A Modern Day Superman

When I was a child, one of my all- time favorite TV shows was The Adventures of Superman. I’m speaking about the Superman character played by the late actor George Reeves. Reeves in my opinion was the greatest actor ever to play the role of Superman. Nobody, I mean nobody, had a swagger for playing Superman like George Reeves.
I still get chills during the intro hearing the theme music and the voice over by Bill Kennedy booming loudly: “This is the adventures of Superman.”
Man, let me tell you, that series was so influential in my neighborhood that you had children running around with towels draped around their necks, jumping off garbage cans.
George Reeves was the man!
While Reeves, aka Clarke Kent, and Superman, was indeed the greatest Superman actor, there is someone who, in my estimation, is the equivalent of a modern- day version of Superman.
His name is David Goggins.
David Goggins is one of the baddest men on planet earth. You can talk about superheroes; you can talk about James Bond and you can even give honorable mention to John Shaft, who has been called a “bad mother…”
However, none of them touches David Goggins.
Who is he?
Well, for starters, David Goggins is a member of the Navy’s elite Seals team. He’s the only member of this Special Forces unit to go through “hell week” three times. He has completed three tours in Iraq. And David is the only man in military history to complete training in the Seals and the US Army Rangers. And also he has completed training as a Air Force Tactical Air Controller.
Goggins is a physical- fitness phenom. He can do 106 sit-ups in one minute. He does 1,000 pull-ups. His daily workout schedule is as follows:

• Jog 15-20 miles
• Ride bike 25 miles from home to work one way and back home again, a total of 50 miles round trip.
• Lift weights.

The heart rate of the average man is 72 beats per minute. Goggins has a heart rate of 36 beats per minute.

While this is undoubtedly commendable, this modern- day Superman is noted more for his charity work than for his robust athleticism. Goggins runs for the
Special Operations Warrior Foundation which grants college scholarships to children of Special Ops personnel killed in the line of fire.

To date, Goggins has raised over $300,000 in grant money. He has competed in fourteen 100 mile+ races (ultra marathons), and ranks in the top 20 of all endurance athletes in the world.
In a world where so called role models are failing and behaving badly, David Goggins is one man who rises above the rest. He is indeed a superhero.

President GQ

As mama used to say when she wanted to get my attention: "Look Here!" Well, let me respond in kind to the latest magazine cover featuring our new president-elect Barack Obama. I must say after four years of "you know who," this president looks "GQ."
Allow me to say it like I really want to say it:
Obama is a "bad brother."
The "Prez" has got it all. He's smart, articulate, handsome and tough.
A man of steel and velvet, Obama's going to change the game in elevating and defining the standards of African American excellence.

And I say "Right on."

Suicide is Painless:The Crisis of Black Male Suicide

You had to be shocked or else feel a sense of revulsion after hearing the news of the Abraham K. Biggs, Jr. suicide, reported Sunday, November 23,2008. If not, then I suggest you immediately detoxify from your Play Station and Xbox and stop playing Grand Theft Auto; because like the others who watched Biggs kill himself, you have a major problem.
If you didn’t hear about the story, these are the facts: Biggs took an overdose of pills while broadcasting streaming live on the website Justin.tv. This tragedy gets uglier, as hundreds, watching by webcam, urged him to take more drugs, while others debated whether he had taken enough.
The Biggs self-immolation generated 1,379 related articles on the Internet. Protests ensued, as many felt the caldron call to push for Internet censorship. Even comparisons were being made between Biggs and Kitty Genovese, a woman who was also a victim of a violent ending, stabbed to death in Queens,New York, 44 years ago while onlookers did nothing to stop the brutal attack. Psychologists have named this effect: the Kitty Genovese syndrome.

I think psychologists, social scientists, and other mental health professionals might be on to something in making a case between the webcam viewers who egged on an obviously troubled Biggs, and the neighborhood that heard Ms. Genovese’s incessant screams for help and did nothing.

As it relates to the crisis of black male suicide, our society is no better than the rapacious cyberspace peeping toms who watched a human being kill himself. As a matter of fact, we might be judged worse. Statistics provided by the Florida A&M University’s counseling services tell us that suicide is the third leading cause of death among black youth, after homicides and accidents.

According to Florida A&M, a firearm is the primary weapon used in 65 percent of all black male suicides between the ages of 15 and 25.

What is lost in this disturbing story is how a major mental health crisis is growing in the black community and nobody seems to care. In the last 20 years, suicide rates among young black men between the ages of 15 and 19 increased a whopping 114 percent. You wonder if this problem existed among young white males, someone would be calling for a major congressional hearing to urge Congress to pass legislation to fund suicide prevention programs for this “important ethnic group.”

However, the ignorance of this crisis is not just the sole responsibility of white America. The black community needs to step up to plate and take responsibility for this crisis. Like the AIDS pandemic, suicide is slaying “the young, gifted and black,” while we deny in spirit the critical need to address this issue.

Mental disorder and depression are viewed as signs of weakness in the black community. Counseling is eschewed like annual physicals. Furthermore, it doesn’t help that a mere 2.3 percent of all psychiatrists in the United States are African American.

