A Glimpse Into The Black Abyss America Likes To See

Here’s the problem: despite the success of famous black actors like Denzel Washington and Samuel L. Jackson and the like, mainstream audiences from the racially generic dominant community don’t particularly care for black movies that paint black characters as overwhelmingly heroic or positive.  Mainstream America likes its black films a little more gritty with black men being the scum of the earth.  I just read a review of the film that gave the stark example that while a movie like The Great Debaters which cost fifteen million dollars in 2007 and grossed a decent thirty three million dollars or so since its release, a movie like The Color Purple, which also cost fifteen million dollars in 1985, grossed almost one hundred million dollars by 1987.

In the Color Purple, Danny Glover’s character Mister was a man you really didn’t mind hating.  Mister treated the heroine, his wife Celie Harris played by Whoopi Goldberg, like a slave.  He abused her.  Celie was also abused and sexually raped by her stepfather.  By the time she is fourteen, she has already had two children by her stepfather who takes them away from her and forces her to marry the local widower named Albert Johnson whom she comes to refer to as Mister.  Mister beats her often and intimidates her into complete submission.  These were two black men America really learned to enjoy hating and stood in line at the box office to do so.

Conversely, Denzel Washington’s character Melvin B. Tolson in The Great Debaters is cerebral.  He is an instructor at historically black Wiley College working to place his debating team on equal footing with white students from ivory league schools.  Mr. Tolson struggles to keep his team together in the American South during the early part of the century when Jim Crow laws were an institutionalized part of the social fabric.  The movie depicts several instances where Mr. Tolson encounters lynch mobs and must exhibit smarts and courage to keep his students safe.  The Wiley team eventually succeeds and wins the ultimate, a debate with the white students from none other than Harvard University.  That was a black man America could admire, but who wanted to pay to see that?

So given this oversimplified context, what can we expect for a movie like Precious, a screen adaptation of the book Push from author Sapphire, formerly Ramona Lofton.  Precious is the story of a young and grossly overweight African American girl who is functionally illiterate and full of self loathing.  At just sixteen years old, Claireece Precious Jones has already given birth to two children fathered by her father.  She suffers constant physical and psychological abuse from her mother, Mary played by Mo’Nique.  In one extremely violent scene, Mary drops her three day old grandson, Precious’ baby, in order to try and bitch slap Precious into the middle of next week.  If mainstream America enjoyed hating Mister, they will go utterly ape over the hateful sentiment that will be aimed at the family of this girl.

When the movie made its test debut at the Sundance festival, rumor is that it received three standing ovations.  Test proved that America was ready to see another film full of black family dysfunction, cruelty of a mental, physical, and sexual nature.  Since then, the marketing team for the studio that obtained the rights for the film has pulled out all the stops.  Indeed, I must confess that when I heard the first reviews of the movie while listening to National Public Radio, I was intrigued.  There aren’t that many movies that feature a predominantly black cast aimed squarely at middle America.  This was a movie that I thought might be worth supporting.

But like most movies and documentaries about life in black America, the black community is not the prime target for this film.  The black community isn’t a secondary target.  The black community doesn’t even register in the marketing plan.  This film and its story is produced for the sole benefit of the racially generic mainstream America that continues to define what it means to be black in America.

If mainstream America wanted to see black films like The Great Debaters, Antoine Fisher, a Soldier Story, Boomerang, Bamboozled, and the like, we would have them.  These black films not only told a story, but helped to offer a different perspective, helped to build a more rounded idea of life in the black community.  But this isn’t where the money is to be made.  Overwhelmingly, the most profitable perspective of black life, the one that America loves to see most, is the one without much redemption for the main characters.

Depictions of the black community in its lowest form will always get the dominant community’s collective attention.  It’s why so many people tune into the news or watch the show Cops or whatever suffices as a police chase that ends with black people going to jail or being brutally assaulted by law enforcers.  America likes that kind of stuff.  And America loves the voyeurism associated with peeking into the blackest abyss of life in the black community.  There is little doubt that Precious will be a box office phenomenon.  This is the type of story mainstream America wants to use as its foundation for its limited understanding of black people.

Willow Smith Gets A Haircut!!!

Normally, on a Friday, the number of visitors to my blog plummets like a stone.  Last week, the difference between Thursday and Friday was more than a fifty percent cut.  However, when I woke up this Saturday morning, my Friday closed with the highest numbers of the week.  Not that I don’t appreciate the big boost in numbers.  Having an audience interested in anything I had to say helps to give me a reason to write.  Having a larger audience gives me even more of a reason, although I will forever claim that I write because I have something to say and would do it if no one would ever come to my blog.  But whenever I see an anomaly in the numbers, I need to know what’s driving the sudden interest.

A quick look at the stats showed a sudden spike in attention for my article about Will Smith and how he was trying to promote his daughter Willow as the next Paris Hilton (Willow Smith’s Role Model Is Paris Hilton).  Written almost two years ago, the article never got much attention in a single day.  But yesterday, the article got a fifteen hundred percent increase in hits over its next highest day.  And if the numbers this morning are any indication, today will have even more hits.

Obviously Willow Smith is in the news.  The first thought in my mind was I hope nothing happened to the little girl.  I caught a glimpse of the Smith family during President Barack Obama’s address when he received the Nobel Peace Prize.  My concern for the girl was piqued.  I went to Yahoo! News to get the latest word.  Willow Smith’s name was right there in the headlines as the site came up on the browser.  What was all the big news?  Willow Smith had a new hairstyle.  According to the entertainment news article, little Willow was sporting a do in the style of Rihanna.  Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith made a big show in Norway by hosting a Peace Prize Concert on Mr. Obama’s behalf and Willow, speaking Mandarin, introduced Chinese pianist Lang Lang.

