Are Males better athletes than Female Ones?

Clarissa Shields, 2012 Olympic Gp;d Medalist in Boxing

"...the idea that equality means sameness is precisely the argument/excuse for systems of exploitation and oppression like sexism and racism." 

Dear friends, 

One hot summer day, about 21 years ago, while coaching all three of now grown children at a regional Junior Olympics track & field championship meet, I remember standing next to a middle-aged European American guy who boasted, “I’d like to see one of those girls get down on the line with Carl Lewis”. I looked at him with astonishment, then quickly replied, “Well, actually, YOU can’t beat either Carl Lewis or any of those girls in a race – nor can most men…In fact, my 12 years-old daughter will smoke you in a race, right now.” 

The fellow’s mouth dropped open. Apparently, he was used to getting some sort of silly male “bonding”, when he made such inane remarks.

Look. Someone like Lisa Leslie can beat just about anybody, male or female, pro, amateur, or street - in a game of basketball. Okay? Moreover, please do not make a claim to someone else’s ability, as if it belongs to you. That type of behavior reminds me of a guy who walks down the street with a growling dog on a leash, while maintaining a scowl on his own face, as if he is a mean, bad dude. In other words, he is playing off of the dog’s ferocity, as if that disposition is natural (the mean face) to him. However, in reality, if you see that same cat without the dog, his whole personality is different. Right? That is, when he's by himself without the dog he's just a happy-go- lucky kind of guy.

The argument that men are stronger, or faster, or whatever, than women is silly, since people are not talking insects. That is, we perform to whatever level, in various activities, based upon the interactions/experiences that we as individuals have with other people and things. Otherwise, without such interactions, one would not even be able to speak a language, much less communicate his or her inner feelings, or reveal his or her powers - and weaknessesin either a work or sports venue, for example.

Finally, both fathers and mothers must teach their daughters, at a very young age, that they are equals of ALL people, regardless of societal constructs like “gender” and “race”. However, when I say “equal”, I do not mean “same”. These two concepts are often intermingled, in order to make it appear as if they have some similar qualities. They do not. As a matter of fact, the idea that equality means sameness is precisely the argument/excuse for systems of exploitation and oppression like sexism and racism. After all, having two equal size slices of pie is completely different than two individuals having equal human rights. Peace.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Girls and Young Womem Need Mentoring too

Dear friends,

We constantly hear talk about both African American boys and young men needing mentors. In fact, there have been various degrees of attempts to bring grown men, especially African American ones, into contact with Our male youth.

Yet African American girls, as well as young women, need mentoring too. After all, there are far more females than males, of every ethnic and cultural group, who are interested in contributing to their communities, Our society, and the world. Unfortunately, too often, beginning at an early age, instead of developing a "sense of self", these same young women just mentioned are deliberately distracted by the exploitative and oppressive notion of Male Supremacy/sexism that their real purpose in life should be to get married and start a family.

To be sure, only females can bear children. And the experience of building a family and raising your children to adulthood can be rewarding beyond words. However, although you would never be able to tell by the way that most American families are structured, your children are not your property; rather, they are your legacy. Therefore, with the intention of raising your children, from the very outset, in a way that allows them to become their own parents one day, also makes it possible for the elder parent(s) to continue a meaningful life outside of raising children, so that s/he/they can continue to constantly try to become fully human, by physically, intellectually, and spiritually engaging with his and/or her inner powers, until death. This will also make the aforementioned elder parents the most valuable resource for their adult children, whenever the latter need advice.

But then, of course, within the context of mentoring there is the ever present problem of female self-hatred, the other half of Male Supremacy. That is, just as "racial" self-hatred is the other half of White Supremacy/racism all females are constantly made to internalize their oppression by way of the schools, churches, and mainstream media, to name a few.

What is worse, is the unfortunate reality that this affects the way that older women interact with their younger counterparts, especially with professional women whether in academia or the private sector. On a side note, it also points to how paradoxical Male Supremacy can be, since it rewards psychotics like Bradley Manning and his ilk who claim to be "a woman living inside of a man's body", when none of these very sick, sexist men have even the slightest notion of what it is like to be a little girl who grows up to be a woman in this Male Supremacist world.

In any case, let's now imagine that the same young women and girls mentioned earlier had been mentored by both older women and men for years, not just in their private lives, but in their academic and work lives as well. Additionally, what if the mentors themselves were people who have a genuine interest in seeing all children grow up to be independent but cooperative, thinking yet imaginative, competent, and caring adults?

Do you think that the females of any particular community who have had years of being mentored, and not simply by one individual but many people, would then not only mentor their younger sisters and brothers, but as well teach their charges how to prepare to replace them, while planning for the future for those who have yet to come?

In building genuine communities, as opposed to simply creating more consumers for "the market", at least to me, it is essential that we begin to embrace value judgments that will allow all of Our youth to be able to set goals for the future and for the future of Our communities. One love!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Sojourner Truth's 1851 speech asking "Ain't I A Woman?"

"That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages, and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus heard me! And ain't I a woman?"


Dear friends, 

On the link below, said to be 6'2" tall, this incredible African American woman, Sojourner Truth, in only a few hundred spoken words, defined the plight of all women in both a nation and world where Male Supremacy - euphemistically called sexism or patriarchy, rules.

 Liberation! 

 G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/sojtruth-woman.asp Read full post

First Lady Michelle Obama is of a different breed

"Michelle Obama represents a far more classy and dignified First Lady than this country has ever known. "

Dear friends,

On the link below is a short piece, regarding an incident that occurred in an earlier presidency, in 1929. It is interesting how Michelle Obama represents a far more classy and dignified First Lady than this country has ever known. Moreover, such an incident would never happen in the Obamas' White House. Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3031544?uid=3739696&uid=2&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=47698897053767 Read full post

Believing in "God"

Dear friends,

To me, it’s unfair to claim a special status as a “believer”, while excluding those who have a different interpretation of all existence as “non-believers”. That mean-spirited type of exclusion just mentioned is the basis for all human intolerance.

After all, believing in the ultimate power of both Love and Goodness is not the sole possession of those who identify with the three Abrahamian religions (of the Hebrew deity).

I mean, it (religion) has caused/does cause more killing and suffering, over several millennia, than all other philosophies or world outlooks combined in history.

Besides, if you believe in a world-ruling personality called “God”, then you are talking about a finite entity, because you've assigned a name to that being. In other words, we look at everything geometrically, giving form, shape, and/or substance to all things, in order to distinguish one phenomenon from another – whether we’re talking about physically or intellectually.

Consequently, recognizing something as an omnipresent, omnipotent phenomenon cannot possibly allow one to make a finite configuration. Therefore, at least to me, as opposed to merely worshiping an idol, what people may want to consider is: 1) Using the term “That which is nameless”, instead of “God: or “Allah”, and so forth…and 2) accepting the wisdom and teachings of the great masters of living like Kan Kan Musa, the historical Jesus, Muhammad, and Karl Marx. After all, everyone on “death row now “conveniently” claims to believe in “God”. Right? Peace.

One Love, One Heart, One Spirit,
G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Nina Simone - a Portrait and a Poem

This is a breathtaking painting NOT a photograph! 










Portrait: "Nina Simone" by Reggie Duffie
Poem: "Nina Simone - a poem" by G. Djata Bumpus

Naughty
In the
Nicest
Aspect
She
Is the
Mother
Of
Numerous
Ears - and eyes. Read full post

Stagecoach Mary was another version of Harriet Tubman as Badass Black women go!!!

Dear friends,

I'm sure the "white crow" nonsense that is mentioned in the link below was made up for today's so-called "white" readers, but the story is amazing.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Fields Read full post

NBA's so-called "gay" player Jason Collins is a Fraud!!!

