I haven't dined out in quite sometime because necessity turned me into a home chef. Even my dog got a clue and finally stopped peeing next to his food bowl after I told him we'd adopt the ways of a faraway culture and eat him, if the fridge and cabinets go bare next year.
It's common knowledge, or at least should be, that America's chicken's have come home to roost.
I'm certain our new feathered friends will like urban areas. So be it. If I have to have one, I want an urban chicken. I'll keep her in my bathroom. I don't think they can be house broken, so that's the easiest place to clean.
Yeah, y'all are thinking that Kit done lost her damn mind.
Nope. I even have a plan for my hen.
I'll play my Rev. Wright video once a day to remind my new home girl that she's supposed to be sitting next to my bathtub and happily roosting. That way she'll be generous with her eggs and the dog won't have to hide every time he hears someone's stomach growl.
My daughter can groom it so it will look like exotic. There are a lot of senior citizens in our building. Their eyesight isn't that great, so maybe we can pass it off as a poodle. See? This one only needs a collar and leash.
It's been a bitch of year, but damned if I'm running from chickens. I'll shove one or even two in a cage with a nice little nest, and she or they can feed my family.
Long ago when my son's was a wee thing, his babysitter had roaches, then we had roaches when one of those little suckers snuck home with him and multiplied, at least until I introduced them to a fumigator. Guess we'll need to visit his old sitter and bring some new ones home. Then roaches will finally be useful, and can be used to feed the chicken.
*scream ewweeel*
Right after Rev. Wright said God would punish this country for all the evils, i.e., genocide, slavery, and oppression, that the American government did to so many people throughout history and present, all hell broke loose.
Not many people wanted to hear that, and even had the nerve to call him a racist for complaining about racism.
Well, he shouldn't have said God damn America even if probably meant God will damn the American government for what it's done. I've been wondering ever since if this was some sort of chicken curse we now have hanging over our heads. Most of us didn't do jack to nobody but lots of us have been affected.
Maybe now is a good time to review how we've been damned since May:
Over 800 wild fires caused by lightening strikes in Northern California.
Floods submerged parts of several mid-west states, which is one reason that our food prices are higher.
Don't forget about all those tornadoes.
Gas prices shot up, another reason food prices have increased since transporting it is more expensive. They've eased back down but that's temporary from the word on the street.
The housing market's engine, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, rolled over and died. They've been nationalized. Or should I say, Socialized, as in, Socialist?
The little country of Georgia stupidly followed "someone's" secret orders to invade their annexed northern side that doesn't even want to be bothered with them over our plan to put missiles there, facing Russia, who in turn kicked their azz. The Ruskies embarrassed the fuck out of us when the EU backed off 'cause they depend on Russia's gas and oil and don't want to piss them off, and now the whole world knows The Bear is back in the geopolitical game.
The fake Christian Right always felt they have a monopoly on God. The head hater minister of one of America's leading Evangelical groups led by James Dobson, asked his members to pray for torrential rain of biblical proportions to wash out Obama's formal acceptance speech as the Democratic Presidential Nominee at Denver's Invesco Field. Oh, what a beautiful day!
And how quiet the haters were afterwards.
Instead, McCain's shining moment got washed out. God scheduled Hurricane Gustave to hit Louisiana at exactly the moment that George W. Bush was to deliver his speech at the Republican National Convention. Afterwards, the media operatives of hate feigned amnesia about this mass prayer, not only because they were embarrassed, but because they were strategizing their next acts of pure racist hate and deceit, the kinds Rev. Wright so fiercely complained about.
Then along came September 15th, the Black Monday that will be remembered as the first day of the new Great Depression II if historians get it right.
Lehman Brothers died, followed by a few more and the $850 Billion Welfare to Wall Street Rip-Off Bailout reward to them at taxpayer expense - to corporations and banks that effed up, with more on the way.
Paulson and Bernanke, in hindsight, might be more worried about going to trial than about Wall Street going belly up, in this photo. The spook-infested AIG ain't worried about shit. They got their cut and partied hard by misusing $440K to celebrate. Guess they were happy about that Bush 'Socialist' plan, since they're nationalized now.
Ooops! I forgot. Socialism, as re-defined by the Right, only counts when you tax the top 5% a little more than the bottom 95% of the population, who would also get universal healthcare and nice social programs.
The Right doesn't think it's Socialism when you save the Wall Street Sharks and mega-corporations that robbed, pillaged, or simply screwed up. They are correct. What they embrace is totalitarism combined with cronyism.
During all the politricks, polar bears, who have no voting rights, don't have enough ice in their habitat to survive man-made global warming. Their only solace is that we'll soon be an endangered species too.
I'd save one and put it in my bathroom too, but it wouldn't fit very well and might eat my chicken and dog. Then I'd have no eggs, and at night my feet would be cold since the dog keeps them warm.
Amidst all the above, McCain's hidden puppet master had him chose an opportunistic moose hunter who will surely slay Liberty - as directed - if she ever becomes Prez, and his remaining supporters are still nutty enough to go along with this to keep the White House white.
Forget about the October newsletter by those silly Republican women had, which suggested Barack will make Food Stamp dollars and we can all eat high on the hog. Those dumb bitches are mental throwbacks from The Flat Earth Society, and will wish the hell they had some Obama Bucks to buy barbecue ribs, fried chicken, watermelon and Koolaid.
Our economy is fried thanks to the GOP aka The Party That Wrecked America, but unlike fried chicken, we can't eat it. Maybe before Bush leaves office, he can issue a Zero dollar bill with his photo on it to remind us what a memorable President he's been.
And that's just the first flock coming home to roost. More are on the way. The writing is on the wall everywhere.
Now Joe Biden said "we will be tested" early next year. Duck n' cover, kids! And Colin Powell hinted at it too, saying, "there’s going to be a crisis come along in the 21st or 22nd of January that we don’t even know about right now."
Maybe they've seen large flocks of chickens on radar from one of those fancy-schmancy outer space weather thingys.
Like most of y'all, I love some Obama. I bet that confused, race-baiting McCain volunteer who carved the letter B on her face secretly does too. All them racists are obsessed with him. Shee-it, they think and talk about him more than black folks. While we're sleeping, they're up wide awake, wondering his next move.
Maybe now's a good time to invest in companies that make meds for insominia, depression, anxiety and paranoia. The fixed news crowd could make us rich after Election Day! Yes, the nervous breakdowns will come then. We're beginning to see it already.
Well, sucks for them. Their hero is older than an aging Captain Kirk who can't maneuver through the trouble ahead any better than he could his own plane back in 'Nam.
But Spock, Jr. Obama can.
Barack is gonna try to get the money flowing again once he's in the White House, but we're currently entering the new Great Depression II. They're trying to keep it a secret so they can steal a little more until there's nothing more to steal.
