My Review of X-Men: The Last Stand

Hated It!


To be completely honest... I hated the first one, and barely liked the second one.

But this was horrible.

I mean, really, really horrible.

It had a few saving moments..... an opening fight scene (which we find out is only a f*$'g simulation)...

Cyclops dies, thank God...but he fags up the screen for what seems like 30 minutes with his emo, "I grew a beard cuz I'm sufferring" crap.

Oh yeah, Dr Frasier Crane played The Beast! And hearing him say "Oh my stars and garters" was near worth the price of admission.

Yes.... "I'm the Juggernaut Bitch" was in the movie. And shouting it out loud with 300 other people at 2 in the morning was a wonderful experience.

But.... the movie sucked. They didn't explain anything. They lamed up most of the characters. Too many holes in the plot. Bad acting and baaaad dialogue.

And because I have been a fan of the comic book since I was in elementary school, I'm talking about the Uncanny X-Men... I have to express specific greivences.

-Halle Berry was the worst possible actor to play Storm. Ever. It's should have been Angela Bassett. Or dang, Sanaa Lathan before she sold out with "Something New"

-They did a piss-poor job of using Jean Grey as the Phoenix, and in typical Hollywood fashion, instead of explaining it properly, took a shortcut and said she had some kind of split personality bullcrap.

-No Sentinels

-They killed Professor X in a crappy way, that served no purpose.

-Complete misuse of the Morlocks, bordering on disrespect.

-trying to create a "hidden passion" love angle between Wolverine and Jean Grey was annoying as hell.

-they made one of the ORIGINAL X-Men, Angel, into a bit-part, lame loser of a character. WEAK!

-what the heck happened to the entire storyline of X-Men 2, with Wolverine finding out the truth about his past? Weapon X!

-I'm having a really hard time understanding how they can take a comic book, make a SATURDAY MORNING CARTOON out of it, and then make a series of movies that's not even as good as the dang cartoon.

I don't even want to think about this movie anymore.

If you're a fan of the comics, I already know you're going to go see this.
And you will hate it.


If you liked the first two movies.... I don't know what's wrong with you.

But, aside from some entertaining moments, some awesome effects, and some great one-liners from Wolverine and Magneto.... This move was horrid and terrible.

Stay away.

Day 1-6 of The Master Cleanse

Okay... I figured this may be useful to anybody who was thinking about doing some form of detox, fast or diet.

First off, READ the book! It will take you about 20 minutes.
The Master Cleanse <---click for the 30 page book!

If you don't read the book, and understand what you're doing and WHY... man... you'll be in trouble from day uno.

So let's start there...


Day One:
I drank a mug of Smooth Move tea the night before. First thing that morning, I prepared the salt-water wash... I'm not gonna lie. This was one of the most difficult things I have ever done.
Imagine drinking a quart of chicken broth.... Minus the chicken, herbs, spices and seasonings. And at room temperature.

dis gus ting

But I drank it in less than five minutes.

Soon after, I was hit with a mild wave of nausea, which kinda scared me, because in all disgusting honesty, I'd rather crap my pants than vomit.

Fortunately, it passed... and it took about 30 minutes for my stomach to realize what I had put in it. Which it quickly wanted OUT of my body.

So I hit the toilet, and stayed in that general area for the next hour. Back and forth, back and forth.

But after that.... EZ Street.

The lemonade actually tastes really good. You'd never think that cayanne pepper has it's place in it, but it makes it good, and settles your stomach.


Day Two:
I want to eat.... Anything, I don't care. Dead, alive, raw, horse, cow, frog, pizza, chili... dang.


Day Three:
A word to the wise.... If you can get through the initial hunger pangs, it's all good. I only "want" food now, but I'm not hungry, or weak, or tired, or dizzy or any of the things I feared.

I made it through a full work day today, nos weat at all, and I'm heading now from work (Sunday) to go and pick up a couple of dozen lemons, and I think by tomorrow I should be in the swing of things.

We shall see...


Day Four:
Okay.... it's Tuesday, and at this point, I can't believe that I haven't eaten ANYTHING since Friday. I'm not hungry, I'm just greedy.

My thoughts at this time revolve around BBQ.... sticky, sweet, tangy BBQ.

That and Round Table Pizza. And Zachary's Pizza. And chicken tikka masala with a warm, chewy naan. Oh, and calzone.

