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CONTENTS
Page
WORDS FROM THE PUBLISHER A Message To My People 3 FEATURED STORY OF THE MONTH Its Time To Wake Up Black People: We Are Truly A Beautiful People
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OBAMATICS
Top Ten Answers To Excuses Concerning Obama
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BLACK PERSPECTIVE
Adding Too Many Non-Blacks Could Dilute The Power Of The NAACP 6
LET US NEVER FORGET
The Black Revolution No One Told You About 6
REAL TALK
A Black Man’s Guide To Recognizing A Good Black Woman
THE BLACK HOLOCAUST
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Three Year Olds Death Reflects The Tragedy Of Black on Black Homicide 7
OUR PERSPECTIVE
What Do We Want For Our People And Children?
OUR LEGACY BEFORE SLAVERY In The Reign Of The Black Pharaohs
MIND, BODY & SOUL
Domestic Violence, Postpartum Depression: Linked In Black Women
SINGLE INDEPENDENT SISTAH Are Black Women Too Independent?
EDUCATION
Why Black Men Can’t Be Absent From Their Child’s Education
DEAR MS.BOE
Why Am I Still Attracted To An Unhealthy Relationship?
BLACK MAN, BLACK WOMAN
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QUESTION?
A Message To My People
Bill Cosby seems to be the only prominent black person that’s talking to us about what we need to do for ourselves, instead of at us about what others are doing to us. And we have criticized him for it. There’s no doubt that racism is alive and well in America however our problems are also within. When a black person is shot or stabbed, nine times out of ten, they were shot or stabbed by one of us. When one of us buys crack or some other illegal drug, nine times out of ten, they are buying that crack and those drugs from one of us. When we see gangs terrorizing our neighborhoods, we also see that 99% of those gangs membership are us.Throughout our communities there are single teen-aged mothers, who were made single teen-aged mothers by one of us. Everyday, somewhere in America, at least one black person’s home is broken into and 99% of those brake-ins were done by one of us.To many of our children’s mothers are being forced to raise them by themselves. And the person leaving these mothers with no alternative, but to raise our children by themselves, is one of us.We take the time to go to our children’s ballgame; however we don’t make the time to attend our children’s open school week or PTA meetings. And as a result, we have children who can score 20 points, run for touchdowns and hit a curveball out of the park; but couldn’t write a sentence if you spotted them a noun, a verb and a period to end that sentence with. When we begin to take responsibility for the environment in which we live we will also begin to realize that what others are doing to us is nothing compared to what we are doing to ourselves. Because we are not powerful enough to overrule ourselves, we quit our jobs because our boss didn’t like us, we’ve dropped out of school because our teachers couldn’t teach us, we left home because our parents didn’t love us and we’ve left the mother of our children because she didn’t understand us. We use these excuses in an attempt to appear mature and on top of the situation. But it’s really a cope out. One day we as a people have got to realize “the objective world mirrors the subjective world.”
THE URBAN SOURCE STAFF
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Apology To The Black Woman From The Black Man
WORDS FROM THE PUBLISHER
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Are We Raising Our Daughter’s To Be Single Mother’s? 11
URBAN SOURCE BOOK REVIEW The Souls Of Black Folk/The Invisible Man
URBAN SOURCE TEEN ADVICE Thoughts From The Editor
GUEST CONTRIBUTING WRITER The Almighty Inspirations: Dayton Spotlight
COMMENTARY Today Is January 2, 1863
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FEATURED STORY Its Time To Wake Up Black People We Are Truly A Beautiful People By: Staff Writer
“The ultimate measure of a person
is not where one stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where one stands in times of challenge and controversy.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP People who try to maintain and create empires do it by manipulating the people that they are trying to conquer. They go out of their way to make sure that the people that they’re attempting to conquer is perpetually misled and manipulated. Therefore the conquered group’s perception of reality is not their own. It is shrewdly imposed upon them without them even knowing it. It is time that more African Americans wake up to these realities. “The way in which you destroy a group is by getting them to destroy themselves by dividing their ranks against each another. And then you feed these divided ranks inflaming misinformation that leads them to kill each other off.” Certainly you have asked yourself why is that African Americans are so is inundated with negative imagery’s of themselves. It is so unrelenting that it leads many to embarrassingly ask themselves the questions of damn are we Blacks really that bad? It is actually a mass media social manipulation program of where in which African Americans are being covertly psychologically conditioned-through the system that subjects them to seeing only the fraudulent worst in themselves. Its motto is Divide and conquer. It drills the message into the black psyche that we are powerless, of lesser moral, and intelligence and that we cannot govern ourselves –therefore needs whites to govern over our lives. It is designed to totally detached African Americans from their sense of power and reality. Furthermore, it is all a massive lie. We are a powerful beautiful and extraordinary people. When people in power wants to suppress or to exploit a group they do so by portraying that group as a fearsome enemy or a major problem 4
of the society through lies and manufactured news items. These negative imagery’s are used to socially engineer a national consent that justifies attacking the group. This same propaganda technique was used by Adolph Hitler to foster a nation consensual setting that allowed his heinous mistreatment of the Jews. Hitler’s propaganda chief, Joseph Goebbels portrayed them as a fearsome enemy of German society through lies and manufactured news items. These negative imagery’s were used to justify their annihilation. In the case of African Americans, they are being portrayed as the face of degradation in the American society as to socially engineer consent for their mistreatment and facilitate their exploitation through the private prison industry-- that earns immense profits through the disproportionately higher incarcerations and longer sentencing of African Americans. These private prisons now even hold stocks on Wall Street and their Board of Directors lobby for changes in the law that would increase their profits. The enhances sentencing drug laws and three strike felon laws are the results of these efforts. Moreover, it also stimulates the American economy by creating more jobs within the prison industry. According to Dr Edward Bernays, one of America ’s most renowned propaganda specialists and consultant to many U.S. presidents; “This method of social manipulation is an important element in a democratic society, and that those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. The U.S. Government has an extensive history of conducting planned campaigns of extensive strategic psychological operations [based upon the works of Bernays] through the national media to influence and direct the perception and climate of the nation towards its governmental objectives. Given that the nineteen sixties were a period of massive black rebellion and unrest that eroded the American global image and increasingly placed the na-
tion’s peace and stability in dire jeopardy and perhaps most particularly because the nations top sociologist and psychologist knew that those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable. This quite logically necessitated that the U.S. Government employ these same proven methods of mass psychological manipulation against its entire African American population. The U.S. Government now secretly deliberately disseminates false deplorably racially devaluing statistics and propaganda about its Black population that are deliberately designed to adversely manipulate and shape the minds and collective consciousness of its African American population-- corrupting African Americans sense of unity, cohesion, and reason-- and fostering a consensual national environment of where in which its Black population is more easily divided, exploited and ultimately suppressed. Given the white race’s unrivaled history and proclivity, for brutal racism, and greed of power, what else should have been expected, when they are in control of the
cal principles. The constant relentless bombardment with deplorably negative images of themselves that of which African Americans are so inundated with, through the system, is a very carefully and deliberately designed psychological conditioning program. Its unrelenting daily assault on the Black psyche is designed to corrupt African Americans’ sense of racial unity and cohesion, mold the character of self-hatred, engender self-doubt, self-loathing, and distrust among their group. And while insinuating that Blacks admire, respect, and trust only Whites.This method of psychological manipulation works by affecting the unconscious mind through deception. It uses the psychology of deceit to adversely affect the recipient group in terms of their behavior. Here is a simplified example of how this is being implemented against African Americans. Let us, for example, imagine that a crew of people was aboard their own massive
negative assessments of themselves. The perception created by the taunting now unconsciously influences how the taunted group perceives themselves, subsequently causing them to become distrustful of themselves, doubting themselves, hating themselves and, eventually, fighting among themselves. The taunted group may even become so besieged by deep feelings of inadequacy that they may even jump into the sea and attempt to swim towards the taunting ship now believing it to be superior to their own ship even if their own ship was in fact better. The basis of this concept of mind manipulation is that the human being’s most critical aspect is the mind and it works by affecting the mind through deception. Within a real life setting this mortifying psychosocial treatment is precisely what is being deliberately done to African Americans through corporate owned and governmentally controlled media outlets that deliberately subjected them to seeing only the fraudulently worst in themselves. This is done through an immense campaign of false derogatory misinformation and false negative media
media- the most powerful propaganda tool in the entire world.When most people hear the term of psychological manipulation they usually think in terms of the classic “conspiracy theory” that refers to overt mind control such as mind altering drugs with carefully hypnotic programming. However, the real and true dangers are Bernays well proven methods of affecting the unconscious mind by using deception, and psychological manipulation. It is neither magical nor mystical, but a process that involves a set of basic social psychologi-
ship and that this ship was being shadowed by another neighboring ship that was constantly broadcasting derogatory messages to the first group. Such messages as that their ship was lesser, smaller, not seaworthy, perhaps slowly sinking or that their crew was incompetent and was planning a mutiny. With time, the group receiving the negative messages, being unable to refute or to confirm these derogatory messages and deficiencies will grow weary and paranoid of the negative messages and will eventually comes to accept these
reports and statistics that are created by U.S. governmental agencies and then leaked to its collaborators in the news media, which either knowingly or unknowingly carry the stories as their own. These false information about African Americans are then disseminated unrelentingly everywhere; it is deliberately perpetuated through news releases in magazine articles, radio, television, press releases, documentaries, and false census reports perpetuat-
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OBAMATICS Top Ten Answers To Excuses Concerning Obama Have You Ever Said Any Of These? By: Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
he campaigned for it, said he was “Joshua” to Dr. King’s Moses, and lectured us on the Fierce Urgency of Now. He campaigned like a “civil rights leader.” His web site said “Join the Movement!” If the black president can’t or won’t address black mass incarceration, black unemployment, HIV-AIDS, the foreclosure crisis and other matters that disproportionately affect our communities, then why do we have any kind of collective racial obligation to support him?
