To All Black Men
The other day, a friend of mine visited me in the lobby of my dorm just to chat while her laundry was drying. As we were chatting, two young freshmen came by. One of the boys wanted to 'talk' to my friend (as in date). She asked him how old they were, and both of the boys replied 18.
My friend and I both laughed hysterically because we are both 22 years old. After my friend left, the young men were still hanging around and one wanted to know how he could gain her interest.
The first thing I told him to do was to pull up his pants! He asked why, then said he liked saggin' his pants. I told him to come over to my computer and spell the word saggin'. Then I told him to write the word saggin' backwards.
S-A-G-G-I-N
N-I-G- G-A-S
I told him the origin of that look was from centuries ago. It was the intent of slave owners to demoralize the field workers by forbidding them to wear a belt as they worked in the fields or at any other rigorous job. In addition, men in prison wore their pants low when they were 'spoken for'. The other reason their pants looked like that was they were not allowed to have belts because prisoners were likely to try to commit suicide. And, saggin' pants prevents you from running.
We as young Black people have to be the ones to effect change. We are dying. The media has made a mockery of the Black American. Even our brothers and sisters from Africa don't take us seriously. Something as simple as pulling up your pants and standing with your head held high could make the biggest difference in the world's perception of us. It is time to do right by ourselves. We need to love and embrace each other. No one is going to do that for us.
It all comes down to perception. What people perceive is what is reality to them. We have to change not only the media's perception of us, but we need to change our perception of ourselves. Remember all eyes are on you Black Man. All eyes are on you Black Woman All eyes are on your Black Child. People point the finger at us and expect us to engage in negative and illegal activities, to manifest loud, boisterous behaviour, to spend our hard earned money in their stores, buying goods we don't need, or really want. We have allowed not only the media, but the government and the world to portray us as a 'sub-culture.' They have stripped our culture down to the point where the image of Black people is perpetuated as rappers, athletes, drug user s, and consumers of junk food, expensive tennis shoes, expensive cars, expensive TVs, cell phones and not investing in homes for our families.
We are so much more!!!!!!!
To all our Black Men:
Its time to stand up. There are billions of Black Women who want to do nothing more than worship the ground that you walk on. We are so in love with your potential. We want to have your back, we want to love, support and cherish every ounce of your being. But with that you have to show that you are willing to be the head of our households. You have to prove yourselves worthy of our submission. We need you to be hard working...Not a hustler. We need you to seek higher education, to seek spirituality. We need you to stand! And trust us, we will have your back. We know that it gets hard. We know you get weary. Trust and believe that there is nothing that a Black Man and a Black Woman can't handle with GOD on their side.
To all our Black Women:
It is also time for you to stand up. It is time for you to stop using our bodies as our primary form of communication. It is time to be that virtuous woman that Proverbs spoke of. You cannot sit by the wayside while our men are dying by the masses. You are the epitome of Black Love. It starts within you. You need to speak with conviction to let not only our Black Men know, but the world, that you are the Mothers of this world. You are so powerful. You a re so beautiful. You need to love and embrace every blessing God has given us physically, emotionally and spiritually.
For all our Black Children:
We need to love them. We need to teach them. We need to stand up for them. We need to protect them. We need to show them that there are no 'get rich quick' schemes. We need to tell them that they WILL die trying if they submit to a life of crime and deceit. We need to teach our children that no one will love them the way we can. And being a basketball player, a rapper, or a drug dealer is not reality. I t 's not realistic and only a small percentage of people ever make it as a rapper or professional athlete. We need to teach our children that we can be more than rappers and athletes. We can be the owners of these sports teams. We can be the CEO's of OUR fortune 500 companies. We need to believe in literacy. I am almost certain if we were to look back to the 1930's and 40's, the literacy rates for Black American Children are probably still the same.
Please Keep This Going & Have a wonderful day
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Surely intresting.
Check this out. It is Very interesting.........
Obama Wouldn't Be First Black President By Aysha Hussain
C DiversityInc 2007 R All rights reserved. You've seen the headlines:
"Are Americans Ready for a Black President?" "Is Obama Black Enough?"
"Obama: America's First Black President?"
Ever since the nation first met Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in 2004, his
race has been called into question more times than Michael Jackson's.
Obama is clearly a black man, but is this really a breakthrough? Some
blacks say Obama isn't "black enough," which seems ironic because for
many blacks, former President Bill Clinton was "black enough." In 2001,
Clinton was honored as the nation's "first black president" at the
Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Awards Dinner in Washington, D.C.
Were there other "black" presidents? Some historians have reason to
believe people don't really understand the genealogy of past U.S.
Presidents. Research shows at least five U.S. presidents had black
ancestors and Thomas Jefferson, the nation's third president, was
considered the first black president, according to historian Leroy
Vaughn, author of Black People and Their Place in World History.
Vaughn's research shows Jefferson was not the only former black U.S.
president. Who were the others? Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, Warren
Harding and Calvin Coolidge. But why was this unknown? How were they
elected president? All five of these presidents never acknowledged their
black ancestry.
