WARTIME ISSUE 4

WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A WAR.

A war that we are not winning. We didn’t start this war, but we have to finish it. Our opposition is organized across countries and continents. To win, we must be organized. To be organized takes a process of discipline and aligning our principles, our goals, our vision and our actions.

We are Black Men working with Black Men to serve our communities, to be critical thinkers, to speak truth, to teach others, and to build the social, economic, political and spiritual tools needed to evolve and power our Black future.

BMB is a wide group of Black Men from all walks of life who have come together to take on issues that are challenging Black people.

ALIGNING OUR VALUES IS THE FIRST STEP. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

We are critical thinkers who are curious about this moment and how it’s affecting us, our families, our communities, and future generations.

We are bonded with Black Women and all Black people who are fighting for true freedom for Black people*. We must end the hurt and pain that we’ve caused Black Women and work together to heal and transform ourselves, our families, and our communities. There is no power, no victory, no hope for a better world without the partnership and leadership of Black Women.

We are coming together in all the ways we are called to free ourselves and our people from false information and mistreatment.

We transform to meet the moment head-on. We are evolving in every way and reclaiming our true history to build a future that we create, not that is created forus. We are not the images of Black men sold by the Europeans.

We are bonded with Black Women and all Black people who are fighting for true freedom for Black people*. We must end the hurt and pain that we cause and work together to heal and transform ourselves, our families and our communities. There is no power, no victory, no hope for a better world without the partnership and leadership of Black Women.

*Black people who choose to fight for the enemy, or use our struggle for personal and financial benefit need not apply.

Money and the Power

It feels so good to have it. To know it’s yours. It feels like you’re closer to the image of the men you grew up admiring. Feels like you conquered a piece of the world and you’re rewarded for what you did. It’s status. It’s comfort. It’s safety. It’s power. It’s attraction. It’s a dream come true. An American Dream.

(I mean…even the BIBLE says that Heaven had streets paved with Gold.)

The guys I grew up admiring always had money. More than me anyway. My oldest brother had a candy-painted blue Impala and he parked it in front of my mom’s house and it sat there for years when he was locked up. It was regal and had the switches in the trunk. Looked like somebody who you should respect lived there. It looked like hidden wealth but on full display. The kind you might not understand or ask questions about - but you nod your head at the person who walks out the front door, or you look out for them if anything is going on… or you minded your business. Either way, you respected it.

By Steve Pargett Photography by Jessica Page

We construct our lives with these symbols of power, of access, of the type of wealth that we can stretch out and grab.

Get Rich or Die Trying. But why?

To attract women. To impress other men. To have respect. To convince people that we have power.

But do we really? All this money…more Black millionaires and billionaires than any other time in history and what power do we really have?

So many of my friends are out here with rollies on their wrist, with nice apartments or just closed on their first home, partying on yachts in Miami - or turning up in Vegas - or on the scene in LA - taking up space at important brands in executive roles. It feels like power on social media. It’s to be respected for sure. Scroll through the timeline any day and it looks like another one made it out.

Some of us have the privilege to see a path towards comfort, but for most of our community, they’re just fucked. You’re just supposed to be on the bottom of society and work a shit job (if you can get one) because you’re Black. Your family is gonna be in and out of jail because they’re just more likely to get stopped. All of that is supposed to be normal to us.

We hide in these pockets of safety that we can feel free because we aren’t actually.

When I’m watching a Supreme Court judge getting confirmed I’m just a spectator. When I’m watching that same supreme court take away our human rights, I’m still just a spectator.

Access to clean drinking water just went out in Jackson, Mississippi the same way that it did in Flint, Michigan and I’m still just a spectator.

I know weed is legal in Colorado, but if I smoke with my friends in Atlanta I might get jammed.

I’m tuned into Earn Your Leisure to figure out how to make sound investments with the little bread I do have, but if a law that threatened my friends and family was passed, what would I do with all my money? I would try to navigate life in a way to avoid that law.

I still battle with this game of Power where the way that I represent myself is more important than what I really have. This prominence and obsession with my social status that we all participate in that feels more important than our political status. I think this is a challenge that many of us struggle with.

The next 90 pages are full of perspective to challenge you - to discuss with your family and your peers. What are Money, Power, and Respect? Who really has it? Who are our real enemies? What is a vision of communities that balances these themes and ideas and grounds us in a vision for the future? We have dispatches from BMB Hubs around the country giving their perspective of what issues they’re facing. We go to St. Louis to see the work they are doing to unite street tribes. We look at the “Defund the Police” campaign to see what it’s actually accomplished. We talk about Respect and what it means to Black men as we navigate relationships, fatherhood and day-to-day life navigating this crooked system and so much more.

We all need to be challenged about the way that we think of these pillars in our lives. We need to develop a healthy relationship with money and consumption, we need the hunger to build political power that means something. We need to challenge the notions of what deserves our respect. Let’s get into it.

BY PHIL AGNEW

It’s past time to prepare for the War that is at our doors. Our true Ops are assembled, organized, and aligned. Their agenda is a return to the old ways of Black men being their allies, their bullies, their bucks, their boys. The Old world is dying….And if Black Men are still talking about 'money, cars, hoes and clothes' then our people are dead. We are more than the men in their movies, on their money, in their history books. We’re calling you. Join us as we fight for the souls of our cities, the lives of our families, the future of our people. We bring peace to the New Men across the country.

Become a member. Build a Circle. Strengthen your mind. Start a Hub. Serve our people. Struggle for a new world being born. Join us.

NEW MEN MUST BE BORN.

Men, who are ready to meet this moment head on. Men who know that the old normal was death. Men who are unafraid to love themselves and their people. Men who can face the man in the mirror with joy and pride.

NEW MEN MUST BE BORN.

Men who refuse to succumb to the numbness. Men who use their feeling to inspire action. Men who are tired of killing ourselves, tired of watching our world burn, tired of watching our schools crumble, our families struggle, our neighborhoods be sold, our brothers and sisters stolen.

NEW MEN MUST BE BORN.

Men who can confront their minds and explore their interior worlds. Men who aren t controlled by pain and tricked by trauma. Men who protect their partners, teach their people, defend their legacies.

NEW MEN MUST BE BORN.

Men who find power in joy, who find freedom in a healed heart, who find strength in their love,who find fulfillment in service.

NEW MEN MUST BE BORN.

Men who aren’t fooled by the Master’s tools, who aren’t seduced by Black faces in White places, who aren’t guided by greed. Men with integrity and curiosity.

NEW MEN MUST BE BORN.

Men who aren t obsessed with the ways of the West. Their fears, their wars, their phobias, their selfishness, their savagery. Men ready to reclaim our souls, our smiles, our standards, our stories.

PLATINUM RULE THE

There are Different Levels to Respect

By Asa Shaw

In 2016, Baby a.k.a. Birdman pulled up on The Breakfast Cclub crew with what seemed like half of the Magnolia Projects and threatened them to put some “respeck” on his name. This came after Charlamagne, Envy, and Yee had been dragging Birdman for allegedly not paying his artists, musicians, and others that did business with his record label. Unsurprisingly, once the digital trolls saw the confrontation, it blew up and became a lasting cultural moment. To this day, I still hear people say, “Y’all finished, or y’all done?” and I haven’t heard a “T” at the end of respect in a minute. Thank you, Birdman.

But, for all the laughs that people across the world got out of this moment, there is a deeper issue at the heart of confrontations like this. The issue we should be discussing is respect, what it means, and why so many of us are ready to die for it.

If I was Aaron Mcgruder, creator of The Boondocks, I could probably just chalk this conversation about respect up to what he called, “Nigga Moments” and blame it on the “illogical” and “self-destructive” behavior Black men so often fall into. But, reducing niggas down to moments sounds too much like the whitey racists we despise. So, we had conversations with Black men and women to learn about what respect means in the Black community. Here is what we found:

Building on the first level, the second level of respect is not just given to everyone, it is usually earned. It’s the willingness to get up and give your seat to an elder or to wait in line to get your J’s signed by Jordan. We give elders more respect because they have earned it for their years of experience dealing with the world and their wisdom. Again, this level of respect is also based on culture. An Aussie is a lot less likely to respect Michael Jordan because they do not really watch basketball over there, but they will riot over a game of cricket.

This first level is general regard or acknowledgment of others' boundaries or humanity. At this level, respect is not earned, it's given, and unless you’re a psychopath, you will generally treat those around you with a certain level of care. Different cultures or subcultures have different expectations though, so at this level, you can find yourself disrespecting people by doing simple things, like offering prosciutto to a member of the Nation of Islam.

This respect is based on a person's ability to inflict violence on those around them or their ability to change someone’s circumstances through various means. There is a difference between conformity and respect, though. We do what police say because they have the ability to end our lives through jail, prison time, or by blowing our brains out. But just because we do what they say, doesn't mean we respect them.

These are the different ways that we found Black folks talk about respect and what they mean when they are using the word. This is important to understand because the “money, power, and respect” that the LOX was talking about is a different type of respect than Aretha Franklin was demanding in “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.”

Where Do We Go From Here

Malcolm X, in his speech “Message to the Grassroot” said, “You don’t catch hell ’cause you’re a Methodist or Baptist. You don’t catch hell because you’re a Democrat or a Republican. You don’t catch hell because you’re a Mason or an Elk. And you sure don’t catch hell ’cause you’re an American; ’cause if you was an American, you wouldn’t catch no hell. You catch hell ’cause you’re a Black man.”

This message still rings true today, and because it is still true, we need to learn to have more respect for each other as Black people at the outset. “Black,” should mean a higher level of respect because of a collective acknowledgment of our shared struggle.

We talked about the golden rule as the first level of respect in the Black community. I think we need a Platinum rule of respect in our community. One that is based on the Zulu concept of Sawubona which means, “we see you.” Just like when we see an elder and we straighten our backs and use formalities when speaking to them, we need to have the same reverence for the Black people around us. If we don't increase the level of respect that we have for one another, then who will?

The first level of respect is essentially the golden rule “treat others like you want to be treated.”

The second level of respect comes from reverence or admiration for deeds accomplished.

The last level of respect comes from fear or an acknowledgment of power.

THE POWER OF THE FIST

By T-Dubb-O

GANG UNIFICATION

There are certain martial artists that train to do mass damage with just one finger. However, the typical person doesn’t have the ability to do jackknife style push ups on their thumbs or perform a finger death punch. I say all that to say that if you want to deliver a powerful blow, we must combine all our fingers into a single fist before striking. This philosophy is needed amongst the streets now more than ever.

At some point, even warring countries must sit down and come to terms for the greater good of their mutual and individual interests. We all know the ideology behind the creation of Black organizations, but it’s safe to say that we abandoned the original morals and visions long ago.

The first popularized gang truce happened in 1992. The Watts Truce of 1992 was a peace agreement amongst rival gangs in Los Angeles.

This truce did have a positive impact on street violence up until the 2010s. On the positive side, this truce created a template of peace for gangs across the nation. But just like rules from the origins, many of these truce agreements didn’t follow the expansion of gangs across the nation. The late great Tupac Shakur worked with Mopreme to craft the Thuglife Code. This code was created to set rules for the success of the streets. Pac realized that this system was created to keep us here. While here, we can use the conditions we have to make a way out for us all. These rules were not just to limit violence, but to unify and empower the streets in hopes of combining our fingers into a fist.

As the years progressed, we lost touch with all these principles. Violence became more and more popularized. From the mid 2000s until the mid 2010s, we saw some of the most violent years ever in the streets. The Notorious Big said, “You’re nobody til’ somebody kills you”. Lil Wayne made this phrase fit the new generation by stating, “Where I’m from, you’re nobody til’ you kill somebody”. However, a few key events in the last decade helped spark the idea of unity amongst gangs and a refreshing new revolutionary view amongst young people.