Alright, food is on my mind, but I'm not hungry, I'm not weak or dizzy or low on energy. I've been sleeping between 6-8 hours a night for the last 4 nights, which is about double my normal, so good habits abound!

On an unrelated note... my tongue is white. (As far as I can tell) my breath is pleasant, but my tongue is covered by a white film, which is to be expected, as a sign of the body releasing toxins.

No food since Friday, and no looking back.

4 days down

10 days to go.


Day Five:
Today was a test.

It's really easy to do something difficult and challenging while in a controlled situation. Much like in a relationship, you don't judge somebody by how they treat you while things are going well.

The true test of Man (and WOman) is on how we behave when things get a bit out of control. If your husband or wife, while upset, angry, mad, offended, enraged, or otherwise peeved, if he or she still communicates with you respectfully, refraining from ignorance, hatred or anger... That's your real test.

Anybody can act right on Christmas.

Today was crazy. And without going into too much detail, today I was confronted and "cornered" (can you really corner somebody my size? nah, it was emotionally trying to back me into a corner...) by somebody whom I had been avoiding since January.

Avoiding is the wrong word, and the wrong description.

Friend, long time, many many years, over ten years.

She was cut off in January.

She has had a death in her family, and she has turned to me.

Of course, I am a bad person for saying, "inna lillahi wa inna ilaihi rajiun (To God we belong, and to Him is our return), and I'm sorry for your loss, and you and your family are in my prayers..."

But that's it. Bad news isn't an occassion to hop on the Let's Kick It Express.

That's the short version, of course.... this is supposed to be about my experience with the Cleanse.

Mentally, emotionally, that alone was enough to shake me from my foundation a bit.... I mean, righteous indignation is hard work!

But when, between job #2 and job #3, my car decided to be a retard and stop working... If I had had a salisbury steak, some mashed potatos, heck, if there had been some stale goldfish crackers I would have torn into them... strictly out of anger.

But there weren't, so I didn't.

And in the end, I'm really glad I didn't, cuz I'm now looking at Day Six, which is almost Day Seven, which is HALFWAY!

And if I can make it on a day like today.... Tomorrow night at midnight, watching the new X-Men movie, snacking on *sigh* water and sneaked in lemon/maple/cayenne drink... That should be no problem, right?


Day Six:
Today was good. On the advice of Shelli Belli, I decided to make a lime juice instead of lemons. Wow. It's like discovering a 3rd Reese's Peanut Butter Cup in the package of 2, this is revolutionary, I have a whole new meal, a new liquid sanctuary!

I don't know what's more exciting.... The fact that I am almost HALFWAY through my 2 week fast, or the fact that I am 90 minutes from premiering the new X-Men movie.

No offense to the X-Men... but this is major. I haven't eaten since Friday, I feel pretty great, AND I've moved one notch lower on my belt already...

I've been talking to a lot of people about this, and I get similar reactions from most. So I feel like saying this...
This is not the hardest thing I have ever done.

It's not.

I mean, I am a 29 year old virgin with a sometime active social/dating life.
At this point, even that ain't too difficult for me to manage.

But I got a bag of white chocolate macadamia cookies from Subway in my hand.
These cookies used to be my crack

Yeah, I opened the bag.
I looked at 'em.
I inhaled their sweet, sweet aroma.
But I don't even want them.

Gimme my cayelimaple drink.

Tomorrow Is Another Day

I'm behind in everything not work-related.

How many of you know that I am moving soon?

Nobody.

Well, I am... 11 days and counting (insha Allah) until I move into my beautiful new place.

Yeah.... And with me working 1, 2, no 3 jobs now, it's starting to kick my butt a little.

The free time I do have, it's been hard for me to use properly. I'm behind in returning emails, witty comments, checking my voicemail. I come home, eat, sit (check MySpace), sleep, wake up (check MySpace), shower, work, go to new work, go to my last work (check MySpace), to head home again...

8:30 am to 11pm...

Not that I am complaining. Cuz I'm not.... Truth be told, I'm in negotiations to take up a light weekend job.

But the hustle does not come without consequence.

My eating habits have been horrible in these last few months.

For those who don't know, between December 2004 and July 2005, I lost 60 pounds.

Besides the fact that I was in the gym every night, it's  because I was not eating ice cream (Tofutti Cuties), cheesecake, popcorn, IN THE BED.

Can't say that's true now. I've put 25 of that 60 back.

Both Ben and Jerry can go to hell.

