Fourth of July Power Outage

(LAWD HAVE MERCY IT BE HOT)

Hello fellow bloggers. I was on the Net blogging early Fourth of July morning when I decided to make a pilgrimage to 7/11 to cop goodies. So after accomplishing my mission (unlike G Bush), I hopped back on my bike and I’m back on my street in about 10 minutes. When I pulled up to my house I noticed that the street lights were out on my block. Also there are people outside sitting on the porch. At that point I’m thinking man, this aint looking good. But I’m hopping against hope because it is hot even at 2:00 in the morning and the weather man has already said that it would be a scorcher on the fourth.



You see it is 4th of July 2006 in Washington DC. Folks are already lighting fireworks (as they have been for the last ten days). As one can imagine it is pretty hot in DC right now, so when I saw those people on the porch at 2:00 in the morning that was not a good sign. I was beginning to realize I was in for some serious sweltering/sweating. I open the front door, and don’t here my TV, this is not good because I know I left the TV on before I left. I get upstairs and everything soon became official the power was indeed off, and it was roasting. Their was no was air condition, no radio or TV, personally I can deal with the TV and Radio being out of action, but not having the Air conditioner and the computer will be tough deal with. I grab the OJ and a chair then go outside and sit on my front porch to cool off. I grab my headphones set the dial to NPR and listen to the radio while drinking OJ. By this time a few kids along with their parents have come outside to escape the heat. I’m sitting on the porch trying to avoid the miniature vampires (mosquitoes) and watching a few kids run around playing. After about 15 minutes I head upstairs to try in get some swelter..... Oh I’m sorry I mean sleep. Already I have decided that if the power is not back on in the morning that Ill go to Borders book store as soon as it opens in order to find relief/refuge from the heat.



So I lay down and after about 40 minutes of boiling, I eventually fall asleep, it was a decent sleep I mean I didn’t wake up and I don’t remember what I dreamed about so it must have been a decent sleep. When I finally wake up the sun is shining brightly, which is a good. It is also roasting which is not a good thing. What I’m hoping for is that it is 10:00 am for that is the time that Borders opens up. I slip on the headphones and wait for NPR to announce the time because I don’t have a watch. I listen to NPR and after about ten minutes NPR graciously announces it is ten O’Clock. Good, so I take a shower then head out to Borders which is about 20 minutes away by bike (13 minutes by car). Ill admit it was a nice hot bike ride, but it was a lot better than roasting in my apartment, finally I reach the promise land (borders).

After locking up my bike I walk into the coolness and tranquility of the book store. First thing I do is go to the Cafe and order a small Latte with a double shot of expresso. Having secured the Latte I walk over to the section where they display the new Biographies, and to my pleasant surprise their is a new book about U.S Grant, the Union civil war General that is largely credited with winning the civil war. This is a good thing as I am a huge Grant fan and ravid civil war enthusiast (ever since I saw Glory). So I grab the book about Grant find one of the nice comfortable black leather chairs and spend the next 4 hours in the pleasant environment of Borders. So after 4 hours of reading I leave Borders and head home, I’m hoping that the power will be back on when I arrive.When I arrive in my neighborhood I’m seeing signs that the power is still on. Mainly several people with several bags of Ice are coming out of the corner (Mom and Pop) store. I’m hopping against hope that the Ice is for coolers to chill drinks at barbeques as people are celebrating Independence day and not because the power is still off. I go into the store buy some more juice, ice for my cooler just in case and a 24 once MGD (Miller Genuine Draft). After paying for my juice and beer I hop on my bike and head home, about a minute later I arrive at my front door.


Down the street I see a power company truck and a work crew, this brings me some hope that the power may be back on yet. As I’m locking my bike up on my front porch I see the power truck coming up the street, hopefully this means the power's back on, I’m still hoping when I see one of my neighbors motion to the power truck and raise his arms and yell, "Yall aint got the power on yet’. Hearing this dashes all of my hopes for a comfortable rest of the day. Anyway I walk up stairs and it is hot so I put the drinks in the cooler, after I sit down I pour myself a cup of cold beer, grab a book, put on my headphones and try to pretend that it is not that hot. One problem though, it is too hot to even pretend that its not that hot, unfortunately their is nothing I can do except drink cold beer (which I’m thankful for) and wait out the heat (which Im not thankful for).

As the hours go by It finally dawns on me what a poor crab must go through, when the water theyve been placed in (for cooking), is just beginning to get really, really warm, those poor crabs must be in agony feeling the temperature get warmer and warmer with no way of cooling off. I unlike those crabs I had the option of opening the cooler and splashing my face arms and legs with ice cold water, their is no such reprieve for the crab ( or Lobster for that matter), but I digress, let me get on with the story. As the day goes (broils on) I’m drinking cold beer and listening to an Npr story featuring Helen Thomas about checks and balances set up by the founding fathers to minimize corruption and other abuses of power by government. After a few hours of broiling, drinking beer and listening to Npr I noticed that clouds began to form in the sky.




Finally it rained (thunder stormed) briefly, which lowered the Temperature from 93 down to a comfortable 70 degrees. Two hours after the Storm the power came back on and I imagine their were a lot of happy people on my street including yours truly. So in conclusion I would like to say to all of my fellow bloggers whether or not you ever get caught without power if you insist on eating Crab or Lobster please make sure the water or stove is boiling hot before you put em in. It is this bloggers opinion that there is no need to make the poor crab (soon to be dinner) suffer any more than needs be. Also there is a part of me that wants to believe the storm ( and the cooler temperatures that came with it) was The big G (god) having mercy on my poor (overly heated ) soul. Although I can’t prove it was The big G (god), the lower temperatures were right on time, so that’s the story I’ll stick to. Mark Bey

Kings Legacy for Sale $$$$$

A couple of weeks ago while listening to Npr I heard a story of how Dr. Kings children were planning on auctioning his papers. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5511144, These papers included handwritten drafts of his I have a Dream Speech, A letter from the Birmingham jail and his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, along with hundreds of other documents detailing. Dr. Kings thoughts and actions during the civil rights movement.


These documents date from 1946-1968. The documents were to be auctioned by the world famous auction house Sotheby's http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5498444,.

The collection was expected to be sold for between 15 million and 30 million dollars. The King children insisted that the collection be sold in one lot and preferably to a university or museum that would allow the documents to be viewed by the public and for study by scholars, students ect. Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and former Mayor Andrew Young put together a group of civic and business leaders who were able to come up with the enough money to but the whole archive.

Although the amount agreed upon by the Kings and the purchasing group is unknow, it is known that Southeby's were going to auction them for the amount of $15 to $30 million dollars. This is a blessing for Kings home town of Atlanta, Georgia because the Smithsonian Institute and Duke University were interested in purchasing Kings papers. fortunately the papers will go to Kings Alma mater More house. For this I am truly relieved. But my question is am I the only one who believes that it was wrong of Kings Children to sell the papers and that they should have been donated? I find this whole escapade to be a little disgusting. I wonder anyone else feels the way I do. other . Mark Bey

Bad Negroes

I have always been inspired by black men and women of past times who stood up and risked life and limb to protect themselves, their children and property. As you may or may not know the criminal justice system was rigged in an obvious and most offensive way against black folk.
Their have been numerous accounts of whites walking into town and murdering black folk in broad daylight never to be charged with a crime.

If their was a trial an all white Jury would usually rule that their wasn’t enough evidence to convict the accused white man or it was self defense, or in the case of lynching it would be ruled, " died at the hands of persons unknown". In fact black people were not even allowed to testify against whites in their own or family members defense.In spite of hundreds of accounts of extra legal killings and murders of black Americans no white person was convicted of murdering blacks until the 1940’s.

