Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as "Negro History Week" and later as "Black History Month." What you might not know is that black history had barely begun to be studied-or even documented-when the tradition originated. Although blacks have been in America at least as far back as colonial times, it was not until the 20th century that they gained a respectable presence in the history books.
Blacks Absent from History Books

We owe the celebration of Black History Month, and more importantly, the study of black history, to Dr. Carter G. Woodson. Born to parents who were former slaves, he spent his childhood working in the Kentucky coal mines and enrolled in high school at age twenty. He graduated within two years and later went on to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard. The scholar was disturbed to find in his studies that history books largely ignored the black American population-and when blacks did figure into the picture, it was generally in ways that reflected the inferior social position they were assigned at the time.
Established Journal of Negro History

Woodson, always one to act on his ambitions, decided to take on the challenge of writing black Americans into the nation's history. He established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (now called the Association for the Study of Afro-American Life and History) in 1915, and a year later founded the widely respected Journal of Negro History. In 1926, he launched Negro History Week as an initiative to bring national attention to the contributions of black people throughout American history.

Woodson chose the second week of February for Negro History Week because it marks the birthdays of two men who greatly influenced the black American population, Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln. However, February has much more than Douglass and Lincoln to show for its significance in black American history. For example:

    * February 23, 1868:
      W. E. B. DuBois, important civil rights leader and co-founder of the NAACP, was born.
    * February 3, 1870:
      The 15th Amendment was passed, granting blacks the right to vote.
    * February 25, 1870:
      The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels (1822-1901), took his oath of office.
    * February 12, 1909:
      The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded by a group of concerned black and white citizens in New York City.
    * February 1, 1960:
      In what would become a civil-rights movement milestone, a group of black Greensboro, N.C., college students began a sit-in at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter.
    * February 21, 1965:
      Malcolm X, the militant leader who promoted Black Nationalism, was shot to death by three Black Muslims.
    * More from the Black History Timeline

The Black Issues Quiz offers you an opportunity to test your knowledge on the people, places, issues, and history surrounding the struggle for academic equity. Each question is based on information published in the current or previous editions of Black Issues In Higher Education and is worth 10 points.

A perfect score of 100 grants membership in the prestigious and mythical Phi BIQeta Kappa honors society; a score of 80 to 90 grants membership in the Honor Society of BIQ Brains; a score of 60 to 70 grants membership in the Society of Not So BIQ Brains; and a score of 50 or below grants membership in the Reading Black Issues Is Fundamental program.

Think you are smart? Go ahead, give it a try? (Answer key appears at the bottom of the page.)

1) According to an analysis of Department of Education data, excluding Howard University, which Research I or II institution had the largest number of Black faculty members in the fall of 1995?

A -- University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
B -- University of Maryland-College Park
C -- Temple University
D -- Ohio State University

2) According to an analysis of Department of Education data, which Research I or II institution had the largest number of Hispanic faculty members in the fall of 1995?

A -- University of Texas-Austin
B -- Arizona State University
C -- University of Miami
D -- University of New Mexico-Main

3) According to National Science Foundation data, the top 100 research universities--among which there are no historically Black institutions--received how much money from 10 federal agencies in 1993-94?

A -- $600 million
B -- $140 million
C -- $12.7 billion
D -- $1.27 billion

4) According to National Science Foundation data, the top 81 historically Black colleges and universities received how much money from 10 federal agencies in 1993-94?

A -- $600 million
B -- $140 million
C -- $12.7 million
D -- $1.27 billion

5) According to Sallie Mae, what was the most popular method to pay for college in 1997?

A -- scholarships, grants, and work study
B -- parents' savings and income
C -- federally guaranteed student loans
D -- students' savings and income

6) According to a 1997 Center for Disease Control and Prevention report, how many African Americans have diabetes, either Type 1 or Type 2?

A -- 11.3 million
B -- 2.3 million
C -- 1.2 million
D -- 123,000

7) During the Orangeburg Massacre in 1968, students from which institution were killed by police gunfire?

A -- Kent State University
B -- University of California, Berkeley
C -- Jackson State University
D -- South Carolina State University

8) According to the 1997 Racial Report Card's analysis of National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) data, what percentage of Division I athletics directors were African American men?

A -- 9.1 percent
B -- 17.3 percent
C -- 6.1 percent
D -- 23.9 percent

9 According to information from the U.S. bureau of Prisons and the U.S. Department of Education, in 1995, there were more Black men in prison cells than in college and university classrooms.

A -- True
B -- False

10) Dr. Steve Alexander Favors left his post as vice president for student affairs at Howard University to become the president of which historically Black institution?

A -- Dillard University
B -- Grambling State University
C -- Alabama A&M University
D -- Fisk University

Answers: 1-A, 2-D, 3-C, 4-B, 5-C, 6-B, 7-D, 8-A, 9-A, 10-B

The US Supreme Court

The U.S. Supreme Court
Related Links

    * Milestones in Supreme Court History
    * Timeline: Civil Rights
    * Timeline: Affirmative Action
    * Timeline: African American History
    * The History of Affirmative Action
    * The History of Black History
    * Quiz: African-American History (for Kids)
    * 500 Notable African-American Biographies
    * African-American Quotations
    * Justice Overdue: Civil Rights Cases Reopened

(1) Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857)
Decreed a slave was his master's property and African Americans were not citizens; struck down the Missouri Compromise as unconstitutional.

