Hope

Our Hope

My friends know me as one who preach the necessity of education and while many who hear this from me do not understand exactly what I mean. Here I give some meaning to this statement.

There are a few so called prep schools in the US that cater to Black students. These schools are mostly ran and controlled by Black educators supported by US grants, Black businesses and  rich white men or Corporations.

From these schools a very large percentage graduate and go on to college and earn a degree and become community contributors in some manner.

Example see:  http://diverseeducation.com/article/64731/

AS I stated my friends understand me when I say education is the path to freedom, and control of our destiny.

What I mean by that is Blacks as a group have to know who they are, how they got to be where they are here in the US and how to rise above their current condition to become respected and treated as equal in the economic and political structure here in the US. They also have to speak up and not be afraid to discuss the difficult issues of racism and how they are affected by it.

That cannot happen unless Blacks control who teach their children (Blacks as a whole are the only group that do not teach their own children) and ensure that they are taught as I have outlined above along with clear understanding and concepts of science, math and other subjects. Taught to not get caught up in the propaganda that they cannot rise above the menial positions that those who own the jobs provide for them and that they can get to own the corporations and then hire their own as others do, to work together to gain a position to purchase businesses and grow income producing enterprises. To know their rich history, respect each other and know who they are, family pride, and be proud of their Blackness. To understand how important it is to be a part of society and understand the moral codes that unite all people. (Could be taught in a two hour Saturday or Sunday class)

As things exist today we, Blacks are last to get hired and seldom in the higher paying positions, why?

We are targeted at an early age for all kind of made crimes for blacks.  Justice is perpetrated against blacks. See: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2014/01/16/3167371/racist-criminal-justice-destroying-democracy/

You could learn a lot by listening to Nell Bernstein (http://www.npr.org/2014/06/04/318801651/burning-down-the-house-makes-the-case-against-juvenile-incarceration )“A black kid today is almost five times more likely to be locked up as a white kid who committed the exact same crime. ... Eighty to 90 percent of all American teenagers in confidential interviews will acknowledge that they have committed an offense or offenses that under the law they could be locked up for. Most of those kids, nothing happens. There are not police cruisers in my neighborhood. If my son [who is white] happened to be standing on the corner, he's not going to be stopped and frisked. And if he happened to have bag of marijuana in his pocket, nobody is going to find it. Those kinds of differential treatment ... permeate the system from arrest all the way through re-entry [into the community].”

“Destroying the youth cripples the adults.” GB

We the adults being already crippled must teach our young so they will not be crippled and after all of us die out they will have a better chance to accomplish the means to succeed, “overcome” rise above the crippled conditions.

When we are portrayed as nonproductive and criminal thinking in the media, and in the verbal language by others we are doomed to our own means of defense.   It than is up to us to change our lot and we can’t do that by listening to those who have already been conditioned to believe such nonsense.

Here is an example of Black middle class work positions that those in power have attacked subtly and most have not even noticed. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/20/us-post-office-job-cuts-black-middle-class_n_2514917.html

Now do you understand why I say education is the key to arriving at a position where all the rest of the world will respect us and we will gain a position of equality?

Don’t be misunderstanding what I am saying here, I am not advocating separate societies or separate schools. Nor am I saying that others are evil or not able to work with Blacks. I am saying that Blacks have to see themselves as people of color, Black people in this USA and strive to overcome the misdeeds and inequality they have endured since coming to these shores.

To echo my statements read: http://www.solidarity-us.org/site/node/23

The home of African Americans, Blacks here, is AMERICA and African Americans have no other home and are not wholly accepted anywhere else because of the stigma placed on them by the rulers of the US.A and as such they, Blacks have to remove that stigma themselves and stop depending on those who placed it on them to do so; it is not to others advantage to do it. (That does not exclude Africa as our mother land)

Education, position, business, political might and means, means being ownership of property and assets, is the only answer as I see it and it will never be given out right, we, as a group, have to earn it by making it happen.

Check the facts: http://blackstarproject.org/home/images/facts/deepeningplightblackmeninamerica.pdf

OK I rambled a bit, but you get the meaning. So what do you think, give me your opinion and comments.

This Life or Where? March 2014

AS we age we begin to think about the preservation of our own lives. Like the ancients we bury ourselves in tombs so we can come back and enjoy the life we wish to have here or somewhere else.  We strive to find that blissful place in old age and then prepare for the one we hope is there after this life is over.  Many live as though there is no need for concern about our present lives only of the one to come in some future rebirth.