During this time millions of blacks migrated to northern areas because of job opportunities and less harsh racial oppression . The situation in the south was no less than state and federally allowed terrorism against black american citizens. James Weldon Johnson was almost lynched by the Florida State Militia for walking in public with a light complexioned African American woman, who the white folks thought was white. Into to this mix steps the bad Negro/ Negress or BN's . These folks male and female deserve major kudos for the shining example of race pride and courage they displayed in the face of the most offensive assualts against their humanity.

A nice percentage of these BN’s ended up swinging from a rope, in jail, whipped, maimed, and or ran off of their land. These BN’s came in the form of slaves and escaped slaves, as well as free people of color. With names such as Frederick Douglass, Robert Smalls (captain smalls)http://www.robertsmalls.org/, Hariett Tubman (black Moses) http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part4/4p1535.html , whom the great John brown referred to as General Tubman. and Ida B Wells who carried a pistol on her persons and promising to take a few of the lynch mob with her. Over the years their have been thousands of BN’s such as Nat Turner, Dangerfield Newby, Jack Johnson (first black heavy weight), Emitt Till ( Ill be blogging about him in minute), Ned Cobb (All gods Dangers) and a whole lot of others. http://www.nathanielturner.com/allgodsdangersnateshaw3.html .These BN’s existed everywhere across the country and they should all be given respect and love from the entire black community. At a latter date I will be blogging about these and other BN’s .

P.S I consider John Brown a BN, as far as Im concerned his strike against Harpers Ferry, West VA more than qualifies him. Stay tuned I will be blogging more about BN's in the near future. Peace Mark Bey

Juntheenth




On June 19 1865 General Grangrer (http://ngeorgia.com/history/granger.html) read General Order No. 3 announcing the abolishment of slavery for all times in the United States of America. Although some slaves had been freed earlier in the war, in that part of Texas slavery was still the way of the world for African Americans.

President Lincoln first issued the Emancipation Proclamation shortly after the battle of Antietem,http://www.civilwar.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1727&Itemid=39 however with no Union Army around to enforce the Proclamation slavery continued until General Granger rode into Galveston Texas and told the slaves and their owners that slavery was forever abolished.
General Granger also told the slaves they were free to stay and work out terms with their master, or they could leave and go wherever they wanted. Some freed people stayed some left. Their have been lots of accounts of freed people being murdered on for leaving their former masters. Hundreds of freed people caught in between returning Confederate Veterans and Union Army protected Zones were slaughtered by the returning Confederates.It has been said Lincoln wanted to issue the proclamation sooner but didn’t feel like he had the political capital because of the defeats the Union army was suffering. After the Union victory at Antitiem

Lincoln issued the proclamation and 2 and half years later General Granger announced the total and forever abolition of slavery.So Juneteenth is the celebration of when the last slaves where freed in America. Celebrated on June 1865 to combat the day General Granger and his soldiers delivered the news of General Lees surrender, the end of the war and freedom to those still in bondage.Juneteenth has been celebrated by some African Americans since the end of the civil war especially in the south. Originally Juneteenth was a day of remembrance and celebration with some slaves making a pilgrimage to Galveston, Texas. As African Americans were able to save enough money to purchase property, they were able to host Juneteenth celebrations on land that they owned and paid for. These celebrations featured food and drinks, dancing, reminiscing and prayer.

Their are accounts of white landowners trying to break up Juneteenth celebrations because they didn’t want to give African Americans laborers the day off, however most Landowners allowed their laborers to have the day off some even donated food or money. During one of the early celebrations of Juneteenth the Rev. Jack Yates held a fund raiser that yielded $1000.00 along with enough money to purchase Emancipation park in Houston , Texas.

Juneteenth continued to be celebrated by the African American community throughout the south until the crippling economic realities of the great depression laid waste to millions of peoples fortunes, life savings, ect. African Americans who were already suffering from crippling poverty as well as blatant racial intimidation, where left without any extra money to celebrate Umpteenth or most other holidays. So having more urgent and pressing needs Junteeth was not widely celebrated and was somewhat forgotten in the African American community until the civil rights movement of the 60's and 70‘s.


In 1980 the Texas legislator passed a law making Juneteenth (http://www.elecvillage.com/juneteen.htm) an official holiday. The passing of this legislation was made possible due to the efforts of Al Edwards, an African American state legislator from Texas. Nationally known museums such as the Smithsonian, the Henry Ford Museum have both started sponsoring Juneteenth-centered events. No doubt as African Americans work their way up the social and economic latter more of us will celebrate and honor June 19 or Juneteenth as a day of reflection that all Americans not just African Americans can be proud of. Major Kudos to the Freed people for making Juneteenth a day that all of the world will come to know, love and respect. Mark Bey

SMOKING WEED IN FRONT OF KIDS MUST BE ALRIGHT WITH BLACK (SOME FOLK)

I have a question. I live in N.E Washington DC. Over the last 4 years I have been noticing that people mainly youth are smoking weed right in public. Now I don’t want to argue over the morality of smoking weed right now, however it is illegal and young black people are breaking that law every single day. In Washington DC this is something that I see just about everyday. Every single day hundreds (if not thousands) of black kids are breaking the law. Everyone in the black community knows that this shit is going on. In fact I think it would be impossible for black people to know that black teens are smoking weed in front of kids.

Let me tell you about my typical day. On my way home (I bike), I easily pass several black teens and adults smoking weed right in plain view of kids playing. In a typical day I must see at least 50 kids all of this smoking weed. All of these in my 1 hour ride home. The last time I checked smoking weed was against the law ESPECIALLY IN PUBLIC. Now if I see fifty kids on my way home from work how many kids do all other black dc residents see smoking weed. I would think thousands.

So why do we allow these kids to smoke weed in front of the entire community. Why do we allow these kids to smoke weed instead of looking for jobs, reading and writing. Or learning how to create their own business.

Does anyone really believe that we can compete with the rest of the world under such circumstances. This is the bottom line I am not a nosy person, I mind my business, I really do not know what’s going on in everyday community life. So, If I am noticing these kids smoking weed in front of everyone. Then our entire community most being noticing it as well.
If we notice it but don’t stop it. Aren’t we giving it sanction, aren’t we saying by default this is something we will allow to happen in our communities.

Under those circumstance why don’t we just create a manifesto that says it is ok for , anyone to smoke weed in our communities and neighborhoods, in front of toddlers and great grandmothers. It should also say, Hey World Us black people think that it is alright to smoke weed in front of kids. Hey World Us Black people don’t mind if thousands of black kids break the law every single day all of this happens in front of thousands adults. . But hell we cant do that, that would be to much truth for most of us I think.


If we are going to allow this to happen in front of kids why should anyone on the planet respect us. After all it says to me that we have very little respect for ourselves. Why shouldn’t the rest of the world follow the same status quo that black folk are setting.? Mark Bey

Mrs. Linda

(The tale of how a pushy woman can drive a brotha into the arms of golf)

When I was a kid, my parents would sometimes send us to Ms. Linda's when they went to Mississippi. Mrs. Linda and my parents went way back and knew each other from Natchez, Mississippi. You see I was raised in Oxon Hill Maryland. My parents are from Mississippi and so are Mrs. Linda and Mr. Bob. When my parents went on vacation or had pressing business that called for them to travel home sometimes we would be dropped at Mrs. Linda's. Being from the burbs it was a welcome change of scenery. Spending 2 or so weeks in DC with more freedom than we had at home was something that we cherished every year. At Mrs. Linda’s we got to stay out later, stay up later and live a life of freedom we normally didn’t live at home. Anyway Mrs. Linda was pretty much like our parents, liked to laugh, smoke, drink, play spades, basically had that authentic southern down home realness, brutal honesty and openness to friends and neighbors.

