Recovering from the Echo Chamber

It's been a month...almost and I'm not sure if I'm done licking my wounds.  Everyone else seems to have accepted (other than the college kids protesting) that the Orange Cheeto (I still can't type his name without getting physically ill) will be the next POTUS.  The world hasn't imploded.  A black hole hasn't opened up in the sky and swallowed us all.  I'm pretty sure everyone who was predicting disaster still has jobs at whatever propaganda network feeds their Starbucks habit.  Hell, the markets are up thanks to the mislabeled "Trump Rally" so maybe it won't be so bad after all.  Then again, he hasn't been inaugurated yet.  The nightly talking heads not employed by Rupert Murdoch who were warning us against voting for the now President-Elect seem to have shifted their message.  Now they're doing everything their power to prove they were right about him.  Part of me wonders whether any of them are worth listening to anymore.  Even tacitly.  His cabinet picks, to be fair, signal a coming administration that in large part, won't give a flying fuck about anyone who's not part of the elite.  (Yes, working-class-white-people who don't mind being robbed as long as a white man is back in the White House, that means you too.)  But for almost 2 years straight, media, including the Scared White People Network, were treating this election as a coronation for Queen Hillary I.  With every insult, every slap in the face to decency, every bullying remark, every lie, every dick joke, every policy flub, every flirtation with Putin, and every break with tradition (TAXES?), the Cheeto seemed to assure the "smart" people he was un-electable and affirmed that thinking.  Election Day was about formally sending this fool back to his golden phallus in New York, preferably with an iron mask and broken knuckles so we in the real world would be finally safe from his twitterific bullshit.  Or Trump TV.  Whatever.  As long as he was away from the halls of power where the wrong word and a lack of understanding of policy details could literally mean life and death.  George W. Bush that found out the hard way at the cost of more than 4,000 American lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Life, however, has a funny way of taking your plans by the ankles, flipping them upside down, and giving your hopes and dreams a swirlie because it was bored.  Now half the country is trying to wipe the taste of piss tinted toilet water out of its mouth only to find the towel is missing and replaced by the last square of toilet paper on the roll.  The other half seems to have taken their win as well as a toddler who hasn't been taught grace.  Except the five year old also says things like, "go back to Africa", "Fuck you Muslim Terrorists", and the ever popular "Build the Wall!"  I'm a non-WASP so honestly I'm used to hearing ignorant shit.  I'm not part of the dominant culture so I can see how those that are can be blinded by their cocoon of All America All the time.  What I didn't see, is that the non-WASPs/woke/liberals have a cocoon too.  Today's version of journalism is crayola 264 neon canary yellow.  You could spill bleach on today's newspapers and it would bead up like water on Armor-All. Impartiality doesn't exist in reporting anymore (if it ever did) and no one in today's generation remembers why the political press exists in the first place.  To provide civilian oversight of government officials.  Can you say that any of the garbage scrolling across your FB feed, Twitter timeline, or chosen news network increased your knowledge of the candidates?  Or did every headline just piss you off and make you even more steadfast in your "values?"  And that's the point.
Social media, Cable News, and the need to sell people shit they don't need has turned spreading knowledge into an exercise in just keeping your attention at any cost.  Our supposed guardians of truth have discovered its much more profitable to lie your ass off about "the others" and tell people you're the only one who cares and will be honest with you.  There's a term for that in psychology.  It's called the cycle of abuse. 

I swore off CNN, FOX, MSNBC, and the newer for-profit bullshit artists One America and Newsmax and their digital counterparts years ago.  The ones that don't have a TV network like HuffPo, Raw Story, Redstate, WesternJournalism, the Washington Times, and a ton of other "sources" need to be added to my no-fly list.  None of these outlets fulfilled their mission in keeping either candidate accountable for the lies they told.  Not one.  Because ratings were more important than the truth, our country may have just squandered the last bit of post-WWII thanks-for-saving-the-world-from-the-nazis good will.  Sadly, you could argue we elected a Nazi.

I'm still in recovery.   I'll let you know when I think its safe to see people again.  If I were to guess though?  It'll be in about 8 years...maybe 4 if I'm lucky.  By then, if this country still resembles the one they taught us as children, maybe we'll finally have learned the lesson in how dangerous it is to only listen to what you want to hear.

Til Next Week...maybe.

A Final Appeal to Sanity - Election Day 2016

My Brothers and Sisters, 

Donald Trump cannot become President.

Hillary Rodham Clinton is guilty of many things.  

• She is a self serving politician of the highest order
• She was negligent at best in regards to important documents during her time as Secretary of State
• She used dog whistle tactics to attack Obama during the 2008 primaries 
• She comes across as insincere 
• She uses her celebrity status to earn exorbitant paychecks for speaking engagements
• The Clinton Foundation has questions that must be answered in regards to Haiti.

I get it.  She comes across as the typical Washington politician that's ignored our community for decades except for election time.  Some of you may even feel betrayed by Obama for not doing what you thought he would for us.  Voting for Trump, you think, would show the Democrats that we're not to be taken for granted, which is exactly how the Republican base feels and why Trump has even gotten this far.  Some of you may feel you'd rather face an open wolf than one in sheep's clothing.  Just for once, you want to be heard, acknowledged as a united group, and to prove that you're no one's political crutch.

Only one problem.  Electing Trump would effectively silence us.

I'm not going to get into all of the ridiculous, insulting, idiotic, predatory, and deplorable (yeah I said it) things he's said over the past 2 years.  The New York Times needed 2 pages to print them all yesterday.  I'm not even going to remind you of his position as Head Birther in Chief.  All I'm going to remind you of his views on black people.

The last Presidential candidate that presented himself as the keeper of "Law and Order" was Richard M. Nixon.  The Nixon administraton felt the best way to deal with black people was to flood our neighborhoods with drugs, heavily criminalize their use, and destroy black families.  It's a legacy many white suburban families are now struggling with.  Anyone older than 40 should easily recognize the rhetoric from Trump as the same buzzwords Nixon used.  Disguised as support for law enforcement, Nixon was really referring to extermination of the Black Panthers.  Trump, of course, is referring to quelling Black Lives Matter.  Under the Obama Presidency, unprecedented levels of racist police corruption were exposed.  Though few of the high profile cases resulted in arrests or convictions, the Department of Justice got more involved in protecting the rights of Black Americans than they have in the past 30 years.  Should we really believe that a President Trump, who thinks we all live in ghettos, go to poor schools, get shot just walking outside, and still thinks the DNA-exonerated Central Park Five are guilty, would direct his DOJ to the protection of black lives?  It's more likely he would accelerate the rate of incarceration (he's advocated expanding stop and frisk to the federal level) then dismiss it as us not taking personal responsibility as most white conservatives do when confronted with the truth of how ghettos were created in the first place.  

A man who wants my vote should actually know what my problems are.  Intimately.  Hillary does.  For all her faults, she knows our grievances inside and out.  She's too intelligent to feign ignorance, which is why the email scandal is so infuriating.  Too often we simply accept Trump's ignorance as Trump being Trump.  I refuse.  Ignorance of our issues as the leader of ALL Americans, the excuse we gave Obama for not being militant about black issues, is unacceptable.  It guarantees that we would be completely ignored and dismissed like whiny children with the same paternal arrogance we see too often from both the left and the right.  Trump wouldn't even pretend to care about our issues because he doesn't understand them.  Only when cars start burning would he respond the way he knows best.  With force.

