Our Children, Our Loss

Since the notorious “not guilty” verdict in the Zimmerman case, many of my friends and I have been discussing what it like to lose a child. Two of these friends have lost sons so the Trayvon Martin case has been particularly painful for them.

I have an 18 year old son who will be a sophomore in college this fall. He is still living at home since room and board at his school is ridiculously expensive (that’s a topic for another day) so he and I see each other every day. Until Martin’s death last year, I took these short encounters for granted. Yes, I’m always a little uneasy when he is out after dark but I chalk that up to being a protective parent. Now, I find I can’t go to bed until he’s in the house. When I hear that key in the lock, I breathe a sigh of relief and say a silent prayer to the Creator for bringing my son safely home.

I remember the day he was born as if it were yesterday. Hell, I remember the day I found out I was pregnant. I was never supposed to have children. My gynecologist said I would have to go the in-vitro route. At the time, I was married to husband #2 and we were content knowing there were no children in our future. Little did I know we would separate and I would become pregnant after the age of 35.

Dr. Smith gave me the urine test and returned to the examining room to tell me I was pregnant. I told him he was kidding. He said “No, you’re pregnant.” And I replied “no, you’re kidding.” Exasperated with this back and forth, he held out a little plastic stick and said “See, the stick is blue. You’re pregnant.” I was so surprised you could have bought me cheap. He gave me the stick and told me to ask my boss if I could go home because I was not ready for the news he’d delivered. He also informed me that I was near the end of my first trimester, that having a baby at my age and with my medical conditions put me on high risk pregnancy list and to consider whether or not I wanted to continue the pregnancy. He gave me 48 hours to think it over. Absolutely floored, I was on my way back to work and saw my friend (who eventually became my son’s godmother). I told her the news. She hugged me and then steered me toward the office.

I had imagined myself as a mother when I was a little girl playing house. Later as the teenage years approached, I realized I wanted a life of excitement and travel. There was no place in that life for children or a husband and I wanted neither. When my doctor delivered that news that day in April 1994, I knew with all the fervor within me that I wanted my child.

My pregnancy was a high risk one. I had to follow a strict diet, removed from my oral medications and had to administer insulin shots. I went to the hospital two days a week for fetal monitoring and other testing the entire pregnancy. And with all that, I loved being pregnant.

My water broke while I was sitting on a bus coming home from work. I endured 17 hours of labor and on a chilly Friday morning, my 19 inch, 6 pounds, 3 ounce baby boy was born. It was and still is the happiest day of my life. Never before or since have I experienced such joy nor have I felt so alive. To this day, my “miracle” baby, my son is the great love of my life.

A couple weeks after my son was born, Susan Smith killed her two little boys. At first, she was on the news begging some unknown Black man to bring back her children. Several days later, it was found that she had murdered her sons. For over a week after that, I could not put my child down. I held him and cried all day. After all the tests, appointments, trials and tribulations I went through to have this child, I couldn’t imagine any mother killing her child. That hurt me more than I could imagine. The death of a child is so tragic to me that when I hear about the death of anyone’s child, I shed some tears.

When all us mothers get together to discuss husbands, work, the economy and the world at large, we all smile when we talk of our children. We admit that our children can be pains in the ass. They aggravate us. They make us cry. They worry the living hell out of us. We can’t wait for them to be on their own and out of our hair. But no matter how stressful they make our lives, we love them fiercely and can’t imagine life without them.

This is how the death of Trayvon Martin affects me and my friends, the mothers who meet. When we meet and discuss this issue, those mothers who’ve lost their sons can barely find the words to express them sorrow and empathy for what Trayvon’s mother is experiencing. For even when they are laughing, there is a just a hint of sadness. The missed birthdays, the many Christmas gifts that will never be exchanged, the Thanksgiving dinners that will never be shared, the grandchildren you will never see, the wedding you will never attend – there is nothing that comes close to the pain. Imagine burying your child when you’ve been paying insurance premiums so your children can bury you.

I wouldn’t ever want to trade places with Martin’s mother or my friends who have lost their sons. We lost a child that night last year. We’ve lost many before then and we’ve lost many since. Unfortunately, given the way we treat children as afterthoughts instead of people deserving of love and protection, we can expect to lose many more. Those deaths will be great losses to the world for those are futures that will never be.

I find myself hurting a little whenever I hear of another child lost to violence no matter where that child may live or who that child might be. All children are our children and as adults, we are responsible for them all. When we fail our children, we have failed as human beings.

Let's Chat About Church

Not too long ago, we had visitors in our home from a neighborhood congregation. They have actually been visiting on a regular basis to meet with my husband and my son. I am usually on my way so the most I have time to do is say hello and goodbye in the same breath.

This particular afternoon, however, I was home and able to actually sit in on the discussion. We had a lively debate about a number of issues. One of the most heated discussions centered on church.

The word "church" to me always signifies the people and not the edifice. Upon checking the dictionary, however, the building is always listed as the first definition followed by the clergy and then the people who actually make up the church. There are a number of passages in the Bible that mention church and congregation but none of these references pertain to a particular building. They refer to a gathering of people. The Bible does say "where two or three are gathered in my name, that's where my church shall be." So using that methodology, church can be anywhere - a home, a club, a hall or a sanctuary. It's not the building that makes the church, it's the people gathered there.

For several years, I worked at the headquarter office of a Christian denomination. People would always be shocked when the powers that be did something that was blatantly unfair. They would exclaim 'How could they do that? This is the church!" My response was always the same - this is not the church. This is the headquarter office. Many people found it hard to reconcile the headquarter office with the church. They assumed the two were synonymous. But they are not. There was and continues to be very little God in that building.

So what is the church, you may be wondering, if it's not the headquarter office or the district office or the building where you worship each week? The simple answer is you. You are the church. It doesn't matter if it's a church or temple or mosque or synagogue or ashram. You are the church. In the end, you are not only the church but you are also the ultimate reflection of God no matter the path you choose.

It's very easy to disregard the church if you think of it as a building for worship once a week. It's easy to point a finger and judge when you think of the church as it or them or they. But it's not so easy to ignore if the words used are we or us or ours. We ask why isn't the church saying something about health care. It doesn't speak out because we don't. Why isn't the church seeking a solution to homelessness? It isn’t because we're not seeking a solution. Since we are the church, the church can't do what we don't do. If we take two steps forward, the church does too. If we take three steps back, the church does as well. To add insult to injury, when a church leader does speak out again an injustice, that cleric is chastised for not focusing on people’s souls. It is illogical to think a hungry person can focus on feeding his soul when his daily struggle is to feed his body. The body, mind and spirit are inextricably linked and one cannot be fed if the others are starving. Why would we expect the church to recognize the hunger of one and not the other?