Dear friends,

NBA player Jason Collins is getting far more publicity by announcing that he is a homosexual than he ever did on the basketball court. He is even parading around the number 98 on his uniform that represents the year of the tragic murder of a European American boy, Matthew Shepard, in Wyoming. His "gay" activism, at least to me, is fraudulent, since he has no history of acting against the centuries of exploitation and oppression that continue to be committed against African American people… Not a peep!!!

Nor does he seem to have any energy, regarding what happened to Trayvon Martin (Whose parents he didn't visit for a photo op as he did the parents of Matthew Shepard) or any of the other constant murders of African American youth that happen in this country almost daily… To be sure, the market is responsible for this. After all, the greed of the market is insatiable… Therefore, since the 80s, the market construct called "homosexuality" has found its place in the worthless, uninformative, mind-manipulating US mainstream media.

Besides, how can any honest human being, much less a same one, claim an identity with something as random, short-lived, and precarious, if not frivolous, as an impulse/the human sexual appetite? And why would Jason Collins be so uncaring about Black youngsters to promote behavior that goes on in the bathrooms of places like movie theaters, airports, and bus terminals every single minute of the day in this country?

And tonight Ellen DeGeneres will be hosting the Oscars. European Americans, so-called "whites", are just as racist towards us, no matter with whom they claim to be having sex. Besides, the asinine argument that many people make about not having a choice about being "gay" is totally contradicted by the reality that no one needs another person to relieve himself or herself of sexual frustration. Any person can do/does that every second of every minute of every hour of every day, everywhere on this planet.

Let's keep it real!

G. Djata Bumpus
Read full post

In Honor of Women's History Month

"ONLY A FOOL WALKS OUT OF HIS HOUSE WITH HALF OF HIS BRAIN" (pun intended)

Dear friends,

For the remainder of the month of March, this blog will feature female authors, in most of the pieces. Many of the articles and columns have appeared at an earlier time here. Moreover, at least to me, it is interesting that what men see as equality for themselves is actually not equality at all, when it comes to what they view as equality for women. Unfortunately, sexism's other half, i.e., female self-hatred, has many women seeing their equality as whatever men see fit for it to be. This must end! Period.

Finally, sexism or Male Supremacy is a bigger problem in our society and all others throughout the world than racism, for example. The reason is: It affects more people than, say, racism. Additionally, it is not simply a matter of "equal pay or equal work". To be sure, many men suffer that injustice too, for example union versus non-union workers. What makes sexism so unjust and, in fact, inhuman, is that, just as racism, it does not allow the insulted ones to be fully human. Instead, they must always lower their output of integrity, in order to satisfy the whims of men. 

It is time for all men to wake up and stop defending this atrocity. It is senseless! After all, since women make up half of the human population, then that means that they also own half of both our total intellectual and physical powers. Therefore, it seems to me that it would benefit humanity - all around, if men stop hiding behind their insecurities and inafequacies that make sexism proliferate. Besides, if you think about it: Only a fool walks out of his house with half of his brain (pun intended).

Peace,
G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Women's History Month and "Women and minorities"

"The writings and speeches of both Matilda and Maria preceded other "feminist" pioneers like the Grimke Sisters, by several years..."

Dear friends,

With all of the talk about"women" by Hillary Clinton herself, and others like her, where the humanity of African American women is downright ignored, by the former using the phrase "women and minorities", it is, perhaps, instructive that we recall the fact that African American women have been at the forefront of all womanist movements in this country, historically...

For example, if we look at a child who is born in 2014, and go back roughly eight generations, or @200 years (that's about the time that the grandmother of the grandmother of the aforementioned child's grandmother's grandmother lived), we can appreciate the fact that, during that period, a woman named Matilda wrote to the "Freedom's Journal", an African American newspaper of that day, "Messrs. Editors...Will you allow a female to offer a few remarks upon a subject that you must allow to be all important? I don't know that in any of your papers, you have said sufficient upon the education of females. I hope you are not to be classed with those, who think that our mathematical knowledge should be limited to 'fathoming the dish-kettle,' and that We have acquired enough of history, if we know that our grandfather's father lived and died...I would address myself to all mothers- it is their bounden duty to store their daughters' minds with useful learning. They should be made to devote their leisure time to reading books, whence they would derive information, which could never betaken from them." ( A Documentary History of the Negro People in the U. S., edited by Herbert Aptheker)

Matilda's letter was published four years prior to any known work by Maria Stewart, the African American woman from Massachusetts who has been called the first American-born woman to speak in public. The writings and speeches of both Matilda and Maria preceded other "feminist" pioneers like the Grimke Sisters, by several years. As a matter of fact, about Mrs. Stewart's speeches, Philip Foner quoted Eleanor Flexner as saying that they heralded the arguments the Grimkes were to use a few years later. (see The Voice of Black America, Vol.1, edited by Foner)

Hardly ever mentioned, if not avoided altogether, in discussions concerning the African American experience are the historic roles of African American women in preserving the heritage of African American people, in the midst of a "double jeopardy", that is, being both African American AND a woman. (see essay by Francis Beale called"Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female", from the anthology entitled The Black Woman, edited by Toni Cade (Bambara)

Hillary Clinton and her supporters do not have that problem (i.e., double jeopardy). Unfortunately, instead, she and her fellow"women" perpetuate racism, while, simultaneously, doing harm to others. That is able to happen, because in a socially-stratified society such as Ours, one can belong to an oppressed group, yet, also be part of an oppressor group, at the same time. The Clarence Thomas/Anita Hill trial proved that adequately. In other words, Thomas was "oppressed" as a Black, but an "oppressor" as a man.

Consequently, while Hillary and many of her supporters are "oppressed" as women, they are "oppressors" as "white" people. Again, the Black woman has no such duality in her identity. That is why it is completely inane for European American (so-called "white) journalists to call Michelle Obama "unpatriotic" when she proclaimed to be proud of this country "for the first time" in her life, regarding her husband's success in campaigning for his nomination as the official candidate for the Democratic party. After all, was Michelle Obama supposed to be proud, heretofore, of a country that enslaved her ancestors by law, and whose law enforcement agents and many of her other fellow citizens continue to, randomly, inflict injury, for purely "racial" reasons, upon African American people?

Let's keep it real!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

From MWS Journal - Chokwe Lumumba passes...

"None but ourselves can free our mind."
--Bob Marley
"Redemption Song”

We are at the end of the month of February already—the short month from which Negro History Week began the growth of Africana studies, toward today’s recognition by many as African Liberation Month. (Yes, African-Americans, we are an African people, and our condition as a people worldwide remains one in need of emergence from the cultural dominance and outright political oppression of white power.) We in the USA today especially are in need of such awareness; we need to attend to it throughout each year...

The announcement of Chokwe Lumumba's passing this week came with a bitter bite. This great brother had just become the mayor of Jackson , Mississippi (last year) and had launched upon a program of crucial social reforms for the city. However, his remarkable life otherwise reveals much about our history that we must not ignore or neglect.

Chokwe Lumumba death notice--video and links to previous stories related to his life and works (DemocracyNow! Feb 26, 2014)

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2014/2/26/breaking_jackson_mayor_chokwe_lumumba_has Read full post

On Mental Stamina

Dear friends,

To be sure, we always hear about physical stamina – like that which is gained by, say, working as a laborer on a construction job, or training for various sporting events, or, perhaps, running a marathon. However, we can "train" our minds as well,in ways that make our ability to think grow with more lasting force and energy (inner powers), if we also use our powers of discipline, patience, and concentration, in order to help us “think through” problems of whatever magnitude. As a matter of fact, in these days of the Internet, you can just type into your browser whatever question that you might have about almost anything,, and you will, at least, be able to find some semblance of an answer, or begin a process of linkage that will help you.. Besides, searching that way develops your mental stamina too.