We have made steady progress in the post Civil Rights era.  This isn't Nixon's America.  This isn't Reagan's America.  This isn't even Bill Clinton's America.  Despite the old guard's best efforts we have more of a voice in our county's future than at any other time in its history.  Cut through the media fluff.  See past the anger.  Don't set us back by electing a man who thinks the best thing about us is our vote.  You can be heard by loudly telling him and his cronies that we demand more of a President than being born a rich white male.  Frankly, that's all he has to offer.

I'm with her.

***Spoilers*** Sweet Christmas! The Wanderer's Voice "Luke Cage" Review

 STOP!

Like it says in the title, there are spoilers.  If you haven't seen it, finished it, or are in the middle of it, stop reading this right now and go watch.  Skip this post until you've seen the series in its entirety.



















***Spoilers ahead!***





















Last chance!

Alright, if you've come this far you've either watched or don't give a shit about knowing what happens ahead of time so here we go!

First, when something as highly anticipated as this is finally released there's always a danger that expectations become unreasonable and the product is doomed to fall short, even if the story is good.  Ghostbusters, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and Avatar 2 come to mind. (trust me, the fail is coming)

For a few episodes, Luke Cage had all the earmarks of disappointment...

Thank God they didn't stay too faithful to the source material

Cottonmouth was an idiot crime boss.  Granted, my view is somewhat skewed by the fact I was comparing him to Ghost from Starz's hit series "Power" but Cornell Stokes couldn't even measure up to his in-universe counterpart from Hell's Kitchen, Wilson Fisk.  Both had the NYPD on the payroll, hired goons, and a particular disdain for their respective heroes but you always got the sense that Fisk was a genuine threat.  His reach, ambition, and intelligence made Daredevil seem truly out of his depth trying to take him down.  Cottonmouth?  He felt like a boy wearing his father's shoes.  He was never in control, reacted with emotion, and make mistakes that had me constantly rolling my eyes.  I just wanted Cage to punch him the face so we could end this story...and my misery.  Hell, Ma Mabel was scarier.  A hero is only as good as his adversary and Cottonmouth just didn't seem compelling enough to push Cage to the heights I hoped he'd reach.  Cage himself seemed miscast.  Michael Colter's soft-spoken demeanor was perfect in a supporting role to "Jessica Jones" but as the focus of his own series?  I kept imagining my drill sergeant screaming "SOUND OFF LIKE YOU'VE GOT A PAIR!"  He doesn't talk, he mumbles.  This is supposed to be the 3rd strongest character in the MCU behind Thor and the Hulk and he sounded like he was afraid to be heard!

I was ready to give up on the series until Episode 7: "Manifest."  Cottonmouth went from being an idiot crime boss to a man who should never have been one in the first place.  He may have had little regard for the lives of those who crossed him but he still had a shred of humanity.  He mourned the death of his longtime friend, "Pop," paid for his funeral in full, and executed his murderer, Tone (played by my fellow ICB brother Warner Miller! Congratulations!).  He complained to Shades that, "there's supposed to be rules to this shit," emphasizing that a neutral player like Pop shouldn't have died.  He was angry that his childhood was stolen, being forced to kill the only man who saw him as anything other than the heir to Ma Mabel's empire.  In the end, Cornell was just another victim of the Stokes family legacy, figuratively, and then, literally.  Ma Mabel murdered his soul long before his cousin, Mariah, finished the job.  In retrospect, his death was the perfect series pivot.  It was the also death of Mariah's denial about who she truly was, it gave "Shades" an opening to reveal himself fully, and shifted the series focus from the sins of the Stokes' family to the sins of the Lucas's. And more they delved into Cage's history, the more Colter's laid back portrayal made sense.  Willis was more extroverted because he was chasing his father's acceptance.  Everything about him screamed "look at ME!"  Carl, the more reserved brother, felt obligated to live up to the family name but would've much rather lived without the spotlight.  He wasn't meant to be as brash as his comic book counterpart.  The MCU Luke Cage is the quintessential gentle giant and from that perspective, Colter's performance was perfect.

These need to become the definitive versions of the characters

Diamondback, though not the cerebral villain archetype I enjoy, was a much better challenge for Cage.  Willis Stryker didn't just embrace his dark side, he's so evil he became Cage's dark side too.  Diamondback doesn't care about rules or people the way Cottonmouth did.  He is singularly focused. Driven to not just kill Carl Lucas but burn everything he ever touched to the ground.  His very presence forces Cage to rip open old wounds he'd been running from since we were first introduced to the character in "Jessica Jones."  He's the embodiment of Cage's failures and their consequences.  He's actually what people fear a man with Cage's abilities could become.  Unchecked power. 

Unlimited POOOOWWWWAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

There are times the show gets preachy.  The scene where Luke almost goes on a historical rant about Crispus Attucks smacks of the writers putting their main character on a soapbox but it's forgivable. Most folks watching probably don't know who he is.  It also presses the hot button issues of police brutality and the myth of black fatherlessness more than once.  (A myth that's been disproven but somehow keeps finding its way into popular media.)  What's not a myth, however, is the damage being an "outside child" can do.  For every son left behind and forced to watch his half siblings be treated like the "real" kids, for every child denied their father's last name or even public recognition, and for every child that will never know what it's like to have a father who cares enough, Diamondback embodies that rage and how it can destroy you if you let it.  A nice touch, on the other hand, is the blend of the blaxploitation style and the infusion of hip-hop into the fabric of the series.  Not only is the soundtrack unapologetically hip hop, but if your memory is sharp and your listening catalog deep enough, you'll catch some famous lines woven into the dialogue almost every episode.  Like, "Lemonade is popular drink...and it still is," during Misty Knight's interrogation scene in Episode 9: DWYCK.  Also, every episode is named after a Gang Starr song (RIP Guru).  The easter eggs are plentiful and I think more than enough to satisfy long-time readers, like Misty Knight's makeover into her comic book appearance in the season finale, Misty almost losing her arm, Cage donning the classic 70s costume after his escape from Seagate, Luke refusing to be called a "Hero for Hire," and Pop's insistence on calling Luke "Power Man."

"Luke Cage" feels like it was made for us by us and has enough action and connection with the rest of the MCU that it's accessible to everyone, dropping some knowledge about black culture along the way.  This show was written by conscious black nerds who read comics and listened to everything from Slick Rick to Method Man (who's cameo had me grinning like Cage) and it shows.  It's a groundbreaking show and though it could treat its female characters with a little more respect (Claire comes off like a Magical Negro character and Misty Knight's story isn't advanced at all by having her sleep with Cage for starters), it shows that a show can succeed by being honest and upfront about difficult, too often ignored topics.  The audience has lived through many of them and its willingness to include those issues head on make it all the more relatable.

#blackheroesmatter

Sweet Christmas!  Well Done, Marvel...well done.

Yo Danny...You're Next!

  

On my way...

New Hashtag Same Shit. Are we crazy?

I'm going to be blunt.
If you talked shit about Kaepernick as I did initially but have nothing to say about the deaths of black men at the hands of taxpayer funded public servants you are a racist.  Period.  I don't care how many black friends you have.  I don't care if those black friends co-sign your unwavering loyalty to every form of law enforcement. I don't care if they allow you to call them nigga/nigger or any other conjugation present, past, future participle or derivative therein of the word "negro" that you think gives you a black pass.  I don't care how many black people you've slept with so you think you understand us.  You're a racist.  Just own it so we can all move forward with the discussion.  And in anticipation of the usual gutless, victim blaming responses, I've taken the liberty of preparing a list of answers that I'm sure any black person of any origin who's lived in this country for more than 5 years would appreciate.

