Marriage Equality and the Bush Family

"...everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love."

Dear friends,

It's funny that marriage equality , as it were, has been trivialized to being synonymous with same-sex marriage, just as feminism has been trivialized to "equal pay for equal work". After all, within the context of "rights", where is marriage equality in so-called heterosexual marriages?

Still, on the link below, the younger Barbara Bush, daughter of the former president - a man who I knew when I was a Black Panther some 40 years ago, insists, "...everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love." That's reasonable. I guess. However, the identity issue, at least to me, becomes cloudy, since it begs for the question: How can anyone make such a staunch claim of sexual identity such as being "gay" - or "straight" for that matter, when the human sexual appetite is so precarious, if not frivilous?

It would seem that the only relevant identity between sex partners lies somewhere between two poles. They are: 1) Sexual liberation. 2) Sexual repression. Most people seem to fit somewhere between the two afprementioned poles. Besides, if the significance of a lover's gender is so important to a person in his or her abilty to express himself or herself intimately, then it seems that one is suggesting that s/he is somehow certain to be pleased with another, based solely upon her or his gender (as if all males and females are sexually enjoyable when they are mated with someone of the same gender). That type of reasoning is called "intellectual acrobatics" in the company that I enjoy.

Let's keep it real!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20110201/ts_yblog_theticket/breaking-with-her-father-barbara-bush-voices-support-for-gay-marriage
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Egyptian people have the whole world rockin'

"Isn't it interesting that all of te world's dictators, whether US multinational corporations or military commanders, are on edge about what's happening in Egypt right now?"

Dear friends,

Isn't it interesting that all of te world's dictators, whether US multinational corporations or military commanders, are on edge about what's happening in Egypt right now? After all, with the Internet, the world's people have greater access to the truth. We don't have to simply take the lying words of mainstream media journalists.

On the link below is a great discussion about what's going on there right now.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xvuUryU5GE
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Brief NYTimes video - an 80 years-old female activist joins Egyptian protesters

http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/02/03/opinion/1248069611811/undaunted-in-tahrir-square.html?ref=opinion
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GOP redefines Rape

As far too many women know, bruises and broken bones do not define rape - a lack of consent does...

From MoveOn.org:
Hi, I just heard about a horrible GOP bill that could redefine rape andset women's rights back by decades.Here's the deal: Right now, federal dollars can't be used for abortionexcept in cases of rape, incest, or when the woman's life is in danger.But the bill, introduced by Republican congressman Chris Smith, wouldnarrow that use to "cases of 'forcible' rape but not statutory or coerced rape."

As far too many women know, bruises and broken bones do not define rape -a lack of consent does. This bill is scary - so I signed a petitiontelling Congress to stand up and oppose the bill. Can you join me at the link below?http://pol.moveon.org/smithbill/?r_by=-18379133-m3upK3x&rc=mailto Thanks.References Visible links. http://pol.moveon.org/smithbill/?r_by=-18379133-m3upK3x&rc=mailto
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Obama's State of the Union speech 2011 - Deceitful gibberish

“President Obama's mention of ‘free enterprise’ serves to cover up the fact that huge corporations, along with their lobbyists, make sure that they control the market. Some free enterprise.”

Dear friends,

Last night President Obama began hitting the stump for his re-election campaign. Of course, last year his speech concentrated more on the absolute failure, as I predicted and was proven right, of the so-called Federal Bailout to help boost the economy. However, riding on the heels of the mainstream media-produced Republican victory in Congressional elections, like any typical bourgeois politician, Obama must switch hats, so that he can fare better than many of his Congressional colleagues did in the 2012 personality contest that will pass itself off as the presidential election.

Nevertheless, while he did mention the necessity to erase the injustice of allowing the full benefits of citizenship to the children of undocumented workers, Mr. Obama made no mention of the two most powerful forms of oppression and exploitation in our society: Male Supremacy (euphemistically called sexism) and White Supremacy (euphemistically called racism). Duh? I wonder why? He acted as if everyone has the same opportunities in this country. Huh?

Oh, still, the president was long on nationalistic fervor. Yet, the "feel good" talk that he gave showed no hint, outside of his or any other politician's usual lofty ambitions, of how the people in this country can begin to relate to each other, much less folks around the world, in a way that we can be both prosperous and loving towards each other. After all, no Arab terrorists - be they Muslim or otherwise, shot up a bunch of people in Arizona recently. Moreover, what difference does it make to have a strong economy, when you never know when someone is going to inadvertently include you in his killing spree? Other countries don’t have that problem. Why? It happens here everyday, especially if you include the domestic violence incidents (i.e., Male Supremacy and its violence against women).

And why are people encouraged to "have patience" and wait for a job, as opposed to teaching them at an early age how to market and manage their own skills. After all, the latter opportunity not only helps keep them from being idle and constantly unsatisfied with life, but, as well, people are then able to make decisions based upon their ability to gather information, experiment, and observe. Then again, that would put a whole lot of politicians and mainstream media "journalists" out of work. Wouldn't it?

It would also kill many industries like those of various forms of entertainment and all kinds of electronic toys. In other words, if people learned to enjoy their own thoughts, because they are used to exercising their minds and their ability to imagine, instead of sitting around being entertained in passive ways such as always having to watch DVD movies or listen to CDs, the same folks would now find ways to entertain themselves without needing to constantly spend money. Rather, they would merely have to use their many inner powers like internal and external energy, concentration, and memory, for example, to discover joy and happiness. That would also change the way that they set goals, relate to others - and how they choose politicians.

Finally, President Obama's corny mention of "free enterprise" serves to cover up the fact that huge corporations, along with their lobbyists, make sure that they control the market. Some free enterprise.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
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In Memory of Peter Tosh - the Stepping Razor (originally posted 11/1/08)

"...It don't matter where you come from, if you're black, you're an African."?

Dear friends,

Do you remember the lyrics, "...It don't matter where you come from, if you're black, you're an Africa."?

Those words were written and sung by a great artist and spiritial man named Peter Tosh. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxm1cU5Ewbw

In any case, I first saw the piece on the link below, while checking out the Daily Sun (out of Nigeria). This extremely important Website address is: http://www.sunnewsonline.com/ Peace.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/showtime/2008/oct/31/showtime-31-10-2008-001.htm
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Murders in Arizona are culturally sound

“…if the young man’s madness is not connected to the society in which he was socialized, then why don’t such massacres happen in Switzerland, for example?”

Dear friends,

Isn’t it interesting that the recent incident that occurred in Arizona is not being equated with the continuous murders by the US and Israeli governments who use drone rockets to snuff out, as it were, alleged “terrorists” in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, but mostly slaughter everyday innocents? Moreover, about that, where are all of the analyses of mainstream media pundits, much less their outrage, as we’re being fed the “crazy man” stuff here lately?

Many academic disciplines analyze people as if we are talking insects. Yet, whether you place a creature like an ant or a bee either in the Sahel of Africa or on the North Pole, it will be the same creature and exhibit the exact same behavior. Again, people are not talking insects. We are political animals. That is, we all want what We want. However, we must behave according to the circumstances in which we find ourselves, due to the social interactions that will necessarily need to happen in order for us to sustain ourselves. That is where the politics begin. In other words, since few of us grow pur own food or make our own clothes, and so forth, at the bare minimum, we must have contact with others, and behave in a way that is favorable to the party who has what we want, in order to acquire whatever it is that we need. Ants and bees, for instance, do not have that need for social adaptation.

Moreover, the history of humankind is the revelation of lots of stories about generational activities among particular groups. It is not a chronology of the tales of either “great” individuals or “great” events. Additionally, because we are social beings, our existence is based upon two conditions. They are: 1) A cooperative effort to co-exist. 2) Shared responsibility to engage in activities that are regulated by specific rules which allow the continuation of the particular group for hundreds or even thousands of years. The aforementioned generational activities are more commonly referred to as “culture".