By thinking through our problems, particularly when we are in situations that require special attention from us, whether they are confrontations with ourselves – like taking tests in education or employment, for example, or challenges regarding relationships with others (such as our loved ones, classmates, fellow workers, neighbors or even strangers), we can integrate our powers, as a whole, in a way that makes us feel good, and, in fact, more empowered, after the aforementioned confrontations, instead of feeling regret.

Now, there are a number of ways to develop greater mental stamina. Playing games like checkers or chess will enhance your mental stamina. There are a number of “mind” games on computers that can help you with that too. Another method is: Teaching both arithmetic and mathematics to yourself. Because mathematics is an abstract science, that means that you can apply its principles to any number of activities in your lives. (And its not as hard as it may sound.) In fact, the reason why so many people either complain about or find displeasure with mathematics and science is due to the fact that they have not developed their mental stamina better. It is certainly not an issue of them lacking "intelligence".

Please remember, in order to be able to introduce a lot of helpful ideas to your child(ren), grandchildren. or other young people in your life, while, simultaneously, gaining more ideas and skills yourself, you will need to maintain a high level of mental stamina. Don't be lazy! 

Moreover, please learn to “think through” your problems, whatever they may be. In the process, you will also learn to enjoy your own thoughts more and more. That will allow you to be able to distinguish peaceful times from more volatile moments - easier. Better yet, that will put you ore in control of when you want the peaceful ones. Dig?

Keep moving forward!

G. Djata Bumpus
Read full post

Nigger or N -- word?

Dear friends,

The video on the link below is just racist propaganda. The Uncle Tom, scumbag hip-hop folks, in order to sell records to racist "white" kids have popularized it due to their lack of social conscience and their own self-hatred. If what the video is saying is true, that the word has evolved to something innocuous, then why not just say "nigger" and stop the "n-word" nonsense?

Moreover, I'd like to see sweetie pies like Jay Z and Kanye start popularizing the word "cracker". Did someone say "White Supremacy"?. Meanwhile, fake scholars like Michael Eric Dyson claim that the word nigger is endearing to those in hip-hop and young folks who use it....I ask his phony punk butt, "Wasn't it endearing to cowardly racist mobs as they lynched unconscious Black men or the corpses of same?".

Liberation!

G. Djata Bumpus

Read full post

Scat singing - the mother of Freestyle Hip-hop

Dear friends,

Freestyle hip-hop music didn't just fall out of the sky into some young African American's mind. Rather, young brothers [young to me :-)] like, for instance, Ja Rule (who is a master of freestyle hip-hop) actually represent the evolution of an earlier African American art form called scat singing.

Masters of scat like Ella Fitzgerald, and later Al Jarreau, knew/know how to make both the words and sounds flow from their mouths as syrup does from a bottle, while simultaneously, through great mental stamina, maintaining a linkage between all of the sounds that they're making and the music that they're hearing played.

One Love!

G. Djata Bumpus
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbL9vr4Q2LU Read full post

Al Martinez remembers a Billie Holiday moment

Dear friends, 

 On the link below, you'll find a piece that was written by a friend of mine whose work has appeared on this blog before, Pulitzer-prizewinning journalist Al Martinez. It is touching and thoughtful piece about the music that so many of us love and how on one particular evening many decades ago, Al and his wife Cinelli experienced a special moment with one of the premier female vocalists of all time, the great Billie Holiday. Enjoy! 

 G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.topangamessenger.com/story_detail.php?SectionID=21&ArticleID=3998 Read full post

Empty Talk about Economic Development

Dear friends,

In Alaska, the entire state not just one city, for example gives several thousands of dollars to the family of each newborn child. Basically, it’s nothing short of a bribe to get people to live in that cold place. Yet, where is the economic development there and what is economic development?… Almost everyone works either on a military base or for some business that is directly connected to a military base.

Ultimately, the end result of economic development should be human, not corporate. In other words, genuine economic development will ensure that each child upon reaching adulthood will be independent, self-sufficient yet cooperative, thoughtful, and competent, while being a loving and caring person.

Moreover, in a nation that bases its legitimacy on its threat capacity through the police and military, not the vote, the onus is on the corporate rulers and their lackey politicians to not only control and maintain their wealth- holding status with its accumulation process, but to increase its magnitude. Considering that, empty talk about changing inequality remains just that. Capitalism must go!

G. Djata Bumpus
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The Meeting of Two Great Minds!

Dear friends,

Last night (2/22/14), in Washington DC, still on his worldwide book signing tour with his latest novel Foreign Gods Inc., at a packed Politicians and Prose bookstore, Dr. Okey Ndibe (right) got one of the surprises of his life when he looked up and saw that the next person in line was someone who he had known since she was a child and had even spoken to her over the phone in recent years, but now was seeing her physically as a woman for the first time in many years, my oldest daughter Dr. Namandje Bumpus. The two distinguished scholars/educators struck a pose together.

One Love!

G. Djata Bumpus
Read full post

Bumpus Lab has Important Find

Dear friends,

 A Black History Month tidbit, the Bumpus lab of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine recently published a paper that is causing a lot of excitement in the world of science. In fact, Hopkins asked my oldest daughter/middle child Dr. Namandje Bumpus to make this 30 seconds-long video for YouTube, as part of an interview that sh did about this exciting find.

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20140217/Valproic-acid-metabolism-and-obesity-an-interview-with-Dr-Namandje-Bumpus-Johns-Hopkins-Medicine.aspx Read full post

Erich Fopmm on Alienation, Human Rights, Idolatry, and Identity

UTTER BRILLIANCE!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpfW1xfouaM Read full post

The latest claim that is en vogue: Being "Gay"

Dear friends,

On the en vogue claim of being "gay": It's interesting that with such a lack of people being able to relate to each other (especially by skin color and sex/gender, much less employer/employee), in this market- driven country of ours, the "market" currently thrives upon its insatiable greed, since the 80s, with the latest commodities: gay night clubs, gay magazines, gay marriage, gay this, gay that.

So many people find their purpose by informing their identity through an impulse/the human sexual appetite, as opposed to informing identity through their connection to familial generations/humanity.

What a meaningful way to look at life. What is the future for America?

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Black History Month and "White" history

Dear friends,

Of what else does Black History Month remind us? The most current method used for translating the history of African American people is to portray "white" history in black-face. That is, "white" history is based upon deceitful scholarship which calls upon everyday people to identify with an organized "minority" (i.e., European rulers and other celebrities), as opposed to the "majority" (that is, ordinary Non-European and European) folks, who, historically, have been born into circumstances where little opportunity has existed for them to become a part of the here-to-mentioned ruling classes.

Specifically, acting as sycophants for their rulers (in order to eat), North American educators and media people have concocted a "white" past that somehow connects all European Americans, as well as non-European Americans, with pharaohs and queens of the Nile Valley, then the rulers of Greece and Rome, and later, by an even greater miraculously twisted logic, link the aforesaid European Americans and non-European Americans (almost all of whom are preponderantly of non-English heritage) to the Kings and Queens of England, before bringing these aforementioned ordinary folks to their ultimate and "natural" emotional and spiritual union with North American businessmen and bourgeois politicians.