The first Depression hit on Oct 28 & 29, 1929, but it took a few months before it hit Main Street. Like me, President Franklin Roosevelt had a plan for his generation's chickens coming home to roost. He got the nation through it with his chicken in every pot idea among others.
I figure this one will be worse, so I'm not eating mine. Just the eggs. Greenspan made another dumb ass mistake this week by ridiculously lowering the interest rates to encourage consumers to spend what they don't have in a country that's broke. I don't know Peter Schiff, but he made sense the other day on Bloomberg, talking about how this will cause hyperinflation. Hell, a dozen eggs may end up costing five or ten bucks by next year.
Things are hitting real close to my home. This week, one of my relatives got laid off from her job. She wasn't alone. One out of five got their pink slips. The remaining will go nuts trying to keep up with their work and that of the riffed employees.
Stock yo' pantries and save yo' cash, 'cause ain't nobody is stopping these birds of economic prey, because Superman won't be sworn in until late January.
Hmmm. I don't look forward to any of this, but I do like eggs. Scrambled eggs with cheese, sunny side up on toast, deviled eggs, you name it. So if I have to have a bird coming home to roost in my broke azz life, I want her to be an urban chicken.
It bothers me that William Balfour, the #1 suspect in the shooting deaths of Jennifer Hudson's mother and brother, has yet to be charged with this crime which occurred on October 23rd. This suggests the police have reservations over whether or not he did the deed.
Several things were nagging me in the back of my mind about this case yesterday. Finally it hit me.
The murders are estimated to have taken place around 9 AM Friday morning. That afternoon, Hudson's brother, Jason, was found fatally shot in his chest in his bedroom. Her mother was found in the living room, fatally shot execution-style in her head. Both had multiple gunshot wounds; in one unnamed victim, the wounds were defensive.
I wonder if the time given by neighbors who reported hearing gunshots is correct, because if so, why wasn't Julian, the missing seven year old, in school?
I also wonder if the bullets came from the same gun.
I also wonder about Jason Hudson's lifestyle. On his MySpace page, he listed N/A for high school graduation on the bottom left column. At 29, he still lived with his mother. These two factors, plus his being home on a Friday afternoon, made me wonder if he had a job.
He looks like he was a very nice man, but his past lifestyle, girlfriends and associates should be fully investigated, as the killer might turn up if Balfour wasn't the one. Jason Hudson was also quiet heavy. Here's a photo of him from Julia's MySpace page where she states he had to pick her up from work because "William's bitch ass sold my car".
Given his size, it's unlikely one person could have moved his body from the bedroom after shooting him. Thus, was his killer originally with him in his bedroom?
For all I know, Jason Hudson could have been celibate and working a night job. But what if he was involved with someone, and they had sex, followed by an argument and an impulse killing? That's a trail that I hope the police are traveling on.
The feds, if they haven't already, need to check his sheets and private area for hairs that don't belong to him. If they find any, this is DNA evidence. They also need to check his cellphone records and home phone records.
Another thought is could Jason Hudson been using drugs with a buddy? I wonder about this because the bedroom is where a single man or woman living with their mama is the most likely place to get high when a buddy or girlfriend visits due to its privacy. It's a better choice than the basement, where the mother might come down to do laundry, etc.
Or could the mother have been murdered first in the living room? Jason Hudson could have been asleep, heard the shot, and stood up. The killer could have run upstairs, flung open the door and fired upon this moving target - Jason - in the chest.
I am of the leave no stone unturned philosophy. I emailed Englewood Chicago police last night with this alternative hypothesis, asking them to consider if Jason Hudson was the victim of a vengeful sex partner gone nuts in a relationship gone wrong, or a drug deal gone bad.
I know these things take time, but it seems that with all the CSI technology, the feds would have nailed William Balfour by now on murder chargers or gotten a confession in the past four days. I don't know Illinois laws on polygraphs, as not all states accept them as evidence in a court of law, but could find no news story that indicated they asked or he offered to take one.
Meanwhile they smartly have Balfour sitting on ice in the Illinois Department of Corrections on an unnamed parole violations. This could have been for anything, from failing to tell his P.O. where he moved when left the family in May, or allegedly selling the family car without permission, where he and his wife Julia Hudson jointly owned a car, not having a job, or missing an appointment.
By the way, Balfour's MySpace page is still up and there are lots of photos. These two below are of him, Julia, Julia's missing son Julian, and a god-daughter.
There's an excellent chance William Balfour is the killer given his history and recent conflict with Julia and the family, but if he's not, that person (or persons) is still roaming free, and either has the kidnapped seven year old nephew of Jennifer Hudson, or did the unspeakable to this child. It chokes me up thinking about this. I know his parents and family are going through hell.
It's also interesting to note that Julie Hudson was heart-breakingly pleading on TV for whoever has him to please return him, "just drop him off on the street, anywhere, please."
She did this after William Balfour was locked up. Her sister Jennifer offered a $100,000 reward for him yesterday. This suggests they have not outruled that William Balfour and the killer may not be the same person.
Lastly, way in the back of my mind, I also wonder if this was hate crime...
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Addendum #1 Added, Tues 10/28 @ 6 PM, EST
At the risk of going out on a limb, something about this case doesn't feel right.
I found this news article that went in more detail about Balfour's history. A simple car theft he attempted to do at 17 or 18 went real wrong when the owner of the vehicle came out and jumped on the car.
That's how he got the carjacking charge.
He recklessly drove away with the owner hanging on the car roof, and crashed into a pole which almost killed the poor guy.
That's how he got the attempted murder charge.
I call this Stupid Urban Teenager Syndrome.
So when Balfour was released, he hooked up and married Judy Hudson. Problems arrived big time when he sold their car. He couldn't have sold it if his name wasn't also on the title.
This is what I call Married People's Shit Syndrome.
No clue as to why he did it. Whatever the reason, it pissed off Julie and may be what led to her and the family kicking him out.
He also had new, pregnant girlfriend who he was living with at the time of the murders. I couldn't find a timeline, but he moved out of the Hudson home in May. If she was pregnant before May, that gives us an idea of why he and Julia had marital problems. Also I'm curious as to the pregnant girlfriend's history. Does she have a history of having "issues", such as jealousy or mental instability? Had he planned to leave her and return to Julia or move in with his mother or someone else?
So, we know why and how William Balfour originally landed in jail. Was he a violent man? I haven't found any history of his ever beating on his wife. Doesn't mean he didn't, but I've yet to run across this kind of story. I have to wonder if he was capable of killing her mother, brother, and son if he never laid hands on his wife.
Was he into the street hustle and drug game? He was into something, or Julia wouldn't have written on her MySpace something to the effect, William is my 2nd best friend after my mother... and the person I know most likely to go to jail.
Anyone can snap and become violent, but unless other facts about his life are revealed, his profile doesn't quite fit the kind of man who would load a bunch of bullets into three people he lived with and had affection for two or more years, including shooting this child, possibly in the car.