(2) Civil Rights Cases (1883)
A number of cases are addressed under this Supreme court decision. Decided that the Civil Rights Act of 1875 (the last federal civil rights legislation until the Civil Rights Act of 1957) was unconstitutional. Allowed private sector segregation.

(3) Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)
The Court stated that segregation was legal and constitutional as long as "facilities were equal"—the famous "separate but equal" segregation policy.

(4) Powell v. Alabama (1932)
The Supreme Court overturned the "Scottsboro Boys'" convictions and guaranteed counsel in state and federal courts.

(5) Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)
The justices ruled that a court may not constitutionally enforce a "restrictive covenant" which prevents people of certain race from owning or occupying property.

(6) Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954)
Reversed Plessy v. Ferguson "separate but equal" ruling. "[S]egregation [in public education] is a denial of the equal protection of the laws."

(7) Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States (1964)
This case challenged the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court ruled that the motel had no right "to select its guests as it sees fit, free from governmental regulation."

(8) Loving v. Virginia (1967)
This decision ruled that the prohibition on interracial marriage was unconstitutional. Sixteen states that still banned interracial marriage at the time were forced to revise their laws.

(9) Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978)
The decision stated that affirmative action was unfair if it lead to reverse discrimination.

(10) Grutter v. Bollinger (2003)

The decision upheld affirmative action's constitutionality in education, as long as it employed a "highly individualized, holistic review of each applicant's file" and did not consider race as a factor in a "mechanical way." 

Why Afro-Americans are relevant in America today

We Afro-Americans are in another of our periods of occupation. Ours is a history of occupations, stretching back over the centuries – the Rothschild's, the Lincolns, the Roosevelt's, J. Edgar Hoover, the stock market crash, for a short period segregation, and again, the Bush's.

Yet, the African-Americans remain.

The Blacks remain.
Why you may ask?
Because over the centuries we learned how to survive conquest. Sometimes by fighting back, but more often by adapting to the ways of the conqueror.

You say we are supine, "a race of slaves"?

Not so I say. Never forget our pride.

We are large in numbers, and powerful enough to be dangerous to the conqueror.

Why do we remain, why were we not decimated?

The answer is that each succeeding wave of conquerors discovered that the enslaving of blacks, the hanging, and the pilaging, the raping, and the looting – all of this was only the first step in conquest.

Someone had to rebuild the country. Someone was needed to till the fields, and bring in the harvest required to feed the conqueror. And someone else was needed to serve as the buffer, to protect the conquered from the conqueror.
That is what the Blacks have done.

Over the centuries we developed certain skills. Without selling ourselves to the victors, we learned how to blunt their assault.
We learned how to lead without appearing to lead. When to move forward, and when to retreat.

What you must understand is that for most conquerors "conquest" is an end in itself,
but for us, for an African-American it's only the beginning.

But now, at this stage, what do we do?

WE WAIT…

But waiting does not mean we're doing nothing.

These Structures around the country are less than 500 years old. The oppressed, (be they slaves or natives) built Structures before these. Structures are perishable, buildings come down and skyscrapers go up. High-rise apartment buildings, another structure. The government insist on building them and we cannot stop them.

They are the conquerors. But what we can do is make certain that
African-American laborers are employed to put up those structures.
BLACK masons Black plumbers and Black electricians, feeding their families on high government wages. Higher wages than we ever dreamt of in slavery. Let them build their skyscrapers, and while they build, we grow.

In what sense, you ask? The answer is: That African Americans breed faster than they expect us too. Higher wages lead to larger families. In time we will be the majority then we will vote their asses into the ocean. Enter...

"Barrack Obama".

Jaye Swift

Black
Liberation
Organization
Overcoming
Discrimination

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A poem for Caroline

(in neo classicism 17th Century)

 

Oh Caroline, oh Caroline, thy greatest love of mine

Thou, art the fairest, and, thy beauty hast no time

 

Thou hast traveled the world over, centuries, to and fro

Thy nose is artistically sculptured, by the hand of Van Gogh

 

Thine eyes are emeralds, thy teeth, like pearls

Thy golden tresses cascade, long to unfurl

 

Thou hast eluded vagabonds, wagerers, and the poor

Many a battle has been lost for thou love, but thy alone winneth the war

 

Laborers dreameth of thou companionship

Whilst wealthy men keen sense if accomplishment

 

Kings, and queens alike casteth claim upon thine heart

But lack of thy spirit, hath kingdoms thorn apart

 

Oh Caroline, oh Caroline, I matrimone, in lust

Let thy creation of the union be suckling from thou bust

 

Please not heareth amongst the mute, the plagueth many others

For thou gaveth life infinite, allst he needeth ist mother

 

Please not turneth arctic, for an orphan, he is not

Just the sum of two energies colliding, continuously in one spot

 

Oh Caroline, oh Caroline, thy grandest obsession I find

I wagered with my life, alas I'm out of time

 

Jaye Swift

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Winter Fever

(in romanticism 19^th century)

 

I rise in the dawn and smell the tension of the beast

Its howl … panasonic-like throughout the petrified forest

Its breath prickling amongst the limitations of my shawl

 

Will this be the dusk we fall prey to its devourment?