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Why African Americans need to wake up and Denounce Capitalism!

http://www.linktv.org/video/8240/richard-wolff-democracy-at-work-a-cure-for-capitalism#.Uvy5Gk2PPUc.facebook Read full post

Re-visiting Al Sharpton - a longtime enemy of Black people! (originally posted 5/18/11)

"How did the FBI turn Sharpton into their bitch?...Bryant Gumbel aired on his HBO Real Sports show an FBI videotape of Sharpton discussing laundering money from a South American drug dealer - a former Colombo family captain. Sharpton was going to arrange a meeting with (Don) King and the coke peddler to set up the deal. But the “South American” was an FBI agent, Franzese had already been turned by the feds into an informant — and Sharpton fell right into their trap. Sharpton became a sting artist for the feds when he was himself stung. After the tape aired, Sharpton announced he was going to sue HBO for a billion bucks. Nothing has been heard of the lawsuit since then."


Dear friends,

I am incensed that my longtime dear friend and colleague Dr. Cornel West was rudely interrupted by FBI/drug dealer informant Al Sharpton on a recent television program, during a discussion about the priorities of Barack Obama. As a result, while I have waited a long time to do this, I am presenting, on the link below, the reason that I feel so little for Sharpton as a human being. Moreover, it's truly tragic how African American people, after having so many great leaders in our past, are unable to see this weasel for who he really is. Wake up! Please?

G. Djata Bumpus


http://www.webstonne.com/DIreland.html

Read full post

Photos of my 60th Birthday Celebration - January 26, 2014

Okey's and Sheri's kids Chibu (left) and Chidibe (right), along with their sister Chiamaka (below, not there because she had just gone back to college - UConn at Storrs) have had many fight lessons from me, ever since they were much younger..

Dear Friends,

Finally, after exactly 3 weeks, I've received some photos of my 60th birthday dinner to share...I was invited by my longtime friend and brother Okey Ndibe and his family to their home in the pleasant community of West Hartford Connecticut to celebrate my birthday weekend. It ended up being the best birthday celebration that I've yet to have. That’s quite an accomplishment in and of itself, because my 50th birthday weekend was one of such hedonism and debauchery that it would have made the great Hugh Hefner blush 

Nevertheless, on the right - above, I’m blowing out the candles on my ice cream cake. Notice that they show “40”. That was the warm surprise that the Ndibe family had for me, since I told them earlier that day I’d called my Mom, telling her that I had long been aware of the fact that she and the hospital had inflated my age by 20 years and I was now going to tell the whole world the truth. She cracked up, of course.

At the very top, is a photo of all of the wonderful people who joined me for my birthday celebration dinner, which included one of my favorite meals, Egusi soup with goat meat. On the far end of the left side of the table is Jerry Butler, a brilliant painter and art professor, his daughter Vanessa Butler, an actress and college instructor, her boyfriend Andrew Schaff, a nursing student, Sheri Ndibe, a longtime art professor and Okey’s wife. On the far end of the right side of the table sitting next to me is Dr. Evelyn Newman Phillips (anthropology), a fairly recent emigre from Kenya - Dr. Wangari Gichiru (education), and Dr. Okey Ndibe (literature). We didn't just eat delicious food and drink wine, we had several hours of sizzling intellectual discourse.


G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

The Gullabiliity of African Americans on Facebook

Dear friends,

I've been engaged in the topic about Black folks, especially men, being lynched regularly Down South (as opposed to here Up South (Philly, NYC, and Boston) in years past. It started over a post called “10 outrages reason black people were incensed in America”. Why would anyone either want or need to read this?

Besides, if an intelligent woman sees a book with the title “Act like a lady-Think like a man”, why in the world would she or any female with a brain even look inside the cover?. Likewise, why would any African Americans with even the most infinitesimally small brain be interested in one single reason about why lowlife, scumbag European American s in their most despicable moments ganged up on somebody, whether African American or European American (because they lynched their own too), assault the fighting and screaming victim, until the person was unconscious, then hang the person?

Finally, you can believe that the moron who wrote the piece mentioned above never talks about that aspect. It reminds me of the stupidity on Facebook that has Black people believing that the word picnic, an old French term for such dining, was somehow, instead, derived from European Americans using the term picnic for “picking a nigger” to lynch. We must inform to inspire, not confuse and make people stupid and unaware of that which will allow them to move forward towards liberation. The post mentioned above is incredibly asinine!

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Love & Boxing

Dr. Erik Muten

Dear friends,

I am both proud and honored to share a short (five minutes long) video with you that was done by noted Swedish clinical psychologist Dt. Erik Muten back in March of 2008..

It was a spontaneous interview that he produced, using a few of his students as technicians and the like. You can view it by simply clicking on the link below.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv5fDqSex_0 Read full post

A Real Love Story

Dear friends,

Below is a short tale that was e-mailed to me, some years ago. I've slightly re-written what was originally sent to me by a very special friend of mine who lives in the Bronx (New York City). Nevertheless, the story always brings back memories to me, as a child who was raised inside of the Civil Rights Movement of the early- to mid- Sixties. It helps me recall the types of stories that we heard and the kind of songs that we sung. Moreover, at least to me, it represents a genuine love. Enjoy!

One Love, One Heart, One Spirit,
G. Djata Bumpus
*****************************************

A cruise ship was sailing on an ocean. It was packed with people and their cargo.

At some point, the ship's bottom hit a large object. The ship began sinking.

The water filled the ship so quickly that almost everyone aboard either drowned while still on board or as they tried to flee by swimming away from the vessel.

Two men, one bald-headed, the other - hairy and bearded, did survive, however. In fact, they were able to swim to a small island that was nearby.

The island was completely barren. There were no trees, plants, or animals - only sand and a few boulders here and there. Fortunately, the weather was nice, not too cold or hot.

The two men, now seemingly bound together, decided that the only thing that they could do is hope for some divine intervention.

They agreed that prayer was the answer. However, the bald man said, "I don't know whether or not we'll be saying the same type of prayers or asking for the same things...Why don't we just split the island in half and each of us can pray for himself?"

The bearded man went along with him.

A line was drawn in the sand. Each man stood on either side of it. Right away, each man dropped to his knees and began to pray.

The bald fellow prayed aloud for food. Lo and Behold! Out of nowhere, a banquet-size amount of food appeared in front of him.

The bald man looked over at the bearded man who was still praying and seemed to have added nothing to his situation.

The bald man then said to himself, "I don't know who he's praying to or what he's asking for, but he better learn how to pray like me, if he doesn't want to starve to death."

It was now getting late and the sky was darkening. The bald man decided that he'd try his luck again by praying for some shelter. So, once again, he got down on his knees and prayed. Well, what do ya know? A small shack appeared out of nowhere. The bald fellow jumped up and down, and ran towards the shack for a good night's sleep.

Just as he entered the doorway of his new abode, he looked over and saw that the bearded guy was still praying, but had nothing to show for it.

When he got up the next morning, the bald man went outside and saw the bearded man still kneeling down and praying. He yelled over to the bearded man, "Hey, what's the matter?...You don't know how to pray?"

The bearded man said nothing. He just kept praying.

The bald-headed guy was really beside himself with pride and confidence, by now. He decided that he would pray for a woman, because he was lonesome in his little shack.

Meanwhile, as fate would have it, as he prayed, another cruise ship had a wreck nearby. The only surviving passenger was a woman. She ended up on the island.

The excited bald man invited her in for food and gave her shelter. She gladly accepted.

However, after a few hours, they both began discussing the need to get off of the island and return to their previous lives.

The bald man now got down on his knees, for a fourth time, and prayed. However, nothing happened right away, like it had previously, so he and the woman went to sleep inside of the shack.

The next morning when they got up, looking outside, they saw that a boat was sitting right there on the shore, in front of them.

The bald-headed guy started dancing and jumping around, once again, to see that his prayers had been answered. "I'm going home!", he exclaimed.

The woman, although excited too, asked him whether or not they were going to take the bearded man with them. The bald guy responded, "Nope...Let him pray his way out of this by himself - like I did."