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arly this month, panelists on MSNBC’s corporate “Black Agenda” show agreed that black dissatisfaction, disappointment and disaffection with the Obama administration was growing. The brick and mortar of the Black Wall Around Barack Obama are the plentiful and often contradictory excuses which black misleaders and ordinary people offer and accept for his administration’s many failures and betrayals. These excuses are important because the illusion of nearly unanimous black support, no matter what he does or does not do remains President Obama’s most vital political asset. It’s high time for black America to stop making and to stop accepting excuses for the presidency of Barack Obama. So as a public service, we offer this list of the top ten such excuses, followed by a quick and effective
answer for each. W e invite our gentle readers to try these out on the Obamaphiles you meet on a daily basis, your family, friends, co-workers, classmates and others. Be respectful, not derisive, and remember that not many adults will change their minds in real time in front of you and tell you so. Be mindful of opportunities to conduct your discussions with Obamaphiles in front of one or more bystanders. You’re more likely to convert them. Let us know how it works out, and use the comments section if you run into new and noteworthy excuses. EXCUSE NUMBER 10: “You can’t expect him to address issues like black unemployment, which has been double the white rate forever. He’s not the president of Black America, and you can’t expect him to act like it. He’s the president of the United States of America…” QUICK ANSWER: Obama wasn’t drafted, he volunteered for the job,
EXCUSE NUMBER 9: “President Obama is doing the best he can. It took Bush and Cheney eight whole years to screw things up this thoroughly. Obama’s only been in office (fill in the blank) years…” QUICK ANSWER: This excuse supposes Barack Obama really is dedicated to undoing the horrible damage of the Bush-Cheney crime wave. There is no evidence of this. You have to look mighty long and hard to find any Bush era crime that Obama has reversed. But you can find plenty of Bush era crimes and atrocities President Obama has doubled down on. Here are a few — sold to Democrats early on as a “peace candidate,” by August 2008 Obama had endorsed Bush’s Iraq war “surge” and promised to escalate the war in Afghanistan, which he did by expanding it into Pakistan. Obama refused to prosecute Bush and Cheney out of office, or any of their torturers, and has declined to go after telecom companies which intercepted the personal traffic of millions, or the banks which are going through with fraudulent foreclosures. The original Bush bailout was only passed when
candidate Obama came to Washington to personally herd the Black Caucus and reluctant Democrats into passing it. Once in office, Obama increased the bailout from Bush’s $3 trillion to more than $20 trillion. The Obama White House proposed not one new law, not one single regulatory change that would mitigate or prevent another catastrophe like last year’s Deepwater Horizon oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico. Whatever “doing the best he can means, it does not include undoing the Bush-Cheney crime wave. EXCUSE NUMBER 8: “President Obama can’t do all the things he wants to do because he’s being blocked by Democratic blue dogs. (b) racist tea party Republicans (c.) Fox News…” QUICK ANSWER: This was a widely heard excuse during the time Democrats controlled Congress. It’s really not just an excuse for the Obama administration, but for Democrats in general. But it was Obama’s own chief of staff Rahm Emanuel who, in 2006 funneled vast amounts of campaign cash to right wing Democrats whenever they were challenged in primary elections by Democrats opposed to the war. Obama even declared himself a “blue dog” New Democrat once in the White House. EXCUSE NUMBER 7: “President Obama’s agenda is being obstructed by Fox News and racist tea party Republicans…” QUICK ANSWER: In 2009 and 2010 Republicans were in the minority in both houses of Congress. They could pass nothing, subpoena nobody, investigate nothing. They only gained control of Congress at the beginning of 2011. But even without the blessing of Congress, the president and the executive branch possess vast powers to change the nation’s direction. Obama could direct the US Post Office and federal agencies to purchase electric cars, trucks and buses, for example, creating countless green jobs and market incentives for improving those technologies.
The vast research and manufacturing capacity of General Motors, which the White House controlled without any congressional oversight, could have been directed to manufacture high speed rail, electric vehicles or improved home building and retrofit materials that radically reduce carbon emissions and provide jobs for millions. EXCUSE NUMBER 6: “The president doesn’t have 60 votes in the Senate. Filibuster rules mean that without a super-majority he and his party can’t get anything through the Senate…” QUICK ANSWER: Like excuses 7 and 8, this one is designed to deflect blame not just from the president, but from Democrats in Congress. The president and his party passed their 2009 health care bill, which was really a bailout of health insurance companies through the Senate with a simple majority. Congressional Democrats can sweep aside the super majority rule any time they choose. They choose not to. But the excuse is too valuable to lose. EXCUSE NUMBER 5: “President Obama isn’t superman and can’t do everything. People like the Congressional Black Caucus and other black leaders need to stand up and take some responsibility…” QUICK ANSWER: This gem of an excuse was offered by the president’s put bull, the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC’s corporate “Black Agenda” in early April. The Congressional Black Caucus has endorsed the budget proposals of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, which call for a reduction in the military budget, an end to bank bailouts, along with new taxes on Wall Street speculators and the wealthy to guarantee the funding of Medicaid, Medicare and social security. That’s leadership. President Obama won’t touch the subject with a ten foot pole because that’s not the direction in which he chooses to
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BLACK PERSPECTIVE Adding Too Many Non-Blacks Could Dilute The Power Of The NAACP The Damage In Turning Over Our Organization By: Robert N. Taylor
A story is making its rounds on the
Internet and it is headlined as follows: “New NAACP Leaders Broaden Group’s Mission.” The headline relates to a brewing controversy within the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization: Several local chapters have elected non-African American leaders and the organization is increasingly taking positions on non-Black issues ranging from Latino issues to homosexual rights. The NAACP says this added diversity will broaden its appeal and make it a more effective organization. But I have my concerns. Too much diversity can actually dilute or weaken the effectiveness of any organization. All our lives we have been taught that a key to achieving success is focus. As a general rule,
when you lessen your focus, you weaken yourself. Further, at this point in history, too many African Americans are sufficiently lacking in self-esteem and pride that they automatically assume that anything all or predominantly Black is somehow unequal or of less value than that which is white or multi-racial. Thus, we must be careful when we start diluting predominantly Black organizations by bringing in too many nonBlacks. We could just broaden ourselves out of existence. Answer the following questions for me: How many Hispanic organizations are headed by non-Hispanics? How many gay rights organizations are headed
by non-gays? How many women’s organizations are headed by men? I hope you see where I am heading. African Americans suffer disproportionately from specific
of kind and degree. We should feel absolutely no need to prove something (I am not sure what) by turning the leadership of our organizations over to non-Blacks. No group in America today has suffered what we have suffered – again in terms of type of suffering and degree of suffering. I fully support coalitions with other groups when we share issues and concerns in common. I also support broadening our concerns beyond traditional civil rights issues. But we should not integrate ourselves out of existence by turning our organizations over to others. Appearing recently on the National Public Show “All Things Considered,” the new Hispanic president of the NAACP branch in Waterbury, Connecticut Victor Diaz said, “I think you’re going to see a great
discriminations and social pathologies. Thus, many of our needs are different from those of other groups both in terms
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LET US NEVER FORGET
The Black Revolution No One Told You About The Untold Story of The Seminoles By: Stephanie Robinson
What if I told you that the largest
slave rebellion in American history was one no one knows about? Well, we commemorate the successful end of one such rebellion 173 years ago this week…
it. Numerous Black Seminoles quietly organized their enslaved brethren on nearby plantations and, in December of 1835, the Second Seminole War broke out as the Black/Indian alliance launched coordinated attacks on U.S. territorial
Indian allies (for an estimated total of over 1000 black warriors) decimating over 21 of North America’s largest and richest sugar plantations. Although the U.S. troops were failing miserably, 1836 marked a turning point as President
history has falsely led us to believe that 1) the most significant slave revolts on US territory were the Nat Turner or Louisiana uprisings; and 2) that the Second Seminole War, aka the Florida War, had little to do with
Some of you may have heard of the Black Seminoles, the free blacks and fugitive slaves who allied with Seminole Indians during the 1800s. These communities of fugitive and free Africans interacting with Indians were not uncommon during slavery, but this one was the largest in North America. As America expanded, President Andrew Jackson signed the 1830 Indian Removal Act forcing native populations east of the Mississippi west on an infamous trek now known as the “Trail of Tears.” Many Native Americans were murdered and displaced. However, the Seminoles of the Florida territory were not having 6
establishments. From 1835 to 1838, a free, landowning and successful brother named John Horse led the largest slave rebellion in U.S. history. At the height of the revolt in 1836, at least 400 escaped Africans fought alongside the black and
Jackson appointed Gen. Thomas Sydney Jesup to head the Florida effort. From the start, he offered this telltale warning: “This, you may be assured, is a Negro, not an Indian war….” So let’s put this in context. Think about it. American
black folks. And yet there is a wealth of documentation to the contrary in the form of historical letters and statements from a long list of presidents, generals, congressmen and countless others that say to the contrary. Back to the story…
Jesup changed American war strategy to primarily focus on the black rebels rather than the Indians. By 1838, after using reinforcements and “hit-and-run” tactics to raid black settlements, take rebel family members hostage, and offer freedom to those who surrendered, Jesup’s approach paid off. In April of that year, the allies negotiated a deal where Horse and the Black Seminoles agreed to cease fighting and move west to Oklahoma territory in exchange for legal recognition of their freedom. However, in 1848, after U.S. Attorney General John Mason effectively reversed this legal recognition, Horse led a contingency of hundreds from the Oklahoma territory to Mexico, battling slave-catchers along the way. Finally, in the 1850s, Horse and the Black Seminoles gained a legally recognized Mexican homeland in Nacimiento, where some of his descendents still live today.