In our society, culture is a word that is often used to refer to the higher achievements of a particular group - like painting and music. However, it (culture) involves everything that we do. Therefore, it even has a physiological significance. This is easily identifiable by recognizing the actual mental and motor reflexes that are initiated when a European American (so-called white person) who is sitting in a car pushes down the lock button as an African American approaches the vicinity of the former’s vehicle.

This notion of the initiating of both mental and motor reflexes also explains the cultural differences in the way that people draw, dance, sing, and so forth. In fact, even Our five "senses" are culturally-defined. That is, our perceptions, regarding what we feel, taste, hear, smell, and see, are determined by our cultural experiences.

Also, our culture determines the manner in which We transmit and share both behavior and ideas to present and future generations. However, the first thing that we must understand about culture is that it is largely tied to a people's resources. That is, social status and income as well as materials to produce what people need or desire determine how, why and through what medium folks can express themselves as a distinct group.

At any rate, here in USA culture, reactionary, liberal, and seemingly progressive mainstream journalists – of both print and electronic media - are now backpedaling about despicable people like those of the Tea Party and Sarah Palin. Even the African American journalists, mind you. Ouch! Yet, the milieu that reactionary folks like Tea Partyers, Palin, Beck, and Limbaugh have helped create has been great for mainstream media markets. Eh? Consequently, if the “crazy” young killer is culpable, then so too are all of those mentioned thus far, including the Obama administration.

However, now that, as Brother Malcolm prophesized, “The chickens have come home to roost.”, once again, as usual, the mainstream media and our clown federal politicians are telling the public that we aren’t seeing what we see.

Instead, the here-to-mentioned mainstream media, their agents (so-called journalists) , and pols are apologizing for the dissatisfaction and misery of too many citizens that has been caused by greedy corporations, by blaming the incident on a “crazed” person. In other words, his ideas and all just fell out of the sky into his head. He certainly didn’t get his ideas, much less his language, from anyone in this country.

Besides, who would want to conspire against such a holy forum as the US government? Moreover, conspiracy theorists would have us believe that the Boston Tea Party was a conspiracy-induced event, or that the Confederates conspired to start a war by burning up and/or stealing stores of arms and ships. Or that wealthy bankers and businessmen, along with a couple of sycophantic politicians, met and conspired on Jekyll Island in Georgia shortly prior to World War 1, in order to form the private – not public - Federal Reserve Banking system that would eliminate competition, while taking total control of our economy. Or that the US government and its military decision-makers conspire with huge corporations like Boeing, Polaroid, Lockheed, Halliburton, and others to loot the coffers of this country. “Sure. ..They are all conspiring.”, Rush Limbaugh and his pathetic ilk smirk, as Sarah Palin winks her eye at them in collusion.

Still, if the young man’s madness is not connected to the society in which he was socialized, then why don’t such massacres happen in Switzerland, for example? And why has the mainstream media seemed so unconcerned with all of the open death threats to President Obama? Imagine if it had been Clinton or Bush. Do you think that those threatening perps just mentioned would have had serious problems? Instead, their behavior is shrugged off. So why all of the noise over this, as if it’s a surprise? And why aren’t the four elderly women who were murdered receiving any attention? Are the mainstream media outlets saving their stories for future sales?

Look at Obama’s and BiBi’s drone-killing crusade in Pakistan, Iran, and other places. On top of that, the US government just promised the Pakistani government $7billion in “aid”. Meanwhile, just as in Arizona, nationwide, politicians like Palin and other brave men and women shoot down birds who are minding their own business and call that a sport. Worse yet, such folks think that they’re “bad”, when they shoot defenseless and unsuspecting moose and hang the dressed heads of the unfortunate creatures on their living room walls (and they have the nerve to talk about Michael Vick) .

So, why is the sicko in Arizona less deranged than the US Army helicopter pilot in the WikiLeak link post below this one who tells his Army cohort, “You do the shootin’…I’ll do the talkin’!”, while he’s lying on his radio about eight armed men, to his base?

Finally, President Obama’s suggestion of Democrats and Republicans “uniting” misses the point, aside from the fact that folks like Tea Partyers, Palin, ad other Republicans are probably humored by the whole Arizona incident. (That’s a cultural thing in this country.) Instead. at least to me, what we must do is change our value judgements away from profit and greed, especially since greed is always short-sighted (from the cheating spouse to bank scandals to the BP oil spill), and start socializing our youth to revere all life. However, capitalism can’t survive without war/killing, because a continuous production of commodities for profit, with only a finite amount of consumers in any specific geographical area, calls for “finding” more consumers, by, for example, invading another country and making its citizens become consumers. So why all of the thoughtless and dishonest excuses about crazy people and vitriolic rhetoric? Let’s keep it real!

G. Djata Bumpus
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17 minutes-long Wikileaks video of US Army massacre of unarmed Iraqis (originally posted 12/1/10)

"Recently, I posted some comments, regarding Wikileaks that were based upon what I’d been both hearing and reading from the mainstream media..."
Dear friends,

Recently, I posted some comments, regarding Wikileaks that were based upon what I’d been both hearing and reading from the mainstream media. However, having been introduced to the video on the link below, I now must give some props to the Wikileaks people.

Moreover, after perusing the aforementioned video, I cannot understand, for the life of me, how any decent, much less sane, Iraqi does not hate the United States with great passion. After all, they (Iraqis) are actually experiencing what has been going on there – and in Afghanistan. It’s not just a video recollection to them. Eh?

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0

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Dr Ndibe's analysis of problem and solutions for Nigeria's democratic processes

"Atiku, Ojukwu, Iwu, and the culture of expediency"

By Okey Ndibe

The time has never been riper for the emergence of a formidable opposition force to dislodge the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from power. Yet, there are disturbing signs, once again, that Nigeria’s opposition parties are looking for every means or opportunity to surrender to the PDP – or to sell their prospects for a mess of porridge.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar is, from several accounts, on the cusp of returning to the PDP. That would not be so bad, for Atiku’s natural habitat is within the moral jungle of the PDP.

Atiku was part of an initiative to form a so-called “mega party.” With his looming exit, that bad idea appears decidedly stillborn. For one, the potential constituents of the opposition behemoth never seemed able to offer a comprehensive critique of the PDP. Nor did they seek to define their vision, or to tell Nigerians where they intend to take the country if given power, and how.

There’s also the fact that many of the ambivalent founders of the “mega party” were once, like Atiku, in the sanctuary of the PDP. Like him, many of them still belong, in mind and spirit, to the PDP.

Atiku represents the kind of unprincipled, me-first-and-last politics that has kept Nigeria in the doldrums. Last Sunday, Thisday quoted one of Atiku’s lieutenants as saying that “even with the mega party being formed, even if the electoral reforms are concluded on time before the next elections, it will be difficult to oust PDP from power. That is a fact. I say this with all sense of responsibility, because with their rigging machines all out, with people like Iwu still in office, and with all the money they have, I think we will have a battle on our hands.”

So what does Atiku do? Jump ship – and enlist with those determined to employ their rigging machines to sabotage Nigeria’s democracy. Perhaps, Atiku is at home precisely in that company.

The original impulse to form a mega opposition party represented a fundamental misconception. The PDP was deemed a party – to adapt a Nigerian saying – of “no shaking.” Consequently, the party’s opponents concluded that they must create an equally gargantuan force in order to have a shot at wresting power.

To be true, the PDP is a giant, but one whose feet are made of clay. There’s no denying that the PDP’s roster boasts the largest collection of the kind of men and women known in Nigeria as “stakeholders” or venerated as “prominent Nigerians,” but who, in reality, are criminal raiders of the public treasury.

