BillCosby has more harsh words for black community

[Bantu_Kelani]

You are talking about Western system and white men have the power to do this and that. But look around you, look at all these foreigners who are making it big in the U.S and Europe while many Blacks living in the ghetto or just middle class Blacks today use anti-intellectualism terms as endearment. Most are self-hating Blacks glorifying violence, sex, and immorality. Instead of investing money into books, after school programs, savings for higher education, they prefer invest in Tommy Hillfiger, Nike, material things, etc.. So, we need to take a deeper look into ourselves and really be honest with our current situation. You cannot blame White Supremacy forever. Sooner or later, we all will have to confront our issues head on and take responsibility for them. Over the year Bill Cosby and his wife have made significant contributions and (IMO) are positive role models for our brothers and sisters. He simply has enough of us embracing the "ghetto fabulous lifestyle", which is doing nothing but bringing us down as a race.

As for Ebonics, a lot of those people who speak Ebonics do not speak proper English. And let me tell you, another problem with Ebonics is that it makes one's vocabulary weak. It makes one a slow thinker and lazy to think. If you listen to them it is "yo, nigger" after almost every other two words they use. It is ridiculous! It is more serious than people like myself who have a strong African accent and who do not speak fluent spoken English. I come in America to get a better life, and everywhere I see is the mental slavery of Black people here. My heart aches.


B.K

[gman]

OK I still here for a minute... leaving tomorrow for Guyana.
To briefly address some points: as far as so-called ebonics making you a slow thinker, check a freestyle cipher sometime, where you gotta start flowing off the last word someone said, those people are not slow thinkers. And check out the dialect of English country lords and whatnot, every other word is "old chap, what". All languages and dialects have their little tics and repetitive phrases.
We have to keep blaming white supremacy and capitalism as long as they exist because they are the source of the problem.
This does not mean avoiding taking responsibility, or not taking a long hard look at ourselves and our behavior. But to simply say that people's behavior alone is the problem without looking at the context in which it occurs, is in effect condoning the system that creates that behavior.
WHY do people spend ridiculous sums of the money they barely have enough of on tacky clothes made by wealthy white boys who invest in virtual slave labor camps in Central America, the caribbean, Asia, etc? Because people are lacking in self-esteem and have been brainwashed to believe that self-esteem is something that can be bought. In other words, they have bought into the raison d'etre of america, rampant capitalism which feeds off of people's dissatisfaction with life. "You're not happy, you're not fulfilled, you're not a real wo/man, until you've bought this and such product." That's what America is all about, so the problem is not Black americans, the problem is america.
As far as immigrants succeeding while Black americans fail, first of all I think this is exagerrated, many more people fail than succeed in america period... if everyone succeeded then america as we know it would collapse. But as for those that do succeed, several things come into play: first, if you're white you're right, you done know that (you already know that, in standard english); second, if you're brown/yellow and perceived as fairly non-threatening (Koreans, Indians/Pakistanis- though the latter less so now since they look like they might be some of them mooze-lems) you're going to have an easier time getting a bank loan etc., plus you probably had a little something already if you had the $ to make it over here... why is that all the Indian people I know in America from college are Brahmins? Lower-caste ´people never make it over to america, that's why; third, even if the above two conditions don't apply, you're likely to have a strong cultural foundation, a sense of self-worth and self-esteem, and a community of fellow strangers-in-a-strange-land (a condition which tends to unite even people who don't like each other much), and you won't have been subjected to such a steady barrage of tv propaganda and negative role models as Black youth are subjected to in america. All of that gives you (the generic you, I'm not talking about you personally cos I don't know your circumstances) an advantage over the average Black youth in america.
When you only talk about the kid stealing from the corner store, but not about how the corner store is stealing from the community, when you only talk about how kids need to go to school, but not about the horrendous conditions the schools are in and what they teach (and don't teach) there, you're not providing any kind of balanced perspective, you're just pointing the finger at the easiest target.
You said you came to america looking for a better life, well I don't think its to be found there, not that you can't make a good life for yourself anywhere with determination, but america is a place of material wealth and spiritual poverty, and probably the most media-saturated place on earth, when you constantly beam images of ease and luxury into the homes of people who have nothing and have little prospect of getting anything legally (and this has been happening long before the advent of the rap video), then... well listen to the song "Love's gonna getcha" by KRS-ONE, he explains it a lot better than I can, and what's more he does it in a way that kids might actually listen to and think about what they're doing and change, which is unlikely to happen when a self-righteous millionaire starts wagging his finger in their face and shouting at them.
You know one time when I used to live in Portland Oregon, I lived across the street from these Crips, I used to talk to them like  I did everyone else in the neighborhood... one of them may well have saved my life one time but that's a different story... anyway I remember one time I was smoking a joint with this one crip, and he said something that stuck in my head, he said, "You know I feel like an alien here... this might as well be Mars, man, this ain't my home". I think there's a lot of Black youth that feel that way deep down, and who are really hungry for knowledge, for some alternative to the life they know, but they ain't gonna hear it if it's shouted in their face by someone who's obviously living very comfortably and has never walked a mile in their shoes. Do you see what I'm trying to say Bantu?