I am of the belief that when one do not care for the life owned now it will be a loss for their progenerates and many of those whom we call associates of theirs. After all we are the keepers of each other’s even if we don’t recognize it.

Considering this what do we do here and now for ourselves and especially for our offspring and those we can help?

We know we can give a meal, offer a helping hand like push the car, fix the door or notice the child but you know the saying “It’s best to teach how, that will last a lifetime”. So what do we really do?

I am of the opinion that we learn as much as we can first of all. (How can we help anyone if we don’t know how, that is what all the ancient wise men of the past taught.

Once we learn something we should pass that knowledge on, but not just pass it on but show by doing. To many of us want to be teachers and leaders and yet we do nothing but voice to others how they should live, where they should live and that they will be rewarded later for living their way.

I think one would do best by helping to build that playground, participate in getting decision makers to make rules in the best interest of the whole, volunteer without being asked to tutor young minds, give money, without question, to an organization or group that builds lasting support to communities.

Too often we give a few pennies than we want to be in charge or if things are not going our way we criticize and withdraw espousing negativism causing failure of the program.

We should remember once given it is not yours anymore and give with understanding that what you give is for the best.

Young men, I say to them, cannot be wise, they can only be smart or intelligent, they have to grow old to be wise. One has to live awhile to be ‘one with life’.

Mentors Everywhere

It is easy to try and tell others how to live, it is very difficult to teach others how to live. That takes a lot of living. That is also done mostly by observation. How can I teach someone how to live if I don’t know how or if I don’t live that way?

Now that I have your attention this is what I would like to leave with you.

As a Black person living in a country where I am a member of a small minority of the population I am always aware of the fact that I cannot do or participate in many of the activities of the majority. I know I am not truly welcomed in those activities and I also know that in almost all aspects of life here I am not an equal with the majority in any of the activities, programs, and opportunities this country has to offer.

Knowing this and knowing that this is true all over the world I must be aware that the majorities of the world take this as a normal way of life and I must strive to make change that is best for myself and for those in my minority group.

I don’t say this with any misgivings so one should not think that because I see this others should too, nor should one mistake that I do not care for my country. I think we live in the best place in the world and because I think it is mine, I will defend it to death just as I would do the same for other’s rights here as we know it.

So, to get to the point where will you, your offspring, be in the near future, the next 20 or so years? Are we teaching our young to survive in this environment showing them how to earn a decent life here while they live? Are we providing them with a plan to maneuver through the difficult paths the majority has paved for us? Do we know how?

Recently I have been very busy looking at colleges and trying to help dig through all the degree programs of interest to a young man I’m helping.  The cost, the requirements, the items that must be sent for evaluation for acceptance and the best future outlook he should be concerned about.

In doing so I became interested in what the future of jobs would look like. Having a life of technical and business background I tried using all I knew to try and figure where the future was headed.

Being able to feed ones family may be of concern in the future so farming has been looked at closely and we,

that is the minorities of this country do not have a stake in growing anything.

We need to get involved, owning and knowing how to achieve a decent income from it. I suggest looking up your county’s  ‘young farmers association’. See for example: https://www.facebook.com/WilsonCountyYoungFarmersAssociation

Note we are not in any pictures. Look at states throughout the country and still we are not there.

Now consider this, engineering is the focus of where the future is headed. What do you know about engineering?  Here is some areas of concern I have been looking at.

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/194056-robots-and-the-future-of-work

From observation the following should be of interest:

• 1.        Innovation has created an economy based on automation
• 2.       American producers say that investments in machines are more profitable than hiring people
• 3.       According to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economists Erik Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, the authors of the book "Race Against the Machine" the coming of the era of cheap production automation is a prelude to dramatic changes on the labour market.
• 4.       Prediction is: 47 percent of active workers may be replaced by machines in the future
• 5.       Others say:  Various types of training, services and specialized skills will increase. We will start doing work 2.0 -- flexible, contract-based, hyper-specialized, mobile work demanding the ability to change qualifications. ..work will be based on creativity.

 Remember "nothing can stop an idea whose time has come.” Victor Hugo

Where do your future offspring's time reside, here in the now or in some future place of hopeful existence? 

Preparing your family and their family, your community and your associates and those around you for the future is the only way to insure a place in time that is satisfying and peaceful.