REAL TALK A Black Man’s Guide To Recognizing A Good Black Woman Are You Looking For Her In All Of The Wrong Places? By: Staff Writer
Hoodrat. Hoochie. Bustdown. Gold
Digger. Baby Momma. They’re with white men. They’re all on Welfare. They all have multiple kids. They all loud, ghetto, wear big weaves, tight clothes, and have major attitudes. These are just a few of the stereotypes that follow black women around. Add that to the over-sexualized images of women in music videos and other video media, and you have a recipe for the belief that there are no good black women left. But that is totally not the truth. There are positive black women that do great things everyday. Best of all, many of these good black women want to be with a good black man. They are just waiting to be recognized from those that are “not so good”. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a judgement on women that have kids, are on welfare, have chosen white men,
an so on. This is just to serve as a guide for opening the eyes of men who want to take the talk of wanting a ‘good black women’ and transforming that talk into action. First, recognize that a ‘good black woman’ recognizes that she is ‘good’ and values herself. She has self worth and practices good morals and values. Whatever her faith or motivational drive, she does not waiver and is confident in her belief system. She will not let anyone or anything compromise that. A familiar passage says, “a man who findeth a wife findeth a good thing”. That being said, a good black woman is patient in finding her mate. She is not out searching for him, but rather getting herself together and maintaining her life for when it is the right time to be joined with a man. A good black woman surrounds herself with other good black women (and “good people” just the same). Look
at the company she keeps. If you have concerns with her friends, if they look to be like not-so-good women, there is a good chance that she is not a good black woman. A good black woman is not out to look for a man to take care of her because she will do for herself. Do not confuse this with being “too independent” or the idea that “women don’t need a man”. A good man will COMPLIMENT a woman, never COMPLETE her. She should be whole and complete before the man ever approaches her. A man should run away fast if one of the first
things out of a woman’s mouth is “what can you do for me ?” Further, recognize
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THE BLACK HOLOCAUST
Three-Year Old’s Death
Reflects The Tragedy Of Black-on-Black Homicide By: Dr. Boyce
D
avion Powell was just three years old when a bullet took his life. The shooter, 21-year old Roderick Moss, appeared in court this week on charges of murder. Moss allegedly shot through the window of an apartment building with children inside. Powell was hit in the head by one of the bullets and died in the hospital. Little Davion was described as the “child that everybody loved.” “He was a loving little boy,” Gwen Jordan, Davion’s daycare provider told the Courier-Journal. Moss turned himself in to police on Friday. Jordan says she spoke with the young man’s mother, who says she is “very hurt” that her son would do this to a child. He is being held on $1 million bond and appears in court again on May 31. “She’s very hurt” Jordan said ”Her emotions… she’s so sorry that her son done this. She wanted justice. She wanted her son to turn himself in. She wanted justice.”
I can’t put into words the depth of agony that went through my heart when my daughter told me the story of Davion Powell. My stomach turned and I cried, because a child so young and innocent expects adults to protect him, not try to kill him. I also felt pain for the perpetrator, Mr. Moss, who likely experienced a sequence of events in life that turned him into the kind of monster who shoots at little children. But the time of sympathy for Mr. Moss is gone, and as much as I advocate for equality for black men in the criminal justice system, I sincerely hope that Moss receives the punishment he deserves. When you see the mugshot of Moss, you see a man who honestly reminds me of “Loc-Dog,” a character from the 1993 film, “Menace 2 Society.” Played by actor Larenz Tate, Loc-Dog was the kind of vicious, homicidal maniac rarely seen in
film. Tate’s performance was crucial in making the film iconic. Even though a full generation has passed since the release of that film, you can see the role that a violent subculture plays in the creation of young men who are wired not to “give a f*ck” about anyone who suffers the wrath of their fury.The violent urban subculture connects readily to the worst of hip-hop music, as we all remember Lil Wayne saying publicly that he would kill newborn babies. But commercialized hip-hop artists are not solely to blame, for the sub-culture is further fueled by the easy availability of drugs and guns in the black community (which began with the CIA -inspired crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s), creating the men who pose serious threats to every law-abiding man, woman and child in America. In many communities, it’s easier for a young black man to get a gun than it is for him
to get an education or a job, and there is no one on Capitol Hill rushing to change that. To make our community socially-solvent, we must save both the Davion Powells and the Roderick Mosses. When Menace 2 Society came out, Roderick himself was the same age as Davion, and our society made a collective decision to allow him to grow into a man who decided to create nightmares instead of nurture dreams. We, as a society, had the option of turning Roderick into the type of man who would mentor young Davion, protect him and perhaps even serve as a husband to his mother. Instead, we turned him into the man who put a bullet in his brain. Every policy decision we make has real-world implications on the lives of human beings, and we must be proactive in deciding what to do with little black boys. By allowing a young boy to grow into a man who had nothing to live for, we must confess that this baby’s blood lies in the hands of us all. I am completely convinced that this tragedy was avoidable, and that this baby did NOT have to die.
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OUR PERSPECTIVE What Do We Want For Our People And Children? Now Is The Time To Do For Ourselves By: FinalCall
it. It was never designed to serve you well. In my humble suggestion, we need our own Ministry of Education, where we bring our brightest minds together to think about what do we want for our children and people.
E ditor’s note: The following excerpts are taken from the address delivered March 10 by Minister Farrakhan to keynote the forum, “The Challenges We Face,” during the four-day National Black People’s Unity Convention in Gary, Indiana, which was themed “Policies for Empowerment: The Struggle for a New Economic Order.”
Sound economic empowerment
If you live in a society that out-sources jobs to cheap labor markets overseas and everything that we wear now is made in a foreign country, what happens to the functional illiterates and dropouts. Do you think you can wait for the U.S. government to create more jobs for us and what kind of job will they create for our children? The price of living is going up, but wages going down or remaining the same. What chance do our young people have in an economy that is dying in front of our faces? The economic challenge is, do we sit around and wait for someone else to provide a job for an ever-shrinking job market?
A new educational paradigm
Without the proper requisite knowledge we will never have economic empowerment. One of the challenges that we face is that the educational system is a failure and it is designed that way so that the mass Black and poor will always fit into socio-economic paradigm. They will always be the 85 percent that the 10 percent live from to remain rich at the expense of the Black and the poor. The educational system was never designed to cultivate the talent within the human being. True education cultivates what God has put within so that it comes out to glorify God and better the person, family, community and the world. You have never been trained to succeed, but a few of us do, to sell the lie to the masses that the system works for all. We must never sell that lie to another generation of Black children. Stop telling your people, “If you work hard, you will achieve.” You will achieve,
only if they open a door for you to achieve; the door does not open for everybody. So we cannot trust a system of education like that. So the challenge is an education that enlivens us to do business. Business is the activity of life itself. You do not have to teach a worm what to do to survive. Every creature is born with the inherent ability to attract out of this material earth what it needs to perpetuate its species. If we are made in the image and the likeness of God, something is wrong that we do not know how to make something happen for ourselves and if White people do not make
it happen for us, we want to picket, lay down, sit in, crawl in and wade in. Nobody respects a beggar. We have the ability to do something for ourselves. We have wonderful political progress in one sense, but politics without economics is symbol without substance. What good is it to be the Black mayor over someone else’s reality and if you do not govern their reality right, they move you out. The challenge is to create a new educational paradigm. It is not outside of our grasp to do this, because this educational system is a failure. Do not worry about trying to transform
The food in agribusiness is more for profit than the health and well being of the American people. There was a time when Black people owned 21 million acres of land. Today, we own less than three million acres of farmland. If we do not own land, we do not have the basis of building sound economic empowerment. As long as your mouth is in someone else’s kitchen, then you are at the mercy of the food merchants of death. So, we might as well as get ready to do something for ourselves.