In the end, it doesn't really matter what the building is in which you worship. You can pray or praise anywhere you feel the desire. If you do so among a group of two or more, you're having church. Don't dissuade yourself from having church if the need is there. You may never know who might need church at that moment. Remember it is not they or them who make up the church. It is us. We have always been and will always be the church. To borrow from Webster, we are "the total complex of relation between people and society." The church goes as we go for we are the church politic in all its glory.

His Life Was Worthless

Once again, the United States has decided a young Black man’s life is worthless. Just several minutes ago, the jury returned a “Not guilty” verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman. You may recall last year George Zimmerman shot and killed Trayvon Martin. He claimed he shot in self-defense. It was found, however, that Trayvon was armed only with a can of soda and a bag of Skittles, dangerous only if you have diabetes.

Zimmerman called the police department when seeing the young Black man in the gated community he patrolled and was told emphatically to stay in the car while backup came. Zimmerman chose to ignore the command and decided to approach the teen. The teen, quite rightly, questioned Zimmerman’s authority and a fight ensued. Zimmerman then shot the unarmed teen claiming he was in a fight for his life.

This has been debated ad nauseum by the various political pundits, civil rights leaders, police officials, and the general public. Regardless of whether or not Zimmerman felt threatened, one fact is abundantly clear. He made a conscious decision to ignore the advice of season professional police officers and instead targeted a young man he felt did not belong in the gated community in which this tragedy took place. Zimmerman profiled Martin, decided he was the one in charge and then when he realized he could not contain the situation, chose to end the life of someone he had no business bothering in the first place. His racist, unwarranted decisions led to the death of a young man, the devastation of a family and another victory for the racist judicial system people of color have to contend with decade after decade.

What does today’s verdict say to the Black youth, particularly Black males, in America? No matter who you are, no matter what you say or what you do, America will only see a threat to be removed from this life. Young Black men are vermin who must be exterminated. Black men are unworthy of justice. Young Black men are unworthy of life itself.

With all the hoopla that has surrounded the election and subsequent re-election of Barack Obama as president, isn’t it ironic that in a country that has been trumpeting the supposed end of racism can look a Black family in the eye and proclaim that the elections were all for nothing. Your son’s life is worth nothing. And we have the verdict to prove it.

As an empathetic person, I hurt for Trayvon Martin’s family. As a spiritual person, I pray for Trayvon’s soul for it will never be at peace. As an American, I hope the mockery that was made of justice today will soon be over although history and the present prison industrial complex system are proving otherwise. As a Black person in America, I dream of a day when justice is no longer blind to injustice. But as a mother of a young, Black man, I hope to hell I am never in the position Trayvon Martin’s mother is in today. Because I would make sure that only hell could hide someone like George Zimmerman from me. And I wouldn’t bet the house money on that!

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

There is a group of people who are celebrating around the country. They celebrate because the sermon they have been preaching for years has finally come to light. Those celebrants are the conspiracy theorists who can point to alleged NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and declare “I told you so!”

For decades, I’ve been hearing that the federal government has been spying on us. We know, for example, that the late J. Edgar Hoover, former director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, kept files on citizens he felt were subversive. It has come to light that he had the single largest collection of pornography in order to blackmail individuals to cease and desist in behavior he felt was detrimental to his agenda. His files on members of the Black Panther Party, Martin Luther King, John and Robert Kennedy to name a few, were legendary. Although Hoover blatantly violated the civil liberties of many American citizens, he can almost be forgiven for his dictatorial, myopic view of the world as he knew it.

Fast forward from the reign of Hoover to the current spate of US intelligence agencies. We have the FBI which is charged with investigating terrorism, civil rights, public corruption, kidnapping and organized crime. And each of us is aware of the infamous FBI’s most wanted list – one of the visible and effective means of law enforcement communication ever.

The Central Intelligence Agency is charged with collecting, analyzing and disseminating foreign intelligence to the president and other government decision makers relating to national security. The CIA is not a law enforcement agency and is not authorized to conduct operations in the US. However, in matters of national security like counterterrorism, the CIA works closely with the FBI.

The Department of Homeland Security, the knee jerk response to the September 11th attacks, is charged with one goal which is to keep America safe. Although the goal is clear and direct, this department has, in just 11 years, become the third largest cabinet department and the single biggest violator of civil liberties in recent history.

The highly secretive National Security Agency (NSA) and its newer arm, the Central Security Service (CSS) are charged with providing services and products to the Department of Defense, the aforementioned intelligence agencies, government agencies, select allies and coalition partners. This was the agency that employed Edward Snowden and this is the agency we should all fear.

Snowden blew the whistle on his bosses at the NSA informing the American people that this agency has been listening in on our phone calls, monitoring our emails and scanning our mail in the name of national security for quite some time. This blatant violation of the Constitution would be funny if it were not so dangerous.

NSA/CSS officials claim this invasion of privacy has allowed them to curtail various terrorist activities and arrest potential terrorists. None of these plots or the possible perpetrators has been seen nor has it been reported that these individuals will be standing trial for these supposed actions. What this tells me and many others is this government sanctioned spying of American citizens is another way of weeding out potential activists who would gain a voice in the way this country is governed. When the government has the means, the motive and the opportunity to crush their opponents before the opponents can even get a foot in the door, it is a very viable method of control.

Snowden has brought to light more than the fact that the US government is committing the same abuses it claims were committed by the former Soviet Union and are currently being committed by Communist China is just one of the many ways our government is playing fast and loose with the Constitution under the guise of keeping us safe. Not to mention the fact that our government is being blatantly hypocritical. Their idea of keeping us safe is keeping us ignorant of what they do and how they do it. Keeping us safe, as they define it, is keeping us in fear.

At this juncture, it is not enough to declare Snowden a hero when he is being demonized by our government. It is not enough to hope he finds asylum somewhere and continues to bring NSA abuses to light. It is not enough for us to recognize that our communication has been and continues to be monitored by a government maintaining we are free from oppression. And it is not enough to sign the various online petitions exhorting our elected officials to order the NSA to stop spying on American citizens.