Not if we make hast in our abilities

I shudder at thoughts of dawn passing dusk

 

With no topped off partitions, or secured lens

But a skilled craftsman's' tool is active and accurate

If efficient in my dwelling then my goal is obtainable

 

The blond rays warm me over; it must be high noon now

Mystified and engulfed in the emerald littered carpet

The busy beaver I am not, for I've neglected my duties

 

Semi-conscious of the hawk circling above the glorious horizon,

Dissecting its route to consumption I cast down the die in competition of escape

Fleeing for my lives faster and faster, I feel a presence hovering above my shoulder

 

The razor-like claws lacerate my spine, as we lift off above the clouds

Then I am released, spiraling down, I crash, and …

I die a million deaths in the dawn

 

Jaye Swift

Ignorance - A disease best inoculated with knowledge …


What is a disease?
Disease: An abnormal condition of the organism or part that impairs normal physiological functioning, especially as a result of infection, inherent weakness or environmental stress.
2: A condition or tendency as of society regarded as abnormal and harmful.

There are many kinds of diseases: sickle-cell, leukemia, cancer, polio, heart-, lung-disease and ignorance. Just to name a few. I care to expound on ignorance.

Ignorance is a legitimate infectious virus which has plagued today's African-Americans. Ignorance acts as any organism would: by penetrating vulnerable open wounds (in our community), met with little or no resistance, hindering the normal progression of our people.
Ignorance can be transmitted in several fashions.
Infection: You can be infected with ignorance through unprotected sex, drug use, excessive drinking, through social association, as well as political.
Inheritance: You can inherit ignorance from your parents since kids learn by example, more so than from instruction from a parent. A parents' moral fiber is the conditioning of how a child will be raised. If a parent is consistently successful in its relationships with school, work, people, its children more than likely will become patient. If a parent is drunk and abusive (which is displaying ignorance) the child is more likely to be violent and abrasive.
Environmental: You can be affected by environmental ignorance almost every day. Let's say you're driving in the freeway and an impatient driver decides he needs to be in the fast lane, from the far right lane. He hits his blinker, then immediately merges left, cutting off driver after driver. Then – bam – he hits you! You have just been affected by "environmental ignorance". The same goes for school shootings: Columbine and Virginia Tech. The students were going about their daily routine of education and – bam, bam, bam…. Environmental ignorance.
But I'd like to focus more on infection: Infection implies two stages – healthy, then unhealthy transformation. Ignorance of this nature is extremely damaging, for it can morph into a deep rooted ignorance. An ignorance so hideous, it destroys for centuries ("The gift that keeps on giving"), and the only way to get it out is to have it surgically removed ("make an incision at the point of entry, and have it sucked out, like the poison it is") or it'll just eat away at the central nervous system until it corrodes its hosts' entire core, crippling its normal functioning abilities. This is the ignorance that has plagued the African-American.
Why, you may ask? Well, we find it hard to love ourselves as a people. We still bite into the American propaganda that we're second class citizens, that we're not as good. This is why when we do achieve a little individual success or accumulate a little money, we express the need to look like we have money. We can't happy as a normal person. Let's just say we'd rather be a star, not realizing we already are. And, if we have to live normal and labor every day, for normal wages, we want all the luxuries that go along with it; all the bells and whistles. Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't strive, or be prosperous, but if we don't make the "A-list", it's not the end of the world. We still torment ourselves with the memory of slavery over 200 years ago. Over 200 years ago and it has still an affect on us? Damn! That's deep rooted ignorance. Most of us have never ever seen a plantation. If you'd like to see a working plantation, go to a prison – not County Jail or Youth Authority – prison. You work for $19 a month. And the prisons don't buy from outside. They make and grow everything on location. That's a 1,000 % profit. Yes, our ancestors were slaves, a long, long time ago, but look at us now… "We did that." We're not normal people. To survive 400 years of slavery and oppression then to persevere in the same country is not normal. Regular people don't do this. This is extraordinary, we can be proud. I know my ancestors would be proud of you.
Why are "well to do" blacks so selfish with other in their race? And their favorite line is "I didn't get rich by giving money away".
Why are "well to do" blacks selfish?
"Well to do" blacks suffer from ignorance called snobbism. They've fought hard to get the success they have, whatever it is. And if you can duplicate it, or them, they're not so special. Their value depreciates. It's like everybody has a goose that lays golden eggs. Also, they despise ones' inferiors and their condescension arises from social or intellectual pretension.
It's the "Willie Lynch"-syndrome. Allow me to elaborate. Willie Lynch was a slave owner in the West Indies and he wrote letters to the slave owners in America on how to control their slaves and run a strong plantation. He said: "You have to turn them against each other. You have to pit the light against the dark, the young against the old, the favored against the shunned, the house negro against the field negro. Simply: Divide and conquer." The machinery of the government of America has perpetuated this strategy ever since. A mother, who needs a welfare-check against the baby's daddy, puts him out to receive one. A father struggles to make ends meet and his son who watches rap videos and wants to be "ballin'" and starts selling drugs. A grandmother, who favors the child with the good hair and light eyes as opposed to loving all her grandchildren equally. True story: I was out clubbing and I saw this very fine "sista". Long, straight, black hair down her back, body that won't quit and her ass was bananas. So I told her: "My African-American sistas are gorgeous!" She looked at me and said: "I'm not black, I am part Indian." So my retort was: "In the end, you still a nigga."
This type of infection is called the "forbidden mirror". This beautiful lady would rather be a low budget mix of another race, than be a top of the line pure African American beauty queen. Anytime you say you're a percentage of another nationality then you're considered a cheapened, devalued version. It's like buying liquor: you want 100% proof, not the watered down 40%. And that's where she diluted her own word. She can either be cheap champagne or expensive vodka.
Also, say you're out promoting your entrepreneurialism and you patronize African Americans. The male is reluctant to support you, because you look like him. And if he couldn't do it and you look like him, he doesn't believe you can do it. His attitude is 'how dare you try to be something', when he knows firs hand you're not gonna be successful. This is simply another case of the "forbidden mirror". Subconsciously you look too much like a loser, but – the loser you look like – is him.
How do we treat this disease? We have to treat ignorance with literacy. While Lunch once said "Black women are mother horses: if you teach them to eat from your hand, they in turn will teach their colts to do the same." This is a horrible depiction of my Nubian goddesses and I'm appalled to have to relay such a demeaning statement, but it has a very minute fact in it.
Women who are on welfare solely with no other legit income, their children will have utilized the system in one way or another. Either they're incarcerated, or on welfare, or in foster care. There are success stories with public assistance - a lot of them, but right now we're treating ignorance.
Let's turn this negative into a positive, shall we? Let's give them a different hand to eat from. Let's give them the hand of confidence and self esteem, or the hand of assurance and encouragement. Instead of 'dinner and a movie', do 'dinner and a museum'. Instead of chocolates and flowers give her a rare book or novel. Give her kids library cards. History books are boring unless you don't have to read them. Find movies that evolved from books and buy the book for the kids. Instead of Disney Land, go to Science Fairs. Join a book club, instead of a music club. If it becomes second nature to buy reading materials, she will teach her children to "read first and ask questions later". Decorate your house with encouragement and positive slogans. Use the power of positive thinking. Norman Vincent Peale suggests "if you can see it and you can believe in it, you can achieve it". Kids go to the fridge constantly; leave them a positive phrase in big letters for them to read every day, the same phrase. Something like "A quitter never wins, a winner never quits", or "Be a leader, not a follower", or even "Only dopes do dope". Then find positive acronyms. Find positive acronyms like P.E.A.C.E. Positive energy attracts creative evolution. There are many of them out there, or you can create you own.
It doesn't matter what you read, as long as you do read. The more you read the more you will aspire to be intellectual.
Literacy manifests information, information breeds knowledge, knowledge begets intellect and intellect bears wisdom.
In conclusion we have to give books the same quality time we give television. We want to watch the playoffs and the fights. And the ladies wants their shows, kids want their cartoons. If you watch TV for 9 hours, split that in half: 4 ½ for books, 4 ½ for TV. If you know your shows come on (in 3's or 4's) plan for it. Get your reading out of the way. The equivalent time allotted for three or four shows. Try this for one month straight; I guarantee you will see immaculate change.
But, to tune in is really just tuning out. As African Americans we need any and every advantage we can get. Because we're the future, we are the dream and we have the ability. So when opportunity knocks, we can answer emphatically.

