Most African-American Women Are Actually Prisoners of War in Open-Air Prison Camps That Were Formerly Known as "Black Communities"
Most AA women are actually POWs in the open-air prison camps that are Black residential areas. We don't tell the truth about what Black residential areas have become. We like to pretend that these places are still Black "communities." They are not. As I said in Part 1 of All Colored People That Want to Go to Kansas, On 9/5/1877, Can Do So for $5.00:
"To use secular terms, what used to be 'the Black community' has devolved far beyond the point of no return. To use one of my Christian best friend's terms, Black residential areas are filled with Satanic strongholds. Strongholds that are NOT being pulled down anytime soon. In fact, most of the residents have (at minimum) a passive investment in current conditions remaining as they are. Many of us have a passive investment in supporting the behaviors that support these evil strongholds. Maybe I should list some "passive investment" examples that my friend has mentioned (she's a Protestant minister from New Orleans).
There is the widespread acceptance of the sexual exploitation of underage Black girls. There is the widespread acceptance of illegitimacy. There is the widespread acceptance of obscene and self-degrading "music." There is the fake religiosity that only gets excited about condemning the activities that we have no interest in participating in, such as foaming at the mouth about the gays. I can't count the numbers of shacked-up baby mammas/daddies I've heard who loooove to rant about gay people. They usually get very quiet when I bring up the fact that they are shacked up with illegitimate children.
In short, Black people have turned Black residential areas into 'sundown towns' where one must be behind locks and gates by sundown. The greatest danger to any individual Black person's life is often to be found inside Black residential areas." http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2008/11/all-colored-people-that-want-to-go-to.html
In terms of working AA women, I challenge anyone to tell me exactly how our collective quality of life is substantially different from that of our enslaved foremothers.
For most of us, there is never enough of what we need, let alone any abundance in our lives.
For most of us, there are no men protecting or providing for us and our children.
For most of us, there is no true fellowship. Instead there is plenty of misery that loves company.
I Know That Many of You Are Exhausted
Sometimes, there's a communication gap between those who are preaching uplift to AA women and many audience members. Many of the "preachers" have never experienced the complete and utter exhaustion that some audience members are living with.
For example, I know that many of you read the Wildest Dreams Check-Ins and think to yourselves, "Good God Almighty. . . This chick is working out 6 days a week. I. Can't. Do. All. Of. That." I know that many of you read comments from other readers describing their various efforts, and you have the same reaction.
I know.
I understand.
I've felt the same way in the past.
That "I just can't contemplate doing anything more, or anything different" feeling is how I felt when going through the experiences surrounding my aunt's illness that I described during the Part 1 of the True Fellowship series. http://muslimbushido.blogspot.com/2008/10/true-fellowship-is-best-quality-of-life.html
I DO understand; but you are going to have to press on. Help is NOT on the way. If you don't keep moving forward, even with small steps, you won't make it. It's just that simple.
The Prisoner And The Paper Clip
One day years ago at work, I was walking along behind the correctional officers that were taking one of my clients back to the lock-up after court. I needed to talk to her in the client interview room. [I always follow guards and prisoner-clients from a distance of at least 5 feet behind because I don't want to get caught up in any physical drama that might erupt. When I first started doing defense work, I was shocked to have clients tackled to the ground by law enforcement while they were standing right next to me. This has happened more than once.]
My front-handcuffed client appeared to stumble and fall to the ground; and sure enough, the female correctional officers were all over her in a split second. Well, it turned out that the client had seen and tried to covertly pick up a paper clip that was on the ground. They forcibly snatched the paper clip out of her hand.
I was amazed on several levels.
I was amazed that the prisoner-client was carefully, and covertly, scanning the ground looking for items that might be useful. Even something as small as a paper clip.
I was amazed that she had the presence of mind to instantly come up with a ruse to try to get that paper clip.
I was amazed that the correctional officers were carefully watching all of this while seeming to be engrossed among themselves in a tv-related conversation.
Any AA woman who wants to escape, survive, and thrive is going to have to be at least as enterprising at that particular prisoner-client.
Are you willing to remain on the lookout for ANYTHING, no matter how small, that might help you escape, survive, and thrive?
Are you willing to take some steps, even small ones, to escape unsatisfactory circumstances?
Are you willing to immediately reach for ANY opportunities that might come across your path?
Showing posts with label all colored people that want to go to kansas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label all colored people that want to go to kansas. Show all posts
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
"All Colored People That Want to Go To Kansas," Part 2: An Extended Reader's Money Quote from Sister Seeking/Miriam/MaryAnn
The Reader's Money Quote is a statement that is of such insight and importance that it merits frequent and loud repetition. This Reader's Money Quote is from Sister Seeking/Miriam/MaryAnn. She has brilliantly contributed two money quotes in the span of a couple of days! {raised fist salute to Sister Seeking/Miriam/MaryAnn} She laid out a detailed escape plan while commenting on Part 1 of the Self-Determination series.