The first of these events was the Ferguson Rebellion. St. Louis, MO has always been one of if not the nation’s most violent cities. Outside of being the murder capital and at the top of the FBI’s most dangerous cities list, as a Black man you have ten times the chance of being murdered by police in St. Louis than anyone anywhere else being killed by anybody else.

ON AUGUST 9TH, 2014, THE REST OF THE WORLD FINALLY GOT THE GIST OF THE SYSTEMIC OPPRESSION THAT FLOURISHES IN THE ST. LOUIS REGION

But what the media didn’t tell you is that this movement was started and led by the streets.

Gang members, single parents, drug dealers, scammers, working class folks, shooters, strippers, etc. started and led this rebellion. It wasn’t professional activists and national organizations. Ferguson was the most powerful and important political moment since the civil rights movement. The images that the world should’ve seen weren’t the images that the media displayed. Bloods and Crips put their rivalries aside for the protection of our community and to stand together against the military and police forces sent in from around the region. Blue and red bandanas were tied together as Crips and Bloods walked arm and arm down the street calling for justice in the assassination of Michael Brown Jr. by Officer Darren Wilson.

The next important moment was yet again after another tragedy. We, as Black people, must stop waiting for death to unite. The murder of Nipsey Hussle in 2019 sent shockwaves through the streets and music industry. Nip was known not only for his music but for his constant empowerment of Black people. Nip was also a well-known Rolling 60’s Crip gang member. He was murdered outside his clothing store in the 60’s territory by another member of the 60’s. His death sparked the communication of possible peace amongst many rivals in L.A.

The opposition to Black unity takes no days off. As many of us work to offset this destruction, they are using every tool possible to stagnate the current generation and preplan the demise of the next one simultaneously. One of our most powerful tools is hip-hop culture. The same culture that gave us financial freedom, mental releases, and a voice that educated the world about our struggles has been turned into one of the most powerful weapons against us. Pac once stated, “Many of us don’t got fathers so we got our game from the rappers.”

That is extremely true. So, if all the rappers are talking about is boxes, switches, fentanyl, robbing, finessing, and shooting, what do you think the children who idolize them will go outside and try?

The problem lies in that these rappers are complete idiots and have no morality. The goal is to not get caught. They put their entire illegal itinerary on social media and then cooperate with police upon arrest. The youth mirror these terrible actions. Some of these artists have probably never shot a gun in their lives and can easily vacate their hoods for rap life. The youth are left in a warzone with no way out and in order to survive, you must kill.

Here in St. Louis, we have begun using hip-hop to try to establish peace. One of the first steps was the unification of gangs at video shoots. I released a music video with my independent entertainment company, Audacity Music Group, titled “All Mighty Gang.” At the beginning and end of the video you will witness blue, purple, and red bandanas being tied together. This wasn’t a reenacted or scripted scene. This was done by real 60’s, Bloods, & Grapes who are all connected in the hopes of Black liberation and peace. This is a message I carry within everything I personally do. As violent as St. Louis is, there are real ones on the ground who come from this life that are actively working to change it. Me, being one of them.

This is a call to action. The future is at stake. We must ask ourselves, what kind of world do we want to create not only for us, but for our children and their children? Do we want them in a community that’s a finger or fist? We’ve been in a fight for our simple human rights for centuries.

As I stated earlier, I like our chances more as a fist. Lucky Luciano is one of the most famous mobsters ever. He understood the philosophy of structure and unity even in the blackmarket more than most gangsters. Luciano was the key piece in forming The Commission, which was the national organized crime syndicate that brought a majority of the mafia families together in partnership like a corporation with board members. He is known as the father of modern organized crime in the United States.

Lucky realized that as a finger you were weak, but as a fist you could control your own fate and fight against the system. It’s time for a Black Commission.

RESPECT THE

“Daddy, I’m depressed.”

That’s a text message that said more than three words. These are times when fatherhood is activated on a level we seldom have to tap into. I didn’t grow up having conversations with my parents about my mental health. I grew up in an era where I would be condemned or ridiculed if people knew what I dealt with on a daily basis. We address trauma now, but it wasn’t always this way.

I’m sure a lot of brothers can relate, the boyz in the hood raised us. My pops lived in the house, but he was raising seve n sons and a daughter, so I felt invisible sometimes. When I was 17, my guidance counselor told my mother I was suicidal because I was having an anxiety attack in class. So naturally she panicked, put me in therapy, put me on medication, and told me this was my battle to fight. My mother did the best she could do, and that’s all we can really ask of our parents.

We live in a totally different age. I communicate with my daughter in a way where she can understand me. I grew up often feeling misunderstood. The way the younger generation expresses themselves is based on the examples our generation has set for them. We are the fathers given the task of breaking all of the generational curses because now, “We know better”.

Realistically, we just hope we aint fuckin’ up.

Just like our parents, we are doing the best we can do. I totally understand that we have to take more accountability than ever these days, but that ain’t the type of pressure we should put on ourselves. We live and we learn, but it all starts with addressing the issue first. We have the power to heal.

These babies got it bad right now.

In these times, we have to be mindful that our children are looking to us for counsel because they feel lost, as they should. They are seeking guidance from influencers and the media and that will forever be a dangerous thing. Your presence is a gift. Our children are a part of us and they know us, so we must show up for them in times of need. I know I’m not a licensed therapist, but I know my mama had enough sense to make sure she took me to see one.

This is basically child support that can’t be monetized.

We are fighting the good fight, and it's going to get rough on the battlefield at times, but keep pushing. Take your time with yourself and be patient with your babies. They stress just as much as us. We have to remember that the lives we create for them is the legacy we leave behind. As the saying goes, “Any fool with a dick can make a baby, but it takes a man to raise a child.” Salute to all the brothers putting in the work.

BY COREY BLACK | PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIRBY GRIFFIN

What does the protection of a community look like, in action?

The world we live in operates off of rules and regulations, codes of conduct, and parameters that dictate how groups and individuals interact with one another. If we view our communities as organizations that live and breathe, simultaneously thriving or failing due to the actions of the people that reside inside of them, would that help us to better understand how they must be maintained?

Historically, there have always been entities that existed in neighborhoods and communities that made the safety and well-being of the residents a priority.

Shortly after the founding of the Black Panther Party, two high school students, Raymond Washington and Stanley Williams created the CRIPS, an organization that at one time stood for “Community Restoration In Progress” and “Community Resources for Independent People.” Originally established in response to the harassment and terrorization that they experienced at the hands of white police officers and their grade school peers, the children of families who fled the Jim Crow south during the Great Migration found refuge in organizing in response to a threat and found strength in unity. However, without a proper code of conduct and rules for these new street fraternities to abide by, the collective power and organization of groups such as the CRIPS and BLOODS gave rise to rivalries and violence that persist until this very day.

True community protection has always come from the interior, from those who reside within the community making the preservation and defense of it their highest priority. In New York City, the Shomrim have existed in Jewish communities of various boroughs since the late seventies, providing patrols of their respective neighborhoods in an effort to prevent and deter crime. In Mexico, numerous Grupos de Autodefensas (self-defense groups) and Policia Comunitaria (community police) were founded in response to narco-trafficking and cartel violence. Throughout the world, communities composed of people who share cultural identifiers, whether it’s race, religion, or creed have made the defense of their community a matter of great importance –so what are we waiting for?

Black communities across America have very similar experiences regardless of time zone or region. Law enforcement agencies, both local and federal, have terrorized our neighborhoods for decades. Food deserts exist in the majority of our inner cities, contributing to poor eating habits and health disparities that have impacted generations. Joblessness, unemployment, and recidivism rates continue to make members of our community statistics in the prison pipeline. We can very easily point out the issues that our communities face, but continue to fail at providing our own solutions to these problems

Relying on government agencies to create remedies for the problems that exist in our communities leads to further systemic abuses that we must then attempt to also stymie. If we take history into account, learning from our collective anecdotal experiences and empirical evidence, it becomes quite obvious that any worthwhile solutions must come from within.

COMMUNITY PROTECTION

Community protection is the result of organizing in response to common issues and/or enemies. The street fraternities and organizations that exist in many of our communities were founded on these very principles. Unfortunately, the path chosen by most of these groups is rooted in the crime, death, and destruction that continues to cripple the very neighborhoods and communities they reside in. Without guidelines, rules of engagement, and a clear understanding of who the true enemies are internally and externally for Black communities, we will continue to need protection from the organizations and individuals who were once capable of providing the protection and safety we are so desperately seeking.

In a drinking game segment, Drink Champs host Noriega asks guests to pick one: loyalty or respect. Most of the people I’ve heard go with loyalty, explaining that someone can respect you and still do you dirty. In fact, it’s basically the only answer that makes sense, because respect has little value if the person in question feels they owe you nothing.

“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman,” Malcolm X famously said. “The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.”

You’ve probably heard this quote a number of times over the years, likely because it resonates with Black women as much today as it did when it was first uttered in 1962. You’ve likely heard a lot about the “respect” part in particular, as it’s so deeply connected to the experiences of all Black people, regardless of gender. Black men certainly can empathize with feeling a lack of respect, because their experiences with white people, with ‘the system,’ are so often defined by exactly that.

RESPECT & BLACK MEN

BLACK

BY JAMILAH LAMEIUX PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIRBY GRIFFIN & ARMANDO GENEYRO

It’s the “neglected” part we don’t talk about often enough. It’s a lack of both respect and loyalty that plays such a devastating role in the lives of Black women and girls, yet most of us don’t have the language to explain or understand it.

From girlhood, Black women are raised to love Black men and love them in a deep, all-encompassing way. We are trained to be loyal to you, to want you, to feel deeply connected to, and responsible for, what happens to you. We see partnering with you all as one of our greatest goals, one so significant that when we fail to do so, we may feel that we have failed at life. Most of us are trained to protect you, to keep quiet when you’ve done something wrong that has hurt us – even if it comes at a tremendous cost to us.

When I think about the relationship between Black men and Black women, I think along the lines of Lauryn Hill’s pleading question on “Ex-Factor:” “Just who do Black women have to be to gain some reciprocity?” How hard do we have to love to get both respect and loyalty in return?

I don’t mean “All hail the sistah queen” poetry set-style expressions of respect, I mean feeling as though the things that hurt Black women and girls matter to Black men and boys, that they see our plight as their plight, as we’ve seen their struggles as our own. And loyalty isn’t about exclusively partnering with Black women, it’s about treating us – the collective us – as though we matter to you, regardless of whom you’re romantic with. Respect and loyalty to Black women means extending yourself to those who are outside of your family and friend circles as well, it means treating your sisters like sisters.

I won’t pretend that each and every Black woman knows how to love Black men, or even aspires to do so, but I’d be lying if I said the vast majority of the Black women I’ve come across weren’t gravely serious about how much they do, in fact, feel and express that love. I’d also be lying if I acted as if I haven’t heard from countless Black women over the years who feel that the love they have given as individuals and that the love we offer collectively, has not been returned in kind.

Reciprocal love might take us some time to get to, for there’s a lot of unlearning that has to be done; you’ve been socialized to distrust and dislike us, to see us as less than other women. Loyalty may be a long destination too, as there’s little social capital to be found from sticking by our sides. In the meantime, can those of you who care about Black women – and I know that there are many of you who do – work past the discomfort you feel when we talk about these issues? Can you commit to listening to Black women’s concerns without immediately dismissing us?