If he had been smoking PCP or had become strung out on crack, that changes things. If he's actually a sociopath, or had descended into a lifestyle of robbing folks since being kicked out, that will too.
These are to consider, and as a commenter on this thread "C", pointed out, that the world is watching, so the feds are doing it by the book rather than just "beating a confession" out of him.
The Chicago police must wonder the same things I do, including all the bullets were used in the murders. Each victim had multiple gunshots.
Did they all come from the same gun? Whoever did this sounded like they came prepared to kill.
And just when exactly, was this child murdered?
So far the cops aren't saying. If Balfour is innocent, he might be lucky he was busted the afternoon of the deaths, because if the kid was killed afterwards, someone else was involved.
A man was walking his dog on Monday, and it began howling in the way it never had before, and ran to the car that held this child's decaying body. The police won't reveal the date and time of death. They are clearly still following a number of trails to make sure they have the right person in custody.
And this is what brings me to continue wondering if this was a hate crime, one to remind white America why they shouldn't vote for a black President.
Far-fetched? Not with the hate out there. The other day two white guys planned to kill 88 blacks and behead 14 of them before they proceeded to their next mission of assassinating Obama. They were willing to die for their White Power cause. These murders came the day after that silly, race-baiting McCain volunteer carved a B backwards on her face and blamed a black man for robbery, rape, assault and mutilation, but was revealed to be a liar.
On the other hand, the Hudson triple homicide could have simply been by a couple of strung out neighborhood druggies who did it. I wonder if they'll ever find out. If Balfour really did it, I wouldn't blink if they gave him the death penalty.
I'm satisfied with the pace of this investigation. I wish all were as thorough. The FBI and Chicago feds need to continue following every trail, so that justice, when it comes, will come to the right person.
Addendum #2, 10/28 @ 10:45 PM
Finally, new info that gives a clearer and chilling view that the #1 suspect may well indeed be the killer. Police have not filed charges at this hour so we can assume they're still fact checking and testing.
Here are some highlights of quotes from this evening's story in the Chicago Sun Times:
"...he stopped talking when police suggested he take a polygraph test."
"A source said Balfour told Julia Hudson he would kill her if he found out she had a boyfriend, despite the fact that he had other girlfriends."
"Police believe that Balfour went to the Hudson family home Friday and shot through the front door, striking Hudson's brother, Jason. Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, came into the living room, screaming, and Balfour shot her as well, sources said."
"...sources also said Balfour's girlfriend contradicted his alibi and told police that he was involved in the slayings."
"Police have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person was involved..."
In another article, he didn't show up to meet his parole officer that Friday.
My thoughts: I fight like a tiger for justice because I've seen so much injustice in my life, particularly when it comes to black males. Time and time again, they've been set back and set up.
This is why I'm so methodical in my thinking and examining all available evidence. A black life is valuable, and never should we jump to conclusions that lead the wrong black man to prison.
I think at this point, they have the right black man.
I am livid that someone who had such a fucked up youth but got a such a grand chance to live with, love and be loved by a good family fucked up again, far worse than any ordinary street thug or criminal would ever do.
I wrote an earlier post on this story titled, A Conversation With An Almost Ex-Thug About the Jennifer Hudson's Nightmare.
In it, my son Xavier, a former confused teen and gang banger, got it right when he said a few days ago, "William Balfour is a gun hard bitch nigga."
Tonight I told him of the latest news. He looked angry as hell listening to the new information, then gave a smile of satisfaction and said, "Told ya that bitch nigga was guilty. His next stop is Death Row."
I smiled too and nodded in agreement.
In my heart, I mourn for the Hudson family. The survivors of any homicide are terrible victims too. It can take years to feel normal after this kind of tragedy happens to you and you never, ever forget.
Ironically this includes Balfour's mother and pregnant girlfriend too, even if you're tempted to hate them by association.
If he's guilty, and he probably is, his murder rampage of three left behind dozens of family and extended family members. I don't even want to think about what any of their upcoming holidays will be like. They are all in my prayers.
On a positive note, at the rate the feds are moving on this case, and if all the evidence and witnesses and sources are correct, the right man is locked up, and justice will be served.
Good.
Addendum #3 - 10/29/2008 @ 11 PM
My first love is politics, and my second human relationships. The Hudson case combines elements of social justice, crime, and how relations can go terribly wrong. I'll update this post periodically, as much for myself as for those of you who may interested in my take on it.
No charges filed yet, but more news in this fascinating case. Turns out that the Hudson family home was raided in March 2002.
This is how uneven justice is in America:
Julia's case was thrown out by a judge who said the search was illegal. Her mother, by the way, missed being with Jennifer on American Idol because she was in court.
Even though one judge said the search was illegal, another apparently didn't. The late brother, Jason was given a lesser charge and ordered to a drug abuse program. The boy's father, Gregory King was convicted of drug trafficking. Further, according to that article, cops say Jason Hudson and Gregory King were affiliated with a gang, the Gangster Disciples. They said William Balfour belonged to this one too.
Gangs are very common in large urban areas and it's easy to get tagged as being a member. If you grow up in a place, chances are a number of your friends from the sandbox join one, and this makes you 'affiliated' with them.
The lure of easy money is always a temptation as all those predatory home lenders can tell you, and this includes the Wall Street Banksters.
I'm still wondering if any of them will do a day in jail for the trillion dollar tab the taxpayers will foot the bill for.
Easy money is more tempting in urban areas due to fewer jobs, but the brothas there are far more likely to be vilified and end up in the grave from fighting over turf or in jail.
This brings us back to my earliest question in this post, was the brother, Jason, involved with a drug deal that went bad?
"Witnesses said Balfour drove his teal Chrysler to the Hudsons' block Friday, arriving about 7 a.m. But later the vehicle was discovered by police parked about a mile away outside Robeson High School. Balfour's girlfriend told police that he was at her West Side home not long after the slayings..."
"Investigators... are trying to determine whether another person drove Balfour to the West Side after the killings at the Hudsons' South Side home, sources said."
Yeah, he can't be in two placed at the same time, and by the way, how did he log into his MySpace Page on Sunday 10/26 when he was locked up? If not him, who?
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Addendum 4 - Tues Nov 11, 2008 @ 7 AM
Police have yet to file charges against William Balfour. In an unusual and smart move to keep him detained in prison while they continue to investigate the murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother, and young nephew, they passed the buck to the Prisoner Review Board.
According to this morning's Chicago Sun Times article, "The chief reason for holding Balfour was a report from Cook County prosecutors that his girlfriend, identified as Shonta Cathey, said she saw him holding a gun that matched the color of the murder weapon..."
When this story broke, I said it would be wise if the lifestyle of the late Jason Hudson was closely examined, rather than assuming Balfour committed the murders as an act of domestic violence revenge. I even emailed the Englewood Chicago police, who at that time considered Balfour to be their only suspect.