Somebody is working awfully hard to make Willow Smith an entertainment superstar.  At age nine, she already has three movies under her belt.  As far as her acting ability goes, I have to admit I’m not qualified to judge her.  The only acting I saw of her was the fifteen seconds or so she appeared in I Am Legend.  But if she’s to be recognized for her “work” in this particular movie, there are infant actors around the globe that should be recognized for their ability to cry on cue or whatever.  A fifteen second appearance in a mediocre or acceptable movie doesn’t make for a superstar.  But the handlers of the Smith children are pulling out all the stops.  Willow’s brother Jaden Smith is in a remake of The Karate Kid and the Karate Kid opposite Jackie Chan as Mr. Kesuke Miyagi.  Was he truly the best actor for the job or did someone pull a few strings to put him in the lead role.

Superstar Will Smith and his famous wife Jada Pinkett Smith are working hard to turn their daughter Willow and her equally popular but ambiguously talented, at least from an acting perspective, brother Jaden into tomorrow’s stars.  But without a natural inclination for acting it takes time to develop such talent.  And that should be okay.  A lot of famous people had children that had to learn their acting profession.  They didn’t just come out the box swinging homeruns and were able to pull the crowds to make a movie a box office success.

Willow Smith getting a haircut is probably the last thing I would have ever imagined people coming to my blog to see.  This ain’t no do blog.  Although I did write one article about people getting their locks cut for their initiations into the ancient African spirituality many moons ago, the last thing I want people to associate me with is somebody’s hairdo.

And I also hope people won’t be stopping here to see what I have to say about the latest drama from some black actor in Hollywood or some black rapper on the east coast.  While those things might be entertaining for a hot minute or two, the way some people follow celebrity gossip it is a wonder that they can follow the drama in their own life let alone anything else.  I don’t mean to contribute to anybody being distracted from what is actually happening in this world.  If people come to my blog to read about Willow Smith I hope it is with the intention of learning a little something about how this product of two black parents grows up so removed from the black community.  And that’s a crying shame.

Instead of their parents pushing her to be the next American Idol, maybe they should push her to know a little something about what it means to be part of the black community in America these days.  With every day that passes the Smith family acts more and more like the fictional family of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air from Will Smith’s first regular acting gig.  And every single day that passes Jaden and Willow Smith are acting more and more like the entitled children Hillary Banks and Carlton Banks.

Now That Black Women Got Theirs Race Is Not Important

Dawn Turner Trice was on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan discussing Disney’s release of The Princess and the Frog. Ms. Trice was commenting on how excited she was to see Disney finally do a full length animated feature with an African American as the central character. According to the introduction of this particular Talk of the Nation episode, black women everywhere were ecstatic over the fact that the Disney Corporation has finally paid props to the black community and created a story tailored to our culture after all these years.

The story revolves around Tiana, a young black African American woman who works as a waitress and a chef. She dreams of independence and of owning her own restaurant like her father. In the official movie trailer the story is that Tiana kisses the frog prince Naveen and is turned into a frog herself. Naveen was a young handsome prince from Maldonia who was cursed by turning into a frog by Dr. Facilier. Together, the two frogs must journey through a swamp in order to change themselves back into their human forms.

I believe Ms. Trice went and saw an early release of the movie with her daughter. The two celebrated the fact that they finally had a Disney princess that they could relate to. After years of having nothing but Snow White, Cinderella, Pocahontas, Princess Ariel from the Little Mermaid, Princess Jasmine from Aladdin, and others, Ms. Trice and her daughter finally had a character that they can truly relate to. They were proud to see a black character that represents black culture.

However, not everyone is living happily ever after. There is a great deal of controversy over the fact that Disney produced this movie without giving Tiana a black romantic interest. Naveen is some kind of racial hybrid that defies description. Maldonia is some fairy tale land that is definitely no where near Africa. Naveen’s cultural history is as mysterious as the reason why he wasn’t simply black. There’s a great deal of consternation over the fact that this young black woman isn’t about to find her prince charming in the black community. Disney simply couldn’t bring itself to make a cartoon painting two black people in a happy relationship. Disney might be the land of unimaginable fantasy but it seems like the idea of two black people being happy is a fantasy that not even Disney can imagine.

However, that’s okay to Ms. Trice. Her opinion is that the fact that Naveen isn’t black is nothing that warrants attention. It appears that race is something that shouldn’t even come into play. Ms. Trice talks as if Naveen’s race is not important to the story. As far as she’s concerned, they could make the character of Naveen straight up black and the story wouldn’t change at all. Race is simply not that important to the story.

But this doesn’t jive. If Ms. Trice, and black women and girls the world over, are celebrating the fact that they finally have a black princess after years of doing without, how in the world could it be that the race of the prince isn’t important? Black woman are swooning with pride that they got full representation. And yet, these same black women couldn’t give a damn less if young black boys don’t have their role model on Disney’s silver screen. What gives?

Ms. Trice and other black women are actually saying that as long as they have their black role models hooking up with racially ambiguous men from who knows where, it’s all good. The fact that their love interest could be black has no meaning and therefore has no value. The idea of a future for the black community isn’t even important. Black women would rather have a future in the fictional land of Maldonia than with a brother from the black community. That’s a rather mind blowing concept.