Will you respect just how much we are hurting, as we wait for you to love us as we’ve loved you? Might you respect the loyalty we’ve given by examining the role that Black women and girls have played throughout your life, how they’ve nurtured, sustained and supported you, and then looking at how those same women and girls were treated by you, by other men and boys, by the same systems we know harm you but pretend as if they don’t also attack us?

Black women and girls deserve more from Black men and boys than we have gotten. We deserve loyalty, love and much more. We’ve been by your side in every way imaginable. We’ve sacrificed, we’ve prayed, we’ve done any and everything to prove our devotion. If you can’t respect us, you must at least respect that.

Reciprocal love might take us some time to get to, for there’s a lot of unlearning that has to be done; you’ve been socialized to distrust and dislike us, to see us as less than other women.

cash ruins everything around me

C.R.E.A.M

By Phil Agnew & Lyfestile | Photography by Nyara Williams

Cash rules everything around me

C.R.E.A.M., get the money

Dollar dollar bill, y'all - Wu-Tang Clan, C.R.E.A.M

It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.

- Henry Ford

In America, we’re taught that there’s nothing more important than money. From birth, we are bred to honor profit and wealth as our defining reasons for being. We worship at the altar of the almighty dollar. Money is God, your first love, your best friend, your dream, and every goal. We put money over everything: women (*bitches), friends, opps. Our music is dominated by dreams of money. Our churches minister to a God who promises riches and a heaven with streets “paved with gold.”

But it wasn’t always this way for Black people here in the Americas. For 400 years, we were considered property in this country. We were traded and sold and tortured for money. We couldn’t dream of money, let alone hope to make it, spend it, throw it, blow it.

How did we get here? How did money go from being our affliction to our addiction? What changed? How did money become our “everything”?

First, let’s go back to a little history of “the bag”:

About 40,000 years ago, before what we consider “money” existed, bartering and trade were the dominant forms of exchange. A brother might be able to trade a basket of vegetables for a shirt and both parties would get something they needed. People traded food, animals, weapons, tools, and favors. Sounds like a pretty good system right? You could fuck around and pay somebody with some salt if you had enough of it.

What’s “Bartering”?: exchange (goods or services) for other goods or services without using money. Remember trading cards? You bartered.

At some point, it was decided that some kind of currency, with an agreed-upon value, was necessary. Shells, livestock, pearls, and many other things were used as currency all over the world. These things could represent wealth and social status. You could pay people with this stuff.

1000 B.C 500 B.C 118 B.C 700-800 A.D 1816 A.D Present Day

The first metal money dates back to 1000 B.C. China. These coins were made from stamped pieces of valuable metal, such as bronze and copper. Coins were a huge milestone in the history of money because they were one of the first currencies that allowed people to pay by count (number of coins) rather than by weight. The concept spread because it was so efficient. A bag of silver coins was a lot easier to transport than a herd of goats. In about 500 B.C., the first round of coins were created and stamped with gods and emperors for authenticity. In 800 AD, Charlemagne issued the silver penny, which was the standard coin in Western Europe from 794 to 1200 A.D.

The first country to use paper money was China, but it was only used until about 1455. Paper money’s lighter weight allowed for international trade, which created problems like distrust and currency wars but also opportunities like the ability to trade in new places for new goods. Paper is worthless but what it represents separates the rich from the poor and can mean the difference between life and death.

Over the period of the Atlantic Slave Trade, from approximately 1526 to 1867, some 12.5 million slaves were shipped from Africa, and 10.7 million arrived in the Americas. The Middle Passage was dangerous and horrific for enslaved Africans. The sexes were separated.

Men, women, and children were kept naked, packed close together; and the men were chained for long periods.

About 12 percent of those who embarked did not survive the voyage.

Slavery, particularly the cotton industry which existed from the end of the 18th century to the beginning of the Civil War, was a thoroughly modern business. Enslaved Black slaves were America’s largest financial asset. We made the United States one of the leading economies of the world with the Southern United States becoming home to some of the world’s richest people. The Mississippi River Valley had more millionaires per capita than any other region.

First metal money and coins were developed using base metals.

Stamped coins were made from previous metals, resembling today’s modern coinage.

The first known type of banknote was created using leather.

Paper money banknotes were being used in China, but they didn’t make their way to Europe until much later.

Banknotes are tied to the value of gold, known as the Gold Standard, which remained the best practice until 1930.

The first banks were started by the Roman Empire around 1800 B.C. These banks offered loans and accepted deposits from individuals, but would later disappear with the collapse of the empire. The first bank in the U.S., the Bank of the United States, was established in 1791.

Our Labor Built That Wealth

Now, let’s get something clear: Black people are responsible for the wealth of the entirety of the western world. There is no Bank of the United States without us.

The economic value of the four million enslaved peoples in the U.S. in 1860 was about $4 billion, an average of $1,000 per person. That was more than what all the banks, railroads, and factories in the U.S. were worth at the time. In today’s dollars, that would come out to as much as $42 trillion.

Our labor built that wealth and that wealth built the factories of the North and Europe, fueled the Industrial Revolution, and quite literally built this nation from a fledgling group of colonies to a global superpower. Our labor and that wealth were then used to destroy, take over, colonize, topple, and pillage countries and people through untold violence that continues to this day.

Paper banknotes and coins are still being updated and used, but electronic money is becoming increasingly popular.

And here we are. Money is now the motive. People once bought, sold, and enslaved for money are now bought, sold, and enslaved to money.

We get it though. There’s history there.

“Money is power”...or that’s how the story goes. The story told by the motherfuckers that stole all the money… to the people that they stole it from. And who doesn’t want power??? Who doesn’t want the power to move and live and laugh and breathe the way people with money do; to have the homes and cars and lives that people with money do?

But capitalism requires an underclass and guess who that is? Black people and oppressed people all over the world. Our labor and hard work allow the rich to get richer while we stay in poverty. There are entire industries built on our incarceration (the “prison industrial complex”) and there are countless capitalist entities that prey on us in our communities (Payday loans, all those shitty Dollar Stores that exist in food deserts, etc.). Now, of course, some of us slip through the cracks and find some success in the rat race but most of those success stories end closer to the top of the pyramid of exploitation, doing what? You guessed it, exploiting the rest of us while selling us the lie that we might one day “make it out too.” Capitalism isn’t set up for all of us to be “bosses” (sorry Dame Dash). As long as there are a few extremely rich people there will be scores of extremely poor people and those rich folks will literally kill to make sure that they never have to trade places with you.

Money shouldn’t be the goal. When we adopt their story that money is the goal, we also adopt the story that nothing matters except money.

“If it doesn’t make money, it doesn’t make sense (cents).”

“Money over everything.”

“Cash is King.”

“At least he got his bread.” - Usually uttered after a conversation about a person losing their damn soul, integrity, etc.

But fuck that. Money been the motive behind millions of murdered Africans. How dare we buy into that story?

Plus, money isn’t the only power. It isn’t even the true power.

We shouldn’t just think about the story, and who is telling the story, but why they are telling the story.

Why is it so important that they convince us that money is the only way to power, the only way to feel love, to have joy, to have control of your life, to have purpose? We’ve been convinced that it’s perfectly OK to go to extreme, or even self-destructive lengths, to obtain “the bag.”

Now, nobody is saying that money (in itself) is evil. Just the love of it.

Money is a collective human invention. People agree on how much it’s worth and thus use it for exchange. Money in itself has no use-value for us humans. An orange, car, shoebox, t-shirt, or house does have use value. Money does not have use value as it’s not the end goal of a participant in the economy. The end goal is always goods and services. Therefore, what we use as money is a social contract to be used in trade and to store value, always based on trust.

And fuck that, we want the power.

And true power is in people.

We can hear you laughing to yourself. Doubting this version of the story. But, think about it. It’s people that make this country move. All that money is used to control people. So, at the end of the day, people are the most important to our movement: their hearts, their minds, their bodies.

Fuck the slice. We want the pie. Time to aim higher and get what they don’t want us to have: a people’s army stronger than anything in history and more powerful than money.

Money is an illusion.

where the

by Jason Perez

artwork by nic Vasquez

"Defund the Police" is less than Two Years Old

There are a lot of opinions about the “Defund the Police” movement, but as an abolitionist and someone who loves data, it is one of the most successful campaigns in terms of concrete wins that I have seen in awhile - especially for a campaign that grew from a moment of spontaneous mobilizing.

Most of the time such spontaneous moments struggle to transition to structure-based forms of organizing campaigns, let alone, make it to the finish line to get wins from a discrete, boring & undemocratic process that city budget fights are.

Still there seems to be a lot of handwringing from people on the left saying that it is ineffective because of the demand itself.

So I thought I would list some of the wins to give people an idea of its current success.

There are multiple ways to measure effectiveness, one way is measure campaign wins.

Here I’m qualifying wins as: Explicit use of Defund frame + Cuts to police budgets + investments in public safety alternatives or non-carceral public goods and services.

Changes in Police Funding in response to Public Pressure and Campaigning

THIS IS FOR THE YEAR 2020 TO 2021 LOCAL BUDGET CYCLE, THE 2021 TO 2022 BUDGET CYCLE IS STILL ONGOING.

1. MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Defund: $8mil

Incident & property damage calls sent to 311 not 911

Refund: $2mil to community-based violence prevention

2. SEATTLE, WA

Defund: $76mil

Parking enforcement, Mental health providers, 911, victim advocates all taken out of the police dept.

Refund: $13mil for community-based violence prevention & $17.4 for participatory budgeting

3. Austin, TX

Defund: $22mil in cuts, $130mil to an alternative to policing fund

Refund: $20mil in social housing, mental health and violence prevention

4. LOS ANGELES

Defund: $150mil

Refund: 2/3 of police cuts used for public services and programs for communities of color

5. SAN FRANCISCO

Defund: $120mil over 2 years

Refund: money cut to go to Department of public health

6. MILWAUKEE, WI

Defund: 2.1 mil

Refund: Money put to public health and cooperative housing

This list is not exhaustive, excluded from it are the over 25 cities that canceled their police contracts in schools or other public institutions since it’s hard to know which of those campaigns were explicitly using the “defund the police” slogan. Also not included cities that cut police but didn’t refund the money back in other public programs.

That is a lot of success for such a “terrible demand.”

Some may want to say it's due to the protest upsurge.That may be true to a point but we didn't see this level of police cuts and reinvestments when other BLM protest upsurges occured. Some may say that due to the recession, police budgets were going to get cut regardless. Well, that’s why I didn’t include cities where there was no reinvestment of the funds.

The attacks on “Defund the police” would be misplaced even without these successes but it’s even more suspicious in the face of such success. If tax the rich, the Green New Deal, or another “popular” local left demand had the same success in its first two years of existence, we would be trying to replicate it everywhere. Yet for defund, the opposite has happened despite this level of success.

It’s easier for the Left to imagine the end of capitalism than the end of policing.

Lastly, this doesn’t include polling, agenda setting, or culture shifts and changes in public opinion. These are areas where arguments can be made that the “Defund the Police” movement has shifted the terrain away from liberal reforms and away from blue lives matter politics. Still, those aspects are hard to measure and quantify. Hence, why I didn’t include it.

To be clear, there has been a counter-reaction by the right and liberals to try to claw back aspects of recent defund wins. But this happens when any left progressive or radical demand becomes policy. We see this with the anti-Critical Race Theory legislation being pushed by the right all across the country right now. This is a response to efforts to make public education culturally and historically accurate. We see this around issues of class with efforts to roll back union rights and freeze minimum wage increases. We see this with the constant effort to roll back voting rights. Yet we don’t see leftists, progressives, and most liberals saying we should abandon the fight for a living age, right to a union, voting rights or democratically controlled, fully-funded education with a culturally relevant and historically accurate curriculum. Yet, with “Defund the Police”, people question its viability, despite its wins in the face of fierce opposition.