I was reading a history book about the system of "royal absolutism", where the king was in theory and in fact an autocrat, responsible to God alone. Such as Louis XIV of France. He was the supreme and only lawgiver. Louis squandered the resources of this realm in his passion for military conquests. He possessed the strongest generals and army and in 1667 he marched in, and laid claim to the rich Spanish Netherlands. The Dutch formed an alliance with England and Sweden and forced Louis to withdraw. So he invaded the Dutch provinces. William of Orange, with the aid of his old enemies, the Spanish and Austrian Hapsburgs enabled them to "checkmate" Louis. William of Orange and his wife Mary (William & Mary University) replaced King James II on the throne of England, led and anti-French coalition consisting of England, Holland, Austria, Spain, Sweden and a few German states and forced him to sign a compromised peace in which he gained little. I observed a few things in this book, for instance the absence of Africa, all of these countries under one leadership, were jockeying for the 1st place position, and all of these countries went to war with each other but signed peace treaties without animosity. All developed navies to protect their borders and all learned from each others advancements in technology. All practiced a sovereign government "monarchy". Spain had Phillip V, Austria had Maria Theresa, England had Queen Elizabeth and King James I and II, France had Louis XIII and XIV, Prussia had Hohenzollern, Scotland had James Stuart, Great Britain had George III, Russia had Peter the Great, who traveling as plain Peter Mikilailov, worked as a common ship carpenter on order to learn Dutch methods of shipbuilding. Sweden had Gustavus Adolphus. Catherine the Great was a German princess who married the Russian heir to the crown. Poland without natural borders to aid in its defense was a handicapped nation. In addition it was dominated by reactionary nobility, whose insistence on retaining its feudal liberties rendered the central government virtually powerless. The monarchy was elective and the Poles usually could not agree on the choice of a king, from amongst their own faction. Only two native-born Poles had been elected to the throne in 200 years.
I've also read about "healthy wars" and war strategy. Relationship-building wars. Nobility marrying nobility to secure kingdom wealth. Or advancement in dominance of power. This interaction, I think, was very necessary to gain respect and Africa's absence was detrimental to its own existence. For the Europeans did not fear them. I also believe that the countries of Europe were wise to practice "absolutism". In the event of an emergency a decision can be brought forth swiftly. Had Africa practiced absolutism they could have prepared rapid strategy for defense. In the early years, countries showed brute strength and a willingness to execute anyone who spoke against their king, this also was very important. The absence of Africa in this contributed to its appearance as nothing more than a tropical paradise - an island of wealth and riches, ripe for their picking. I believe that Africa had too many chiefs and not enough Indians that their inability to elect one sole ruler, led to what I like to call "Polandism": This is when a country's inability to consistently and effectively elect a ruler and advancement strategies, leads to arrested development. As we know the continent of Africa is extreme with maybe 65 countries. I believe that all the internal bickering and civil unrest, could have been ruled upon and laid to rest, had they practiced a sovereign staff, giving them opportunity to industry. That lack of a navy to patrol it borders was also a contribution to the inadequate defense of Africa. Had they practiced "healthy wars" and strategies they could have prevented the inevitable ("a house divided against itself shall soon crumble") - the enslavement of Africans.
Why was the enslavement of Africans inevitable? Thomas Hobbs (1588-1679) composed the most penetrating and influential justification of absolutism. Hobbs discovered what he believed to be the essential nature of man, when not restrained by law. Hobbs saw man "as a wolf to a fellow man" and mankind as essentially selfish and cruel. Before law and authority came into existence, men lived under the adverse conditions of the state of nature. The second law of nature: kill or be killed to create a workable society and escape from the intolerable evils of the state of nature, men surrendered all their rights and powers to a sovereign government. (The first law of nature: Self preservation)
The Europeans were encouraged by the monarchy to conquer and retrieve treasures, which was the natural order of their era. As to be expected, giving the race for dominance and power, the more gold and silver a nation obtained, the more powerful it was thought of. Many Europeans believed that "money is the sinews of war" (it is only the abundance of money in a state that determines its greatness and power). Jean Baptiste Colbert
When the Europeans ascended on Africa they were not prepared for their findings. The abundance of wealth and riches – their eyes became greedy, their hearts larcenous and staying true to their nature, with no law to restrain them they ruthlessly slaughtered and obliterated unsuspecting African villages. The British for saw wealth in the land (the diamond mines), the Dutch, not being as cultured as the French and the English, sought wealth in the African people (the slave trade). The Spanish and the French soon followed suit. The French invested value in African culture and artifacts as well. Kings and queens alike were captured and pummeled into slavery. Princes and princesses, too, found themselves at the mercy of the treacherous. This method of torture became common practice and law in the wilderness of North Africa for centuries.
"You can tell the true content and character of a person in how they treat others they don't have to be nice to."