Being a black man who holds the black community near and dear to my heart, I find this a sad state of affairs for the black community. So many black people have bought into the idea that the black community isn’t important. We can have young black female role models for our daughters and sisters hooking up with all the Naveen’s in the world and we don’t even give a damn where they come from as long as it’s not the black community. And would all these black women be saying that it’s all good if the first Disney cartoon aimed squarely at the black community showed a young black man getting jiggy with a young racially obscure princess from Chickonia?

I wonder if these black women would have the same enthusiasm for this movie if the roles were reversed and their young daughters who have been waiting for decades for their black Disney role model went to see a cartoon about a young black man kicking it up with some racially ambiguous woman from Maldonia. I wonder how these black women would feel if they were told that it isn’t important that their blackness get represented.

Wait a minute! Black women already know how it feels to not be represented. Black women everywhere are exhaling as you read this knowing that their long drought is over and they now have their Tiana. Now, they can afford to transcend issues of race. It’s no longer important now that they’ve got theirs. It seems to me that the future of the black community is already lost in the eyes of a lot of people. Maybe we can hope all of our children find their future in Maldonia.

Robert Gibbs Demonstrates Blatant Contempt Of April Ryan

One of the things I hated most about the previous administration was they way it handled the press corps.  George Bush Junior had a way of addressing questions and addressing members of the press that was really condescending.  He would masks his ignorance over issues with arrogance and disregard.  He would look at somebody trying to ask him a question and address them by one of their obvious physical characteristics.  If somebody was tall their new nickname was stretch.  If somebody had a thick head of hair he’d call them hairy.  It never got so bad that he would refer to somebody by their race.  Not even Mr. Bush would make an obvious distinction to somebody’s race or gender.  But it looks like current White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs doesn’t have the sense of Mr. Bush.

At a recent White House press conference, correspondent April Ryan representing American Urban Radio wanted to ask questions about Desiree Rogers’ relationship with White House operations.  Ms. Rogers, serving as the White House Social Secretary, received media attention for her involvement in the scandal surrounding Taraq and Michaele Salahi penetrating White House security and crashed the state dinner held for the Prime Minister of India.  The Salahis claim that Ms. Rogers was arranging for their invitation to the dinner and since they never received a call from Ms. Rogers saying that they could not come, they assumed that they had permission to attend the dinner.

During the press conference, Ms. Ryan obviously wanted more information regarding Ms. Rogers.  Ms. Ryan claimed that there have been suggestions around Washington D.C. that Ms. Rogers had overstepped the traditional role of her title at the event to become the belle of the ball and trying to overshadow the first lady.  Mr. Gibbs didn’t think it necessary to give any attention to the subject and clearly wanted to change direction.  When Ms. Ryan persisted, Mr. Gibbs, told her to calm down and to take a deep breath.  He then added a patronizing comment that he has to do this all the time with his son.  Ethan Gibbs, Robert Gibbs’ son, is six years old.  I have never heard Mr. Bush or anyone from his staff compare anyone from the press corps to his or her child.  No one could get under Mr. Bush’s skin better than Helen Thomas.  And although Mr. Bush often could not hide his exasperation with her, he never dismissed her with the gentle suggestion that she’s too excited and needs to calm down.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Gibbs chose a black female reporter to disrespect so soundly.  Black women are a very small percentage of the press pool.  If Mr. Gibbs told a black man to stop being so petulantly immature he may have been accused of being racist.  If Mr. Gibbs told a white woman to stop being such an obnoxious irritant, it would have been seen as sexist but not possibly racist.  But instead, Mr. Gibbs went for the efficiency of a twofer by slamming one person that he could clearly demonstrate his contempt for black women.  Mr. Gibbs has had tense exchanges with people in the press corps before and has pushed the boundaries of civility.  Every Press Secretary does.  But here, Mr. Gibbs takes a step over the line and goes far beyond what is acceptable.  He makes his contempt for Ms. Ryan tangible and he does it regardless of how it might look to others.

If Mr. Gibbs wanted to dismiss Ms. Ryan he could have done so without making the suggestion that she is a child among adults.  She is a professional worthy of consideration just like all the other professionals that crosses Mr. Gibbs’ path.  If Mr. Gibbs’ son is ill tempered and moody and Mr. Gibbs sometimes has to get him to behave, it looks like it might be an inherited trait.  Like son, like father.  Instead of behaving like the official White House ass, Mr. Gibbs should follow his own advice.  He should take a moment to chill and calm down before he acts so brash.  We must give Ms. Ryan credit.  It would’ve been easy for her to respond to Mr. Gibbs with her own question asking if his son also had the problem of seeing his father as a pompous ass with a face so stupid it looks like a cross between Peter Griffin from the Family Guy and the lame John Hodgman who plays PC guy to Mac’s much more visually appealing Justin Long.

But like many interactions between people from the black community and the current White House, this is just another manifestation of the contempt this administration has for black people.  Ever since we saw Mr. Obama stand in front of the black community and tell black people to take responsibility for the issues pertaining to the black community, we should have learned that this administration would see black people as something different not worthy of attention.  Mr. Obama never went before any other group of people and dismissed their issues so completely.  With every issue that impacts America at this time of economic peril, the affects on the black community are magnified.  But before we can get help from our government, we have to straighten ourselves up and quit acting so irresponsibly.

This is the same message Mr. Gibbs delivered to Ms. Ryan.  Before he can address the question, Ms. Ryan has to stop acting so immaturely and take a little time to straighten up.  Ms. Rogers’ is nobody that deserves attention.  Let’s just gloss over that and move along.  That’s how this administration treats people it doesn’t respect.  And so far, this is the behavior it reserves exclusively for people in the black community.  Mr. Gibbs is just doing his part to manifest this contempt.