So what can be done to intelligently combat this growing nihilism among our youth? Dr. Alvin Poussaint suggests the first thing to do is to become acquainted with the signs leading to potential suicide:
• Irritability
• Changes in appetite and sleep habits
• Chronic fatigue
• Social withdrawal
• Lingering sadness

If these signs exist for a noticeable period of time, ask a mental health professional to diagnose the problem. It’s better to be safe than sorry. This is a crisis that is too critical to ignore.
If you need further information contact suicide prevention, you could be saving the future of a community that is on the verge of destruction.

Cure For Post election Madness

Now that the election is over, I can take a deep breath, relax and get away from the incessant, addictive news Babel which had my wife screaming at the TV like she was at a prize fight. Not only do I no longer have to hear my wife’s rants, but also the loud supercilious war of words articulated by talking heads and political pundits that, when you get really down to it, are just as dumb as the rest of us.
After this election chaos, my mind returns to those halcyon days of my childhood, when I didn’t have to worry about who would be the next president of the United States.
During the presidential campaign, I saw a spoof of Obama that had me laughing like crazy. It was on the cover of Mad magazine. I remember being introduced to this publication by my late uncle Chet. My uncle was a Mad magazine fanatic.
I used to be haunted by images of Alfred E. Newman, that gap-toothed, goofy-grinning icon all over my aunt and uncles’ home.
Seeing that Mad magazine cover boy had me thinking what Howdy Doody would look like if he were on crack.
The Obama satire brought me back to the days when humor was far removed from political and racial connotations. One could tell a joke and not be crucified before the press and the court of public opinion.
So if you are bored and suffering post-traumatic election disorder, let Alfred E. Obama tickle you out of election brain fatigue.
Long live Mad magazine.

Obama Win= History

389 years after our African Ancestors came to these American shores in chains. 232 years after the American Revolution. 145 years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. 54 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, which ended legalized segregation. 45 years after the March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech. And 40 years after the assassinations of both Robert Kennedy and Dr. King, America has done what no one thought could ever happen in their lifetime: elected its first African American president.
Who would have imagined Barack Obama would become the leader of the free world?
Who could imagine that a man of color would be known as “the most powerful person on the planet?”
As I heard the news, I desperately tried to hold back my tears; but to no avail, as the levees of my soul broke like the levees in New Orleans during hurricane Katrina. I cried like a baby hungry for his mother’s milk. I could not believe the election of an African American was possible, or even a reality in my lifetime.
Now I can tell my children without fear or hesitation, that you can be whatever you want to be —even the president of the United States of America.
Let us keep the new president in our thoughts and prayers as he leads our nation to the change we all desperately need. Check out the transition website at Change.

Go Ahead Sister Cooper!

If you ever needed inspiration and motivation to vote in this very paramount presidential election, look no further than to an 106 year old woman of substance and style named Ann Nixon Cooper.
I saw her yesterday on the CNN weekend interview with host Don Lemon. My heart, was as the old folks in church would say, was "Strangely moved.”
Mrs. Cooper was born in Shelbyville, Tennessee, 1902; which was 39 years after the Emancipation Proclamation and 37 years after the 13th Amendment, which made slavery illegal in the United States of America.
Ann Nixon Cooper is said to have known the giants of American history who are not only considered great African Americans, but great Americans period. Such notable’s like W.E.B. Dubois, E. Franklin Frazier, Benjamin Mays, and John Hope Franklin, were part of Ann Nixon Cooper’s social network.
If you lived as long as Mrs. Cooper, you’ve seen the slow but steady transformation of America into a nation that has nearly achieved its ideal of “liberty and justice for all.”
That’s why this story of a woman excited about voting for the first president of color is so powerful.
Just in case you might have forgotten, America was not always a pleasant country that respected and protected the rights of African Americans. Mrs. Cooper lived through the years between Jim Crow Segregation and Civil Rights. For her to live to see the potential next president of America to be a Black Man, is tribute on how far our nation has come.
Her story must inspire those of us who stand on the shoulders of her suffering and resilience.

While viewing Mrs. Cooper’s story, I thought about my late grandmother Mrs. Sallie Mitchell, born 1915 in Greenville County, South Carolina. Like Ann Nixon Cooper,she grew up in the times of Jim Crow. When she was alive, she told me stories about the “old south.” It was her hands callous through picking cotton and cleaning floors on the “other side of town,” which gave me spending money while I attended Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama

When November 4th comes around, I’m going to cast a vote in her memory and in the memory of others who did not live to see this day like Ann Nixon Cooper.

Vote or Die

As of this writing ,there are twenty-seven days to the presidential election. While the latest Gallop polls have Obama ahead, nothing is to be taken for granted. In light of the nightmare presidential elections of 2000 and 2004, Americans must be vigilant more then ever.Words like election protection,voter purging, and pole security should alert us to the potential of voter disenfranchisement.
In light of these realities, there is a website you should check out. Steal back your vote is an informative website that empowers voter's to avoid the potential pitfalls that might result in disenfranchisement.
For a small donation, one a can receive in comic book fashion, information that"aggressively investigates the Hanky-panky Republicans have already road-tested in the primaries to steal your vote in November."
I think it's worth checking out. Don't you?