So, over to the boat the pair went. The bearded man was still on his knees praying.

Just as they reached the boat, the clouds darkened. There was thunder and lightening.

A deep voice from the sky roared, "Where are you going?..Are you going to leave the bearded man?"

The bald-headed guy looked up and replied. "He's been on his knees praying for almost three days and nothing has happened...Why should I help him?"

The deep voice responded, "Do you know what he's been praying for?"
Still looking towards the sky, the bald man said "No, I don't...What was he asking for?"

The voice told him: "He's been asking that all of your prayers be answered." Read full post

10 Steps 4 Self-defense 4 Women and Girls

""1.) You are equal to all others! That, Male Supremacy, euphemistically called “sexism”, opposes.""

Dear friends,

As I, along with a number of other men, have been making an extra effort to join all females in ending Male Supremacy (euphemistically called “sexism”), below, I have listed what I know to be the necessary character traits that all women must possess in order to combat the world’s number one problem – violence against women and girls.

In everyday social interactions, racism, the cute term for White Supremacy, is much bandied about; however, the government- and corporate-controlled media stay away from talking about Male Supremacy. Yet, the latter system of oppression exists in every country, city, town, and village. Racism does not! That means that whether you are in oil-rich Nigeria or our own nation, the USA, the oppression and exploitation of females remains our biggest social problem, not our economy or “global warming”, for that matter. As a result, women and girls are not safe in any particular situation. Moreover, what good is having a thriving economy, if females cannot feel safe to be alone?

Finally, I ask any of the readers of this blog, regardless of your gender, to direct all females who you know to read the info below. The main point being made here is: It does not matter what fighting techniques that one knows, if she has not developed her inner powers so that she can both make and keep a promise to herself to not allow herself to be assaulted in any way; otherwise, she will not use the aforementioned techniques.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
**************************************

10 Steps 4 Self-defense 4 Women
by G. Djata Bumpus

1.) You are equal to all others! That, Male Supremacy, euphemistically, called “sexism”, opposes.

2.) No one has a right to put his or her hands on you, unless you want that person to. Period! (battered wife)

3.) There are no tough guys out here. Perps are punks. (Tough looks mean nothing)

4.) You have nothing to prove to anyone, so don’t get into squabbles with people where you’re exchanging threats with each other.

5.) Whether you hit back or not, your opponent will attack you. Screaming “Get off of me” will get you nowhere.

6.) In a fight, you are confronting your own insecurities, not those of your opponent(s).

7.) You must have a “sense of self”. That means that you know what it’s like to be alone and accomplish goals on your own. In other words, if you only know how to get what you want with another person, you will not know what it’s like to go through life’s changes by yourself. So you really won’t know yourself. Furthermore, without knowing yourself, you won’t know how you’ll respond in any particular situation to whatever problem or circumstance that arises.

Please remember that any response messes the perp up, since he only wants you to “freeze” from not knowing what to do; that will allow him to walk you right through the victimization process. As well, that also means that you will not know what it’s like to keep a promise, not even to yourself. Therefore, you will not know what it is like to be able to depend on yourself to resist an attacker, much less being able to help those who need your protection like your growing children.

Additionally, you won’t truly appreciate other people, because you won’t really know what they went through just trying to survive in life by themselves. Besides, regarding having a “sense of self”, it allows one to possess the personal and divine power called “courage”. And, as the great Maya Angelou insists, “Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.”

8.) When you know how to fight, you know when to fight. Therefore, you will use tactics ranging from non-violent to extremely violent, according to the situation. For example, if someone is robbing you at gunpoint, let him or her have the money. You are not less for that. S/he is. On the other hand, you must not allow anyone to either rape you or make you go somewhere with them (usually to a place where they can kill you without being noticed). You have a great chance of surviving a gun assault (85%) and you will feel good about yourself, knowing that no one can take your soul.

9.) Always remember, you have both a duty and a responsibility to yourself and all of those who you love and who love you to maintain your well-being and existence.

10.) There are people who claim to be pacifists. However, those people are dishonest and cowardly (lacking courage). After all, people may very well claim to be civilized and obey the first of the Ten Commandments; yet, that’s obviously a lie, whether speaking of an individual or a government. Both the past and present behavior of humans reveals that simple truism. Therefore, if the so-called pacifists lived in a place where they could not depend upon either the violence or the threat of it by the police or military, they would be corpses – not pacifists.

Moreover, if someone was bringing murder or its equivalent (that is, rape) to one of your loved ones, while you stood there with a gun, and they refused your command to stop, would you shoot that person? No one’s a pacifist. That’s a lie! And I certainly don’t mean to sound like Senator Wilson of South Carolina. You must maintain! Ultimately, you may decide to run away from your attacker; however, you won’t even do that without a “sense of self”, as mentioned earlier, and the divine inner power called “courage” that you will discover within yourself as a result of having that “sense of self”. Instead, you’ll just cower and/or beg as you are being victimized. Don’t be a victim! Read full post

Drone rockets and Cell Phones - America's shame!

Dear friends,

It is extremely sad that so many Americans seem to have no concern for all of the innocent people that our government is murdering under the pretense of protecting Americans from future harm by "terrorists".

First of all, since when does any human being on this planet know the intentions of any other person? Secondly, if the logic of our government is true, then that means that, in fact, those who we are attacking are just as much warranted in killing Americans. In other words, why is the life of an American more precious than anyone who is not American?

Also, the term "American interests" is often used, instead of "American", as the reason for these vicious killings. Whose interests are being threatened? Obviously, the economic and financial interests of the American corporations and banks who sponsor the federal politicians, including our president, who themselves then order the military to make the deadly strikes.

Finally, the latest military strategy by our government to murder those who are allegedly a threat to either American or "American interests", are being targeted via cell phones, irrespective of whether the person who was actually holding the phone is the actual "terrorists" who is being sought.

G. Djata Bumpus
https://firstlook.org/theintercept/ Read full post

Dr. Norman Finkelstein on the "Holocaust" Industry

"We should not be swayed by the crocodile tears ad whining that allows so many well-intentioned people in this world to donate their resources to a bunch of scam artists."

Dear friends,

One of the world's foremost scholars on the effects of Zionism on the whole world, Dr. Norman Finkelstein, delivers some important insight into the rapacious practice of many Zionists, especially those who are based here in the US, to use the atrocities committed against Jewish people in Europe during World War 2, called the "Holocaust", a a money-making bonanza.

Of course, I find it quite curious that Zionists have somehow gotten the world to use a capital "H", when speaking of the aforementioned atrocities. After all, an upper case "H" denies or ignores that which has occurred against Africans and Early American Natives, for example. Also, some 22 million non-Jewish Russians alone died as a result of the murderous movement by ordinary German people who called themselves "Nazis". That's over 350% percent greater than the 6 million Jews that are said to have perished from the Nazi drive. What's wrong with this picture?

At any rate, in a 50 minutes-long interview, on the link below, Dr. Finkelstein talks about his book regarding what he calls the "Holocaust Industry". More importantly, however, at least to me, we should not be swayed by the crocodile tears and whining that entices so many well-intentioned people in this world to donate their resources to a bunch of scam artists.

One Love,
G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSwVz7JTRCA
Read full post

Nina Simone - "Four Women"

"From "Young, Gifted, and Black" to "Four Women", at least to me, Nina Simone is a real Queen of song."
Dear friends,

Except for Elaine Brown (who actually started after her), Nicki Mathis, and a few others, I can think of no single female singer who has contributed to both the Black Consciousness Movement and the overall movement of Female Liberation as Nina Simone has, from "Young, Gifted, and Black" to "Four Women", at least to me, Nina Simone is a real Queen of song.