1. "You're not oppressed!  Look at how much money (insert black celebrity here) makes!  I mean even the President is black!  What are you all complaining about?"

Right.  Because we all share one bank account at the Black Bank of Black America where TyQan and 'em from down the block can make direct withdrawals from the Black America Sovereign Wealth fund in which every black celeb from Oprah to LeBron to Obama makes monthly deposits to hold us all down until our welfare check arrives.  We all must have forgotten about that.  All 37,685,848 of us.

2. "I'm the real victim of racism here!  You and your Black Lives Matter terrorist thugs just want every special privilege for yourself and not have to work for anything!  Hard working black folks don't have time to go protest and block the highways to complain over nothing!"  

For the the slow....let's settle this once and for all.

Racism = systemic mistreatment.
Like a loan officer refusing to approve a mortgage in an affluent neighborhood because the applicant is melaninated (I love that word, thanks Blavity).  Or creating laws that specifically target black people.  You know, the stuff that keeps African Americans from latching on to those bootstraps you're so fond of.  The ones you've probably never had to pull yourself up by while enjoying the massive wealth and privilege that 87 (1776-1863) years of free labor and another 150 (1864-2016) of disproportionately underpaid labor brings.  Oh and let's not forget that if your a white male, you've always had the right to vote and be considered a full person, and been allowed to live wherever you choose.


Prejudice = an opinion usually held by assholes.
A non-white person that hates you, Mr./Ms. Victim of  "Reverse Racism," usually has no power to act on their opinion other than to make you feel bad.  You have the option of literally turning on your heels and go about your life as if that person never existed.  You never have to worry about losing a job because a non-white person said he/she didn't like you.  Unless, of course, you posted some racist shit on social media first...then you're on  your own.  (No, that's not PC bullshit.  It's called not being an asshole.)  As a member of the "default" class/culture, however, your low opinion of us (born out of decades of stereotypes designed to make mainstream America think we deserve discrimination) can create racism...and actually kill people.  Like #TerrenceCrutcher, #PhilandoCastile, #AltonSterling, #TamirRice, #JohnCrawfordIII, #SandraBland and #EricGarner despite the fact that murdering black people for being black is no longer legal.  (Feels like it though.)  If you want to count not being profiled, harassed, strip searched, disrespected, jailed and/or killed by the people who are charged to protect you then yes.  I want special privileges.  All of them.

Gimme.  Gimme. Gimme.

Protests are usually done by students, who don't work because they're in school and by activists who's actual job is bringing attention to cultural issues.  So they are doing their jobs by telling you they want to stop dying at the hands of crooked cops.  If they block the highway, you still get to go home.  It's an inconvenience, not a terrorist act.  Just because you're afraid when a bunch of black folks are standing together in unison doesn't mean....*sigh* never mind.

"Obey the law and you won't get shot!"

Exercising  your rights is not disobeying the law.
Calling out an officer for a bullshit traffic stop is not disobeying the law.
Talking back is not disobeying the law.
Displaying a weapon in an open carry state is not disobeying the law.
Police are also subject to the law.  (At least they're supposed to be)
It used to be illegal for people of different races to marry.
It used to be illegal for anyone other than land owning white men to vote.  The law is flawed and subject to the prejudices (see above) of the people who write and enforce it.
Summary executions are rarely warranted but it happens to black folks way more often than it should given statistical norms.  Yes nominally more white people are shot by officers but rich people pay nominally more taxes than you do too.  Smaller pot, smaller numbers, much bigger impact.


"You never protest Black on Black Crime!"

We do.  All the time.  It just doesn't affect you so you never pay attention until you try to use it to shut black people up.  And stop saying that.  If you want to really go there "White on White" crime kills far more people.  There's only one demographic that has the single gunman mass murder market locked up tight.

"If you don't like it here, LEAVE!"

We built this damned country together.  Brick by lash driven blood soaked brick.  The first man to die for American independence was a black man.  We have fought and bled for America in every war its ever waged and served in its politics before we were even considered human.  Who the hell do you think you are to tell us to leave?  You don't own America.  You never did.

I've already spoken at length about the steps that need to be taken to end this cycle and I'm not one to repeat myself.  However, this cycle of people who are supposed to be public servants disproportionately killing a segment of its employers is the definition of insanity.  Even if you couldn't care less about the people being killed, which you should if you've ever uttered the phrase All Live Matter, it's your tax dollars that are paying for the screw ups of these incompetent "officers." These settlements, which I think are patently insulting by putting a monetary value on a person's potential, are coming out of your pocket.  How about we stop spending millions of dollars in hush money to grieving families and start spending it on hiring better educated officers?  One's that might have a more complete accounting of our history and aren't so quick to pull the trigger because they've been culturally conditioned to believe that all lives really don't matter equally.  Can we do that?  Or am I the one who's crazy?

...Til Next Week.

I Don't Agree With It...But I Understand

Before you tell Kaepernick to "go back to Africa" or jump headlong to his defense there are a few things you should consider. (Photo: thecollegetailgate.com)

After Jim Harbaugh was forced out of the organization in 2014, Kaepernick found himself on an island.  If you watched 49ers football after he earned the starting QB job, Harbaugh seemed to be his biggest, if not only fan.  With the only buffer between him and his teammates gone, the 2015 season was predictably disastrous.  The 49ers have been trying to trade him, per his request, all off-season.

What does any of this have to do with his refusal to stand?

Everything.  Since Chip Kelly became the coach, Kaepernick's days in a San Francisco uniform have been numbered despite what's been said publicly.  Blaine Gabbert, a QB who's skills are a better fit for head coach Chip Kelly's offense, is rumored to have the inside track on the starting job.  Reports out of San Francisco labeled the former star as problematic in the locker room, behaving as if he was already on the way out and not really involved in the team's game plan.  So what do you do if you're a football player who can't play football?  The obvious answer is "be a professional and do what they pay you to do."  I've watched football long enough, however, to know its a mental grind to prepare every week for 16 weeks as if you're going to play and then hold a clipboard on game day.  It's very easy to lose focus, especially when your new head coach has been accused by multiple former players of being a racist.

Chip Kelly and Riley Cooper (Photo: phillyinfluencer.com)

When he was the Eagles head coach/general manager, Chip Kelly refused to discipline Riley Cooper for being caught on camera at a Kenny Chesney concert saying that he would "fight every nigger here." In fact, he was re-signed to a 5 year $22.5 million deal that was grossly disproportionate to his talent level.  Instead, Chip traded away the Eagles best and most outspoken black players during the the following 3 off seasons.  In 2015, long time Eagle and star running back LeSean McCoy said Kelly "got rid of all the good black players" after he was traded to Buffalo. Brandon Boykin, the Eagles' starting cornerback, said after he was traded to Pittsburgh, "[he] is uncomfortable around grown men of our culture."  In 2013 star wide reciever DeSean Jackson pointed out that he was released after his best season for the team.  Sports media blasted the move and the Eagles tried to justify it by launching a smear campaign to tie him to gang activity in his old  California hometown rather than anything football related.  Wide reciever Jeremy Maclin had his best statistical season after Jackson's release but Kelly didn't keep him either, refusing to match a reasonable offer sheet from the Kansas City Chiefs that would have kept him in Philly.  Even a former Eagles assistant coach and player Tra Thomas couldn't help but point out how many players felt there was a "hint of racism" in Kelly's locker room even if they didn't say it publicly.