One thing that I vividly remember about Mrs. Linda is that she and her oldest son Craig had an antagonistic love hate relationship going on. They were constantly at each other’s throats. Not a day went by when she didn’t yell at him. She yelled at everybody to tell you the truth. Including yours truly. She also whupped asses. Including yours truly. She even yelled at her very mild mannered husband (Mr. Bob) whom everyone liked, Ill speak more about him later. When it was time to come in and eat, she yelled, when someone had finished taking their bath, she might yell for you to come wash your ass, when you had done something she didn’t like of course she might yell. But at the same time one always felt loved by Mrs. Linda she was a wonderful cook, a very loving person, very maternal, but even by liberal standards she would be considered just a tad bit too pushy.

Sometimes shed even cut on you (in a loving but stinging way). And Lawd have mercy! how Mrs. Linda could cut one to pieces if she caught you slipping. Mrs Linda could also light that ass up as well and I can never forget that belt she used when talking or yelling didnt get her point across. That was one scary looking belt, if there was a Hall of fame for sinister looking belts the belt she used on our hindparts would have a strong chance of being inducted. Anyway Mrs. Linda could bring the heat by, sparing the rod, yelling or cutting you to pieces. The whole family (ceptin for Mr. Bob) had a fondness for cutting each other as well as others. Mrs. Linda had passed her skillz at cutting folks down to the entire family.

The undisputed champion of cutting was her son Craig, who was also a smart mouth. Her son was her most avid and talented pupil indeed. Craig was one of the funniest people I’ve known in my life. Anyway not a day went be when I didn’t hear Mrs. Linda screaming at somebody for something. But the odd thing is Mrs. Linda who was overweight, had high blood pressure and was on medication for it still did more yelling than anybody in the house. She was constantly saying things such as " yall aint gone run my pressure up I works to damm hard", while screaming it at the top of her lungs.I would often watch as Mrs Linda brought Mr. Bob his steaming plate of food at dinner time. Mr. Bob usually sat at the couch watching TV while he ate.

During these times it would not be unnormal to hear Mrs. Linda yelling at Mr. Bob. She might yell at him if he opened the hot sauce wrong, or if he couldn’t get the salt or pepper shaker to work (in which case she might walk over and open it for him), or it could be for something like not mixing his potatoes properly. I mean all of those things literally by the way. It was more than obvious even to even to a young kid such as me, that Mr. Bob was Mrs. Linda's favorite target. But to be truthful everyone in the house hold was a potential target to Mrs.

Anyway one morning we were eating breakfast. It was me, my little brother, Craig and Mrs. Linda. Mrs. Linda was giving it to my little brother, I think it was because of how he was eating, she was questioning him on why he was eating a certain way, I don’t remember if was eating too fast, slow or was putting to much food in his mouth at one time. However this was in keeping with Mrs. Linda's normal behavior. In the middle of her grilling my little brother, her son Craig announced for everyone present to hear that one time the babysitter had tried to tell him how to eat and he’d just turned around and stole her. Everyone in the room started laughing, I mean it was one of those times where you try not to laugh out of respect for an adult but no one could hold their laughter in, the more we tried the funnier it got. So not being able to hold it in everyone present just went ahead and laughed freely (everyone except Mrs. Linda).

As for Mr. Bob this guy was one of the most mild manner and humble people I’ve ever known. I never knew Mr. Bob to bother or get mad anybody.In fact, I dont ever remeber him raising his voice. I never knew anyone other than his wife to be upset with him. His mild and quite manner was the exact opposite of his wife and made for an interesting and striking contrast. Their was one thing about Mr. Bob I did not understand. That was his love of golf, Mr. Bob really, really loved golf. Other than his family golf was the only thing Id ever known him to be committed to and this was long before Tiger came along and made golf sexy, while opening up a can of whup ass on the entire P.G.A. He had clubs and often he play even if it rained. In fact it was from him that I first learned about golfers being struck by lightning while playing golf. He even had the audacity to watch it on TV sometimes (and my how we suffered). Since it was the only TV in the house if Mr. Bob watched golf it meant that everyone watched golf. At times like these I usually sat quietly playing in the corner.

From what I could see Mr. Bob and Mrs. Linda had an agreement, she would cook, clean and deal with the kids for the most part. He would work and provide for his family. She would yell at him, whenever and for whatever she wanted to. He didn’t have to left a finger, fold any clothes and dinner was always brought to him. Now of course their was a line that Mrs. Linda never crossed with Mr. Bob and that was established and understood by both of them, probably before they left Mississippi in the sixties. Although I have no idea of what type of agreement they had between them, it probably went something like this. Mrs. Linda got to say whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted and how loud she wanted to. She was allowed to have her unquestioned way around the house, as well as hold and wear the balls that god intended for Mr. Bob. What he got in return was to be taken care of and to play golf anytime he wanted to. Now that I think about it, Mr. Bob's love of golf makes perfect sense. Being out on the golf course was probably the only time Mr. Bob didn’t have, anyone yelling at him, for absolutely no reason. The poor man probably just wanted some piece and quite. The green quite, expanse of the golf course probably represented the one place he was truly free and would not be overwhelmed with any foolishness from his pushy wife. . Almost twenty years removed from those scenes, I can now say I understand where Mr. Bob was coming from. Mark Bey

P.S All names have been changed to protect the privacy of the people featured. Otherwise it is a true and accurate picture of the author’s life in the early 80's and late 70's. At the time I didn’t think anything was special about those summers at Mrs. Linda's however now I think back on those days with fondness and appreciation. But I can’t help wondering if their others who have had similar experiences.

DINOSAURS, AND SABER TOOTHS AND WOOLLY MAMONTHS OH MY



When I was a kid I use to have a major fascination with dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. I remember checking out every book in the school library on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. This world consisted of ancient lizard, snakes, turtles, bears, horses as well as hundreds of other now extinct animals. Over the years I have even spent my own money buying books about prehistoric animals. I would later learn more about prehistoric animals through shows like Nova and the Discovery channel. I was the only person I knew who had such a fascination with dinosaurs. Which didn’t bother me , I was happy in my own world of exotic animal, plants and landscapes. I learned that the first fossils http://english.people.com.cn/english/199911/26/eng19991126R101.html appeared roughly 500 million years ago. Although that has probably been adjusted somewhat as I am not up to speed on current prehistory research. I also had a strong love and curiosity about science, religion, literature, history, ect. It is this curiosity which compels me to seek knowledge and understanding especially for the subjects I am interested in.

I remember reading a story from one book about prehistoric animals in which a Clam and a
Starfish fought a duel for survival with the clam losing and the starfish http://www.nefsc.noaa.gov/press_release/2000/news00.11.html ending up with a belly full of fresh clam. Paleontologist know from ancient rock samples that the ancient seas were full of fish, sharks, and dolphin like reptiles, shellfish ( clams) and starfish. For a curios kid like myself anything relating to science, history and dinosaur ‘s was eagerly sought after and voraciously consumed. The way I imagined Saber took tigers attacked and devoured their prey.