The Chicago Sun Times developed a timeline on 11/03/2008. One of the most striking things is that Balfour's car was reportedly seen arriving at the Hudson residence at 7 AM on the morning of the murders. He hasn't lived there since May, and my guess is that Julia, a bus driver, had already left for work. This tells us he came to visit Jason.
Balfour, we learned through the news, had a crack addiction and was busted this summer when police stopped him and saw a crack rock in plain view in his car.
Thus, with Balfour's addiction, why in the hell would he be up and out at 7 AM for anything? Unemployed crack cocaine users are usually up late, go to bed late, and sleep through most of the day, then repeat the same cycle of pursuing the rock. Figuratively speaking, that is their job, and speaking of jobs, Jason Hudson didn't appear to have one. This begs the question, where was he getting his income?
Jason Hudson was shot in the leg this year but refused to get treatment for it at a hospital. We can speculate that he knew who shot him, but he didn't want the police asking him a hundred questions in an Emergency Room, which may have invited attention to whatever he was doing.
This is what I suspect happened: William Balfour and Jason Hudson were more than drug buddies and were dealing on the side. Balfour's mother alleged in this interview with Nancy Grace.
I can't stand Nancy Grace. I've always thought she's not only a "people" stupid bitch, but a racist who has be "in control" when interacting with black people. This makes her less effective as an attorney and a media professional.
Grace wasted a lot of time being defensive because Balfour's mother was so angry about the media, when she should have pursued the mother's allegation that Jason Hudson and William Balfour were running drugs together.
Here's another video of Noxious Nancy that interesting only in the interview with a man about Jason's gun being used in all three murders.
Between Jason and Balfour, I think Balfour screwed up big time on a cocaine deal. I speculate that he came to the house that morning at 7AM to discuss the deep shit they were in and how they needed pay back whoever they owed. Two hours later, their dealer spotted his car in front on the Hudson house, killed Jason, the mother, and took the kid.
This is where I'm split. Either Balfour escaped from the murderer(s) before they could kill him, or he promised them he'd get the money owed if they spared his life.
The police figured out that someone else was involved, but they were too stuck on the domestic violence angle and other trails went cold.
William Balfour ain't the brightest bulb in the box, but he knows that if snitches, he's dead immediately. If he keeps his mouth shut but still charged with multiple counts of homicide, he'll live several years on Death Row.
Balfour doesn't realize it, but he's safer in jail. If I were a thugged out dealer and he was released in December for lack of evidence, he'd be dead in 48 hours or less.
I reader left me comment earlier this morning on the spectacle Julia Hudson has been making of herself on her MySpace page. I hadn't been keeping up with her at all; the elections were too exciting and I moved on to other things. I've read a variety of links and will share my thoughts on her in an upcoming, separate post this week, not about her per se, but mentioning her as an example when too much for too long goes wrong in a person's life and they descend into a downward social drift.
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Addedum #5 - November 13, 2008 @ 4:30 AM
Jezus Christ this case is fascinating. It's gone beyond a gang hit to having 'mob' written all over it.
Jennifer Hudson and "some family members" are currently being protected by billionaire Donald Trump's folks at his Chicago hotel:
"She's a great girl. And we're protecting them well,"Trump told PEOPLE [magazine] at a benefit honoring Australia director Baz Luhrman at the Museum of Modern Art Monday night. "They are very safe."
This begs the question, why the fuck does Jennifer Hudson need protection? I read a couple weeks ago that she was scared, which then made me wonder why.
Chicago is long known for it's history of the mob, which later became intertwined with black gangs. William Balfour joined the Gangster Street Disciples at the age of 11.
Balfour and the late Jason Hudson were gang members of the Gangster Disciples, which rakes in $1M a week thru drug deals. That amount of cocaine needs rich folks with planes to transport it here. No, I ain't saying Trump is involved, and here's a nod of approval for his protecting Jennifer and her sister Julia, and whatever other relatives who may be at risk for knowing too much.
I'm kicking around the idea of doing another post on it.
DL Hughley not only 'broke the news' on last night, but he broke some barriers and brought us into a new frontier. He was the first comedian - and a black comedian at that - to have a show on a well-known cable news program, and he and other actors in it tackled racism.
That was not only radical, it was historical, by both him and CNN for allowing it. The Right must have been frothing at the mouth over the truths DL Hughley told.
DL's opening monologue of political satire began a bit rocky. The jokes had a rushed feel to it and he was clearly nervous. I cut the brother some slack, after all, he was in new and uncharted territory and knew it.
Hughley has never been known as a politically savvy comedian like Chris Rock or Dave Chappelle. His strength was not trying to be one of them. Instead he was himself, and for me, it worked.
This is an important point, because if we hold all black comedians to the standards of two greatest ones of this century, then we've thrown away a lot of other good talent.
This briefly happened to Hughley. In 2007, that redneck pundit Imus was kicked off his own show for awhile after calling the women on the Rutgers basketball team "nappy-headed hoes."
DL got tangled in this mess when interviewed later on Jay Leno. He agreed the women were nappy-headed and some of the ugliest he'd ever seen. He speaks his mind, but that's one time he stuck both feet in his mouth by appearing to side with Imus (a huge no-no in the black community), and being too specific in who he was calling ugly.
The show biz savvy Jay Leno saw the blunder immediately and tried to help out by quickly ending the show, but it was too late to salvage DL's greatest ever fait accompli.
We all make at least a few stupid mistakes, but if we blow off everyone who does, no one will be left, including us.
Thus, I don't hold it against him. Don't hate, but I'm forgiving like that as long as mistakes aren't consistent and a central part of someone's character.
If anything, I take more issue with bourgeois blacks who vilify the black underclass by sensationalizing a handful of news stories about black teens, men, and musicians as though whites don't have these issues too. It's as though they don't realize they're undermining the black family in the process, and aiding white racists by not examining the larger social issues.
This group also usually whines endlessly about the use of the N-word in comedy and music. I like that multi-purpose word when used among blacks. I'm with Whoopi on this. It's our damn word. We claimed it as our own, and thus diluted the power that racist whites had over it.
Can't tell the Hughley haters any of this. They wrote him off. Their loss, because he learned from his mistake and has grown immensely. That's quite an accomplishment for brotha with only a GED who years ago, used to get on my nerves cracking jokes at the expense of members in his audience. If the show survives, he may go down in history as one of the most memorable comedic social commentators of our time.
I'm serious, that nigga did a comeback and was truly radical last night in dealing with racism.
I most appreciated that his jokes and the skits were not of the Steppin' Fetchit, denigrating type, nor were they of 'let's show how niggas can act a fool' variety that so infuriated me in David Greer's first episode of Chocolate News.
No, DL Hughley was radical in hitting racism head on, one joke after another. It's as though the sole purpose of his first episode was to address the nuttiness of racism.