Jefferson, who served two terms between 1801 and 1809, was described as
the "son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father," as
stated in Vaughn's findings. Jefferson also was said to have destroyed
all documentation attached to his mother, even going to extremes to
seize letters written by his mother to other people.
President Andrew Jackson, the nation's seventh president, was in office
between 1829 and 1837. Vaughn cites an article written in The Virginia
Magazine of History that Jackson was the son of an Irish woman who
married a black man. The magazine also stated that Jackson's oldest
brother had been sold as a slave.
Lincoln, the nation's 16th president, served between 1861 and 1865.
Lincoln was said to have been the illegitimate son of an African man,
according to Leroy's findings. Lincoln had very dark skin and coarse
hair and his mother allegedly came from an Ethiopian tribe. His heritage
fueled so much controversy that Lincoln was nicknamed "Abraham Africanus
the First" by his opponents.
President Warren Harding, the 29th president, in office between 1921 and
1923, apparently never denied his ancestry. According to Vaughn, William
Chancellor, a professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in
Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy. Evidently, Harding
had black ancestors between both sets of parents. Chancellor also said
that Harding attended Iberia College, a school founded to educate
fugitive slaves. Coolidge, the nation's 30th president, served between
1923 and 1929 and supposedly was proud of his heritage. He claimed his
mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. Coolidge's mother's
maiden name was "Moor" and in Europe the name "Moor" was given to all
blacks just as "Negro" was used in America. It later was concluded that
Coolidge was part black.
The only difference between Obama and these former presidents is that
none of their family histories were fully acknowledged by others. Even
though Obama is half-white, he strongly resembles his Kenyan father. And
not only is Obama open about his ancestry, most people acknowledge him
as a black man, which is why people will identify Obama, if elected, as
the first black president of the United States.
--
Have a Blessed Day!
Delores Ray-Hall
God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above and beyond all that we could ever ask or hope
A Brief History that you should know.....
Researchers correlated average life expectancy in every U.S. county with data on race, income, population density, and murder rate. Hawaii had the highest life expectancy of any state, 80 years, while seven counties in Colorado topped the county-by-county rate. Washington, D.C., tied Edgecombe County in North Carolina for last, with an average life expectancy of only 72 years. Dr. Murray noted that the life expectancy gap between the highest and lowest counties has been steadily widening since 1984. "The counties that started the best just keep getting better. Those at the bottom either stayed the same or worsened," he says.
DISPARITIES WITHIN RACES. Although there have been numerous studies indicating that minorities and the poor lack access to good quality health care, the researchers discovered that race and income did not play a large role in predicting longevity. For example, low-income, rural white populations in northern Minnesota, as well as Montana and Nebraska, had a relatively high average life expectancy of 76.2 years for men and 81.8 years for women. But life expectancy for whites with similar low incomes in rural Appalachia and the Mississippi Valley was much lower. Dr. Murray says insurance coverage and use of routine health care did not explain the difference. "It is overwhelmingly clear that the greatest disparity is among young and middle-age adults, not infants and the elderly" he says.
There were even significant disparities within racial groups. For example, while longevity rates for Native Americans overall are about the same as those for whites, life expectancy is much lower for Native Americans who live on or near reservations in the West. Analysis of the cause of death for those in proximity to reservations showed a high toll from alcohol, such as traffic accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and diabetes.
The researchers also discovered that the longevity gap between men and women has narrowed over time, primarily because fewer men are smoking. Also, Asian Americans keep improving their longevity, while poor whites in Appalachia are getting worse. The study appears in the September issue of the journal PloS Medicine.
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The National Urban League's Economic Empowerment agenda reaches out to people of all ages and financial levels, helping them better their current situation and build for the future. While personal goals can often seem out of reach - whether it's getting a good job, buying a house, starting a business or being financially secure - Urban League affiliate counselors can lay out the steps to help make them a reality.
Real Results: Working with leading financial institutions, lenders, corporate partners and government, last year the National Urban League...
- Helped 200,000 people secure jobs, housing, new business opportunities and financial literacy
- Placed 25,000 people into jobs, from entry level to CEO
- Assisted 26,000 people with job training and career counseling
- Provided housing counseling to 20,000 people with $15 million in mortgages for new home-buyers
- Funded over $60 million in economic empowerment programs
- Meeting Specific Needs-Focusing in the main areas of Jobs and Job Training, Home Ownership and Affordable Housing, Financial Literacy, Technology Training, and Entrepreneurial Growth and Opportunity, many Urban League Affiliates provide such specialized services as:
- Job training enabling people to re-enter the workforce
- Helping to secure funding for entrepreneurs and small businesses
- Teaching economically disadvantaged people to avoid predatory loans
- Training individuals to become IT specialists through the League's Digital Empowerment Academies
- Showing young professionals and seniors the way to build savings, good credit and financial independence
Beyond The Choice
When faced with making a choice between alternatives, it pays to put some time and effort into making the best choice. Then after the choice is made, it's time to put your effort into making the most of that choice.