During my studies of paleontology I read a story about a Russians who had found Woolly Mammoth Remains in the Frozen tundra. After studying it the dogs were allowed to eat the carcass. I tried to imagine this in my mind. I imagined a hairy elephant, surrounded by guys in fur skin coats. The dogs were German Sheppard‘s ( the only dogs I was familiar with) and happily devouring the carcass as they snarled at each other. I desperately wanted to see a picture of the whole scene. But the book had no pictures. Anyway growing up science, history, and books in general created alternate and rich world for me to grow and develop in. Back in 1997 a Woolly Mammoth Carcass was located in the frozen tundra by its tusk that had been exposed above the service

A few years later their was a show about an international paleontology team’s efforts to dig up what they thought was the well preserved remains of a woolly mammoth. The animal which they later discovered was around forty seven years of age had gotten stuck in an ancient creek. and had been frozen. It was during this show that I finally got to see a picture of a preserved woolly mammoth. It was a baby, it was hairless and it looked like it had been flattened. But one could clearly see that it was something that looked like a baby elephant. Which is what a baby mammoth would have more or less looked like. This pictures were used during the program about digging up the mammoth to show the history of frozen mammoths being excavated. Seeing the picture of that ancient mammoth took me back to my childhood days when I first read about those fascinating creatures, finally I had got to see what one actually looked. The satisfaction I felt can be extracted from many such experiences , anyone who has wanted something or wanted to know something for a period of time. When I saw that show about the Jarkov mammoth, http://www.explorenorth.com/library/weekly/aa032400a.htm it was one of those moments where one gets to realize the answer to a long held question they were extremely curious about. The problems is I have always been of the mind, that every answer only reveals more questions. So now I look forward to a time (hopefully in the near future) when they actually make public their attempts to clone a Woolly Mammoth using a female elephant as a surrogate mother. To be honest I just wanted to express reason number infinity times a million why I feel pleased that good has spared me all this time. Most folks on the planet do not have TV’s much less cable. I just would like to thank god for all of the blessing that have been handed to me over the years. Including health, sight, hearing, having enough food to eat ect. Some folks have nothing I was blessed enough to have everything I’ve always needed. Kudos’ to The big G (God) for all of the blessing I have received. Peace. Mark

OPEN MIND

No group, person or religion has a monopoly on the truth, righteousness, intelligence, nobility or morality. No man or women is inherently more value than any other man or woman. We are all unfinished works or works in progress as I’ve heard some say. I believe that growth stagnates when folks just assume they know everything, or they know best all the time. Same goes for religion, when one religion is intolerant to other religions or scientific truths being discovered every day.


Tell me who was given wisdom enough to decide which religion will be the official language of the country. Who's to decide what religion should be expressed in government schools and offices instead of some other religion. There have been times in my life when I just knew I was right about something but turns out I was wrong or their was another viable answer. There are answers to the world's problems that have yet to be discovered. If we (man) will not listen to one another, learn and respect each other, then it is my belief that all of the benefits that come with those things will be delayed indefinitely. I’m talking about new technology, cures for incurable disease anything that can be imagined.Their is a whole universe of knowledge out their waiting to be explored.If folks would understand that its not about me or you but about human life and progress. Life would flow so much smoother. Life would also flow smoother if everyone was willing to listen and allow themselves to walk in the next persons shoes before coming to any conclusions . Though it can become hard not to judge especially when one passionate about something.


Keeping an open mind can be challenging when one has invested a lot of time and emotional energy into a way of thinking or doing something. I believe that everyone should search for the truth enearstly and honestly regardless of where that truth may lead. To seek out the truth no matter how painful it is, is noble act indeed. In my opinion an open mind is the prelude to, superior reasoning skills and a willingness to conduct all of ones business on the up and up or fairly. This makes life much better and easier. In fact I don’t think it would be a bad idea if all people conducted their daily business with a general attitude of tolerance and open mindedness. We could truly do great things immediately underneath this type of back drop. Mark Bey

MUCH LOVE TO MY BLACK PEOPLE

I just wanna say for the record that I have a deep love and appreciation for my people. That love is universally extended to all righteous people worldwide. All throughout time, in all human civilizations, kings, queens, nobility, public officials right on down thru the family and community level have all settled into thier prespective status quo's. That status quo can be liberal, progressive or conservative. That status quo can also be civilized or barbaric. Even when things are bad, unhealthy or self destructive, this can become normal, accepted and habitual behavior. The status quo is much like the waste that floats to the bottom of the fish tank. Every once and while youve got to do some deep cleaning (or purging) and change the water. It is also wise to change the filther in order to keep the water clean. If this is not done the unpurged community can get sicker and sicker physically and mentally. This sickness will manifest itself in a variety of negative and self destructive ways. It is for this reason that I speak out pointedly and honestly against some of the ills that affect the black community. It is also for this reason I will try to help create and find solutions to change these ills for the better.

I also would like to make it clear to my people that I am forever and always in thier corner and on thier team. Thick or thin, good or bad. I am inseperately connected to all black folk by dna, culture and experience. So now I would like to give a shot out to Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B Well, WEB Dubois, Booker T Washington, Langston Hughes, Richard Right, Zora Neale Hurston, Malcom X, DR King and thousands of others who have suffered, fought and died for our freedom. I am a child of the 70 and 80's. I fondly rembemer Sanford and Son, the Jefferson's, What's Happening ect. I was nurtured and raised in a black community that partied together, suffered and grew as a community. I remember the picnics with the coolers filled with soda's, Juices and Freezes. I remember the smell of Ribs, Burgers, Hot Dogs and Corn barbecueing on the grill along with lots of happy children running around having a good time. Thier would also be patato Salad, Cole slow and buttery Rolls ( Lawd Have Mercy). I remember Marvin Gayes I Keep On Dancing (Got to Give it up), Ring My Bell, Motown, Parliment and Heatwaves universely loved "Always and Forever" being played during these picnics as the adults remembered times past ( the good old days) I remember playing a lot of basketball, riding bikes, attempting to talk to girls, ect. I remember Jonening, playing spades as well as countless other childhood and neighborhood games. I remember me and a bunch of other neighborhood kids running home to watch the Cosby show. Thier are so many fond memories I have of growing up in the black community. These memories and shared expirences have forever endeared me to the black community. But that does not mean that everthing was rosy, fair or made sense. None of the good things I love and remember can excuse or justify the ills that affect the black community. It is for this reason that I am committed to changing our community for the better

So although I love africa and black people from the bottom of my heart. There is still much work to be done and I plan on doing my share no doubt. I feel obliged to seek out and destroy all self destructive behavior by black people and Africans. It is in this spirit that I say once and forever down with

Selling drugs

Coruption in our communities

Fathers not taking care of thier children

Mothers not taking thier kids education seriously

We as a people not taking education seriously

Robbing, lying to and cheating each other

Inappropiate sexual behavior

Church officials that are bogus

Apathy toward certain negative behavior ect.

It is my oppinion that all of these things and many other negative behaviors must be descredited and destroyed. Any philosophy that promotes or tries to justify said behavior must be uncategorically crushed. Much love to all black people and the entire Globe peace. Mark Bey

IF WHITE FOLKS WERE DOING IT

Over the course of my life. I have spent much time agonizing about the problems and conditions that black people find themselves in. The crimes committed by white america against her black population are well documented in the annals of american history. Fortunately for black americans we no longer live in daily fear of white people lynching, mudering or beating us. Unfortunately we are now plagued with a self destructive wave of crime, violence and corruption administered by blacks against blacks.

I for one am extremely frustrated over whats happening to black people all over america as well as the globe. One can make an argument that black folks are doing the most suffering in america and throughout the world. All across the country in urban areas the numbers of young black men killed by other black men is stagering. The numbers of people robbed and harrassed by rogues in our communities is stagering. I cant help feeling that if it was white people killing young black men, or terrorizing our communities that black folk would be rioting in the streets.

What if white folks were enslaving the people of sudan, or responsible for killing 800,000 thousand Rawandans in 8 months. What if white bands of thugs, militias and so called freedom fighters such as the " Lords Resistance Army" of Congo were roaming the african savanah and countrysides robbing, killing, rapping and mutilating women, children and men. What if white people were still in political power and leading africans down the path of missery and destruction. What if white UN soldiers were found guilty of having sex with young girls in liberia that they were supposed to be protecting. What if white politicians were routinely destabilizing african goverments through coups and revolutions, leading to ethnic massacres and other kinds of attrocities. What if a white politician had taken power in Zimbabwe( like Robert Mugabe) then proceed to hold power without check, arrest disenting political opponets, and destroy the country that as recently as 20 years ago was the bread basket of south and central africa. What if white politicians were perpertraiting some of the worse corruption abuses in the world against the people of africa. What if white politicians were in control of africa and had ignored the aids epidemic the way it has been ignored all over africa. What if white people had committed all of these crimes ( some of them genocide) against black people.