It's not so far fetched to think that a man who feels as isolated as Kaepernick, who's star has fallen so far, who has seemingly lost his purpose, could see the hiring of Kelly as the final straw.  I'm not suggesting that football players can't be fully engaged in their jobs and care about social issues.  What I am saying is that when you have a burning desire to win, as I assume most NFL players have, and your primary vehicle for achieving that sense of victory is taken from you, no one seems to be in your corner, and your new boss is a man who's known for have issues with black men, it's not far fetched that Kaepernick could suddenly change his focus.

Why do you doubt his sincerity?

I don't.  At least I don't doubt that he believes he's being sincere.  I just wonder if his professional life was in order, would he be saying anything?  It doesn't make his statements and his assessment of our current climate any less true.  But would he be saying anything if his job was secure?  An article on Businessinsider.com notes that Kaepernick's social media postings were pretty typical for a young athlete until last October, when they turned decidedly more pro-black.  That's about a month before his poor play got him benched in favor of Blaine Gabbert.  Trayvon Martin, Rekiya Boyd, Ramarley Graham, and Kenneth Chamberlain were all killed when he was still basking in the glow of a Super Bowl run in 2012 not saying a word.  LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul have all taken stances vocally denouncing police brutality and all are not only in still the prime of their careers/influence, they're doing it while still respecting our country's traditions.  This is something I can't have selective memory about as if his not standing is the only way to bring attention to an issue that's getting more attention than ever before.  No, he's not the first athlete to do it and probably won't be the last.  I can say, however, that Kaepernick's stunt, whether he intended to or not, is drawing more attention to himself rather than the cause.

So you agree that he should leave if he doesn't like the opportunities he's been given in America, right?

Please.  Delving into the hypocrisy of that statement would be longer than a grad school dissertation. There is nothing black people have in the United States that hasn't been paid for in blood.  Statements like that come from the same mindset that thinks black folks should be thanking America for "saving" us from Africa via the slave trade.  If you think that, then you should be thanking us for the Tuskeegee Airmen, Dr. Charles Drew, Fredrick Douglass, George Washington Carver, and all the money and power you've enjoyed from centuries of our forced labor.  He's American.  He has the same right to free speech and protest that these guys do...

It's his birthright as much as it is yours.  His play and hard work earned his spot on the team just like his play is costing it.  Gratitude has nothing to do with it.


Why don't they just cut him?


I'll let Yahoo! Sports Charles Robinson explain...

So the 49ers have financial protection to keep Kaepernick. But there is also some financial incentive to release him. What couldn’t be foreseen in all this contract planning was the protest twist, which adds another element of drama to the equation. While the 49ers have stated their support for Kaepernick’s stance, there is an underlying reality that exists for virtually every NFL team (aside from maybe the Dallas Cowboys). Most front offices and coaching staffs attempt to practice drama-avoidance when it comes to a team’s makeup. While exceptions happen for exceptional players, backups are rarely afforded significant breaks. And right now, Kaepernick is a seemingly fading backup who has lingering physical issues and future salaries that don’t match his contributions. Teams rarely go out of their way to accommodate players like that.This is where the 49ers run into a mess of converging issues. While Kaepernick’s football state and future salaries would suggest a departure is the wisest choice, there is now an optics problem. While the team would surely suggest cutting Kaepernick is a football-only decision, there will be no shortage of skeptics who suggest the move is related to his protest or social views. It also doesn’t help that Kelly suffered criticism from NFL players in the past, over such roster decisions as the retention of Philadelphia Eagles wideout Riley Cooper (after he used a racial epithet) and the jettisoning of LeSean McCoy, who condemned Kelly’s relationship with black players. -- Charles Robinson 8/29/16 Yahoo! Sports "How big are the consequences for the 49ers if they cut Colin Kaepernick?"

In a nutshell, it would look really really bad if they cut him now.

So what's your point?

My point is that I've seen what real sports activism looks like.  Jim Brown, Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and LeBron James are consistent not only with their time but with their money and their words.  They haven't only done it when its convenient or have anything to gain.

The difference between a moment and a movement is sacrifice.

Was Kaepernick's act brave?  Does he have the right to do it?  Is his argument true?  Absolutely on all three counts, but the idea that he's simply woken up to the struggles his people ignores the larger context of his life right now.  He's soon to be a man without a job and that was before he "took a stand."  If that's what he wants to do with the next phase of his life and he's choosing now to set that up, more power to him.  I'm just not ready to jump on the bandwagon until I see some consistency and I know his motives are clear.  The messenger matters as much as the message and I think we need a better spokesman.

Agree/Disagree?  Think I'm full of it?  Sound off the the comment section below!  Don't forget to like share and subscribe if you want to see more posts like this.  

...Til Next Week!

Do You Really Want to Be Famous?

I think most of us associate fame with riches as if they're inextricably linked but Joe Frazier died broke and I bet no one reading this can name the CEO of Coca Cola without Google.  (Muhtar Kent, 1.6m in 2015) There are ways to the promised land without putting yourself in the public eye. This is why I have so much respect for my creative people. Singers, actors, comedians, writers, poets, artists (music and illustrative), dancers and people coming up with new ways to entertain us in ways they haven't quite categorized yet. There is nothing braver than standing in front of the world and saying "this is what I can do. Judge me." Being paid for being your authentic self is something most of us place firmly in the "LOL that'll NEVER happen" category but the ones that survive the experience, feel a euphoria that few can relate to.  That success, however, comes with a cost. Sometimes you sell your privacy, your dignity, and the very right to be respected as a human being because you're a public figure.  Some people think they own you and there's hell to pay if you disagree. The type of personal hell Leslie Jones is experiencing right now. Her public shaming has taken a vicious turn that goes well beyond racism, well beyond sexism, and well beyond sanity.  What's happening to her should be reserved for rapists, pedophiles, thieves, murderers, and corrupt politicians.  Her crime?  She got paid to make a movie you didn't like.  

The idea you can tell people how to react to their own experiences is something I'm all too familiar with. (Photo: Dailymail.co.uk)

Side note, the art of knowing when to shut the fuck up has been lost in this country so I cordially invite you, who think you have the right to hide behind a keyboard and be evil to someone you never met, to attend a refresher course, here, at the Wanderer's Voice.  Where discretion isn't just a multi-syllabic word you pull out of your ass to impress your friends, its an effective tool for knowing what you should do when trying to comment on something isn't in your lane.  

Lesson #1
Are you even old enough to remember the original Ghostbusters or its Bobby Brown themed sequel?  No? 

Then by all means...Shut the fuck up.

Lesson #2
If you are old enough to remember the movie and simply don't like what they've done with the reboot are you obligated by law or some other irresistible force to spend your money on the film?  No?

I refer you to the answer above.

Lesson #3
This is the really important one so pay attention.  If you think she deserves what is happening to her, and misogynoir (I learned a word today!) has nothing to do with it, do you feel that any other member of the cast should be subjected to the same treatment?  Have they been subjected to the same treatment?  No?

Then I invite you to re-read the answer to Lesson #1

Reinforcement is so important.


Now, ask yourself why hasn't Ryan Lochte hasn't been subjected to this level of abuse?  He created an international incident and legitimately embarrassed the country.  I've barely seen a meme.  

Ok a few memes.

Why hasn't Roger Ailes, former CEO of Fox News , who sexually harassed women on his staff for decades before his forced resignation, being treated to this level of shaming?  The man is literally a rapist.  Instead, he gets a cushy job with his fellow misogynist, Donald Trump instead of the proverbial burning at the social media (and likely criminal) stake that he deserves.