On the link below, please enjoy a sample of her legend.

Cheers! G. Djata Bumpus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nf9Bj1CXPH8 Read full post

Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois - Their Ideas and Practice once met in Amherst, Massachusetts

Dr. W.E.B. DuBois (top)
and Booker T. Washington

"We choose to be free. Our choice is the determining factor, no one can be your master until you play the part of a slave." – Dr. Molefi Asante

African Americans are in no small part responsible for the sentiments of society that lead people to help one another. The choice of “free” African Americans helping their brethren, as well as humane early European Americans helping “white” indentured servants and others shows that the generosity of today’s Americans did not drop out of the sky, nor was it born in Us. Rather, it is directly connected to behavior passed on by people who came before Us.

It is always a special moment when an historian finds evidence of an event of significance that has received no apparent attention. Especially, when the evidence here-to-mentioned survives as a monumental physical representation of one of the most intellectually stimulating debates in USA history since the Constitutional Convention of well over nine generations ago.

Nonetheless, right in the little historical town called Amherst, Massachusetts lies the only tangible connection between both the theory and practice of two of the most influential people in North American history, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois and Booker T. Washington.

It all began, about 170 years ago, with an African American minister named Reverend John A. V. Smith. Apparently, in someone's home and also, perhaps, outdoors (as he was also listed in town records as a laborer), Reverend Smith represents the first sign of a Black church. Of course, any preacher worth his or her bible knows that a church is not a "building." For religious worship it is an institution in North America as much as government itself. That is, neither bricks, stones, nor wood constitute the necessary elements needed to establish a church. Consequently, the combined faith of the congregation is the stuff of which a church is made.

The significance of Reverend Smith and his congregation forming their own body of worship is that, up until that point in the African American experience in Amherst, the only clergymen to which African Americans were exposed in the immediate area  (without going to nearby Springfield - as many Black folks here often did) were European American ones whose "divinely-imposed" purposes were to convince African Americans to be docile and accommodating to European Americans.

Of course, in Amherst, Massachusetts, as in African American communities all over Our country, churches have been the dominating institutions for these folks socializing within the context of a community (as opposed to individual socializing such as concerts and so forth.) A generation after Reverend Smith's appearance in Amherst, around the end of the Civil War, some European Americans, particularly the authorities from Amherst College, became concerned about "saving the souls" of African Americans around town. This parental attitude being directed towards African Americans was running rampant throughout the country as many European American rulers and their agents were trying to figure out how to deal with the newly-enfranchised African American man and his community. Recognizing the clear differences between African and European spirituality, said rulers knew that controlling religious expression was extremely important in controlling the thoughts and acts of African Americans.

Local historian James A. Smith wrote that about 143 years ago: "...the Amherst College Church and faculty finding an 'opportunity to show tolerance in matters religious and racial' sponsored the Zion Mission Chapel Sunday School at Amherst, to which they sent their own children to be with Black people." Smith continues that some four years afterwards, "...this chapel had use of a building at the Southeast corner of present day Woodside Avenue and Northampton Road. This organization later split to form the Hope Congregational Church and the present Goodwin A.M.E. Zion Church." (Smith, Blacks in Early Amherst)

In the October 12th edition of the Amherst Record newspaper (forerunner of the current Amherst Bulletin), 108 years ago, the following report appeared, in part: A large audience assembled at College Hall last Wednesday evening, attracted by the announcement that Booker T. Washington, the most distinguished member of the colored race now living, would deliver an address on "Negro education, the proceeds to go toward the building fund of Zion Chapel.

The appearance of Washington itself is a big deal, since he was internationally-renowned and well-traveled. What is also significant about his visit (which was actually his second such lecture held in Amherst) was the fact that for the two main African American congregations in town, both Washington and Professor W.E.B. DuBois had come here in order to help raise money to build a church for each of them. Washington came to raise money for what is known today as Goodwin Memorial A.M.E. Zion Church and DuBois came about six years later for the benefit of Hope Church.

Ruth Goodwin (now deceased), the last surviving member of the family after whom the church is named, says, " We pulled out from the congregational church because the Amherst College had charge of it and a lot of our people thought it was nice to have our own people have charge of the church." (see Ms. Goodwin's interview with James Smith and Mary Commager, Jones Library, Amherst, Boltwood Collection)

To people who have, at least, a fair amount of knowledge regarding African American history, the idea of these two great men becoming involved in what was actually an intellectual "split" is an historic event of great significance. It, therefore, must be greatly appreciated that these two leaders, who have formed the basic ideological structure for most mass African American political and social movements during the past five generations, actually squared off both intellectually and practically - in a small New England town.

Both Washington and DuBois were very sincere men. However, they disagreed strongly about what direction African Americans should take in order to achieve group freedom. Washington felt that African Americans should be accommodating to Our European American brethren. That is, he urged Us not to be so concerned about political and social rights, instead insisting that We concentrate on establishing a more firm economic basis, by shunning intellectual education and opting for vocational skills and knowledge. In Washington's own words, "A ship lost at sea for many days suddenly sighted a friendly vessel. From the mast of the unfortunate vessel was seen a signal, 'Water, water; We die of thirst!'... The answer from the friendly vessel at once came back, 'Cast down your bucket where you are.'...The captain of the distressed vessel, at last heeding the injunction, cast down his bucket, and it came up full of fresh, sparkling water...To those of my race who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say, 'Cast down your bucket where you are'-cast it down in making friends in every manly way of the people of all races by whom We are surrounded. Cast it down in agriculture, mechanics, in commerce, in domestic service, and in the professions." (excerpted from the Atlanta Exposition Address)

Although obviously well-intended, while Washington was asking African Americans to cast down their buckets, the European American southerners who were supposed to retrieve and send back said buckets had been lynching African Americans at a rate of two-per-day for years (what DuBois called the 'Lynching Industry'). Consequently, even more interesting to that Booker T. Washington supported the church that appeared to be demanding separation from the talons of Amherst College.

Yet, a closer look at an article that Booker T. had published in the North American Review, nine months after his second visit to Amherst, reveals why he supported the A.M.E. Zion Church. Here is a portion of the abovementioned essay called “ The Religious Life Of The Negro” from the book, The Black Church in America, edited by Nelsen, Yokley, and Nelsen, “Negro people, in respect to their religious life, have been, almost since they landed in America, in a process of change and growth...The struggle to attain a higher level of living, to get land, to build a home, to give their children an education - gives a steadiness and a moral significance to the religious life...It is encouraging to notice that the leaders of the different denominations of the Negro church - under their leadership, conditions are changing...the (national) A.M.E. Zion Church alone, $2 million was raised..."

Washington was a man of action, not just words. Therefore, to his credit, he founded Tuskegee University, a school that still graduates African American professionals and others in abundance. On the opposite side of Washington's accommodationist approach was Dr. William Edward Burghardt DuBois. Professor DuBois was raised not far from Amherst - in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. He attended numerous schools and universities, receiving his doctoral degree at 27 years-old from Harvard University. However, his learning was far broader than even his formal education suggests. Furthermore, Professor DuBois remains, to this day, the most accomplished scholar in North American history - bar none.

At any rate, DuBois was all for economic advancement, but he felt that it was no use learning how to use a hammer if the storekeeper would not sell you nails. Therefore, the great professor promoted the idea of resistance; that is, he felt that folks should protest those things that were unfavorable to their being. The following passage is from one of his many personal credos that he wrote throughout his life as a habit of "checking up" on his own work and ideals. This particular excerpt was written almost 100 years ago. It first appeared in The Crisis magazine, the organ of the NAACP (DuBois helped found both that long-standing civil rights organization and the aforementioned periodical.): “I am by birth and law a free black American citizen. As such I have both rights and duties. If I neglect my duties my rights are always in danger. If I do not maintain my rights I cannot perform my duties. I will listen, therefore, neither to the fool who would make me neglect the things that I ought to do, nor to the rascal who advises me to forget the opportunities which I and my children ought to have, and must have, and will have.”