Well I for one believed that we (black people) would have collectively gone postal several thousand ( if not millions of) times over. The nationalistic and militant rhetoric, from such groups as the Black Panther Party For Self Defense ,and The Nation OF Islam of the 60's and 70's would have seemed like verbal baby food in comparison to what would be said if white folks were committing the above crimes. If white folks were enslaving africans, or muslims Farrakhan probably would have personally lead an armored tank dvision against the enemy. But since it is muslim on black, or straight black on black crime it appears that on some level in our collective minds this has become acceptable. I believe that a black person, killing, raping, robbing, or committing any other crime major or minor against a black person is every bit as evil as a white person doing it. There is no justification for any violent crime committed against black people by anyone on the planet. When we allow black on black crime to go unpunished the message sent is loud and clear. The message is a black life isnt worth spit and is not worthy of respect. This is someting we must find a way to change. Mark Bey

Bike Ride in Oxon Hill Maryland

When I 12 I got a ten speed bike for christmas. I was so happy I couldnt wait to go exploring around my nieghborhood. I was so excited I just had to take her out that day. It was pretty cold but that first ride was good and exhilirating . From then on I was rarely wihout my bike. I would imagine I probably rode my bike 5 days a week.


Eventually a friend of mine introduced me to a bike trail called henson creek. This trail ran about 7 miles and emptied out somewhere close to the potomac river. This bike trail was surronded by woods, it ran behind rosscroft raceway ( a horse racing track), it ran under highways, around golf courses, through marshlands and many other scenic features. I saw rabbits, beavers, turtles, frongs, snakes, crayfish, just to name a few animals. I remember bieng in exctasy when riding through this trail. One day I was riding my bike in the evening time, as I was approaching the end of the trail my chain snapped and I was 5 miles from home. I had no money to make a phone call, I knew no one in the area. So under those circumstances I began to walk. Even though the walk took about 2 hours I didnt mind too much because I like to walk. I spent a warm pleasant evening walking home and listening to the sounds of the animals around me. I do not rememeber what I thought about that evening but just the memorie of riding my bike on the Heson Creek bike trial brings a smile to my face.. During times such as those I have always felt closer to god. Getting to see animals I had only read about, creeks, ponds and lakes while riding my bike is something I shall always remember fondly. Mark Bey

Clown Watch

This post will be ongoing and from time to time updated . In order to be listed on Clown Watch
one must either do someting exceedingly stupid, hypocrital or trifling. Make no mistake about C watch is for those deemed guilty of "HIGH COONING". Trust us one must truly do something they could never have any justification for to make an appearance on the watch. All parties listed on the Watch have had thier case files reviewed and then cleared for Clown posting by the Provincial Ghetto and Street Cred Association or PGSCA for short. The PGSCA was created to expose the most virulent clowns in the black community and to formally recognize thier Cooning.



1) The good Reverend Jesse Jackson has been placed on the list for producing a baby out of wedlock. Any preacher who is sixty years old, who is married, and a respected black Icon who chooses to make a baby out of wedlock is eligible for this list. What makes his crime particularly coonish is the fact that he counseling President Bill Clinton while carry on his own affair with an employee of his rainbow coalition. Also his shenanigans took place at a time where hundreds of thousands of african americans were bieng infected with the aids virus. Primarily due to unprotected sex. Instead of bieng a revolutionary leader and promoted safe and responsible sex this fool is having unprotected sex with someone other that his wife during the time of aids. Way to go Jesse you are a shining example of what everyman should strive to be.




2) Our second person who has earned his way into da C Watch is Evander (Real Deal) Holyfield. Holyfield who is widely considered to be one of best counter punchers in the history of boxing diffenately has a pair. Problems is although he proclaimed to be a christian Real Deal spawned not 1 or 2 but several out of wedlock children while proclaiming his christianity. The members of the PGSCA were on to his ass after his first love child. What a man does on his own time is his busissness however Kids outside of marriage will earn any man a place on da watch. Beautiful example you set thier for all of the kids and folks who looked up to you as an example. Its christians like you and Jesse that make folks non believeers.

3) Jacob Zuma former South African Deputy president and current Deputy president of the ruling party ( The African National Congress). In June 2005 Zuma's finacial advisor , Scabir Shaik was convicted of fraud and corruption, this also led to his dismissal as Deputy President. Zuma who will be tried on corruption charges himself later this year was cleared of rape charges. The reason why Zuma is bieng honored on Da C Watch is because during his rape trial he admitted to having sex with a friend of his daughter. This young lady was hiv positive at the time and Zuma was aware of this. Mr Zuma stated that after sex with the young lady he took a shower to decrease his chances of contracting hiv. Now South Africa has one of the highest rates of hiv infection in all of africa a continent that has been devestated by the desease. So it would appear that Zuma has discovered a new way to fight Aids. Have sex with a person who hiv positive, take a shower and bam you are protected. Africa is arguably the least educated place on the planet, all over the continent they have rituals and traditions some silly some truly evil that defy all logic and common sense, they also have some murderous sexual practices and behaviors. At a time when all of africans could benifit from competent leadership, Zuma, who was a Deputy president, who was 63 and a role model to millions of Africans decides to engage in behaviour that has resulted in 10 million orphans in Africa alone. No doubt about this guy is a clown in the most profound sense of the world. If Jacob Zuma's actions dont qaulify as high cooning then we ( the PGSCA) suspect that there is no such thing as cooning. Of course we know that cooning is alive and well and Jacob Zuma is indeed one of its icons. Way to go Jake

WILL CONGRESSMAN WILLIAM JEFFERSON PLAY THE RACE CARD

According to information release by the FBI congressman William Jefferson (D-LA) who has represented Louisiana's 2nd Distric since 1991 is being investigated for bribery and other charges of corruptions. According to an Affadavid the Congressman who has been under investigation since last summer was allegedly recorded on video tape putting a brief case full of $100,000 into his car. FBI officials claim that $90,000 was later found in the Congressmans freezer wrapped in aluminum foil in packs of $10,000. The $100 dollar bills that made up the stacks had the same serial numbers as those in the brief case according to the FBI. Jefferson who has not been charged proclaims his innocence and say's hell run for re eclection. On Saturday and Sunday, May 20 and 21 the FBI searched the Congressman's office. According to a senate historian this is the first time in the history of the senate that a Congressmans office has been searched.


Jefferson is a senior member of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and its subcommittee on Trade. He is also a member of the House Committee on the Budget. He serves as Co-Chair of the Africa Trade and Investment Caucus as well as the Congressional Caucuses on Brazil and Nigeria. Already 1 of Jeffersons aides has pleaded guilty. A Kentucky business man named Vernon Jordan has admitted to paying Jefferson over $400,000 dollars in bribe money to secure help in getting contracts for Jacksons telecommunications company. According to information contained in the Affadavid the money was intended for Abubakar Atiku, Nigeria's vice president who owns a home in Potomac, Md. According to the Affadavid a northern virginia business woman who complained to the FBI about bieng ripped off by Jefferson and a business associate agreed to wear a wire and was able to record conversations between her and Jefferson.
The house ethics committee has launched its own investigation of the congressman.