Another was his interview with Neil De Grasse-Tyson, an intense hunk of a brotha who is an Harvard-educated astrophysicist and Director of the Hayden Planetarium. DL did a skit-type review of black presidents in past movies, leading up to the last one where Morgan Freeman starred who had the crisis of an comet rapidly approaching earth. He was a riot interviewing DeGrasse-Tyson, who was also funny. Watch this:
DL went to a Palin rally and interviewed the folks there. That was a definitely funny, but it's genius was both his sheer audacity in doing this, and his charm in how he used humor. A lot of the Palin supporters unexpectedly connected with him. You'll love this:
One clever skit was the show's riskiest. DL interviewed another black comedian (couldn't find his name) who dressed as pimp in purple - named Freddie Mac. I thought, oh no, not this on CNN!That skit had a deep message: that predatory housing lenders, Wall Street and our government pimped the American people.
I suspect this skit, however, turned off a number of blacks before watching the whole thing, as the knee-jerk reaction is not wanting white viewers to see us play the age old stereotype of a pimp since most of us are hoping Obama will win. The comedic brilliance of it was that Wall Street is a far bigger pimp than anything we've ever seen in our communities.
This is but another reason I contend that the DL Hughley show was radical. It throws the light on the hypocrisy of racism, and did it with style and humor.
Lastly, DL winged an interview with former Bush spokeman Scott McClellan. That was nicely done and the two men had a comfortable connection. Hughley was able to tease out who McClellan will vote for on November 4th: Barack Obama.
Damn but it's a new day. Change is everywhere. Thank God I've lived to see it.
I froze to the point of having a chill sweep across my body when I first read that the mother and brother of the famous singer-actress, Jennifer Hudson, was shot dead in their home yesterday. Nor does it bode well that her seven year old nephew is still missing.
If you are unfamiliar with her, she got her start to fame on American Idol and later had an unforgettable role in the movie, Dream Girls. She sang at Barack Obama's Democratic Presidential Nominee acceptance speech this past August.
William Balfour is the "one and only" suspect of killing her 57 year old mother, Darnell Donerson, and her 29 year old brother, Jason Hudson. They were found shot dead in their home, and their car is still missing.
Did he do it?
I don't know, but possibly. He was apprehended last night, but so far has not been charged with the crime. I can say with certainty that Balfour, now only 27, has the profile of being a troubled youth.
He was paroled in 2006 at age 25. He must have been 17 or 18 when arrested and convicted on carjacking and attempted murder charges, and spent seven years in prison during a time when most American youth are working or going to college, and trying to figure out who they are and what they want in life. Balfour missed that boat.
Yesterday his mother said, "Out of no means did my son do this. This heinous crime to this family is unbelievable. It's unbearable."
I'll bet it is since she's been down this road before with him, so her statement is even more tragic. He wasn't with her when the murders occurred, thus she can't say for absolute certain that he didn't do it. It must be killing her.
My son Xavier, is a former gang banger who was also a troubled youth. It took enormous effort by me and a host of professionals, family, and friends to pull him off his own path of destruction. Last night I told him about Jennifer Hudson's nightmare. He was appalled.
"I can't believe someone would kill someone's mother and brother!"
"Here's the picture of the guy they think did it," I said.
I studied Xavier, as he studied Balfour's photo.
"That nigga's gun hard," he said.
"Whatchu mean?"
"He's past hard. He's gun hard. Looks like he'd shoot anyone without thinking about it. But underneath, he's a bitch nigga. I'd whip his azz in a fight. Lot of brothas would. That's why he lives by the gun."
"They don't know for certain he did it," I said.
"Probably did," he replied, "and if so, they gonna beat his azz when he goes to jail."
He shook his head. "Damn," he said. "Her mother..."
I explained that Balfour had been involved with Jennifer's sister, Julia, and read to him that she said on her MySpace page that "her No. 1 best friend was her mom, her second was "William" and her third was Jennifer. She also said her mom is the person she most admires while "William" was "most likely" to get arrested."
I said, "Never did Julia dream her lover would be busted for killing her mother and brother, and kidnapping and maybe murdering her seven year old son. I hope that boy is his son, or he might be dead too."
"I think I know how it happened, Ma," he said.
I listened.
"I'll bet that he came to the house, maybe wanting a visit with the kid or looking for his girl [Julia]. The mama probably told him no or to stop coming around, and he started mouthing off at her, and then the brother jumped in and told him to get the fuck out of their house. That's when that bitch nigga pulled out his gun and shot them dead, with the brother first, then panicked like the lil' bitch he is and ran, taking the kid with him."
Reading more about this today, his hypothesis makes sense. Jennifer's brother was shot in the chest, suggesting to me that the murderer aimed quickly for the largest part of his body. Jennifer's mother was shot in the head; this was an execution-style killing.
It's always interesting to get the point of view of a thug or a cop. The best cops have the ability to think like criminals, but had the opportunity - and took advantage of it - and chose the straight path. Many I've met through my dealings with Xavier were bad boyz themselves as juveniles.
These particular cops were good guys and gave both him and me inspiration that he could stop using drugs, avoid trouble friends, and live a normal life. Xavier did the first two, but until he gets a trade or GED (a high school general equivalency degree), his life won't be quite normal as we think of it. He's scheduled to take a certification class to become a personal trainer and has a $6.50 an hour job now at the gym he works out in, but that's hardly enough for him to live independently like a normal adult would live.
As a therapist, I listen to projection too. That's when someone projects their feelings onto someone else. For example, if you think black men who dress a certain way or have a little swagger in their walk are inherently dangerous, you're more likely to project your beliefs on them and be quicker to assume they're guilty, sort of like middle aged people thought all long-haired young people were LSD using, sex-crazed hippies back in the late 60s.
Likewise, if you've been a black man who was once inherently dangerous, you might also negatively project your feelings and experiences on another brotha. Maybe you're right and maybe not.
As Xavier would say, it takes one to know one. At 17, drug addicted and a member of the Bloods, he was kicked out of a girlfriend's house. They had dated seriously for a year but she was tired of his descent into the street life and broke up with him. Her mother yelled in the doorway for him to not return and slammed the door. In a fit, he stabbed himself.
Yeah, that'll teach her.
Damn but I was glad she waited until he was in the yard before she did that. I'll bet she and her daughter were too. Anyone impulsive enough in anger to stab themselves could stab you in a rage. He was crazy as shit on drugs and moody by temperament along with those awful adolescent hormones.
He wasn't all that sane this summer either, at 19, when his last girlfriend was thinking about aborting his baby. He was so in love with her and praying she'd keep it. He called her place and she cruelly played games on the phone... she was giggling in the background and some guy answered and started trash-talking to Xavier that she was his girlfriend now and the sex the were having was (you fill in the blank).
Xavier ain't never been wrapped too tight from mild prenatal alcohol and chronic poly-substance abuse, plus his early years in neglectful foster homes that left him malnourished when I adopted him.