Hardly a weekend goes by in Amherst without a political group of some sort standing in front of the town common with a huge protest sign. Professor W. E. B. DuBois once wrote, "Protest is the soul of democracy." Dr. DuBois was telling Us that being able to resolve conflicts in a non-violent manner must be at the heart of Our ability to live together, in spite of Our differences.

Starting in childhood, people are taught by their parents or guardians how they should respond to those who live outside of the family unit. That is, children learn when, where, and with whom they can express kindness or anger, acceptance or disapproval. The most prominent reason for this seems to lie in the essence of human relationships, which are, more often than not, political. And so it is Aristotle who is credited with calling humans “ politikon zoon” or political animals (see Landmarks of Tomorrow, by Peter F. Drucker.)

 Anyhow, especially for children, regardless of their skin colors, whose parents are not part of the ruling body in any particular community, learning early when, where, and with whom to be accommodating or resistant has largely determined said children's ability to survive in North America throughout life. Although there has been a tendency of late for parents from all cultures and non-ruling classes to teach their children to stand up for themselves at all costs, many parents still nurture their children according to the assumptions of various religions, that being, somehow yielding is a sign of "moral" Uprightness.

Further, while Professor DuBois was not an accommodationist, he did believe strongly that Our society's so-called racial problems would only be solved through integration (in other words, DuBois had his own version of "cast down your buckets.") Unfortunately, he and others both before and after him wrongly mistook integration for inclusion. For instance, Polish Americans, Irish Americans, Italian Americans, Jews and other European Americans often, by choice, live in homogeneous communities that are, in fact, quite segregated. Yet, they need not "integrate" in order to receive access to opportunity or responsibility in Our society. Why is that?

Worse yet, not only are African Americans requested to integrate, but We are also expected to give up some, if not all, of Our cultural habits in doing so. In light of everything mentioned above, that is, understanding DuBois' position on integration makes it easy to see why he supported the Hope Church - which was still believed by many African Americans in Amherst, at the time, to be connected with Amherst College. Hope Church has always had a "mixed" membership. However, in the early days, such amalgamation was only acknowledged in terms of "race." Yet, these days, the congregation is made up of various cultures, some of which would defy traditional anthropological definitions (for example, single parents - who choose to be, bi-ethnic families and homosexuals of both sexes.)

Nonetheless, a mere eleven years after what would be Washington's last trip to Amherst, and in spite of their differences, DuBois wrote a passionate obituary in honor of Washington in the NAACP's The Crisis magazine.  It read, in part: The death of Mr. Washington marks an epoch in the history of America. He was the greatest Negro leader since Frederick Douglass, and the most distinguished man, Black or White, who has come out of the South since the Civil War. His fame was international and his influence far-reaching. Of the good that he accomplished there can be no oubt...On the other hand, in stern justice, We must lay on the soul of this man, a heavy responsibility for the consummation of Black disenfranchisement, the decline of the Black college and public school and the firmer establishment of color caste in this land. What is done is done. This is no fit time for recrimination or complaint. Gravely and with bowed head let us receive what this great figure gave of good, silently rejecting all else."

The great Marcus Garvey initially came to the USA in order to meet his idol, Booker T. Washington. Unfortunately, Washington died before such an encounter ever took place. Nevertheless, out of Garvey, grew Elijah Muhammad. Out of Elijah Muhammad, grew men like Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Louis Farrakhan. As well, countless African American thinkers, of both sexes, have grown out of Professor DuBois’ massive intellectual capacity. In fact, it can be quite simply asserted that NO legitimate African American scholar or activist who has lived during the past 100 years or four generations can deny the relevance of the role that at least one of these two geniuses played, personally, in both his or her intellectual development and vision.

Cheers!

G. Djata Bumpus
Read full post

Black Studies and Black Consciousness by Dr. Maulana Karenga

Dear friends,

This is a really powerful five minutes long video!

The reason: Consciousness is an ever evolving state of well-being for every human, beginning at birth.

In other words, because human beings are the only species on this planet who are aware of the fact that we exist (hence, burials), our consciousness makes us aware of the problems of living. Other than non-human animals like dogs who have been "domesticated" by humans, almost all other creatures have no such concern for problems. Father, their behavior is totally based upon instinct.

At any rate, as humans, we, at least, claim to renounce most of our instincts, so that we can join together as groups in a cooperative effort to coexist. Unfortunately.it is there that we find our biggest problem. That is,  our relationships become political, because we each want what we want. However, as members of an aforementioned group, there are often compromises made for what one wants and desires, since many people want the same thing, but resources are limited. 

Finally, human beings are, ultimately, like all other animals. So we have not actually renounced our instincts such as the one that has us being violent. Moreover, because we can talk, thus sharing ideas, especially for those who have superior military night install themselves as rulers. Those same people start using others as a means to an end, becoming self-centered and egotistical in the process. As a result, those who choose to find self-worth at the expense of others make sure that the consciousnesses of their victims evolve as little as possible.

Liberation!

G. Djata Rumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=069rKEci2Kc Read full post

"Equal Pay for Equal Work!" - a red herring?

Dear friends, 

Is the issue of "Equal Pay for Equal Work!" a red herring? After all, millions upon millions of men suffer from the same problem as women, if they don’t belong to a union, for example. Consequently, it seems, at least to me, that both the heart and soul of capitalism thrive upon the unfair equation: the less money paid to the employee = the more money for the employer.

But what is far more troubling to me is the fact that too often females, starting at birth, are taught that they are less valuable than little boys and men. Moreover, they are taught to pander to the whims of males, disregarding their ability to constantly seek to be fully human, that is, to be independent, thoughtful, competent, and self-sufficient concerned citizens, as boys and men are encouraged to be. Instead, they are encouraged, even from other women, to be manipulative and deferring to some man-or boy-who will allegedly “take care” of them. Let's end Male Supremacy! 

G. Djata Bumpus Read full post

Maintaining our African connection through a music video by our Youth

"During the period of servitude in the New World, the Negro race did not wholly forget the traditions and habits of thought that it brought from Africa. But it added to its ancestral stock certain new ideas." - Booker T. Washington
Dear friends,

In the past this blog has featured quite a bit of the work of scholar/educator/author Dr. Okey Ndibe, a Nigerian national who lives and works here in the US. Starting with the video on the link below, Djatajabs.org will be making a renewed emphasis on maintaining the connection between African peoples of all nationalities from the Continent to the Diaspora. After all, please remember the words of the great Booker T. Washington who insisted, "During the period of servitude in the New World, the Negro race did not wholly forget the traditions and habits of thought that it brought from Africa. But it added to its ancestral stock certain new ideas."

To be sure, there are many African Americans today who refuse to use that term, preferring to call themselves "Black". Yet, as recently as the Seventies, these same people and their families refused to call themselves "Black", instead using Negro and Colored. So people who argue about calling themselves "African American" are simply behind, as either themselves or their predecessors were. a few decades ago

Nevertheless, the crucial point to be made here is: African peoples who were forced to migrate to the Americas did not lose their African cultures. Instead, each cultural group merely took on a different developmental direction. In other words, African American captive workers (so-called “slaves”), for example, were still people. As a result, our forebears adapted to the new circumstances with which they were presented, within the context of their own cultural wisdom and experiences. Dig? Still, we are taught to hate ourselves, especially our African - ness.

One Love!

G. Djata Bumpus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCCzugeSPPA Read full post

Stop and Frisk - Is it a Crime against Morality?