[preach]

B.K. in one of your comments you made reference to niggers then put into parentheses anti-intellectual and self-hating.  You sound like one of those individuals with the talented tenth complex. These individuals are actually embarrassed by their brethren and unconsciously seek the approval of others to validate themselves. What in the hell is an anti-intellectual?, as if there is some sort of group that attacks, and oppresses them. Sounds sort of burgeoise to me to self proclaim oneself an intellectual based on a european concept of intellectual.
I once read somewhere that people think better in their native languages. For example when the Chinese make business decisions they don't consult their partners in English. We the displaced diaspora don't know our native language but have adapted beautifully. We can express ourselves with our colloquial language better sometimes because it gives us the power to define. In honesty english is actually an ugly language with rules that contradict themselves. I have heard many a person speak eloquently with precise enunciation and a clarity unmatched; and say some of the stupidest s*** I have heard in my life. For example listen to any speech by the president.  one love gman

[Bantu_Kelani]

B.K. in one of your comments you made reference to niggers then put into parentheses anti-intellectual and self-hating.  You sound like one of those individuals with the talented tenth complex. These individuals are actually embarrassed by their brethren and unconsciously seek the approval of others to validate themselves. What in the hell is an anti-intellectual?, as if there is some sort of group that attacks, and oppresses them. Sounds sort of burgeoise to me to self proclaim oneself an intellectual based on a european concept of intellectual.

That is one of the most asinine comments I have ever read. Bill Cosby's remarks are very real and have been discussed here on this forum. If you really think that speaking against senseless violence, parenting problems, too many materialism, consumerism, selfishness and individualism within the Black community is displaying the talented tenth self-hating complex, you need to do some real social research.. Gman himself agree with me on the materialism and immorality that have become immersed in the Black community.

I agree that our talented tenth were supposed to help rebuild and revitalize our communities. The talented tenth were supposed to break down barriers in the Black community. But the truth is too many middle class and wealthy Blacks have abandoned our poor brothers and sisters. Too many of them have allowed their own kids to accept the style of the "thug" in their trappings, their music, and their attitude. Too many of them blindly follow the $, without thought of ethical consequences and this is the model which our own kids have accepted.

Poor Blacks do not take responsibility for their families and their choices either. Too many have lost the values of integrity and commitment to excellence in education, service and community, which was the hallmark of African traditional erudite and collectivist values that harmonized with the positive aspects of traditional African religions experiences. Intellectually and emotionally our ancestors were logical, practical, studious, disciplined and open to progressive ideas. Even African Americans like Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. DuBois and Mary McLeod Bethune used to praised integrity, discipline, and education. But your wording implies that you think I claim to espouse Eurocentric philosophies. You got to be kidding me with some of the things you say. You are just judging me, and like minded people like me, based on ignorance it seem to be.