It is time for us to say enough is enough. We need to flood Congress, President Obama, Attorney General Eric Holder and the directors of each agency and department with calls, emails, letters, tweets, faxes and postcards reminding them of the commitment they made to observe our constitutional rights. We need to remind them that they work for us. We need to let them know that keeping us safe does not mean they have the right to spy on us and we will not allow any of them to work against us in the name of national security.

Edward Snowden sounded the alarm. It is time for us to get up and get to work. If we don’t, we will have taken one giant step towards a future none of us wishes for, the future as predicted in George Orwell’s prophetic novel 1984. Then we really will have something to fear.

The Beholden Eye

People Magazine publishes a most beautiful people issue annually.  The usual suspects are there – Pamela Anderson, Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie and the usual two Black women, Halle Berry and Beyonce Knowles.

Black women have entered every major area in American society.  They have become well-known doctors, lawyers, athletes, actors, astronauts and even captains of industry.  Yet Black women have yet to break into what would seemingly be the easiest glass ceiling in the world to break – the most beautiful list.  How is it in the land that has given birth to such beautiful Black women as Dorothy Dandridge, Kerry Washington, Angela Bassett, Gloria Foster, Diahann Carroll, Beverly Johnson and Lena Horne, list only two Black women? 

Greta Garbo, Carole Lombard, Betty Grable, Jane Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Twiggy, Pamela Anderson – they’re all blond bombshells.  And throughout the history of beauty in the United States, being White and blonde assured a woman of her.  But what of the women of color, those women who could certainly change their hair color but not the color of their skin?  Who considered them beautiful?  And what of the damage done to the psyche of women who look but never see themselves on the beautiful list?  What happens to them?

For years the images of Black women (and Black people) was almost nonexistent in popular media.  Eventually filmmakers like Oscar Micheax began to make race films that were made for Black audiences.  In mainstream film, Black women were usually portrayed as mammies, those large, wise Black women beholden to their white masters or employers.  The only other roles for Black women, especially pretty Black women, was that of the tragic mulatto.  For years, beautiful Black women found themselves in the same old role.  It was because Hollywood had no use for beautiful Black women.  When Black women were not relegated to playing mulattoes, they were usually given a scene to shine as a singer like Lena Horne did in a number of films.  Then Dorothy Dandridge arrived on the scene.  Dandridge was a rare talent.  She could sing, dance, act and she was lovely.  Cast in two mainstream Hollywood movies -Porgy and Bess and Carmen Jones - Dandridge laid to rest the image of the Black woman as simply window dressing in a movie.  So talented was she that the Academy of Movie Picture Arts and Sciences nominated her for a Best Actress Award for the riveting portrayal of Carmen Jones.  Unfortunately she died before showing the world all her God given talent.

If the image of Black women in the cinema was given short shrift, the world of print media was non-existent.  The popular magazines of the first half of the 20^th century like Look, Life, Time, Newsweek, Photoplay always found ways to glorify the beauty of White women and the debonair looks of White men.  But Black people were once again relegated to the background although there was no lack of beauty within the Black community at that time.  Yet it was not until the late 1950’s that Hollywood and New York began to notice the smoldering good looks of Eartha Kitt and Diahann Carroll along with handsome leading men like Sidney Portier and Harry Belafonte.  It took good looks along with undeniable talent that made Hollywood start to open its mind to the fact that Black people were beautiful in their own right. 

Still it wasn’t until 1974 that Beverly Johnson paved the way by becoming the first Black woman to appear on the cover of Vogue Magazine.  Johnson and Naomi Sims gave Black women and Black girls the image that had been missing for two hundred years.

Since the 1970’s Black women have graced the pages of magazines internationally and walked the catwalks in New York and London.  Black women as diverse as Oprah Winfrey and Tyra Banks are invited into homes all across America.  Kerry Washington, Angela Bassett, Halle Berry and Monique have all made films that millions of dollars for their studios.  Yet, the United States can only agree that two and only two Black women are good enough to be included in their Most Beautiful List.  After more than 100 years in the public eye, the damage to young Black girls is still being done.

These messages, unfortunately, are not only reinforced by popular culture but also by public institutions.  Recently, an inner-city high school was found to be constructing practices that supported racial hierarchy utilizing dance classes.  

It would seem that in this particular area, Black women are taking a huge leap backwards.  In the past, even without the great number of beautiful women of color commonly seen, that women of color and particularly Black women, had a great deal of self confidence.  Women in the Black community were acknowledged no matter their size, definitive African features and myriad shades.  This view of Black beauty was evident and the real arbiters of beauty in the community, Black men, seemingly agreed.  Both Black and Latino men have always been more receptive to larger body types and ethnic features as opposed to their White counterparts.  Thus the image of beauty, regardless of what popular culture deemed worthy, was not an image originally shared by communities of color.

The impossible standards set by the media and the fashion industries have not only been detrimental to women of color but Caucasian women as well.  The harm crosses racial lines and age barriers also.  As the image of beauty has changed, so have the methods of achieving said beauty.  The diet industry has grown exponentially with the rise of the thin, White ideal.  For those girls and women for whom dieting is not enough, starvation or eating disorders have become the norm.  It had always been presumed that such methods were solely the province of young, Caucasian women.  However studies have shown that these extremely harmful methods of reaching and maintaining those impossible standards have crossed the lines of both color and age. 

Black and Latino women and girls are not the only ones being affected by this notion of beauty and Whiteness.  In a recent survey conducted by the Mariko Morimoto of the University of Georgia and Susan Chang, it was discovered that White women were featured primarily in ads for beauty while models of other races and ethnicities were featured in ads for cars, health aids and travel.  This was found to be the case for both Japanese and other global publications.  This global phenomenon has become so prevalent in the Asian world that the most requested plastic surgery is the rounding of the eyes.  In this age of globalization, racism in the form of the western world notion of beauty, confirms its ugliness once again.

It may be asked if this trend will ever cease.  It may be asked if the world will once again recognize beauty in all its incarnations and cease to accept the Western world’s notion of beauty.  It may be asked if this notion of beauty is really important in light of the societal ills facing the world.  The answers are surely as varied as the number of people asking the questions.  Yet one fact remains.  There will always be a place in the world for beauty.  It is beauty that is valued and treasured in art, literature, music and nature.  It is beauty that is remembered when people speak of the world.  The notion of beauty is a subjective thing.  But beauty, in its many forms, is alive and well and residing amongst us all.

Supreme Injustice

As you’ve all heard by now, the Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 to gut the Voting Rights Act.  This monumental insult has been widely vilified by citizens and organizations everywhere.  Yet there seems to be no outrage from leaders of color.