OUR LEGACY BEFORE SLAVERY In The Reign Of The Black Pharaohs The New Kingdom
W
hich country has the largest collection of pyramids? Think again, for it is not Egypt, b u t
Sudan. Join 8
Mohamed El-Hebeishy as he visits north Sudan in search of answers. Our great grandfathers called it Ta-Seti, Land of the Bow. They were referring to the area south of the First Cataract at Aswan, and the reason behind the name was the unparalleled skill its inhabitants demonstrated when using the bow as a method of arm. Those excellent bowmen were actually the Kushites. At first, Egyptians, as back as the First Dynasty, would send expeditions to the area in pursuit of slaves as well as the exploration of new sites where copper and gold could be mined. Egyptian influence grew and by
the Middle Kingdom, a series of strongholds and fortresses controlled the Nile at the Second Cataract. Their influence over the area grew further through the New Kingdom; Pharaoh Tuthmoses III marched as far south as the Fifth Cataract. But change is a question of time, and by the end of the New Kingdom, Kush began to rise. Historians have universally agreed that King Alara unified Upper Nubia around 780 BC, declaring Napata (near Jabal Barrkal, Karima, North Sudan) the capital. The job was completed by his successor King Kashata when Lower Nubia joined the crown. Nubia had
been united and Kashata claimed for himself the title Pharaoh. But that was not the end of it; following suit was Pharaoh Piye, better known in history as Pharaoh Piankhy, conqueror of Thebes and founder of Egypt’s 25th Dynasty, the dynasty of the Black Pharaohs.
heroic war veteran he was, the Kushite Kingdom expanded as far as the borders of Libya and Palestine. Unfortunately for him, the Assyrians were rising exponentially and in no time they stormed Egypt, forcing Taharqa to flee Thebes and seek shelter in Napata.
Lasting for a little less than 100 years, the 25th Dynasty had five Pharaohs claiming the throne, the most famous being Pharaoh Taharqa. Leaving numerous monuments both in Egypt and Sudan, one of his most famous deeds was the restoration and building efforts in Karnak Temple, notes the First Court of Amun. Being the
The period that followed was draped in a shroud of mystery, up until the third century BC when King Arkamani moved the capital from Napata further south to Meroe (midway between Khartoum and Atbara). History has taught us that behind each move there is a story and this one is no different.
MIND, BODY & SOUL Domestic Violence, Postpartum Depression Linked In Black Women By: Van Smith
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frican-American women are at greater risk of being assaulted by intimate partners than any other group of women. New research presented yesterday by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health suggests that harm from abuse doesn’t end with the violence itself. Intimate partner violence often increases during pregnancy when women are most vulnerable, according to Dr. Samantha MeltzerBrody, director of the perinatal psychiatry program at University of North Carolina. In addition to the danger that abuse poses to the woman and her unborn child, the Johns Hopkins study shows that these women are also at greater risk of postpartum depression. According to the data, one out of every three women abused during pregnancy went on to develop depression in the first 12 months of the child’s life. Intimate partner violence can include anything from sexual abuse, physical abuse, or stalking to pregnancy coercion — when a woman is forced to conceive a child against her will. Some experts have speculated that postpartum depression linked to abuse from her partner may have
led to Newburgh mom Lashanda Armstrong’s murder-suicide, in which she killed her 11-month-old, 2-year-old and 5-year-old children. “Postpartum depression can occur up to a year postpartum, so whenever you hear a story of erratic behavior, withdrawal, violence toward one’s own children, it fits with [it],” said Dr. Gail Saltz, associate professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital and Today Show contributor. “Guilt is also a big feature of postpartum depression.” Individually, both intimate partner violence and postpartum depression can prevent a woman from forming a strong mother-infant bond. This bond is important to the child’s continued health, educational development and behavioral control. Postpartum depression, in particular, can lead to substantial neglect, or even violent acts against the infant, if depression becomes severe or the new mother displays psychotic symptoms.
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WRITERS WANTED!
For More Info Please E-mail Tina At: tinac@urbansourcemagazine.com
SINGLE INDEPENDENT SISTAH
Are Black Women Too Independent? And If So, Do They Have Good Reason? By: Staff Writer
Too sure of themselves, too eager to
express their opinion (and dis yours), too unwilling to listen and be submissive? Are today’s black women even capable of ‘following’ a strong black man? For all my single brothers out there who have asked me these questions many times – this article is for you. First, let’s deal with the first question – Are single black women too independent? My answer to this might surprise you – I think, in many ways, black women are too independent, but with good reason. To understand this dichotomy, you have to understand something about most single black
women. Most single black women have a history of supporting themselves, holding down a job (or two), possibly raising children, attending school, taking care of household bills (probably with a house of their own) and helping out with other family responsibilities involving parents, grandparents and siblings.
form a support network among themselves in order to get things done, bring order to their lives and accomplish those tasks that were once upon a time more evenly split between the In many cases they have handled two genders. these responsibilities without a strong or consistent male influence in their This has caused an lives. Through miscommunication, epidemic of sorts death, neglect or abuse, many father- in the single black daughter, sister-brother, boyfriend- c o m m u n i t y . girlfriend relationships have gone Black women astray, oftentimes leaving women to learned that in
order to get things done, they had to rely upon themselves and began to do so with increasing success. As a result of this, black women learned that they didn’t really ‘need’ black men the way they thought they did – for companionship, for leadership or for money and support. They learned to work and earn money for themselves, raise their children single-handedly, pay their bills, and get their own education, but these lessons came at a cost. And that cost was the sacrifice of a healthy relationship with their future spouses, boyfriends or lovers. So, yes, black women are sometimes too independent, but only because
they had to be. In order to survive, in order for their children to survive and in order to make their lives work. Are single black women then too sure of themselves, too eager to express their opinions, unwilling to listen or be submissive? Again the answer is – sometimes yes, sometimes no. Sometimes yes because single black women are usually pretty confident, pretty self-assured and pretty sure of who they are – especially once they’ve reached a certain age. And sometimes yes because I have seen a sister ‘go off’ on a brother for pretty much no reason at all, just to establish her dominance or
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EDUCATION
Why Black Men Can’t Be Absent From Their Child’s Education It Really Does Take A Whole Village By: Staff Writer
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hand, while their feet seemed to plant the fall cotton and harvest the winter wheat simultaneously, all while looking after the kids. A n d where were the
s a kid, I remember watching documentaries about African village life, and I was always intrigued. The women would be inevitably pounding maize with one hand, knitting a shirt with the other
men, you ask? Well, the men would be found sunning themselves under an acacia tree, drinking a beer, and doing what my aunt called, “big time philosophizing” about life in the village, the tribe, or whatever else was on their mind. It wasn’t that the men were lazy, it just didn’t occur to them that maybe, just maybe, they could take a break from solving the big problems of their world, and should lend a hand in solving the immediate tasks at hand. Instead, the men looked at the work as being women’s work, and as a result, did nothing. I thought about that African scene last week, when I was sitting on a hard metal chair at my son’s middle school. The occasion was a town hall meeting where parents got a chance to listen to two candidates for principal. This was an important meeting because as parents, as we’d fought and won a battle against our previous principal because of what we perceived to be incompetence, and here was our chance to have a voice in who would be hired to guide our children. And yet, when I took a look around the packed room, I could
count the number of black men in attendance on one hand.So who was there? Moms, single moms, foster moms, guardians, baby mommas, grandmothers, and aunts, all who’d left their jobs early, missed college classes, or gathered multiple children from multiple schools to show up. And guess what? I’m guessing that many of them would go home after the meeting, only to pound maize with one hand, knit a shirt with the other, while making dinner and going over vocabulary words for the next day test. And this isn’t an isolated incident. Throughout the country, black men are absent from the day to day education of their children to the point of crisis. It’s like the idea of being involved in checking math problems, speaking up at PTA meetings is beneath us. So what does this mean? It means that we black men are screwing up. We’re leaving the main bulk of education to the women in our community, and we’re either not thinking about the education of our
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Dear Ms. Boe,
Advice, Relationships & Marriage Tips
Why Am I Still Attracted To An Unhealthy Relationship? By: Bonita Saunders
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3. Makes you feel poorly about yourself, thereby affecting your behavior and your self-esteem.
I’ve tried and tried, but I can’t leave him. I’m also bitter about giving so much and getting nothing in return, so why am I still in love with him and why can’t I let go? I am so scared of walking away. It physically hurts! -Monique
This man physically makes you ill, fearful, and bitter. He is toxic, and he undermines your life, emotions, and self-worth. He is damaging you in extremely unhealthy ways, and you have allowed him to trap you in a dead beat relationship.
’ve been in love with this guy for over 3 years but I know in my heart that it’s going nowhere. I feel I’m being used and it hurts so bad! I’m also emotionally abused when I don’t provide what he needs.
It sounds like you’re dealing with a Toxic Man. According to Lillian Glass, the author of Toxic Men, there are three conditions that define a “Toxic Man”. He is any man who: 1. Elicits negative emotions from you. 2. Behaves badly towards you or doesn’t treat you right. 10
Of the many types of toxic men, it sounds like he is the angry, bullying, control freak who abuses you when he doesn’t get what he wants, and scares you so you don’t walk away. This toxic man is all
about controlling you by telling you what to do and how to do it. His behavior negatively affects you in a physical way, having a direct impact on your demeanor and appearance, so that you don’t even recognize the woman you see in the mirror. As you are probably well aware, you need to let go of this toxic man, find your empowered self, and start anew. He is doing nothing but bringing you down. If you feel you can’t walk away just yet, then try the mirror technique, suggested in Toxic Men. The next time he yells, yell back. If he uses a gruff tone, use a gruff tone back at him. If he invades your space or scowls at you, mirror his actions and
do it right back. You will be surprised to see his reaction when he realizes you are calling him out on his aggressive, bullying, toxic behavior. The truth is, the only thing keeping you with this toxic man is you, and you have the power to walk away. Turn to friends and family for the love and support you will need as you make this step. No one is worth losing yourself and living a miserable life with, so throw out a life preserver and save yourself.
YOUR ROMANCE GUIDE, DATING ADVICE, LOVE, REALATIONSHIP AND MARRIAGE TIPS. Give us your feedback.