Too many of our people are making wrong and poor choices about life's most important decisions. You will find on the face of the earth that we are taught to love everybody but ourselves. Black parents do not raise their children with a Pan-African Nationalist education and teach them to work hard on unifying the entire Black race. So, we cannot continue to talk about how White folks keep us down if Black men and Black women teach their kids to hate themselves but love anyone else. Indeed, poor Blacks are doing so. Black parents choose to buy expensive sneakers rather than phonics programs for their children. They do not put importance on education and learning to speak Standard English. But, let's face it; the work world in operates in Standard English not Ebonics. Do you think that stateless Africans in the U.S, Britain or any English-speaking western countries would ever be able to become doctors speaking incorrect and unintelligible English? I live in a Black American community and I see all the poor conduct Bill Cosby mentioned.

I believe it is time to speak out on a Black issue that is a real, true issue. To me, there is nothing wrong that Bill Cosby (or any politically conscious, long time organizer and humanist Black man or woman) do not address the whole of society, but rather talk about our own people, because the truth is, most of our problems are due to division, mis-education, laziness and immorality. Hunger, poverty, injustice, lynch law and the CIA in the Middle East and the Republic in China do not prevent the majority of the people there to unite, plan, organize agaisnt Western governments within and outside their home countries. Therefore, if these non-White people are capable to battle (and in the future collapse) Western powers, then the worldwide system of White Supremacy is not the main problem of African people throughout the world.

Dr. Bill Cosby has free speech, as do we. He is exercising his right. I never heard him utter a curse word or a racial slur. I admire him. He calls it as he sees it. I do the same in here, without rehash popular ideas to gain popularity. A true freedom fighter or a spiritual messenger brings reality or the truth out into the world. It is the public choice to accept or reject it, for our agenda is not to gain popularity or criticism from the public.

B.K

[Bantu_Kelani]

You said you came to america looking for a better life, well I don't think its to be found there, not that you can't make a good life for yourself anywhere with determination, but america is a place of material wealth and spiritual poverty, and probably the most media-saturated place on earth, when you constantly beam images of ease and luxury into the homes of people who have nothing and have little prospect of getting anything legally (and this has been happening long before the advent of the rap video), then... well listen to the song "Love's gonna getcha" by KRS-ONE, he explains it a lot better than I can, ..

I fled famine, epidemics, hatred, war, human rights disaster, and economic rape of my country by foreign countries for our oil and "jewelry mines". I assure you that living in a racist and capitalist white controlled society in America is a walk in a park compare to the daily life in DR Congo.  In my home country there are no Arabs or White men killing us but pure Black breds. Crime rates are climbing in most African countries, corruption almost at every turn you have. Are White men still the sole responsible for this appalling and disgusting occurrence in Africa? Believe me, the White WASP or Arabs wouldn't be able to prevent us form taking our place under the sun if our greedy dictators and most Africans, who are brainwashed, weren't dancing to their tune.  

B.K

[leslie]

