The Truth Shall Set You Free: Rest In Peace George Floyd

I wanted to wait until I was less er...upset about stuff, to write this post but then every time I turn around, something else has happened to pile on my upset. I came to the reluctant conclusion that I'm gonna be upset for a while. So while I wallow in it, I might as well share the pain.

So.

I was reading about Native Americans Before Colonization in preparation for this post because I wanted to start at the beginning. What I read was further upsetting to me not so much for the wilful destruction of a whole continent of people - that is old knowledge which I am used to - but its description in the telling. 

There is a soft turning away from all the truly awful things colonizers did to wrest the land from its owners. No mention of blankets infected with smallpox given as gifts. Oh no, just that the Natives got diseases from the settlers which killed them in large numbers.

And that is a common theme when Colonizers are describing their actions. The fact that Derek Chauvin had his foot in George Floyd's neck and kept it there for nine minutes, killing him, has authorities performing acrobatics not to call it what it is. 

Murder. 

Meanwhile, white Americans continue to be shocked and saddened that such a thing can happen in the utopia they live in. It's 'unprecedented' they say. We don't understand how this can happen. As if they didn't execute a 14-year-old boy for allegedly murdering two white girls in 1944 to name just one example.

Anyway, let us go back to the beginning, to how this America started. First, by clearing the land of its native inhabitants using disease, war and alcohol. To this day the descendants of those inhabitants live in reservations. It's their land, the whole of it, but they're still herded together and told, yeah, you can have that little bit for yourselves but that's it. Right now, they have the highest rate of infection of COVID-19 and no resources. 

But wait, that's not all. 

So after clearing the land of its original inhabitants, what did the colonizer do? He kidnapped Africans from their homes, put them in chains and brought them to America to work the land. They stole land, and couldn't even be bothered to work it themselves. No. They stole other people from their homelands, to come and work it for them.

On July 4th, 1776, the colonizers declared independence from their mother country. They said to England, "Nah, we don't want you supervising us as we oppress these other peoples. We want the freedom to do it ourselves."

And they still celebrate this day as if it was truly Independence of a country, making a fair bit of hullabaloo about it, calling themselves the greatest nation on earth and other utter bullshit pronouncements. All to cover up the fact that all they did was transfer the title from one colonizer to another. Or rather, the mother colonizer transferred title to their migrants. "America" is not independent. It's still colonized. That's why y'all have a "special relationship" with the UK.

The wabeberu are still very much in charge.

Unlike other places that were given political independence even though economically, the colonizers still hold tight to the purse strings, for America, it's different. Maybe the closest example of what America is, is what South Africa used to be under apartheid. The difference is that the South Africans were official about their policies and the Boers were not in the majority, while Americans kept changing the name of the game from Slavery to Jim Crow to MAGA. Whatever it's called, what it is, involves keeping minorities as lesser than.  Perpetuating the narrative that white is truly some sort of might.

Now.

Let's talk about how it's all coming down.

Do you believe in Karma? The ancestors? Curses? I truly believe that with their actions, continuously and without remorse, the colonizers of America have brought curses upon themselves. Not just because both Native Americans and West Africans have a long history of magic/voodoo and the ancestors are very active in their lives. But the land itself was bound to rebel sometime. It's taken a long time. Nearly five hundred years. But the chickens, they are coming home to roost.

The supreme irony is that the colonizers are the architects of their own destruction in the person of Donald Trump. You see, because of their actions, little white children go to sleep every night and have nightmares about uprising. About the people, they have oppressed for generations rising up and killing them all. 

That fear is what rules their days. 

It informs all of their actions. 

And that fear led them to elect that madman Donald, just because America had elected before him, it's first 'Black' president.

Now they did that because they thought Donald Trump was going to cement the destruction of minorities and for sure, he's made some half-assed attempts. There are still children in cages. ICE continues to deport anyone of brown or black skin. 

But the people who are most hurt by his policies, are the very people who voted for him. America has on its hands a dictator similar to Idi Amin who is controlled by the Russians. They are aiding Russia to destroy them, just to continue to perpetuate white supremacy. 

It's poetic I tell you. 

Only the universe could come up with this shit.

And the universe is in on it, for sure. It has come in and swept the land. In the same way that colonizers brought illness to the natives, the earth has brought illness to America. The two countries with the highest death rates for this virus; the US and then the UK. And it is because of years of inbreeding, racists breeding racists, teaching each other that they are some sort of superior species who will always have other people to take the blows for them. The Africans, the Asians, the minorities...