The Princess And The Frog Is Disney’s Queen Of Crap

Let’s cut straight to the chase:  This movie is some fucked up racist bullshit aimed squarely at placating the black community like a bitch slap from a pimp placates a whore.  Shut the fuck up and take the crumbs you’re given is what Disney is saying.  After all these decades of black children being treated like crap Cinderella wouldn’t even touch, this is supposed to be the best that Disney can do?  A black girl from Louisiana finds her prince charming with some dude that looks about as black as one of the main characters from an old Speed Racer cartoon with a damn good tan.  Can anyone tell me what’s the difference between this and the tried and true formula of a black woman being saved by a non black man crap that you can see in just about any Girlfriends episode?  And this is what the Disney Corporation calls its tribute to the black community?

There is little doubt that the sentiment that Disney could have kept this half baked piece of propaganda filth is not shared by the entire black community.  Indeed, there are black people who are proud to welcome this trash.  Some people will say now our black children have the role models that they should’ve had decades ago.  Now, our little black girls have a Disney designed role model to show them that it’s okay that they look for their prince charming in someplace other than their young black brothers .  But our little black boys will just have to wait until Disney can produce that cartoon that shows a young black male kicking it up with any pretty girl as long as she wasn’t black.  Black boys will have to wait for their role model that says abandoning the black community is a Disney approved move.  Maybe Disney will do a cartoon based on the life of Tiger Woods.  That’s bound to show our young black boys what to look for when trying to start a romantic relationship that will have a positive impact on the black community.

All the black people who helped produce this movie are collaborators in Disney’s promotion of behavior that contributes to the black community’s schism.  Instead of reading the script, scratching their head, and offering some suggestion that maybe a young black princess should be holding out for a young black prince, these people are ready to shuck and jive to whatever their Disney handlers, no doubt representatives of the racially generic dominant community that is predominantly predisposed towards white privilege, say is an appropriate depiction of black people.  The role of Tiana is played by Anika Noni Rose.  Oprah Winfrey, the bastion of all things geared for the black community’s abandonment and racial assimilation, plays Tiana’s mother Eudora.  Terrence Howard plays Tiana’s father, too busy jig-a-booing for Disney to reprise his role in Iron Man as the new War Machine.  Jenifer Lewis plays a fairy godmother, because the black community is just full of fairy godmothers coming to grant our every wish but somehow keep missing the wish for true racial equality and harmony.

The role of Maldonia Prince Naveem is played by Brazilian born, steely grey eyed actor Bruno Campo.  Naveem is gregarious, fun loving and refuses to take life seriously.  He goes to the French Quarter of New Orleans to have a good time.  Somewhat naïve, he falls into a sort of tourist trap that results in him being cursed and transformed into a frog.  And this is the hero for our heroine?

But the biggest disappointment of all has got to be Keith David’s portrayal of Dr. Facilier, a con man who uses images suggesting the Yoruba based ancient African spiritual tradition of Ifa to cast evil spells and produce all manners of chaos.  Black people can’t just participate in the production of a cartoon depicting young black women with non black young men.  We then have to participate in another stereotype of ancient African spirituality as something evil and cursed.  These black people are happy to do their part to spread the often held perception that African spirituality is something to be avoided.

Dr. Facilier is depicted as a practitioner of voodoo and a follower of Osun.  In true Ifa practice, Osun is the Orisa of the river and is often depicted as a mermaid looking at herself in a mirror.  It’s already bad enough that we’ve already allowed Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and other major religions to usurp black people’s ability to relate to our African spirituality.  Let’s do even more to assure that the majority of us never recognize our spiritual heritage for the guiding force it truly should be in our lives.  It’s all voodoo and black magic.  David Keith wouldn’t know anything about Ifa or the Orisas or his spiritual ancestors if they all manifested tomorrow and slapped that toothy smile off his greasy, cheesing face.

But hey, people say that this is a positive step for Disney’s relationship with the black community.  Sure, it would have been nice if black people could’ve been given something resembling respect of our cultures and traditions.  But we have to start somewhere and this interpretation of a black princess is better than nothing.  At least that’s what some people think.  Given those two choices in the matter I’d think it would have been better if they kept this tripe out of the theater and continued to ignore the black community.  If this is what we can expect from Disney then it’s probably no stretch of the imagination to assume that their next film regarding the black community will be something about Shaniqua, the welfare queen with a Cadillac as a coach.

Lame High Mindedness

“This post proves that white people are not the only racist, as it paints whites as always beleaving in the guilt of blacks. Post like this do none of us any justice and hate is just as bad coming from any race.
If she is guilty (and it looks that way to me), she now has 26 years to think of what she has done. I don’t like to think of anyone innocent losing their freedom (no matter what race), and if they are we can rejoice in the right to appeal and pray that they be freed.
Even if you don’t like a persons race, at least have the love of justice.” – mike

Mike left this comment in response to the previous article about Amanda Knox. He takes exception to me pointing out that America is in mourning over the fact that a pretty young white American girl in the Italian’s judicial system that has been recently found guilty of participating in a murder that occurred two years ago. I’m racist because I point out the fact that America has to go all the way to the other side of the world to get some idea of what it is like to see someone railroaded through a judicial system. People here in America are getting their interest piqued over the potential that someone who is the epitome of our dominant class is being treated unfairly. And because I point out that there is an overwhelming number of people here who are more than happy to over look the day in and day out instances of a police system and a justice system geared towards railroading black people into prison, I am the racist.