You don't like her movie? Don't see it. You don't like her style of comedy?  Don't watch it. I'm not a fan of hers for reasons that I'll discuss in another blog post but I'm perfectly ok with not calling her names or hoping to shame her for doing what's none of my (or anyone's) business behind closed doors.  Is this a price worth paying for fame? The idealist in me wants to pick up America and rattle it until the dregs who get off on this type of behavior fall into the Atlantic but I'm also a realist.  Leslie isn't the first and won't be the last because anonymity has brought ugliness and by extension the backlash to fame to an entirely new level.  As much as we'd all like to be rich, is it worth having to practically become public property to get there?  Some of us are a little more sensitive to that trade than others, especially when attacks like this tend to confirm our worst fears.  Sometimes, the price of fame can be too high.  

Like this post?  Hate this post?  Let me know in the comments below!

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...Til next week!

Shark Tank, Jersey Style (#Fownderslive @ Red Bull Arena Newark, NJ)

Last night I had the privilege of attending a business workshop organized by Fownders, Newark. Fownders is a non-profit business incubator determined to make Newark a major hub of entrepreneurship.  Unfortunately, I couldn't attend the entire event since I have a day job but the business pitches I heard during their "shark tank"-like competition gave me a lot of hope that not only does Fownders have the right idea but there is a wealth of untapped talent in the Brick City.  Below I've listed a few of the companies that made their pitch last night.  I've limited it to the ones that really impressed me with their ingenuity and the compassion they displayed in choosing which problems they're working to solve.  For the full list, search #Fownderslive on Twitter.

1. BlastChat:  http://whatsblasting.com/

Jhamar Youngblood has a unique solution to those god awful group texts.

“I could go on Facebook or Twitter and post, ‘Who wants to play?’ but my friends don’t check their accounts all day, and they probably follow over 100 to 5,000 people,” the Dartmouth graduate student said. “So posts go missing—less than 10% of tweets or Facebook posts are seen by followers or friends—I couldn’t get in touch with my friends in real time.”

He also thought about texting, but that presented a similar problem of having to copy-and-paste the message.“I could text the same message 30 times. There had to be a more effective way to get in contact with all my friends in real time with one message,” he says.It was here that Youngblood got the idea for Blastchat, an iPhone application he says will make “mass communication as easy as possible.”Blastchat allows users to send a message to a group of contacts. Through the app, messages are delivered to other users, but though they are notified of the message and respond to it through the Blastchat app, the conversation with the individuals from the group actually takes place in the iPhone’s iMessage app. --Blackenterprise.com 5/26/2015, Blastchat Creator Jhamar Youngblood Stives to Simplfy Group Communication, Joel Lyons

2. SafeHalo: Unfortunately, they don't seem to have an online presence yet but the idea is simple, much needed, and brilliant.  In a nutshell, they're a "buddy on demand" service modeled after Uber.  It's meant to prevent sexual assault and robbery by allowing you to call for one of many "Halos" or volunteers to walk with you when you feel unsafe on your college campus until you reach your destination.  The Halos are vetted with a thorough background check and basic training in behavioral psychology (the pitchman's words not mine) so they can also see possible threats before they happen. Each Halo would also carry a device that would track their movements much like Uber tracks its vehicles, from a central computer. The company is designed as a stop-gap measure, providing a little more peace of mind without having to involve a uniformed officer.  People taking care of people before the police ever have to become involved.  This was my favorite idea of the night.

3. New Pearl: Also no online presence yet but the idea is to use a siri-like proprietary algorithm called Pearlo to help small businesses become more efficient without needing a high degree of technical knowledge like what's required for using IBM's Blue products.  Targeted at mom and pop shops rather than large firms, the idea is that you would describe your business process (employee hiring, payroll, taxes, transportation, etc, etc) to the program with a voice interface (English only for now) and it would determine not only if you're doing the process efficiently but suggest how it could be streamlined.  In theory, this would allow small business to focus on growth more quickly instead of wasting months or years on cleaning up inefficient practices.

4. Fitsy: Again, no online presence.  (Should have realized this was a theme considering most of these companies are still in the pre-launch stage.)  The founder of this company is a member of the famous MMA, Gym American Top Team.  He fell in love with the sport so much he decided to share his experience with everyone by allowing top trainers, not limited to MMA fighters thank god, to share their workout routines with their customers directly for a nominal fee.  No infomercials, No home gyms.  If you want to know how NFL Linebackers train for the season?  The app puts you in touch with an NFL Trainer who can sell you a step by step video on the regimen he gives his players.  Yoga?  Tai Chi?  Martial Arts? Crossfit?  All will eventually be found on the app when it launches.

5. T.R.A.C.E.R. by Momentum Mechanics: http://www.momentummechanicscorp.com/
A more developed firm presenting an idea that's meant to protect both law enforcement and civilian alike by providing real-time GPS driven data that would eliminate faulty eyewitness testimony in police-involved shootings.  Ironically, the creator, Adam (didn't catch his last name) was inspired by the events in Ferguson, Missouri surrounding the death of Mike Brown.  A major sticking point about the casee that was never cleared up was just how many times Brown was shot and when the shooting began. With T.R.A.C.E.R., as soon as an officer unholsters his weapon, the device implanted in the weapon would be begin transmitting data in real-time to a 911 center and not only give other officers his or her location and vitals but how many times the weapon had been discharged.  Backup could be sent within seconds without anyone radioing in.  Though he didn't mention it, an added benefit is that neither party has much time to create fiction that would line up with the facts.  A video option is also being considered when the product is finally rolled out.  Though the idea was presented as a tool for law enforcement safety, I think this could also expose a lot of dirty cops and make the streets safer for everyone.

6.  AriseAlarm: The $10k winner of the night.  Arise's premise is simple.  It's an app that acts as an alarm clock that you can't snooze until you retype a positive affirmation into the phone.  For example, say you're deep into the Word and a quick verse in the morning helps you really get motivated.  You set your alarm for @ 6:45am and instead of rolling over and hitting the snooze button, which sends most people into an even deeper sleep, the alarm will keep going until you type out, "Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud."  Or if FDR was your hero, only "There is nothing to fear but fear itself," typed into Arise's screen will silence your phone.  Maybe I'm slow but the power of positive affirmation isn't something that resonates with me yet.  People swear by it, though, considering the overwhelmingly positive response to the pitch from the audience and obviously the judges.  Maybe they're on to something.

It was awesome being around so many creatives and so many business minded young Newarkers who aren't afraid to follow their dreams and think outside the box.  Thanks to Fownders, Newark for organizing the event and a special thank you to Sirius XM's Karen Hunter (Twitter: @KarenHunter, Facebook: www.facebook.com/karenhunter, instagram: Karenhuntershow) and her "Tech Tuesday" segment, without whom I would have never heard about of any of this.  Newark's future is bright and companies like Fownders are going to helping to keep the city in the spotlight.  Shine on!  Brick City Stand UP!


For more information or to partner with Fownders, please visit www.Fownders.com
follow them on Twitter (@Fownders) and on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Fownders

Are You Not Entertained?: Just Thought You Should Know 8/5/16

Dear GOP,

You're getting exactly what you deserve.  8 years of petty criticisms of the President, made up threats about immigrants being evil incarnate, the god awful racism not so cleverly disguised as constitutional loyalty (looking at you Birthers), the crusade against education/intellectualism, and the need for your base to be afraid of everything (even their own shadows because they're black) has finally culminated in this absolute farce of a Presidential campaign.  For the first time in our history, we may end up with 3 major political parties in this country because I don't see how moderate Republicans can possibly reconcile their views with their Presidential nominee and his minions.