Whether or not Jefferson is found guilty or innocent the republicans will try to use his case to neutrilize the cloud of corruption that hovers over thier party. The Republicans have suffered several black eyes over the past few years in the forms of corruption and ethical violations. This is an early christmas gift for the Gop who have taken a serious hit in the polls along with George Bush. It makes no difference if Jefferson is convicted or not the Repuplicans would be fools not to use this to thier political advantage. The democrats who had planned on turning the 2006 congressional elections into a referedum on republican corruption and ethical violations will now have to present a clear plan on where they plan on leading the country over the next couple of years. They will not be able to win seats in the house and senate based on not bieng Republicans. So now the question left is if Congressman Jefferson is indicted will he play the race card. Over the years the race card has been used by several African american politicians and celebrities. From Marion Barry to OJ Simpson The most recent use of the race card was by Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney of Georgia after she struck a capitol police officer. Although Jefferson has been charged with no wrong doing, if indicted I wouldnt be the least bit suprised if he plays the race cark. Although things arent looking to good for Ole Jefferson right now only time will tell. Mark Bey

The Plight of Black Men


The Issues mentioned in the article about the plight of black men are things that I have been thinking about for a while now. It seems to me that black people as a group have lost their way. And as much as it pains me to say this black men have in no way shape or form have held up their end of the bargain as it relates to family. We have allowed ourselves to be defined and have long since bought into many of the negative stereotypes that were first forced upon the entire black community. The real heavy stuff happened way back when. Although the black man was demonized the most, all black people suffered. And all black people went hungry. We were and always will be in this struggle for self improvement and equality together. 1 for all and all for 1 you know , that type of stuff. If a black man was lynched it wasn’t just him that suffered it was his entire family. Who raised the kids when black men were lynched, jailed, ran out of town ect. At this point I believed we have lived with these issues long enough to know that things are not working It is my opinion that Blacks (black men in particular) should redefined themselves on what it is that we want out of life. We need to fully become a part of the modern world and change how we view that world. Basically we need to take full control of our lives.




The issues I am talking about are themes that most black people have heard before. I believe that a good portion of this failure can be attributed to bad parenting. I think black people's attitude towards education in general is a joke. In my opinion the biggest joke going is the black mans attitude towards education. Id bet money that young black men spend less time focusing on education than any other group in the country. Part of this is because their role models, or lack thereof do not promote and emphasize the value of education. In fact they emphasize many values totally obscene to education. I believe that young black men have the worse role models of any group in the country no doubt about it. . Which results in a lack of mental understanding and emotional restraint being developed in those individuals . The things that they see and experience are not conducive to attaining ongoing success in life. And lets be honest, some of these things holding us back should be pretty obvious to people who are really focused on learning, growing and evolving into better human beings. For instance, knowing the incarceration and unemployment rate of black men, I would think that every black mother, grandmother, uncle family member ect would be constantly preaching , working and teaching to keep more of these young men out of jail. Staying out of jail makes it easier for anyone to get employment. Since everyone in the black community knows that black men are having problems staying out of jail and employed I would think one would hear of a grass roots campaign on what the black community needs to do to turn these disgusting trends around. The type of focus, drive and energy needed to pull this off is something I’m not feeling from black folks at this time. What happen to that spirit, creativity and drive of the civil rights movement. I know that properly intellectually stimulated black people and others can figure out solutions and come up with ideas to help us move forward. To be honest this process may take 200 years to fully develop. I hope not , but It might. But the longer we wait the longer it will take to finish the process. It is also going to be painful as most of us will have to give up some of our non productive and self destructive habits. I do know that there are people out their with innovative ideas who are serious about helping to change the plight of black people. If you are one of these people then lets have at an honest, fair, progressive and open dialog of what needs to be done to totally and fully introduced black men into America society. Mark Bey

YOUNG MALE ELEPHANTS GONE BUCK WILD

( And the corresponding tale of fatherless boys)

Im not trying to justify any negativite or anti-social or self destructrive behavior. Cause that aint my thing. But it is a well known fact that young men who grow up without fathers are more likely to participate in anti-social behaviour than those with a father. If you look at the statistics what becomes crystal clear is this, young men who grow up without a father are much more likely to be involved in criminal, violent and anti-social behavior. They are much more likely to do time in juvenile or adult criminal dentention centers. I could go further but I think Ive made my point. Men are not born they are developed. To do this it takes competent leadership. For most young men that leadership would come from dad. But for far to many black male youth, that leadership is nowhere to be found. This is why we need to implement the Bull Elephant strategy when dealing with young black men. Bull elephants provide a stabilizes factor in the world of elephants. Without this young male bull elephant who are kicked out the heard can get way out of control. Young black men who have been abandoned by thier fathers get way out of control also. If young black men are allowed to rob, murder, and committ all kinds of other dispicable acts against each other why shouldnt they do it to everyone in thier community. There is no way we can rise to our rightful place in the world until the attitude of rank and file black men is about family, community and personal uplift. Black men must take personal responsiblity not only for themeselves and thier families. But also the community at large. I believe our collective social health or attitude depends on it. Black men should began to take responsibility for the protection of thier families and communities even from rogues and thugs no matter what color they are. This is where the Bull Elephant strategy comes in.

From 1978 until the mid 1990's thousands of adult elephants were culled in an effort to keep thier numbers at manageble proportions. http://www.und.ac.za/und/lesci/elephant/clash_of_the_titans.htm These culls was done without any regard as to the affect on the young elephants made orphans. Anyway they took 17 young male elephants, made orphans, and repopulated them to another park. After a while rhino's began turning up dead, tourist, park rangers and wild life activist began getting reports and actually witnessing the young male elephants attacking and killing rhino's. These attacks were particular nasty, the elephants would gore the rhino's in the shoulder resulting in a painful and lingering death. Over a period of 4 years 40 white rhino's were killed in the same manner. During this time the idea to bring in 6 adult bulls was developed and implented. After the adult bulls were released into the park the killing of rhino's stopped. It turns out that young male elephant's need the calming factor of a strong bull elephants. Turns out young adult elephants need to be learned just were they stand in the big picture. Basically those fools need to be policed . Does any one see where Im going with this?

Now back to young black men. When boys of any color across social economic lines grow up with thier fathers they tend to be less violent and display less anti- social behavior. I suspect this is in part due to the fact that only men (the fathers) are physically strong enough to restrain male youth and deal with them in that manner, if it gets that down and dirty. This is true in Elephant society as well. Young men need to be policed by thier fathers and other strong men in the community. If we show the disadvantaged young black men the unconditional love they yearn for. I believe we can began to find out what they need to become productive citizens. Once we find out what they need, it will be easier to assist them thru the middle passage. I believe this is the most crucial stage to a persons' (young black male's) proper development. Spiritual or otherwise. Im not attempting to identify or diagnose every thing affects black folks negatively. Im just trying to present an accurate picture of what I think is going on and some things that need to be done. If we work together dillegently and creatively we can figure out way's to positively influence young black men to focus a lot more attention on thier families. If as a people we love young black males unconditionally and responsibly they well recipricate. But we must guide them in a responsible way. Like Bull Elephants we must control the imediate and household world they are nurtured and developed in. I believe if we focus energy in the area of changing black men we will greatly improve the quality of life for all of america. Mark

How to get Young black Youth Reading and Writing on thier correct level.

I beleive that education is the most expiedent tool for salvation and advancement that has ever been created. It is truly the great equalizer. As it stands today even poor people can get access to a universe of knowledge via the internet. Most people in america rich or poor have a better quality of life than 99% percent of the people who have ever lived. Life is always going to be a lot more difficult if you cant or arent proffecient at reading and writing. It is also my belief that reading opens up portals of understanding and nuance that are available in no other ways. It is my belief that reading and writing are the passport to learning. Reading and writing are the most important tools one can have in thier toolbox. Thier have been studies over the last forty years that desicively demonstrate the relationship between reading to your kids when they are young and later academic achievement. It has been proven that if a child has parents that read who make them read those kids tend to have more success in the classroom. These studies also show that when education and learning are made the dominant priorities and parents demand high standards from thier kids those kids have an easier time in the classroom throughout thier lifetime. This leads to academic confidence as well as other benefits. With education people are much more likely to achieve finacial, academic and social success in life. So heres my big idea that I just had t blog about a little on.