 Bill Cosby must be respected for his stance regarding the Black community. However, as G-man has intimated, Cosby views the problem through limited eyes. His solutions to the problem are as limited and as temporary as medicine prescribed to provide relief of particular symptoms. The pain and discomfort may go away for a while but the actual cause of the illness will always remain a threat to the body.
Living in Amerikkka's ghettoes is living within the bounds of a prison-like system. As Preach has indicated, many of these Black youths know that there is no possible way for them to leave that prison through legitimate means. Thus, they become involved in illicit activity to acquire the status items that are displayed by their heroes: Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, 50 cent and other ignorant entertainers. We must also be cognizant that despite our genuine concerns for our race, we can never rise above iniquities existing in the system. Let me remind you that the capitalist system is a success people! We are positioned right where we were supposed to be.  The very fact that some of us (very few, I might add) are able to come out of the prison is all part of the design. Having a few of the slaves enter the Great House was used as a check on the system...just ask Collin Powell! Further, this whole idea of meritocracy encourages the subordinate position of Africans in the Diaspora. Only a few blacks are successful at examinations and an even smaller amount pursue tertiary level education and acquire careers. These minorities, who have assumably attained the 'American Dream' usually forget about those they left behind...few like Bill Cosby and Harry Bellefonte prove otherwise. However, successful blacks, like Cosby, seem to have poor diagnoses to the predicament attacking the victims of the system instead of the system itself or the true beneficiaries of the system. G-man is also correct in stating that a major part of the problem is that African-Americans and African -West Indians have low self-esteem. What else can we expect when the media is bombarded with images of middle class white achievers and ideas that white is right and blacks have been, are and will always be in the back.                                                   Black people who have managed to climb the ladder and have more access to information should distribute this knowledge to those less fortunate. And I mean knowledge of our historical past before people like King, Garvey and X came on the scene. It is only then, when the purpose of our existence is clear can we do anything to bring about radical change.
I understand Cosby's frustration but I cannot agree with him totally. Many of the things that Blacks do are done because of their own ignorance and because of their inability to cope in other ways with the system and with their low self-esteem. Telling them to use proper English and to stay in school would never help until there are modifications made to the system and efforts made for SELF-education. Until then, Cosby's words would be lost in the wind.
One more thing...many African words have been preserved through our colloquial expressions. In Trinidad, for example, our local music is called Calypso. The word 'calypso' is a derivative of the expression 'kaiso' which in Yoruba (I believe) means encore! or great performance. To say that the use of so-called 'Ebonics' is a display of intellectual deficiency is a very ignorant position to take. I agree that it would be to one's advantage to master the 'Queen's English' but it would be foolish of us to ignore the validity and beauty of our 'creolised' expressions.

[Bantu_Kelani]

leslie,

What about the looting, chaos, murders, retaliations prevalent in Black communities and Black nations that is on the agenda of Black people and Black governments themselves? Why are you ignoring these facts? It occurs to me that you, and most brothers and sisters, want to live in blindness intend to emulate the three monkeys - Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil from their our own people. But the "evil" apparently is also each other. Let's be realistic, collectively we have lost our identity as a people in a sense and we do not know what to do with ourselves. Look around the globe. Other oppressed people of the world have an identity, they know where they came from and they know where they are going. Black people do not have same values as dark skinned Indus, Latinos, people of Maghreb or Koreans. There is no Chinatown for Black people in Western countries, Black people are not organized to protect themselves. Few own businesses and most are unwilling to be entrepreneurs. The truth is, we are mentally enslaved. In many people, it is as deep as a third degree burn and it hurts Congo just as much as the burn hurt Caribbean Blacks and stateless Africans in American and Western countries. We contradict ourselves heavily and we live comfortably with hypocrisy. Those of us who have gotten to a stage where we would be great help to our people do absolutely nothing. Thus, we sit around and blame others but ourselves.

Look around. You will see poor Blacks that do not like their Blackness. They are into western and Eastern powers merchandise. Why you ignore the truth is very disturbing because it is this attitude of Blacks worldwide that led to the great disaster of the slave trade. White people know we have this problem and exploit it, whereas as Black people we refuse to admit it. Instead of hard work, we turn to blame and aid. Dependency is the fashion of the day. White men are happy to give it because it drags us deeper and deeper into their domination. They know knew by that exercise they are going to own us into perpetuity. By the time we know what is happening, the world would move on and we will be in decline. Things have become so bad that even if we have to pie we have to ask permission from the west.

That is, mainly why you see Black communities and Black nations in colonialism, oppression and stagnation like that. If you want social and financial stability, don't just wish for it go for it! We are all like little computers totally dependent on the data that is stored in our memories. Mentality is a hard thing to change but it can be done, either the old software has to be deleted or some new more powerful software has to be installed... As such Africans need a strong sense of Nationalism and Unity ideology to become indomitable, we need nothing else! Because no one but Africans can resurrect the wellspring of progress the world over with their own abilities that they have to control. Blacks or Africans have issues that they need to work out themselves. It is not useful or productive to be in denial about them.  

