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May. 19, 2019

Lorraine Hansberry A Warrior For Justice So Much More Than A Raisin In The Sun

She was so much more than a raisin in the sun, Lorraine Hansberry, was also vigorous battler for black civil and social rights. When all sides were closing in on so many in the struggle for our rights both civil and social. Lorraine Hansberry spoke truth directly to power and confronting the supposedly chief advocate for justice Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. So today on her 89th birthday we should remember Lorraine Hansberry for more than having written possibly the best play ever by any playwright no matter the color. Remember Lorraine Hansberry who believed in the hopes and aspirations of our black nation; Lorraine Hansberry who believed in the gift of black excellence; Lorraine Hansberry who believed that race should never be the defining line for human achievement; Lorraine Hansberry who believed that every black child had the capacity to be young, gifted, and absolutely black. Happy Birthday Lorraine Hansberry you were taken from way to young in your journey but the footprints you left still shine majestically.

#theblackmanwhoreadsaloud

May. 17, 2019

My Self-Belief Credo To Overcoming Challenges

"Self-belief can defeat any of your current life obstacles. All you need to do is understand solutions or successes don't come overnight. The barriers weren't built overnight so you cannot expect them to be erased overnight. The pitfalls of life maybe pressing down on me but my brilliant brain continues to maximize its energy and creative juices. I will not be denied my newly set goals will be achieved. God has shown me my vision of accomplishment. This new path that I have undertaken is righteous and just. I will be like a strongly rooted bending oaktree facing the winds of anger. I may bend slightly but my trunk will not break. I may lose leaves and branches but I will withstand those negative forces that challenge me. You see no matter what the circumstances seem to reveal to others around me. I have seen another brightly illuminating path with calming winds and fair weather that will overcome these challenges to be overcome. This my personal decree, so it is said, so shall it be written and achieved. Feel free to make it yours today and set your course to a different path in life."
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#joesmokethoughts #thebattlecontinues #agemakesnodifference
May. 17, 2019

Re-enacting Brown

The forces of power in America never truly wanted to integrate the races. The truth is evident in the facts that public schools are more segregated now than they were in 1954. In addition, President Eisenhower said that his worst political decision was the appointment of Earl Warren as the Chief Justice. Also, President Eisenhower also imbued racism into a sizzling situation by saying that white southerners had a real argument of not wanting their white babies going to school with negro brutes after the decision. The reality of history has shown that Dr Derrick Bell’s alternative universe of the NAACP forcing the United States to fully and comprehensively implement Plessey v Ferguson was a far better strategy. Our black communities and institutions would’ve been protected and we wouldn’t have had to force a white nation that never wanted to integrate to integrate. What did King say before he was murdered? He said we integrated into a burning house of hate and injustice and the fire is still scorching hot. We can never step away now from that strategy and it looks as if the color line or the inequity line will continue to be a separating line in this the 21st century. The photo shown is from December 1953 when the final presentation or appeal was given by opposing counsel to the Supreme Court. The 1955 2nd Brown decision was more impactful when the court stepped back the May 17, 1954 decision was these words with all deliberate speed which basically allowed southern states to ignore the decision and of course northern states never felt that Brown was directed at them anyway so they continued with de facto racial segregation. Once those northern states were forced into busing of the races in the 70’s all hell broke loose proving that racism wasn’t just a southern issue it was America’s most confounding issue. This year 400 years after the first 20 slaves disembarked from that Portuguese ship onto the shores of Jamestown. The question still being asked is why one’s color still remains more important than the content of a man’s character.

May. 15, 2019

THE SCOTUS IS THE KEY

"First, let’s understand this Alabama’s new abortion law is unconstitutional as it doesn’t meet the legal requirements of Roe v. Wade. The state of Alabama is simply providing state cases that will force the SCOTUS to reconsider the Roe v Wade judicial mandate which authorizes a woman’s right to choose. We shouldn’t be concerned about Alabama’s new law because it cannot be implemented without going through the federal judicial appeal process. What we should, however, be concerned about is giving 4 more years to the current President. He can and will totally remake the SCOTUS which could legalize insane state laws like this one from Alabama and other southern states. Americans allowed the election of this President because a majority of our citizens refused to go to the polls. If we allow the same thing to happen in 2020 it could be disastrous to our civil and social rights for generations to come. The issue of States Rights once torn this nation asunder when the South wanted the institution of slavery expanded and protected. History has a way of repeating itself. So it is imperative that we understand the power of a single vote and use that vote to change the course of this nation. You see, America is currently off course and only its citizens involved and committed to change can get it back on the tracks towards progress."

#blackthoughts
May. 14, 2019

Brown Decision Failure

"“It’s hard to imagine that the 65th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Brown decision is coming this week. The fact that public schools are more segregated now than in 1954 is appalling, disgusting, disgraceful, and absolutely indicative of a country that has failed to confront the issue of racial equality. This nation’s leadership has done less to solve the issues of racial inequities that are prevalent in the schools populated by a majority of black students throughout this nation no matter the geographical region these schools are located. If the NAACP had hindsight or foresight to analyze the Supreme Court’s decision. You have to wonder if they would have utilized Dr. Derrick Bell’s alternative universe and demanded that separate was equal, rather than striving for an integrated solution which has been an absolute failure in public schools. This nation has never accepted integration or racial equality. So, the push for integration was a strategy that hasn’t panned out. The goal of demanding in 1953 a planned maximum influx of cash to bring a balanced system of two distinct racial systems was the best choice. Our black communities gave up so much to integrate and gained absolutely little economically and educationally. These are my provoked thoughts tonight almost 65 years from the day when our ancestors felt we won a miraculous right of educational and civil rights. Only to be tricked by a white society bent in keeping its foot on the throats of the black less fortunate.”

#theblackmanwhoreadsaloud"

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