Certainly it is important to put thought and care into the decisions you make. Be sure to also put just as much energy into the living and fulfillment of those choices.
Making the best choice is a great start. Yet it is only a start.
The value of any choice comes from following through on it. The actions you take to support and carry out the choices you have made are what give those choices real meaning in your life.
The way your decision works out depends on what you do to make it work out. As important as the decision itself may have been, it is not nearly as important as what you do to bring it to life.
You've made the choice. Now is your opportunity to make it real.
Prison is big business in America. So establishes the abstract for the Urban League's essay on Prisons in their 2006 'The State of Black America Report.' Written by reputed journalist (and former head of 'Emerge' magazine) George Curry, "Racial Disparities Drive the Prison Boom," offers an in depth analysis of several studies, culminating in the point that not only is prison big business, but blacks in this country help to fuel it.
Prison populations have seen a spectacular boom, growing explosively in the 1990s, mostly due to the 'War on Drugs' policy instituted by President Ronald Reagan. By the time the turn of the century rolled around, the prison and jail population reached 2.1 million people. The total of 581,000 arrests in 1980 nearly tripled to a record high of almost 1.6 million by 1997. The United States has 100,000 more persons behind bars for drug offenses alone than the entire European Union has incarcerated -- and the EU is larger than the U.S. by 100 million people.
Moreover, Black men especially do not bode favorably in this social justice analysis. Black men are arrested at higher rates and they are sentenced to do longer time. For instance, it was found that of the sentences issued in 12 crime categories in the State Courts, sentences for black males were longer than white males in all of them. The proportions of Black men arrested and incarcerated for drug offenses is in gross disproportion to their actual numbers in this country.
If one were to read between the lines, then, one knows that more than simply losing a very large and viable segment of the black community, the bi-products of prison include public health crises such as tuberculosis and HIV infection; joblessness; poverty; loss of political power, and a vicious cycle of these problems being perpetuated through generations.
What is on the Back of the Two Dollar Bill?
The back of the $2 bill has an engraving of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In the image is a man who has dark skin and wearing a powdered wig while sitting at the table just to the left of the men standing in the center of the engraving. This dark skinned man is John Ha nson in his position as president of the continental congress.
In the original painting hanging in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda, the dark skinned man does not appear!!!
A "Black" Man, A Moor, John Hanson
Was the First President of the United States! 1781-1782 A.D.???
George Washington was really the 8th President of the United States!
George Washington was not the first President of the United States. In fact, the first President of the United States was one John Ha nson. Don't go checking the encyclopedia for this guy's name - he is one of those great men that are lost to history. If you're extre mely lucky, you may actually find a brief mention of his name.
The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation.
This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land).
Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country. John Ha nson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the revolution and an extremel y influential member of Congress.
As the first President, Ha nson had quite the shoes to fill. No one had ever been President and the role was poorly defined. His actions in office would set precedent for all future Presidents.
He took office just as the Revolutionary War ended. Almost immediately, the troops demanded to be paid. As would be expected after any long war, there were no funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a monarch.
All the members of Congress ran for their
lives, leaving Ha nson as the only guy left running the government. He somehow managed to calm the troops down and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government would have fallen almost immediately and everyone would have been bowing to King Washington In fact, Hanson sent 800 pounds of sterling sil ver by his brother Samuel Hanson to George Washington to provide the troops with shoes.
Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the
removal of all foreign flags. This was quite the feat, considering the fact that so many European countries had a stake in the United States since the days following Columbus
Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents
have since been required to use on all official documents
President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department.
Lastly, he dec would be expected after any long war, there were no funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a monarch.
All the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving Hanson as the only guy left running the government. He somehow managed to calm the troops down and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government would have fallen almost immediately and everyone would have been bowing to King Washington. In fact, Hanson sent 800 pounds of sterling sil
ver by his brother Samuel Hanson to George Washington to provide the troops with shoes.
Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the
removal of all foreign flags. This was quite the feat, considering the fact that so many European countries had a stake in the United States since the days following Columbus.
Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents.
President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department.
Lastly, he declared tha t the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today.
Th e Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve a one year term during any three year period, so Hanson actually accomplished quite a bit in such little time.
Six other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office.
So what happened?
Why don't we ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States?
It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation didn't work well. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon.
A new doctrine needed to be written - something we know as the Constitution.
And that leads us to the end of our story.
Georg e Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today.
And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history. |
There were even significant disparities within racial groups. For example, while longevity rates for Native Americans overall are about the same as those for whites, life expectancy is much lower for Native Americans who live on or near reservations in the West. Analysis of the cause of death for those in proximity to reservations showed a high toll from alcohol, such as traffic accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and diabetes.
The researchers also discovered that the longevity gap between men and women has narrowed over time, primarily because fewer men are smoking. Also, Asian Americans keep improving their longevity, while poor whites in Appalachia are getting worse. The study appears in the September issue of the journal PloS Medicine.
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