After month followed by month of moving notch and notch higher on my belt.... enough is too much. Somethng has to be done.

Enter: The Master Cleanse.

Starting tomorrow.... Nothing but lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper. 14 days minimum.

Not just because I'm putting on lbs. But because I desire control.
Discipline.
Self-Mastery.

And I ain't done a cleanse since I was living in LA.

So tomorrow.... Friday, it begins.

Things will be good....

Focus
Returns.

I'd Probably Be A Christian Too

Let me tell y'all....
Rachelle Ferrell is a spiritual experience.
DAMN. Everytime I see her, it's like I have forgotten what I have learned.

Her energy, her honesty, her openness, she is living her dream, and everytime I have seen her.... she puts on the best show of her life.

Which can't be easy.... since that is what we, fans, expect.

During one portion of the show, she calls into the audience for a Brotha called "BJ" and another called "Jubu" to join her onstage. This is clearly unscripted, as it takes an eternity for them to get onstage. We learn that BJ sings in a quartet, and Jubu plays the GIT-tar and has co-written a song with Rachelle.

Masters.

So they do what Masters do. They jam.

And it starts out innocently enough... a slow, bluesy song.
Rachelle does the lyrics.
Jubu does an amazing GIT-tar solo.

And then Rachelle nods for BJ to sing.
Again... innocently enough.
Brotha has a real smooth voice, and he makes up some words as he gets comfortable...

Then.... he says the Jee word.


Jesus.


And the crowd, of course, being 90 percent Black and on a Sunday night, begins to stir.

He sings: "How many of y'all been to church this morning?"
Half the crowd begins waving their warms and swaying in their seats.

And then it happens.

The music changes.
The bass kicks. The drums hit. Hard.

The keyboard suddenly becomes an organ.

And I feel it.
I feel it.
The lurching in my stomach. The desire to scream, dance, shout, leap, to touch somebody, anybody....

This is significant. I have only been to "church" once.
As a youth, I was invited to attend church with a friend of mine from school. I couldn't have been older than 11. The Pastor during a break in the sermon, asked for visitors to join him upfront, introduce themselves to the congregation.

So I did.

My friend and his family were at my masjid that Friday.

So anyways.... for me to be sitting up in this concert, with my SPIRIT wanting to jump out of my body, is major.

And at that exact moment, I realized two things.

1) "I am having a major spiritual experience right now."
2) "I truly can not allow myself to be in the moment"
But we'll stick with number one, since it messed me up, and is changing the way I see everything around me.

I think many/most people confuse spiritual with religious.
Meaning, they confuse spiritual experiences with religious experiences.
Spiritual beliefs with Religious Beliefs.
Spiritual Truth with Religious Truth.

This is important as heck.

Cuz the Spiritual and Religious worlds are not exclusive to each other.

Spiritual: Of, or having to do with, the Spirit.
Religious: Of, or having to do with, Religion.

Easy enough.... until you get into the definition of Religion.

Religion is made up of two words.
Re: means to do again, to go back, (to REpeat)

The word lig is a Latin word that means to bind or tie (tightly) or to connect.

(some people substitute the word lig with LIGHT, thereby making Religion returning to Light.... but I'm not using this.)

So by definition, Religion would be Reconnecting, Rebinding or Retightening.... to God or with God.

So as I'm sitting in my seat, listening to the sounds, my skin tingling and my ears buzzing, thinking, "Man... if church feels like this, I am missing OUT!"

I'm a Muslim. During our religious services, we have no house band.

At no point have I ever felt compelled during a khutbah (sermon or address) to jump up and run through the aisles. Screaming, shouting, speaking in English or Arabic.

For some people.... that feeling is Religion to them.
And they are wrong.

I live in Oakland.
The only thing more common on our streets than liquor stores, are churches.

And you would think, that if the church experience was a Religious one, then there would be some serious Rebinding, Reconnecting and Retightening with God in the O.

En masse.

But there is not.

And this is because the Black Church Experience is not about Religion. At best, it's a treat for the spirit. A show. Hooting and hollering in 5 part harmony.

A feeling.

Not growth.



The story of Jesus in the Bible, and the way that it is taught to Negroes, is not designed to help us grow. To develop. To improve.

Massa did not give us Christianity to do anything other than pacify us. It's like going to the Apollo Theater for Amateur Night.

It's a show.
Entertainment.


Laugh, cry, dance, sing,
Come back next week and do the same thing.

Is there any good to it?
Of course there is.