Trump supporters, I want you to take a good long look at your candidate.  I mean a real look.  Think about the reasons you support him.  It certainly isn't about policy, he hasn't presented one that wouldn't cost more money than it saves. It's not because of his business acumen.  It doesn't exist.  Ask Atlantic City, NJ.  It's not because he's not a criminal like "Crooked Hillary".  She's been cleared of every charge leveled at her by every single Republican-led tribunal/witch hunt the GOP can think of.  Trump, on the other hand, is still in the midst of multiple lawsuits involving possible fraud.  Oh, and he might be a child rapist.  Not kidding.  Is it his superior values?  The values that he thinks permits him to routinely insult anyone who disagrees with him?  Oh I know, "he tells it like it is!"  Except when he's talking about having met Vladimir Putin and then says that he didn't.  Or that he saw a video of Obama personally paying the Iranians and then he says he was mistaken.  Maybe he was straight shooting when he said he would build that wall around us and then admitted he wouldn't?  The #NeverTrump Republicans, who I respect, though I disagree with their vision, at least had the spine to stand up for their principles.  The rest of the party leadership simply fell in line behind this pompous, entitled, ignorant windbag and it may have not only cost them this election but their party's future.  Among voters younger than 30, Trump is polling 4th, behind Hillary Clinton, Gary Johnson (Libertarian Party), and Jill Stein (Green Party).  Think about that.  The nominee for the 2nd biggest party in the country is polling behind 2 people most of the country has. never. heard. of.  The 18-year-olds who are voting for the first time this election are looking at your nominee as the representation of your party and would rather vote for 2 people who are almost guaranteed to lose. Most people stick with the first party they vote for and the upcoming landslide is probably going to render your party irrelevant for the next 50 years.  As much as I despise Trump and what the GOP has become, that isn't a good thing.

Look, the truth is that the core values of the GOP aren't that crazy.  It's founded in the idea that people can take care of themselves if the government should just get out of the way and let us work. Neighbor helping neighbor instead of depending on handouts from Washington.  And there are valid criticisms of our current system.  Money in politics is a problem.  Even Bernie Sanders agreed with Republicans on that.  NAFTA was a disaster for the American worker and there are many non-college educated people who need work.  But too many times those frustrations tend to be expressed as outright racism when the reality is the answers to your frustrations are a lot more complicated than "blame the non-whites"  Our issues can't be boiled down to a few angry tweets and an agenda that's stuck in the nostalgia of yesterday's America.  On a personal note, I'm part of the first generation of African Americans who full rights as a citizen are legally recognized by our government, these are the good old days for me!  The world has changed. You can thank your conservative news outlets for not telling you just how much and what you can do to keep up instead of feeding you a steady diet of things to hate and fear. If you've been eating up Fox News, The Blaze, and Breitbart for the better part of the last decade, all it's gotten you is a pseudo-intellectual who claims to be your voice but has never been anything but an elitist 1% his entire life.  He's never not  been rich so how can he possibly be your voice if he doesn't even speak your language? Trump is the literal embodiment of the ugliness that has infected the principles of the Republican Party.  I would wear out my knuckles on my keyboard if I listed the times he's proven that he's not just a bad candidate but a genuinely bad person.  It's ironic that it took him slandering a Gold Star Muslim family, a religion he's vowed to ban from our country, to get people to finally see it's him that doesn't represent American values.  His nomination is direct evidence that the Republican Party is broken.  So broken that they're willing to trot out a racist demagogue in the vague hopes that they can re-take the White House by appealing to the very worst American fears.  We've reached the point where the house they've built is no longer safe for any American to reside in.  The roof is leaking, the foundation is shot.  The lessons of 2012, which called for inclusion and moderation, have been outright rejected and the results have been predictably disastrous.  If the party leadership continues to ignore the evolution of our country, its only natural that America will eventually ignore them.  Completely.

...Til Next Week!

You can read more about the "Growth and Opportunity Project" that was supposed to transform the Republican Party into a more inclusive party here.

Black Mirror: Just Though You Should Know 7/22/16

 

Based on a true story...

 

Sorry for the late post.  I almost didn't write anything this week because I don't like sounding like a broken record. However, the spectacle we saw at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland only reinforces what most of us who are not swooning over Donald Trump's unconfirmed net worth (release your taxes, Donald) have been saying since he started his campaign. His leadership style is more in line with a dictator than a president.  He is a narcissist, whose first second and last concern is his own profitability and notoriety. Why else would you as a husband allow your wife to be embarrassed the way she was on the podium?  Though if we're being honest, his acceptance speech had even more falsehoods than hers did.  So there's that.

The real reason that I put fingers to keys this week, though, is this guy...

Sheriff David Clarke...oh wait...!

Whoops!  Sorry folks, wrong photo!

This guy...

Milwaukee County Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. (Photo: wkow.com)

Watching his last two public appearances, an interview on CNN in which he tried to intimidate Don Lemon and his speech at the Republican National Convention (link) left me wondering, what happened to this man to make him hate himself so much that he uses his position as an elected Democrat (yes he's a registered Democrat) to reinforce willful blindness to the suffering of his own people?  Rather than write him off as a sell-out Uncle Tom, which I'm reluctant to do since I've long advocated the idea that it's black people that define blackness and not the other way around, I thought I'd highlight some of the things that might motivate someone to turn his back on his people.  

Notoriety:

There's an old saying that a dog biting a man isn't news but a man biting a dog is.  African Americans are surprisingly very socially conservative.  Even as a 1st generation West Indian American, I see that most of them believe in the family values, limited government, and personal liberty Republicans constantly drone on about as if they invented them.  Who wouldn't want the freedom to not be stopped, frisked, and questioned because of what you're wearing or the neighborhood you're walking in?  The divide between us and the GOP is that they seem to think only their base is entitled to these rights.  Naturally, that doesn't sit well with us.  So when one of us jumps ship, he/she goes from being just another "plantation" dweller (isn't that such a nonracist way of opening dialogue?) to being "smart", "a truth teller", and "one of the good ones."  Suddenly, you're special.  Acceptance from a group that's long told you your entire existence is "less than human" and whose approval you've been culturally conditioned to seek is powerful.  It's not just African Americans either.  Former Louisiana Governor and failed Republican Presidential Candidate Bobby Jindal and current South Carolina Republican Governor Nikki Haley have benefited politically and financially from "assimilation" even if it meant throwing their own culture under the bus.  Obviously, not every non-white Republican subscribes to this mindset.  Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) and Former Secretary of State Colin Powell walk in conservatism and self-awareness without compromising their heritage though now it seems the more extreme your views are, the more spotlight you receive.    

Spotlight:

Speaking of the spotlight,  would anyone outside of Wisconsin have heard of Sheriff Clarke if he was towing the Democratic party line?  How about Jesse Lee Peterson?  Omorosa Manigult if you never watched "The Apprentice?"  Stacy Dash if offbeat comedies and late-night B-movies aren't your thing?  How about Trump spokeswoman and failed congressional candidate Katrina Pierson? Being a willing surrogate for racist propaganda can earn you a lot of money. Each of the aforementioned "conservatives" has a warm seat waiting for them on any Fox News show, anytime they want it.   There's a lot of financial security in being able to rationalize racist viewpoints and obviously, the degree to which some people's consciences are eased is directly proportional the number of zeros in their paychecks.  Perhaps some of them fear a return to poverty more than they love themselves.  