The PDP may be the most bloated “sumo” party in the country, but it’s far from strong in real terms. Its chairman, Vincent Ogbulafor, has served notice that the party plans to rule (translate that word as “ruin”) Nigeria for sixty years. It’s the party’s plan, and one not shared by Nigerians. In order to realize the plan, the party must thwart the democratic will of the Nigerian people through a logistics called electoral fraud.

Since 1999, the PDP has established itself as a master rigger. It goes without saying – but we’ll say it – that a party in power resorts to rigging principally because it recognizes that there’s no clean way to win.

My point, then, is that it does not require a mega party to rout the PDP in an election. No, it takes two things. One is a party with disciplined organization, a commitment to a set of laudable socio-economic goals, and the focused ability to communicate its message to the Nigerian people. The other is a culture of credible elections, a transparent polling system that, above all, demonstrates that the wishes of the electorate are paramount.

Elections are as credible as the system that produces them, and the men and women who run that system.

The wishy-washy effort to form a mega party rests on diseased reasoning. It’s sad to see those who want to unseat the PDP waste their energy trying to acquire the ruling party’s pathologies. What they should do – assuming that they’re up to it – is to push the case for sound electoral reform and the appointment of men and women of unimpeachable moral mettle to oversee the country’s elections. Once these are in place, the opposition should then offer Nigerians a clear-eyed dissection of how the PDP has mortgaged, and still pawns off, Nigeria’s best interests.

(okeyndibe@gmail.com)
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Dr. Billy Taylor - the old lion passes on

“He was a warm and wonderful cat.”

Dear friends,

A few days ago, one of North America’s premier ambassadors of the music idiom called “Jazz” passed on to another form of existence. His name is Billy Taylor. He was a man who I knew personally and held in the highest regard.

The last time we talked was about three summers ago. He knew about this blog and was supportive of what I was sharing with folks. He also liked the fact that our mutual friend, Archie Shepp – another legend – had contributed to these pages.

It’s funny that I’d just had some thoughts about him a couple of weeks ago. Now this. Still, his intense seriousness about his craft, along with his ever present huge smile will always stay in my mind. He was a warm and wonderful cat. Long live Dr. Billy Taylor!

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXJI9O2D7c4&NR=1
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Proper Grubbin' and Greezin' for the Holidays

"To be sure, this time of the year seems to bring out both the best and worst memories – and subsequent feelings. It also exposes both the best and worst in people. Therefore, people are, perhaps, “alive” the most during this period (which is certainly better than the alternative)."
Dear friends,

With Christmas, Kwanzaa, and New Year’s Day consuming so much of our time over the next two weeks, I thought it would be great to share an informative, but light, piece with you.

To be sure, this time of the year seems to bring out both the best and worst memories – and subsequent feelings. It also exposes both the best and worst in people. Therefore, people are, perhaps, “alive” the most during this period (which is certainly better than the alternative).

In any case, while food and drink can be healthy panaceas, the piece on the link below that was written by someone who I hold in deep regard, Kimberly Garrison, the fitness columnist for the Philadelphia Daily News (www.philadelphiadailynews.com) brings into mind that we need not disconnect ourselves from reality to have a good time. By the way, Every Thursday, Kim appears in the “Yo! Features” section of the newspaper. Her articles are not your typical run-of-the-mill “Eat your Wheaties” admonitions. Rather, they are always imaginative, super-informative, socially-conscious and well written. Still, as the Honorable Elijah Muhammad would say on these occasions, “Eat ‘til your face falls in the plate!”

Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20101118_Kimberly_Garrison__Eat__drink_and_be_merry_-_without_packing_on_pounds.html?viewAll=y
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Urgent!!! Thousands of Georgia Prisoners - of ALL colors - on strile together

"The real beauty of this whole affair is: regardless of either skin color or culture, these brothers are sticking together. Historically, prison revolts of any kind have been “racially” divided. "

Dear friends,

Flipping through some tv channels last night, I stopped at a DemocracyNow.org broadcast as a song by one of my old Panther comrades, Elaine Brown, played. The host then introduced Elaine and interviewed her about an extremely important story that is developing in the state of Georgia right now. Not surprisingly, the drama is completely missing from the mainstream media.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/14/prisoner_advocate_elaine_brown_on_georgia

It involves thousands of male prisoners who have joined together in a peaceful way to bring about change in their current living conditions. The real beauty of this whole affair is: regardless of either skin color or culture, these brothers are sticking together. Historically, prison revolts of any kind have been “racially” divided.

The only thing missing from this equation is: communities must develop programs to bring these brothers back to their/our communities for the good of all.

For example, churches, fraternities, sororities, even well-established gangs like the Crips and the Bloods, as well as other such community institutions can sponsor “Free Buses To Prisons Programs” where children are transported to prisons for the explicit purpose of having reading lessons with their incarcerated parents or neighbors.

At any rate, on the link below, you will find a list of their present demands.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://newsone.com/nation/newsonestaff2/historic-georgia-prison-strike-ignored-by-media-prisoners-guards/
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How Wikileaks does it - 30 minutes-long video

Please click on the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCmjmDXp7TI
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Is WikiLeaks controversy a Red Herring?

"the information that is being shared by WikiLeaks tells us very little about the methods used by those in power to retain their positions..."

Dear friends,

At least to me, all of the WikiLeaks drama merely shows that US Imperialism is still a paper tiger. Worse yet, it’s on its way out as a dominating force in global politics.

The tattle-tale approach of WikiLeaks fits in well with the personality contests that are euphemistically called “elections” in this country. However, as always, the information that is being shared by WikiLeaks tells us very little about the methods used by those in power to retain their positions, much less the actions in which the aforementioned rulers partake in order to keep control, while enriching their corporate sponsors. Some democracy, eh?

Still, I believe that comments in recent months by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are far more revealing than anything that has been made available by WikiLeaks. http://www.mediaite.com/online/mahmoud-ahmadinejad-tells-u-n-general-assembly-911-was-an-inside-job/

Unfortunately, while Brother Mahmoud preaches to the choir with progressive “I got ya”s, he, of course, keeps his mouth shut, regarding the inconsistencies of freedom, dignity, and justice in his own land…to that extent, he is no different than ruling class secretaries like Obama and BiBi.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Dr. Barbara Teer Spirit Awards in NYC - Dec. 17, 2010

Awardees:
Rudy Dee
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer Pioneer Award
Woodie King Jr
Adetunde Samuel Artistic Excellence Award
Avery Brooks
Dr. Barbara Ann Teer Spirit Award
Geoffrey Canada
Fredrica L. Teer Institution Building AwardT - he Brotherhood/SisterSol Fredrica L. Teer Institution Building Award


Teer Spirit Awards
DECEMBER 17TH, 6:00 PM:
Reception & Silent Auction in Lobby 7:00 PM:

7:15 PM: Dinner & Awards Ceremony at the
National Black Theater's Institute of Action Arts
2031-33 National Black Theatre Way
(5th Ave between 125 and 126 St), NY NY 10035


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entertainment by Ebony Jo-Ann, Blue Magic & Wade Elliot along with the National Black Theatre House Band led by Bert Price.Tickets: $65.00click above or call (212) 868- 4444 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Contact Information phone: 212-722-3800 NATIONALBLACKTHEATRE.ORG This program is funded in part by: Council Member Inez E. Dickens, 9th C.D., Speaker Christine Quinn and the New York City Council, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, New York


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In case you missed it - Jill Scott is HOT!!!

Dear friends,

We seldom hear about today’s African American artists doing much for their communities. On the link below, award-winning Philadelphia journalist Jenice Armstrong recently interviewed Jill Scott peior to a fundraiser this past weekend. Please check it out! The beat goes on.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20101130_Jenice_Armstrong__Jill_Scott_s_giving_back.html

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Haitians' Cholera Epidemic emphasizes the need for them to Contol their own Economic Development

“In light of the deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. while huge amounts of cash and other resources are currently, and rightfully so, being directed towards Haiti…”
Dear friends,

In light of the deadly cholera epidemic in Haiti. while huge amounts of cash and other resources are currently, and rightfully so, being directed towards Haiti, it seems that an equal amount of attention and concern should be geared towards the Haitian people themselves in efforts to help them take the reins in rebuilding their nation.