People like Mike have no clue what true racism is about. Racism isn’t about pointing at the constant and overwhelming racial disparity that, without exception, finds black people suffering the shitty end of any comparison made with social yardsticks and our collective tolerance to do nothing to try and rectify the problem. How many times do we have to hear these people say that the actual acts of racism aren’t the problem but the people who keep pointing to the racism in order to let America know that our shit still stinks and is more rancid now than ever are the true opponents of racial harmony? People like Mike want to lay the blame of racism squarely at people like me because we can show clear distinctions in America’s racial hypocrisy and use whatever voice we may have to call it out.

Racism doesn’t come about because people look at racial disparity and wonder why we continue to tolerate that shit. Racism is the continued perpetration and tolerance of social institutions that discriminate against people for no other reason than race and leads to measurable differences in collective living standards. Here in America, we continue to tolerate racism in our judicial system. Mike claims he has a love of justice, but where is this love of justice when he sees black people going to jail or being harassed by the police?  Or, which is far more likely, does Mike join the rest of the crowd and simply ignore what is happening in America’s own backyard, too busy looking over the Atlantic Ocean to see what’s happening to a young white American girl in someone else’s backyard.

If Amanda Knox was black and her gender was male and her trial was being held here in the States instead of Italy, there is no doubt that we would have contemptuously assumed her guilt a long time ago and turned our collective attention to the Next American Idol or some other crap that keeps us distracted through entertainment. Nearly everyday the sun rises, we see instances of black people railroaded by our injustice system and that should register on our conscience. But it doesn’t. If black people are abused by the police or if black people are found guilty and get the maximum punishment allowed by law, it’s only because we have to take a tough stance on crime and nip that behavior from black people in the bud.

But let an American white girl in Italy get time for her crime and it’s all over the news how the Italian system is unfair and based on the inquisition. Would that be anything like America’s system of justice being based on our history of institutionalized racism? The headlines scream unfairness when we see it happening to Amanda Knox. But unfairness to black people doesn’t register, and that makes me the racist. But Mike isn’t the first to point an accusing finger this way. It is standard procedure in our system of ugly disparities that continues to consume so many black people in this country.

Even if Mike didn’t like the article he could have acknowledged at least some crumb of the reality which is our race based disparity and lack of fairness here. The truth of the matter is I don’t particular care for the article either. I’m tired of talking about America’s ugly racist side. If people would only give America’s unfairness to black people the same attention we give to young white girls we wouldn’t have the problems we do now. Instead, people like Mike want to assume that no one has a social conscious when we talk about black people’s problems. We don’t have the right to talk about our racial inequality.  We’re all just lining up to slander white people.

Thanks for the feedback Mike. But please spare me your lame attempt to sound like some high minded and virtuous thinker who wants to appear like he has some love of justice that transcends racism. Your love of justice has not one shred of integrity as long as you defend racism by accusing me of being a racist against white people all the while ignoring all the ugly disparity that keeps the black community in a perpetual second class status. Your popular brand of justice is too tightly wrapped around white privilege. A monkey posing as the Thinker statue has more intellectual integrity.  Get a clue.

Family Dollar In The Black Community

My neighborhood has changed over the years and in most respects, not for the better. From a capital investment point of view, most high profile companies have pulled out of the area as more white people pulled up stakes and moved away. Sears had an anchor store that they abandoned decades ago. The Chevrolet dealership, the Pontiac dealership, and the Buick dealership closed up shop and moved out into the suburbs. For the most part, the only things we have left with anything resembling a high profile corporate presence are franchises like fast food restaurants and gas stations. Burger joints and fried chicken joints are doing quite well. But other than that, you’re not going to see much of corporate America investing in my urban, black community.

The south side of the city, with some neighborhoods that are still practically all white, enjoys a much healthier relationship with the corporate world. Home Depot, Target Stores, Sears, Kmart, and more have built new box stores and are anchoring strip centers that attract a number of other retailers to serve those communities so far away.

There are two notable exceptions to this trend. One is Walgreens. The pharmacy retailer has flexed a little corporate muscle and expanded its stores into the black community. Not too long ago, a trip to the pharmacy meant you were going to travel a few miles to get there. Walgreens opened a store within easy walking distance for most, about four blocks away. And in the opposite direction there’s a store about a mile and a half away to serve that neighborhood. And while I appreciate the convenience of having a pharmacy so close, the people who work the Walgreens pharmacy are often so unprofessional and so rude that more often than not, you’d rather go the extra miles to reach a store where the employees aren’t so hostile to their customers.

The other exception is the Family Dollar store chain. Family Dollar opened a store just three blocks away just a few short years ago. The site sat abandoned for a number of years before Family Dollar cleared the land and built their store. But shortly after the store opened it quickly took on the typical customer service dysfunction that has employees abusing customers that so many people think is acceptable for the black community.

Earlier in the year, the misses was in the store shopping, trying to get some laundry detergent. An employee in the aisle didn’t bother to get out of her way so she simply reached over the employee. The employee didn’t appreciate being reached over and rudely snapped something like, don’t you see me trying to stock over here? This misses snapped back, don’t you see me trying to shop here? She continued with, seems to me if I wasn’t shopping you wouldn’t have a job so I suggest you shut the hell up. The manager of the store saw the exchange and laughed. The employees checking customers out at the two cash registers in the front would hold conversations as they rang up customer’s orders. The lack of professionalism of the store was so abysmal it made the employees at the Walgreens look like a class act. The store always seemed grimy. There was always trash and litter in the parking lot. The place simply did absolutely nothing to invite people to shop there. Therefore, we stopped shopping there.

