Provoked Thoughts, Black American History Enhanced
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Jul. 7, 2019

Sunday's Provoked Thought

"I don’t mean any harm if you want to be excited about a USA women’s team winning a Gold Cup in soccer that’s cool but personally it’s simply another discretionary tactic by the 5% of the 1% to keep the majority of our country away from focusing on real issues that bring solutions to the numerous problems facing our nation. Sorry, but scoring soccer goals aren’t getting us any closer to bridging the economic, educational, and housing gaps that are prevalent in our communities today. You may have that personal momentary feeling of enthusiasm and maybe even a dose of national pride but within moments that sense of pride disappears and reality sets in you are still living in a nation that refuses to give our black communities any respect. Sorry, yes, I know that a person can focus on multiple things in your life. However, if all you really care about in life is sporting events and entertainment. You are most likely the prime example of how the diversionary strategies of this country's top 5% of the 1% are succeeding. I enjoy sporting events as much as anyone but these events will never bring about justice and equality in our communities. It that was the case the domination by black athletes in the major sports arenas of baseball, football, basketball, tennis, boxing, and track and field would have erased the disparities that still exist in our communities. That is the primary reason why you of us should indeed diversify and unleash your energies towards true social change in some meaningful matter or action." "

#theblackblogger
Jul. 6, 2019

The Free Agent & Trade Fallout In The NBA

After Kawhi’s decision and the Paul George Trade how the two conferences shake out.

There was a time in professional sports that playing in the Eastern Time Zone was essential for one’s career in sports as well as outside the game. Now it seems that professional basketball has made a dramatic shift and the real power in the NBA lies west of the St. Louis Archway.

Look at the seismic shift that occurred over the past year. The real power teams are now:

1. LA Clippers
2. LA Lakers
3. Denver Nuggets
4. Houston Rockets
5. Golden State Warriors
6. Utah Jazz
7. Portland Trailblazers

Most likely these either of these teams would dominate any Eastern Conference team in any best of 7 series. In addition, would battle for the #1 during the regular season.

The following Western Conference teams will most likely be playoff teams without any problem:

1. San Antonio Spurs
2. Dallas Mavericks
3. Sacramento Kings
4. Minnesota Timberwolves
5. New Orleans Pelicans

Only 1 of these 5 teams will make the playoffs next season in the Western Conference. Whereby all 5 of these teams are better than the 4-8 playoff teams in the Eastern Conference.

I think only the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and the Toronto Raptors are legitimate playoff contenders in the Eastern Conference but neither of these teams are title contenders. You really can’t put the Brooklyn Nets in this top 4 until next season when Kevin Durant is capable of playing.

No longer are the star players afraid of going West in playing at 10:00 PM or 11:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.

This may suck for ESPN, or TNT but the stars have spoken look at who have now chosen to go west:

George, Kawhi, James, Davis, Thompson and all the other stars on the Western Conference teams. Only Durant and Irving choose to stay or move to the Eastern Conference. There are bleak days ahead for scheduling in the East next season with so many mediocre teams. While seemingly every Western Conference game will be a dogfight.

Jul. 5, 2019

July 5, 1852 not July 4, 1852

Did you know that Frederick Douglass's famous speech "What To The Slave Is The Fourth Of July" was actually given on July 5, 1852, and July 4, 1852? Well, that is actually a true statement today is the 167th anniversary of the momentous speech. The speech was given to a majority white audience at Corinthian Hall in Rochester, New York. This powerful speech that emboldened northern abolitionists to truly start the ultimately successful fight that ended slavery in both of this nation's southern and border states by 1865. Frederick Douglass became one of the most committed man this nation ever produced in fighting the fight for human justice and equality.

Jul. 4, 2019

Stop It With This Talk Of Yellow Buses, Please!

I really didn't have a chance yet to respond to the last week's Democratic Party's Presidential debate when Kamala Harris confronted Joe Biden's past history related to his opposition of federally mandated school busing. No degree of busing, nor any legion of yellow buses filled with either black children or filled with white children is going to solve the race issue that America has faced for more than 400 years. When our African American leaders from the famous Supreme Court 1954 Brown v. Board of Education were victorious unanimously with the elimination of the racial standard of separate but equal. These leaders lead by the NAACP, SCLC, CORE, and the Urban League made a conscious decision to secure a standard of racial integration across this country. In the southern states over a period between 15-20 years federally mandated busing was the standard implemented to secure that supposed racial integration in the public school system. The major impediment in those southern states was the reality that you cannot force morality nor values on people who don't want to accept change. So the busing of school children no matter the race has proven to be an abject failure.