The participants at this think tank have been discussing the need to escape Black residential areas since the post entitled "All Colored People That Want to Go To Kansas, On 9/5/1877, Can Do So for $5.00." I am truly grateful for the contributions of those audience members who participate in the blog discussions here. Especially when we come together, reason together, and find practical solutions together!
My reply to her comments are in blue. Sister Seeking/Miriam/MaryAnn said:
"Peace and blessings every one:
I’m going to shift my contribution to this discussion to taking steps to get out of black residential areas! I can only speak to my own experience, and I’m NOT presenting my self as an expert on the subject but if any one is interested here are some ideas:
Personal finances:
*Debt management --preferably debt elimination
*Credit repair --preferably raise your credit to the highest score
*Savings-- preferably 30 to 50 % of your income
*Do save for a down payment WATCH OUT for those no money down scams
*Emergency savings 6 to 12 months of living expenses
*Rethink credit cards or pay off your balance every month
*Find more than one way to make money
*Prepare for entrepreneurship don’t just dive in head first
*Think outside the box: how can you truly be self-sufficient?
Real estate:
*Don’t be afraid to try farming communities; homesteads; rural areas. This is my IDEAL living situation for spiritual reasons. If I could do it over again I’d buy a home or land further out in the country.
*Watch out for new communities that have just been built--looks ARE deceiving some times. They may have the all trappings of a middle class even an upper middle class neighborhood but you won’t find out you “got played” until you “got in”.
My girl friend owns vending machines in three new communities that have club houses. My friend had a beverage that was glass packaged and several angry, bitter, white men begged her to not put those bottles in the vending machines because the black teenagers in their neighborhood frequently bust glass on the side walks. The average home cost in this area prior to the recession was a half a million dollars now they are down to three hundred thousand dollars.
One old angry white man in particularly stated “ I’m not racist but black people, Hispanic people, and Asian people got into these homes on sub prime loans but were blue collar workers.” I thought this epidemic only affected working class multiracial neighborhoods like ours but evidently not. So keep that in mind when you are house hunting. The recession will have impact on the quality of families in all residential areas.
*Not ALL multi-racial neighborhoods are safe, and decent places to live. I’d hire a realtor who has thorough knowledge of the area you are interested in living in. Also, don’t leave it up to him or her--own your own decision. I suggest having male relatives or friends check out the area during the evenings and night time. Also, you may want to “study”? the area. Some places people go buck wild during the summer but are shut in during the winter. You may half to research a place a good year before buying home.
*Please keep in mind some of Khadija’s earlier essays about the middle class. In some regions, she is right on point. Don’t expect credentials, or upscale neighborhoods to guarantee your ticket out of unsafe crime ridden black residential areas: for what ever reasons many so called middle class or strivers don’t supervise their pre-teen/teen children well. You’d think if they can afford the home they could afford a nanny or extra curricular activities? NOT.
Social Networks
*My husband ,and I are Muslim but we now are apart of an interfaith fellowship. We’ve found that getting to know people of all religions nurtures our own faith, increases social capital, and if you’re a SAHM this is a great way to meet others if you don’t feel comfortable in secular mother groups.
*This is strictly an opinion, but my experience has taught me to join multiracial groups instead of isolating myself with one racial group. My best mother to mother experiences were not in black mothers group but in mixed mothers groups.
*If your self employed its great to start with “black___________” business organizations but if you want contracts with established businesses or your local government you may want to branch out and do business with all racial groups and pay attention to our largest minority: the Hispanic community and their influence.
Finally, I’m not sure that “I” want to live in a predominately white neighborhood, I do enjoy interacting with ALL people but for those who are worried about KKK land there are predominately white neighborhoods that are not racially hostile or dangerous places to live--and truth be told many of them are not in the new communities that are being built. Speaking of social networks, these can be wonderful places to network in! I personally would not tell some one to go from one hostile place to another. I hope that anything can help some one move on….
: )Good luck!"
Hello there, Sister Seeking/Miriam!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU for laying out a detailed escape plan. I co-sign 100%; especially the detail about investigating what prospective areas are like on weekends and late nights. And you're right about the effect of former state wards coming back into Black areas. Black residential areas have already been battered by several earlier waves since the Reagan years:
1-Waves of mentally ill people being dumped back on the streets after many mental health facilities were closed and/or had drastic budget cutbacks.