But instead of just becoming a dirty haven for poor customer service, Family Dollar took steps. One day, the store simply started to change. One day we noticed that the parking lot was cleaned up. Curiosity piqued, we returned. The inside of the store was cleaned up and looked new again. The employees were different. No longer were the employees holding personal conversations over the heads of customers. The employees were actually focused on the customers, welcoming people into the store, thanking them for their purchases, and wishing them a good day. And most noticeable, the lame manager was gone, replaced with a manager from the corporate management team.

The corporate representative wasn’t interested in just making a buck and letting things slide. The corporate manager was focused on whipping the store back into shape so that it would once again be an environment that welcomed people to shop. Family Dollar could’ve simply thrown their hands in the air and blame it all on black people just being black people. The corporation could’ve followed the lead of so many other retailers that don’t see much of a point in investing in the black community. But thankfully, somebody at Family Dollar prefers not to make a distinction between their stores in the black community and their stores elsewhere. If neglected, if allowed to be improperly managed, given enough time, any store will fail.

On behalf of the rest of my neighborhood, I give thanks to Family Dollar for having the corporate common sense to correct the mistakes they made in their initial choice of employees. And for their support of their stores in the black community, we’ll do more business with this particular store and the rest of the Family Dollar chain to help assure their success. One hand washes the other. Hopefully, we will have a future of mutual success. Now if only Walgreens and the other corporate citizens can learn a thing or two about improving their business relationship with the black community.

The Black Community Would Do Better With Less Christmas

As a kid, no one enjoyed Christmas more than I did.  In a large family with dad the only real income and mom going to school, we really didn’t have a lot of disposable income.  Money was extremely tight.  But somehow, mom and dad worked a miracle and provided a booming Christmas morning.  The tree would go up a week or two in advance, and a few gifts would always go under the tree.  These gifts were the handful of items from the kids to the parents or to each other.  But on the eve of Christmas, after the kids go to sleep, mom and dad pull out the gifts they’ve been buying all year long and hiding all around the house in places they knew we would never have the balls to venture, like the attic or in their personal closet, and spread them out on the floor around the tree.  They must’ve worked all night because on Christmas day we would wake up to a sea of gifts that buried the living room floor and spilled over into the dining room and the entry.  And from a very early age, I learned to associate Christmas with the ultimate in materialism.

Like I said, back then, mom and dad worked all year to provide us with the best Christmas possible without going broke.  These days, I don’t think many people have the discipline to buy gifts, pack them away, and spring them on the kids for Christmas.  Personally, when I buy someone a gift, I like to give it to them without delay.  Saving presents for Christmas is one of those DNA traits that I simply did not inherent from my parents.  But then again, my parent’s appreciation for Christmas is something else that I didn’t inherent.

While I enjoyed the materialism of Christmas as much as anyone else, I like to think that I developed a vigilant perspective for the non material characteristic of the holiday that gets more lost with each and every passing year.  Right after we swallow the last bite of that Thanksgiving turkey and put our knives and forks down, we head to our favorite shopping hangout to await the Black Friday sales of well hyped incredible offers and kick our consumption of all things material into high gear.  If left to our own devices, some of us will literally kill anyone who stands between us and what we think might be a good sale.  And if the store is opening at five in the morning, then there must be something good to buy inside.  Our need for immediate gratification through consumption is more addictive than crack and the corporate retailers are nothing more than pushers pimping materialism.  And like a drugged out junkie we are ready to sell our futures in order to get the credit necessary to get our next hit, trying to recapture that euphoria we all had as children when we got the goods from under the Christmas tree.  This is what Christmas has morphed into.

As the corporate world moves ever closer to redefine the meaning of Christmas in terms of dollars and cents, retailers rely more and more on the holiday of ultimate consumption for their profits.  Like fictitious vampires, corporate retailers cannot hurt us until we invite them into our lives to suck our wallets dry.  And yet, we the people cannot help but go glassy eyed when we hear no money down and no payments until hell freezes over, ready to sign our lives away for a few dollars.  And for what will it benefit us?

People should stop and ask what does such über consumerism mean for our individual communities.  I know when I go home to my predominantly black urban neighborhood no one is doing their Christmas shopping there.  Everybody in my neighborhood has to do their shopping in places that would more likely prefer the black patrons do their business, spend their money, and then get the hell out   We all have seen the story of how some stupid black criminal will shoplift or buy things with a stolen credit card, and many people are more than ready to make the connection that if one black person did it all black people do it.  So when black people walk into the retailer, chances are pretty good we’re the ones getting the security camera escort.

Every dime we spend outside of our community is a drain on our community’s resources.  The people who own the mega retail stores and promise that our lives will be better with the latest consumer gadget could not care any less about the many lives in the black community.  The handful of employees from the black community who earn just above minimum wage pales in comparison to the number of dollars that pour into these businesses from the black community.  We actually become coconspirators helping these companies to become ever larger and stronger and so much more profitable, only to have these companies take our money to help enrich the neighborhoods where they reside while the urban black community does without.  So why would we want to feed into this frenzy that continues to keep us on the fringe of an economy already ailing?

The holiday of Christmas is no good thing to the black community.  The tradition of Christmas has become little more than a celebration of the transfer of wealth from the community to the corporation.  And the black community isn’t even close to being a player in this game.  There are no black retailers that can compete with the dominant community retailers.  The transfer of wealth from the consumer to the retailer is a virtual duplicate of the process of wealth going from the black community to the white community.  So why should we participate in this game?