Christian Scott: A Lion in A Hurricane

New Orleans, the birth place of Jazz, has produced, arguably, the greatest trumpet players that ever graced the history of America’s version of classical music. Such notables from the Crescent city would make a Jazz enthusiast rise from the dead: Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Wynton Marsalis, Al Hirt, and Terence Blanchard—to name just a few.
Well, New Orleans has done it again with the latest Jazz phenom : Christian Scott
I first encountered this music prodigy, reading an article in Jazz Times (September’08), about New Jazz Visionaries. Shortly afterward, I purchased Scott’s latest CD: Anthem. Listening to Anthem gave me a feeling I haven’t had listening to Jazz in a long while. The best way I can describe it, is like this— it was Miles Déjà vu.
Personally, I longed to have some Jazz figure capture the spirit of rebellion in their music like Miles Davis. I mean as far as I’m concerned, if you going to be a successful Jazz artist you’re going to have to have at least two elements: creativity and defiance.
Christian Scott captures both of these qualities brilliantly .On the Anthem CD, Scott’s trumpet blows a sound that invokes images of a young Cassius Clay, aka Muhammad Ali, speaking with poetic brilliance—truth to power— to those who back in the day, were threaten by Ali’s intelligence and manhood.
Christian Scott has given resurrection life to Jazz again. It’s Jazz with an attitude: angry, arrogant, iconoclastic, and political. Christian Scott has also shown his maverick spirit; merging Jazz with Hip-Hop; by adding a member of X-Clan, Bother J, on the final song —Anthem (post Diluvial Adaptation) — a eulogy that captures the psycho-social reality of Katrina and beyond.
I can imagine some Jazz purists would see Scott’s cross-breeding of Hip-Hop and Jazz as blasphemy—a transmogrification of sound—like they did when Miles merged psychedelic rock and Funk with Hard Bop.
However, Jazz purists need not worry; Scott has plenty on the Anthem CD for them to celebrate.
The young man has not forgotten his roots. I think you be satisfied and excited as I was to hear the swing of a young lion blowing in the power of a New Orleans hurricane.

From G's To Gallantry

Last Sunday, I was engaged in my usual, sometimes typical, lazy-day sporting event: channel surfing. During this period of relaxation, I came across a program I had been viewing since its premiere.
The program is called From G's to Gents. From G’s to Gents is a MTV reality series conceived by Jamie Foxx that pitches the idea that 14 gangsters would be willing to change their lives and become gentlemen. Hosted by Fonzworth Bentley, the self-styled gentlemen’s gentlemen of hip-hop, From G’s to Gents is in my opinion, an exemplary lesson on meeting the psychosocial needs of urban manhood.
As fate would have it, I watched the final program where the winner was chosen to become a bona fide member of Bentley’s "Gentlemen’s" club. I was beyond amazed to see transformation from such men who called themselves The Truth, Pretty Ricky, D-boy, and J Boogie.
The winner, of the right to join the "Gentlemen’s Club," was Creepa, a roughneck, who came from an unpleasant place called Miami Gardens, Fla. This young “boy from the hood,” dressed in a $1,000 suit, gave a heartfelt speech which testified of his conversion.
Creepa had been completely indoctrinated in the Fonzworth Bentley school of etiquette. Creepa was so committed to secure the title of "Gentleman," he surrendered his braids for a clean-cut look, and threw away his "gold grill,"( gold teeth ), just to show how serious he was about this achievement.

When Fonzworth announced that he was the winner (a guy named Shotta was the other finalist), Thaddeus aka Creepa broke down and cried on the shoulders of his mentor.

I must confess, I cried too.

I cried, because Fonzworth Bentley is a hero. That’s right, a hero. When the male role models of some inner city youth are: gangster’s, ballers, rappers etc, here is a man doing it the right way,making class, manners and proper parlance attractive to young men who are stereotypically not associated with such things.

I cried, because I saw the emptiness of the “gangster lifestyle” in the willingness of a small group of roughnecks willing to leave a life that brings no positive returns.

I cried, because G’s To Gents showed me that anyone can be successful if given the proper mentorship and guidance. And more than anything, inspite of the ongoing diatribe on the state of urban youth in America, mentorship is the key, in my thinking, that can stem the tide of nihilism in the ‘hood.

Finally, I cried, because From G’s To Gents should have been on BET.

In The House,
KJ

A Blast From The Past

Hey ya’ll, just in case you forgot – old school racism is back. I know many of you reading this blog will say to me “it never went away.” And I might agree with you, however there is proof that America is slowly detoxing from its lingering addiction to its favorite national narcotic: Racism.
Just when you thought we were entering the period called the post-racial era, just when you thought America was ready to sing Ku-Ba-Ya with the possible election of its first president of color- again the insidious hateful problem of our racial past resurfaces.

Somebody decided to put Barack Obama on a box of waffles and sell it(Obama Waffles).
Now, while the website claims to be an expression of humor, political satire and parody, if these individuals had any sense of American history, they would realize this is a throwback to the Jim Crow caricatures of Coons, Pica ninny and Mammy.

Perhaps one needs to check out the Museum of Racist Memorabilia to get a sense of the history of anti-Black images.

Why, you might ask, do I persist in bring up a subject that many think we have overcome because we have the first African American Presidential candidate?
Because I have learned from my Jewish Brethren who live by the motto: “Never Forget.”

Or as George Santayana said it: “Those Who Cannot Remember the Past are condemned to repeat it.”

Pigs in A Blanket

When the campaign manager for presidential candidate John McCain, Rick Davis, said this election would not be about issues but about personalities – you knew where McCain’s campaign strategy was headed.



It would be about character assassination and the good old Republican playbook of “distract and attack.”