I don’t know about you but I expected to hear screams and cries of “racism” from Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton.  I expected Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, to be on CNN the night the decision was read.  I thought the leaders of LaRaza would be calling on the entire Latino & Hispanic communities to be outraged.  Yet nary was a peep heard.

To give some of these folks their due, National Action Network, Rev. Al Sharpton’s organization, has a statement front and center on the website.  I signed a petition on the national NAACP site that popped up.  However there was no mention of this decision on the Jackson site for Rainbow Coalition/PUSH.  There was, however, a statement about Paula Deen.  The LaRaza site also makes no mention of the decision.  Needless to say most of the site was devoted to the Senate immigration bill and Michelle Obama attending the national convention.  There is even a report on the DOMA decision about same-sex marriage.  But nothing about the Voting Rights Act, an act that was designed to push voting rights back to the reconstruction era.

Why, you may ask, was this decision reached?  What, you may wish to know, is the purpose behind this decision?  There has been much discussion about this in my circles and I would imagine many of you are wondering the same.  Why?

Let’s look toward the future for that answer.  In almost every demographic projection by scientists, mathematicians and census bureaus, by the year 2040 the US will be majority people of color.  The single largest group will be comprised of Latino/Hispanic who are born here or will have immigrated here.  The next largest group will be Blacks followed by Asians.  Thus the majority of American citizens will look vastly different from the look of today.  Others and I believe it is that projection which has resulted in the egregious decision made by the Supreme Court.  How will it be possible for the minority to continue to rule a majority?  By enacting legislation now that will have serious impact on the future.  This decision and others like it (the horrific decision giving corporations the rights of individuals comes to mind) is a way for Whites to continue to maintain control even as they become the majority.

It is obvious that the Whites in power carefully studied their history looking at South Africa’s past practice of apartheid and giving it a modern spin.  Look at the myriad of decisions that have been enacted in Arizona.  Enslaving people by taking away their knowledge of their own history is a very insidious way of enslavement.  Giving police the right to stop and frisk as they do in New York is a method of enslavement.  Making people carry papers showing they are American citizens in a sly method of enslavement.  Within the urban areas of Chicago, Dallas, Minneapolis and others, poor neighborhoods are being gentrified and suburban born Whites are moving in.  The residents who stayed through White flight and urban blight are being moved to the suburbs.  The myth of scattered housing perpetrated by HUD is another way of moving people of color to the suburbs where they will have no access to city services.  This is not happenstance.  These plans were hatched a long time ago when corporate heads, politicians and others saw the projections that have only recently become public.

Public schools have fallen prey to this plan.  Schools have become feeder systems to prisons.  Charter schools are funded by corporate heads to create workers for the companies.  Media organizations are allowed to own television stations, radio stations and newspapers in the same cities, something formerly against the law.  They have consolidated all the information and entertainment we enjoy and divide us with wedge issues like Paula Deen and same sex marriage.  Or divert our attention by making entertainment stories news or focusing on the NBA draft.

This decision is a blatant attempt to disenfranchise Black and Brown people.  There is a method to this madness and this method has been in place a lot longer than any of us would care to admit.  There is a clear and present danger (to borrow from Tom Clancy) to U.S. citizens of color and we would be well to heed it. The saying goes “Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it.”   Truer words, in this instance, have never been spoken.

Public Transportation

I love public transportation!  There, my secret is out.  However everyone who knows me knows I love public transportation.  My mom says I would ride the bus to China if I could and she’s right.  I’ve ridden public transportation in cities across the US and in other countries.  At home in Chicago, I get in my favorite seat when I can and read.  I don’t have to battle with traffic, the endless stopping and starting.  No traffic lights, honking horns, slow walking people and crazy driving cabbies.  I can rest, relax and leave the driving to someone else.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

On the other hand, I can’t stand many of the riders.  If you ride public transportation as much as I do, you’ll recognize these people and why they bug the living hell out of me.  There are rules of courtesy that all who ride public transportation should adhere to and if you can’t abide the rules, then don’t get on the bus.

First there are the hustlers.  Now I respect anyone who hustles for a buck as much as the next person.  I just don’t want you to hustle me.  Riding the bus or the train is restful and relaxing for me and I don’t want to be jarred out of my peace by a group of rappers or someone selling a chapbook or begging for a church or preaching.  It’s much too much in the morning and irritating as hell at the end of a long day.

The loud talkers are next.  You know the ones.  Everybody has to be privy to their conversation and when giving them a look of distain, they want to know why you’re in their business.  You don’t mean to be but if they weren’t so loud, no one would hear their business.  That also goes for those folks talking on cell phones.  Trains are noisy and no one can carry on a decent conversation while riding the train so don’t do it.  Wait until you can hear and speak without yelling at the top of your lungs.

I can’t stand people with too much luggage or stuff blocking the aisles.  Buses in Chicago have an area for passengers in wheelchairs, walkers and strollers.  The seat lift and the wheelchairs or strollers lock into place.  Use those seats!  Don’t sit on the seat and put the walker or stroller in the middle of the aisle while people attempt to squeeze by.  It’s rude and it’s stupid.  If you have too much stuff to carry and place on your lap on the bus, get a ride, get a cab or call a friend.  Same thing goes for those with so much luggage, they take up seats on the train.  I realize taking public transportation to the airport is cost effective and great but if you have that much luggage, you need to travel in private.  And I will not stand up so your luggage can sit.  Deal with it.  Finally, you folks with backpacks.  Take them off.  It’s almost impossible to walk down the aisle when multiple people are all wearing backpacks.  I take mine off before I get on the bus or train so others will be able to board.  It’s only courteous to do so.

This goes for the folks who stand in the front of the bus.  Segregation is over and everyone can ride in the front of the back of the bus.  Standing at the front of the bus blocking others from getting on or off the bus is not only discourteous, it’s just stupid.  Very few blind people ride public transportation so we can all see you.  If your need to be seen is that bad, find a shrink and have a long chat about self-esteem.  And if you are standing by the driver due to fear, let it go.  If something breaks out on the bus, the driver will not protect you.  It’s every man for himself at that point.

Speaking of courtesy, my final rant is for those folks who seem to think they are at home when sitting on the bus.  They cross their legs in the aisle like they’re sitting on Letterman’s couch.  When you bump up against their foot, they try to give you a withering look.  I simply say “Move your foot.  This is public space.” and push my way through.  Public transportation is not the place to be seductive.  Do it on your own time and your own space.  

