Metaphysical Consequences of Wrong Actions

It is a consequence of the principles of physics that for every action, there will be an equal and opposite reaction and/or force applied against the original action from the opposite direction. For those that are so inclined, the principles of metaphysics act in the same manner but are generally slower to develop and materialize within the plane of thoughts and actions. The laws of metaphysics (The African Branch: emphasis mine) dictates that no individual, group, or even a nation’s government can consciously (i.e., with malice of forethought) engage in evil (war, economic and social oppression, selfishness, bigotry, discrimination, lasciviousness, and other obscene behavior) and have good (peace, harmony, righteousness, justice) to result from the evil that was engaged in. Based upon recent world events, it appears that our world leaders have forgotten that axiom or have chosen to ignore it.

In direct opposition of the laws of metaphysics is the dogma of religion. Religious dogma, especially the western flavor, presupposes that God choose a certain individual or group to speak and act in God’s name and those that don’t, won’t or cannot go along with the program are enemies of God and are subject to the “will” of God which is invariably carried out by its followers with God’s help and blessings. The vulnerability associated with religious dogma lies in the fact that he who has the biggest sword ultimately dictates what constitutes religious dogma. As such, religious dogma is subject to the whims and various ideological constructs of an ever changing social order.

We see this type of religious based drama being played out daily all over the world. The war in Iraq precipitated the Muslim insurgency which precipitated sectarian violence, which precipitated saber rattling between the leaders of Iran and America which could possibly lead to another war. Israel occupied Palestinian territory which precipitated attacks against Israel by Palestinians Muslims, which precipitated counter attacks, which precipitated saber rattling between Israel and most of the Muslim world and has Israel gearing up in preparation for war. This drama includes the murder of Iraqis by Iraqis and betwixt Arabs of different Muslim sects is a direct result of ideological differences based upon religious dogma. Here in America that drama plays out mostly within the political arena. However the result are similar in that certain individuals and groups are marginalized in an effort by religious and racially motivated dogmatists to make over America into the country they believe God wants America to be.

Western religions point towards a time of retribution and tribulation followed by a final reckoning. The violent actions and the subsequent reactions that are taking place throughout the world have many western-religious based dogmatists believing that we are now witnessing the end of the world and the forthcoming of a new and Godly world order. The only problem is that they can’t agree, even amongst their own like-minded, religious brethren on whom will God save and whom will God destroy. But instead of allowing God to make that decision, they’ve taken matters into their own hands and declared war against those individuals and nations that embrace beliefs that are in conflict with their beliefs. From a psychological perspective one could argue that individuals who embrace this type of mindset suffer from clinically defined insanity. One thing is for certain. If we continue to allow ourselves to be defined by a religion, society (as we know it) will ultimately be destroyed by it.

Steele Disconnected

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." --Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Aug. 28, 1963

Those words spoken by Dr. King put America on trial and in 1964 the American Government pled guilty and subsequently signed the Civil Rights Act into law. However the light of justice and truth that shined so brightly on Jim Crow is now focused squarely in the faces of our most prominent Americans of African Ascent. Extrapolating from Dr. Kings’ speech, the content of one’s character is directly reflected in their treatment of and their interaction with their brothers and sisters; i.e., the human family. One’s character can be and often times is reflected in the company that one keeps. Utilizing that analogy, if you keep company with demagogues, bigots, and purveyors of sleaze, then it is only natural that your character will be called into question.

That brings us to the subject of our commentary. Michael Steele who is the republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the State of Maryland was the recipient of a lavish fundraiser. Floyd Brown a long time republican strategist who engages in what many consider to be sleaze and racial innuendo politics hosted the fundraiser for Mr. Steele. Mr. Brown created the infamous “Willie Horton” ad that used the old, but still effective “fear of a mad Black Male” routine that sunk Michael Dukakis’ 1988 Presidential campaign by portraying the then Massachusetts Governor as soft on crime.

In addition to being supported financially by Floyd Brown, Michael Steele’s supporters and financial backers read like a who’s who list of Ku Klux Klan grand potentates; i.e., Trent Lott who enthusiastically opined that this country would have been a better place had America “followed our (Mississippi’s) lead” and elected Strom Thurmond President in 1948. In addition to Lott, Michael Steele has the support and financial backing of Alex Castellanos. Castellanos was instrumental in getting Jesse Helms re-elected to the Senate with his “white hands” advertisement.

In politics it is often times necessary to work with individuals that you may have ideological differences with. This is not the case in this instance. The fact is that Michael Steele has embraced and encouraged support from and is primarily back by individuals like Trent Lott, Floyd Brown, and Alex Castellanos. These are individuals that actively pursue an agenda that seeks to marginalize African Americans. This calls into question Mr. Steele’s judgment as well as his character. At the very least, it can be argued that he’s disconnected from the reality of just who these people are and what they represent.