That's what’s happening in the Lipstick on the Pig controversy. Again, the Republicans think the American people are stupid. And maybe the Republicans are betting Americans will be, when they vote in November. However, I hope not! It is clear that if the focus is on the issues that concern Americans—the Republicans would loose hands down.

But if you work to disqualify Obama by derision and charge him with playing the race and gender card – you might cause him to fight defensively and not offensively—changing the main focus of his campaign: Change.

Further investigation reveals John McCain used this same folksy metaphor when he criticized Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton on health care.

Someone once wrote: “The secret to success is knowing who to blame for your failures.”
In other words shift the focus. I believe with the Lipstick on the Pig—that’s what the Republicans intend to do.

Beware; the worse is yet to come.

Here We Go Again

Just when you thought Election 2008 couldn’t get more dramatic, here comes something that I feel might affect the election outcome, depending on the resolution. It’s not the budget deficit; it’s not the war, or the economy or the emergence of hockey mom Sarah Palin on the Republican vice- presidential ticket. It’s none of the above.

It’s a mess that has been haunting race relations in this country for 13 years: OJ Simpson. Just when you thought this country was ready for change (McCain’s or Obama’s), the memory of the most racially divisive trial in the history of American jurisprudence comes back to test the American psyche on what I call America’s lingering terminal disease: Racism.

As I write, jury selection begins at the Clarke County Regional Center in Las Vegas. Simpson charged with armed robbery and kidnapping, faces possible life imprisonment. Judge Jackie Glass says to the prospective jurors: “IF YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO PUNISH Mr. Simpson for what happened in 1995, this is not the case for you.”
Yeah right! Finding jurors who were not affected by the Trial of the Century, is like trying to find a man who was not aroused while watching the Halle Berry love scene in Monster’s Ball,( I’m not counting those men on medication).

Don't get me wrong—I think Simpson had something to do with the murder in 1995, and he was stupid to try to retrieve trophies in “Sin City.” But Simpson regardless of his contemptuous character represents a conversation that America needs to have about race.

Even if Simpson is convicted this time – racial acrimony is not going away.

Judge Glass says the third Simpson trial will last about five weeks.Beyond
five weeks from now another closing argument will be given, not to a jury in Las Vegas, but to a jury of voters who will decide the fate of the nation.

Time will tell if the verdicts in both trials will heal the sickness America refuses to confront.

Obama, E:60

The presidential election is less than sixty days. Americans will decide a new political destiny for our nation. As it relates to Barack Obama, this election could make American history, if he’s elected the first president of African descent.

Having imagined the amazing possiblies Obama’s election would bring, not just for African-Americans, but for all America- I’m going to act as his political strategist and outline what he has to do in the next sixty days to seal the deal and win over a nation that is desperately in need of leadership.

1. Keep associating McCain with Bush. Just like the Republicans keep pounding on the “inexperience mantra” as relates to Obama, Obama has to keep in the minds of Americans that McCain is another version of President George Bush. Senator McCain voted 90% of the time with George Bush. It’s the George Bush administration that is responsible for high gas prices, astronomical rates of foreclosures and high unemployment rates. Tell the truth that both the economy and foreign policy have been horribly mismanaged by the Republicans and John McCain means more the same. Keep sticking McCain with Bush like starch on rice.
2. Exhibit Pastoral leadership not Pit-bull Aggression. The Republican game plan was revealed by both vice presidential nominee, Gov. Sarah Palin, and McCain campaign manager, Rick Davis: engage in character assignation and the politics of fear, and avoid the issues. Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention spoke more about Obama than issues relevant to Americans. Furthermore, Rick Davis was quoted as saying “this election would be decided, not on the issues, but on the voters’ views of the candidates’ personalities.” This tells you that the Republicans will use the usual scare tactics to transmogrify the character of Obama. What Obama has to do is maintain the high road. He and his campaign team most avoid at all costs the belittling, dehumanizing ways used by anyone who is afraid and unsure of themselves and short on substance. When people are hurting, they need a pastor and not a pit bull. If America sees the heart of a caring shepherd in the character of Obama, in contrast to the bombastic ways of the Republicans- this will work in his favor.
3. The Bubba Vote. This is shorthand for white, working class voters who often live in rural areas. Obama has to win them over and sell them on the glaring reality that their interests are united with all Americans. He has to attack the notion of the reality of underlying racism that former House Majority leader Dick Armey spoke about. Armey was quoted as saying,” There are an awful lot of people in America… who simply are not emotionally prepared to vote for a black man.” How does Obama transcend underlying racism? Identify with the hurts and pains of small town America and trumpet patriotic values.
4. Grass roots Mobilization. This is Obama’s strong suit, and it has to be intensified: Voter registration, Election Day watch dogs to guard against voting irregularities, campaign advertising on every level.
Election 2008 must be played like a John Coltrane song on Blue note records (you dig the Obama jazz button?). Like poet Sterling Brown wrote, “the strong man keep on com’in,’ that’s what its going to take- a lot of resiliency and fight if Obama is to win the presidency.
In The House,
KJ

Palin! No Payoff!

Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, reminded me of one of the most exciting plays in the NFL called the Flea flicker. The Flea flicker is one of those trick plays when the quarterback after the snap, hands off to a running back, who runs toward the line of scrimmage, laterals the football back to the quarterback, who then throws the ball to an eligible receiver, who is wide open.