This aversion is connected to a Left that is hesitant to fight carceral power coupled with a patronizing need to always tell Black-led Left movements what they need to do. We see a similar energy towards the “Abolish ICE” movement.

It’s easier for the Left to imagine the end of capitalism than the end of policing. Or put another way, the left thinks it's easier and more effective to organize a political constituency to end capitalism than to organize a political constituency to end policing.

But part of the abolitionist argument to the anti-capitalist left has been that the strength of any potential constituency to end capitalism is tied to the balance of forces as they relate to carceral power and also said constituencies commitment to ending carceral power.

Why? Because carceral power (much like imperial power) and the politics that derive from it are incubators of right wing, reactionary politics that specifically undermine left wing

And so I think it’s this dynamic that animates so much Left (in the multi-racial sense, because plenty of BIPOC Left folx be like this too) aversion to defund. Of course, aversion and even critique is fine for any Left project, but its the nature of the critique that is troubling and limiting.

Instead of critiquing or arguing about the demand, we should be focused on misses, limits and failures of the organizing strategy of defund campaigns so that we can do better. But such an opportunity is missed when we are always trying to debate if the demand is ok or not. The demand is here to stay until the moment it changes in response to “organic” and “spontaneous” organizing and movement forces that cause such a change to happen, similar to how we saw a shift from “Black Lives Matter” to “Defund the Police.” Until then, we should get to organizing.

And Reparations

“Even when we tried to become a part of the formal economy…..they pushed us out and we ended up with Sharecropping. From Sharecropping to Jim Crow. Then we had Black Wall St. and they bombed it. The truth is they never wanted us to be a part of the economy.”

“Right now, this industry is being overrun by republicans, by multinational corporations… There are a number of people seeing this market that young black people bled for, died for, lost years of lives for and lost our families for… There is money coming from tax revenue in these states and that money needs to go somewhere… and it is a worthwhile cause to ensure that the money coming from these taxes is coming back to the communities that were destroyed by the War on Drugs.”

BACKGROUND ON VIDEO

We all know that the “War on Drugs” has been a War on our Communities. The United States has a racist history that has continued to push us into an informal economy that has pressured us to participate in economic activity that isn’t always legal to make sure that our kids eat.

There are paths forward for our community to reverse the devastation of the decades year long war on drugs in our community. As Marijuana policy in this country changes, there are new economic opportunities and we need to have the right mindset to make sure that our communities take full advantage of them.

We took time to talk about the path forward. Our two guests represent political and entrepreneurial paths forward for our communities.

Brother Alonzo Waheed is an organizer from E.A.T. (Equity and Transformation) in Chicago, and he talks about the work that they have been doing to lead on Reparations for Black people in Illinois, specifically leveraging the current moment as marijuana is becoming legal.

Brother Jesce Horton joins us from California with his perspective as a successful entrepreneur working in the Marijuana industry with his company LOWD (Love Our Weed Daily)

“It’s very difficult in this industry for them to not listen to a Black Male when you come to the table … because we were the ones that were targeted, period. We fight for all types of people who were targeted disproportionately, but when you look at those numbers, it was mainly us.”

THE NON PROFITINDUSTRIAL ERA

Many Black people who grow up around poverty, violence, and societal neglect often internalize a hustler mentality. Many of us would not have survived without an intense drive to figure out how to make money. Some people in our community choose to participate in illegal activity because in this white supremacist society, the capital we have most access to involve illicit activity that is constantly surveilled by law enforcement. The hustler mentality is a frame of mind that is centered on producing money and resources, in spite of environmental obstacles. This is an impulse that emerges out of the scarcity that is produced by a capitalist society. This has the impact of imposing on our imagination a view of success that requires exploitation, and various forms of violence (economic, physical and otherwise). The useful quality of this mentality is that those who master it have experience in accumulating and welding real power. Those who are able to produce resources in scarce and dangerous environments typically are experienced in navigating and confronting violence and power.

By Dayvon Love

On the flip side, in the non-profit arena there is the opposite of a hustler mentality. Instead of being a producer of resources, you are asking for others to give you resources. This posture is often rooted in appeals to the benevolence of those who have money, who are typically those who benefit from the oppression in our society and who also have a societal disregard for Black people. While the exposure to danger is significantly reduced, and the use of violence significantly less prevalent than that of hustlers, there is often less money, and no real power. Non-profits are ultimately controlled by boards of directors, who in many cases are extensions of the corporate sector. In order for Black people to practice freedom as a people, we need to have the capacity to produce resources, and wield power. There are ways for us to make money wield power that do not require us to embody the capitalist impulse of stepping on, or exploiting others. If we are able to make money in ways that are cooperative with each other, and develop a business model that allows us to sustain ourselves, without being reliant on the benevolence of others we can engage the larger society from a position of strength and power. Instead of having to compete with, and in some cases, battle against each other for resources, if we are able to come together in an accountable, honest and transparent way, we can do business with each other in a way that is not rooted in capitalist exploitation, but collective drive toward mutual benefit and empowerment. A people that can not feed itself, sustain itself or defend itself is not respected in the arena where power is the determining factor of your position in society. In other words, if we can turn that aspect of the hustler mentality that is experienced in having to use various forms of violence, and instead of that being directed inward, we are able to turn that outward to our enemies, we will get the money, power and respect we need as a people to be free.

power. There are ways for us to make money and wield power that do not require us to embody the capitalist impulse of stepping on or exploiting others. If we are able to make money in ways that are cooperative each other, and develop a business model that others, we can engage the larger

NOBODY IS COMING TO

NOBODY

BIRD'S EYE VIEW|REPORTS FROM THE BMB FIELD NOBODY IS COMING TO SAVE US BIRD'S EYE VIEW|REPORTS FROM THE BMB FIELD NOBODY IS COMING TO

By Chico Gunder Photography Nickshotz

I’m Chico Gunder. My federal inmate number is #05955104.

It’s my first day out and my cousin Taj is there to pick me up. Finally released from federal prison. A lot has changed in 36 months. The streets don’t look or feel the same. As I travel from FDC Miami to the halfway house, I see a lot of beautiful new buildings and apartments. The city really looks nice. I’m making my way through the city towards Brown Sub on 46th and 24th and damn, to my surprise, the SUB gone!!!

The SUB was one of the biggest housing projects in Miami and was there before I was born. I begin to wonder, “Where did my family go who lived there?”

I sure didn’t care about what was going on in my community. While in the halfway house, I had a talk with my sister, who had become a community leader while I was in prison, and she gave me the rundown on how some of our commissioners are in bed with real-estate developers that are buying up all the properties. She said they called it “gentrification.” That shit really pissed me off. Then she told me about a job with an organization for felons, run by felons to help restore felons’ voting rights. The organization made a ballot initiative called Amendment 4 which would give 1.6 million Floridian felons their right to vote back. It was a hard road but we got it passed.

“BOY WHEN U GOT OUT?”

I continue to drive through the city and some areas look the same until I get to 65th and 15th. Again, to my surprise, THE BEANS gone too!!! Liberty Square aka THE BEANS was the first of the large Black housing projects in Miami, opened February 6, 1937. When THE BEANS first opened, it was behind a four-foot wall that segregated it from an all-white neighborhood called Lemon City. This wall was knocked down in the 1950s. It’s still a historical landmark for the Black community. I ask Taj to use his phone to call one of our cuzin’s that used to live there.

The convo went like this: “Cuz, this Chico. What it do?”

“Boy when u got out?”

“I just jumped. I aint even make it to the halfway house yet. Man, I’m riding down 62nd and seen they knock the BEANS down. What happen? Where y’all living at now?”

“Cuz a lot done changed since you been gone. They moved us down south and shit crazy down here. You got niggas from the SUB and from the BEANS living all in one area. Niggas getting killed down here every day.”

“Damn, cuz, be careful down there. I will get up with you later. Tell auntie I said hi.”

I thought to myself, damn, so many black communities were being knocked down. It’s as if they were removing our people from THE CITY and shipping them down south like some kind of concentration camp. My first day out and my mind is blown by the destruction of my community.

While doing my time in the halfway house all I could think about was what I could do to help my people. It’s funny how prison changed me. Before prison, I never really cared about anybody other than my family.

While working in the community I met another organization called Circle of Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is known for their community work. They help felons get jobs and start businesses. They also have a gun violence intervention program. I began working for them as an intervention worker and that’s when things really got real. An intervention worker’s job is to go to the site of every shooting that takes place in Miami and help the families of the victims. It feels like the murder rate in Miami is at an all-time high, and I was going to shootings nightly. One of the biggest problems that see is that these murders are being committed by children. The New Old G’s of the hood are like 26 or younger. There's no more street code or rule in the street anymore. Women, children, and even the elderly are being killed. It used to be that they were off limits.

The state is dividing and relocating our families. They give our people vouchers to leave the neighborhood and tell them, once the development is built, they can come back. But once it's up, they say they can’t come back because one of their family members has a criminal record. In addition to shipping families down south to a war zone, they move some families into rival neighborhoods which is causing a spike in murders.

There is anger, death, and destruction going on in the streets and it’s our children. They are hurting. They need help but a lot of the men that are supposed to lead them are dead or in jail. The solution? Black Men Build. We’re building an army of men ready to defend our communities. We need fathers, sons, uncles, and brothers for the fight to help us engage this country politically.

We are at WAR and we have to fight to save our families. We have to take responsibility for our communities because nobody is coming to save us. If we fail this will definitely be on our way to the coldest winter ever.

By Corey Black | Photography By Armando Geneyro

“ARE YOU RICH?”

I learned some life lessons very early in life. I was to strike while the iron is hot. Things have been heating up in the city. 2021 saw the first Black Woman mayor elected, a changing of the guard, and a $790M settlement from the NFL, with another $250M coming from the American Rescue Plan of 2021. With roughly a billion dollars sitting on a table ready to be used to help people, I found it was time to strike.

They are pouring money into the city. Incentive after incentive is being proposed to create programming in St. Louis to reduce the violence and increase public safety. This call to action requires the right components to make it work. Your network ultimately does become your net worth because when dealing with power, it’s about what you know, who you know, and how you know them! Everyone with a plate doesn’t necessarily deserve a seat.

For so long, the hard work that is put in by community leaders and organizers has often been overlooked. The BMB POWER 50 marked the beginning of a new era by highlighting 50 of the city’s most influential people and honoring their commitment to black excellence. Creating space for brothers and sisters to receive tribute is crucial. Love will always be the greatest display of power and we lead with love. To spread love is to spread power.

We’ve started weekly Hub Huddles. These meetings are designed to squad up and go over what needs to be done in the field. Everyone can play the quarterback, but everyone must play their position and understand what their role is. That is what makes the team stronger. This is what makes the team grow. We have this formation to create new ideas and ways to be involved in the community.

Our hub’s Cultural Advisor had a vision of curating 100 Coats for 100 Kids coat drive. We began coordinating with Brandin Vaughn Collection in 2020. The midwest winters can be harsh, and our mission to put a new coat on the backs of 100 children and young adults in the community was one of our goals. We exceeded this goal in 2021 by expanding the coat drive to cities like Milwaukee, Detroit and New York City thanks to an overflow of donations and resources.

The formula of bringing brothers and sisters together to plot, plan, strategize, organize, and mobilize is effective in the Hub. This is a way we can bring all of our power to one centralized location and find methods and means to invoke radical change in our neighborhoods. We understand that there is safety in numbers, but there is protection in people, the most important being the children. With public safety being paramount in the city’s agenda, we are aware that charity starts at home and we must protect the generation following ours.