From a very early age I learned to love materialism as much as the next guy.  Some of my fondest holiday memories are of the toys and clothes I found under the Christmas tree.  But now that I’m a little older and a little wiser I realize that the love of materialism should take a backseat to the love of community and for family and a hope for a better future.  Black people need to learn that as a community collective we can’t provide for our future by hocking it away for a more immediate form of gratification in the now.  This modern version of Christmas defined by corporate America only magnifies the problems between the black community and the rest of America.

Fears Of An Unfair Justice System

What did people think was going to happen when people accused of terrorism were plucked out of their home on the other side of the world and brought to America for whatever reason people in authority thought justified foreigner’s kidnapping.  Here in America, people are supposed to be granted due process in the judicial system.  And after years of being trapped in a state of combatant status limbo it looks like people accused of being terrorist are finally getting their day in court.

But here in the land of tough sounding bravado talk, many of us want to cower in a corner too afraid to give these people their right to a fair hearing.  Too many conservative legislators are ready to jump on the fear mongering band wagon and press Attorney General Eric Holder over his decision to transfer the case of the five men from the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to a federal courthouse in the vicinity of ground zero in New York City.  People are publicly airing their disapproval over the constitutional protections being given to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his co-conspirators saying that it is a perversion of justice that runs the risk of freeing men accused of being some of the world’s most notorious terrorists.

It appears that these people have no faith in the American justice system and its ability to convict the world’s most notorious terrorists.  If these bad guys are all that, wouldn’t their conviction in a court of law be a virtual slam dunk?  Some say that Mr. Mohammed will use his trial in to spew anti-American rhetoric and such proselytizing, and that it could make New York City a prime target for yet another terrorist strike.

These people forget that New York City was a target long before Mr. Mohammed and the other members of his super terrorist elite force were captured.  New York has been the target of terrorism for as long as it was arguably considered the financial capital of the world.  People also need to remember that the list of people spewing anti American rhetoric is as long as the Amazon River and often includes a lot of people who work at the very top of our government.  One more person wearing his criticism of America on his or her sleeve isn’t going to break the back of any camel holding back some potential terrorists’ trigger finger.  The whole concept is truly ludicrous and smacks of political posturing.

But what is truly important here is the fact that many of our lawyers and top officials are concerned over the potential for unfairness inherent in our court system.  Our leadership doesn’t have faith in the fairness of the system that is the primary tool the black community has been using for years to obtain some concept of racial fairness and equality in America.  People in the black community should be well aware of the way laws can be manipulated to our disadvantage.  In today’s court system, laws designed to end perpetual practices of racism and restore balance after years of supporting white privilege have been redefined as reverse discrimination and unfair to white people.

And after years of watching all the progress made during the civil rights era erode under some phony ass impression that correcting racism would in itself be racist, some of our legislatures who created all the loop holes in our system of laws that make the courts the farce they are now want to complain that there’s too much of a chance that the courts might be unfair.
Naturally, with traditional environment of politics being the type of animal that is more than happy to feast on its own, there is bound to be high profile opposition to Mr. Holder’s decision.  And the opposition will only intensify in the months, and quite potentially years, of legal maneuverings necessary to bring this trail to pass.

Indeed, during Mr. Holder’s appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee in the hearing held for him to defend his decision, Republican Senator Charles Grassley from Iowa told Mr. Holder that the situation was ludicrous considering the fact that all it would take is just one juror to derail the government’s case.  And somebody else brought signatures from a hundred thousand New Yorkers demanding that the accused remain at Guantanamo Bay.  Who needs a court when so many people think a one sided collection of signatures should suffice?

Honestly, if Mr. Mohammad’s rights were improperly trampled by people who represent our government, if he was tortured repeatedly and incessantly, the only person who gave him this get out of jail card would be the people who authorized the trampling of his rights.  And trust me, a court system carefully designed to protect the status quo would not allow any such technicality to impede our particular brand of American justice.

Exceptions To Every Rule

Like most people, I have my prejudices.  I am a firm believer that, all things being equal or even a little skewed, children that are obviously black or children with African ancestry should be raised with an appreciation for the black community.  I believe that most white people are not familiar enough with the inherit problems of growing up black in America.  Most white people wouldn’t spend five minutes out of a week immersed in black culture with a few exceptions like music, comedy, and little else of substance.

The converse is very different.  Black people are automatically raised with an appreciation for the dominant community.  It is unavoidable.  It is the dominant community that holds the vast majority of the jobs.  It is the dominant community that controls the government and all sources of media.  It is the dominant community that controls so much of America.  You can’t turn on a television, walk by a magazine stand, or do much of anything else without seeing the influence of dominant America.  It is pretty difficult for black people to ignore the white community.

Therefore, in order for the black community to gain the type of compassion from the dominant community that it readily bestows on its own institutions, I feel that the more black people who grow up in the black community, the better chances we will have changing the issues effecting the black community.  Black kids should be raised by black people.  But this morning, I am reminded that there are always exceptions to any rule.

This morning, a little obviously black girl’s life may be in danger and there is a very good chance that she may have already been murdered, because her white father gave up his rights to custody and released her to her black mother.  Five year old Shaniya Davis is the daughter of a white man and a black woman, the product of a one night stand.  Her father, Bradley Lockhart, said that he has been raising his daughter for several years and recently decided to let her stay with her mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis.  Mr. Lockhart said that Ms. Davis struggled to make ends meet for years to make ends meet.  But the woman had recently obtained a job and a place of her own and decided to give her a chance to raise their daughter.  That was about a month ago.

Last week Ms. Davis called authorities in Fayetteville, North Carolina and reported that little Shaniya was missing.  Authorities began searching nearby wooded areas.  Ms. Davis’ current boyfriend was initially charged in the kidnapping.  But the charges were later dropped and he was released.