The Flea flicker is play designed for deception. It freezes the linebacker and safety having them thinking to stop the run- when the play is a pass. In the selection of Sarah Palin, John McCain is running a Political Flea Flicker on those who are gullible to the tactics of subterfuge.

He thinks by selecting a female vice presidential running mate, he can draw in his camp those disgruntled Clinton feminists who feel disenfranchised because their candidate was not selected to be Obama’s second in command. He thinks he can turn America’s attention away from eight years of economic mismanagement by George Bush.

However, I have news for you. Although the play was brilliant, the goal of winning the White House is going to be much tougher than trying to win by choosing a female for V.P.
Here’s what I believe the choice of Gov. Palin says about McCain:

• He’s Desperate. There is no way around this feeling I get that the McCain is in more trouble than what the news media is letting on. This is a desperate attempt to secure the conservative Republican base and woman. McCain’s choice of Palin says to females that he believes they will vote gender before they will vote the issues.
• His Judgment. McCain only met Palin once. He only talked to her over the phone once. Yet, this was enough in his mind to choose this woman to possibly be the next commander in chief. Did I miss something?
• He’s pro Affirmative Action. Yea, I said it! Aren’t the Republicans always belly aching about those affirmative action people of color and females who get hired because they were unqualified. Well, doesn’t Palin fall under this category? And he has the nerve to say Obama’s unqualified. Oops, there goes that argument.

Whatever the outcome of this presidential election, its sure surpasses any drama I’ve seen lately.
In The House,
K J

No, it’s not Barack Obama or John McCain. The American Savior is a new book by Roland Merullo that paints the unlikely scenario of Jesus Christ coming back to earth to run for president of the United States.

USA Today says this about the book:”Merullo gently satizes the media and politics in this thoughtful commentary on the role religion plays in America. The book showcases Merullo’s convictions that Christ’s real message about treating others with kindness is being warped by those who believe they alone understand the messiah..”

No doubt, the author develops an interesting premise of Jesus running for a political office. Nevertheless, if the truth be told—Jesus – if you examine the positions he took on various issues from the Bible-- would never be elected president. Let me give you four reasons:

1) Jesus would not be gender exclusive or misogynist. Jesus was radical in his day as it relates to the treatment of woman . In Jesus’ day it was considered politically incorrect for a Jewish man to speak to a woman alone. Yet, in the gospel of John chapter 4, Jesus is shown in dialogue with a five time divorcee, who was not only gave up on marriage and was “shacking-up,” but belonged to the despised ethnic group of his day: The Samaritans. Women were apart of his evangelistic entourage(Luke 8:1-3). Jesus’ position would not be a politically correct one in the face of a country that still struggles with sexism.

2)Jesus would take a stronger stand against racism that most Americans would be comfortable with. Jesus attacked the racism in this day like a pit bull. He often associated with Samaritans, the hated mixed race people of his day(John 4:39-40).He assailed the unconscious racism in the hearts of his hearers, by answering the question:” Who is my Neighbor?” in Luke 10:29-36, making the loathed Samaritans the hero of the story. Jesus himself was called a Samaritan (John 8:48), the equivalent of being called “the n-word,” or some other racial epithet. When 3 out of 10 Americans say they struggle with racism , Jesus would make us shamed of our racial problems.

3) Jesus would not be popular with the Religious Right of his day. Presidential politicians are often concerned with the appasesement of Evangelicals for the purpose of gaining a tactical edge. Jesus didn’t care about votes- he was concerned about character- especially those who claimed to be God’s representatives. The scathing bombast he gave the religious leaders in Matthew 23, lets me know that Jesus did not care about political correctness. Jesus saw the religious establishment in his day as Tartuffe and power hungry.

4) Jesus would be passionately against modern day hedonism. Jesus was careful to warn those who would misinterpret his message by gaining the world at the expense of losing their soul(Matthew 16:26). He rebuked sexual immorality( Matthew 5:27-30), serial divorce(Matthew 5:31-32), and defined marriage in a culture of rampant homosexuality as between a male and female (Matthew 19:1-6).

5) Jesus would not be a good model of bi-partisan leadership. He called Herod, the most powerful politician in Galilee “a fox”(Luke 13:31-32) and ignored Pilate, the governor of Judea (Matthew 27:13-14).

It is quite reasonable to believe from the study of Biblical evidence, that Jesus by his behavior would be deemed a political liability. Jesus would have never been popular in a nation that wants their politicians to be Sisyphean and milque- toast.

A matter of fact, Jesus did not resort to politics, because it was his stern belief that social change is not a matter of legislation but inner transformation ( John 3:3-7).

Well, so much for an American Savior.
In the House,
KJ

An Anti-Racism Curriculum

History doesn’t just teach us, it clears a path.-Stephen A. Smith

So America finally apologized for slavery. The media reported the House of Representatives issued an apology for an act that in my thinking has been the “Achilles Heel” of American social history. (You can find the apology at:www.tracesofthetrade.org).

The news report of what surely should have been an important milestone in our history, barely registered a blip on the radar screen of the electronic media. This is because America has found it difficult to deal with a painful, embarrassing era in this country. As professor Joe Feagin wrote:

“The American slave past is that ghost which we have
not entirely faced, the memory of that institution is a
haunted house we fear to inhabit.”