I think thier should be a law or some other kind of mandate that say's if a women signs up for welfare she must take parenting and job training classes and pass. She must also take reading classes so in order to be able to help teach her kids how to read. Maybe there should be a bonus, that welfare recipients could earn if thier children are able to read at the appropiate level. What if we came up with a campaign orginized through the churches, social orginizations, parents teachers ect to heavily promote this idea. What would happen if we put the same energy of a civil rights movement into getting young black youth to read. If we could find a way to present the fundemental value of education in a way that everybody could understand I believe we could then create the moral obligation to apply more Positive social pressure on all sides including teachers, parents ect.


It is my oppinion that we as a group of people spend far to much money on clothes, shoes and other frivilous items. If we took 40% of the resources and time spent on those before mentioned items and put them into reading, writing and rythmitic I believe we would be much better off. At this point I believe we could began to awaken the sleeping but powerful intellectual giant that lives in us. All black people would be lifted through this process. The country would be lifted because truly educating black people means higher wages and mass employment of black people. It also means more black owned business serving the needs of the black community. These two things alone would mean more money flowing into the goverment coffers through taxes. More black men working, means less of them in jail the goverment would save money on housing inmates, adjudicating criminal cases, welfare ect, which means less money would be coming out of the goverment coffers in those areas. I believe these things in part can be accomplished by black folk if we switch and totally focus our game on education.


P.S As these are rough ideas I hope we can smooth them out and make some of them relevant. I look forward to all progressive suggestions. Mark Bey

Reading and Writing campaign.

1) Make it a policy that every kid needs to be able to read.
2) Everyone who collects welfare should have to take parenting classes.
3) All of their children need to be reading at grade level.

4)If the parents cannot read they should be taugh by volunteer highschool or college students. In many cases they need the volunteer hours anyway.
5) Create debate clubs with kids starting at very young ages
6) Make every child keep a journal that must be updated every day. Make them write out plans for ordinary things such as chores, going to school, ect. . Make being able to read and write compentantly a major goal.
7) Use the National network of churces to promote the reading and writing program.
8) Set up debating and toastmaster clubs amongst black people, promote and create a market amongst ourselves. To be supplied and managed by ourselves.All our church programs, and community programs should create debate teams amongst black youth and teens finding ways to make it fun.

IS THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT SUFFERING FROM MORAL AMNESIA?
Is the Christian right suffering from amnesia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesia) or even selective memory when it comes to morality? If abortion is wrong then what about the death penalty? Are not people who've been sentenced to die god's children as much as anyone born? Has god ever expressed the idea that one of his children's lives is more precious than any other? Even for those convicted of heinous and disgusting crimes. If one believes it is justified to lobby, rally and protest against abortion for moral and biblical reasons in defence of innocent human life, then why isnt that same standard bieng applied to death row inmates? Isnt a man or women locked up in a jail cell as deffensless as an unborn child? Is thier anything they can do to protect themselves from whatever punishmnent society hands down? Does god imply or say that it is just to execute any of his children? For any reason??????? Do the scriptures imply that it is just to execute any of god's children? Some forces in the right to life movement have even resorted to the use of blowing up clinics, and Killing abortion clinic staff. Millions of dollars are spent every year on television and radio commercials to sway public oppinion on both sides. The abortion issue is truly one of the most divisive issues in the country. The driving force of this movement are the Evangelical christians (or christian right). They insist that abortion is murder and theirfore not santioned by god. Wether or not science can prove when life actually starts is a fundemental point of dispute in the abortion debate. Opponets of abortion claim conception is when life starts, supporters dont believe this. No one howeve argues whether or not men and women sentenced to death qualify as life. So my questions is, if god created all human beings, and all human beings are born into sin, and no one sin is any worse than in other in the eyes of god, then how under such circumstances can the death penalty be just? If people can fight against abortion with Right to Life Zeal then shouldnt some of that zeal be directed to getting rid of the death penalty. (www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/)? After all it has been well documented that people convicted and executed for murder have been proven innoncent through later DNA testing .http://pfadp.org/takeaction/moratorium/talkingpoints.html

Governors, and other politicians have called for a moratorium on the death penalty, after years of lobbying by community groups, social activist and family members of the convicted. Some Governors have even instituted a moratorium on Capitol punishment. Thier have been countless incidents of police and prosecutorial misconduct. These offenses include everything from withholding evidence from the defense to intimidating witnesse's into giving false testimony. http://www.truthinjustice.org/p-pmisconduct.htm In 2006 Two New York city anti mafia cops named Stephen Caracappa andLouis Eppolitol, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime_file/story/406759p-344390c.html were convicted of murder and framing an innocent man for murder. A witness in that case later recanted his testimony stating that Caracappa and Eppolito had threatned him into testifiying . It is for these reasons that some govenors have called for a moratorium on the death penalty. http://www.seacoastonline.com/2003news/05302003/south_of/31402.htm Mothers, fathers, siblings ect have testified to the innocence of family members, witnesse's have recanted testimony leading to the overturning of previous convictions, some of these convictions were death sentences. The Naacp and other social justice orginizations have found racial bias in the application of the death penalty. Now here is where DNA becomes important. Over 100 people have had guilty convictions overturned after bieng proven innocent by DNA tecniques that did not exist at the time of conviction. Most murder cases have no perpertraitor DNA to test. It is for all of these reasons why thier is a building movement to institute a nationwide moratorium on the death penalty. Is it moral or just to continue to execute americans, when it is a well documented fact that innocent people have been executed.



Now dont get me wrong I have absolutely no sympathy for murderers or rapist. I felt absolutely no sympathy for Stanley "Tookie"Williams http://www.tookie.com/ . As far as Im concernced his founding of the crips is enough to brand him guilty of the vilest crime possible. I look at it this way how many mothers have had children murdured by the crips. Whatever the crips did I believe part of the responsibility falls on Stanlely Williams. That alone qualifies him for the harshest punishment the law allows in my book. I have nothing against capitol punishment if it is applied consistantly and

1) If it is absolutely proven the person is guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt.
2) If there is no police or prosecutorial funny business.
3) If there is no witness corruption or false testimony.
4) If you can garauntee a fair and impartial, judge and Jury.
5) If it is applied evenly and equally in all 50 states.


But as of now this is not the case. Some states allow the death penalty, some dont, one person may kill someone and be sentenced to life, someone else does the same but gets the death penalty. Roughly 800 executions have been performed by the state and Federal goverments since 1976. Over 100 people some on death row have been exonerated thru DNA analysis. For every 8 executions 1 person convicted rape, murder ect has been exonerated through Dna testing. The Christian right has gone after legal abortion with great energy and fire. They beleive that this battle is sactioned and in accord with the laws of christianity . If this be true wouldnt the death penalty be an obvious and soft target under such laws?
If a convicted of murderer gives his life to Jesus, admits guilt and commits his life to god how can it possibly be just to execute them. Didnt Jesus say " let he who is without sin cast the first stone". Ought the govermerment be allowed to cast stones anyway. So it is my oppinoion that when it comes to the death penalty the Christian right is suffering from moral amnesia.