E-mail your questions in to Ms. Boe at: advice@urbansourcemagazine.com
BLACK MAN, BLACK WOMAN APOLOGY TO THE BLACK WOMAN
From The Black Man (This article was so powerful that we had to run it again) By: Marlon LeTerrance
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ave a seat sister; this may take a while. Don’t be afraid. The two pistols you see smoking in my hands are harmless now. Both clips are empty, much like a Larry Elders speech. And even though I was aiming at the System when I first unloaded shots into the air, I see now that I missed the target. The System remains intact while you sit wounded and battle-weary from decades of bullets being lodged deep into your heart and soul. I murdered you many times. Still, you didn’t die-not even once. I apologize for abandoning you and leaving you to fend for yourself in a world as cruel as it is cold. I should have supported you when you offered to be apart of the struggle. But the struggle was an internal one as well as an external one, and I was losing on both fronts. I got mad at you for straightening your hair, for slow dancing in the arms of white men, for challenging my manhood and comparing it to
other races. I hated the way the System divided us by promoting you and demoting me, but instead of uniting with you and having your back, I attacked you and left you alone in your grief. I apologize for flaunting white women in your face as soon as I got money or fame. I was suffering from a mental illness that had me believing that my self-worth had to be approved by blue eyes. I know it hurt you to see me betray you so quickly, so easily, and so often. I had you feeling
as though you were not worthy to be in my arms when the opposite was true. I was not worthy of yours. I apologize for calling you a “bitch” and a “hoe” and treating you like a sexual object in my music, and in the streets, and amongst my homeboys. I felt powerless and frustrated, lost in maze of self-hatred. I raped you, and pimped you, and beat you, and cursed you, and tried to destroy you in the same way I felt destroyed. The pressures of society triggered the implosion that almost destroyed everything inside of me. And you got
QUESTION?
caught up in the blast because you were always so determined to stand firmly by my side. I murdered you many times. Still, you didn’t dienot even once. I apologize for cheating on you, abusing you, and leaving you as soon as you got pregnant. I pretended like the child wasn’t mine. I even asked you to kill the baby because I knew I wasn’t responsible enough to rear him/ her properly. When you refused, I reluctantly tossed you a few dollars each month and felt like that’s all I had to do to be a father. I apologize for turning you into a single mother instead of a happy wife. I apologize for selling drugs and going to prison and using the streets as an excuse for my failure. I didn’t want to be like the honest folks in my hood who worked hard and had nothing to show for it. I wanted more out of life but didn’t have the courage or the insight to follow the path of the brothers who worked hard in school to build stable futures and lives
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Are We Raising Our Daughter’s To Be Single Mother’s? Parenting Solo By: Staff Writer
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he words stung like rubbing alcohol in a paper cut – as a single Mom I might be raising my daughter to remain single. W-h-a-t? That was my reaction when I read the article by CNN senior assignment manager, Audrey Irvin, that hypothesized that single Moms maybe raising a generation of the same. I know that my daughter is a mini me – poor thing. She has my bubbling over personality and my overly sensitive feelings. I have given her many things; both intentional
and otherwise, but the legacy of perpetual singleness was not something I wanted to bestow on her. Irvine shed light on the ugly truth of a Yale study that found that in U.S., African American women are almost twice as likely to be without a spouse as their White counterparts. Now I agree with Helen Reddy “I Am Woman Hear Me Roar”. I want my daughter to be strong and independent. But I don’t want that strength to
rob her of a desire or an ability to have a life long companion. Do these things have to be mutually exclusive? Can’t you be a superwoman and have a superman? Irvine says maybe not. She admits that after her father died her mother girded her loins and did what she had to to raise three children alone. That seemed to form a wall around her mother’s heart that wouldn’t let another mate in. My mother almost did the same thing. She went so long without dating after my father’s death that we checked her for a pulse and asked if she had died along with him. Well like mother, like daughter. Since the death of my marriage I have only dated sporadically. I used to think there was a kind of nobility in not dating while my child is in her tender years. Now I wonder if I am robbing her of seeing a loving, healthy relationship that she can model. That is of course assuming I can find one. The old cliché’ is true – a good man is hard to find. The author points to the fact that there are 1.8 million more African
American women in the United States than African American men. While I like all things chocolate – including men, I have taught my daughter to take a Baskin Robbins approach to dating. There are 31 flavors so you don’t have to stick to the basics. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. There is a certain edge you must have to be a single mom in the first place. It’s the only way you can protect your pups against the world. I call it keeping on my game face. There is a certain amount of vulnerability involved in a relationship. I find it hard to be tough enough to be protector and provider and then soft enough to open your heart and let someone in. I am having a hard time striking a balance. Until I read Irvine’s article I thought it was just my problem. To know that I could be making it my daughter’s problem too, is troublesome. I always tell her that I think
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THE URBAN SOURCE BOOK REVIEW
The Souls Of Black Folk/ The Invisible Man W.E.B. DuBois By: Tina Clark
“I t is the thought of a negro of Northern education who has lived long among his brethen of the South
yet who can not fully feel the meaning of some things which these brethen know by instinct and which the Southern bred white knows by a similar instint certain things which are by both are accepted as facts not theories -fundamental attitudes of race to race which are the product of conditions extending over centuries as are the somewhat parallel attitudes of the gentry to the peasantry in other countries”- W.E.B DuBois In the Souls of Black Folk W.E.B DuBois assembles fourteen of his essays on the history, politcis and sociology of the Black community. DuBois tells the reader that the problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line. The issue of the “color line” or the division of African Americans from the rest of American society. Dubois begins chapter one by discussing what it means to be a “problem” he says that people never come right out and ask him what it is like to be a problem; although he knows they consider him a problem because he is African American. Instead, people talk about nice African Americans that they know or tell him abouty how they fought in the Civil War to end slavery. Dubois outlines the classification of the races (Egyptian,
Indian, Greek, Roman, Teuton, Mongolian and Negro) and says that the Negro is the seventh son with the gift of second sight. DuBois calls the second sight a “double- consciousness” explaining that African Americans always see themselves through other’s eyes. The Negro is constantly striving to merge his various selves in a quest for self- conscious manhood; he wishes to be both a Negro and an American. DuBois examines the problem slaves posed during the early years of the Civil War. The North was not sure what to do with escaped slaves and did not have a unified response until the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in states of rebellion Dubois traces the history of the Freeman’s Bureau to various attemptes to manage fugitive slaves during the war, such as the Port Royal experiment and various Freedman’s Aid Socities. While DuBois pays tribute to what Booker T. Washington has accomplished, he also discusses the many people, particulary African
Americans who disagree with Washington’s theories, DuBois c o n c e d e s that some black men may criticize Washington because they are envious but maintains that many educated black men oppose Washington. DuBois offers some suggestions for how black men should respond to their current circumstances, he argues that the South should not be judged blindly as the present generation is not responsible for the past and there are many good Southerners. He also argues that African American men have a duty to oppose some of Washington’s ideas, even if he is an important leader. W.E.B DuBois was regarded as one of the most intellectual leaders in the United States. He was the first African American to graduate from Harvard with a Ph.D. He served head of the NAACP and founded The Crisis (the weekly newspaper for NAACP).
“I am an invisible man. No I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allen Poe, nor am I one of your Hollywood movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids-and I might even be said to possess a mind. am invisible, understand simply because people refuse to see me”- Ralph Ellison Ellison introduces himself as an “invisible man” explaining that his invisibility owes not to some biochemical accident or supernatural cause but rather to the unwillingness of other people to notice him because he is black. He says that his invisibility can serve both as an advantage and as a constant aggravation. Being invisible sometimes makes him doubt whether he really exists. The metaphors of invisibility and blindness allow for an examination of the effects of racism on the victim and the perpetrator. Because Ellison is black, whites refuse to see him as an actual, three demensional person hence, he portrays himself as invisible and describes them as blind. Ellison’s central struggles involves the conflict between how others percieve him and how he percieves himself. The use of masks or role-playing as a method of suberfuge becomes increasingly important later
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MUSIC REVIEW URBAN SOURCE TEEN ADVICE
Thoughts From The Editor Listen Up Dayton!!! By: Tina Clark
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efore I begin let me say, I know that I am going to piss some folks off…and that’s okay because I only speak truth. The younger generation calls it “keepin it hundred” and that’s just what I plan to do “keep it hundred.” Last week, I stood outside of a Shell Station on Gettysburg selling the latest issue of The Urban Source when a middle aged black man approached me, curious of what I was doing, he glanced over the cover of the magazine and said “my daddy”…I know a grown man saying “daddy” threw me off to, but anyway he goes “my daddy says that ya’ll are a bunch of radicals and that I can’t support ya’ll.” Now Dayton, keepin it hundred I have to be honest and say that him, his father and many have the “slave mentality” you know the kind “I’se be good boss, I’se don’t want no trouble..No Suh no trouble at all” (said in my best Kunta Kente voice) The truth of the matter is this, whether we here at The Urban Source are perceived as “radicals” is neither here nor there, our sole mission is to speak
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truth and say the things that most won’t, like for example why in the hell were the SCLC on the news “boycotting” PITA for a billboard that clearly speaks about animal rights when just a month ago a car full of children was ambushed outside of Hooks on Gettysburg (in broad daylight) and a child was shot in the face. Where were SCLC, Local Pastors, NAACP or Black business owners, whoever…where were you at? Why weren’t you boycotting injustice then or calling the State’s Attorney’s Office demanding justice and action be taken or, for that matter any assault, robbery or murder that occurs mainly in West Dayton and more specifically on Gettysburg. While doing research for this article I Googled “most dangerous neighborhoods in Dayton,OH” immediately satellite images displayed Salem, Hoover, Keowee, Catalpa, 3rd Main and Gettysburg. So if we know, Black people that we have severe crime and poverty in our neighborhoods then why aren’t we doing anything. And some of
these so-called “Pastors” that only perform in front of the news camera (please sit down and shut up) keep your ego to yourself. What is relevant is the look of despair on these black kids’ faces they’re surrounded by crime, poverty, drugs, hunger and desolation on top of more budget cuts which will affect 2011-2012 school year where classroom size is expected to double for some schools. Programs for the youth are currently being eliminated as we speak; now tell me Dayton, what is the likelihood of our black children collectively progressing into a healthy adulthood. And, “keepin it hundred” I’ve attended most of the black churches here in Dayton and I really…. really want to ask most of the Pastors ‘What are ya’ll doing with all of that money?” Every Sunday, most black churches here in Dayton are filled to capacity so much so that some cars
overflow unto the curbs, now I’m not hating on anyone getting their praise on but if the black church is collecting the mass majority of our money, then please explain how in the hell foreigners are still building businesses in our communities, why aren’t there a collection of programs for the kids, why aren’t there food pantries that WE organize, why do we continue to allow our neighborhoods to look so trashy, why aren’t there more black businesses; no better yet, why don’t the church support the black businesses in their communities such as; instead of taking your congregation to Golden Coral why not support a black restaurant.