Cultural Conditioning: 

There are a few unwritten rules about being black in the United States if you want to thrive (by unwritten I mean no longer codified in law).  The first is that if you want to succeed you have to work twice as hard as everyone else.  Your blackness is already seen as 2 strikes against you so excellence is the only way to even have a chance at success.  If you're average, you're already dead in the water.  The second is that unless you're good at a sport or other form of entertainment, good diction aka "talking white" will get you much further than "talking black."  For you non-Americans/Canadians that means speaking any form of ghetto slang English will usually bar you from getting a job that pays a real living wage.  Third is that you must know history.  "History" being European history or world history from a European perspective.  You must know basics like America was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492 despite the fact that he found a native population that had been thriving and repelling European attempts at colonization since at least 1000 AD.  You must know that America gained its independence from Britain through the cunning tactics of George Washington without help from anyone else.  Especially not a Native American/black guy named Crispus Attucks who was the first American to die in the Revolutionary War.  You must also know that the only role African Americans played in the building of our country was carrying the terrible burden of slavery that they couldn't free themselves from so white men fought the Civil War to free them.  There were never any attempts by the slaves to free themselves and after the war was over, blacks were free to do as they wished with full rights as equal citizens granted immediately.  In all seriousness, with these socially accepted "rules" in place it's not hard to imagine a black person being inherently ashamed of who they are and seeing assimilation into "white" culture as a step up. It's ingrained into our "education" from day one.

Men like Sheriff Clarke are always a hard pill to swallow for those of us that want to see us thrive, connect, and put this racial crap behind us.  Instead of using his position as a vehicle of change, he uses his blackness and his badge as a shield for racists.  There are other police chiefs that are being fired for standing up for their communities but he selfishly chooses to join the chorus of criticism of a people that have historically never been given a fair shake.  He, and people like him are respectability politics taken to an extreme.  They are a cruel twist on the old saying "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em."  Like Kevin Durant, however, instead of being hailed as a hero for joining a winning team, you've only proven that you're not built for the fight and would rather take the easy path to victory.  I hope the perks of being a Republican shill are enough of a comfort to you at night, Sheriff Clarke, and that you never take your uniform off because we both know the first thing everyone sees when you take it off.  Oh?  You don't know what everyone else sees?  Ask Senator Tim Scott.  He'll fill you in.

 

...Til Next Week.

That Ain't Love...

 

Gavin Long expressing admiration for Micah Johnson, days before he would imitate his crimes (Photo: Heavy.com)

After watching videos posted by the Gavin Long and reading the "manifesto" of Micah Johnson I'm convinced that the only things they had in common were a crushing sense of isolation and exposure to training that allowed them to carry out their murders. Initially, I thought this might be a case of fellow veterans not getting the mental help they needed before they went off the rails but the more I see what they've written, what they've said, and the lives they led I see a pattern of selfishness. Shooting those officers wasn't about black liberation. Their actions are no different than Dylan Roof who wrapped himself up in the American flag, called himself a patriot, then proceeded to murder 9 people in a bible study. Or Anders Breivik who murdered 77 people, 69 of them children, in the name of protecting his country. Or Nidal Hassan, the Army Major who murdered his own troops supposedly in defense of Islam. These people aren't heroes willing to do "what's necessary." They're arrogant narcissists who think they and they alone are willing to do what others will not. It never occurs to these murderers whether who their targeting is actually responsible for their grievances or the hypocrisy of taking defenseless, often unsuspecting lives in defense of whatever crackpot ideology they believe in. In the end, they're nothing more than perpetually selfish children who think their view of the world is the only one that matters and they're willing to kill to prove it.  Can you think of a better definition of a narcissist?

Montrell Jackson's last social media post before being killed by Gavin Long. (Photo: Abc7.com)

Despite what certain media outlets are peddling, Johnson and Long don't represent Black Lives Matter, they don't represent any black men I have the honor of calling friend, and they damned sure don't represent me. Real martyrs sacrifice themselves to save the lives of other people not set off a political bomb that accomplishes nothing but increase scrutiny on an already overpoliced people.  They've helped no one.  They've done nothing but given the media yet another reason to deflect, blame, dismiss and even justify heavy-handed police tactics against black people.  As my favorite group Little Brother would say...if this is love, I don't want to see hate.

How to end #Blacklivesmatter: Just Thought You Should Know 7/15/16

2016 has gotten off to a really shitty start.  I say "start" loosely since we're in middle of July but the shitstorm of fail we've been going through feels like its not quite done with us yet.  As far as bad weeks go, its hard to top the week Prince died but with another terror attack in France, an attempted military coup in one of the largest countries in NATO, and cops in Dallas being killed by snipers, this week tried its damnedest to take the crown.  Don't get me wrong, there were some positive stories too but when the lowest point in the week isn't the deaths of more than 100 people innocently celebrating a national holiday in France, even the New Day would be hard pressed to find a silver lining.  This week I thought I'd examine just where Black Lives Matter is going as a movement and what would it take for it to abate.   

#Blacklivesmatter

There have been a lot of accusations thrown around by both sides of this debate.  Black Lives Matter has been called a "terrorist" group by numerous media outlets that I won't give the dignity of being mentioned here and likewise Black Lives Matter and their supporters have launched that same charge at our nation's police officers.  As always, the truth lies somewhere in the middle and no one has tried to step in and ratchet down the rhetoric because they're too busy trying to use the moment to push an agenda or get ratings.  If we're being honest, officers tend to get a overzealous when dealing with black people, no matter our social class.  They're less patient, less likely give us the benefit of the doubt, and much more quick to use force on us to gain compliance...and those are the good ones.  There are many departments that blatantly racially profile, harass, and brutalize African Americans.  These are facts.  Conversely, If the police force (en mass since we've been dealing in broad brushes all week) were really a terrorist organization on the level of the KKK, there would be a lot more dead black bodies in the streets.  Most of the egregious police misconduct we see on television are against poor blacks in poor black neighborhoods, where violent crime tends to be higher.  Naturally, officers who've never lived in the area and probably have never been exposed to this type of environment, are on edge.  They don't know the people, culture, mindset, nor do the people make it easy.  Granted, the modern police force started off as an organization of slave catchers and I already mentioned how officers tend to mistreat black people so the attitude is historically justified.  However, all that being said, "fuck the police" isn't helpful to anyone either.  Most officers do their jobs well and are not putting on the uniform every day with the sole intention to harass and murder black people.  Ticket quotas combined with decades of cultural conditioning are probably more responsible than a bunch of individual "rogue" racists in uniform for the current broken state of the relationship.  Most of them, like their civilian counterparts, don't even realize they're racists.  But even with all that on the table, I firmly believe this problem is solvable.  We need the police.  Their function in society is vital, which is why it is imperative that their applicant screening process, psych evaluations, and accountability steps must be impeccable.  But they can't do it alone.  Policing at its best is a joint effort between officers and the people they protect.  The cops can't arrest the people making our neighborhoods unsafe if they don't know who these people are.  Without reliable intelligence, law enforcement is forced to operate blindly with disastrous results.  There are several accepted aspects of police/community culture that must change for real reconciliation to happen.

Silence really does speak volumes.

Break the Blue Wall of Silence

As a veteran of the Army Reserve, I understand brotherhood.  I understand the power of instantly understanding what your fellow soldiers have been through to get where they are and to be instantly understood.  You want to protect your brothers (and sisters) against unfair treatment.  However, this practice has often stood as a shield for people who's racial biases, bully mentality, and misogynistic attitudes should disqualify them from wearing the uniform.  Too many of these "officers" use the law as a tool to harass, intimidate, and humiliate whoever they wish and until recently, their fellow officers remained silent about it.  We've already seen cracks starting to show in the wake of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Good cops are finally fed up and starting to speak out against their prejudiced and corrupt colleagues.  In addition to the high profile cases of racial discrimination, we've also seen far too many cases of sexual abuse from officers.