People need food, for example. Now is a time to set up small cooperative food outlets that acquire their provisions from farms that are owned and operated by families. That would require some of the money that has been donated being used to develop more arable soil.

Forest gardening , for example, could be used to establish new eco-systems on the island where both fauna and flora can proliferate.

The land should be collectively-owned with a governmental body only having the role of coordinating and networking, as opposed to controlling and regulating resources in areas such as food production and home building.

Private corporations outside of the body of people who are doing the farming and building should be prohibited. This will be the start of two forms of new industry on the island.

Next, having been trained by licensed master carpenters from developed countries, Haitian workers will learn how to build earthquake-resistant buildings like those found in California. Additionally, homes and small factories could be built for producing clothes, tools, electrical goods, and so forth.

But traditional industries are not enough. There will be a need for both school teachers and college professors alike, medical professionals, and in order to maintain a civil society, there will need to be many people trained in the area of law and its enforcement.

All of the here-to-mentioned will require that the Haitian people are encouraged to recognize their inner powers like both physical and mental energy, discipline, persistence, concentration, and memory, for instance.

As well, Haitian citizens must reject becoming a possession-oriented society like ours, and, instead, start embracing value judgments that will allow them to develop genuine communities.

This process should begin on a small scale. Of course, there are already any number of Haitians there and abroad who can get this started. Now, the main problem will be to keep lecherous and rapacious North American companies from undermining genuine economic development in Haiti.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Kucinich Files Impeachment Papers against Bush (originally posted 6/21/08)

Date: Tuesday, June 17, 2008, 6:08 AM

Summary of Rep. Kucinich Files 35 Articles of Impeachment Against President Bush

Rep. Kucinich Files 35 Articles of Impeachment Against President Bush
http://kucinich.house.gov/

On Tuesday, June 10, Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Fla.) added his name as a co-sponsor of Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment.On Wednesday, June 11, Congress voted 251-166 to send the articles of impeachment (H Res 1258) introduced by Rep. Dennis Kucinich to the House Judiciary Committee to be acted upon there. 24 Republicans voted Yes along with all the Democrats. Following is a summary of the allegations against President Bush that are included in Kucinich's Articles of Impeachment:

Article I: Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq

Article II: Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of Aggression

Article III: Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War

Article IV: Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat to the United States

Article V: Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression

Article VI: Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114

Article VII: Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII: Invading Iraq , A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter

Article IX: Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X: Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI: Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII: Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation's Natural Resources

Article XIIII: Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other Countries

Article XIV: Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV: Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI: Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII: Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign Captives

Article XVIII: Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan , Iraq , and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX: Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to "Black Sites" Located in Other Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX: Imprisoning Children

Article XXI: Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran , and Supporting Terrorist Organizations Within Iran , With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII: Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII: Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV: Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the Fourth Amendment

Article XXV: Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI: Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII: Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII: Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX: Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX: Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI: Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil Emergency

Article XXXII: Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global Climate Change

Article XXXIII: Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist Attacks in the US , Prior to 911

Article XXXIV: Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV: Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

We need to pressure Judiciary Chairman John Conyers into starting impeachment hearings. Honorable John Conyers, Jr (202) 225-5126

PLEASE CALL THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE MEMBERS NOW!
link to the contact information for committee members:
http://judiciary.house.gov/fullcommittee.aspx202-225-3951
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An Evening With Avery Brooks - "HERE" CD Release Concert

Friday November 19th, 2010 @ 8PMat

National Black Theater Co.
2031-33 Fifth Avenue,
NY NY 10035

Featuring:

Avery Brooks - Vocals and Piano
Khalil Kwame Bell - Percussion
Craig Harris - Trombone
Pete Drungle - Keyboards
Andy Milne - Piano & Keyboards
Marlene Rice - ViolinJay Rodriguez - Bass/Clarinet/Alto Sax & Flute
Melissa Slocum - Acoustic Bass
Nioka Workman - Cello


Table seating is $50.00 General seating is $35.00

Tickets through Smarttix.com call (212) 868- 4444. For group rates call (212) 722- 3800
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Contact Information phone: 212-722-3800
NATIONALBLACKTHEATRE.ORG
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Israel disrespects the Obama administration again

“Israel sees no connection at all between the peace process and building plans in Jerusalem.” statement from Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office
Dear friends,

With President Obama just finishing up his trip around Asia, it’s important to take notice of the state of Israel’s most recent assault on the Palestinian people,, suspiciously timed to coincide with Obama’s spree, as it (Israel) has announced that it will further ignore calls for peace in the region, by building even more settlements.

This all comes just six months after Obama’s then White House chief-of-staff, Rahm Emanuel, traveled to Israel, a land that his father helped to form, in order to witness the massacre of 9 international peacekeepers who were trying to bring food and medicine to Palestinian families. Perhaps, Emanuel’s presence was meant to insure that there would be “minimal collateral damage”. Who knows?

In any case, at least to me, better than either “peace" itself or "talks" to bring it into being, nations like Israel, the US, Iran, and Syria should begin setting up programs for Palestinians, so that these worthy people can develop their own means of sustenance through the latter learning to implement procedures such as forest gardening, so Palestinians can create eco-systems to replace the desolate areas that they are left in due to Jewish settlers; additionally, they need to learn about renewable energy too, for instance.

This will, invariably, lead to the people of Palestine developing their own industries. After all, as the great economics theorist Professor Lloyd Hogan taught us in his landmark book called “The Principles of Black Political Economy”, food, the elixir of life, as it were, is also “wealth in the abstract”. Moreover, whoever controls the food supply of any group of people controls the destiny of that body as well.

On the link below, is a recent New York Times article about Israel’s latest bullying measure against the Palestinian people and all other decent folks in the world.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/14/world/middleeast/14mideast.html?_r=1&ref=middleeast
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Has the recent ruling by a California judge made US armed forces "gay"?

Meanwhile, readers, listeners, and viewers of mainstream media gobbledygook are swayed from the larger issue of why our young people, since the end of the Civil War, and except for World War 2, have been hoodwinked into fighting to enrich profiteers and racketeers like Boeing, Polaroid, Halliburton, and so many other corporations via US armed forces and the latter’s wars of expansion (imperialism).

Dear friends,
Is it exciting that people who call themselves homosexuals can now freely join forces with others in order to protect the interests of profiteering and racketeering US multinational corporations through exercises that are, euphemistically, called wars? Additionally, if so, then are those who claim to be homosexual finally legitimate citizens, under that moniker?

At least to me, that’s very confusing, because on the one hand, they’ve estranged themselves from the rest of society, with many of them currently insisting that homosexuals are an actual “race”, while, on the other hand, these “gays”, both male and female, are seeking to be included in the process of our way of life unquestioned. Again, it’s very confusing.

In any case, will there still be a need for “Gay Pride” parades? Perhaps, instead, some gay men will lose their pink dresses and purple wigs and ride on top of tanks, along with their war buddies, in full camouflage gear, and celebrate victory along a road in some far away place, right after blowing up a hospital or day care center, as US armed forces have done so many times, previously, in places like Vietnam, Grenada, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

And what problems has the whole homosexual issue brought to the Pentagon? Obviously, the headache of trying to figure out what could possibly drive people of the same gender to mimick the lifestyles of ordinary males and females, much less want to be soldiers, must have left generals and admirals in a daze.

The so-called Gay Rights Movement is hardly a progressive one (i.e., movement). That’s why so many African Americans become nauseated when so-called “gays” compare their alleged plight to our ongoing dilemma and fight against White Supremacy.