If you can’t catch someone in someplace where people are out to be caught, maybe you need to rethink your bait.

What WOULD Jesus Do?

WWJD?  How often have you seen this on a bracelet or a t-shirt or on a bumper sticker?  I've seen it thousands of times and I wonder why we are contemplating the question.  The questions we need to ask as a society are:  Who would Jesus kill?  Who would Jesus leave homeless?  Who would Jesus starve?  You get the point.

This country considers itself to be a Christian nation.  In God We Trust is the motto on our currency.  In court, witnesses are asked to swear on a Bible.  Yet this Christian nation killed the native people who were here.  It grew and prospered on a system of slavery.  It usurped land from Mexico and is angry that Mexicans actually want to come back to their original lands.  What form of Christianity is this?  Certainly not the one we espouse to believe in.  History bears out these facts.

Yet it would be so easy to chastise this country (and others) for the ills it has and continues to perpetrate on the world in the name of God.   Extremists Muslims kill hundreds of innocent people with bombs in the name of Allah.  The US continues to kill hundreds in a war that was based on a lie.  Women and children are raped and murdered in the name of Yahweh in Darfur.  Do we believe this is what Jesus had in mind when he asked us to love our neighbors as ourselves?

We know the answer to the questions above is no one.  Jesus would kill no one.  Jesus would leave no one homeless or sick or starving.  So why are we continually asking WWJD?  We all know the answer.  He would do exactly what we are not doing.  He would speak for those who have no voice.  He would let the government know that all life is precious.  He would work to make sure everyone had shelter, healthcare and food.  He would not rest until all was put right. 

We know what Jesus would do.  The question to ask is what will you do?

A Nation of Immigrants

This week Congress is scheduled to vote on an amendment to the immigration bill.  I will admit that I haven’t really kept up with all the issues pertaining to immigration so I’m hardly in a position to offer sage advice.  It would seem, however, that a great many others who are in a similar situation are offering their two cents.  So I feel secure in adding mine.  My advice about this is simple – leave folks alone and let folks in.

That was quick, wasn’t it?  Why? You might be asking, should the US let folks in and leave the folks already here alone?  Simple answer – we invited folks here.  You’re probably asking the next question of when did we invite folks here.  Simple answer again – the lady in the New York harbor invites people here and has been since she was placed in the harbor in October of 1886.  Lady Liberty has inspired millions to come to this country declaring:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

These words, taken from The New Colossus, a poem written by American poet Emma Lazurus, are engraved on a bronze plaque mounted inside the lower level of the statue. These words have been echoed around the world.  These words give hope to people everywhere, people who feel as though they can actually have the life they dream of if they could only have a chance.  These words offer people all over that chance.  How could we make such an offer and then renege on the promise?

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear some people say “they” should go back to their own country.  If that’s the case, almost everyone I know should be on a plane or boat going back to their ancestral countries.  This country is a country of immigrants.  How else can we explain celebrating St. Patrick’s Day (Irish) or Octoberfest (German), Bastille Day (France) or Columbus Day (Italian)?  In Chicago, city offices and schools are closed on Pulaski Day (Polish).  We spend an inordinate amount of time celebrating holidays that historically celebrate our connection to other countries and we don’t give it another thought.  Why on earth would we deny others the opportunity to have what we ourselves have benefitted from for decades?

Besides when you think about all those immigrants who came here by boat, what’s the harm in allowing people to come to America by land?  After all, those Mexicans crossing the border are simply coming back home.  They don’t have to board a plane or a boat to get here.  They walk.

Coming home? you say.  Yes, coming home.  In the 1800’s Mexico extended into many areas that are part of the US including Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and parts of Texas and California.  Much land was lost as a result of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848).  Since that time, the U.S. government has been pushing native Mexicans further and further south and west.  The generations that follow have been answering the call to return to the land of their ancestors and stake their claim in land that was lost through no fault of their own.

The other argument I hear often is they infamous “they.”  You’ve heard it.  They are taking our jobs.  They are overrunning the country.  They come here and get benefits they don’t deserve.  They don’t pay taxes.  They have anchor babies.  They should not be allowed to be citizens.  They are dirty.  They have too many children.  They are responsible for us not getting fair wages.  They will do anything for money.  They, they, they.

I’ve heard it time and time again.  And my answer to the “they” is equally simple.  So what!  If “they” are taking our jobs, “they” are doing the jobs so many of us don’t want to do.  Many Americans believe they themselves are too good to bus tables in a restaurant.  Americans no longer want to work as gardeners or landscapers.  Americans will not work as day laborers or work in a sweaty, dank warehouse.  But “they” are.  Because “they” know what it is like to live without, be without and “they” are willing to work hard and long to make a living. 

I can’t begin to tell you how often I’ve heard the “they” argument and then asked the person making the argument if he/she would be willing to work as a bus boy or day laborer.  The answer is always an emphatic “hell, no.”  “Why should I?”  “I’m from here.  Why should I work for less money?”  Why indeed.  Maybe you should work because you need to and pride doesn’t get the bills paid.  That sense of entitlement means nothing when rent is due or when your children are hungry.  It is that sense of entitlement that separates “they” from us.  “They” do have that sense of entitlement.  “They” simply know that if they work hard, they will get some measure of reward from their labors and “they” are grateful for that chance.  “They” will not do anything to jeopardize that reward and if means outworking you, that’s exactly what “they” will do.

There are so many things wrong with this country.  Issues our government should concern itself with like the monetary debt we owe to Japan and other countries, wars that are sucking up more and more resources, 50 million people with no healthcare, public schools that are pipelines to prisons, an environment that is being contaminated on a daily basis and crime.  Why is our government spending so much time on keeping people out when we invited them in?

Americans have become so entitled and racist and afraid that we’ve forgotten our greatest strength.  It is that influx of people to a country taken away from its native people and opened up to everyone around the world that made this nation great.  Have we forgotten that it was immigrants who built this country?  Have we forgotten the many cultures that have made us great?  Have we forgotten that we export the promise of freedom and liberty around the world and then get angry when someone takes us up on that promise?

Yes, we’ve conveniently forgotten.  But we don’t have to.  July 4^th will soon be upon us.  While watching the parades and enjoying the fireworks, remember what makes this country great.  Welcome an immigrant because in a different time and a different place, that immigrant was you.