On that night, he was clinically insane for about a two hours. Nigga had borrowed a gun I didn't know about and said he was gonna kill that son of bitch at his girl's place. Called one of his old homeboyz to pick him up and drive him over there. I was a star in diffusing that shit.
When his friend pulled up in front, I told him of Xavier's plan. This young man's jaw dropped in shock. He's a former gang banger who went straight and now has a great job, and didn't want no part of that. He was a star too, and talked sanity back into my son's head in our parking lot. That story is in my long and compelling article, Abortion Blues.
Thus, Xavier is in an exquisite position to speak of how a criminal lifestyle combined with disadvantages and loss of love can make some men go crazy and become violent.
He was still angrily staring at the photos of this man and Jennifer Hudson. Steam was practically coming out of his ears, and if looks could kill, Balfour would be dead. I had the sense that my son could see what he could have become.
"You almost lost it too, a couple months ago," I said.
He grit on me. "I'd have never shot that azzhole!"
"You were nuts that night. Anything could have happened."
"I'm not like that."
He went back to staring at the photos. He reminded me of myself, never realizing how much I admired and cared about Jennifer Hudson until something unspeakably horrid happened to her family.
I asked Xavier, "Assuming he did it, what went wrong with William Balfour?"
Readers, this is an experiment. Do it quickly and without thinking about it, or looking in a mirror. Ready?
If you're right handed, with your index finger, draw a capital letter 'B' on your left or opposite cheek.
Remember where the vertical line is. Is it closer to your nose with the loops toward your ears, or the opposite?
If a friend or family member is available, ask them to do this experiment on their own face, then on yours. Remember, no mirror. I tried this on my kids as soon as I saw her below. They hadn't seen the story nor knew why I asked, and their self-drawn 'B's were backwards - just as I suspected they'd be.
I ain't saying this woman in the news reads my blog, or the black blogs and comments where folks of color have been expressing their fears of white mob violence if McCain loses, but this story, if untrue, will appear designed to do the reverse.
Maybe she saw that YouTube video of the young black woman riding a bicycle and run down by hater screaming nigger this and nigger that and all blacks should be killed.
Or maybe she's seen the bad press about the haters at the McCain and Palin rallies, and decided to do a little PR work to make Obama supporters look dangerous since we're such a peaceful and happy lil' rainbow of change seekers.
Or maybe her story is true. But this is what her 'B' looked like on her face:
I mean, really, there could be a dyslexic, 6'4 black man running around in Pittsburgh and guilty of robbing this 20 year old woman of $60 at an ATM, then seeing a McCain sticker on her car, and in a rage, assaulted her and carved the letter 'B' on her cheek. That's what this McCain volunteer alleged happened to her yesterday. Maybe it did.
Or maybe it didn't. I don't how quickly white folks bruise, but a shiner like the one on her eye doesn't look super fresh like the reversed 'B' on her cheek.
It's a fishy story, like the hundreds if not thousands of stories throughout American history where a black men was blamed for committing a crime to cover up the motive or crime by a white person.
Remember the news story of one of McCain's key supporters, Florida Congressman Bob Allen? In July 2007, he was busted in a men's restroom after offering $20 to give a blow job to an undercover black male cop. The reason he gave was his "fear of black men". He was convicted, resigned, but has appealed his case.
If Bob hadn't used the common fear of black folks defense, I'd be sympathetic to him because addiction to anonymous sex, if that's his issue, is a monster that some people really have. No one should ever be in office or work in a helping or teaching profession either if they fear another race. It's just bad for the public good.
Then there's the 1989 case of Boston area resident Charles Stuart, who alleged that a black man abducted and robbed them, then shot his pregnant wife in the head and himself in the stomach while they sat in their car. Boston residents and the country was outraged and called for a reenactment of the death penalty.
Boston cops made life miserable for a number of blacks, especially the man they arrested and his mother whose home they trashed. Stuart identified him a line up, and this poor black man would still be rotting in jail, except that Stuart's brother, Matt identified Stuart as the real killer. The motive? Insurance money. Stuart was on his way to being found guilty when he committed suicide in jail.
Boston's former Mayor, Ray Flynn, who had been and anti-school busing proponent when younger and in the 70s, refused to apologize for the city's actions. The family of Stuart's wife, however, set up a scholarship fund for underprivileged kids in the black area where the murder took place. Now that made me misty-eyed.
Then there was that famous 1994 story I'll never forget. Susan Smith, the South Carolina white woman alleged a black man carjacked her car with her her baby and three year old in it. She kept up this lie for nine torturous days - torture for both whites who became enraged and fearful that a crazy, violent black man was at large and a threat to their community, and blacks for the same reason, plus being distressed by the new low in racial relations. The truth revealed she drowned her children by releasing her car in a lake.
I truly believe there are more good people than bad. The Union City, SC sheriff proved this. He handled Susan Smith with kid gloves. He suspected a lie, and finally got her to confess. She's still doing time, but she never apologized to blacks or whites for worsening the racial divide and stirring up the hate she did with that outrageous lie.
Mob violence, lynchings, and imprisonment, often stemming from false allegations of 'a nigger raped, assaulted, or stole from me' stories are more untold than told. I have no question that many racist perpetrators of crimes have gone unquestioned and free while blacks suffered or died from lies.
How did Smith, Stuart, Allen or others learn to blame blacks for their own behavior? I mean, if they get questioned, or caught for doing wrong and plan to lie, why not simply blame it on someone in their race?
Two answers. One is that a white person may feel guilty about sending another white person to jail based on their lie.
Call it group loyalty or tribalism. Neither is necessarily bad, but when innocent people in another group or tribe is harmed because of it, it is.
The other answer lies in our terrible, terrible history of stereotyping an ethnic group of people exploited and abused for centuries for their free and later, cheap labor, and who were brutally separated from their spouses, family, and also raped.
While we think of black women being the victims of rapes, knowing how the worst of all humanity behaves, we can assume that black children were molested, and male teens and young adults were raped or exploited too since they were utterly defenseless and powerless in filing complaints about it.
For one group to be comfortable with the chronic abuse of another, they have to vilify that group in order to feel justified about their actions. Otherwise they feel guilty for their brutality.
This is sort of the way I rationalized why we ate meat to my daughter when she was very young, after learning it came from animals.
"But the poor chickens! Or pigs, cows or fish! I can't believe we kill them!"
I know pigs are smart and felt a twinge guilt, but I passed the plate and said, "Well, we have to eat, so God made them stupid on purpose so they wouldn't understand or have any feelings about it. For example, chickens are so dumb they'll run around after their heads are cut off."
She giggled and grabbed a drumstick.
This mentality, extended to people belonging other groups, is why these kinds of stories continue. Minorities, as well as the white poor, i.e., the coal miners, have also been treated like chickens in this country for a very long time.