Moreover, unlike the historical series of freedom movements that African Americans have initiated that have created better circumstances, not only for ourselves, but groups other than us as well, from the anti-slavery and early women’s rights initiatives, to the Back-to-Africa Movement led by the great Marcus Garvey that was followed by nationalist movements such as the Nation of Islam and the Republic of New Africa, all the way up to the modern-day Civil Rights Movement and the Black Consciousness Movement which grew out of all of the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual energies of its predecessors, the so-called Gay Rights Movement selfishly seeks legitimacy, even though their claim of whiteness already gives them advantage over those who are not considered “white”. So, they want a dual citizenship, in other words. This is particularly so, because their leaders always look the same.

To that extent, the Gay Rights Movement is racist and reactionary!

Oh! Yes. There have been African Americans like the late and great Audre Lorde and James Baldwin who related, sexually, to others of their same gender. However, neither of these giants ever claimed that s/he was progressive because s/he was a homosexual. Rather, their intellects and actions which, by the way, still inspire others to join in the struggle for human freedom, was their cause.

Nevertheless, apart from a few horny guys who want access to a lot of men, male homosexuals are not socialized through this market construct called “gay culture” in a way that would cause them to have an interest in being soldiers. Yet, lower middle class young men, as well as women who think that they will become “tougher” by joining the armed forces are much easier to lure into that kind of life. Some of the aforementioned women may call themselves “lesbians”. But, again, homosexual males are, largely, a no-go.

And so, a California judge has done what, to be sure, perplexed generals and admirals at the Pentagon have been unable to do. But what’s next?

G. Djata Bumpus

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An Intimate Evening with Avery Brooks

National Black Theatre presents
An Intimate Evening with Avery Brooks

An Intimate Evening with Avery Brooks
A CD Release Concert
Friday, November 5, 2010
For ticket information call (212) 722-3800
Contact Information - phone: 212-722-3800
NATIONALBLACKTHEATRE.ORG

This program is funded in part by:
Council Member Inez E. Dickens, 9th C.D., Speaker Christine Quinn and the New York City Council, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and your individual contributions.
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National Black Theatre presents The Shanequa Chronicles * Sept. 23 - Oct. 10, 2010

Dr. Barbara Ann Teer's National Black Theatre presents:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An OBIE Award Winning Production
THE SHANEEQUA CHRONICLES

The Making of a Black Woman
written and performed by Stephanie Berry
directed by Jeffery V Thompson

September 23 - October 10, 2010
Tickets: $35.00 (Group rates available)
Tickets through Smarttix.com: please call 212-868-4444
or order online http://www.smarttix.com/show.aspx?showcode=shaD21&ss=1

Previews: Thursday, Friday September 23, & 24th @ 8PM
GALA OPENING Saturday September 25 @ 8PM
RUN: FRIDAYS, SATURDAYS @ 8PM
SATURDAY MATINEES @ 3PM
SUNDAY MATINEES @ 4PM

2031- 33 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10035
212- 722-3800
www.nationalblacktheatre.org

Stephanie Berry's OBIE Award winning solo performance, "The Shaneequa Chronicles: The Making of a Black Woman", is an intimate, hilarious, and shocking look into the heart and soul of an African-American woman growing up in urban America. Through a synthesis of music, dance and the spoken word, Berry weaves a mesmerizing spell with her coming of age story as she journeys from womb to womanhood through the late 20th Century.

"A slice of life that is African-centered, specific to Harlem, and yet connected to us all, this production uses rich language and dance to define life-shaping moments in a journey that is poetic, funny, hypnotic and exhilarating." - The New York Beacon

This program is funded in part by:
Council Member Inez E. Dickens, 9th C.D., Speaker Christine Quinn and the New York City Council, City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs, New York State Council on the Arts, the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone and your individual contributions.

Stephanie Berry appears through the courtesy of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

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Is Mike Vick a footballer or guinea pig?

"It is ridiculous to think the NFL or any sports league is capable of solving a cultural and socioeconomic issue that the United States has struggled with for more than two centuries." - John Smallwood

Dear Friends,

If you watched the Philadelphia Eagles play the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday (9/12/10), then you saw Michael Vick prove why he deserves the utmost respect as both a thinking athlete and pro quarterback.

Still, on the link below, a longtime buddy of mine who is also one of Americas premier sports writers, John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News, delivers a now somewhat prophetic piece about what happens when you just allow a person to be himself or herself. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/top_story/20100805_John_Smallwood__Vick_s_case_should_focus_on_football__not_social_justice.html?viewAll=y
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Mosque at Ground Zero "story" is simply more Mainstream Media pornography (originally posted August 18, 2010)

“As usual, just as their counterparts in the pornography industry always do when they create new fantasies for their patrons, the government- and corporate-controlled mainstream media have created another “news” story, along with its seemingly intended consternation, in the name of ‘giving the people what they want’, when, actually, they are simply ‘giving it to the people’. ”

Dear friends,

As usual, just as their counterparts in the pornography industry always do when they create new fantasies for their patrons, the government- and corporate-controlled mainstream media have created another “news” story, along with its seemingly intended consternation, in the name of “giving the people what they want”, when, actually, they are simply “giving it to the people”.

Hence, outside of the charlatans who are adding fuel to the fire and the morons who are feeding off of the story, the
nonsense that is currently being shoved down our throats and “pushing the buttons” of the racist artificial “majority”, over the notion that building a mosque near “Ground Zero” in Manhattan is somehow disrespectful to the victims of 9/11, if not sacrilegious, at least to me, begs for two questions. They are:

1) 19 Saudis flew into this country and killed thousands of people, while injuring – exponentially so - thousands more; yet, not one hair on the head of one Saudi has ever been touched in retribution, while thousands of American soldiers (as well as civilians) have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, countries who had absolutely nothing to do with 9/11, as far as we know. Meanwhile, North American multinational corporations have set up shop in those two countries just mentioned. Is that not disrespectful, if not sacrilegious, to all Americans, generally-speaking?

2) Less than a mile from the White House is decrepit housing, unfit for non-human animals, much less human ones; is that reality not disrespectful, if not sacrilegious to all Americans, since so many super-wealthy people, especially, from the aforementioned multinationals, whose gains are protected, if not enhanced, by their servants/co-conspirators in the supposedly taxpayer-sponsored White House, are doing their dirt aka business in the vicinity?

Finally, are Muslims considered “white”? Let’s face it: in Obama’s “post-racial” American society, can the artificial “majority” group that exists only by its phony claim of being “white”, while, simultaneously, disregarding its various cultural and social histories, emerge from the cocoon of White Supremacy (euphemistically called “racism”), and begin realizing that it is their sons and daughters too who are dying constantly and endlessly, here lately, in what has come to be known as the “war on terror”? Or, was the great Freud correct, when he insisted, long ago, that humans are “weak creatures with low intelligence”?

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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MANY COLORS of a W*O*M*A*N FREE Jazz Festival in Hartford, CT - Sept. 11, 2010

"History of female jazz singers? time doesn't permit me to begin to express, but let's just say they were involved every step of the way, but hardly mentioned/recalled - while their male counterparts are. Who knows that in the beginning, Lucile Armstrong played in the band with Louis, and later encouraged him to go out on his own?" - NickI Mathis

MANY COLORS of a W*O*M*A*N FREE Jazz Festival Featuring NICKi MATHIS' Afrikan Amerikan Jazz New Millennium All Stars!!!

Aetna Theater Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Arts, 600 Main St, Hartford CT 06103 860.231-0663, 860.429-6859, 860.657-8094,
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About the Presidential Address - August 31, 2010

"Last night's speech by President Obama covered all of the areas regarding the way that the war is being "managed". Yet, we were never told who now controls Iraq..."

Dear friends,

Last night's speech by President Obama covered all of the areas regarding the way that the war is being "managed". Yet, we were never told who now controls Iraq. It's certainly not the politicians there, whether interim or otherwise.