B.K

[Bantu_Kelani]

One more thing...many African words have been preserved through our colloquial expressions. In Trinidad, for example, our local music is called Calypso. The word 'calypso' is a derivative of the expression 'kaiso' which in Yoruba (I believe) means encore! or great performance. To say that the use of so-called 'Ebonics' is a display of intellectual deficiency is a very ignorant position to take. I agree that it would be to one's advantage to master the 'Queen's English' but it would be foolish of us to ignore the validity and beauty of our 'creolised' expressions.

Within the white American society to only speak Ebonics (or so-called Black American Creole) and not able to speak Standard English as well as Ebonics, is really unfortunate. What bothers me about Ebonics is that most people who speak it are young adults and kids who speak it on purpose to make themselves sound "thugs" it aggravates the "Blacks are stupid" stereotype..To point unintelligent way of life in our communities and seeking to eradicate it to open up our minds to true knowledge of ourselves, is not IMHO manifesting ignorance.

B.K

[preach]

Contrary to popular belief ebonics is not slang. It is a universal agreement among black people. Black people are not the only people who put their twist on the king's english. Let's say you walk into an Asian beauty supply  and you ask the price of a brush. The response might be 2 dollar instead of 2 dollars, with the emphasis on s. This would be an example of Asian American english. So should their speech be called asianonics. And now because they have abused the king's english should they now be deemed ignorant even if their business is thriving.
How can Bill Cosby speak about a population of people who he couldn't possibly relate to; the bourgeoise make reference to the proletarians in order to validate themselves.

[Bantu_Kelani]

preach,

I do understand that most of Black American born children wants to speak another language than English but it is unfortunate not knowing at all how to speak proper English living in a white American society.  Plus, there is nothing intelligent or "African" about saying "yo, nigger" after almost every other two words. These days Black kids are not even ashamed to call themselves "nigger" in front of anybody including whites. They call themselves "nigger" so much that whites feel free to call us "niggers" and even call themselves "niggers" and even the white Latinos call themselves "niggers"! This word, used almost with every two words speaking Ebonics, means "ugly, hated, inferior, subhuman". Whites used this word to justify the slavery system, and that is the word our Black youth are honoring! This word should be dead in Black minds but brainless idiots, the sell out Blacks use this word like it is the greatest thing in the world.

Bill Cosby is right, our youth have replaced, "Black is beautiful", that our ancestors gave their blood, sweat and tears to establish, for "Niggerism". You criticize Bill Cosby because it is the white media that are picking up his comments and broadcasting them while earlier this year Louis Farrakhan spoke to thousands people in Chicago about many of the same things Dr. Cosby said about parental responsibility for the education and socialization of our children, via satellite, but not broadcast by white media so none of the poor or lower class Blacks criticize him. How do you justify that? Wake up! Self respect, logic, and non-hypocrisy. That is what we need.

B.K

[iyah360]

My friend sent me this. Thought I would share as it seems relevent to this discussion. I do not know the actual source.

"Subject: BLACKS DON'T READ
This is very deep, and unfortunately, very true!

This is a heavvvvy piece and a Caucasian wrote it.

THEY ARE STILL OUR SLAVES We can continue to reap profits from the Blacks without the effort of physical slavery. Look at the current methods of containment that they use on themselves: IGNORANCE, GREED, and SELFISHNESS.

Their IGNORANCE is the primary weapon of containment. A great man once said, "The best way to hide something from Black people is to put it in a book." We live now in the Information Age. They have gained the opportunity to read any book on any subject through the efforts of their fight for freedom, yet they refuse to read. There are numerous books readily available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.com, not to mention their own Black Bookstores that provide solid blueprints to reach economic equality (which should have been their fight all along), but few read consistently, if at all.

GREED is another powerful weapon of containment. Blacks, since the abolition of slavery, have had large amounts of money at their disposal. Last year they spent 10 billion dollars during Christmas, out of their 450 billion dollars in total yearly income (2.22%). Any of us can use them as our target market, for any business venture we care to dream up, no matter how outlandish, they will buy into it. Being primarily a consumer people, they function totally by greed. They continually want more, with little thought for saving or investing. They would rather buy some new sneaker than invest in starting a business.