50 Shades of Crap

During my recent hospital stay, my brother asked if I had read 50 Shades of Grey.  “No.  You know I don’t read romance.  Have you?”  “Yes, I have and I think you should give it a read.  You might find it interesting.”  That was how I lost four days which I will never get back nor will I trust my brother’s reading recommendations especially when he says you might find it interesting. 

I started the book on a Wednesday afternoon.  I can recount what worse during my stay.  Of the hospital bed, the endless giving of blood, hospital food, the reading 50 Shades of Grey was hands down the worst.

For those of you who are unaware, this book is details a woman’s coming of age story with a young, rich, handsome man who is addicted to bondage and domination.  I have nothing against bondage, domination and submission.  I’ve even played with it a little myself.  What I have a problem with is someone with very little talent becoming a cultural icon in the literary world and a symbol of women’s liberation as the clichés in her book run wild and free.  I’ve grown accustomed to untalented people making waves in the worlds of music, television and movies.  However it pains me when this happens with books.  It’s like mixing Kool-Aid into champagne.

The main reason why this book caused such a stir was because the subject of bondage, domination and sex are generally written by men with very little regard for the women except as vessels for semen.  The idea that a woman would write a book with graphic sex scenes not dripping with romance seems to have come as quite a shock.  In addition, this book with its mature subject matter made all the “legitimate” bestseller lists.  

I came of age when the women’s movement was gaining widespread support and visibility.  Women were burning bras, marching against pornography shops in Times Square, demonizing Hugh Hefner and debating the legalization of abortion.  That is why I’m finding it so hard to understand why 50 Shades is such a phenomenon.  Has no one read Xaviera Hollander’s The Happy Hooker or saw the movie? Did everyone miss Erica Jong’s Fear of Flying?  Has anyone read Pauline Reage’s The Story of O which explored similar subjects?  These books were radical for their time because most people never seemed or wouldn’t admit to the fact that women enjoy sex in all its incarnations and women actually wrote these books.  People act as if this book was the first novel to delve into one of the lesser discussed areas of sexuality when in actuality it is following a trail that has already been blazed.

None of the books I referenced are great literature.  They will never replace D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love or James Baldwin’s Another Country or any other great work that explores sexual morays.  What these books ask us to question is how far are we willing to explore for pleasure, if pleasure and pain are co-dependent and what is normal.  I have no standard answers to those questions.  I honestly believe no one does and if someone says they do, they also have a bridge for sale.

What I can answer is that we all ask these questions and the answers are as varied as the people who ask them.  There is no wrong or right.  There just is.  Maybe that was the whole point of 50 Shades.  A good idea poorly executed.

I might just send my tattered copy of The Story of O to E.L. James.  If she’s going to write about submission, it’s best to submit to a master.  Or get your butt whipped in the process.

Lessons of The Housewives Part 1

One of my guilty pleasures is watching The Real Housewives of Atlanta.  I know all the arguments surrounding the show.  That it’s a show that panders to the worst in us.  It shows Black women in a less than flattering light.  It’s fluff about women, weaves, wedgies and wars.  Still, I love this show although I don’t broadcast it.  Guess you all know now.  Sunday night I sit with a glass of wine and watch what unfolds.

Regardless of how you may feel about the RHOA (and I’m sure there are a lot of opinions), I watch first for the sheer entertainment value.  For the first time, television is giving a platform to the type of Black women I know.  My friends are not rich, swaddled in designer clothes, driving high class cars, wearing expensive jewelry, swinging their hair and living large.  My friends are almost as broke as I am, borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.  A treat for us is buying getting a scoop of ice cream from Oberweis instead of Baskin-Robbins.  But the attitude these women and my friends share is right on.

You must be wondering what I find great about this show, other than the finery and disputes.  First I like the way they parent.  Although the children are obviously pampered, they don’t seem to be spoiled.  The women who have children are involved in their kid’s lives.  The kids are well behaved and even when one poses a problem, Mom is true to form as a Black woman by being firm, loving, scolding and encouraging – whatever is necessary at the time.  Not one woman claims her children as their best friends.  Each one is determined that their child knows who Mama is and what she is about.  Mama may be loving and supportive but she is definitely NOT a friend.

These women are built like Black women.  Surely you’ve seen the shows where women look like stick figures but not the RHOA.  They have big butts and big thighs.  They look like the women I know.  Even the housewives who were models are not skin and bones.  The wives all seem to be fairly healthy and comfortable in their skin and their bodies.  This is a very important message for Black girls and Black women who are struggling with the images they see in today’s media.

Each housewife in a relationship has a real relationship.  There is no make believe romance or friendship.  When the couples argue, they argue.  Relationships ebb and flow which is the true nature of things.  No fairy tale, everything is all right all the time type of relationships but real messy, heartbreaking and happy relationships.  The way we know real relationships to be.

The RHOA extend moments to their families.  Parents, children, baby daddies, siblings, in-laws, aunts and uncles all have a place in the housewives’ lives.  This is very indicative of Black folk.  My husband I daily talk with one family member or another.  Sometimes more than one and more than once a day.  There is no such thing as the nuclear family.  There is just family.

The final reason I enjoy this show is that each housewife has achieved a level of achievement on her own.  Almost each of these women started out fairly standard from a working class background.  They came from folks who had to work hard for a living. The ladies are all independent working women with active, successful careers.  I take pleasure watching the different ventures upon which they embark.  I celebrate their successes and empathize when there is failure.  They are smart enough to know their strengths and weaknesses.  They are confident in their abilities.  They are determined in reaching their goals and work hard to do so.  They all have multiple enterprises and they all strive for success but accept failure without drama.  When I was a girl, I read about successful Black women but rarely saw any reflection of that on television or the movies.  Every week, I see Black women being entrepreneurs and businesswomen.  It doesn’t get any better than that.

There are so few shows that feature Black women.  Almost all of them are reality shows.  Girlfriends and Living Single are on in syndication.  Like the housewives, these women portrayed successful Black women with a wide range of talents.  However as much as I liked these shows, there was a part of me that realized this was a scripted show.  Scripted shows are important in the way people are shown.   But is has always been difficult for Hollywood to figure out how to depict them without resorting to stereotypes.  Yes, the RHOA act stereotypically in a number of situations but those stereotypes are balanced by what the women represent to the world. 

I can’t vouch for the reality of everything that goes on with the RHOA.  I would guess that some of it is manipulated.  But if it is, I will gladly accept this instead of watching the lone Black friend of the White lead who has no life, no family and seemingly knows no other Black people.