Additionally, the suggestion that politicians will run the show once the interim governemnt in Iraq is dissolved, as if elections are like foot races where the fastest person on that particular day will win, ignores, particularly, national elections where, for example, in the US, the whole outcome of any specific national political contest is determined by a stacked deck.

Additionally, other than the military/industrial complex which includes major banks, "contractors"" like Halliburton, as well as the more traditional corporations like Boeing, General Dynamics, IBM, and many more, who really benefited from the invasion of Iraq? Moreover, when wars are initiated by technologically-advanced national governments like ours, what interests do our politicians have in seeking relations with other governments that are based upon mutual respect, much less peace?

Of course all of this is occuring at the expense of life and limb for American soldiers and the many ways of suffering that their families experience. Therefore, it seems, at least to me, that once Americans learn to create genuine communities with horizontally-structured, as opposed to, as they have been throughout human history, vertically-structured cultural institutions (which automatically includes its social, political, and economic components), we will then be able to decide whether or not we should send our young to war, instead of letting federal politicians who are sponsored by the exact same aforementioned corporations that benefit from war decide for us - a practice (i.e., corporate greed) that has now been officially endorsed by the US Supreme Court.

At any rate, on the next post, you will read about "tid-bits" of what's happening in Afghanistan, as more American soldiers are being set up to be killed or maimed in order to assure profits for the national politicians' bosses. Following that is a post that features my longtime friend and colleague Cornel West - a video interview, and another dear friend of mine, Annette John-Hall of the Philadelphia Inquirer - print, as they provide two completely different, but relevant, views that many African Americans hold about El Presidente's performnce thus far. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
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Should All African Americans change our surnames to Obama?

"If all African Americans take the surname Obama, in this “post-racial” society…"

Dear friends,

If all African Americans take the surname Obama, in this “post-racial” society, a lot of the people who, mean-spiritedly, call themselves "white", in order to form an artificial “majority” group, won't have to be dumpin' on the president all of the time. Instead, they'll just take things out on African American passers-by, neighbors, co-workers, customers, employers, and so forth. That is, we'll be right there for them to vent.

Moreover, the aforementioned “whites” will have the freedom to express their true feelings, without having to use the excuse that they're simply attacking a politician with whom they're dis-satisfied. Dig?

Let's face it. Never before have we seen a president of the United States attacked so viciously, so continuously, and so openly at that. Why haven't we heard any mainstream media segments about that? Perhaps, the reason lies with the role of the aforementioned mainstream media to constantly, misinform and keep the population worked up, as the real rulers of our society (corporate leaders not their lackeys, i.e., politicians) commit every crime in the book with absolute impunity. Eh?

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
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Immigration law "reform", "racial" self-hatred, and White Supremacy

"Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. " - Dr. King, Letter from a Birmingham Jail

Dear friends,

In light of the all of the brouhaha, rearding the issue of immigration law reform, for those of us who “lack the complexion to get the connection”, as the legendary Muhammad Ali used to say, we have a major problem with fighting against systemic racist oppression and exploitation, due to the fact that we are often our own worst enemies, because of our self-hatred. That is: from non-European American store clerks who treat us differently than they do European American customers to drive-by shootings, both our feelings and acts of self-hatred make it difficult for either African American or other non-European American men or women to form genuinely loving relationships with each other, of any kind, much less make us be able to encourage our youth to get along with each other.

In other words, we see a mirrored image of our own self-hatred, when we look at those who look like us. Hence, in the White Supremacist culture of the United States, the whole idea of “immigration” has deteriorated into an attack against non-European Americans, while disregarding the historical shenanigans that have been and still are played by Europeans who come to this country and get citizenship, up to this very day, with far less scrutiny or concern.

Nevertheless, we non-European Americans must learn to love ourselves and our fellows. Most of all, we must begin to love life itself, as opposed to conceding to our inadequacies and insecurities, allowing ourselves to be disrespectful towards , as well as distrustful of, each other,.

Now, when I use the term "love", I’m talking about it as an "act of being" as opposed to a "state of being". That means that, at least to me, love is only effective as a verb - not a noun. In other words, in this society, love as a "state of being", is a passive experience that we hear about through so many cheap songs on the radio and see on Hollyweird tv and movie productions. However, as an "act of being", love means that people are "actively" showing love towards one another – and things.

Consequently, love should be an active, not passive, practice of caring about, being concerned for, concentrating on, trying to understand, and feeling responsible towards not just our mates, but our work, and our communities. Besides, when love is passive, it doesn't last long, because it is just a "mood". To be sure, moods change, all of the time. Hence, the serial polygamy practiced by so many of those involved with the institution of marriage and other "love" relationships in our society, as people “fall” in and out of love. Still, the cultural institutions in our society lend to the self-hatred mentioned above that is practiced amongst us. Literature and images in schools, the arts, and, especially, the government- and corporate-controlled mainstream media deliberately perpetuate this indignity too.

Moreover, the idea that the violence among African American and other non-European American youth is largely the result of a lack of jobs and too much gun possession seems to be missing the point, which is: it is a lack of both social and historical conscience in the aforementioned youth that is at the bottom of our dilemma.

To be sure, that lack of conscience is no accident. The great Marcus Garvey pointed out: "This propaganda of dis-associating Western Negroes from Africa is not a new one. For many years white propagandists have been printing tons of literature to impress scattered Ethiopia, especially that portion within their civilization, with the idea that Africa is a despised place, inhabited by savages, and cannibals, where no civilized human being should go, especially black civilized human beings." - Marcus Garvey (Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey, edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey)

Additionally, mean-spirited terms like “minorities” that are based upon equally mean-spirited and phony claims that people make about being “white”, in spite of their true ancestral past, thus forming an artificial “majority” group, makes this problem proliferate. That is, of course, the basis of White Supremacy.

Nevertheless, in the end, when discussing the idea of superiority versus inferiority, Dr. King wrote, "

"Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. " - Letter from a Birmingham Jail

So-called “immigration law reform” , with talk now of even changing the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution is a blatant and racist attack against all non-European Americans, especially African Americans – not simply Mexicans and others.

“Dare to struggle – dare to win!” – Frederick Douglass

G. Djata Bumpus
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Republicans and Democrats alike lie about a Social Security "deficit"

"Rumors of Social Security's demise are greatly exaggerated. But some powerful people keep spreading lies about the program to scare people into accepting benefit cuts. "

Dear friends,

The article on the link here
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/31/your-money/31money.html?_r=1
makes atrocious claims, regarding the current health of our Social Security system, and, therefore, shows how the mainstream media colludes with the body of marauders that calls itself the US Congress, a group that almost unanimously strives to hoodwink us and rob the public coffers.

Yet, have no fear, below, the copy of an e-mail newsletter that was recently sent to me by MoveOn.org gives a scholarly and honest take on this issue. By the way, I encourage you to sign on to the MoveOn.org Website, if you're not already a member. They are for real.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
******************************************
From MoveOn.org :

5 Myths about Social Security

Myth: Social Security is going broke.

Reality: There is no Social Security crisis. By 2023, Social Security will have a $4.3 trillion surplus (yes, trillion with a 'T'). It can pay out all scheduled benefits for the next quarter-century with no changes whatsoever.1 After 2037, it'll still be able to pay out 75% of scheduled benefits--and again, that's without any changes. The program started preparing for the Baby Boomers retirement decades ago.2 Anyone who insists Social Security is broke probably wants to break it themselves.

Myth: We have to raise the retirement age because people are living longer.

Reality: This is a red-herring to trick you into agreeing to benefit cuts. Retirees are living about the same amount of time as they were in the 1930s. The reason average life expectancy is higher is mostly because many fewer people die as children than did 70 years ago.3 What's more, what gains there have been are distributed very unevenly--since 1972, life expectancy increased by 6.5 years for workers in the top half of the income brackets, but by less than 2 years for those in the bottom half.4 But those intent on cutting Social Security love this argument because raising the retirement age is the same as an across-the-board benefit cut.