You better watch out,
You better not cry,
You better not pout,
I'm telling you why:

________ is coming to town!

He's making a list,
He's checking it twice,
He's gonna find out
who's naughty or nice.

_________ is coming to town!

He sees you when you're sleeping,
He knows when you're awake.
He knows when you've been bad or good,
So be good for goodness sake!

 

Substitute "Jesus" for "Santa" and you have pretty much summed up Christianity.

The Christian use of Jesus and God is one designed to control behavior, but not to help people spiritually grow.

Where you learn how to act or present yourself in certain situations, but never accept your own Divinity, your own Power, and your Divine Destiny.

Looking at these Oakland neighborhoods, are the surrounding communities improved by the presence of corner churches?

Or do they actually contribute to keep Niggas in line?

In its history, has the Black Church helped free us from promiscuity?
Alcohol abuse?
Drug abuse?
Child abuse?
Spousal abuse?

Are Black People moving forward in the world, or are we constantly and consistently passed by other ethnic groups and immigrant communities?

141 years after the abolition of slavery, 45 years after the ending of Jim Crow, why are Black People so far behind?

The Answer... as a whole, we are Historically Ignorant.

And Spiritually Retarded.

Because the "Religion" that Massa gave us to keep 1000 slaves from revolting against 10 overseers, Niggas still cling to.

The White Man's Jesus does not empower.

He teaches you to accept your sufferring, your condition, your fate.

And not to change it.

And if I didn't know any better...

The Truth about me...

====================================================
After reading this, I realize this is way more random than I intended. Deal.
====================================================

Last night I realized a few things...

I really really do hate alcohol, and I can't stand being around who are drinking. I don't care if it is whiskey, moonshine, beer, Zima, "just a white wine," malt liquor....

The smell of it is repulsive, and the drunken enthusiasm of an inebriated female is not flattering at all, in any way. Even on a night when I may be feeling kinda lonely, vulnerable, in need of an ego stroke.

"You're SO tall!!
How tall are you???
You're SO TALL!!!
Ohmygod I loooove your hair! Can you do my hair like that???"

Speaking of which... I am 99.995 percent confident that I could never ever date a white woman.

Can't do it.

I can remember the first time somebody referred to me as "The Truth Sayer"

I own the Truth.

I feel entitled, empowered to speak Truth without fear of how it seems, or what people might think.

Me in a romantic relationship with a white woman would have a pack of ku klux klansmen outside of our home less than a week after the honeymoon.

 
"He said WHAT??? String 'im up!"


When I look at these 2006 whiteboys, asians, filipinos, mexicans...
I want to tell them:

"Turn your f*$&ing hat around. WE started wearing them to the back!"
"Pull up your f^*$ing pants! There is no logical reason for you to SAG!"
"Put the damn G's back on the end of your words! You are neither from the Hood nor the Streets!"

I digress.

In my observations and analysis of different folk in my life, I know that I completely trust myself with whatever I feel.

But, when I try to express to someone else why I'm closer to person A than to person B, it's tough for me to say anything beyond, "Because I am."

But I have a great example.

I do what I say.

And I say what I do.

That's me.

My friend called me this morning to ask, "Hey, are we still on for breakfast tomorrow?"

My thinking is, of course we are, if I had a change of mind or plans, I would have called you to let you know. You would never have to call me to find out if I was still going to do something that I said I would.

Ever.

So, I realize how much it does bother me when people do not do as they say.

It really does.

Big things. Small things. Don't matter.

I made a cameo at the Spoken Word spot last week and read something.

Afterwards, during the whole after-function awkward mingling thing, I ended up in a conversation with somebody about my monniker, "The Truth Sayer" and the piece I read.

She said, "It's like you say what most people think. That's deep."

I replied, "No... I say what people would think if they could."

That's deep.

In truth, lots of these thoughts are inspired by specific events, specific people, yes. I may be talking about you.

But, whether I'm speaking to you, about you, or not addressing you at all... it doesn't really matter.

It's still Truth.

And contrary to popular opinion, Truth is NOT relative.

 Truth Is.

For The Record

Thicke, or Robin Thicke, or whatever the hell his name is these days.

He sucks. I ain't fooled. Y'all might be.

He can suck buffalo scrotum in the middle of mating season.

He can lick anteater anus. With syrup.

On the moon.

Y'all can run to his MySpace page and tell him if you want to.

I ain't fooled.