Well, and it's true that American minorities are hard hit because they are poor, they are the essential workers and they are the most neglected by health care. But that is bringing another thing to the fore and that is the sheer third world nature of American society. 

Everything has been exposed. All the flaws. There's nowhere to hide anymore. There's no one that can believe the lies when the truth is right there for everyone to see. 

Blue Lives don't Matter, they Murder. 

No, that Black Man did not Do Something to cause his death. 

It's not about Following the Law.

There are Two Americas.

And so now, even the white people who would have feigned ignorance and acted obtusely are forced to deal with everything. 

Racism. 

Oppression. 

Capitalism. 

The dumbing down of America. 

The fact that America has never been great. 

They are forced to face the truth at last.

And once the truth is faced, it sets you free.

If George Floyd had to die on that tarmac, calling his mama, let it not be for nothing. It's time to break the curse.

Is Integrity the Unicorn of the Trump Era?

I love Colin Kaepernick. Like, in my heart. To me, he is a shining beacon of integrity in a sea of selfishness and spinelessness. I read the background to his story, how he grew up, his conscious choice to embrace his identity and to stand up, or kneel, for injustice. It's compelling reading especially since some of the people he's standing up for ridicule him.
"Oh, what does he know? His parents are white."
"Who does he think he is anyway?"
And my personal favorite, "Colin is no Mohamed Ali. He's supported only by the radio guy (cthagod) and (someone else I forget who) - to which I added, + me.
Seriously?
Like people don't even seem to get the point. It's hard to live in this world if you are of above average intelligence...sigh.

Speaking of integrity...did you read Lupita's essay on Harvey Weinstein? It was so vivid that I was triggeredT. I was right there with her when she was wondering what to do with this guy wanting to give her a massage, in his bedroom, with his kids in the house.
With his kids in the house!
Like, do you predators have any shame at all? Is there no line in the sand you will not cross? I saw a discussion on a facebook group which I was very tempted to screenshot and Instagram where some guys were blaming everything from the chicks being bitter (including his wife) to how there is no innocent party, to how it's 'tricky' to it takes two...yeah, one to say no and the other to ignore it.
The lengths people will go to, to not have to look in the mirror and recognize themselves...the mind boggles.
Mayim Bialik also wrote an opinion piece in which she basically asked 'not so attractive' girls who might feel left out of the "the casting couch" experience, not to worry. Somebody somewhere would find them attractive enough. It wasn't clear if she meant attractive enough to sexually assault or...
Anyways, I don't blame her.
Just like I don't blame white men for not seeing what the big deal is with white supremacy. Discrimination is totally outside their experience and unless they truly apply themselves to understand what happens, it's all Greek to them. You can't blame someone for not having experienced what you have. You can only hope that they try to educate themselves before opening their mouths.

On the other side of the coin, and I left my judgment hat at the laundry FYI, is the reaction of the - for lack of better word - victim. Lupita said no. She said no in spite of the fact that she had everything to lose. Lena Headey also said no. Cara Delevigne started singing so that she could get out of there without kissing anyone.
The point is that there is not just one way for this to go. Just because you're the target of harassment doesn't mean that you have to agree to be harassed...and then agree to be paid off afterward. Because doing that casts doubt on the next woman who claims sexual harassment. It becomes a question of "how much?"
How much is your dignity worth? Your self-respect? Is there a number?
I get it, some women are scared, they don't know how to say no, etc. That's why this is not judgment. It's pointing out for those who don't know, that there is another way. It might be more difficult but I bet ultimately, you can sleep better at night.

Because on the other side of sexual harassment is entrapment. A woman saying that Nelly raped her on his tour bus...another woman holding a press conference to say Usher gave her STIs...the ultimate aim was/is money and fame. Now, nobody is saying women can't be as money grubbing and conniving as, well, the next woman. But it's women like this that also make it difficult for women who experience genuine assault to be believed.
Again the question arises...
"How much?"
And I know you're gonna say, "But what if Nelly really raped her?"
Well, maybe he did. Ultimately only the two of them know. But I believe him. I believe him because I've watched him on his reality show with his kids for whom he is the sole breadwinner. I have seen him with his girls. And I've seen predators and how they act around women. Nelly is not a predator. He does not display any signs of misogyny, of seeing women as objects. More importantly, he is not a dumbass. He's not going to risk his freedom, his livelihood or his family for the opportunity to allegedly subjugate a woman on a bus.
Why?
Even if he wanted to cheat on his girlfriend, aren't there enough willing women? Why force somebody? It makes no sense.
Even R.Kelly's girls went to him of their own free will. He didn't make them. So we condemn him for preying on young girls when one of those young girls met him outside his pedophilia trial. Where were her parents? She must have been all of 15. How did she get there? What did she want?
What is the role of free will in sexual situations?
I personally would have given my left arm to be given the choice these girls had. The choice of knowledge. Of knowing what you were getting into.