Myth: Benefit cuts are the only way to fix Social Security.

Reality: Social Security doesn't need to be fixed. But if we want to strengthen it, here's a better way: Make the rich pay their fair share. If the very rich paid taxes on all of their income, Social Security would be sustainable for decades to come.5 Right now, high earners only pay Social Security taxes on the first $106,000 of their income.6 But conservatives insist benefit cuts are the only way because they want to protect the super-rich from paying their fair share.

Myth: The Social Security Trust Fund has been raided and is full of IOUs

Reality: Not even close to true. The Social Security Trust Fund isn't full of IOUs, it's full of U.S. Treasury Bonds. And those bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.7 The reason Social Security holds only treasury bonds is the same reason many Americans do: The federal government has never missed a single interest payment on its debts. President Bush wanted to put Social Security funds in the stock market--which would have been disastrous--but luckily, he failed. So the trillions of dollars in the Social Security Trust Fund, which are separate from the regular budget, are as safe as can be.

Myth: Social Security adds to the deficit

Reality: It's not just wrong -- it's impossible! By law, Social Security funds are separate from the budget, and it must pay its own way. That means that Social Security can't add one penny to the deficit.1

Sources: 1."To Deficit Hawks: We the People Know Best on Social Security" New Deal 2.0, June 14, 2010http://www.newdeal20.org/2010/06/14/to-defict-hawks-we-the-people-know-best-on-social-security-12290/2. "The Straight Facts on Social Security" Economic Opportunity Institute, September 2009http://www.eoionline.org/retirement_security/fact_sheets/StraightFactsSocialSecurity-Sep09.pdf3. "Social Security and the Age of Retirement"Center for Economic and Policy Research, June 2010http://www.cepr.net/index.php/publications/reports/social-security-and-the-age-of-retirement/4. "More on raising the retirement age" Ezra Klein, Washington Post, July 8, 2010http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2010/07/more_on_raising_the_retirement.html5. "Social Security is sustainable" Economic and Policy Institute, May 27, 2010 http://www.epi.org/analysis_and_opinion/entry/social_security_is_sustainable/6. "Maximum wage contribution and the amount for a credit in 2010." Social Security Administration, April 23, 2010http://ssa-custhelp.ssa.gov/app/answers/detail/a_id/2407. "Trust Fund FAQs" Social Security Administration, February 18, 2010http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/ProgData/fundFAQ.html8. "To Deficit Hawks: We the People Know Best on Social Security" New Deal 2.0, June 14, 2010http://www.newdeal20.org/2010/06/14/to-defict-hawks-we-the-people-know-best-on-social-security-12290/

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Fatimah Ali on Glen Beck

"And, while Beck urges his listeners to "form a covenant with God, based on the qualities of faith, hope and charity," why would he want to dishonor the date of the great March on Washington, where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his historic "I Have a Dream" speech?"


Dear friends,

I've not been paying much attention to Glen Beck, even though his name is making news headlines a lot these days. Therefore, I'm honored to share this witty and informative piece with you, on the link below, that was recently written by a friend of mine at the Philadelphia Daily News, Fatimah Ali. Enjoy!

G. Djata Bumpys
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/columnists/fatimah_ali/20100720_Fatimah_Ali__Glenn_Beck_s_plans_for_his__Restoring_Honor__rally_on_the_same_date_as_the_anniversary_of_the_March_on_Washington_is_offensive.html

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Condi Rice and Aretha to hold a benefit concert in Philly, on Tuesday (7/27/10)

" Should African American politicians and public officials be free from criticism by us?"

Dear friends,

One of several things that we have learned from the recent Sherrod resignation is that many African Americans are hesitant to criticize Barack Obama for his errors in judgment. Part of the problem lies in the notion that he is the "first Black president". That may be true of the USA, but there are actually many Black presidents of modern nations and have been for scores of years. Was Nelson Mandela's presidency less worthy than President Obama's? Was the presidency (Prime Minister) of the Congo by Patrice Lumumba , an African leader who was murdered by the C.I.A. almost 50 years ago, less valuable than Obama's? Obviously, because of his assassination and having been replaced by a hand-picked successor by the same C.I.A. proves that his death was crucial to the United States and other Western powers.

While we all like great music, the author, a European American reporter in Philadelphia, makes some very important points, regarding Condoleeza Rice's role in the Bush administration. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0wbpKCdkkQ,

As well, on the link below, we may be led to ask: Why don't African American journalists raise questions about Condi's past actions as Bush's National Security Adviser and, later, his Secretary of State? After all, we see Nigerian journalists and scribes from other African nations criticize their presidents. Why shouldn't we do the same with those officials, elected or not, who act against human progress? Should African American politicians and public officials be free from criticism by us?

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/99184804.html
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Sherrod, a USDA official, resigns - For what?

“ ‘Why is it that, for example, a “Black” president receives open death threats and harangues in public from European American politicians, clergy, and mass groups, as well as the agents of the mainstream media, while any African American who acted in an undesirable way towards a “white” president would be lucky to be alive the next day?’ ”

Dear friends,

If a person belongs to a “marked minority” group that has a centuries-long history of experiences with daily injustices from an artificial “majority” group that, based upon a phony, non-scientific, means-spirited claim of being “white”, as opposed to its members identifying themselves as people from a variety of cultural groups, does a so-called “minority” person have a right to address her or his injustice, in whatever way that s/he feels equipped to do at the time?

Apparently s/he does not, according to the super-racist corporate- and government-controlled mass communications media – the opinion makers of this nation. After all, as Dr. Kwame Nkrumah contended,"In societies where there are competing ideologies, it is still usual for one ideology to be dominant. This dominant ideology is that of the ruling group. Though the ideology is the key to the inward identity of its group, it is in intent solidarist. For an ideology does not seek merely to unite a section of the people; it seeks to unite the whole of society in which it finds itself. In its effect, it certainly reaches the whole society, when it is dominant. For, besides seeking to establish common attitudes and purposes for the society, the dominant ideology is that which in the light of circumstances decides what forms institutions shall take, and in what channels the common effort is to be directed." (see Nkrumah's Consciencism)

Well, that also explains why the NAACP, an organization that has been irrelevant for almost fifty years, has the audacity to side with racists in condemning a Black woman who was “exposed” by the Tea Party for acting in a non-deferring way towards a “white” farmer. Besides, were her actions based upon the racist arrogance of the aforementioned farmer? That question does not seem to have been asked.

At any rate, , the same people who are guilty of promoting the aforementioned injustices define racism, the euphemism for White Supremacy, as a “xenophobia” or “disease” that any person can possess in this society, where people discriminate against others. That suggests that everyone in this country, regardless of skin color, is on equal terms. In other words, the here-to-mentioned “majority” group insists: we’re all equal, we just have a few bigots hanging around.

If that is true, then, at least to me, the question should be, “Why is it that, for example, a “Black” president receives open death threats and harangues in piblic from European American politicians, clergy, and mass groups, as well as the agents of the mainstream media, while any African American who acted in an undesirable way towards a “white” president would be lucky to be alive the next day?”

Please imagine that the Tea Party made its members resign from their jobs if any of them had ever done anything racist towards one African Americans, That organization would then, rightfully, become the Pee Party of the Unemployed.

Finally, all of this reminds me of the response that my late father would give to me, back in the Seventies, whenever I mentioned to him how “crazy” that “white” folks are with their constant, daily racial injustices towards Black folks, like, for instance, Alan Bakke’s case against Affirmative Action. To that, my Dad would say, “White folks ain’t crazy son, they think we’re crazy.”

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100720/pl_yblog_upshot/usda-official-resigns-amidst-race-controversy
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The "New" Black Panther Party - provacateurs or buffoons?