Let's fast forward to present day, 2008. Let me just say for the record, I don't think that slavery and the oppression of African-Americans would have lasted so long, had mother Africa not been so fruitful and plentiful in her abundance. Many nations have been like sucklings from her nourishment (Great Britain, France, Spain, North America, South America by way of Spain, Jamaica and the Virgin Islands by way of the British and the Dutch). I left the Dutch for last, for it was their brainstorm to start the slave trade. When I look at Holland's growth in comparison with their European peers, I see them as critically underdeveloped. I like to think of it as justice for their hand in the slave market. When I look at African-Americans today I see collectively our wealth surpasses Holland's (again justice).
In my opinion, had the Dutch invested wisely in the agriculture of mother Africa they would've faired better, like their European counterparts. Slavery has been abolished 200 years, but mother Africa is still putting out to this day (justice).
Also, in my interaction and relationships with Europeans, I find them sincerely apologetic for the role their ancestors played and their involvement in slavery. I believe that if they (today's' Europeans) could do something about it they would. I think that's why when African-American "Superstars" go to Europe they're held in high regards.
I my opinion, reparations, or a formal apology could not come from the White House or the United Nations, it would implicate too many important American forefathers (Jefferson, Madison, Lee, Houston, Churchill, Franklin, Stevenson, Bush, Grant, Lincoln, Adams, Jackson and Washington, just to name a few). To get a formal apology would admit wrong doing, which leads to a crime which can cross over into "war crimes" committed by Europeans as well as the United States, thus leading to lawsuits for African-Americans against all showing profits from slavery (like Jewish people for the holocaust). Since mother Africa's resources have been sprinkled throughout the world that would be a lot of reparations. It'd just be too much to give back, so they will not even consider opening that can of worms.
In my opinion, African-Americans are in the same state of mind as pre-slavery Africans. We still live in a "Utopia- state of mind", full of luxuries and leisure's and pleasantries with our tropical stimulants (marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, etc.), keeping us docile, tranquil and ignorant. Yes – ignorant!
How can we (after 400 years of oppression & 60 years of drug addiction) consider putting foreign chemicals in our holy temple- into the body of the physically superior? (Well, not any more) We've lost our edge. African-American women used to be the envy of all women. (The lips, the hips, the breast, the rest) and, fellows, do we really think our endowment is a race building issue? We've become satisfied with the "pursuit of happiness" without gain.
We still possess riches in abundance, we have no clue what to do with it, except become primary consumer for every enterprising merchant (houses, cars, clothes, liquor, rims, jewels) as we did pre-slavery. Collectively we could fund our own country, if we possessed land the size of Manhattan.
We shall possess nobility. All the rap stars, movie stars, singers, athletes, (Oprah, Jordan, Magic, Jay-Z, Russell, 50Cent, DRE, Lil Wayne, O'Neal, Bush, McNabb, Tomlinson, Cosby, Halle, Eddie, Griffey, Bonds, A-Rod, just to name a few) have celebrity status. Just our nobility alone would be an extremely tremendous tourist attraction and the world would flock to our country.
We still possess no elected sovereign government of African-Americans, by African-Americans, for African-Americans. Still possess internal bickering and civil unrest. We still have no number-1 ruler, no autocrat, and no supreme and only law-giver. We still suffer from "Polandism" (still possess reactionary leaders). We still possess no navy, no strategies of advancement. In fact, we rely on the very same government that enslaved and tortured our ancestors for 400 years to protect us and we expect them to be just with our health, wealth and nobility.
We've acquired wealth without responsibility, intelligence without authority and ability without recognition.
In my opinion all the world over would champions, African-Americans and the American government shaking of hands, and putting this atrocity of slavery to rest. I think if black and white make peace in America, the world over could be at peace. I think tension mounts when European whites interact with blacks until the initial introduction and conversation. I think what happened was absurd, I also think what we're asking is absurd. It's like, we want them to put themselves in slavery. Not going to happen. The Asian tourists have somewhat shied away, in lieu of the history they expect us to take to the streets in massacre. So, in truth all races outside America champion a compromise and harmonious solution – most African-Americans do, too. I just don't see it coming to pass, inside America, it's too easy for both sides to rehash old grievances and reopen old wounds.
Slavery: Where were we before, where are we after? Where will we be in the future?Are we in a similar state of mind as pre-slavery Africans? The ineffective productivity, the arrested development, the reactionary leaders? The next 75 years may not be as generous if history repeats itself.
In conclusion: We need to change our political strategy. We need a government outside the American government, inside America. We need to set up our own voting system. Get candidates to run and elect an African-American president for African-Americans, outside the White House, inside America. We need our own government to keep their eyes on the machinery of the American government. We don't need reactionary leaders waiting for something to happen. We need our own African-American "think-tanks". We need a 15-year, a 50-year and a 100-year strategy for the advancement of African-Americans. We need to establish an African-American bank, to find an African-American president. We need to get serious politically about our future as a race and a people.
A people cannot fund liberty, when they respect the memory of its chains. A people will not look forward to posterity if it has never looked backward to their ancestors.