Some even neglect their children to have the latest Tommy or FUBU. And they still think that having a Mercedes, and a big house gives the "Status" or that they have achieved the American Dream. They are fools! The vast majority of their people are still in poverty because their greed holds them back from collectively making better communities. With the help of BET, and the rest of their Black media that often broadcasts destructive images into their own homes, we will continue to see huge profits like those of Tommy and Nike. (Tommy Hilfiger has even jeered them, saying he doesn't want their money, and look at how the fools spend more with him than ever before!). They'll continue to show off to each other while we build solid communities with the profits from our businesses that we market to them.

SELFISHNESS, ingrained in their minds through slavery, is one of the major ways we can continue to contain them. One of their own, W. E. B. Dubois said that there was an innate division in their culture. A "Talented Tenth" he called it. He was correct in his deduction that there are segments of their culture that has achieved some "form" of success. However, that segment missed the fullness of his work. They didn't read that the "Talented Tenth" was then responsible to aid the Non-Talented Ninety Percent in achieving a better life. Instead, that segment has created another class, a Buppie class that looks down on their people or aids them in a condescending manner. They will never achieve what we have. Their selfishness does not allow them to be able to work together on any project or endeavor of substance. When they do get together, their selfishness lets their egos get in the way of the goal. Their so-called help organizations seem to only want to promote their name without making any real change in their community. They are content to sit in conferences and conventions in our hotels, and talk about what they will do, while they award plaques to the best speakers, not the best doers. Is there no end to their selfishness?

They steadfastly refuse to see that "TOGETHER EACH ACHIEVES MORE (TEAM)! They do not understand that they are no better than each other because of what they own. In fact, most of those Buppies are but one or two paychecks away from poverty. All of which is under the control of our pens in our offices and our boardrooms.

Yes, we will continue to contain them as long as they refuse to read, continue to buy anything they want, and keep thinking they are "helping" their communities by paying dues to organizations which do little other than hold lavish conventions in our hotels. By the way, don't worry about any of them reading this letter, remember, 'THEY DON'T READ!!!!'

(Prove them wrong. Please pass this on!)"

[leslie]

Kelani, I understand where you are coming from but there are things that we need to examine from their root. The issue of Black on Black crime and Black governments having diabolical agendas against their own is indeed a reality. However, these Black tyrants are working within a system that they did not create. These so-called leaders are just filling voids that need to be filled until better can be done. By better I mean white replacements. They understand that in order to be 'successful' they would have to follow the dictates of this system...even if it means compromising their integrity and the trust of their race. In this regard, they see themselves as a separate entity from the lower classes and abdicate their ethnic allegiance. I must also add Blacks that have evil agendas against their own do not work alone. Their white collaborators are present but they take a 'behind the scenes role' so that blacks would be totally accountable for the crimes they commit. I am not saying that we should not take blame for our actions and I never indicated that as you suggested in the first place. I simply stated that we have to examine the predicament of blacks from its genesis.
     The other issue you raised about us not having an identity has its roots in our enslavement. We both know that the knowledge of our selves was beaten out of us. Other ethnic groups were fortunate enough not to have had that experience….and you know this! When the Chinese, for example, ventured to the United States they obviously felt marginalized by white society. To combat the feeling of alienation, they would gravitate toward their own communities. Blacks, on the other hand were lumped into their own communities or prisons. I guess we can say that the Ghetto is our equivalent to Chinatown. In the Caribbean there is no need for such communities as Africans and other people of colour are in the majority.
     Our not wanting to get into business is yet another issue that needs to be critiqued. Black people are generally not encouraged to get into business. Our education system, which provides only the theoretical aspect of entrepreneurship, fails to give black students a true picture of the reality. To operate a business in the real world would mean that we would need to employ the nasty tactics that others use to keep the businesses alive. In fact, other ethnic groups have the edge over us because they learn, not just the theoretical aspect of business, but from the experiences and guidelines provided for by their families. I’m sure you are also aware that many blacks are discriminated against in the business arena. Thus, many are forced to close their businesses because of their being cheated and the lack of support from their own communities.
     The other issue of us not being economically independent is very true, but who is? We are all dependent on each other for our survival…. it just happens that we got the bad end of the stick. The reality is Kelani, we should not expect to collectively dominate a system that was designed to have us at the bottom. So we can try to get into more business, try to push our kids harder at schools and employ all other mechanisms to become a dominant force on the world scene. The reality is that it would never happen within this system. Once Africans pose an economic threat to whites, they’re going to find some way to push us down again…increased genocidal warfare perhaps?
     As far as I see it, you have basically brought to light issues that affect us. However, you fail to recognize that we need to tackle problems by their root and not by their fruits. I have never ignored any facts as you have been intimating throughout your writing. I would recommend that you re-examine the points that you mentioned and get to the real ‘cancer’…the real cause of the Black predicament.
     You are quite correct about the fact that many of America’s Black youth are perpetuating a negative image of themselves by referring to each other as ‘nigger’ and other degrading words. I cannot excuse such behaviour. But I do understand that the vernacular spoken by them are codes or forms of expressions that they alone can really understand. Their style of speech is necessary for their own survival, I suppose. In any case, the reality is that they have to deal with their peers on a daily basis so it would be the most practical form of the language to use.
     
