While this isn’t a new sentiment by Dr. West, his latest assessment on the election results have garnered more attention on this growing divide. The divide isn’t necessarily in Black America as it has long been divide. The divide seems to be more concentrated in what was once the epicenter of the Black Intellectual Movement. This is truly a sad state to be in.

Growing up I received my own intellectual birth, of sorts, watching Dr. West, Dr. Dyson, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Angela Glover Blackwell, Rev Farrakhan, Dr. Julianne Malveaux and quite a few other experts in their field moderated by both Tavis Smiley and Tom Joyner…It was an amazing sight for my young eyes and nascent intellectual sensibilities. I clung to these symposiums and watched them relentlessly repeatedly. My desire to be informed and integrated into the understanding of what truly was/is the Black Condition in the United States of America.

They didn’t just put on a show in the tradition of the Black Church where you charge admission hoot holler and profit off the spiritual uplift in the moment then just move on…they took that Black tradition of call and response, spiritual uplift, and added some depth to it. They came armed with facts, statistics, a history of actions and inaction with the resulting consequence. EVEN bigger they took it a step further and used their collection of brilliant minds, not just preachers and activist, but professors, economist, lawyers, business minds along with grassroots activism and constructed A Plan! This was supposed to be a transformative act. And it was…for a while…while the access across the table was the same at least while the Bush Administration was in office.

The Black agenda was held up by all at the table…was contributed to by all at the table…this was a type of unification of thought into real actionable steps that has never been as localized and publicized in history. Then Barack Obama made a splash at the DNC…conversations around race in America started to change a bit. The tone was more hopeful…this talk of Change started to gain momentum.In short order The Chicago Senator a proud and vocal African-American that lifted up his white mother and grandmother’s love and efforts in raising him was the prime candidate of Change in America.

Early on there wasn’t the 90+ percent support by African Americans, but then his message started to get more traction all over and he landed Iowa, then his brilliant run took off. That wasn’t all that took off as expectations and heartfelt hope was soaring at an all-time high. Finally a person has emerged to fulfill the implied or imagined prophecy that “The Dream” shall be realized. President Obama is the change ‘We’ have been waiting on…

I lay all that out to paint the source of this seeming discontent from the West/Smiley “faction” to which ideologically I am aligned, but going the way of ugly which in effect muddies the dialogue I am not party to. I get the frustration that lies in a mix of disappointment and feeling duped by your own disillusion. But to muddy the dialogue with ugliness only works to overshadow the issues, which should always be the priority. Cool, you think President is a “Rockefeller Republican” (moderate/center-right) in disguise…fine, but why Blackface? That doesn’t add or even apply to what the dialogue should be about…it makes the response personal therefore petty…

Dr. West is better than that and the people he represent should expect better. We don’t need to tear each other down to lift up our community.I don’t think it will change in such a way that the two sides will join hands and have meaningful and needed dialogue on the issues around prison profiteering and providing greater paths out of poverty (financial and environmental). This seems to be another example of where the elders are not being mindful of where they should be the examples of putting ego to the side to elevate the agenda. Leaving the youth one less stable place to get their bearings.

There are too many leaks to plug to be using a free finger to point at what the next man is or isn’t doing.

Do Better ~

Okay people I did it…cool. Voting is great idea. I tip my hat to all those who feel 10 ft tall by doing it and shed tears of joy for a “winning” result. I am truly all about acknowledging that dynamic…

But really attacking those that don’t vote or even those that don’t vote the same way or with the same enthusiasm  as you do does nothing to help.

The question of Why “Black” people are so nonchalant about voting litters my timeline and bothers me for two reasons…one it is a generalization that is inaccurate about the myriad of perspectives and personal values that exist within the “Black” community and also it is just a underdeveloped thought turned questions:

Why nonchalant? Hmm…let me see…Because black boys are being killed this very day with little to no urgency or action by the electoral body…because African-Americans in this country across the board suffer 2-4 times more in every poor category in this country regardless of the legacy of putting their lives on the line just to exercise a so called right to vote…hell even live with the dignity any human deserves…Yes things have changed over the last 40 year and even some during the last 4, but not for everyone…

It isn’t about what everyone else feels if you aren’t going to acknowledge it or deal with it to change it…just be encouraged by your state of mind and being then be determined to spread that wealth of spirit through your connections…people are what they are…always have been and always will be…until they are “touched” and feel connected.