JAYE SWIFT

  According to John Locke (1632-1704) the mind at birth is like a blank tablet on which the experience gained through the senses is recorded. Locke maintained that, of itself, the mind has no innate power to grasp reality. In acquiring knowledge the mind is not, however completely passive for reflection plays an important role. By the process of associating experiences received through different senses, by extending the application of past experience to new situations and old ideas react on one another. Complex ideas are built up from simple ones and can be broken down into the components of original sensory experiences, and reflections. This was known as empiricism.

I would care to expound on Locke's theory for a moment. Understanding that this great mind had the disadvantage of being born in the seventeenth century and having his essay published in 1670. I can clearly comprehend his primitive expression. I, in turn analyze the mind as a DNA-based computer. At birth both, the mind and the computer, are empty. Both are programmed by its parent and siblings, and data is inputted. Experience gained through different senses if you connect a microphone and camera to the computer, both can register and process sound, volume, and exhibit photographic memory. If both are ignored, both will command the vessel that incases the mind to respond to neglect. Both have memory banks that through reflection both can extract data. Both can multi-task by opening more than one window at a time. Hence the expression 'I'm thinking of a million things at once'. Both strategize and analyze.

However, I'm not completely convinced with John Locke's statement 'the mind has no innate power to grasp reality'.

Let's analyze the youngest mind: an infant

An infant is fed and diapered and laid to rest. When she is wet again, she will cry to be changed, and the same if hungered.

This is routine for the next three months. Scheduled feedings, diaperings, baths, etc.

Alas she cries an un-scheduled cry, totally out of the blue, the parent (let's say the father. I'm partial to fathers, me being one myself) hurries to tend to his daughter. Once he picks her up she stops crying. Father carries daughter while gathering everything he needs to assist him. First he tries to feed her, but he can't seem to get the bottle to stay in. After a while he sees the problem: the baby's tongue is pushing the nipple out of her mouth. Father assess', daughter is not hungry, she must be wet. Father puts daughter down to change her. Daughter starts to cry. Father removes diaper: to his surprise, daughter is not wet, but she's crying such a river. What could it be? Father picks daughter up to comfort her, daughter stops crying. Father and daughter run through the cycle once more. Father assesses, daughter just wants to be held and father obliges until daughter is comfortably off to sleep. What have we learned?