In one particular Huddle, one of the brothers mentioned that KIPP Wisdom Academy was having a career day coming up. Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is a network of free open-enrollment college prep schools in low income communities. This would be a great opportunity for the Hub to build an alliance with the charter schools in the area. This collaboration exists in the Miami Hub, so to establish this connection in St. Louis only makes sense. After confirming and scheduling, follows preparation and execution.

When I arrived at KIPP, I was greeted by its amazing teaching staff and students. I was able to speak to a 4th grade class and 1st grade class about revolutionary work and how Black Men Build is building power. When it came down to the Q&A portion with the 1st graders, one of the students asked me, “Are you rich?” For a moment I had to conjure a response that his young mind would understand.

“What does being rich mean to you?”, I asked.

He replied, “Having a million dollars.”

As I listened to his answer, my mind retracted back to a Bob Marley interview I once watched when a reporter asked him if he was a rich man. At that very moment, I understood why he responded the way he did, and I said to the student, “A million dollars isn’t a lot of money to me, and money isn’t what makes me rich. Being able to come into your class and teach you how to free yourself is what makes me rich.”

The power to save lives is a form of wealth as well. Healing is a process we all go through in life. Health is wealth and wealth is power. Our Night Patrol program will decrease the rate of overdose from opioids in St. Louis and surrounding areas by 3%. This program will provide Narcan training and life saving skills as well as distribution of Narcan, hygiene supplies and first aid to the unplaced in St. Louis. Public Safety is paramount and Black Men Build - St. Louis will build power by saving the lives of the people. This is community transformation, organization, and education.

There is a common tendency to equate money with fame. Rich people aren’t always famous and famous people aren’t always rich. Sometimes, simply having access to the resources is enough to rule the kingdom, but the throne always seems more enticing. When power is used with good intentions, its result always boosts the lives of the people. The more the power is circulated, the more the source of the power is energized. We have the power to elevate ourselves and our people to meet the moment. We have to meet this moment, because nobody is coming to save us.

By Brotha Dre | Photography By Armando Geneyro

IS EAST ST. LOUIS AT?"

"WHERE

By Edima Ufot | Photography By Armando Geneyro

Atlanta, from my eyes, looks like pulling off the exit on Cleveland Ave. I see the same young black faces begging for cash or trying to sell you a bottle of water from the case of water they stole from the local store around the corner. If you go an exit up or down 75 from Cleveland Ave you may see a homeless person holding a sign that says, “ Anything will help.” I may pull up to the local gas station and see four or five guys offering everything you need from crack to weed with the extendos showing. This picture is completely different ten minutes north of my exit. These are just a few things that you happen to see on the Southside of Atlanta.

In 2021, Atlanta saw over 150 homicides contributing to over 21,000 violent crimes. The current crime numbers are higher than crime numbers prior to the pandemic. Inflation rates have a chokehold on the city from housing prices to gas, food, childcare, recreational drugs, and more. You can't even step outside to have fun anymore because at the bare minimum you are spending $150. At the start of the pandemic, people were being laid off left and right from their jobs. Now, jobs are begging for employees. People are living off of government assistance and do not have the urge or drive to return back to work. Some people are making more money not working and accepting assistance than working a regular 9-5 job. On the contrary, the pandemic has caused a spike in entrepreneurs among the New Black Hollywood. Everyone you speak to has a business or nonprofit organization.

Despite Omicron, Delta, and all other COVID-19 variants, Atlanta nightlife continues to thrive. Even a mayoral candidate threatening to close strip clubs could not stop the nightlife in Atlanta. Young people have shown that nightlife matters and will continue to thrive no matter the circumstance. As a millennial, community organizer and head high school basketball coach, I was not on the club scene as much as I was pre-pandemic. Instead, I decided to travel and spend more time with family rather than pop a bottle. During this time, I have created new experiences visiting new restaurants and lounges in the city.

There are many approaches to raising the vibrations in Atlanta. Atlanta should take the next step from decriminalization of weed to legalization of weed, while also releasing people that are incarcerated on marijuana charges. Atlanta also needs to put a moratorium on rent prices. To combat the gun violence and youth violence going on in the city, Atlanta should bring back a plethora of mentorship programs in the schools and the community. These programs should be composed of civics programs, financial literacy programs, gun safety classes, entrepreneur workshops and mental health symposiums that specifically address the youth. The youth are our future. We have to prepare them for what's to come.

JUST A FEW THINGS THAT YOU HAPPEN TO SEE ON THE SOUTHSIDE OF ATLANTA.

By Sloan Gibson Photography By Armando Geneyro

BLACK LIFE IN DETROIT LOOKS LIKE WAKING

DEAR KIA BOYS,

Words and Photograph by Nisha aka Mamdame Monét

By Brent Maximin Photography By Mark C.

By Chaz Gormley | Photography By Armando Geneyro

By Ekundayo Igeleke | Photography By Armando Geneyro

By Keedran Franklin | Photography By Zaire Love

OURS IS A COMPLEXITY UNMATCHED IN THE HISTORY OF OUR TENURE ON THE PLANET.

MURDER OF CROWS

We're the best dressed here. Forget the scruffy starlings dishevelled thrushes the gaudy tits and finchesthey're all a waste of space, We're the real class act: never a feather out of place our blacks perfectly matched. like gangsters, ministers, we demand respect.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER FLOCK TOGETHER

SCAN BELOW TO BE THE FIRST TO GET ACCESS TO THE BMB MERCH.

.

BY DILYS ROSE

Our quills drink in the light like ink.

The Economical Occupation of Our Hoods

By Tef Poe

Our neighborhoods are sacred places once forgotten by the greater American populace. But the ghetto is a global concept and just like any nation state on this planet, the backbone of the United States as an empire resides within the souls of its Blackest citizens. We come from the ghetto and in most cases, it’s just us fending for ourselves, trying to survive in an innately hostile environment. People from other countries come here and are quickly taught the “American Way” which is to say, “get money and never be the niggers.”

They pump our children up with processed foods, feeding us dried up “crispy” fried chicken freshly prepared in an open air gas station. We live in food deserts so it's easy to manipulate our needs. Under the reign of capitalism, all you really need is a product that people are willing to buy. So now we’re witnessing other races build a financial fortress on our backs. Even the so-called Black-owned businesses in my neighborhood are housed by multi-racial land owners. We unify with any group who willingly fights white supremacy but it’s also time for us to draw a line in the sand.

Solidarity gotta be a two-way street in the hood. The American experience is nothing but a fallacy and we understand this more than anyone else.

So whether you’re Arab, Asian, or European, in most cases, we’ve been a good friend to you. When they said you weren’t American enough, we defended you. We were the first ones to show the rest of the world how to properly set up shop on this soil while holding on to our fleeting identity. When your home lands were stripped from you through war and pillage, we created space for anyone who sought refuge inside our communities.

Some of us even emerged off the hells of their slave ships speaking the same native tongue as you. Words like “Alhamdulillah” and “Bismillah” were already a part of our African lexicon. We are a displaced race of people who have opened our arms – possibly even to our own detriment. And now we fight against our own brothers and sisters who come here to participate in the greatest Ponzi scheme human society has ever known. We aren’t the children of rich oligarchs who were forced away from their island by an occupying military. A counter revolution was never created in the name of forcing our African ancestors in this land to share their wealth. We didn’t come here in the name of opulence and opportunity. The entire world knows we came here as slaves, we fought for our freedom and eventually we changed the fate of the entire world.

Our communities are economically occupied and no one wants to discuss the realities of other (white supremacist created) races and ethnicities building generational wealth off of our backs. I disagree with Kanye West, we aren’t the “new” slaves. The reality is we’ve never left the plantation. We remain the “true” slaves. Racism in the United States is all about the money and the power.

History teaches us that the transactional relationship between my people and all other parties involved is usually nothing more than a sneak attack. We understand the seeds of Blackness exist globally, but our most provocative war cry is, “Those who use our struggle for personal gain or financial benefit need not apply!”

Building a new Black Wall Street alone isn't the final answer by any means (especially using capitalist tactics), but we do have a right to build our own institutions, store fronts, restaurants, hospitals, and gas stations. If the money must be spent then why can’t we spend it with each other? If the money must be spent, where is the solidarity and community uplift? I know Asians and Arabs who monetize our existence in North County but they pay taxes in Ladue. Their children are fed by the might of your EBT card but they attend school in Clayton. None of the struggles of our communities are evenly exchanged. Everybody wants to be a “nigga” but the truth is we’re often still fighting by our goddamn selves.

We fought for this land and liberated it in the name of Mike Brown. We deserve to be offended by the presence of two bit hustlers who disowned the plight of their own people.

Moving forward, we’re issuing a new mandate in St. Louis. If Black people financially sustain your business, then you owe us. We will not accept you as one of us until you show a willingness to step up and fight with us. We refuse to allow any group of people who secretly and openly work with the police and sell narcotics and guns to the youth to continue doing business with our grandmothers.

In St. Louis this summer we’re standing on business.

Our children are gunned down right in front of your store fronts and you don’t bother to join us. Many times, it is you who called the police on us in the first place. In many cases, your elders don’t even bother calling y’all to the table until we show up ready to shut your shit down. If you aren’t here for the real revolution, then you’re no longer welcome.

So now we have a new position being introduced to this discourse. If you’re not making a contribution to our struggle – then prepare to go to war with us.

We’re arrogant about the fact that we’re organizing simply because we know this means our day will come. We’re not a social club. We identify the problem and then we push on it. This season of perpetual warnings is over. When the police kill a Black youth we’ll be coming to see you. We’ll kindly ask for a donation to the family for the funeral. If you refuse, then we'll no longer be spending our money in your store.

We want all the smoke.

Next time I’m saying names.

The pandemic has taken out a lot of Black people in more ways than just literally.

About ten years ago, I lost my oldest brother and it rocked my family. For most of my life that I can remember, he was in and out of jail and prison. Our relationship was strained by the fact that, frankly, I had limited experiences with him while he was still around. It’s something that I still deal with today, and I’m still uncovering the ways that it’s impacted me as I go through my day to day life. One way or another on his birthday, he comes to mind and I lose my balance a bit. There’s a hole that was left in my life that I’m continuing to deal with as I get to know my brother through conversations with my family. I know that I’m not alone in experiencing loss, but it still hurts.

My friends and loved ones have continued to suffer loss over the past few years. The pandemic has taken out a lot of Black people in more ways than just literally. According to studies done by the Commonwealth Fund, “More than half of Latino and nearly half of Black survey respondents reported experiencing an economic challenge because of the pandemic — substantially more than the 21 percent of white respondents.” Beyond that, the streets are still tough, and Black communities lose people to jail, prison and gun violence at crazy rates.

Sometimes there is time to prepare, sometimes it happens in an instant. But no matter what - BOOM - all of a sudden, everything changes. The astonishing amount of death, loss, and drastic change we’ve all managed to survive through most definitely has affected us, some more than others. Whether we are ready to face it head on or not, we’re emotionally, spiritually and physically rocked by the gaps in our lives that are created through losses of all kinds.

What is grief? Grief is a natural response to loss. It's the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. Often, the pain of loss can feel overwhelming. You may experience all kinds of difficult and unexpected emotions, from shock or anger to disbelief, guilt, and profound sadness.

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Being alone and feeling lonely ain’t the same and don’t always show up together. Isolation, or keeping to yourself for extended periods of time can easily become part of the problem as opposed to the solution. Keep your folks around you! Maybe not too close, if too close is uncomfortable, but like Earth — the Moon is always in orbit.