There is a pathology deeper than many care to acknowledge…not an excuse, not victimhood, but a real issue that many people have to suffer with alone that looks like disenfranchisement, but is really a sense of worthlessness. Either care enough to get out and change it or stop pointing fingers…There are people who could care less if they live or die in this world you would chastise them about a vote? LoL…

What a concept!  BE a Spiritual Philanthropist not a finger pointer…open your mouth to encourage not speak down upon…

Oh yeah…”Vote or Die” people…isn’t that a bizarre and absurd message?

Ann Coulter And Her “kind” Are Harmful Bacteria To Our Collective Humanity.

So ‘Raggedy Ann’ called President Barack Obama a “Retard”?? Really? Is that where her alleged vast intellectual capacity to be a contributor to matters of a sociopolitical nature lead her?? Wow, but not surprising. 

If it wasn’t for Ann Coulter’s salacious, senseless, and selectively sinister statements this serpentine sycophant wouldn’t survive or be seen. This isn’t about giving her more attention, because that isn’t what should happen, but in hopes that people like her and those that choose this sort barbaric and disconnected sense of entitled disregard for simple decency are eliminated from any level of respectable designation…yet she and her kind are making money off of hate wrapped in the frail disguise called conservatism. If you are not progressing the dialog you are retarding it, so by not contributing she would actually be more of an asset to the world.

When you search Ann Coulter’s name the first thing that comes up is ‘Retard’…Poetic Justice I’d Say.

What say you?

Hey Mitt…Mr Rodgers have a couple words for you…Hilarious

Well…There it is…Romney vs. Obama

I would use a boxing analogy about how the more powerful, accurate and thereby more efficient fighter (Obama) is more effective at the sweet science, yet routinely when you leave that decisions up to the human eye guided by the emotion of the moment the fighter (Romney) on the other end taking punishment, but still pressing forward and throwing errant punches will be seen as the aggressor and better competitor.  

Too many people (Democrat or claimed “right” minded) are sounding as bizarre and misguided as Republicans/Tea Party crazies. Politics shouldn’t skew our common sense and decency. Don’t fall in this trap that our government constructed/cultures using hate and fear to fuel fanaticism FOR A DAMN POLITICAL PARTY over real issues that matter. There is no reason in this country we can’t agree on healthcare, fair pay, education, war tactics and children/family welfare, but it is this deranged behavior of partisan psychosis that is driving the people away from their own cure. Don’t let politics guide your person.

Why are we even called “United” were we forcibly and eagerly invite so much division on surface differences that we can’t get basic Human Rights issues resolved? This Nation is Stagnant. Stuck and lacking any life or light that it may have had. Sure there are worst places in the world, but is that the measuring stick we really want to use to guide our culture?

Wake up…we have been nodding off at the wheel for far too long.

Image Of Malcolm Spanking Barack Is Eye Catching…

I get it…I get it. Vote For Change…They are a cute family…Historic blah blah…but really all history isn’t progressive in a way that improves the human condition. I guess we have to cling to the press clippings and just find comfort in the “At least it isn’t Bush, McCain, or Romney…” mentality. Just not a fan of the politician.

More specifically a CAREER politician…Those who do it to make a living over a difference, which is just about all of them. Not knocking anyone for feeding their family, but just call it what it is…a job, career, and making a living…not service. Maybe I’m not rich enough or poor enough to feel the benefits.

It’s not about my personal well being that prompted the post…I just don’t like being told I should vote and praise a man that doesn’t care or can’t execute on my agenda…public health is cool…but public education is critical. Again I respect the man, because of Michelle Obama really…I’d like to see in his 2nd and last term him be more proactive and assert the full extent of his power and influence to push policy to improve the lives of Americans more than take lives of the misidentified enemies of the nation.

The greatest enemy of America is lack of education and resources to live above poverty while being beaten over the head with images of other gluttons being rewarded for their wasteful and distasteful behavior. #FeedTheGreed?