Robin Thicke:

STOP
BITING
MY
CULTURE

When Will Enough Be Enough?

When will enough be enough?

When will enough be too much?

I never liked D12 not one day in my life, but that fact that BLACK MEN DYING is a regular, common, normal, acceptable fact, that it doesn't cause massive and immediate change in our values as a "community" upsets me greatly.

Here's an article I was forwarded.

Negative Hip Hop Must Die by Akindele Akinyemi

This is Brother Proof. He was a part of D12, the local rap group that Eminem started.

He is now dead.

A victim of gunfire at a local nightclub called Club CCC. Proof was DOA at St. John's Hospital. Shot in the head.

Scott LaRock from BDP is dead. So is Freaky Tah from the Lost Boyz. Tupac is dead and so is Biggie Smalls. ODB died also.

Hip Hop has taken a turn fo the worst. So many brothers have gotten caught into the crossfire.

I knew Proof personally. Even though I would see him drunk down at Trolley Plaza from time to time I enjoyed his energy. It is horrible to see this young man go.

Therefore, it is time to declare war on not just hip hop but declare a full scale war on values in general. Black conservatives must come together on one accord for that we are the only ones that can stop the madness.

We must now declare war on those who continue to sag their pants and smoke blunts.

We must and continue to vote OUT those who vote in favor of abortion and same sex marriages.

We must neutralize destructive groups like Call Em Out and BAMN.

We WILL expand FULL educational options. We will not be beaten by teacher unions and traditional schools that continue to enslave our children.

We will teach African American History, PROPERLY AND ACCURATELY. We will neutralize liberals who continue to lie to our young adults, making them dependent on government.

And we must save our children by ALL means necessary.

We have to declare war on at-risk children who glorify hip hop and negative values.

We have to declare war on the race pimp poverty hustlers who disguise themselves as preachers.

We will no longer allow hip hop to destroy our community. Nor we will continue being called uncle tom or sambo by a group of infidels.

Hip Hop in its current form must die now. We have one soldier on the field (Craig Lewis) that is exposing hip hop for what it is. The culture has destroyed us. Our young people are dying.

50 cent, Jay-Z, Young Jeezy, TI and many others must now be put to rest.

The only ones that can kill hip hop is US. We created it and now we must kill it. Nuff said.

I'm Different.

I'm different.

Starting now, today.

It happened, I changed.

I realize that I have been hovering between misery and apathy, two places not meant for me.

So.... I made myself some promises.

Things that I must do, I will do.

And some things which I will never again.

Starting now.

New Goals, New Aim

New items added to the "things Jabir doesn't do"

Unfortunately for some, my new plans do not include you.
You are welcome to one of these...


+

For those who don't get it.......

<=====
(Hahahaha JLa!)

I feel good. I'm back in the gym. Back in the gym!

I'm writing.

I'm reading. Books!

I'm focused.

I'm finally getting my website together.

I've managed to not cut my hair.

I might even step up at the open mic this week.

That's how I'm feelin'.

Let's All Demonize Mexicans! YEAH!

Trick it out....
People act surprised when they find out I am not a Democrat.
I'm really not.
Read this.

Direct from The Black Commentator, a publication which I am so thankful for when issues like this come up.

After 9/11, I remember being so disgusted... as an African (American), as a Muslim.

As an African American Muslim.

Seeing Black folk so eager for the approval of white folks.
Negroes donning the colors of oppression               

Waving and wearing American flags as some perveted sign of "unity."
So happy to join in mutual hate of somebody else.

So glad to no longer be the most hated group in the United States.

If only for September, being an A-rab was worse than being a nigger.

It's so sad to see Black folk now doing the same thing. Joining the oppressor. For what? His approval?

Maybe now he'll let you date his daughters.
Maybe now he'll join YOU in YOUR fight.

I can picture it now.... Black folk and white folks, arm in arm, calling for an end to negative portrayals of Africans in TV, film and radio.
Black folk and white folks, together, united, collecting signatures to demand a recount in the Three Coon Mafia Oscar balloting.
Blacks and whites, together, united, protesting Fox News Channel, UPN and BET...

Keep waiting.
Read the article.
Comment.
This is serious.

=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=

Last Week's BC cover story raised the subject of the relationship between African Americans and Latinos, blacks and browns.  We singled a particularly contemptible maneuver by Kasim Reed, a black DLC Georgia state legislator from Atlanta who tried to outdo Republican viciousness when it came to proposing punitive measures against immigrants.  Reed authored a bill which would imprison anyone convicted of using a false ID to get a job for five years.  Predictably, his proposal was embraced by leading white Georgia Democrats.

