOSE SAVAGE CLOTHES and HOW DARE HE NOT TELL US CIVILIZED AND INCLUSIVE AMERICANS HE WORE CLOTHES THAT WEREN’T PURCHASED FROM BROOKS BROTHERS OR THE GAP?

I am holding off about giving my DEEP opinions on the subject, BECAUSE like all things served to people by the Technology Mafia it is a bunch of BS wrapped in stale toilet paper, but the PHOTO that has America up in arms an allegedly to be LEAKED by “THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN” has been floating around the Internet for quite awhile. To be honest I have not only seen the PHOTO before online but I have a few extra that would be considered even more Controversial (if you have a SMALL MIND) on my HARD DRIVE that I have collected from SPAM E-MAILS questioning Obama's loyalty to both his Christian faith and his Country.

On the train today I listened to two women (Obamaholics) ranting about how Hillary Clinton is so EVIL she should burn in Hell. So in my Passive Aggressive way I asked if they were Christians to which they responded, “Yes”. I then responded, I never knew it was your place to cast people in HELL but my real question to you is, "Should it matter if Obama is Christian or not to run for President? I mean is being Christian pre-requisite to hold the position of president?"

The women looked at me as if I have kicked them in the coochie when I asked that and in their (and I love this in our people) I DON’T GIVE A FUQ MIND YOUR BUSINESS, GHETTO GIRL UPTOWN HARLEM ATTITUDE one of them responded, “NO BUT IT HELPS”.

As usual I fell back into my reading on WALL STREET'S take on the election knowing that the majority of people have a disconnect with what we know and what we should know about manipulation by the MEDIA. From the very beginning it has been a constant churning of distortion on both candidate’s credibility. Since both Clinton and Obama had agreed to a fair and clean election, they are finding out all too well that in doing that, neither one can get a clear advantage and really break away from the other. Since both are now locked in this St. Augustinian type of behavior of sanitary Politics, a mild, but peripherally watching hands-off treatment to their Staff is opening up the Nasty Politics that we all stated we didn’t want to see BUT like patrons of the Coliseum, we DO WANT TO SEE IT WITH BLOOD. This election has given America a COLD TURKEY approach to understanding what can potentially be the best opportunity for research, comparing and contrasting, open dialogue and knowing the players behind the scenes. The Nation’s withdrawal symptoms for sensationalism as oppose to intellectualism has opened a void that media groups can drop gossip, innuendos, false leads and predictions based upon FUZZY MATH with the people being sated with sugary delight.

I tell you people, we are living in the LAST DAYS of Common Sense if we don’t get a grip. I mean I took the time (yes it meant that I turned off the television and ignored that GOD AWFULLY ACTED, A RAISIN IN THE SUN MOVIE) and surfed on FactCheck.org to compare what each candidate faults the other for doing in distorting the other’s Platform. What I found was that each side is doing the distorting (OBAMA ‘s team doing it more than Clinton's) as it pertain to the Economy, Foreign Policy and Race. There are also details pertaining to points on each candidate's web sites and speeches which the Media seem to forget all about, points about the DEEPER concerns that neither candidate or side are discussing. I WONDER WHY? When asked in public, both Obama and Clinton play the wounded party but we know it isn't true. Both candidates are taking short stabs in places unseen so as to look as if their damage made was insignificant. It just depends on who's side you are on to notice the other side as having the larger horns and the longer tails. Then I remembered the Golden Rule established several elections ago, UNLESS the flayers or Ads and or other outreach media have “SAID candidate's endorsement published on it with He/She APPROVES THIS MESSAGE", it isn’t legit and a lie. So spit out that BLUE PILL and take the RED ONE. Don’t forget it.