So join me on the couch some Sunday evening and watch an episode. And don’t forget to bring the wine.

My Friend, Death

We’ve all grown up hearing only two things are certain, death and taxes.  If you’re rich in America, only one of these is true.  The other is a non-issue.   Obviously I’m speaking of death.  Once we’re born, every day we live brings us one day closer to death.  It’s a very sobering thought and one most people avoid.  We spend vast amounts of time and money trying to stave off the inevitable.  And death IS inevitable.  It is the one appointment we can’t cancel or reschedule.  Death sets its own timetable for each of us.  Thus the only thing we control in terms of death is how we meet it and that’s only if we have the luxury of knowing when it’s coming.  If you die in an accident or meet your end in an act of violence, you don’t even have the luxury of facing death on your terms.

Why, you may ask, am I doing a post on death instead of focusing on any myriad of subjects?  The short answer is because I want to explore death and time.  The real answer is somewhat different.  Death scares me and fascinates me.  I’m not the only one.  Check out almost any Woody Allen movie.  He spends a great deal of time on the subject of death.  Ask the average person if he is afraid of death and I would bet that person would say yes.  However what we really fear is not so much death at all but what happens after we die. 

The faithful among us believe there is some form of life after death.  We go to heaven or hell or purgatory.  That is all predicated on how we live now.  Others believe we become part of the cosmos, having no form or shape but constantly moving through the solar system in never-ending time.  Some believe we are reincarnated to other forms or people which is once again, predicated upon how we live each previous life because we never cease to exist.  Finally there are those who believe death is the end.  We return to earth as the dust to be walked upon as the others who have preceded us.  Me, I’m not so sure and that uncertainty is what scares me the most.  I don’t have enough faith in any of these scenarios to give me comfort.

That discomfort is funny given that one of my favorite shows recently aired is series finale and its focus was death.  I’m speaking of Showtime’s’ original series, The Big C. 

The show stars Laura Linney and Oliver Platt and the basic premise is the journey of one woman’s exploration as she deals with impending death.  Cathy Jamison, played by Laura Linney, is a suburban wife, mother and high school teacher who is diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma.  The series follows her as she attempts to cope with the news, tell her family and live as well and as fully as possible to the end.  For the sake of time, I’ve given you the Readers Digest version of the show.  There is plenty to tell and great story lines that take place and memorable characters played by Idris Elba, Susan Sarandon, Alan Alda, Brian Dennehy and Gabourey Sidibe to name a few.

Needless to say, the humor can be dark and situations sad.  Some people die very unexpectedly and others fade out of existence just as in real life.  But the real coup is the choices Cathy makes as she faces her death.  I’d like to believe I am capable of the courage, humor, strength and compassion she shows throughout her ordeal.  But I don’t think I am.  After all, Linney is playing a fictional character whose entire existence is written by someone who has the luxury of planning someone’s demise.  The show’s creator has the luxury of knowing who will live, who will die and when.  She knows what’s going to happen in the future and the impact of each character that crosses Cathy’s path.  She knows when Cathy is going to die and how.  She knows if Cathy will be alone or surrounded by family and friends.  She knows it all.  In essence, she is Cathy’s version of God.

The rest of us are not so lucky but then again, maybe we are.  Like Cathy, none of us really knows if our number is coming up today, a month, a year or a decade from now.  We just know it’s coming.  We don’t know who is going to go before us although we do know on that last day everyone we know who is alive is surely going after.  We don’t know what drink will be the last one, what movie will be the last one seen or if we are going to wake up the next day.  We just assume we are because that is what makes life worth living.

Let’s think about this for a moment.  If you knew your actual expiration date, would you be jerking around with something you could have finished ages ago?  If you knew you had a date with death at a specific time, would you be sitting around bitching about things or would you be out with your friends and/or family enjoying them?  Would you try to travel to that place you’ve dreamed of or at least visit a museum or art gallery or restaurant that embodies that culture?  Would you try to read every book you’ve wanted but couldn’t find the time for?  Would you take the time to try out a hobby or a sport that you’ve wanted?

The great thing about expiration dates is that it gives you a limit.  As a journalist, I do my best writing when I’m on deadline.  I’m extremely focused and the words seem to flow because I know my piece has to be turned in on time.  That’s why I set a deadline for my posts.  It’s a non-negotiable promise to my readers and promises are final.  Without a deadline, I can piss off and never finish a single essay. 

It’s funny when you thing about it, how much of what we do is governed by deadlines.  Every bill you pay has a pay date.  Every contract has a time limit.  Our lives are governed by time.  Job seniority, presidential terms, insurance policies, school – every facet of our lives is governed by a deadline and yet we live as though our time is unlimited.  I’ve got a surprise for you, my friend.  Time is unlimited.  Your time is not.  We all have an expiration date.

By now, you may be wondering where I’m going with this diatribe on time and death.  I’m not really sure myself other than to give you and me a wakeup call.  I do know I’ve wasted a lot of my time on people, groups and situations that were unworthy of it.  From now on, I intend to be more judicious about my precious commodity.  I used to spend every day worrying about all the things I had to do and that there was not enough time to do them all.  I used to feel guilty about taking a couple of hours to do nothing or do something I wanted to do.  I used to spend sleepless nights worrying about what I hadn’t done and what I needed to do.  NO MORE!

What I’m choosing to do instead is to spend my time doing more of the things I enjoy with the people I love.  I’m going to do work that inspires me and helps others because this gives me joy.  I’m going to watch the idiotic TV shows that make me laugh like World’s Dumbest with no shame.  I’m going to let the people I love know that I love them.  I’m going to travel as much as I can and eat every cuisine I want.  I’m going to take better care of this temple commonly known as my body.  I’m going to sit in the sun doing absolutely nothing for as long as I want, skin cancer be damned.  I’m going to do all these things and more because I can.  I may not be able to choose when and how and where I die.  But I can certainly choose how I want to live just like The Big C’s Cathy Jamison.

And my great hope for anyone who reads this is that you do the same.  Great memories are not made on how we died but how we lived.  Live well, my dears.

White Privilege Part 1

Try telling the average White person that he or she benefits because of White privilege and listen to the litany of comments denying it.  The most common statement I’ve heard is the “I wasn’t born privileged.  My family was (whatever) class.  We weren’t rich.”  Those of us who understand the true meaning of those two incendiary words just shake our heads and walk away.  We realize it is useless trying to explain what White privilege really is to folks who don’t want to own up to it.  Yet, I’m going to try or at least give you an idea of what it means to me.