In defending the fact that he openly embraces these types of individuals Michael Steele was quoted in the Washington Post stating “The way I look at it, if I am in the United States Senate, I’ll be a voice at the table that’s probably not been appreciated that much in the past,” That statement would carry more weight if Mr. Steele’s agenda even somewhat differed from the one Trent Lott espouses. But it’s doesn’t and that is why his judgment and the content of his character is being called into question by many of the people that he wishes to serve.

Black Web Awards

Press Release Excerpted From: www.BlackWebAwards.com

BLACKWEBAWARDS.COM^m NOW ACCEPTING NOMINATIONS FOR EXCELLENT WEBSITES

The BWA's Celebrate African, African American and Caribbean Excellence Online in 100 Categories

Baltimore, MD - The Nomination period for the First Annual BlackWebAwards (BWA)'s is now open! Established to highlight the vast and exceptional online achievements of Black people, the BWA's are the first and only organized effort to recognize and celebrate African, African American and Caribbean excellence online. This "friendly competition" allows website customers, fans and designers to nominate their favorite websites in over 100 categories, for FREE. With categories such as Best House of Worship Site, Best Wealth Building Site, Best Author Site and the Site We Miss Most, it will be clear to all that the Black Web Awards have a category for everyone!

The nomination period lasts until August 14, 2006. Nominations are FREE, open to the public and must be submitted online at www.BlackWebAwards.com. Five Hundred finalists will be announced on August 28 online via free streaming video and podcast. After the finalists are announced, the open voting period will begin. Site visitors will be invited to visit BlackWebAwards.com and cast their votes for their favorite finalists in each category. The BWA's reach their conclusion in November 2006, when the final winners are announced at an exclusive Invitation Only Awards Gala.

"We are pleased to organize and launch this important milestone event for the Black web" Says Odogwu Obi Linton, President of Linton Publishing, LLC, a Baltimore, Maryland USA based, 100% Black owned and operated company. "It's long overdue, and will help promote hundreds of creative, original online efforts to the world. It's FREE to nominate a site - so let the competition begin!"

Site visitors can catch up on the latest updates and announcements on the BWA's by tuning into the free weekly online webcast Countdown to the BWA's, hosted by National XM Radio Talk Show Host Blanche Williams, or by signing up for the BWA free weekly e-newsletter.

Oprah And The Three Bears

Rappers 50 Cent, Ludacris, and Ice-Cube have all complained about being dissed by Oprah Winfrey. In the May 2006 issue of GQ Magazine, Ludacris complained that a number of his comments were edited when he appeared on an Oprah show about racial discrimination. After taping he said that “she pulled me into a room and we had a five-minute conversation. What I got was that by having rappers on her show, she feels like she’s empowering them.”

Ice Cube has complained about being dissed by Oprah. In the May issue of FMH Magazine he lamented "I've been involved in three projects pitched to her, but I've never been asked to participate. For Barbershop, she had Cedric the Entertainer and Eve on, but I wasn't invited. Maybe she's got a problem with hip-hop. She's had damn rapists, child molesters and lying authors on her show. And if I'm not a rags-to-riches story for her, who is?”

50 Cent isn’t feeling Oprah either. In an AP article he shrugged off Oprah with the comment, “I think she caters to older white women." I believe the crux of the issue in this case is, and borrowing a line from one of my favorite movies (Cool Hand Luke) delivered by one of my favorite actors (Strother Martin) “What we have here is a failure to communicate." Whether Oprah has an issue with hip-hop or not, she is arguably one of maybe two or three African Americans that could bring about a much needed nationwide dialogue with all facets of the African American community on Rap and Hip-Hop.

We can no longer afford to dismiss certain elements within the Hip-Hop community just because we may find them to be less than what we expect them to be. Ice Cube, Ludacris, and 50 Cent are major players in an industry that is global in concept and scale. Based upon that fact, it is time we sit down at the table of discussion with all interested parties and break the bread of honest and frank dialogue with one another. As I pointed out in Faking The Funk “It’s as if there is some type of disconnect between the reality that is Urban America and the causes that brought Urban America to its current reality. The reality of Urban America (the negative and yes, the positive) is what gave birth to Rap and Hip-Hop. By dismissing that reality, we abdicate responsibility to determine its path.

We failed to address the genesis of overt poverty and economic genocide within Urban America. We did not raise our voices loud enough when our urban communities were overrun with drugs, violence, and mayhem. We ignored the negative socio-economic impact that the loss of schools and viable businesses had on Urban America. We did nothing when our young boys and girls brought children into this world out of wedlock.

Ice Cube, Ludacris, 50 Cent and other well known rappers are the progeny of our own benign neglect and however one feels about their music or about them personally, they are looked upon as leaders and role models to millions of fans and wannabe rap artists within the industry. Like Oprah, they too were fortunate enough to rise above the urban dysfunction and succeed despite existing within the midst of it. However for every Oprah and Ice Cube, or a 50 Cent that made it, there were/are thousands that continue to have no choice but to succumb and capitulate their dreams to survive and that cannot continue. Can you feel we?