Perhaps, that is why the news media did not make a big deal out of the apology. America is afraid of that haunted house called slavery. Slavery exposes our nation’s hypocrisy. It demythologizes that democratic cornerstone: “all men are created equal.”

Even so, an apology for slavery is not enough to confront and overthrow the demons unleashed by this horrendous “business arrangement,” constructed by our forefathers to develop American capitalism.

The reason Black America gets so upset over this subject, is because slavery is often trivialized—it’s often treated as a side order on the menu of our nation’s history by mainstream America.

I believe in order to move toward racial reconciliation in this area, we need to educate ourselves to face the unpleasant past of slavery in order to move America from guilt to grief to glory.

For America to do this, Americans must take the initiative to educate themselves about the history of racism and slavery. Most people in our nation know as much about slavery as Paris Hilton knows about being president of the United States.
Due to widespread ignorance about this subject, I have developed what I call: Anti-Racism Curriculum.

This curriculum includes DVD's and books—giving those who want to learn – a starting point to deal with history -- most people in our nation want to forget and forgive too easily.

Here are just a few recommendations:
Traces of the Trade: A Story of the Deep North (DVD). Featured this year on the PBS program, POV, Traces of the Trade is the riveting and disturbing story of a New England family's discovery of their patriarch James Dewolf as head the largest slave trading family in U.S. history. One great line spoken by a family member during a dinner table discussion was this: “white people (when dealing with the issue of the slave trade) must move from guilt to grief.” This documentary will help African-Americans understand why white Americans find slavery a subject difficult to deal with.

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present, Harriet A. Washington. Winner of the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for the best in non-fiction, this is a book that chronicles the awful use of Black slaves as medical guinea pigs. Often operated upon without anesthesia, The New York Times calls Washington’s book: “A book of outrage.” Medical Apartheid helps us come to the sobering reality that slavery was evil beyond our wildest imagination.

In The Matter of Color: Race and The American Legal Process1: The Colonial Period, A. Leon Higginbotham. The late Judge Higginbotham was a federal appeals court judge and receipt ant of the presidential Medal of freedom. Do you wonder why many minorities often complain about the unfairness of the U.S. justice system? It is because the foundation of juridical bigotry was laid during the era of slavery .A must read for anyone connected with the American justice system.

Systemic Racism: A Theory of Oppression, Joe Feagin. This is one white guy you won’t see on Fox news or CNN when race is discussed. Dr. Feagin is the leading anti-racism activist in this nation. Author of over fifty books on this subject, Dr. Feagin demythologizes the so called heroism of “Founding Father’s.” Dr. Feagin has a website that addresses race in the media called:Racismreview.com

Oxford African American Studies Center (www.oxfordaasc.com). For a small annual fee, you have access to in my opinion-- to the most comprehensive contemporary and historical study of the black experience from Africa to America and beyond. Developed by Dr. Henry Louis Gates and other scholars, the Oxford AASC is like having a research library at home. The database on the Transatlantic slave trade is powerful.

From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, John Hope Franklin.
This is the classic book on the history of black people in America. Before there was Dr. Henry Louis Gates, there was John Hope Franklin. No one Has done a greater job in telling the tragic, yet rich history of African Americans, then Dr.Franklin.

Other Recommendations: Roots (DVD), the 25th anniversary edition; Unforgiveable Blackness- The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson, by Ken Burns; and White Like Me, Tim Wise.

This is just a few items for your consideration. Slavery is a subject that can no longer be trivialized. Americans must be able to speak intelligently about this subject.

The only way to do so is to gain knowledge by research and study.
I believe Francis Beacon said it best, when he said:” knowledge is power.”

Love Them or Hate Them

I was reading the August 1, 2008 edition of USA Today and found something that triggered this blog. It was a review in the what’s New on DVD section. It was a report on the DVD: Joe Louis: American’s Hero... Betrayed.

Here’s the interesting sentence that it hit me like a knockout punch from the “Brown Bomber" himself --"The first black sports hero beloved by whites…"

After reading that line, I said to myself hmm, let me compile a list of black sports heroes historically beloved and loathed by whites. I chose seven:

Black sports heroes loved by whites:
Tiger Woods
Michael Jordan
Joe Louis
Jackie Robinson
Willie Mays
Joe Frazier
OJ Simpson (that was before the murder)

Black sports heroes hated by whites:
OJ Simpson (that was after the murder)
Barry Bonds
Jack Johnson
Muhammad Ali (He could be in either category. Those who love him now have short memories)
Jackie Robinson (April 15, 1947)
John Carlos and Tommie Smith
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Do you notice the character traits of those loved and loathed by whites?
Those in the” love list” tend to be non-confrontational, easy going, non- threating.

On the other hand, those in the “loath list” have what Ken Burns said in his documentary on the first black heavyweight champion Jack Johnson: Unforgiveable Blackness.
These sports heroes tend to be confrontational, protest about racial inequality, or seem to have an intimidating persona.

I’m sure you can name many others. However, the point is that many in mainstream America don’t just judge a black athlete by his or her gifts alone. They bring the same racial bias in the sport arena as they do in society. They would like black athletes to adhere to the philosophy: Just shut-up and play.

The "N"-Word UnPlugged

I’ve heard the “N” Word almost all my life. I can’t remember the first time I heard it. Maybe it was from my mother or some other relative hollering at me when I did something wrong or asked to do something stupid. I suppose; I remember my mom responding to a request I made asking her permission to get a Process (that hair style Malcolm wrote about in his autobiography: “fried, dyed, and laid on the side”), screaming: “nigger are you crazy?”