What last week was an emotional ploy by Kamala Harris during this debate to make Joe Biden seem to have racist motivations for declining to support federal legislation of busing. Now, Kamala Harris is backing off that position because, in reality, no mass number of buses solved the issue of racial balance in this country. Across the country today it is a known fact that public schools are more racially segregated in 2019 than these schools were as far back as 1964. America cannot bus it's way to racial equality. The race or color line is just as problematic in 2019 as it was in 1964, and in some ways further back in our nation's history. I am not a big Joe Biden supporter, nor am I a big Kamala Harris supporter. However, the reality is this if Joe Biden's racial stance against federally mandated busing in the 70s' was a huge issue. It surely would have been exposed during his recent runs with Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012. Kamala Harris wasn't uncovering any new information. I can assure you looking back many of our black leaders would've chosen a route away from forced busing to a route of equality of resources in our public schools over any process of failed integration for our black children.

I am a firm believer that had the NAACP forced the issue of true separate but equal public schools. Our black communities would've probably been further along in our educational institutions from Pre Kindergarten to Undergraduate as well as Graduate Schools. We as black communities simply gave up to much economic and educational strength by thinking that racism would be solved by forcing whites into conditions that they weren't ready to accept. Thereby forcing Plessey v. Ferguson to be implemented across the board in our communities would have been a route to reparations. So, today I will state unequivocally that no yellow bus of yellow buses has solved, or will ever solve the issues of racism that is prevalent in our nation today.

It is imperative if this country truly wants to reach a racial balance or equity across every institution. Our political leaders cannot create false emotional issues simply to draw support. Most of America's voters aren't complex enough to understand how our political candidates decide to move the approval needle. If you don't think Kamala Harris was all show for her statement related to federally mandated busing. Why did Kamala Harris back away from her position this week? This is my opinion and my opinion only. As I said eariler I am not a backer of Joe Biden, or Kamala Harris. Right now I am in the category of undecided until I hear some true solutions that will benefit our black communities. Yellow buses aren't that solution.

Jul. 4, 2019

The Black Blogger Writing and Speaking - Reflecting On The 4th Of July

Last year I created this post honoring the speech that Frederick Douglass gave related to the celebration of the 4th of July. I continue to be dispirited about America's 4th of July. Now, even more, so that the current resident in the supposed nation's house has decided to unleash military armaments in parade fashion in our nation's capital. It has always seemed questionable for Americans of African Descent to celebrate the 4th of July as some significant date in our black history as it relates to our acquired personal freedoms in this country. Yes, the 4th of July was the date that the white land owning colonists sent a message to England's King George in the form of the Declaration of Independence that it would no longer be under the rule of Great Britain's rule of monarchy. Yet the message never was intended to include freedom for any of our descendants who were held in the cruel institution of slavery.

So, when America lights the skies with fireworks each 4th of July it portents Black Americans to think long and hard about celebrating a date in history that only prolonged our status in the chains of a harsh condition of enforced slavery. Even when America formally won its independence from Great Britain after Yorktown slaves ships were still arriving on American shores filled with our ancestors. Each of the ancestors came to these shores with little or no hope of freedom. They were simply recognized as chattel property. Each faced a lifetime filled with the horrors that accompanied the immorality of American slavery. So, why do Black Americans celebrate the 4th of July? Didn't ancestor Frederick Douglass detail specifically that this celebration had no meaning to our ancestors?

The year of independence for Black Americans was supposed to have been finalized in 1870 when our male ancestors were given the right to vote by the 15th Amendment. This amendment followed the passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments that abolished slavery and gave all of our black ancestors the rights of citizenship and due process under the law. Yet America's callous history towards our black ancestors proved that paper laws never meant real black independence. Although, our black ancestors were always first in war sacrificing black blood for America's liberties. The true reciprocation of democracy by many whites towards our black ancestors was ignored. It actually wasn't until the years 1964 and 1965 that America implemented protections for citizenship rights as well as the right for our black ancestors to vote. That was only 55 years ago. Many black Americans living today remember the struggles that ensued battling for those rights.

Yet those battles don't mean that we accept the 4th of July, 1776 as the date of symbolic freedom. For in doing that we dishonor the historical fact that true black independence in America had to wait for another almost two centuries. My ancestors struggled in this nation for fair and equal treatment. I continue to struggle in this nation even in 2019 for fair and equal treatment. So, until true equality is a commonplace occurrence for all black Americans. It will be difficult for me, personally to celebrate white America's day of independence. When America truly honors the losses experienced by our black ancestors in a form of reparations and national apologies. Then, just maybe the 4th of July will become a true national day of recognition. Until then, it is simply the 4th day in the month of July, nothing less, nothing more.

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