This is how Georgia's New Democrats hope to win white votes on the immigration issue.

Reed, who intends to run for mayor of Atlanta in 2009, is certainly not stupid enough to imagine that he is protecting black jobs.  All the measures to strip foreigners of civil and human rights, to marginalize them and make them fear jail or deportation at a moment's notice only make them more desirable employees.  When given a choice, employers always prefer a fearful, compliant work force with few or no rights to an aware one with enforceable rights.  Just having them around, even if an employer chooses not to hire them, effectively lowers everyone's wages. 

A reader named Gloria took exception to us.  She wrote

I totally disagree with you.  This is not a black, white or brown issue, it is not about race.  This is about legality, about respecting laws, sovereignty and borders.  If people want to come to the USA, or any other country for that matter, looking for a job and a decent living, they need to have a permit or visa to enter the country. Please do not twist the subject. 

Another reader put it even more baldly.  George Wilson wrote us this one sentence email.

How do Black Americans benefit from having illegal aliens in our country?

Good questions.  As African Americans we ought to understand better than anybody how white supremacy works and how language, which frames the way we all think, is a potent tool of oppression, or of liberation.  To start with, we need to purge the phrase "illegal aliens" from our vocabulary.  Anybody who uses it within earshot ought to be challenged promptly and publicly, just like you would in a case of the unauthorized use of the N-word. 

Aliens are from Jupiter.  White America defines people as "aliens" in order to justify treatment unfit for a member of the human family, just as our ancestors were once labeled "property," allowing "owners" to buy and sell us like cattle.  For those so unable to free their minds from the box of white racist legalism that they cannot part with the adjective "illegal," we should insist that they follow it with the correct noun that says what these folks really are.  Illegal persons.  Illegal people.  Illegal humans.

And if "illegal human" sounds ridiculous and evil, as it ought to in any civilized ear, it's only because white America's law on this score is evil and ridiculous. 

Another BC reader, Jo Mills made this contribution:

Brown people have played the role of opportunists - at our expense - for many years.  Statistics have shown that a huge steady flow of immigrants in your more populated cities always results in a loss of jobs for African Americans.  We must become our own advocates.  Immigrants chose this life.  African American descendants of slaves did not.  Let us take care of us first.

Mexicans should not be made villains, but I do want African Americans to take care of their own business before using the little fight we have left to solve anyone else's problems.  As a people, we have still not concentrated or harnessed enough energy to take care of our share of problems.  Mass incarceration.  Mass and historically unequaled unemployment, drugs, fractured families, loss of the support systems and networks, self hate and lack of pride enough to build for self, and so on.  We have enough to keep us busy.  When we finish working these out, we can go to the table of coalescence as a positive and not a negative pull of energy.  I see none of the immigrants or their descendants rushing to help us deal with these problems.  Instead, they appear to take advantage of them!

The idea that black unemployment in the U.S. is "historically unequaled" and the notion that immigrants choose to come here and cause labor market problems for African Americans betray a breathtaking ignorance of human motivation and of the way the global economy works.  In recent decades we have seen the US government openly aid and encourage manufacturing and service industry to shut down facilities and factories here and move them first to Mexico, then to the lowest wage overseas hellhole available.  At the same time, billions of our tax dollars are paid in agricultural subsidies to agribusiness companies like ADM and Cargill, which dump their goods into Haiti, Mexico, Central America, Africa and Asia killing the market for locally grown stuff and driving farmers off the land and into the cities where there are no jobs, no health care, no futures.  Unemployment rates in Kingston, Jamaica or Dakar, Senegal are much higher than any experienced in black America.  A few of their daughters find work in the sweatshops. The rest stand around, hustle or starve, or emigrate.  Not exactly "choices" as we understand that word.

Tens of thousands walk half the length of Africa every month trying to get to Europe. Can you imagine crossing the Sahara on foot? Chinese pay a couple year's wages in advance to be packed into shipping crates that might or might not arrive here. Some others walk from Guatemala and Chiapas, from Oaxaca and Michoacan.  If these sound like "choices" to you, here are some additional clues. 