The N-Word was as common in my life as my ebony skin. It was as common as listening to Motown while playing touch football in the street. Furthermore, it was as common as hearing Jimmy Smith‘s organ groove' outside of the Pine Grill on Jefferson avenue in Buffalo, NY, where I grew up.

The funny thing about it -- is hearing and being called the “N”-Word never really bothered me until my mother moved from the “hood” to the “burbs” and a white boy used it to welcome me to the neighborhood. I’m glad he ran away from me and I didn’t catch him. I was very upset!

The Jesse Jackson controversy over his use of the ‘N’-Word on Barack Obama has engendered a heated discussion on the proper or improper use of this word and who has permission to use it. For example, the Whoppie Goldberg and Elizabeth Hasselbeck debate which took place on The View shows us how tumultuous this subject can be. Things got so hot that—well, let’s say you won’t see them singing together in the next We Are the World video.

Perhaps a history lesson is needed in order for us to understand the pain behind, what can be called? “The most damning word in the history of language.”
According to the African American Registry (www.aaregistry.com), the following gives an etymology of the “N”-Word:

" The history of the word nigger is often traced to the Latin word niger, meaning Black. This word became the noun, Negro (Black person) in English, and simply the color Black in Spanish and Portuguese. In early modern French, Niger became negre and, later Negress (Black woman) was unmistakably a part of language history…
It is probable that nigger is a phonetic spelling of the White Southern mispronunciation of Negro."

The African American Registry notifies us that by the early 1800s, it was firmly established as a derogative name.

The funny thing about it (or the not so funny thing about it), is the “N”-Word is one of many words used over the years to victimize black people. No American group has endured as many racial nicknames as American-Americans.
That is the result of the pathology of America’s continuing history of racism.

But, this racial sickness has been internalized among blacks when we sanction the use of this most hateful word.
How crazy can you be to argue that “it’s all right for black people to use the “N”-word among ourselves,” but we’ll go Nat Turner on a white man if he uses it on us?

Jackson’s use of the ”N”-Word on Obama is quite telling about how much progress we have made in this country, and how much is left to heal.

Here is a black man who might be the next president of the United States of America—the highest political office in the world—who is still called one of the most evil words in the history of etymology.

I suspect that some in the Black community have an addiction to the “N”-Word like an addict enslaved to drugs. No matter what measures are used to detoxify or rehab from this word, some folk can’t quit saying it.
It’s like that song by Blues singer-songwriter: Willie Dixon: “I Can’t Quit You Baby:

We-ell, I can’t quit you baby, but I got to put you down a little while.
We-ell, I can’t quit you baby, but I got to put you down a little while.
We-ell, you done made me mess up my happy home, made me mistreat my.
Only child…

I was riding the Long Island Railroad sometime ago, and some young brothers got on the train talking loudly. The “N”-Word was shooting from their mouths like bullets flying from an AK-47. What was so sick about the conversation is these brothers start complaining about how racist the drunken white construction workers were who was also riding the train?

Personally, I don’t suppose America will never get over using the “N”-Word. Furthermore, for black people to insist on using it, themselves only mean we have become accepting of our own pathology. Perhaps, some of us need a revelation like Richard Pryor. Richard
Pryor traveled to Kenya; and it was there in Kenya, (Pryor profusely used the “N”-Word in his comedy routines), received a revelation like Malcolm X did about Islam when he traveled to Mecca. Pryor began to understand the interconnectedness of African’s in the Diaspora. He said to himself that he would never use this hateful word again.
Actor Samuel L. Jackson I believe said it best in the movie: Coach Carter. When one of the basketball players started using the N-Word, Carter immediately pulled the reigns on it saying these memorable words:

" Don’t you ever use that word again! It defames your
Ancestors and gives white people permission to use it."


To that I say” Amen.”
In The house, KJ

Rev Jax Rocks "The Mic" Again

I was reading the latest edition of Men’s Fitness magazine (August ’08) scouring the cover story on the workout regime of none other than rapper LL Cool J. In addition to learning the exercise routine of the self-proclaimed “Greatest of All Time”
Rapper- I was surprised to discover “Ladies Love Cool James” has completed the final record on his Def Jam contact called: Exit 13.

It just dawned on me after reading about LL’s bump into the sunset, that perhaps the Reverend Jesse Jackson could take a cue from LL Cool J and do an exit 13, maybe to reevaluate his status as a prominent leader in the African-American community.
Just when you thought all the racist rants, incendiary diatribes and abhorrent verbal fusillade was starting to subside concerning Barack Obama- here comes another one. Mind you not from the mouth of some neo-racist iconoclast masquerading as a conservative talk show host- but from someone I thought : would have a brother’s back.
It just goes to show you, like the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright said (who was also accused of hate speech through his vociferous oratory commending America),”Everybody who is your color, ain’t your kind.”

In other words, just because they’re black doesn’t mean they have your back.

For Rev. Jax to crudely rant that he would like to chop off Obama’s balls (or more precisely) “I wanna cut his nuts off”- is proof that blacks can be racist.