1) Daughter (after three months on earth) has grasped the reality, that when she makes a certain sound people rush to accommodate her.

2) Daughter (after three months on earth) was aware of the sounds she made and had to choose one that would get her the results she needed.

a) the gurgling sound (no)

b) the baby-talking sound (no)

c) the baby-laughing sound (no)

d) the crying sound (yes)

3) Daughter (after three months on earth) was also aware of her necessities and assessed that she was

a) wet (no)

b) hungry (no)

c) cold (no)

d) lonely (yes)

4) Daughter (after three months on earth) can predict the actions and re-actions of each parent.

5) Daughter (after three months on earth) is aware which parent will give her the results she's seeking and chooses the opportune time to execute her plan. Had it been mother, who's mostly with daughter, she would be wise to the game and turn on the mobile or put daughter in a bouncer. Any deterrent to avoid constantly holding her, so she can work around the house) and of course spoiling her. Father did not, father was a willing participant, alas daughter was victorious.

Daughter: assessed the situation

1) had an objective

2) devised a strategy

3) contemplated a target

4) gathered weapons and ammunition

5) waited for opportunity

6) executed her plan

 

20,000 parents have been surveyed on Myspace; 87% have had this experience, thus proving the mind as innate power to grasp reality.

 

The mind has three states:

Consciousness, un-consciousness and sub-consciousness:

Consciousness: Doing or acting with critical awareness. Having mental faculties undulled by sleep, faintness or stupor.

Consciousness – the quality or state of being aware; the totality of conscious states of an individual. The upper level of mental life of which the person is aware, as contrasted with unconscious processes.

Un-: Having meaning positively opposite to that of the base word.

Un- – Do the opposite of: reverse (a specified action) contrary to:

Un-consciousness: Doing or acting without critical awareness

 

Unaware. Instinct [sleepwalking]: driving through a neighborhood, a ball bounces in front of you. Instinctively you hit the brakes; a child comes from the sidewalk and retrieves it. Not thinking you check your rear-view mirror and continue cautiously.

 

Sub: Under, below, secretly from below, beneath, bordering on below the surface.

Sub-consciousness: In my analysis:

I liken the sub-conscious to the internet experience. While browsing the internet you enter different websites, hundreds of windows are open to you. You window-shop, browse, research, download songs, etc. You've been to hundreds of sites. You have not signed up for anything specific. You're just on there having fun. You log off until the next day.

You log on the next day and have 'e-mails' from sites you never registered with. You have 'POP Ups" trying to coerce you into purchasing. Every hour you are flooded with 'junk mail' and you're wondering 'how did they get my e-mail address?' You never registered with any of them.

Well, once you enter a website, cookies attach themselves to your signal and you've opened a line for them to trace back to your ISP. It's like they follow you home and live in your basement and annoy the hell out of you, unless you go into your hard drive and delete them.

Let's analyze the mature mind:

Your every day life occurrences: You go to school or the mall; you have coffee, meet and greet people, try on clothes, shoes; eat lunch, talk on the cell phone, etc. You've done this on a regular basis for years: meet your boyfriend for dinner, go to baseball games, go swimming, jump off a diving board, or two. You're just living life and having fun. Whatever you've done with your life – you physically contacted, touched, tasted, smelled, heard and seen life.

Imagine you're sleeping and in your dream you're falling (I won't pretend to interpret your dream), but you wake up, heart beating fast, sweating – it's like you were really there, it was so real.

Life's cookies have attached themselves to your sub-conscious hard drive. And while going about your day, something you encountered sent you a subliminal 'e-mail'. Whatever you've seen, read, smelled, tasted or touched made an intimate impact on you, and you were unaware. So when you went to sleep (I don't like to use this word, because 'sleep' in past history meant death, and some say 'sleep is the cousin of death'. I'd like to incorporate 'rest' instead. Plus, as you know, the mind never sleeps) your consciousness checked your sub-conscious hard drive in your state of un-consciousness (rest) and opened a subliminal 'e-mail' called 'falling'. 'Falling' has impacted your sub-conscious, whether you're diving or just felt strongly about someone else's fall; or just looking over an edge thinking of falling. 'Falling' has impacted you beneath the surface of your consciousness and every day life. As you walk through life there are millions of subliminal messages around you. They're not aimed at any particular individual, but they are meant to cause a response (to vote a certain way, or something as simple as buying refreshments). But one must understand: Life is the internet. The world, country, state, county and city we live in, is the internet. The sub-conscious is just acting as the at-home-modem that connects us to the internet. The sub-conscious is not the internet, just the ISP (Internet Service Provider). And your dreams are your 'e-mails' from interacting with life ('the internet')

Have you ever had an idea just pop into your head? For example: You're working in your office and out of nowhere you picture a 'Jamba Juice Smoothie' and you want to taste the citrus-acid on your tongue; the coolness of the juices. But you're at work and it's not break time yet, so you keep working. Then, while you're at your desk, you picture fruit: Sliced bananas, strawberries, pineapples sitting on fresh white snow, and your mouth tries to taste it, but can't. And you think: "I can just sneak out for five minutes." But no – it's not professional. These are life's 'internet pop-ups.

