Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Buy Black Wednesday 5: Money Talk!

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, THE MOST LIBERAL CITY IN AMERICA and the world some say! And yet Berkeley High School, with over 3500 students and 250 teachers,  has only 8 black teachers!!! Scandalous! Shame on you BHS administration! The city of Berkeley has declared 2011, "The Year of the Black Man"! But where are the Black Male Teachers that are so desperately needed for black boys and students? HIRE ME! Give me the ear of Black America for one year and I'll make 40 million model citizens appear! Let us produce more black owned schools and centers of higher learning. And let us make it possible to fund with Buy Black Wednesdays.

HOW IMPORTANT IS BUY BLACK WEDNESDAYS? One sister told me recently, "We're going to need much more than Buy Black Wednesday to solve our problems." Wow! What a brilliant deduction! But is it true? Let's see what the major problems are in our community and see if BBW can address them: Off the top of my head I'd say the major problems we're facing are 1. Poverty 2. Violence 3. Crime 4. Drugs/Health 5. Lack of Unity 6. Self Hate 7.Lack of Knowledge of Self. Let's not quibble about the order of importance. If we can solve the poverty issue the violence and crime issues would dwindle significantly. People with money in their pockets have less a need to do crimes or drugs or be violent. Black Americans have an income of $1,000, 000, 000 000 (a trillion dollars) a year! But we are a poor Trillion Dollar Nation because that money barely stays in our communities for 15 minutes! The next time you get a pay check muthafarker do us all a favor and keep it for 16 minutes! Hahahahaha!! Pray about how you're going to use it! Everything has a spirit! Talk to your money before you give it away and tell it where to go, who to bless and to come back to you multiplied!
 
Buy Black Wednesday is enriching us as I speak because more people are keeping and bringing that money home! It's causing us to (Oh my God!) think black...more often, which is [changing our consciousness] and causing more unity(!) and getting us back into the habit of buying black when ever possible. We are getting more "touches", more connections, more involvement with each other! And when you touch black people (in their natural unjacked up state) you get blessed above all others, your blood pressure goes down, your endorphins rise up, your health improves! When you create and are around a Black Family atmosphere there's more self love and knowledge of self! Our minds are expanded and our lives are enriched when we come in greater contact with the black experience! And of course, with the increased interaction comes more awareness of Black History! So before you shoo shoo and poo poo Buy Black Wednesday let's try to do it! Let us do this one thing together and see the outcome for ourselves!

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Buy Black Wednesdays 4: The Black Statue of Liberty

The Black Statue of Liberty

Bring me your tired, your poor, your hungry
Those who are suffering from white supremacy
Those who bleach their skin, hair and souls
Bring me your pimps, your criminals, your hoes
Your coons, uncle toms and sambos
Your dope dealers, crack heads and fiends
Zombies, abused, misused and unclean
Your sell outs, drop outs and cop outs
Those who are hopeless, helpless
And plagued with doubt and loss of identity
I am free and I set free
I am the Black Statue of Liberty

I am Buy Black Wednesdays
I am the redistribution of black wealth
I am self sufficiency
I am the robust revitalization of black health
I am umoja - black unity
I am the knowledge and love of self
I am ujima - collective work and responsibility
I am the giant Supernova dwarfed in every black elf
I am the torchbearer who has shown the way for centuries
I am the Black Statue of Liberty

I am Buy Black Wednesday
Ujamaa - Cooperative Economics
The beginning of the reconstruction
Of Black Sovereignty
One day a week to renew my vows
And to express my conviction and loyalty
One day a week I promise the ancestars
I will honor all of black history
Until this weekly practice becomes
A full time way of life for all of us
And every African is free!
I am the Black Statue of Liberty!

I am the night adorned with a Crown of Stars
And the golden torch you call the sun
I am the light of the world in every black body
I am the Original who came before everyone
I am every brother and sister who walks the earth
I am the co creator of the universe
I am the the ripest fruit of my incomparable AncesTree
I am the Black Statue of Liberty

I have come up from over 400 years of slavery
And persevered with the whole world against me
I have carried more weight on my shoulders than Atlas
And accomplished more feats of labor than Hercules
I am the living embodiment of all those crucified
And resurrected - no need to look backward
Or forward in history
For millions of years I've roamed the earth
And sheperded Galaxies across the universe
And still I rise...triumphantly
I am the Black Statue of Liberty

Oh ye children of the earth
Look no further if you want to see the likes of God
His power and glory!
Behold! All of your legends, myths, gods and heroes
Real or fabricated, pale beside me
I am the hope of the world
The embodiment of Divinity
At least one day a week I vow
To help set a new trend every Wednesday
And spend money within my community
Because my discipline is the key
I am the Black Statue of Liberty!
(c) 6-30-2011
(2nd draft work in progress)

This poem was partially inspired by the Urban Legend
that the original statue of liberty was a black woman,
used a black woman as the model, and was symbolic
of black people and our struggle for freedom! Even
if the legend/myth is not true it does seem appropriate
...or shall we say: propah!