When the story made the local news, a hotel worker remembered seeing a child matching Shaniya’s description at a hotel about forty miles away in Sanford, North Carolina.  Investigators reviewed the hotel’s surveillance video and confirmed that the child was actually Shaniya.  The video showed Mario Andrette McNeill carrying Shaniya into a hotel room.  He has been arrested and charged with the little girl’s kidnapping.  McNeill admitted to taking the girl, though his attorney says he will plead not guilty to the charge.

Since then, authorities have arrested the mother.  Fayetteville police say Ms. Davis faces charges related to human trafficking as well as child abuse involving prostitution and the filing of a false police report.  The local newspaper reported that arrest documents indicate that Ms. Davis knowingly provided her daughter for sexual servitude and acts of prostitution.

All things being equal black children should be raised by black families.  The black community needs black children if the black community is to have a future.  But if black children are to have a future, they need to be in a safe environment, whether in the black community or not.  The need for the black community to have a future should never supersede any child’s safety.  The need for a child to be with his or her parent or parents should never put a child in danger.

Just three weeks after getting her daughter the mother is accused of one seriously heinous crime, the betrayal of the flesh and blood that she gave birth to.  Obviously, this mother has her own devils to deal with.  I actually hope she spends the rest of her natural and unnatural life tormented by the thought of what she may have done.  Unfortunately, at least at the moment, I don’t think she has much of a conscience to dwell on her contribution to this incident.

However, it appears Mr. Lockhart might actually be dealing with his demons of regret.  Just three weeks after he gives the little girl to the mother she turns up missing.  He is the parent that was most responsible.  Whatever led him to decide to give the girl to the poor excuse of a mother will haunt him for the rest of his life.  Now, Mr. Lockhart says all he wants is his daughter back.  It is truly unfortunate that his choices, whatever his reasoning may have been, ended up going so wrong.

Please keep Shaniya Davis in your thoughts today.

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Like most people, I have my prejudices.  I am a firm believer that, all things being equal or even a little skewed, children that are obviously black or children with African ancestry should be raised with an appreciation for the black community.  I believe that most white people are not familiar enough with the inherit problems of growing up black in America.  Most white people wouldn’t spend five minutes out of a week immersed in black culture with a few exceptions like music, comedy, and little else of substance.

The converse is very different.  Black people are automatically raised with an appreciation for the dominant community.  It is unavoidable.  It is the dominant community that holds the vast majority of the jobs.  It is the dominant community that controls the government and all sources of media.  It is the dominant community that controls so much of America.  You can’t turn on a television, walk by a magazine stand, or do much of anything else without seeing the influence of dominant America.  It is pretty difficult for black people to ignore the white community.

Therefore, in order for the black community to gain the type of compassion from the dominant community that it readily bestows on its own institutions, I feel that the more black people who grow up in the black community, the better chances we will have changing the issues effecting the black community.  Black kids should be raised by black people.  But this morning, I am reminded that there are always exceptions to any rule.

This morning, a little obviously black girl’s life may be in danger and there is a very good chance that she may have already been murdered, because her white father gave up his rights to custody and released her to her black mother.  Five year old Shaniya Davis is the daughter of a white man and a black woman, the product of a one night stand.  Her father, Bradley Lockhart, said that he has been raising his daughter for several years and recently decided to let her stay with her mother, Antoinette Nicole Davis.  Mr. Lockhart said that Ms. Davis struggled to make ends meet for years to make ends meet.  But the woman had recently obtained a job and a place of her own and decided to give her a chance to raise their daughter.  That was about a month ago.

Last week Ms. Davis called authorities in Fayetteville, North Carolina and reported that little Shaniya was missing.  Authorities began searching nearby wooded areas.  Ms. Davis’ current boyfriend was initially charged in the kidnapping.  But the charges were later dropped and he was released.

When the story made the local news, a hotel worker remembered seeing a child matching Shaniya’s description at a hotel about forty miles away in Sanford, North Carolina.  Investigators reviewed the hotel’s surveillance video and confirmed that the child was actually Shaniya.  The video showed Mario Andrette McNeill carrying Shaniya into a hotel room.  He has been arrested and charged with the little girl’s kidnapping.  McNeill admitted to taking the girl, though his attorney says he will plead not guilty to the charge.

Since then, authorities have arrested the mother.  Fayetteville police say Ms. Davis faces charges related to human trafficking as well as child abuse involving prostitution and the filing of a false police report.  The local newspaper reported that arrest documents indicate that Ms. Davis knowingly provided her daughter for sexual servitude and acts of prostitution.

All things being equal black children should be raised by black families.  The black community needs black children if the black community is to have a future.  But if black children are to have a future, they need to be in a safe environment, whether in the black community or not.  The need for the black community to have a future should never supersede any child’s safety.  The need for a child to be with his or her parent or parents should never put a child in danger.

Just three weeks after getting her daughter the mother is accused of one seriously heinous crime, the betrayal of the flesh and blood that she gave birth to.  Obviously, this mother has her own devils to deal with.  I actually hope she spends the rest of her natural and unnatural life tormented by the thought of what she may have done.  Unfortunately, at least at the moment, I don’t think she has much of a conscious to dwell on her contribution to this incident.

However, it appears Mr. Lockhart might actually be dealing with his demons of regret.  Just three weeks after he gives the little girl to the mother she turns up missing.  He is the parent that was most responsible.  Whatever led him to decide to give the girl to the poor excuse of a mother will haunt him for the rest of his life.  Now, Mr. Lockhart says all he wants is his daughter back.  It is truly unfortunate that his choices ended up going so wrong.