 Dear friends,

The recent decision by Mayor DiBlassio of New York City to not appeal a judge's ruling brings back the argument regarding how the "Stop and Frisk" tactics of urban police are concentrated on, especially, young African American and Latino males, as the latter exist in an aura of suspicion that surrounds them. But do the aforementioned tactics violate "racial profiling" statutes? And do the authorities care, anyway? 

Moreover, as far as suspicion goes, perhaps, the relevant question is, "Since most white collar crime is done by European Americans, everyday, then why not start randomly checking the books of companies, corporations, and banks?" In other words, why is there greater concern for people stealing $20 from a person walking down the street or selling $10 rocks of crack cocaine, than for those who constantly steal millions from tens of thousands of retirement funds and the like,for example?

Nevertheless, some complain of police bullying, while others are rightly concerned about the psychological affects on the victims of unnecessary Stop & Frisk practices. And, does being a "white" cop make one feel like a superior being to those who do not claim that moniker? What about a non-European American cop who doesn't even have any history in this country? How can the government endorse such "privilege" to some of the population under the guise of "democracy"?

And how about the statistics regarding the actions of racist employers/employees and landlords? How many African Americans and Latinos suffer from those injustices each and every minute, every second, everyday, including possible loss of work and loss of residency? Why don't the police randomly stop and question all "white" employers/employees and landlords to check and see if they're committing racist acts?

Two crucial aspects of this racist Stop & Frisk practice aren't mentioned. They are 1) Since the overwhelming majority of gun crimes are executed by those who are not seeking to be detected, then it is, at best, a false abstraction to suggest that guns taken during a "Stop & Frisk" would even be used in crimes other than "illegal possession of firearms" (which means nothing, other than determining who gets to be a George Zimmerman and who doesn't). and 2) The "convenient" war on bullying, the game that is currently being played throughout our society, especially in schools, apparently doesn't include babies being killed by US drone rockets in Pakistan. And so, ultimately, the real issue is: Why can't people live together, without using each other as means to ends? Meanwhile, the Catholic priests, Baptist ministers, Jewish rabbis, and Muslim imams smilingly answer, "Come here, son..I want to share some of myself with you."

Still, Heather MacDonald, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, admits that the New York City's Stop & Frisk policy may not be perfect. But she points out that crime — especially violent crime — happens disproportionately in minority neighborhoods. ( please refer to "Lawsuit Over NYPD's 'Stop And Frisk' Program Heads To Court", by JOEL ROSE, March 18, 2013)

By the way, women and girls are being violated in every neighborhood, in every state, everyday. Violence against females is, by far, the most frequent, as well as the most vicious crime that happens constantly, in our society. Why isn't real energy put into fighting that "crime"?

Finally, why is Stop & Frisk so conveniently implemented for African American and Latino men? At least to me, the real question isn't "Why does a hungry person steal?" Rather, as it has been asked by others before me, the real question should be, "Why do so many who are hungry NOT steal?" It's all about control! For the legitimacy of our government lies in its "threat capacity" through the police and military. Citizens are forced to be automatons, or else! So why is a human better morally than, say, any cat, dog, or bird?

Liberation!

G. Djata Bumpus

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Black churches/Black History libraries

" ...where is a better place for Our children to learn to appreciate scholarship than the Black Church?"

Dear friends,

Black churches need to play a strong role in Our community building. The Black church is the oldest institution that We have. Beginning in the holds of enslavers' ships through chattel slavery, manumission, and the series of freedom movements that have led up to this point for African Americans, the Black church has been there.

Unfortunately, too often today, Black churches seem to betray the mission of Our predecessors. There are far too few activities that deal with Our liberation, such as church folks freeing captive workers (so-called slaves) during chattel slavery to helping out with marches and breakfast programs and such as they did in the Sixties and Seventies, and helping to lead the fight against apartheid in the Eighties. Too much concentration is on “being saved” and using the word “God” in every other sentence as some type of password. Many folks are even using religion as a narcotic - like heroin or cocaine; a common refrain from them is: "I'm high on Jesus!". (Please remember, Our spirituality should be a vitamin - not a drug.)

Also, having “fellowship” is another term that is being bandied about these days. I went to a church, quite recently, whose Sunday program sheet read at the bottom, after the hymns and prayers listed: Worship ends, Service begins. Unfortunately, and shamefully, this was not in a Black church.

Black preachers must imitate the life of the historical Jesus who fed the hungry and healed the sick - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. The latter did not just sit around and pray. He "worked" for change. During 1963, in his now famous Letter From Birmingham Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King wrote, in part:

"There was a time when the church was very powerful in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide. and gladiatorial contests. Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom, They have left their secure congregations and walked the streets..."

While Dr. King's "letter" was largely directed towards white/European American clergy, today, these words, very much, apply to most African American clerics across the nation, as well. That is a fact that should bring a feeling of shame to many who call themselves ecclesiastics. The Black Church has the power to change things! It is not up to "God" to make this world better. After all, if it is, then why does "He" need clerics

At any rate, Our church facilities should be open to Our youth, so that they can study Our history (with no membership or attendance at the particular church required). Resources like the great Charles Blockson collection, community activists, and college professors can contribute tremendously to making this happen.

A major problem with fighting against Our oppression and becoming a community lies with the fact that We are often Our own worst enemies, because of Our self-hatred. That is, from African American bank tellers who treat Us differently than other customers to drive-by shootings, both feelings and acts of self-hatred make it difficult for either African American men or women to form genuinely loving relationships of any kind, much less encourage Our youth to get along with each other. We must learn to love Ourselves and Our fellows.

Note: "Love", as it were, is only of any use as an "act of being" as opposed to a "state of being". That means that 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 tv soap operas. However, as an "act of being", love means that people are "actively" loving towards one another. Consequently, love should be an active, not passive, practice of caring about, being concerned for, concentrating on, and feeling responsible towards not just Our mates, but Our work, and Our communities, as well. 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 this country.

Still, the cultural institutions in Our society lend to the aforementioned self-hatred that is practiced amongst Us. Literature and images in schools, the arts, and, especially, the government- and corporate-controlled media deliberately perpetuate this indignity too. For example, showcasing groups like Men United For A Better Philadelphia are, apparently, made up of wonderful people. However, the idea that the violence among African American youth is largely the result of a lack of jobs and gun possession may be missing the point, which is: Lack of both social and historical conscience is at the bottom of Our dilemma.

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." - (please see Philosophy & Opinions of Marcus Garvey, edited by Amy Jacques-Garvey)

Additionally, in that context, long before Garvey, Dr. W.E.B. DuBois wrote: "The discovery of personal whiteness among the world's peoples is a very modern thing...The ancient world would have laughed at such a distinction...by emphasis and omission to make children believe that every great thought the world ever knew was a white man's thought, every great deed the world ever did was a white man’s deed..."darkies" are born beasts of burden...Such degrading of men by men is as old as man and the invention of no one race or people...It has been left, however, to Europe and to modern days to discover the eternal worldwide mark of meanness -color!" - "The Souls of White Folks",

Education, of course, is something that you get for yourself. It is NOT something that someone gives to you. Notwithstanding, the Black church should be the place where young people in Our community can get helpful knowledge and ideas, along with developing useful skills. The schools will, ultimately, follow, if Our churches show them the way. Our young should know that the adults of the community will provide the type of environment where their minds can develop in a manner that will make them be able to control their destinies. Therefore, for Our youth, We must all embrace the old Nigerian proverb that goes, “If you pick a good tree to climb, I will help lift you up.” Moreover, where is a better place for Our children to learn to appreciate scholarship than the Black Church?

G. Djata Bumpus
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