The people we choose to keep close to us have a direct and sometimes, a lasting effect on how we show up in our worlds. Moving through grief and other tough feelings isn’t always the easiest and sometimes we need a little bit of backup. Looking to your tribe for support — or finding new folks to help you get through is a step in a positive direction for sure.

3. 4.

So many of us are guilty of beating ourselves up for not showing up at 100 percent. You’re still a living and breathing being, capable of making MISTAKES. Being gentle with yourself also means remembering that you won’t always be doing your best and even in those moments — forward motion is still progress.

Too many of us need to simply lay our behinds down and seriously REST! “Short Sleep” has been defined as 5-6 hours a night and “Very Short Sleep” being less than that. Medical News Today published study findings that showed, “Four percent of Black respondents reported very short sleep, and 33.7 percent reported short sleep.” Do yourself a favor: Set a regular sleep schedule! Make it a goal to go to bed and wake up at the same time each day. Give yourself a good amount of time to rest, but be on guard for sleeping too much as a way to avoid the hard work of living and grieving.

Healing after experiencing trauma

RECLAIMING YOUR POWER

Here are eleven tips on managing grief whenever it rears its ugly head:

Adejare “Ade” McMillan, M.S

6.

Avoidance won’t save you from yourself! If the only true way out is through, then we all are gonna have to do some “going through” in order to finally make it out… What that looks like will differ from person to person, but choosing to deal directly with our own discomfort allows us the opportunity to take ownership and puts us in the position to be well-practiced, prepared, and ready if/when things go left. Having feelings and feeling them isn’t weakness, fam. It’s human… and it’s okay not to be okay. Always remember that if things ever get unmanageable for you, professional help is out there. Seek assistance when and where necessary. Be brave enough to ask for help.

According to the CDC’s Physical Activity Guide for Americans, “Each week adults need 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity and two days of muscle strengthening activity.” We can’t achieve this if we never get up from our beds and couches. Balance out your new sleep schedule by setting aside time for activity, preferably each day. Make it a goal to be active for 30 minutes per day (210 minutes in seven days!) so you can be in the best physical shape and feel alive.

7. 8.

The doctor isn’t just for problems and bad news. Staying on top of your health can keep you on the receiving end of good news. It also puts you in the position to fix what may be wrong as early as possible, with minimal negative side effects. Your primary care physician is also qualified to help you seek out other services you may need to keep your overall health in check — including those feelings of sadness or bereavement. Let them know what’s going on with you, so they can help you stay well and stay here with us!

The phrase, “When you look good, you feel good” isn’t just talk. Get out of your pajamas and get that fit right, put on some smell goods to set it off, and let the world see you! Placing yourself in a position to experience the greatness life has to offer will leave you ready to say, “Yes!” to every good opportunity… If you stay on point, you probably won’t miss.

9. 10.

Our failure to plan could be the beginning of us planning to fail. Getting in the habit of setting a bar for yourself is good practice toward operating at your 100 percent. Shirley Chisholm said, “You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.” Listen to Ms. Chisholm, y’all.

11.

Save the BIG decisions for after you’ve had time to process. Choosing yourself when it feels like everything is going left may be exactly what you need to be able to navigate tough times. We’ve heard that pouring from an empty cup doesn’t serve anyone, so take some time to refill. Spending time in nature, returning to places you feel most comfortable, or jumping into old rituals and hobbies can remind us not just of where we’ve come from, but where we’re going — and everything we’ve survived along the way.

Experiencing memory loss, brain fog, and general difficulty remembering can sometimes be caused by stress. Grieving isn’t easy, so it’s common for people to forget even the most important things. Save yourself the stress of needing to remember! Writing down your tasks will save you from some stress… and maybe some time and frustration, too.

Does it matter if you have $200 million in the bank— if you can still be touched by a $2 nigga? You don’t have any real power. In Los Angeles there are over 45,000 active gang members. They only needed one of those gang members to touch the great Nipsey Hussle. Memphis Tennessee is home to over 13,000 active gang members. Young Dolph was one of the richest, most powerful, and influential voices his community has ever known. But his money couldn’t insulate him from the bullets of the inner city Taliban.

The streets know we have to save ourselves, but we’re still searching for the proper methodology. Money often offers us the illusion of sophistication. Young Dolph putting on for his hood is what we need. But if he can’t sway the 13,000 active gang members in Memphis to turn their guns towards the police, how are we ever going to build a sense of collective power?

BY TEF POE | ARTWORK BY NIC VASQUEZ

The Black elite want us to think that money creates an invisible cloak of protection from the realities of our own identities. But I was always told if somebody wants to take your life, there's next to nothing you can actually do to stop them. In reality it doesn’t matter if you’re a billionaire because anybody can be touched. The well intentioned belief that money offers us a safety-net isn’t real. If you throw a dollar at a rat who is backed into a corner, the rodent will still be trapped.

In fact, no matter how much money you throw in its direction, the assumption of danger will still be there for the rat. Freedom from the bondage of our enemies is the only solution capable of empowering the generations of free thinkers who are bound to be born after us.

Right now, the entire world is praying for our demise. The loathing fear of a Black planet has consumed the hearts and minds of evil doing white men worldwide. White Supremacy is woven in the fabric of our daily Black lives. Money doesn’t make you bulletproof. When my father was on his deathbed dying from stomach cancer, all the money in the world couldn’t save him.

No one wants to see the next person come up while they're stuck in poverty. The ongoing struggle to change your life financially and then also stay alive while doing so is like walking a tightrope. Black Men aren’t safe in this society. We’ve been itemized down to nothing and it shows in the ways we relate to each other when money isn’t involved. We have to challenge the myth that money can protect us from ourselves. If we can’t quell the violence amongst our brothers, how can we expect to suddenly see a world where Black Men are free to admire everyone else's humanity? How many brothers are walking around our hometowns everyday with a price on our heads? If anything this actually should tell us the white man’s money is often our top opp

Black people in the United States need organization – without it, we are nothing more than a lost tribe searching for a home. Organizations move the power scale by cultivating resources and influence to their favor. But only organized money can attract organized power. Black elites won’t save us: A loosely defined group of modern day negro oligarchs with zero collectivity is nothing but a mirror image reflection of the white people who gave them the money.

We need a nation builder mind state– so we need resources of all sorts. Money alone can’t defend a nation. The same way the gun alone won’t get it done. We minimize these conversations on both sides of the coin. Many Black Amerikkkan Movement leaders think they’ll be able to rely on George Sorros, Ford Foundation, and Harry Belafonte forever. The trenches tend to think Jimmy Iovine and Jay-Z will find them and free them. Oprah Winfrey has never fed one single soul in my neighborhood. The frats and sororities are useless organizations when the blood is on the pavement in the ghetto.

Capitalism is so demented that it would drive our youth to kill a Black father in cold blood while he’s visiting his neighborhood cookie shop. The pigs who showed up to remove his lifeless body from the scene are the real opps. This decrepit healthcare system which makes it impossible for even a multi-million dollar nigga to get patched up in a timely fashion after being hit up by an assortment of gun fire is the real opp.

Under the current system it doesn’t matter if you're Young Dolph or Martin Luther King Jr. both of these Black Men were gunned down in Memphis.

Neither one of them had enough power to stop the shooters from executing their plans. Both of them are in the grave – dead and gone. The final conclusion is Black men of their stature remain an unorganized force. In any war you don’t quietly raise your hand and ask someone to stop killing your soldiers. If you don’t have the power to end the onslaught then you deserve to die. We want you to get money, but we want you to train, spend it on guns to protect your family, employ your Nines and move militant. But above all, please stop trying to turn the career bankers into shooters. We must cease with the lie that everyone Black is fighting for the same exact objectives.

IS BITCOIN A PONZI SCHEME?

By Ed Whitfield

I'm not qualified to give investment advice. So this is not advice on what you should or shouldn't invest in. DO NOT decide any investment based on anything you read here. I was asked to comment on Bitcoin because some positive and some negative claims have been made about Cryptocurrency that relate to some things do know about, namely transformative change, the nature of money, Ponzi schemes, and technology.

A recent article, by Sohale Andrus Mortazavi, appeared on Portside, reprinted from JACOBIN entitled, “Cryptocurrency Is a Giant Ponzi Scheme.” It asserted, "Cryptocurrency is not merely a bad investment or speculative bubble. It’s worse than that: it’s a full-on fraud."

The article denounced Bitcoin and other digital currency as Ponzi schemes and not at all revolutionary. I agree that it will not transform social, political and economic power relationships leading us toward utopia. On the other hand, claims that it is merely a Ponzi scheme seem to be exaggerated, as is some of the information on Bitcoin's volatility. The U.S. government has a keen eye for Ponzi schemes and has been paying attention to the development of digital currency. While some people are clearly interested in the speculative possibility of riches, whether digital currencies are a good idea or not, they have potential and current use that go beyond speculation.

Family and friends circles with a get rich quick pyramid approach is a Ponzi scheme. It was fully funded by newly recruited friends and family members and rapidly collapsed after a few cycles because of the rapid exponential growth of the number of people required to keep the scheme growing. Proponents of those circles falsely claimed that they were merely susus or savings circles that were traditional and legal. They were neither. When those circles collapsed after a few weeks of wild growth, the early adapters made a killing with many thousands of times their initial contribution, if they made an investment at all. Not speaking for all cryptos, I will claim that at least some of them are different. They are rooted in an effort to provide a secure means of assuring the integrity of internet based transactions using advanced coding and cryptography.

Bitcoin is a currency. It checks the boxes of what is required to be money. It is a measure of value, a means of storage and a means of exchange. Although it is not completely accepted as a means of repayment of debt.

All assets, including all currencies, are open to speculation. No doubt there are people buying Bitcoin only for that reason, but others are finding other ways to use it for transactions where local currencies are unstable. All currencies have costs associated with their maintenance and all currencies can be subject to speculation, including precious metals.

Bitcoin's energy usage, in the process of maintaining its security and integrity (Bitcoin mining), is high at this time. Perhaps new tech processes will reduce these costs in the future. There is transparency about these processes for those who are tech savvy enough to follow along.

But Bitcoin is absolutely not revolutionary. It will not, in itself, transform power and wealth relationships. It is not a magic bullet. Only collective struggle and collective building has that potential. Whether you choose to participate in buying crypto or not, you still have a responsibility to stand with community, build power and try to make change.

There are many compromises we make in this capitalist and individualist world. Many of us who don't believe in capitalism and the sanctity of the marketplace still have retirement plans that are heavily invested in Wall Street speculation. Whether you think there is benefit from engaging bitcoin according to your acceptable risk profile and your goals or not, we still need you in our common fight for liberation through acting together for change.

Scan to watch a discussion on Crypto ft. Ed Whitfield, Steve Pargett and Jared Ball

Introto Crypto & Defi

By Ross Mac

There are more than 5,000 different cryptocurrencies and therefore, due diligence is required to understand the options. Whether it’s cryptocurrency or any other asset, the first thing to remember when investing is to educate yourself and understand what you’re getting yourself into. This piece is an unbiased introduction to what cryptocurrency is, but you’ll need to take more time to unpack these terms.

When it comes to cryptocurrency, two of the most recognizable names are Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Bitcoin is the first true cryptocurrency and has been in circulation since January 2009. It is a decentralized digital currency that you can buy, sell and exchange directly, without an intermediary, like a bank. Unlike fiat currency, bitcoin is created, distributed, traded, and stored on the blockchain. Each and every Bitcoin transaction that’s ever been made exists on a public ledger accessible to everyone, making transactions hard to reverse and difficult to fake. Bitcoin is designed to be a virtual currency that has become referred to by many as “digital gold.”

Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum focuses not as much on digital currency as it does on decentralized applications. Ethereum is more like a smartphone with multiple applications you can use. Both Bitcoin and Ethereum are built on blockchain technology, but Ethereum allows other people to build apps on top of Ethereum. It is a programming language running on a blockchain, helping developers to build and publish distributed applications. The token used here is called Ether, which is used as currency by app developers and users. Ethereum was designed to focus on smart contract capability.

Cryptocurrency is an unpredictable and volatile asset class.

That means that the price fluctuates a lot more than other types of investments and can be very risky. It’s a gamble, and you shouldn’t invest money that you can’t afford to lose.

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As with all investing, it’s a good idea to maintain balance and diversification in your portfolio. Don’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

Think long-term. It can be dangerous and isn’t a great investment strategy to expect quick flips off all of your investments.

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Don’t fall victim to FOMO (fear of missing out). In some cases, by the time that you see a crypto trending, the people who are going to profit have already profited.

Terms

(Clean up your room) Report Errors on your report, if you believe an account is being reported on your report in error dispute it. Even though you can dispute accounts online now, I suggest writing a written letter and sending it certified mail to the bureau(s) that are incorrectly reporting, keep a dated copy for yourself as proof. The reporting agency has 30 days from the receipt of your letter to respond or they must remove it.

(Let sleeping dogs lay) If you have accounts that have not been paid or contacted in over 6 years leave them, they will drop off automatically after seven years.

By Jay Stretch

(Use your resources) Download Experian Boost. This tool allows you to take your consistent on time payments records of utilities including cell phone and even Netflix and report them as positive accounts.

(Stop the bleeding) Create a budget you must stop the bleeding! It is imperative to make sure you’re not spending more than you earn on a day-to-day basis.

9 WAYS TO HELP INCREASE YOUR CREDIT SCORE

There has been an age-old urban legend in the black community that credit cards are the devil and that cash is king. In my opinion, that way of thinking comes from years of discrimination from the federal government and America’s financial institutions towards people of color, so much so that it resulted in a negative outlook toward credit and its providers.

Fortunately, this article isn’t about the past. Instead, it's all about the future. We can dwell on the problem or take steps to create a solution.

First thing first, find out where you stand. Chances are it's not as bad as you think, and with a little discipline and patience, you’ll be on your way to a healthy credit score.

Following are some steps to boost your credit score.

(Keep your room clean) Pay old debt down (especially credit card debt) start with the smaller debts first, the amounts you owe, reports the same way. Any current credit cards you have keep usage under 30%

(Prepare for the fight) Get a credit report you can obtain a free credit report yearly at www.annualcreditreport.com I would also suggest downloading a free score tracker like credit karma /credit sesame to keep a track of progress.

(Don’t get caught lackin) Pay all bills on time moving forward, if you’re behind on bills, get caught up asap. You can’t improve your credit if you don’t consistently pay you bills on time that’s why creating a budget is important (step 6)

(Stop reaching) Don’t apply for new credit. If you have too many inquires in a span of two years your score will be reduced significantly.

(Flip the Script) If you’re renting there are several companies that will report your rental payments. My personal go to company is Rent Reporters this company will report your rental payments to the credit bureaus on your behalf which could help increase your score significantly.

Asa Shaw

Whats good Jared, glad to have you hear to illuminate some of the darkness around these conversations of Black wealth and Black buying power. Just want to say that we appreciate the perspectives you and other folks bring on Black Power Media. Folks in BMB watch the channel often. So, thank you for your continued contributions to the work brotha.

It's not a matter of do I think we could do this or should do this about wealth? It's an issue of just objectively, there is no wealth to build more wealth. There's no current political power. There's no military threat, so there is no wealth coming. There is no possibility to build wealth in this current configuration.

Asa Shaw

Before we move forward lets take a step back and examine wealth. How is wealth created?

Right on.

Asa Shaw

Lets get right into it, we hear often people like Jay-Z, folks at Earn Your Leisure, and others, parroting this idea that Black wealth is the key to a better black future. That the more billionaires we have the more powerful we will be as a people. Is this right?

Jared Ball

Again, I always like to preface these conversations with the fact that, professionally, my expertise is in Africana and media studies. I'm not an economist. I try to study political economy as it is part of media and Africana studies. I've tried to certainly study political economy as an activist, but I always just like to be clear about where my professional credentials are.

To answer your question though, It’s less about whether or not it's right. I’m saying that it is not possible. There are no Black people in this country, as things currently stand, that have a capacity to build actual wealth. That is pure fantasy that is only supported by well-promoted and positioned propagandists. Black people, the only power we have is through political organization and the threat that we are as an organized political entity. That's the only power we have and can build upon.

Black wealth is going to be zero by 2053. It's not even 1% of the nation's wealth now, but it's going to be zero pretty soon.

Jared Ball

So just very quickly, wealth is created in the interaction and exchange between people working and people consuming what that work produces. The capitalist investor or owner presents themselves as having created all of this. But in reality, they're just taking credit for the wealth created from that basic relationship. So, if I'm buying a piece of pizza or I'm selling the pizza, if I'm walking into the pizzeria or I'm owning the pizzeria into which someone else is walking, the exchange between the two is what comes to be wealth.

Asa Shaw

Thank you brother for making that clear, very clear. What do you say to folks that are looking for answers inside of capitalism and even, I think, understand the troubles of capitalism and the issues with it and the inherent racism, inherent exploitation, and the inherent corruptness of capitalism, but can't find another way out of the situation because they need to survive?

Jared

Ball

The first thing I say always is I get it. I understand. I mean, there are few avenues that present a challenge to capitalism and the “get our money right before we get our politics right” narrative. So, I'm fully aware that that's where people are conditioned and encouraged to believe is our only opportunity. Everyone from conservative Black spokespeople to those who present themselves as radicals make these kinds of arguments. Certainly, all the popular media outlets make those arguments. So I get it. I understand. I also get that the struggle is difficult and it's frightening. It threatens all of our comforts. So I fully get why nobody is excited at the idea that we have to build movements and organizations that will threaten whatever comforts we have. I get it. Nobody wants to do that.

But if I'm asked the question, honestly, as you have just done, I have to give an honest answer, that there is no other alternative. There is no exception in terms of historical movements where this was not ultimately understood, and that wing of the struggle was the most violently attacked, leaving largely just this argument around Black entrepreneurialism and capitalism. So I get it. But ultimately, if we want to see legitimate change for the collective, then we have to look for political power. We have to be seeking power over public policy.

I date myself with this film reference, but I'm very Frank White with this. I'm very King of New York with this. If there is a nickel bag sold in the park, I want a cut for our people. That's it. If money is being made anywhere in this country, we have all already contributed to establishing the process by which that occurs.

We've helped create the society. We've gone to school. We've folded the boxes and stuffed the boxes. We've driven the vehicles. We've done all of the work. We've shopped. We've paid our bills. We have created wealth. So that wealth, by public policy, has to be redirected back to us as a first step to a better society. That's the movement we should be working towards, and instead of having pundits constantly coming before us telling us to invest better or shop better or save better or whatever, we should be encouraging each other to fight on the political level for control over the apparatus. Then we say, look, it doesn't matter. You don't have to be a great business person. I shouldn't have to be a great business person for us to survive and be comfortable in a society where the wealth that is being created is in part, on an equal level, created by us.

[read the full conversation at Black Men Build]

Jared Ball

BMB

Co-Director Asa Shaw in Conversation with Jared Ball of Black Power Media.

I remember being a young man struggling to feed myself. My Dad used to find work at a temp service so I learned from him and followed in his footsteps. If you’ve never had to wake up at 4:30am and work for $7.50 an hour then you probably can’t relate. This is a personal account of my experience of what these temp-service jobs are like and the impact it’s having on the Black community.

SLAVER READY

BY TEF POE PHOTOGRAPHY KIRBY GRIFFIN & MARK C

All of the men I knew at the temp service were either ex-cons or older brothers who were laid off from manufacturing jobs. They were also all predominantly Black, some of them still institutionalized but the daily paycheck stub gave their parole officers a reason to let them stay free. I’ve never been to prison but I worked with plenty of men who were on their way back. The Labor Ready office functioned a lot like a prison yard – fights, drugs, alcohol, and bad attitudes were a part of the routine.

The job sites were never located close to my neighborhood. And if you aren’t in line at the Labor Ready office by 5:30am, then you’ll also lose your chance to work for the day. In my case, this means I had to go back home and tell my girlfriend I had nothing for us for the day. She had two kids, so we were raising a family off of $40 bucks a day. We needed every dollar we could get our hands on. They took taxes out of my paycheck but we could cash them on the spot and go home with cash money.

No benefits are involved, temp services are basically an extension of prison jobs. If you get hurt then it’s your problem, not theirs. And just like slavery, if the manager likes you, they might keep you. If they don’t like you, then they’re not obligated to use you again the next day. Imagine being sent to a chemical plant to work for the day. A person who has been working there for 20 years gives you five minutes worth of training. You’re on your feet all day, easily working over 12 hours a day.

Hundreds of Black Men in my city found work this way, across a vast assortment of ages. Labor Ready was the McDonalds of temps because they didn’t really have an application process. If you get lucky, you’ll get a good job, something like being a line cook in the kitchen at the West County Marriott Hotel. Maybe they booked a wedding and needed an uptick in their kitchen staff for the weekend. If you were smart you’d go here and out-work their in-house staff. Maybe they’d bring you back as a regular temp. The temps were usually always Black at places like this. The company pays Labor Ready $15-$20 for their services and in return Labor Ready pays you pennies on the dollar.

We were exploited at every corner by both companies. They knew we needed these jobs. Old heads used to tell me to stay focused and, “Complete Your Mission!” Meaning we came here to get paid for the day so let's maintain the line and take care of each other. I’ve never shared camaraderie like the way it was demonstrated by some of the older men I’ve been blessed to work with. At a factory job it's hardbody business, pure manual labor. Nobody cares about your intellect or artistic sensibilities. It’s all about your ability to work and not disrupt the environment of the job. They looked for people who were hungry because they recognized our ribs were touching.

Labor Ready was an equal opportunity employer. They pretty much took whoever walked through the doors, it didn’t matter if you had mental health issues or if you were struggling with drug addiction.

I had empathy for these men. Life wasn’t easy for any of us. We were victims of a particular culture, and unless you were behind those enemy lines with us, you couldn’t understand it. Sometimes things could get so bad, the temp service doesn’t even have a job available for you.

The depression that sets in from dealing with this shit on the daily is unbelievable. When Labor Ready didn’t have a job for me then I had to hike over to the Blood Bank and sell my plasma for $25. I figured out that you can sell blood twice a week and make a much needed $50 bucks every five days, but if your skin is freshly tattooed then you have to lie to them and say you got the tattoos two years ago. They’re not going to let you donate your plasma if they think it has ink in it.

I saw a lot of things while working at Labor Ready. Most of the men there needed counseling. A lot of them were trapped in a cycle, since working at the temp service is designed to keep you broke. Hence, I keep telling y’all most people don’t “choose” the streets, crime is often misappropriated revolutionary behavior. The mental hardships attached to feeding your family can break any man. Brothers would end up back in prison or even going too hard with the self medicating. There was a liquor store right across the street from the office. Even I found myself falling in love with drinking an ice cold beer after a long day at work. And then, one beer turns into several and before you know it, you’ve developed a new drinking problem. We called it Slaver Ready because this was nothing but slavery reinvented.

We want the money, we need the power, and we deserve the respect.

I’m blessed to have survived these experiences but the wages that are paid are simply not enough to sustain life, especially when you have a family. Labor ready services are an example of the type of everyday capitalism that forces another young Black man to make some very complicated choices.