“Please keep things in their proper context, and remember that there were almost no Black politicians, much less Black police officers anywhere in this country, during the heyday of the real Black Panther Party (@1968-72).”


Dear friends,

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the “New Black Panther Party” being let off the hook, by the Obama administration, for the group’s criminal behavior inasmuch as the "New Panthers" forced European American (so-called “white”) voters, in Philadelphia, away from the polls in 2008, on the day that then Senator Obama was elected to the presidency.

But what is the “New Black Panther Party”? The purpose of the alleged combining of the original Black Panther Party with the Islamic Movement, as its national spokesperson, an attorney. claims, is for African Americans to have an organized body that moves towards Black liberation. However, what they have mostly done is defame the legacy of the real Black Panther Party, making many of us who were part of the original organization smell a great big C.I.A. - or some other reactionary group’s - rat!

As a matter of fact, the so-called New Black Panther Party reminds me of the so-called Symbionese Liberation Army that kidnapped Patty Hearst back on 1973, which, inevitably, along with their thoughtless actions brought about a decline in support from the large amount of youth in North American Black communities who had previously agreed with Brother Malcolm’s mantra “By any means necessary”.

First of all, because the so-called “New Black Panther Party” insists that its chief method of confronting US rulers is similar to the “legal gradualism” of the NAACP, perhaps, they should call themselves the “New NAACP”. Moreover, with so many of the leaders bearing Muslin names and relating to the teachings of Islam, they totally contradict the secular humanist value judgments that guided the real Black Panther Party.

Nevertheless, if anything, their name should actually be the “Different” Black Panther Party. As a former member of the Black Panther Party (1969-71), mostly in Boston, but for nine months in New Haven, CT. helping to successfully get Bobby Seale freed from his unjustified murder case, I have been hearing about these so-called "New Black Panthers" for some time (10 years?).

Moreover, I cringe each time that I hear their name.
They are in no way connected with the group that held community education classes (which I taught for the entire nine months that I was stationed in New Haven), had the Free Breakfast program across the nation that, for several years, fed about 10, 000 or so kids, in churches, Panther offices, and community centers, each weekday morning (long before the US government offered such programs for youngsters in public schools). We opened Free Health Clinics nationwide (again, long before Medicaid serviced many “poor” folks to that extent), the Free Clothing program nationwide (before the Salvation Army had bins set up everywhere), and we, literally, started the Prison Reform Movement, with our Free Buses to Prisons program in this country, again, nationwide. In fact, when New York state’s Attica Prison Rebellion happened in 1971, the inmates called on Black Panther Party co-founders Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale to be the chief negotiators for them.

Still, while we, the real Black Panthers, would, ultimately - and thereafter constantly, criticize ourselves and move to correct the status that we had allowed ourselves to develop by making the image of violence too much of an issue, we were mostly, on a daily basis, about community service - knocking on doors, then after, usually, being invited in, sitting down in people’s homes talking about social issues featured in our nationally-renowned weekly newspaper, and confronting problems, for example, like getting legal help – and bail - for any relatives or friends of our hosts who’d just been arrested. Also, it must be mentioned that we received almost all of our financial support from the Black community itself.

The members of the “New Black Panther Party” are not our descendants and they are, in fact, at least to me, insulting. Please keep things in their proper context, and remember that there were almost no Black politicians, much less Black police officers anywhere in this country, during the heyday of the real Black Panther Party (@1968-72).

At any rate, on the link below is a statement about the “New Black Panther Party” from the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, a non-profit educational organization that was established and is still overseen by my old comrade David Hilliard and Fredricka Newton, the widow of another old comrade of mine, the late Dr. Huey P. Newton.

“Dare to struggle – dare to win” – Frederick Douglass

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.blackpanther.org/newsalert.htm
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More about us needing sexual liberation – not “gay” liberation

“…does having females cover up their breasts when sunbathing, specifically designate them as sexual objects who are born and bred to satisfy the sexual greed of males, at the whim of the latter?”

Dear friends,

Recently, I read a piece by a very dear friend of mine who wrote about semi-nude sunbathing and the outcry that it causes among some folks. Additionally, she questioned whether or not the practice of females publicly showing their breasts is a good idea at this time, especially considering the fact that , as she put it, “In France, where the practice has been commonplace, more women reportedly are covering up, citing concerns about skin cancer and unwanted attention. There was talk a few years back about banning semi-nude sunbathing in Australia, but it didn't get far..”

Well, I must admit, first of all, that I was disappointed that she never drew a connection between those who either castigate females about showing their breasts in public, ignoring the latter’s own feelings of getting whatever kind of relief, as well as those that rebuke females who breastfeed in public. By the way, both types of breast-revealing females just mentioned are victims in our sexually-repressive society. They are NOT perpetrators of either immoral or naive behavior!

Yet, if people in any particular culture (civilization) do not recognize their sexuality within the context of the relatedness of those sexual feelings towards, especially, those of the opposite sex, then can they even enjoy their sexuality in a mentally- and physically-healthy way?

And what does that say about male/female relationships in such an environment? Can that culture survive very long?

In any case, as would be expected, there were brief remarks made about breast size, regarding both females and males. After all, in this market-driven, possession-oriented society of ours, people confuse self-pride with self-esteem. The former is a silly mask that people wear in order to trick people into thinking that they’re someone other than who they really are, whereas self-esteem develops from folks recognizing their inner powers, then revealing those strength capabilities to the world, because, each of the abovementioned folks, as individuals, knows what it’s like to be alone and accomplish goals on his or her own. Dig?

Therefore, for example, wearing expensive suits, a guy like Donald Trump rides around in limousines like a “big man”. But his gestures are only those of self-pride. As a matter of fact, he hides the real “him”, along with his often questionable business dealings, especially from his various wives and the authorities, because he prefers that people not know the real Donald Trump. Consequently, he has low self-esteem, particularly since his ascendance to wealth was bequeathed to him by his father, He didn’t earn it.

Likewise, women who get their breasts enlarged feel no better about themselves than they did prior to their operations. Consequently, just as the late Michael Jackson never tired of facial surgery, in spite of his great showmanship, popularity, and wealth, he was also a person who suffered from low self-esteem. He didn’t feel very good about himself.

Considering all of this mentioned above, how can we expect for females to appreciate who they are, if they are raised in a civilization that judges them (and we men too), according to how well they’re/we’re able to trick others into thinking that we are someone other than who we really are?
Moreover, does having females cover up their breasts when sunbathing, specifically designate them as sexual objects who are born and bred to satisfy the sexual greed of males, at the whim of the latter? And, if so, does that serve the purpose of not just maintaining, but proliferating Male Supremacy?

Nevertheless, in essence, people who call themselves “homosexual” deny the various aspects of power relations and discriminating tastes, much less sexual urges, that lead individuals to engage themselves in sexual relations from Jump Street. Moreover, and unfortunately, what passes off today as the “Gay Rights Movement” doesn’t address the direction that we need to take, as species beings, so that males and females can live as people who equally respect and trust each other, so that we can extend our existence as a species as far as possible into the future.

Finally, in a country where dialogue of any kind is, generally, unwelcome (and in some cases, at least, quasi-illegal), the specter of violence against females is clouded by the unwillingness of even female journalists and politicians to dare raise issues that will lead to the liberation of us all. Some “democracy”. Eh?

Still, imagine if millions of women in our country decide to show their breasts in public? What other freedoms would then be on the horizon?
To be sure, such inquiry may then stimulate the thought, “Perhaps, human beings really can appreciate freedom (liberation).”, as opposed to the way that things are now, where most people are more comfortable when they take no personal responsibility for ending their social bondage, and, instead, become anonymous, that is go un-noticed, by joining a herd (i.e., group or crowd) and running from it (freedom)?

“Dare to struggle, dare to win” - Frederick Douglass

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/features/20100629_Jenice_Armstrong__Taking_off_the_top_at_Asbury_Park_.html

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