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GUEST CONTRIBUTING WRITER The Almighty Inspirations Dayton Spotlight By: Tina Clark
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sat mesmerized in my office last Thursday evening trying to unwind from rushing to destination after another. When two handsome and talented men walked in; Now ladies, I know what you’re thinking (they were not THOSE type of men) No, you see these men crooned and sang to me with deep sultry voices that saturated and smoothed over me. Ladies, they sang about the Lord. Ricky, Tony and Chad are the Native Ohio gospel quartet trio known as The Mighty Inspirations. These childhood friends met on the monkey bars at Summit Square Apartments right here in Dayton back in the day and been singing for the Lord ever since.
“God is my inspiration” says Ricky as he sat bashfully off to the side. The Mighty Inspirations debut album entitled “Right around the Corner” features their hits selling single “The Good News is the Bad News” can be found at B & D Records on Germantown. The Trio is currently touring performing and will hold their 4th anniversary September 18th and can be contacted at mightyinspirations@ facebooks.com
Tony recalls one of their most memorable concert performances at a local prison where afterwards several inmates testified and accepted God into their hearts.
COMMENTARY Today Is January 2, 1863 Are You Still A Slave? By: Staff Writer
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hough Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, with an effective date of January 1, 1863, it had minimal immediate effect on most slaves’ day-to-day lives, particularly in the Confederate States of America. Texas, as a part of the Confederacy, was resistant to the Emancipation Proclamation, and though slavery was very prevalent in East Texas, it was not as common in the Western areas of Texas, particularly the Hill Country, where most German-Americans were opposed to the practice. Juneteenth commemorates June 18 and 19, 1865. June 18 is the day Union General Gordon Granger and 2,000 federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to take possession of the state and enforce the emancipation of its slaves. On June 19, 1865, legend has it while standing on
the balcony of Galveston’s Ashton Villa, Granger read the contents of “General Order No. 3”: The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor. The freedmen are advised to remain quietly at their present homes and work for wages. They are informed that they will not be allowed to collect
at military posts and that they will not be
supported in idleness either there or elsewhere. That day has since become known as Juneteenth, a name derived from a portmanteau of the words June and nineteenth. Former slaves in Galveston rejoiced in the streets with jubilant celebrations. Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States
and has been an African American tradition since the late 19th century. Economic and cultural forces caused a decline in Juneteenth celebrations beginning in the early 20th century. The Depression forced many blacks off farms and into the cities to find work. In these urban environments, employers were less eager to grant leaves to celebrate this date. July 4 was the already established Independence Day holiday, and a rise in patriotism among black Americans steered more toward this celebration. The Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s yielded both positive and negative results for the Juneteenth celebrations. While it pulled many of the African American youth away and into the struggle for racial equality, many linked these struggles to the historical struggles of their ancestors. Again in 1968, Juneteenth
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Domestic Violence, Postpartum Depression continued..... In a CNN interview, Darice Armstrong, Lashanda Armstrong’s sister, describes her sister’s paranoid behavior. “She was talking to me about how she felt like somebody was watching her,” Darice explained. “[And that] the lights in her house were flickering on and off.” Stories like Lashanda Armstrong’s are real, but rare, experts say. More commonly, postpartum symptoms range from “baby blues” with mild sadness, fatigue and increased crying, to feelings of worthlessness and guilt. It can be hard to differentiate the normal changes of new motherhood from postpartum depression. And, it is often a challenge for women to admit they need help. “When they have the feeling that ‘I don’t like my baby,’ ‘I don’t want to be a mother,’ or ‘I’m a terrible mother,’ ‘I have a
terrible baby,’ they feel ashamed,” Saltz said. An estimated 80 percent of women develop depression after delivering a child, yet the disorder frequently goes undiagnosed. Given the stigmas around mental health disorders in the African-American community, AfricanAmerican women are diagnoses even less. If there isn’t family that understands what postpartum depression is, or recognizes that that’s what they’re seeing, or if there is no family around, it will greatly increase the odds,” said Saltz. On a biological level, postpartum depression is thought to be caused by the drastic drop in hormones upon delivering, and exacerbated by sleep deprivation. If a woman previously had significant depressive symptoms with
Why Black Men Can’t Be Absent From Their Child’s Education continued..... children, not involved in our child’s educational lives (beyond the clichéd questions like “study hard in school”) or we comfort ourselves with the knowledge that we’re looking out for the big picture, like figuring out how to pay for college, and that’s our job as black men. Well, that’s not good enough. It’s time for us to get off of our collective butts and sit with our children and start being intimate with the educational process. That means looking at parent teacher conferences as being black men’s work. Helping your child study for test as being black daddy’s work. Understanding and exploring educational opportunities for your child that can make the difference between raising a scholar and raising someone in the prison system needs to be the work of a black father. Every so often, I see a news segment that intends to be inspiring, as it lauds groups of black men who volunteer in schools, say to read or tutor. And while volunteering is fine, and needed, those scenes also highlight the fact that our community is so devoid of black fathers who are involved in the daily educational lives of their children, that we need to import black men to provide some sort of black male presence. That’s a massive fail. But why are we not there? Why are we not at the meetings, going over the tests, helping the children study? Is it laziness? Do we not care? No, I don’t think so. Plenty of black men work hard to provide for their families and want the best for their children. But there has to be something else. My theory is fear. We have black men who are fearful of being revealed as not being as smart as they think they are. All of that barbershop knowledge doesn’t work when your child is bringing you an algebraic equation. 14
We also have black men who are fearful of being seen as being effeminate by taking an interest in something as “corny” as education. And most of all, we’re fearful of not doing as good a job as the women in our lives. This fear taps into the hidden vulnerabilities many black men feel about themselves. Perhaps the façade we show the world of the bad ass black man, intimidated by no one, and “mean mugging their way their way” through life via hip hop videos, complete with guns and f bombs, is actually paper thin. That we’re actually scared of the thing that resides in our heads: our brains and our capacity to use them. Because in order to truly affect change in the lives of our children, we need to get over those vulnerabilities and use those brains to help our black children do better educationally than we did. So my challenge to the fathers, uncles, grandfathers, and baby daddy’s out there: What are you going to do to work day to day with your child in their education? Can you show up to each and every school meeting, no matter how inconvenient? Can you look your fifth grader in the eye and say, “I don’t know the answer. Give me a second to look it up?” and reveal a vulnerability in order to help educate your child? The lucky thing is that it only takes effort, not a PhD, to become involved in the day to day details of your child’s education. You just have to simply show up and try in order to be effective. The question to the absent black men who are big time philosophizing under their own mental acacia trees: Are you man enough to help with homework, go to meetings and help your child study? And if you aren’t, can you really call yourself a black man?
menstrual periods, or ever had depression in the past, she is more likely to develop postpartum depression. It is also well understood in the medical community that any psychological or physical trauma increases the odds of developing depression later on, which is likely the connection between intimate partner violence and postpartum depression. In addition to this link, within the AfricanAmerican community, little access to affordable treatment, lower socioeconomic status, substance abuse, scarce involvement by the child’s father, and limited social support are key factors. “Eighty-five percent of postpartum depression can be relieved by social support and [only] 15 percent needs medications,” said Dr. Carl
C. Bell, President and CEO of Community Mental Health Council in Chicago. In an abusive relationship, the perpetrator usually does not provide a source of support and ultimately isolates the victim from her family and friends, which decreases her amount of social support even further, added Bell. “Depression and domestic violence are two conditions that are greatly under-recognized and under-treated,” Cheng said. “This is unfortunate, because there is effective treatment for depression and there are many resources for women to get help with intimate partner violence.” For more help with intimate partner violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline. Information about postpartum depression support can be found with Postpartum Support International.