Several years ago, former White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillen got into a pissing match with one of the sportswriters of a local newspaper that lasted several days.  Under normal circumstances this would not be on my radar.  However while watching the news, I heard a broadcaster mention that Ozzie’s tirades were going to make it difficult for another Hispanic man to have the opportunity of managing a professional baseball team.  I was so angry after hearing this that I screamed.  My husband rushed into the room thinking that I’d hurt myself.  Once I’d calmed down and told him what made me scream, he began to rant and rave himself. 

               

Why is one person of color always made responsible for everyone else in his race?  Why is it that Whites take any opportunity to keep us from getting ahead by using the behavior of one person to condemn us all?  Why is it someone White can do something and it is understood that the behavior is by an individual and not an indication of the entire race.  After all, the man who shot up the theatre is Denver is an individual.  The young man who shot and killed the people at Sandy Hook is an individual.  The Oklahoma City bomber is an individual.  Not once has anyone said that all young White men are killers or deranged.  Why is that same reasoning not accorded to people of color?  That’s the million dollar question. 

The original title of this essay was “Bobby Knight” because he is a perfect example of what I’m referring to.  For years, Bobby Knight screamed, cursed, threw things, hit people and acted a natural fool on television, in press conferences and on the floor of the basketball court.  He violated any number of collegiate rules and criminal laws (assault and battery immediately come to mind) and yet he has been revered by those in sports.  If he were to indulge in that behavior anywhere else but on a basketball court, he would have spent more than a few weeks staring at the bars of a jail cell.  Yet I never once, in the many years he coached basketball, heard anyone say that his behavior was going to prevent a White man from coaching college basketball in the future.  Bobby Knight’s behavior was attributed to one person – Bobby Knight.  Why then are people of color held to a different standard?  Ozzie Guillen, regardless of how you feel about his statements, represents one person and one person only – Ozzie Guillen.  He is not responsible for what anyone else of his ethnicity does nor is their behavior accountable to him.  We are individuals like you with warts, foibles, talents and interests and we should be accorded the singular respect that comes with seeing all people as individuals.

This is the luxury of White privilege – the right to be an individual without bringing entire race along for the ride.

Intentional Inequity

A dear friend and mentor of mine mentioned a couple of weeks ago that during the recent recession/depression, all her Black friends have lost their jobs and have been unable to get back into good employment.  Each and every one of them is still unemployed.  Conversely, only some of her White friends have been downsized but they are all currently employed.  I consider this one hell of an observation considering my friend happens to be White.  Her reflection begs the obvious question - Is this inequity intentional?

This question, if posed to the average person, would be answered typically on the basis of race.  The average White American would say this lack of return to the workforce of Black people comes down to less knowledge of new technologies or that employers are looking for the best candidates and those candidates just happen to be White.  One of my favorite answers is that employers are looking for individuals who can obtain and maintain global business relationships.  What galls is that global markets are almost entirely made up of people of color.  Only in Europe is the average businessperson White.

The average Black American would simply answer that racism is the root cause as to why so many Blacks have been downsized and have not yet rejoined the workforce.  Straight answer, no chaser.

I, too, would agree that racism is the cause of why so many formerly employed Black people are still out of work.  I happen to be one of them.  During the past five years of my unemployment, I have obtained both a BA and an MS from DePaul University.  Yet, although I have achieved what employers say want most in an employee – a combination of education and experience - I still can’t get a job.  Unfortunately my current status is not the exception to the rule but is seemingly the rule itself. 

Earlier this year, I attended a half-day job seminar filled with downsized Black people.  Many of them had never been unemployed and were obviously uncomfortable being at the seminar.  One lady gave a very painful testimony about her most recent job interview.  She had submitted a sterling resume to a business followed up with a productive phone interview.  She was invited to have a face to face interview with her phone interviewer who assured her that her qualifications were first rate and that he had no doubt she would be offered the position.  The face to face was just a formality.  She arrived early for the interview, checked in with the receptionist and eagerly awaited meeting the man she’d spoken to several times.  Shortly a White man came into the reception area, had a whispered conversation with the receptionist and left.  After several minutes, the receptionist informed the woman that her interviewer had an emergency and would be unable to meet with her.  She was asked to call back in a day or two to reschedule.  The lady followed up within 48 hours and was told that the criteria for the job had changed and that she was no longer being considered for the job.  It was clear to her and everyone in the room that she was not given the interview because the man had no idea she was Black until she came for the interview.  This would be merely sad if it were not such a regular business practice.

It would seem that the US government in the form of punitive small business regulations, corporations and our pathetic public education system has decided that Black people will continue to be the undisputed poverty class.  Schools no longer provide an education but instead prepare Black children in droves for the prison industrial complex.  Prisons are using first grade test scores to determine who many people will be in prison with the next 15 years.  This allows them to figure out how many jails will be necessary in the future.  One company in particular, Corrections Corporation of America, manages 45% of all private prison beds in the US.  According to their 2011 letter to shareholders (this is a publicly traded company) “only the Federal Bureau of Prisons and three states operate a system larger than CCA.  At year-end 2011, CCA housed more than 80,000 inmates in 67 facilities.”    Imagine the great loss of potential. 

Corporation and education professionals (not including teachers) are vocal advocates to the charter school system but that system is merely a way to funnel young people into becoming cogs for the business wheel.  This is why so many corporations have invested in charter schools but that same investment is not made to the average public school.  If an influx of money and interest can fund charter schools, why is this not done on a continuous basis to fund the already existing public school system?  What is happening to the funds generating by the many state lotteries that is supposed to support public schools?  Why is school funding tied to property taxes?  Why are the children who need the most given the least?  More importantly, why do we adults continue to elect politicians whose own children do not attend public schools?  In Chicago, a Chicago police officer has to live in Chicago.  A Chicago firefighter has to live in Chicago.  All public officials have to live within the area they serve.  Shouldn’t their children be made to be placed in public schools?  I would imagine if this were the case, the school system would drastically change.

Racism by definition is merely the belief that one race is superior to the other.  The most damaging part of this definition is the institutional racism that has been created to further this belief.  Will we see the end of racism within our lifetime?  I don’t believe so.  This country is as racist now as it has ever been since it was birthed from both racism and violence. 

Can we change this?  I would hope so.  But not until we recognize that all people including Black people and White people are really only one race – human.