Chopping off a Blackman’s reproductive organs is associated with the pernicious legacy of lynching. Anyone who’s studied that dark era of American history knows that to stray-even unconsciously- in this neighborhood is asking for trouble. Anyone black or white, using those words, is proof that their mind has been tainted by racism.
We even have further proof that Jackson’s heart is sick because he also used the ’n-bomb’ in connection with Obama.
I can’t believe Jesse Jackson would go there after knowing, observing, and experiencing personally Civil Rights history.

This wasn’t the first time the good Reverend said something “Off the cuff.” Do you remember “Hymietown?” Further research unfolds this wasn’t the first time Jackson attacked Obama. He accused Obama for ignoring the plight of American-Americans and charged Obama for “acting like he’s white” for failing to denounce the treatment of the Jena Six.

What are we to make of Jackson’s opprobrium? I believe America, witnessing the first presumptive African-American nominee for president, is going through a psychological withdrawal from racial stereotypes associated with this country’s racialized history. America was not prepared for Obama to possibly be the leader of free world and neither was Black America.

Obama represents the bridge between the protest politics of yesteryear of Rev. Jackson and past civil rights leaders, and the politics of multi-ethnic inclusion that seems to be less combative to Mainstream America.

Obama represents a new day and many- both black and white- can’t handle it.

Maybe Rev. Jackson fears change like the rest of America. Maybe he’s angry that the spotlight has shifted from him to Obama. Whatever his issue, He should have taken a page from modern day race arsonists: cloak your anger in covert rhetorical speech.

Then you can only be charged with being a conservative.

The Odd Couple

Remember those famous comedy teams of yesteryear?
Like, Abbott and Costello, Laural and Hardy, Rowan and Martin, Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Burns and Allen. Well, add another comedy team: The I-Man and The Pacman. They are the latest odd couple in the seemingly never ending battle on Race in America. These men are the Felix Unger and Oscar Madison that makes you laugh when nothing's funny. Believe me when I tell you both of these men belong together. I'm not buying anything either one of them is saying. All of a sudden, I'm suppose to believe that Imus (the I-Man), got "the Holy Ghost" and is now a righteous defender against the racial oppression of African Americans and Pacman in his response to Imus' quisquilian comment, plays the victim. Wait a minute! I think we have made progress. Two men: one White-one Black, have both finally spoken with one voice: Dumb and Dumber. Both men suffer from a racialized psychosis that is common to most Americans. Each man lives in a state of denial that has been molded and shaped by our country's psychosocial response to racism. So, when I call Imus and Pacman the Odd Couple - they might have more in common with us than you think.

America's Classical Music

It just occured to me that June is Black Music month. The Popes of Blackness decided that February was too short a month to celebrate all the historical and cultural achievements of "a people," who,Susan Taylor says, "refused to die."
So, they designated another month to acknowledge one of the many cultural tributaries of the African American experience: Music
Black Music Month is a recognition and deification of the creation of an art form forged from struggle and suffering. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes - Black People have used the malfeasance of the American racism experience to create a music that has continued to be worthy of admiration and even envy.
So, it is in honor of this month, that I use this writer's bully pulpit to give attention to Black Music's most powerful art form: Jazz
Jazz is known as America's Classical Music. It's appreciated by many as a global export, but shunned by its own country. So, if you really want to celebrate this month - listen to a Jazz CD. Jazz is the apotheosis of cool. Check out: Miles, Bird, 'Trane, Ella and Sarah and you'll understand what I mean.

Zapped!

Can someone tell me if this is going to make a
difference? The New York Daily News reported yesterday(June 10th) that the NYPD is considering using Tasers in an effort to curb fatal police related shootings. This pilot program was recommended by the Rand Corp.- a organization known for its secret experiments in the areas of military and science.
Here's the problem I have with this concept: adding Tasers with guns just might increase controversial acts of deadly force.
In order to reduce deadly force, the NYPD must work on correcting systemic dysfunctions which lead to tragedies in the first place. The problem is not a problem of adaquate weaponary: it might be the marksmen. Let me make it clear the majority of cops function very well in their anointed profession- its the few that I worry about!
Adding or changing weaponary may not be the answer for a department that in far too many cases has to deal with a pathology among some in their ranks, who rather shoot first, or shall I say "Zapp" first and ask questions later.

Why Hillary Lost(Part 2)

Bill Clinton
Let's face it, Hillary's husband was an albatross. Inspite of his experience as one of America's foremost politicans, and one of the great presidents of the twentieth century - former president Clinton suffered too much from foot-in-the-mouth disease. Bill's constant rants insulting Obama, infuriating Blacks and calling a magazine author, "slimy and a scumbag" - were often a major distraction from Senator Clinton's political agenda.

Why Hillary Lost

Now that Senate Barack Obama has captured the Democratic nomination for President and has possibly postioned himself to make history, if he is elected, let me list the reasons in my thinking why Hillary Clinton experienced defeat.



Clinton's underestimation of her opponent

I believe Senator Clinton did not take Senator Obama seriously enough. And why should she? She has a household name. She had eight years of White House experience. She has more time in the U.S. Senate. All of the above in her mind one thing: experience. Hillary was a shoo-in as far as winning the the Democratic nomination. But she was shocked after losing the Iowa Caucus. Here is this skinny freshman senator from Illinois challenging one of the great political pedigrees in presidential history. It was like David facing Goliath. The giant was slain. Obama's defeat of Clinton is an upset like Leon Spink's shocking victory over Muhammad Ali.