Are Black Women Too Independent continued..... control. And I have known many a good man who was being ‘dogged’ by his woman because he wouldn’t stand up to her. But, sometimes no because most single black women are just waiting to meet a man strong enough to deal with them in the entirety of their character. A man who can admire her strength while adding his own. A man who is not intimidated by a woman who has just as valid an opinion as his. And this single black woman can and will willingly listen to this man because he values and listens to her. But it has to be a relationship of equals. Equal respect, equal power and equal say. Because black women are often so strong, it can often hinder the development and growth of a good relationship. Just as no man wants someone to tell him how to live his life, neither do most women. Strength plus strength should be a potent combination, but all too often the strength in women and the strength in men becomes a power struggle and then a wedge that drives them apart. And, finally, are single black women even capable of ‘following’ a good man? Of course – as long as their definitions of ‘following’ are the same. ‘Following’ does not mean ‘blindly obeying in the absence of all common sense.’ ‘Following’ means following your husband as the church ‘follows’ Christ (Note I say ‘husband’ and not ‘boyfriends’ – these same rights do not apply to boyfriendgirlfriend relationships). True marriage between a man and and woman should reflect the love that Christ has for the church. In the bible, a woman is asked to respect and submit to her husband, but a husband is asked to lay down his life for his wife. Most men and women, husbands and wives, do not have that kind of relationship. Most relationships are a reflection of ‘what’s in it for me?’ and when that runs dry, the relationship runs dry as well. A successful relationship can occur between a single black man and a single black woman when true respect and love are founded in a committed relationship leading to marriage. So, are single black women too independent? Sometimes yes and sometimes no – but relationships between men and black women can still work. With a little compromise on both sides, a clear understanding of what a Godly, bible-based relationship is, and with a love that lasts longer than who gets the last word, independence can become interdependence (being independent but dependent on one another and God) and the too-independent black woman will be no more!
A Black Man’s Guide To Recognizing continued.....
that just because a black woman has an opinion or is confident she does not have an attitude. There is the belief that a “good” black woman should at all times be docile, submissive, and less opinionated. For far too long black women have lessened and apologized for their beliefs and have had to “hold in” opinions so they don’t seem “ghetto” or angry. A good black woman understands time and place, how to communicate her thoughts and feelings, and how to be assertive without being overbearing. So where are these good black women I speak of? Trust me, they are around and in every size, shape and shade. If you are not finding a “good black woman”, consider looking in different places. Going to the club each weekend is probably not going to give you the greatest odds of finding a good black woman. Women have a diverse array of tastes. Consider local theater, restaurants, and fitness centers. Libraries and bookstores are also great places to strike up a conversation with a woman. Also, recognize that this is the generation of technology. Many women are seeking on-line tools as a way to meet people. There are also single black women who take care of children. Parks, playgrounds and schools are full of confident, worthy women. Break through the stereotypes and get excited. A good black women is out there.
ing and framing the myth of Whites’ racial, moral, and ethical superiority over its Black population. However, the weapon is not in how the message is carried, but is instead within the messages that it carries and how these messages detrimentally affects the Black population at large. The over representation of Black crimes and grossly exaggerated statistics of Black on Black violence within this psychosocial program are intentionally designed to create fear, hatred, and distrust thus molding the character of disunity and self-hatred among the Black community. [Black’s own personal negative experiences and interactions with their fellow Blacks then merely confirm the program’s perpetuated message that it is they that are their own worst enemies]. The ultimately goal of this governmental psychosocial treatment of African Americans is to destroy the Black unity and cohesion that was historically the cornerstone of civil rights gains and that was a crucial factor of the survival of African Americans through more than four hundred years of racial oppression. [Logic dictates that given that unity and cohesion among African Americans was responsible for the demise of White America’s past system of blatant, institutionalized racism, then destroying this unity would be an essential objective of this psychological manipulation program.] All African Americans have experienced the burden of this system of applied psychological conditioning, some more severely than others have. It is experienced every time we [Blacks] read a newspaper, watch the evening news, listen to a radio report, enter a classroom and read its racially biased textbooks. To the detriment of many African Americans, it has been an extremely effective. It has successfully conditioned many African Americans to accept the dominance of the system over their lives by misleading them to believe that they are, themselves, their own worst enemies, therefore engendering an aberration of internalized self contempt that pulverizes Black unity and halts Black upward mobility. It is at the root of both the profound division and self hatred now afflicting so many Black Americans and is at the heart of internalized feelings of superiority that many possess. And while many African Americans have successfully navi-
It’s Time To Wake Up Black People continued.....
gated through this psychologically mortifying mine field and have gone on to lead successful, productive lives, for far too many this immense devaluation can seem inescapable and tragically, over time, many begin to accept subconsciously and painfully the negative portrayals of themselves. Many also become discouraged by the acceptance that their society is also preconditioned to see the worst in them and that, therefore, if they were ever to gain acceptance, if it is to be won at all, that success would be hard won. This in turn manifests negative internalized psychological pain and distress within many African Americans that can take many forms. In fact, this governmental mortifying psychosocial treatment of African Americans may be the most aggravating, if not core, factor of the national phenomenon of self hatred; loss of educational aspirations; loss of unity, cohesion and racial pride; and fragile psyches of many African Americans today. It is in fact so fundamentally detrimental to the Black human condition and psyche that it may even affect the extent to which many African Americans realize their full human potential. This type of psychological manipulation program has also been proven very effective in rapidly destroying a group’s ethical and moral values and engendering negative cultural norms with regard to violence, brutality, and even murder. All people, to some degree, are products of cultural conditions and their worldviews operate outside of their level of consciousness. Therefore, no group can be preconditioned to see only the worst in themselves and not exhibit some degree of negative psychological impact. Not only does this massive governmental psychological manipulation campaign negatively impacts Blacks self perceptions, but it also provides a more socially acceptable way to assure that the masses of African Americans remains the most racially devalued and most economical exploited and suppressed group in America. The media’s constant, fraudulently inaccurate, negative imagery of Black Americans is designed also to create a shift of victimization that changes the root problem of racism in America to be due to Black’s behavior rather than System’s proclivity for racism. Therefore insinuates that America would be a better society as a whole if African Americans were gone, thus engendering
Souls Of Black Folk continued.....
in the novel. As others aggressively attack the individuals sense of sefl, the mask becomes a form of defense Ellison believes that Booker T Washington underestimated the power of prejudice among white Americans. Ellison also explores prejudice from a new angle examing the social prejudice that emerges from economic and educational inequalities that can exist between educated and uneducated blacks. “I’s big and black and I say ‘Yes Suh’ as loudly as any burrhead when it’s convenient, but I’m still the king down here”- excerpt from Invisible Man.
Are We Raising Our Daughter’s To Be Single continued..... teenagers get way too serious, way too fast. How can she learn to spend casual time with a male in the future if she never sees me do it? I don’t know. I have nightmares of some dating revolving door. Funny, I’ve gone on three dates in fifteen months and I’m worried about an endless string on men in and out of my daughter’s life. That qualifies as delusional doesn’t it? One thing I am clear about is what I want my child’s future to include – a healthy, loving relationship with a supportive mate. Something I didn’t have. Yeah, a mother always wants more for her child. If that means me dating a kind, handsome, charming man to set an example for her– I’ll make the sacrifice.
increasingly prejudiced distorted perceptions and acrimonious beliefs about African Americans that are designed to makes the nation and the entire world insensitive to their plight, tranquilizes efforts on their behalf, lessens pressure for social change on their behalf, and makes any serious criticism of racism almost impossible today. Therefore fostering a national setting of where in which Blacks are more easily exploited and ultimately consensually suppressed. Moreover, some studies have shown that this shift of victimization now reflects increasingly acrimonious beliefs and prejudiced perceptions about and against African Americans that are arguably stronger today than they were after emancipation. This campaign also attempts to discourage miscegenation between Blacks and whites, and creates a false justification for the legal system’s mistreatment of African Americans wherein they are disproportionately incarcerated, given stiffer sentences, and are more likely than other racial groups to be treated brutally, beaten, and fired upon by police officers while they are unarmed. These injustices now goes ignored because the perception has subconsciously become that it’s all now justified. When contempt of Blacks is made to appear to be justifiable, it is the fiercest and most effective type of racism because its witnesses, bystanders, and even world audiences will sit by idly allowing African Americans to be brutally mistreated under the belief that it is justified. This is what Dr. Edward Bernays referred to as “engineering consent”. This governmental psychological conditioning program stripped African Americans of the national and international support that was acquired during the 1960’s civil rights struggles. It also today affects attitudes that when enacted through governmental policies, laws, and other legislation actions, serve to ensure that African Americans will not advance. Its effects are manifested in ideas, education, governmental policies, economic stratification, social segregation, housing markets, hiring and promotion practices, psychological issues, and minority access to a variety of social services and opportunity. The present despairing state of Black America is neither a baffling phenomenon nor the result of some divine ethnic curse, but is rather instead the result of the White elite’s innate proclivity for reinvent-
ing devious methods to suppress its Black population. The objective of the United States government has always been to maintain its system dominance and control over its Black population, and clearly, psychological warfare meets this need. It was the logical choice because it covertly provided the U.S. Government with a far more sophisticated, proficient, and socially accepted means of covertly controlling and suppressing its Black population. Through this method the U.S. Government is able to both influence the national climate and engender personal psychological feelings among its Black population that meet its objectives of maintaining its System dominance. Furthermore, history overwhelmingly demonstrates the result of the Systems inate proclivity for racism, control, and dominance is much too deeply ingrained for them to just merely give up their practices of implementing suppressive methods over its African American population. The records of history show that the reincarnation of suppressive methods into forms more acceptable to the changing times is a common practice of the United States government. As seen after the abolishment of slavery wherein its methods of using racist, oppressive treatment of its Black population was reincarnated into Jim Crow inequalities that included many devious strategies and methods that prevented Blacks from becoming registered voters. And let us not forget the horrific Tuskegee experiments where of in which from1932 and 1972, the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) conducted dangerous syphilis experiments on four hundred Black men. These men were deliberately left to degenerate painfully under the ravishes of the disease – with symptoms including blindness, tumors, paralysis, insanity and death – to allow the U.S. Government to collect the needed data from their autopsies. And let us also not forget of the CIA’s involvement in flooding the Black communities of Los Angeles with drugs and high powered weaponry and then disseminated these drugs and weaponry to many African American communities throughout the United States destroying the lives of millions of African Americans while stimulating the economy through the prison industry.