Victims included unsuspecting motorists, schoolchildren ordered to raise their shirts in a supposed search for drugs, police interns taken advantage of, women with legal troubles who succumbed to performing sex acts for promised help, and prison inmates forced to have sex with guards.
The AP's findings, coupled with other research and interviews with experts, suggest that sexual misconduct is among the most prevalent type of complaint against law officers. Phil Stinson, a researcher at Bowling Green State University, analyzed news articles between 2005 and 2011 and found 6,724 arrests involving more than 5,500 officers. Sex-related cases were the third-most common, behind violence and profit-motivated crimes. Cato Institute reports released in 2009 and 2010 found sex misconduct the No. 2 complaint against officers, behind excessive force.
Cases from across the country in just the past year demonstrate how such incidents can occur, and the devastation they leave behind. -- Matt Sedensky and Nomaan Merchant, 11/1/15, Associated Press: Hundreds of officers lose licenses over sex misconduct

The police are the only public service that gives its employees the power to end another person's life if they deem it necessary.  Doesn't it make sense that the people they hire should be as free of prejudice as possible?  Do good cops want these maniacs representing them? Are these really the best candidates we can find?  If so, that's a bigger indictment on our culture than any North Korean propaganda film. 

When 'keeping it real...' is suicide.

"No Snitchin'" must end.

I lost a man I considered my brother to the bullets of a crazed drug addict on November 25, 2001 .  We came from a rough neighborhood and when you live in rough neighborhoods, meeting friends with spotless criminal records is hard.  As a matter of fact, when your neighborhood is over policed, schools are poor, and employment options are few, having a criminal record isn't as big a knock on your character.  It's expected.  It's what whether you go locked up for jay walking or got lock up for murder that matters.  Living in isolation isn't an option if you want to live a semi normal life so you talk to people, even if they've been to jail or sell drugs.  I was lucky enough to have gotten out of that environment through some extraordinary sacrifices by my mother but my God-brother couldn't so he had to deal with who he had to deal with.  Unfortunately, that post Thanksgiving Sunday night, my 18 year old God-Brother was walking home from his new job and decided to chat with one such individual.  Not long after, they were approached by a man wanting to buy drugs. My God Brother's friend was a known dealer so this wasn't out of the ordinary.  During the course of the sale, the addict decided he didn't want to pay for his purchase and produced a revolver.  My God brother ended up on his back and choking to death on his own blood at the bottom of dirty basement stairs, shot in the chest 5 times, while both the dealer and the killer fled the scene.  Both were eventually caught about a week later and the addict was charged with murder, his 3rd felony strike.  The drug dealer, in jail on an unrelated charge, was the prosecution's "star" witness as the only other person who knew what happened that night.  I attended the trial, determined to get the truth of why my friend was dead.  When the drug dealer finally testified, it wasn't his description of the last moments of my brother's life that hurt the most.  It was the during the defense's cross examination that we found out that the drug deal had committed an armed robbery 3 weeks before and the local PD failed to arrests him.  Had he been caught, none of this would have happened.  I initially blamed the police for not doing their jobs, for neglecting yet another young black man's death.  But I know the kind of people who live in the neighborhood we grew up in.  I know because its the same attitude I had as a teenager.  Too many instances of disrespect and outright abuse between us for anyone to say anything to the police.  Even if that meant an armed robber remained free.  The only thing that accomplished was another member of our family being robbed of his future.  Sometimes, the first step to rebuilding a relationship is taking a leap of faith.  We know which officers have no interest in engaging us as a community and which do.  Use those connections and return the respect you're given by making the officers who actually care look good so they can become the people in charge of setting the tone for community relations.  We can weed out the bad cops the same way customers weed out bad employees, build a record of complaints so long they can't deny the pattern of misconduct.  Keep filming, keep exposing them, and keep them from getting another job.  Fighting fire with fire only proves them "right" and costs more black lives.

"Broken Windows" was used in post invasion Iraq with disastrous results (Photo: Wired.com)

Broken Windows Policing/Stop and Frisk/Ticket Quotas Must be Abolished
For folks who are screaming at their screens right now asking about Chicago and why I'm not speaking as vehemently about the black deaths instead of bashing the police?  Simple.  Gang members and criminals didn't take an oath to uphold the law and represent the highest ideals of our judicial system.  It's a false equivalence.  A straw man argument.  It should go without saying that the police should be held to a higher standard as taxpayer funded peacekeepers.  Honestly, anyone who doesn't think that's fair should ask themselves if they'd like to be treated the way the people of Baghdad were treated during the American occupation because that's exactly what "broken windows" policing and "stop and frisk" are.  In theory, broken window focuses on aggressively enforcing petty crime to deter more serious ones, restoring trust, reducing fear, and increasing pride in a community.  It was initially successful in Iraq but that was because Iraqis knew that the local police were backed up by the heavily armed American military.  Eventually, that fear gave way to rage as civilians refused to talk to Iraqi police or American MPs, allowing Al-Qaeda to kill at will.  Since our departure, crime and terrorism are worse than ever in Baghdad.  In New York City, which credited the practice for it's dramatic drop in crime during the 90s, it's become another excuse to use already low income people as source of municipal revenue.  The proof is the dramatic reduction in tickets written during the NYPD "protest" against Mayor DeBlasio last summer.  There was no corresponding rise in criminal activity during the down period inadvertently proving most of the officers have become little more than uniformed backdoor tax collectors.  Stop and Frisk compounds the issue by treating innocent young men of color as criminals regardless of actual guilt or innocence.  You cannot build a trusted network of neighborhood intelligence when you don't make the distinction between civilian and criminal.  Now, just as in Baghdad, police all over the country are being targeted in retaliation for years of abuse.  Good cops are paying the price for years of ineffective leadership, stat padding arrests, and racial profiling.

Where does it end?

It ends with the end of racism.  We got a glimpse of what that America would look like in the weeks after 9/11.  I can't remember any other time in my lifetime that we were all Americans.  No hyphens.  We're not where we were before the 60s but we clearly have a long way to go.  I used to believe that as the older generation died out, they would take their prejudices with them.  Unfortunately, we're seeing the same old battles play out among people my age who didn't live through the civil rights movement, proving poisonous ideas are just as hereditary as eye color.  We shouldn't be surprised though.  Racism didn't die out with the end of the Civil War, either World War, nor the Civil Rights movement.  We've seen small steps though, taken after each generation, slowly repealing explicit legalized racism and with the legal restrictions on education and housing lifted, more African Americans than ever are rising into positions of leadership.  We must remember though, that these leaders are still forced to work within a system that constrains how quickly they can effect that change and how entrenched the social barriers are to that change.  It's like trying to chip away at a glacier with an ice pick.  Killing cops won't help.  Ignoring police misconduct won't help.  But don't just take my word for it...ask the US Department of Justice, who've made the same recommendations I've just spent the last few paragraphs blathering about.

Resource Guide for Enhancing Community Relationships and Protecting Privacy and Constitutional Rights

After-Action Assessment of the Police Response to the August 2014 Demonstrations in Ferguson, Missouri

Community-Based Approaches to Prevention: A Report on the 2014 National Summit on Preventing Multiple Casualty Violence 


...Til Next Week!