Great article…Very rich in information and facts. Thank you to Ashahed M. Muhammad. I expressed my mistrust of Obama’s will and authenticity most specifically as a beacon of achievement for Black people in this country…His style of expression is measured and yet muddy at the same time. When faced with opposition or asked the tough questions he is a truly a politician. He isn’t a freedom fighter. He isn’t a peaceful warrior. He is just another politician out to serve himself and the machine that maintains him.To sign a bill like this and follow it saying you don’t agree to everything in it tells me there is no conviction in your consciousness. What was the rush to sign the bill…what personal political agenda needed to be satisfied so soon that you would endorse something you feel the need to explain right away that you have suspicions about?!?

The governments sole purpose is maintain its own power and control. The people are the never the priority and principals can be precluded for profit at all times.

I’m not a conspiracy theorist. I’m not a bullshit artist. I’m not a self-proclaimed prophet or expert. I am a thinking, feeling, and critical human being that tries to put my humanity first when acting. I don’t see this in politicians. I don’t see this in Obama. I certainly don’t see any of this in this NDAA bill.

This is a topic that will take a lot of research and dissection to fully understand and I’m not there yet, but you don’t have pick and poke at excrement too much tell if it is shit or not…I am disappointed in the lack of power we have as voters and the lack of accountability that politicians, police, and other allow “authorities / upholders” of law are held to. I’m never without hope, but stuff like this makes it even more critical to guard and build defenses around your family to protect them. You have to not only worry about criminals in the street, but also government backed police and militaristic profit policy that is routinely given carte blanche to gun down and imprison those without the resources to defend themselves.

Hold tight to what you love and don’t hesitate to defend it. How does the world get worst with age and all the knowledge being shared? Maybe there is so much clutter the base principals of what humanity should feel and look like are long lost. Now humanitarian efforts are dropping bags of rice out of a plane or assigning you an your organization a large salary to profit off poverty and pain while doing nothing to curb the epidemic.

Is this what you support as a WORLD citizen?

Trying not to be a hater and it has nothing to do with Frank Ocean SORTA coming out…I’m not opposed or have a lack of appreciation for increasing your buzz to push a product, but personally I can’t digest marketing stunts the same as social rebellion or uplift. I didn’t appreciate Obama’s SORTA support for gay marriage (what a days) before a massive campaign funding efforts, so the same applies here…

Does anyone have more than a tweet or blog post of the young man speaking to this beside posting his December 2011 diary entry to the public one week before label decides to drop his album early…and does it even matter that people know your sexuality if you plan to keep making music that all can enjoy and that is what you do?

I don’t know if it is the Wolf Gang affiliation that brings to mind stunts to get attention, but I don’t like false causes when there are so many things to be righteous about…Ah well God love him and hope the music continues to be good to him and the fans (new and old)…

To be honest I heard Frank Ocean was gay before I knew who he was even though I had the song “Novacane” memorized for months…I didn’t know he wrote and performed it…

In the end no hate…I just like my righteous expressions without a side of capitalistic gain…I’m dreaming I know. Is Corporate or Capitalistic Activism an oxymoron or is this just a new age where we all just need to find ways to get paid no matter what? Let’s all put our personal struggles on the table I guess…lets see how much we can profit off the therapy.

If it truly helps you breath easy let it fly…

I’m not going to pretend that I understand homosexuality or that I’m a true champion of gay marriage. I openly admit to being something that I typically don’t like to be on a topic, which is ambivalent toward the matter. It doesn’t effect me one way or the other, so I’m not going to drum up fake concern in order to get a pat on the back.

What does bother me is the taking of a personal choice or a preferred lifestyle and politicizing it. Even worst politicians and people who consider themselves as ‘informed voters’ (oxymoron?) assigning their oh so fluid religious beliefs and pseudo-philosophies to a matter that has no place on a ballot.

The separation of church and state is really non-existent. That is problematic. It makes people who already inherently hypocritical more empowered to unjustly apply their illogical and unjust “beliefs”. It is all good to lean on your religious beliefs only if you are christian or catholic in the US when trying to get a base of support for your cause or to fuel your distraction, but when it comes to actions and being accountable to injustices inflicted on people everyday religion gets trumped by policy and constitutional commandments. 