     

[Bantu_Kelani]

leslie,

Most people would acknowledge that Black Africans have been discriminated against in this world, and still are. I will agree that in the beginning, it was the White Supremacist system that caused the social, political and economical problems of Black people. Unfortunately, today Black people as a whole have demonstrated NO interest in advancing the Black community, only a desire to keep us tied to failed ideologies and programs that empower white people. Your line of thinking lacks credibility because throughout the world many Backs are discovering growth and opportunity through their own hard work and ability. This is not the 30's, 40's, 50's or 60's when we had no basic human rights in Western countries. A lot of so-called Black militants talk about the impoverished conditions in many Black neighborhoods. But how many of them support Black businesses and activities in the neighborhoods?

My own mother used to clean bathrooms in hotels for many years, but she never stopped thinking about overcoming her dire poverty. She rose to the ranks of middle class based on her own vision and determination. Do you really think that is impossible? You fail to understand that the basics to overcome the racist and colonial system of the white man is to strengthen self-reliance and dynamic economic nationalist programs within the Black communities that can raise poor Black souls and lift them up to the same stature as rich Chinese, Japanese, Arabs and White people. We need to be more empowered and take positive steps to make ourselves less vulnerable, we can do this by sharing information, educating our youth teaching them Self-respect and how to take leadership responsibility locally. Counter intelligence program like COINTELPRO will not succeed if we have strong local bases within our communities of strong united structures, popular mass organizations, block-by-block, neighborhood-by-neighborhood, and states by states. We can strive to materialize UNITY and better financial cooperative efforts to provide better means of protection, better infrastructure for our people.. But, like other ethnic groups we must have the nerve to do anything for ourselves!

B.K

[seshatasefekht7]

peace and hotep,

everything has its own season.

ebonics was spoken by bill cosby in his cartoon series 'fat albert' as the character 'mushmouth. fat albert was a hit. jello pudding is one of his major contributors. pudding is not nutritious in the least either.

i would just think bill cosby was just another pot calling kettles black until i saw the method in his madness. we all realise that power gives nothing witheout struggle and simultaneously, 'you cant bite the hand that is feeding you'. or there are  consequences.  his sons death, for instance.

     
"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" by melvin van peebles who also did "Watermelon Man".  breakthrough cinema.

sponsored by bill cosby. soundtrack by earth, wind and fire.

endorsed by the original black panther party

bill is cool like john brown was cool.

check out :

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4987612/site/newsweek/

freedomisahapislave

[Bantu_Kelani]

Iyah360,

My personal opinion is that sadly what the article you posted says is true. These remarks are made in Black forums, and in most of our living rooms by Blacks who are trying to make better lives for themselves and  their children.. But it is a CRIME for a Black man with a net worth of hundreds of millions of dollars to wash our dirty laundry "in public". This outlook is very hypocrite.

B.K