WE CALLED IT SLAVER READY BECAUSE THIS WAS NOTHING BUT

I believe profoundly in the possibilities of democracy, but democracy needs to be emancipated from capitalism. As long as we inhabit a capitalist democracy, a future of racial equality, gender equality, economic equality will elude us.

“None of them are adopting the capitalistic system because they realize they can’t. You can’t operate a capitalistic system unless you are vulturistic; you have to have someone else’s blood to suck to be a capitalist. You show me a capitalist, I’ll show you a bloodsucker.”

- ANGELA DAVIS - MALCOLM X

BY ASA SHAW

There is a specter haunting our people. It covers our eyes and prompts us to play a never-ending game of “guess who” while it laughs all the way to the bank, pushing us to live check to check, in communities that are impoverished, schools that are half empty, and housing that costs too damn much. We’ve been losing at this game for a while, struggling to guess the culprit of the issues we face every day. But, it’s high time we forcefully removed its hands and turned to face our enemy. To lay its motivations and inner workings bare. It’s time we got clear about CAPitalism.

To be clear, we are not the first to expose capitalism as the opposition. We are a part of a long history of Black revolutionaries that speak truth to the world's economic situation. Malcolm X said, “Show me a capitalist and I’ll show you a bloodsucker.” Martin Luther King said, “The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and evils of racism.” So it seems, we are in good company with our critique.

But first… what is capitalism?

Capitalism is the current economic system that we live in. It is the dominant mode of economy across the world. Capitalism’s chief priority is the accumulation of massive profits through the private ownership of the means of production and the exploitation of workers or employees. Black blood watered the soil that capitalism grew out of and it would not exist in its current form today without the enslavement and free labor of African peoples.

Now, who are these bloodsuckers that Malcolm X referenced? Capitalists are those who own the means of production and use it to extract profits from the masses and dominate society. Some of the capitalists that walk the earth and rule our countries are the Waltons, owners of Walmart. Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, The Koch Brothers, owners of Koch Industries, Warren Buffet, owner of Berkshire Hathaway, Elon Musk, Owner of Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter, Mark Zuckerberg, owner of Meta (facebook), Whatsapp and Instagram as well as the web of investors and institutions that run Lockheed Martin.

The capitalists mentioned above are a part of the cabal that represents our true enemy. They and their way of life are the biggest obstacles to Black liberation because they not only exploit the tens of thousands of workers at their companies but they also use their profits to influence government decisions on everything from minimum wage and healthcare to international wars of aggression.

“CAPITALISM STARTS WITH CAP. IT’S ALL A LIE.”

We must be clear: these capitalists are very different from the aspiring capitalists in our communities that own businesses. These smaller businesses operate under a capitalist framework so they are still fundamentally exploitative, but these business owners are not our real enemy and they aren’t really capitalists. In order to be a capitalist you must own the means of production that moves society and these folk do not. Just because you read Bill Gates book (or Donald Trump’s), have a business, and wear the Jamese clothes everyday like he does, doesn’t put you on par with Bill Gates by any stretch of the imagination. There are clear financial measures that make someone a capitalist and the family that owns a chain of soul food restaurants in Atlanta doesn’t fit the bill. But, they should definitely pay their workers more and give them better benefits and decision making on the job.

Lastly, a comment to the brothers and sisters in the streets screaming they’re capitalists and holding money to their ears like those big ass cell phones from the 90s: You are not a capitalist. You just want security and a dignified life and the only way you have been taught to survive and get out of poverty is through amassing a ridiculous amount of wealth by exploiting those around you.

2pac has a line in Changes that goes, “You gotta operate the easy way ‘I made a G today,’ but you made it in a sleazy way, Sellin' crack to the kids (Oh-oh), ‘I gotta get paid’ (Oh) Well hey, well that's the way it is.” This line speaks to the conflict of survival that capitalism puts us all in. Our people aren’t capitalists, they are just trying to thrive with the hand they were dealt. It’s up to us as people to reveal the realities of our economic situation and give language to what we really want. And that ain't capitalism. We want security, we want peace, we want power and we want coexistence.

So, to answer the question clearly again: What is a capitalist? A capitalist is a bloodsucker, a leech, a parasite. And the only way to rid our people of this poison is through the transformation of ourselves and the political organization of our communities. All other solutions fall against these like waves on rocks.

Glory and resilience to all those who dare to struggle, because if you dare to struggle, you dare to win.

A CAPITALIST IS A BLOODSUCKER, A LEECH, A PARASITE.

Capitalism exploits workers by paying them less than the value that they produce.

This is how business owners are able to accumulate profits.

Let’s walk through a day in the life of James Crow at McDonald’s to see how this works.

QUESTION 1

James Crow works 8 hours a day at McDonald’s making $8.25 an hour. How much does James make a day?

HOW DOES CAPITALISM EXPLOIT YOU AND ME?

QUESTION 2

On a regular day James can make and sell 100 cheeseburgers an hour. If each cheese burger costs $2.50, how much does McDonald's make from James selling 100 cheeseburgers in an hour?

QUESTION 3

How much does McDonald’s make selling 100 cheeseburgers/an hour at $2.50 in an 8 hour work day?

Okay, so James makes $66 a day. How many cheeseburgers does James have to actually sell to make his pay for the day? How much time does that take?

If James only has to work ______ minutes to make his pay for the day, then isn’t he working for free after? Who is getting the rest of the value he produces for the day? QUESTION 4

AH, THE GREEDY CAPITALIST GETS TO KEEP THE REST OF THE VALUE JAMES PRODUCES.

BONUS

What percentage of the value that James produces each day, does James get to keep and what percentage does the greedy capitalist get to keep?

Keep in mind that James is actually selling more than just cheeseburgers, and he is probably selling more than 100 cheeseburgers/an hour.

So, you see how exploitation and the eventual creation of an unequal society is hardwired into the capitalist system. This all works because of the widely held belief in the sanctity of private ownership and capital, and the condescending view of labor

BY RONNIE AYMIN

Angela Davis once said, "I am no longer accepting the things that I cannot change. I'm changing things that I cannot accept".

This profound statement has to make up the mindsets of those willing to do the work to contribute to the upliftment of our community, while protecting it from the forces, the systems and the beliefs that undermine, exploit and devalue our existence. With this work, there is no more grin and bearing it or quietly enduring. From here on out, we are identifying those things that are in opposition to our health, our liberty, our dignity and our right to exist and then we are on that ass. Awareness, strategy and mobilization…it’s go time! And it is no secret that one of the biggest representations of injustice that exists against our community is the American “criminal justice” system.

Presented as a system that establishes and maintains balance and order within our society by promoting safety and accountability, the actual contours and complexion of its composition reveal a face that more closely resembles degradation and dehumanization. The origins of this supposed "justice" system lie in the suppression and control of poor and marginalized groups in favor of those in power. America's capitalistic aspirations are intrinsically tied to and informed by its racialized history. One of the ways that this truth is displayed is within the American cash bail system.

When an individual is accused of a crime and arrested by police, they are then detained in jail. Subsequently, the accused is granted a hearing before a judge to determine the conditions of bail. Bail is stated to serve as an insurance policy to guarantee the accused returns to court throughout the processes of prosecution and adjudication. If bail is paid, the accused is permitted to return home and resume their life throughout the legal process. If not granted bail, they will be forced to languish within the jail, suffering the hardships that result from the conditions of confinement.

The issuing judge essentially has three options: The first option is that they can release the accused based on their own signed recognizance. That just means that an individual signs a document stating that they will promise to engage in the process by returning to court for scheduled hearings throughout the process. The second option is to issue a cash bail which requires the individual to pay a stated amount in order to be released from confinement. If the amount is paid, and the individual attends all of their hearings upon the completion of the case, that money is returned to the individual. The last option is that the judge does not grant bail and forces the accused to remain in custody.

Because cash bail penalizes the poor, it is a miscarriage of justice. When an individual is accused of a crime, they are “innocent until proven guilty.” However, if an individual is poor and doesn't have the money or resources to secure their release, they must suffer the undue consequence of incarceration. Those negative effects can prove to be detrimental and sometimes fatal.

Imagine living paycheck to paycheck with all of your money going to feed your family, pay housing related expenses and car payments. Incarceration for any amount of time, let alone for prolonged periods, can disrupt your family and create lasting harm. If you can't work, you will lose your job. If you have no income, your bills can't get paid. If you can't pay your bills, you lose your home and car. If you are a single parent, your children will have to rely on someone else to raise them or they will be taken by the state. If you suffer from some type of medical condition, it is likely that you will not get the type of attention and treatment you need throughout your incarceration, thus worsening your condition. If you are innocent until proven guilty, which you are according to the law, why should you have to endure such an agonizing experience? We haven't even mentioned the severe psychological toll incarceration imposes upon detainees.

Such was the case of Kalief Browder, a teenager that spent three years on Rikers Island, after being accused of stealing a book bag. During his imprisonment, he suffered extreme psychological and physical abuse by state actors. The effects of his confinement lingered and ultimately contributed to his suicide even after his eventual release. Incarceration is a violent act that damages an individual. However, the practice of cash bail not only adversely affects the individual and destabilizes their family but it also undermines and weakens our community. This has got to be by design by forces that mean us no good.

BY PHIL AGNEW | PHOTOGRAPHY BY ARMANDO GENEYRO

There are many definitions of power in this world. Many scientific, spiritual, and social meanings.

We view power in political terms: Organized People + Organized Money = The ability to control the policies, functions, and culture of society.

When we say power, we mean this: the ability to control our communities, our lives, our destinies.

When we say we are building power, we mean we are organizing people and organizing money with a political program and strategy to prepare us for that control.

It takes a lot of work, a lot of time, a lot of energy and struggle. But as Chairman Fred Hampton said: “Dare to struggle, dare to win.”

We put a lot of work into this one. Even still, feel like we’ve only scratched the surface of the meaning of money, power, and respect to us. (And is there really an “us” anymore?) Still, we’ve reached the end of this edition of WARTIME.

But as they say… an ending is just a beginning.

We hope you believe that as much as we do. We hope that this and every edition of WARTIME ignites a conversation between you and the people you love. Shit, we hope that every edition of WARTIME starts a conversation with someone you don’t even know, someone you don’t love.

Because that’s what living is about. Learning and growing and challenging ourselves to think critically about the things we don’t talk about…the things we just take for face value…the things we think are legitimate.

We hope that the close of this issue opens up your eyes to the lies of the Black Elite narrative that being called a Capitalist is like being called a n*gger. We hope that you get a better perspective of what capitalism really is, and a new perspective on how we should be conducting business and thinking about wealth in our community. These motherfuckers won’t save us, because they can’t. They got shackles on too…maybe with a little gold in em to make em look better.

We hope that you can now think critically about the Crypto/NFT craze… look at who’s behind this “revolution” and who is really benefiting from this new “disruption”. We need to be smart with how we use the money that we have and build something sustainable.

We hope that of all the things we talked about here, that you leave with the understanding that all of it - ALL OF IT - money…power…respect is subjective. We as a people decide what they are…what they mean. It’s all a story…someone else’s imagination.

Yet, here we are…living and dying by them. Living and dying about them. Living and dying for them.

This can’t be life.

Another thing comes to mind, as we close out this edition: “Money”, “Power”, “Respect”. Always in that order. “First you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the respect”. That’s what they always say. It seems to me that the most important thing is Respect. And respect doesn’t come from money. It comes from something deeper and higher.

But there is something higher at stake. So as we close this 4th edition out, I challenge you to consider what’s truly important to our lives, our communities, our families, our movement. You could get the money. You could get the power. But keep your eyes on..the final hour.

- Phil Agnew

- Lauryn Hill, Final Hour, 1999