but I'm 'sleep tho...

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. In honor of #booklaunchforcharity I did a mini virtual book tour and two of the interviews are out. Read them here and here.

Madness Everywhere

So we just had elections last week and surprise surprise, the incumbent won.

Whether Frick won or Frack won, Kenyans were fucked so I wasn't too concerned. Shit happens, elections are a control device used by those in power to make those they rule feel empowered. I get it. If it actually made a difference they wouldn't let us vote.
Which is why it makes me triply sad when people get themselves hurt or killed over these niggas. (I can call these ones niggas coz they're my people). Between 18 and 24 people are confirmed dead according to various reports. Frack would have you think that they're about a hundred but he is definitely Seth, God of Chaos in this analogy. It's not even analogy. The guy likes chaos as long as the result is that he gets what he wants. He's selfish like that. I don't know why people don't see it.
I almost prefer the petulant, vindictive, criminal baby that is Frick.
Almost.
It's Joffery vs. Little Finger...who is worse?

I was just telling my beta how helpless I feel by it all and she said, you're not helpless, you're a writer.
True dat huh?
Of course, these are not the only horrible things happening this week. Inadequate and childish leadership is a worldwide problem these days. I blame your parents, clearly, they neglected to raise you. So Kim Jon whatever is threatening to bomb Guam with nuclear weapons.
Nuclear weapons.
And of course, Donald Trump gave the Chuck Norris response.
You know my book, The Post (working title) is about a post-apocalyptic world, where damage from an asteroid is compounded by nuclear waste set loose upon the earth. It's beginning to feel like my book might come true before I have a chance to finish it. Like.for real though.
I would really like to ask those people who allegedly voted for Trump to shake things up, is it going how you imagined or...? Like really, how do you even sleep at night?
Oh, wait, I know, with opioids.
I'm surprised nobody's made the connection between the opioid crisis and the current state of the union but oh well, what do I know, right?
Has someone tried to superimpose the drug map with the map of how people voted? Someone should try it.

Anyways.
This post was about Colin Kaepernick and the fact that him taking the knee has resulted in him being blacklisted by the NFL. Now while a bunch of old men deciding that Kaep is not good enough for them does not surprise me, what did - and I don't know why it did because I should know better by now - was the no-response response from so called...anybody. Civil rights leaders, Black Lives Matter, twitter warriors...no one except Charlemagne tha God was speaking about this atrocity. Oh, and Shaun King. I mean really....

Worse than that, black men were at the forefront of condemning his actions and supporting the NFL blacklist on the premise that Colin 'brought it on himself'.

Black American people are their own worst enemies.

I saw this post on Instagram yesterday about Michael Rappaport condemning the #Charlottesville and I was curious about what would be said in the comments in response. Would people be happy? Supportive? Because also yesterday I saw a lot of posts from the Guardians of Blackness admonishing white people for not speaking up. So here is a white guy, really white, like pale, speaking out. Calling those demonstrators 'dorm room dumb fucks' and 'losers' and basically condemning them to the furthest pits of hell.
So.
What do you think the most prevalent comment was?
"Isn't that the dude from higher learning? Didn't he portray a skin head?"
So.
An actor, acting a role, in a movie...speaks out against white supremacy. But instead of adding your two cents maybe to that condemnation, or having some other positive, relevant response, you look for anything you can shade him for.
Like...

I'm not even going to pretend to understand the mindset. But I do know that the current status quo is taking us nowhere. Maybe we need to stop pointing fingers outward and just really work on ourselves? Be a better you? Start with the man in the mirror? All a' dat crap.
Also here's an excerpt from Child of Destiny which also deals with a lot of themes to do with discrimination and mind sets and seeing the other point of view.