I can't discount the allegations of the McCain supporter because I wasn't there, and so far there's no evidence beyond her statements to prove her story otherwise. The police have some doubts, but she really could be a victim of loony black backlash. If so, she has my condolences.
On the other hand, if she's lying, this is yet another case of white backlash over a more than possible Obama Presidency bringing change to this country.
I find great comfort that over half of white American voters in the polls don't consider us 'chickens', and I personally thank them for embracing Obama and change. For my black brothas and sistahs, group hug time. Most of us, I pray, will get through this. Somehow we always have.
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Update, 10/24/2008 @ 7:30 PM. It was a lie and the plot thickens and the McCain campaign was unethical in promoting this. Keith Olbermann's commentary below; the first part is really interesting.
From Tarzan & Jane to Palin & McCain: Fanning the flames of white superiority
The Tarzan & Jane running for office have several important things in common with the 1918 and 1940's Hollywood actors.
The earlier stars were rewarded well for their roles in America's earliest adventure movies, and they provided subliminal messages that whites were superior to blacks and Arabs, and they were entitled to do anything they wanted to regarding non-whites.
We see these same dynamics playing out in the attitudes of McCain and Palin, their campaign, and among many of their supporters.
That's not surprising; they grew up spoon-fed on this type of racial propaganda that crawls into the subconscious. It became the moral fabric worn by generations of white Americans. In the past few decades, however, many of them traded in these rags for centrist or progress wear.
The Far Right, however, continues to wear their racist beliefs like a comfortable, old shoe. They're catching heat for it and the world is watching what may be the GOP's end game.
Updating Jane's wardrobe won't help. Palin's $150K shopping spree won't cover her massive character defects or incompetence lying underneath those new Sax Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus clothes.
A few years before the Civil Rights Movement, I used to go to an all black theater in Southeast, Washington, DC. I was an innocent, very young black child in the early '60s, and along with most of the kids, cheered for Tarzan to single-handedly defeat the Africans. They were always portrayed as savages, or savage-like servants.
During one show, I was lucky enough to sit near an older kid, a boy of maybe 12. The kids were going wild. Over their cheering, I heard him repeatedly complain, "why y'all so happy?! Stop that! He's beating up people like us!"
Other kids yelled, "Shut up, you ruining the movie!", or with anger, "Who you calling an African?"
He gave up and they kept cheering. So did my little five year old azz. I thought about what he said a little later. Not a whole lot, because I was so young and was a big time Superman fan, but enough to remember his words.
Me, at age 4
If you didn't come up during that time, you have to understand that being compared to an African was fighting words. It's no wonder, considering how we were portrayed in the Tarzan & Jane flicks, compounded by the psychological baggage passed down to us from the legacy of slavery.
The times were very strange for black people. Most of us had a great pride over our survival, accomplishments in many areas, including business, sports, science, and music, and our fantastically cool style. If you don't know much about black inventors, google for it.
At the same time, we learned - often indirectly - that 'too much' African ancestry, i.e., darkness, broad facial features and nappy hair was undesirable. Back then you couldn't find a black baby doll, Santa Claus, or Christmas angel for your tree. We were rarely seen on TV or in magazines. That's quite a mindfuck when you think about it.
Nearly all the kids I knew boasted of having 'Indian' and white ancestry as though that would dilute their blackness. Although this was true for many of us, the boasting was a reflection of racial low self-esteem. To this day there continues to be discussions and conflict within the black community over light vs. dark complexions and hair types.
I'd love to dismiss it as nonsense, but the fact that most of us would be less likely to get hired if sporting braids on a job interview than wearing our hair relaxed, or for men, cut short, tells us how far White America has yet to go in accepting our natural appearance - and Black America too, which is obvious in too many music videos.
(Sigh.) At least it's not nearly as bad as it used to be.
As a teen, my friends and I had learned how to think. We were appalled at our earlier brainwashing, but overjoyed that the Civil Rights Movement and the revolution of attitudes within the black community liberated most of us from ignorance. We figured out that Tarzan and the white soldiers who backed him up and fired shots on spear-carrying Africans running away was not on our side.
Thus, most of us evolved and cast off our psychological baggage. As a group with little to lose and everything to gain, it was in our best interest to do so.
The effects of racism in laws, visual mediums and even toys affected us, but it kept whites in an insulated and racist bubble of ignorance. We were invisible to them except as negative or servant-like images.
Since the Civil Rights Movement, the whites who hadn't dumped their baggage are the very ones creating havoc in politics and this election. Black issues weren't their problem. They benefited and continue to benefit from white privilege, as addressed so well by Tim Wise in this YouTube video, and the foundation of that is a gut belief in white superiority.
I'll speculate that this is what made it impossible for John McCain to vote yes on there being a federal holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., or even be able to look at Barack Obama in the first Presidential debate. One little known story is that he did it again on the day the Bailout Bill was voted on, barely glancing at him and clearly not wanting to shake the brown hand offered to him.
McCain behaves like he views Obama as some sort of African chief blocking his imperialistic goals. Tarzan wouldn't be shake hands with such a 'savage', so why should he?
I seriously doubt McCain had that conscious thought, but he didn't need to. Those subliminal seeds of racism had been planted long ago, and unlike many white Americans who consciously dug those weeds out of their childhood and early adult values, his continues to flourish.
The earliest Tarzan movies was a new medium to poison the American mind. They promoted several underlying themes which set racist values in cement:
1. Africans - black people - are savages and to be used as labor. You don't see what they get out of this, nor do they seem to mind. The dissenting ones are the enemy.
2. Black men will happily abduct a white woman at the first opportunity, and without question to rape her. They must be killed to protect her purity.
In this 1918 clip: An African 'savage' doesn't hesitate to kidnap a white woman the secondlays eyes on her. That she will brutally raped is a given, to stir up white fears. Tarzan 'rescues' her and kills him with his bare hands.
3. Likewise, blacks are viewed as dangerous and a threat to white families and children, who must be protected by the military (or police).
In this later 1941 flick, Boy Tarzan about to be cooked or sacrificed by savages for some unknown reason. This is white fears projected on blacks and played out in the movie. Tarzan's African pal tries to save him.
Symbolically, he's one of the 'few designated Negroes' who whites can depend on to have 'good sense' and try to persuade the other black folks who are too ignorant to know better. Even then, this character was portrayed as an ineffectual boy, and the white soldiers had to come to Tarzan's rescue. It's very subtle, but we see this played out in many ways today.
4. Arabs, who had roles of being evil in this movie, are also portrayed negatively and are to be defeated or killed. I hadn't remembered this as a child. I'm amazed this group was vilified long before the country of Palestine on my father's old desk top globe was replaced by Israel by the later models of globes.
In this 1918 clip: Tarzan is a defenseless boy. An Africangets off a canoeto hunt him down on one side, while evil Arabs shoot at him on the other.
In this 1918 clip: Tarzan's friend is captured by those evil Arab slave traders, like white folks hadn't been doing this evil for hundreds of years.