If we are not putting on a ballot whether or not people can be homosexual, bi-sexual, heterosexual or asexual then why the hell would we care to politicize those same individuals rights to marry, adopt, and operate within that lifestyle in any fashion they care to as long as it is productive and in keeping with whatever standards a citizen should be charged with to add to the greater good?

President Obama made a statement as a man that happens to be a politician, which no matter context or content will always be over politicized and have multiple people spinning the message to help quench their own thirst for attention or more support for their cause. The fact of the matter is he expressed something that is lacking in politics, religion, as well as everyday life…evolution of thought.

We cannot be STUCK. Yes you stand for what you believe and try to be open and gain perspective, but no one will change your mind, but you. With that, if you are being presented with facts and are able to see that things are not as you thought they were there should be a paradigm shift. In many cases that shift will have you show support for many things that you personally do not live, but have grown to understand and appreciate those who do live it.

Bottom line is marriage is as ambiguous as it has proven to be unsuccessful for many of the same reasons gay marriage is even an issue we get distracted by debating. Religion and Politics don’t mix. People will stand on the bible to debate gay marriage, abortion, planned parenthood, but in the same vein stomp all over the bible in support of the things they lust over (guns, money, sex, power, and their perceived right to be considered the moral right).

As a nation we will never build in any positive direction if we are always so willing and eager to tear down others based on race, religion, sexuality, and economic status…As a country was are over 200 years old (236 from day of independence and 225 from the signing of the constitution), but still needs to grow up.

Equality that is situational is not equality really. So for that reason I support Gay Marriage and don’t believe it should be a political issue or something the people have a right to allow or disallow…

Disagree?

There is one major component that doesn’t get touched on in this article and it is education, which goes back to the Federal level. President Obama kicks off this ariticles purpose by asking the very question that previous Presidents have ignored for years, because the fat cats were eating good. This idea or LIE that the GOP actually used in their “rebuttal” via Mitch Daniels of the US being the place of the “haves and soon to haves” is ridiculous. The great lie of America is that all you need to do is work hard. There are plenty of displaced and lost hard workers in this country. The federal government isn’t innovative in anyway. How many new initiatives and ground breaking actions to improve inefficiencies have come over the last 30+ years??  

You keep seeing “Mid-skill” level referenced. This country has been so committed to this model of filtering youth to being politicians or service professionals in the sense that you go to college and no matter what you study (Engineering to English) you can function as an Agent of Service. This does NOTHING for need to INNOVATE and create change to a outdated model for an OUTDATED BRAND called America! These examples where a factory like FoxxConn gets it and builds systems of efficiency and quality all over the world is something the US has had the means to do years ago, but FAILED to execute on, because the “leaders” fell asleep at the wheel and because as stated before…the fat cats have always ate well. If GREED or GOOD is your measure of value you lack value. If CASH over CONVICTION is your mission you have no true mission. If PROFIT over PURPOSE is your position dammit you will always lose your spot. The foundation unlike what President Obama was saying last night in need of great repair. I understand he is speaking to a need to see the bright side, but the reality is we’ve been doing that so long the ugly truths that needed attention was lost in the dark. Now when we go back to try to address them we are stumbling in the dark as we trip over every item some dropped and walked away from. A President shouldn’t be a janitor, but the government on whole is supposed to be working for the people and they just haven’t been doing their job. And for people to fall back on the “well if you vote it won’t happen” are way off. I contend voting is more like carnival game than an exercise of knowledge and action!!

So essentially the lore and lust of instant gratification produced retardation in growth as well as the desire to forecast with the purpose of long-term prosperity. 

Onajé Malik Lott

President Obama Singing Al Green’s “Still In Love” and well I might add. 

Very Cool and I’m not fanatic, just appreciate the levity. By and large we take ourselves so serious. Good to see someone in his position jump out of comfort zone to show love to someone else. I guess when you are on stage at the Apollo Theater you can’t help it :)

#GoodLiving