Thoughts From The Editor continued..... All of us here at The Urban Source have been stopped on the street many times and have listened to your responses and opinions on articles that we’ve published and we understand that you love our publication and that there is none like us here in Dayton, and we appreciate each of you for your support. However, sometimes we ask ourselves are we preaching to deaf ears. We’re not purposely trying to be “radicals” and despite what some believe none of us here at The Urban Source are racist we are however realist. And the reality, Black people is if we are to ever gain economic empowerment and achievement in our communities, homes, families and our individual selves we have to work together and support one another. We have a nation of children to raise, families to unite, loved ones to bring off of the streets and from jails, we have to help place father’s back into the homes, teach our young girls the value of womanhood and what it means to be a man to our young boys. I’ll end this article with an excerpt from Director Spike Lee’s (School Daze) “WAKE UP BLACK PEOPLE……please wake up”
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Top Ten Answers To Excuses Concerning Obama continued..... black leaders and complainers in general need to shut up and sit down and support the president, or there will be nothing he can do anyway….” QUICK ANSWER: Never a man bothered by contradiction, Rev. Al Sharpton shouted this excuse within seconds of excuse number 7, in his efforts to drown out the questions of Cornel West. Most of the visible black leadership is already supporting President Obama. The question is, aside from the symbolic value of a pretty black family in that big White House, whether the black community is receiving anything in return for its overwhelming support of the president. Even the show’s host Ed Schulz remarked at its conclusion that black leaders seemed afraid to demand anything in particular from the black president. If we give support, but get nothing, isn’t that a rather one-sided bargain? If we give support and actually get kicked in return (see answer 9), isn’t that a kind of abusive relationship? EXCUSE NUMBER 3: “At least he took care of health care. Millions of people who were not insured before will be insured by the bill Obama passed in 2009….” QUICK ANSWER: Not really. When President Johnson passed Medicare back in 1965 it took eleven months to start delivering medical care to millions. The obvious political calculus of the time was that its popularity would guarantee Johnson’s re-election in 1968. Presidents do
still run for re-election. If Obama’s health care bill really extended medical care to additional millions, why did he delay its implementation till 2014, after what he hopes is his re-election. And why is the Obama White House granting wave after wave of exemptions to its employer mandate provisions, including to high-profit, low wage employers like McDonalds? The employer mandate is already full of holes, and these are growing more numerous every week. Arguably, the single unambiguously good thing in the Obama health care bill was the extension of Medicaid to millions not covered before. But Obama’s willingness to put Medicaid “on the table” in deficit reduction negotiations virtually guarantees that gains in the number of the insured may be largely erased before the bill takes effect in 2014, no matter who is president then. And as millions of American families know, being insured is no guarantee that health care will be affordable or even available. EXCUSE NUMBER 2: “Only the most naïve souls among us believe a president can or should work for justice at home and peace abroad. Wise up. Do for self, and be content with the symbolic value of a pretty brown family in that big White House. QUICK ANSWER: This pernicious excuse is advanced by people who imagine themselves so much more sophisticated than the rest of us. Obama’s press secretary mumbled a version of it
Apology To The Black Woman continued..... for themselves. I grew up angry at the world and my environment. But instead of using this anger in a constructive manner, I beat down and shot up the first brother who stepped on my shoes in the club. I apologize for dying so young in the streets. I just wanted respect. I just wanted power. I was the minority, and that good black men were everywhere, but it was easier for you to point fingers at me than it was to give these brothers a chance. I should have treated you like the queen that you are so that other black men wouldn’t be falsely accused of my emotional crimes. I murdered you many times. Still, you didn’t die-not even once. I apologize for encouraging you to be materialistic. I dumped my money into the same System that was destroying me and tried to impress you with expensive cars, platinum jewelry, and Polo gear. I fooled you into thinking that the measure of a man was in his bank account or in the size of the knot in his front pocket. You jumped into the front seat of my Lexus, happy because your friends were now envious of you, as we both sped down a dead end road at one hundred miles per hour. As a result, many black men who didn’t own a Lexus were ignored and even dismissed by
you. I had you believing that your love came with a price tag. I apologize for the late night booty calls. You wanted to talk, to cuddle, and to explore the depth of my character. I only wanted sex. I called you when I was horny and only reached out to you when I saw that you were slipping away. I should have talked to you and opened up to you. Instead, I trusted only my homeboys and factored you out of the equation. And I apologize for turning you against your friends and family members. I was jealous of their influence over you. I was afraid that you would listen to them when they told you that I was not good for you. I didn’t have a job, and when I did, I used it as a weapon against you. When wise sisters told you to raise your standards, I persuaded you to lower them. I had you thinking that you had to have a man, any man, to be complete. And I apologize for that. I murdered you many times, sister. Yet, incredibly, amazingly, you didn’t die. Not even once. And this serves as the ultimate testimony to your true greatness.
when he declared that people who wanted peace and justice should be drug tested. The president himself has echoed similar disparagements of the millions who accepted his campaign rhetoric at face value. The worldly wise who offer this excuse are attacking the people’s very democratic right to dream a better world and demand it, as though this is only a privilege of children. We will only stop being children when we reject this excuse out of hand. EXCUSE NUMBER 1: “It’s our fault the Obama presidency hasn’t kept its commitments. We need to ‘make him do it.’” QUICK ANSWER: This excuse is based on an apocryphal tale about a 1940s meeting between black socialist and labor leader A. Philip Randolph, the first lady and President Franklin Roosevelt. After hearing a litany of black demands, Roosevelt is supposed to have said he agreed with everything Randolph told him, but that he must compel the president to do those worthy things. If the story is true, we absolutely know what Randolph’s demands must have been at the time. They would have included an end to black exclusion from jobs in the war industries, (they still called them that in the 1940s), and end to segregation in the military, along with antilynching and fair housing laws. The only thing African Americans got in Roosevelt’s lifetime was the limited opening of some war industry plants to blacks. Military segregation persisted
until 1948, when Harry Truman felt pressed by the specter of black support for third party candidate Henry Wallace. Fair housing statutes had to wait twenty more years, and anti-lynching laws never happened at all. Federal officials in the 1960s began prosecuting white vigilantes under federal civil rights statute, achieving some of the effect of a federal anti-lynch statute. The lesson here is that even when black demands are limited and “reasonable,” when the first lady is your advocate and the president says he wants to meet them, that the political culture of the United States is sufficiently democracyproof and people-proof to resist black demands for a long time to come. You cannot make a US president do what he fundamentally doesn’t want to. Michelle Obama is nice to look at, but she is no Eleanor Roosevelt. Franklin Roosevelt used to publicly bask in the hatred of wealthy banksters. Barack Obama’s dream is mostly not to piss off rich people. Excuses 1 and 2 simply say the president’s betrayals and failures are somehow our fault. This is our own list of excuses. We know there are others, and other answers. Again, we invite our readers to use the comments section to offer their own, along with their most effective answers, and to share their experiences answering the cloud of excuses emanating from Barack Obama’s mostly unconditional supporters
The History Of Juneteenth continued..... received another strong resurgence through Poor Peoples March to Washington D.C. Rev. Ralph Abernathy’s call for people of all races, creeds, economic levels and professions to come to Washington to show support for the poor. Many of these attendees returned home and initiated Juneteenth celebrations in areas previously absent of such activity. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s Juneteenth continued to enjoy a growing interest from communities and organizations throughout the country as African Americans have an interest to see that the events of 1865 in Texas are not forgotten. Many see roots tying back to Texas soil from which all
remaining American slaves were finally granted their freedom. As of 2011, 39 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation to officially recognize Juneteenth.[19] The annual Congressional Juneteenth Reception, hosted by members of Congress at the U.S. Capitol, was established as a part of the Washington Juneteenth National Holiday Observance. Dayton’s 13th Annual Juneteenth Festival Saturday, June 18 10:00a.m. to 7:00p.m. at McIntosh Park, Dayton, OH Price: Free admission Phone: (937) 263-3556
Adding Too Many Non-Blacks Could Dilute The Power Of The NAACP continued..... exponential growth as other individuals see that it’s just not an African American organization. And you’re going to see, probably, the NAACP tackle some of the issues that are relevant in the Latino community as well.” If there is an “exponential growth” in non-Blacks joining the NAACP, then the group cannot possibly have the concerns and needs of Black America as its primary focus. It would thus no longer be a Black organization. This would be a great mistake. America is not yet a post-racial society and will not be for many, many years to come.