CHANGING THE UNHEALTHY ATTITUDES OF YOUNG BLACK MEN

Although young black men do not have a monopoly on bad attitudes. It is my oppinion that too many black men are suffering from personal,family and spiritual damage. In my oppinion part of the reason for this can be traced to the unhealthy attitudes that so many of them have. Some of the end results and manifestions of these attitudes are a 70% out of wedlock birthrate, a murder rate that is noticably higher than all other americans(blacks make up 45% of those arrested for violent crime), and a higher incaceration rate amongst blacks as well. I could go on but Im sure that whoever is reading this gets the point. Although thier are several parallel and contributing reasons for the problems we are having, I believe one of fundemental reason for many of our problems is the negative attitude that permeates much of black culture. In particular it is black male youth who manifest the most virulent extremes of this negative culture. I believe this pathology is so virulent in black male youth because a large percentage of them have been raise with no male around to guide them properly. Men are needed to provide accurate and positive representation of manhood. Young black men in america have the worse role models of any group in this country. The unconditional love that a son should get from his father is too often missing from the lives of these youth. In fact I have heard more than 1 black woman say that her son was starving for love and affection from his father. This spiritual neglect by black men of thier sons quite ofter leads to deep seated bitterness and anger, which concentrates into these unhealthy and self destructive attitudes. At the same time because of this neglect young black males are not equipted with the tools to handle these unfortunate circumstances they find themselves in. Too many young black males, are learning what being a man is all about from people who no idea what true manhood is. As far as I am concerned a bad attitude is spiritual poison, the worse the attitude the more toxic the poison. It seems to me that some very dangerous chickens are comming home to roost. As it stands now young black men are on the outside looking in of american mainstream society. Thier values are often times not compatitble to work, family or any other personal responsilibity. For these reasons it is more difficult for black men to find and keep employment than anyone group in the country.


A couple of years ago I worked for FEMA and was stationed at Panama City Beach Florida.
I had 2 coworkers and together we made up a 3 man team. Our supervisor was a guy from California with a real nasty and condescending attitude. To be honest this guy was one of the biggest jerks Ive ever met in my life. It seems to me that this guy was alway's doing little nasty things to get under me and my coworkers skin. My coworker was a guy from Indiana named Bill, Bill was a white man, (country boy) who had lived and gone to school with blacks, had been a soldier in Vietnam, and had lived the life of a monk in a monastery for over a year. After one particularly rough day at work with our supervisor. I asked Bill who had totally diffused his negative situation with our supervisor how he could so calmly and serenely put up with our the mess from our supervisor. Bill told me this, It dosent matter as long as I react to him the same way he is controling me. My secret is I have no need to question his or anyone elses authority. I have no need to be confrontational for the sake of confrontation. No one feels threatened Bill said. Although I never reached the same happen medium with our supervisor, I did benifit from the example of his wisdom and his calming demeanor. To be honest our entire office was made dramitically better by the attitude that Bill had. This was an example to me of how one person with a positive attitude can have a positive effect on an entire group of people.


So now the question I ask of the african american community( young males in particular). Is is your glass half empty or half full. Do you have an optimistic outlook on life. Do you believe that tomorrow will be better than today. Do you have hope for the future and do you believe that life has good things waiting for you. What do you see when you look at your family. Have you done anything to make your family stronger in the last month. In no way doI want to blame everthing on black men. Black men do not live in a vacum and are part of and victims of the same problems suffered by not only black communities but all at risk communities. I also do not want to disregard any negative affects on the black community by racism. However at a time when black on black crime is rampant I think it would be far more benificial to rigorously deal with the things we can directly control ourselves. That would be our own individual attitudes along with the way we treat each other. Your attitude dictates your view of the world, your attitude dictates whether how you treat your , family. It dictates how hard you are willing to work on behalf of your family. Whether or not you read and spend quality time with your kids. What have you done to make your family stronger in the past month. Shouldnt every black man ask himself that question. It is a selfish and bad attitude that allows black men to check out of the educational system and commit crimes that make life harder for thier families. It is this attitude that allows black men to strike out in violence against others resulting in the highest murder rate of any group in the country, it is also this attitude that allows black men to strike out at black women in negative and self destructive way’s. All of these manifestations of pathologically negative attitudes and self destructive behaviors have had a and stifling impact on the black community. It has been responsible for the loss of so much blood, tears, pain, heartbreak and self destructiveness to the black community. I look forward to your comments. Mark

Black Authors Should Get More Love

I am a black man who loves to read. Im not sure what sparked my interest in reading, however I do remember reading the encyclopedia brotanica series we had as a kid. Reading has had an overwhelmingly positive affect on me. When I was a kid I read the whole 40 page chapter on the civil war in the encylopedia. I learned that Union soldiers were called Billy (yank) and Southern soldiers were called Johny Reb, I learned about Abe lincoln, Robert E Lee and Frederick Douglass. I learned that civil war pitted brother against brother, father against son, cousins, ect. When I was in elementary school I was assigned Duke Ellington as a book report during black history month.I learned that Duke was born in 1899 and had gone to New York as a young hungry musician out of dc. This young piano player would form a band , make the Cotton Club famous and go on to make history. I didnt understand at the time but that book report would resonate 20 years later. The rest of the kids were assigned people like louis armstrong, harriet tubman and all of the other Black History Usual suspects. Dr. Martin Luther King of course was the patron saint as he should be. However thier are countless other heroes, sheroes and ordinary people who found the strenght to stand for what they believed in. It is for this reason that black people can afford to support the talented black authors of the past and present. I specifically remember my 5 grade teacher forcing me to take some books home one summer. Although I whined and said I didnt want to, she insisted that I take them home anyway.

Several weeks later on a rainy day I found myself sitting at home with nothing to do. So out of sheer boredom I began reading one of the books the teacher had giving me. That afternoon became a pleasent one and I soon finished and thoroughly enjoyed the book. Years later in highschool I read my first novel, it was a book called the scream, I do not remember who wrote it and to be honest it does not derseve to be remember. However the second and third novels I read were The Talisman and It by Stephen King. After reading my first two King books I became totally hooked on reading. I personally consider King to be the greatest writer of all time including Shakespear although hes good to. A few years after reading King, I read the Color Purple by Alice Walker which I devoured in a few nights. Alice Walker was probably the first black author I had read. Next came the women of brewster place, Miss Jane Pitman, waiting to exhale (Moma was my favorite McMillan book), and dozens of other novels by black and white authors. Thier were also the autiobiographies of historical figures. Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday, Langston Hughes, Malcolm X, ect. Then theres black history, african history. The history of world war 1and 2, and various other subjects that have peaked my curiosity over the years. But in the niegborhood I lived in I dont know of anyone else who was into reading like I was. I do not no of anyone else who was into reading period. But how can that be. How can something so pleasurable and rewarding be so little appreciated in the black community? I believe that reading is to thinking what rain is to crops. The capacity to think that god gave us is something I consider a privlidge. The capacity to think has got to be one of the greatest privileges god has givin to any of his creations. I believe that black people should make it a habbit to by at least one book by a black author a month. Even if only to support them. They are our chroniclers and our story will never be accurately told unless we support and create a demand for thier work. No one can document our story with accuracy and truth the way we can. Once this happens I believe we will produce a Micheal Jordan of a writing as well as countless other stars. The reason I am saying this is because I have read the black authors from Bebe Moore Campell, to Marcus Major, Diane Whetstone, and countless others and 1 thing is for sure they have something unique and powerful to say. What they have to say has its own unique and pleasant literary flavor. When I later went to bull run (civil war) battle field I was able to appreciate it and extract substance out of the experience. Reading about the civil war years back allowed me contex to understand what had happened there on July 21 1861 at the first battle of Manassa. When I saw the house that Duke Ellington had lived in as a child I had contex to really appreciate it in a spiritual way. This contex has been provided to me thru reading. Black people have a rich and interesting history and we are presently creating more rich and interesting history. I believe we should support the black authors with more fervent zeal. You cant rewind time and we (black people ) should be documenting our history, culture and achievement with the same zeal as all other races. More support of black authors, equals more high quality stories to be turned into films that give black actors a chance to shine while telling the story of black people in dignified ways. The black authors have thier own uniqe voices and deserve our widespread respect and recognition. If you have any comment, remembrances about reading, or ideas on how we can get more black people to read please feel free to comment. Bottom line is this it would not hurt any black person to buy at least one book every 2 months from a black author. This patronage would provide oppurtunities for that undiscovered and underdeveloped talent in the black community. I think its way past due that we show the black authors more love. If you have any ideas on how we could build some momentum on this and make it happen please feel free to express yourself. I will put together a list of the best ideas. Mark Bey