5. It's perfectly fine for whites to go on imperialistic adventures, to invade the countries and land where non-whites live, and behave in aggressive ways toward the natives - while innocently viewing themselves as benevolent and in particular, courageous rather than barbaric.
In this 1918 clip: Adult Tarzan has a long scene of strangling an African and dumps him a river. It wasn't clear what the black guy did to earn this beyond looking scared as jack and arming himself against Tarzan.
McCain and the gray-haired generation of politicians and voters grew up on the most overtly racist propaganda for entertainment. It makes it easier to understand why they're stuck on stupid.
They have much in common with members of the old Flat Earth Society. That group refused to believe scientific evidence that the earth is round. This group refuses to believe their ideas that other groups are subhuman compared to them needs to be laid to rest.
Early on, Hollywood contributed to mass brainwashing, making it impossible for many whites to have their minds freed from the racist attitudes of slavery. They tend to call themselves 'conservatives', not for their conservative beliefs about fiscal management, but because they want to conserve old racist traditions which acts as a form of white affirmative action.
Movies like the Tarzan adventures fit perfectly with the tales of Dixie days gone by and the joys of having slaves do your work, then lie and steal credit for building America into economic powerhouse she became.
In this campaign, Palin & McCain, like Tarzan and Jane, figuratively portray the roles of innocent white supremacists, determined to cast Barack Obama as the evil, head African, and by extension, the rest of Black America.
More of us became quite worried this month by the Nazi-flavor of the McCain-Palin rallies. Here's an excellent, brief video you may not have seen, summarizing the hate:
The blogger, Black Girl In Maine, captured it perfectly in her enlightening post last week titled, Terrorist is the new N-word. McCain & Palin made no efforts to tone down their Hitleresque rallies until last week when liberal media outlets and world criticism became a problem, after the "Kill him!" and "Terrorist!" and other howls in the crowd were shown on TV.
The bigots have kicked it up a notch since then. This code word, terrorist, covers three bases: race, religious xenophobia, and terrorism. This week the name calling has expanded to Socialist.
I didn't make up this shit; Rep. Brad Sherman testified to it this month in Congress. This would have canceled out the Presidential Election. Now nine major banks and Wall Street's AIG have been socialized at the cost of nearly one trillion dollars, yet McCain is calling Obama a Socialist for wanting the top five percent wealthiest Americans and businesses to pay more in taxes.
Since neither the modern day Tarzan & Jane have a legitimate thing to offer to America or the economy beyond keeping the White House white, we can look to the roots of racism nurturing this insanity where droves of white voters plan to vote against their best interests, from economic concerns, to health care, education, road and bridge repairs, to McCain's plan for a century of war.
This is a modern day example of Orwellian doublethink, to have two completely contradictory beliefs at once.
It's like saying you're a Christian, follow the Golden Rule, and believe we descended from Adam and Eve, and that God loves us all, but then spreading hate or doing acts of evil to harm individuals and groups outside of your own - like lying that Obama is a terrorist, or vilifying your minority neighbors or co-workers so bad things will happen to them.
In the news, negative to hostile views toward minorities and Muslims is based mostly on 'fixed news' propaganda, which spits out racist spin 24/7. Many whites have had very little personal exposure to cultural diversity and no personal relationships with black people, and I'm not insensitive to this. What they know about blacks comes largely from sports, bad news and rap videos.
The racists among them, however, don't make the connection that the fixed news they watch is distorted, or that gangsta rap and movies are no different than violent movies they love so much like the Godfather, Kill Bill, Natural Born Killers, and long ago, Bonnie & Clyde, John Wayne and similar shoot 'em up westerns, Tarzan movies, or some of their own violent rock and country western music.
Sex and violence sells, but when black folks jumped on that gravy train, we got stereotyped from being lazy, dumb, over-sexed niggers to being lazy, dumb, over-sexed, drug-abusing, violent niggers, with a terrorist running for President.
If that ain't effed up and unfair, what is?
With only these distorted images in their unworldly heads to guide their beliefs and choices, it's not surprising that some are genuinely frightened of an Obama presidency. They know about enough about history and current discrimination to understand that if they had been born black, they'd be angry about it. Instead of taking Obama at his word and by his actions that he will be a President for ALL Americans, they fear that it will be payback time.
They couldn't be more wrong. Barack may push for programs and tax cuts that will well serve the middle and working classes, but he's a centrist who swings to the right on some his domestic and foreign policies.
He puts enormous distance between himself anyone who is labeled too 'pro-black'. Doing otherwise would scare off the skittish white voters on the fence, but I suspect he's uncomfortable with 'black anger'. This should surprise no one; he was raised by a white mother and white grandparents, in Indonesia and Hawaii. This man is as comfortable with his whiteness as his blackness and all religions.
Last week Rep. John Lewis criticized McCain for "sowing seeds of hatred" in his rallies.
McCain, the usual pundits for the Right, MSNBC's Pat Buchanan and CNN's Lou Dobbs, and others feigned outrage and denied the McCain campaign has deteriorated into a hate fest. Yesterday Buchanan was still having a hissy fit and figuratively thumping his Tarzan chest over Lewis, making yet another attempt at polluting the minds of American whites. The wonderfully anti-racist Chris Matthews of MSNBC put him in check.
Personally, I think some of the more volatile McCain-Palin cultists have been stirred up so much from these seeds of hate now bear fruit, that a number of innocent blacks will be assaulted and killed in random acts of violence if/when Obama wins.
It's already happening. This video news clip of a young black woman, minding her own damn business riding her bike, was run down by white guy who ranted and admitted doing this intentionally from his hatred of blacks.
Many blacks have noticed there's more hostility directed toward them in their routine activities. Gun and ammo sales must be good even in these tough economic times. Whites scared of blacks "taking over", and blacks are scared they'll attack us in acts of random or mob violence.
There are still a lot of racist cops out there, and it will take only one act of unwarranted police brutality to trigger a race riot - which will land more blacks rather than whites in the profitable and privatized neo-slave plantations prisons, and McCain-Palin supporters will be sitting in front of their TV's watching Fox News and saying, "yeah, see, I tole you so, but nooo, they had to go n' vote for that nigger. Good thing I bought some extra ammo."
As usual, the merchants of campaign lies and gun sales will reap profits from fear. McCain & Palin will too if their Tarzan & Jane strategy works, combined with their efforts to find or invent Obama's kryptonite.
Humorless right wingers love to hate this photo below of Obama playfully posed in front of a giant Superman statue. Fuck 'em.
I can't help but wonder if Barack's childhood hero was the same as mine. Superman lived by truth, justice, and the American Way.
So does Barack. He's young enough to be the baby brother I never had. I can picture him doing what I did at least one time as a young child, playing with a towel pinned around his neck and pretending to be Superman... never guessing that one day half of our country would look to him to fight for truth, justice, and the American Way.