Faking The Funk Part II

As far as personal responsibility is concerned, I am definitely one who believes in taking responsibility for one's own actions. However I find it hypocritical that Americans of European descent do not take responsibility for the genocide, enslavement and forced social and religious assimilation of the cultures of color throughout the world during the last 1700 years. The fact that they now want to blame us for surviving in the madness that their ancestors created and their peers continue to perpetuate is a testament to the arrogance one would associate with a bigot. One cannot expect a people to rise and transform when one's foot is firmly entrenched upon their collective necks.

What is more amazing (or maybe not) is that we now have what I believe to be misguided African Americans supporting and lending their voices to the alabaster hued chorus of “They need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps like I did.” That is akin to a parent allowing a male child to wear nothing but female clothes and then when that child becomes an adult, the parent complains about him acting like a woman.

It is difficult to see or understand the digestive process when one exists inside the belly of the beast. The beast in this case is Urban America and the belly is a system that enthusiastically perpetuates poverty and ignorance. Poverty is perpetuated by a system that has failed to embrace urban development initiatives in the form of adequate housing and viable business platforms. It is a system that has failed to create any significant educational initiatives.

From an environmental perspective urban communities have traditionally existed in areas where chemicals, heavy metals, and other toxic substances pollute the air, water, and land in higher concentrations than other areas; some of the effects of which are higher infant death rates, a higher concentration of children with learning disabilities, and other social and health related issues. Combine the above with the aggressive stance of the criminal and judicial system in urban areas and we now have a recipe for social chaos. One can argue that the above system is a type of slavery wrapped neatly within a de facto socio-economic apartheid created to bring harm to those that are either dependent upon and/or are trapped inside of it.

One of the greatest symbols of freedom in America is the Statue of Liberty. Inscribed on the plaque at the bottom of her are these words compose by the nineteenth century poet Emma Lazarus; “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, the tempest tossed, to me: I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” For the African American urban masses, that promise has been found wanting and payment is way overdue.

Faking The Funk - Huxtable Style

In an article on BlackCommentator.com, Dr. Mark Lamont Hill takes Bill Cosby to task for his apparent denunciation of anything and all that is urban-centered. It is an excellent article and gives its readers a microcosmic insight on the chasm sized dichotomy that exists between what I shall now term The Cosby Generation and their apparent nemesis, the Hip-Hop Generation. Hopefully I can shed some light on what I believe is the root cause of this schism.

The problem (as I see it) lies primarily with the Cosby Generation and other liked minded individuals insistence on verbally assaulting the urban poor while either ignoring or not fully "overstanding" the issues that Urban America is dealing with. It’s as if there is some type of disconnect between the reality that is Urban America and the causes that brought Urban America to its current reality.

The causes that precipated the reality that is post-modern Urban America lies directly at the feet of and primarily resulted from The Cosby generation abandonment (physical and social) of the Urban African American Community shortly after the various Civil Rights bills were passed by Congress and signed into law in 1964 and 1965. During the decade of the 60's, 70's, and 80's, urban flight by African Americans precipitated the destruction of historical black communities. Jobs, schools, and businesses left urban communities in droves.

After the Black Exodus, what were then large pockets of poverty spread throughout and eventually became entrenched within urban America. At the same time that this was happening, African Americans who were able to take advantage of the few crumbs that integration and affirmative action programs had to offer forgot about or ignored what was happening in Urban America. The brothers and sisters within our poorer communities were essentially left to fend for themselves with no infrastructure and with absolutely no support from the greater African American community.

This poverty was exacerbated by a welfare program which was a de facto money machine that created free multiple streams of income primarily to African American women to a.) Stay single, b.) become totally dependent upon the government for their needs and c.) have children out of wedlock. We are now witnessing the results of urban black flight and the welfare system; and that is widespread ignorance, mayhem and violence within and against our own people by our own people.

What is remarkable is that our urban brothers and sisters had enough moxie and determination to make it through relatively intact despite all of the above and the dysfunction found within Urban America. They created their own variant of the English language which we misnomer Ebonics. They created a globally accepted, lucrative, and often copied musical art form called Hip-Hop. They became highly expressive in giving their children a distinct and unmistakable identity with names like Shenikua, Latavia-Deshell, Shaheem and Royhame. They did all of this in spite of being abandoned by their educated and upwardly mobile African American brothers and sisters.

The question that should be asked is what was Bill Cosby and others in his generation doing when our poorer communities were being ripped to shreds by the Post Civil-Rights Black Exodus? What were these folks doing when schools were closing in Urban America and valuable educational resources were being shipped to suburbia? What advice, programs, or support, were they giving to the young teen aged girls who were contemplating or actually bringing out of wedlock babies into this world? And which Black celebrities, ministers, counselors, or so called black leaders were mentoring the young men that were impregnating and then abandoning these young girls? The Cosby Generation failed our communities when we needed the most help. And now they want to complain about and bemoan the results of their failure? That is the lowest form of hypocrisy in my book!