The sub-conscious has been sent a subliminal message and the sub-consciousness has relayed the subliminal message (re-processed in visualized format) to your state of consciousness, which in turn allows you to consciously visualize the recreation of the fruit in real time. Hence the term 'pop-up'.

In my analysis I've dabbled in many stages of the mind, in its different states you've seen:

- Conscious interaction with the conscious (daughter and father)

- Sub-conscious interaction with the un-conscious (sleep walking)

- Conscious interaction with the un-conscious (driving)

- Conscious interaction with the sub-conscious (e-mails)

- Sub-conscious interaction with the conscious (pop-ups)

 

This is just a few stages of the human mind. If you hold a jewelers'' loop to a perfect diamond, you probably still wouldn't see as many facets and levels as the mind itself. Most deter, or refrain from analyzing the mind, because of its complexities, and its unstableness. Also, technology has yet to come up with a legitimate instrument to calibrate its levels accurately; thus becoming a non-exact science. But through association, if we can begin to understand the similarities, and if we can comprehend the functions of the things that act and respond similar, then we've begun to unravel one of life's most complex puzzles.

 

This is just a fundamental expression and manifestation of my analysis for the average person to understand. Any reproduction or duplication without the express written consent of the author or the publisher is a violation of applicable laws. This concludes my analysis.

Jaye Swift

When the curtain drops and the fans go home, when the entourage disperses and the groupies jump ship, when the lights come on and the janitors lock up, what happens to your people? The one who took the bullet for your? The ones who "bust they guns" for you? Where do they go? When there are no more shopping sprees and no more V.I.P.’s. "Where ya mens ’n dem now"?

Truth is, everybody can’t be a star, and to just support those who are blessed with talent is hypocrisy in every aspect to the black race. What happens to the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the victims of the drug dealers? In order for Frank Lucas, Nicky Barnes, Rich Porter and Freeway Rick to persevere, there had to be drug users. In order for Rayful Edmonds and Guy Fisher to prosper there had to dope-fiends. Dope-fiends with kids, jobs, mortgages (rents), futures and functioning contributions to society, whose children’s lives were destroyed, in the wake of an all out unsuspected chemical war, waged and engaged on the black community. Where is their support system?

You see it would be easy to perpetuate the propaganda, that there is a grant here, and a scholarship there, for all blacks who want it. Hind sights being 20/20, the recipients of these gifts were predestined.

So, band-wagoning your support is only a façade to mask the stroking of your own ego, so that you can brag ("Hey, look yall, I backed a winner"), when in actuality those scholars were conditioned and bred for college anyway, which just exhibits your opportunistic, blood-sucking nature, because they were winning without you. Which (actualizes in truth) you have inherited the characteristics and traits of the oppressor.

 But what of the African-Americans whose only inheritance is a dependency gene pool? If you give them too many sodas, they’re hooked on sodas. If you give them too many video games they’re hooked. Too many shoes, they’re hooked. Clothes, bottled water, sex, etc. Hooked, hooked, and hooked.

What talk of those? What talk of those African-Americans? Whose only legacy was handed down generation to generation from great-grand-parents or grand-parents or parents. Those African-Americans whose dependency gene pool gives them a chemical imbalance which disables them to form close relationships, that hinders them from being able to love and trust fully. That disables their temperamental skills, enabling them to control their anger and fits of rage. What talk of them? A legacy that impairs their response and reaction time. A legacy that disfigures their ability to learn, to comprehend, to process information. Where is their support system?

Somehow this is acceptable to America, as long as we suffer in silence. As long as we go home, and be with our "a-likes" (others like us). America has convinced itself that it’s not that bad. America is still in constant denial that it happened at all, when in fact the co-conspirators were the FBI’s co-intelligence under the direction and supervision of J. Edgar Hoover and his affiliates. Dr. King was a genius, in a way; he chose to expose America to what it is to the world. America tried to present itself as moral and just to African-Americans, but Dr. King showed them he could not walk down a southern Alabama street without being attacked by police dogs, or sprayed with a fire hose. This is why Hip Hop will continue to express the atrocities and pain that has afflicted us for centuries. We refuse to suffer in silence and before we die we’re going to make our presence felt. Since we’ve acquired nothing, we have nothing to lose, so don’t be surprised (that while on our way to our graves) if we reach up and snatch one of you bloodsucking, leeching ass, opportunistic, jovial, rich sons of bitches in the grave along with us.

You may complain about us on the news. You may have discussions about us on your talk shows. You may even belittle us, in private along with your "a-likes". But ask yourself (truthfully), did you honestly try to help us? Yes, you band-wagoned the college crowd, but our kind … we ain’t going to college. We ain’t the star. Where is our support system? Someone once said (I forget who), if you don’t vote don’t bitch about the government. The same goes for us. If you won’t help us, fine, we don’t want your help. But don’t bitch about us, when we wind up in your living room, in the middle of the night with a ski-mask on. Don’t bitch about us when you come home and all your valuables have vanished. You see, you can’t kill us off, so we ain’t going nowhere. And we’re breeding more like us. So keep looking over your shoulder, because we’re coming. When the band stops playing, you become human again, mere mortal.

 

See you soon.

 

Jaye Swift

 

Black

Liberation

Organization

Overcoming

Discrimination