In the mostly non-union hotel industry in Atlanta where I live, employers like Marriott, Hyatt and Westin a generation ago put their white workers up front as doormen and desk clerks and kept African Americans in the back as kitchen help and housekeepers.  Nowadays a few blacks can make concierge and desk help, but if you're African American don't even think of applying for a job in the kitchen, or housekeeping either at many hotels.  The first shift in a kitchen might be Filipino, the second Somalis, and the third Mexicans.  Three floors of housekeeping will be Ethiopians, and another three floors will be Jamaicans and Haitians.  Are these immigrant workers "opportunists"?  Is it their idea to carve up the work like that?  Or do employers do that for reasons of their own?  Is it to the disadvantage of black workers?  Certainly. 

We have been on the bottom as long as there's been an America.  Now the globalized labor market is forcing us to share that bottom with other unfortunate folks.  Should we rail against the Mexicans?  Should we gripe about the Jamaicans, organize against the Filipinos and Arabs?  Lou Dobbs would want us to.  Employers would like that, and Republicans too.  Even some Democrats.  But we cannot escape the bottom by making common cause with the folks who put us down here.

Finally, black America does not have the luxury of turning  inward to solve problems like mass incarceration and the HIV-AIDS epidemic first while all this other stuff waits.  The world simply doesn't work that way.  It will take a broad popular movement to challenge the nation's social policy of mass incarceration, a movement rooted in and led from our black communities.  But since mass incarceration of blacks is the social policy of the whole nation, such a movement will have to somehow gain widespread traction outside our communities as well.  Likewise, solutions to the crises in black housing, health care, family life and education may start in our communities but must ultimately involve the redirection of the whole society's energies to solve.  Even our so-called "internal problems" are not ours alone, nor are their solutions.

As bad as our situation is, we have the longest experience of American white supremacy of anyone save local Native Americans.  We are numerous, self aware, and despite our internal differences, we possess a degree of relative political clarity and cohesion found nowhere else in American society.  Like it or not, this is a burning house and we are stuck with the role of first responders.  Somebody has to lead the fight against these fires, and black America may be better equipped than anyone.  The issues on the table now are all on the table now, and none of them will wait.

I Thank GOD For Spike Lee

As I am apt to do on a lazy day, I did some major reading today.

Today's (really tomorrow's) edition of The New York Observer has a cover story on Spike Lee. It's a must read.

Must.

I've included an excerpt...

"I don't think the last eight years have been a good moment in our history, under this President and administration," he said. "There are people down there six months later who are still in despair. They still don't have a home. They're still waiting for FEMA." He paused. "That should be a playWaiting for FEMA! Down there, FEMA is a dirty word.

 

"Before Katrina, New Orleans was 80 percent African-American," he continued. "What's it going to be like when the majority of its black citizens have spread outgiven one-way tickets, I might add. Can you imagine? Those people got on those planes, when they were being evacuated and they weren't told where they were going. So you get on a plane and fall asleepand your black ass is waking up in motherfucking Anchorage, Alaska!"

Last October, he tussled with Tucker Carlson ("the guy in the bow tie") on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher when Mr. Lee said he'd be including in his documentary the conspiracy theory that it was the U.S. government who bombed the levees.

 

"Here's the thing," he said. "Even today, a large part of the African-American community of New Orleans thinks that those levees were bombed. Now, whether that is true or not, that should not be discounted." He rattled off past government trespasses: 1927's Great Flood of Mississippi, when the levees were, in fact, blown up; the flooding of the Ninth Ward during Hurricane Betsy in 1965; the Tuskegee syphilis experiment.

 

"So, in the collective mind of African-Americans, it is not some science-fiction, hocus-pocus thing to say that the government is doing stuff," he continued. "Even if it didn't happen, you cannot discount it and dismiss it as Oh you people are crazy. It's what people thinktalk to Jewish people. Because of the Holocaust, you know, anything that happens, it's like, 'Oh! It's starting again.' And I'm not going to fault someone of Jewish ancestry that feels like that because that happened! This is history.

 

His voice grew louder. "No one is saying to Jewish people, 'Oh, you're crazy!' So if you use the same analogy, then it's not so farfetched. It is my duty as a filmmaker to let them give their opinions, and there are people who will swear on a stack of bibles that they heard an explosion down there."

 

Would he be shocked if it turned out to be true? "No. No, I would not," he said.

Read the entire article online in the New York Observer.

I will go out on a limb and say this.

The gubment did 9/11.
The gubment bombed the levees.
The gubment is probably funding Brokeback Mountain II: Rodeo Style.