2-Waves of teenage and now-adult crack babies born during the 1980s who are now parents themselves. Former-crack-baby parents who are raising their children to be even more deranged than themselves.
3-Waves of halfway houses, social service agency branch offices, and other loser-magnets being placed into Black neighborhoods.
4-Waves of Section 8 recipients overrunning previously stable working class and middle class Black neighborhoods.
5-In Chicago, the city has torn down many public housing hellhole projects. What this means is that violent Black criminals are now dispersed throughout MANY Black neighborhoods in the city. Instead of being quarantined into these projects.
6-Waves of paroled criminals coming back to their old stomping grounds within Black residential areas.These waves of industrial-strength, concentrated madness have been added to pre-existing problems such as the disintegrating Black family structure, and Blacks adopting strange White ideas about child-rearing (i.e, a refusal to discipline one's children).
How in the world could anybody seriously think Black residential areas can remain habitable under all of these combined conditions? They can't. They aren't. That's why it's time to roll up out of these places. Peace, blessings and solidarity.
The participants at this think tank have been discussing the need to escape Black residential areas since the post entitled "All Colored People That Want to Go To Kansas, On 9/5/1877, Can Do So for $5.00." I am truly grateful for the contributions of those audience members who participate in the blog discussions here. Especially when we come together, reason together, and find practical solutions together!
My reply to her comments are in blue. Sister Seeking/Miriam/MaryAnn said:
"Peace and blessings every one:
I’m going to shift my contribution to this discussion to taking steps to get out of black residential areas! I can only speak to my own experience, and I’m NOT presenting my self as an expert on the subject but if any one is interested here are some ideas:
Personal finances:
*Debt management --preferably debt elimination
*Credit repair --preferably raise your credit to the highest score
*Savings-- preferably 30 to 50 % of your income
*Do save for a down payment WATCH OUT for those no money down scams
*Emergency savings 6 to 12 months of living expenses
*Rethink credit cards or pay off your balance every month
*Find more than one way to make money
*Prepare for entrepreneurship don’t just dive in head first
*Think outside the box: how can you truly be self-sufficient?
Real estate:
*Don’t be afraid to try farming communities; homesteads; rural areas. This is my IDEAL living situation for spiritual reasons. If I could do it over again I’d buy a home or land further out in the country.
*Watch out for new communities that have just been built--looks ARE deceiving some times. They may have the all trappings of a middle class even an upper middle class neighborhood but you won’t find out you “got played” until you “got in”.
My girl friend owns vending machines in three new communities that have club houses. My friend had a beverage that was glass packaged and several angry, bitter, white men begged her to not put those bottles in the vending machines because the black teenagers in their neighborhood frequently bust glass on the side walks. The average home cost in this area prior to the recession was a half a million dollars now they are down to three hundred thousand dollars.
One old angry white man in particularly stated “ I’m not racist but black people, Hispanic people, and Asian people got into these homes on sub prime loans but were blue collar workers.” I thought this epidemic only affected working class multiracial neighborhoods like ours but evidently not. So keep that in mind when you are house hunting. The recession will have impact on the quality of families in all residential areas.
*Not ALL multi-racial neighborhoods are safe, and decent places to live. I’d hire a realtor who has thorough knowledge of the area you are interested in living in. Also, don’t leave it up to him or her--own your own decision. I suggest having male relatives or friends check out the area during the evenings and night time. Also, you may want to “study”? the area. Some places people go buck wild during the summer but are shut in during the winter. You may half to research a place a good year before buying home.
*Please keep in mind some of Khadija’s earlier essays about the middle class. In some regions, she is right on point. Don’t expect credentials, or upscale neighborhoods to guarantee your ticket out of unsafe crime ridden black residential areas: for what ever reasons many so called middle class or strivers don’t supervise their pre-teen/teen children well. You’d think if they can afford the home they could afford a nanny or extra curricular activities? NOT.
Social Networks
*My husband ,and I are Muslim but we now are apart of an interfaith fellowship. We’ve found that getting to know people of all religions nurtures our own faith, increases social capital, and if you’re a SAHM this is a great way to meet others if you don’t feel comfortable in secular mother groups.
*This is strictly an opinion, but my experience has taught me to join multiracial groups instead of isolating myself with one racial group. My best mother to mother experiences were not in black mothers group but in mixed mothers groups.
*If your self employed its great to start with “black___________” business organizations but if you want contracts with established businesses or your local government you may want to branch out and do business with all racial groups and pay attention to our largest minority: the Hispanic community and their influence.
Finally, I’m not sure that “I” want to live in a predominately white neighborhood, I do enjoy interacting with ALL people but for those who are worried about KKK land there are predominately white neighborhoods that are not racially hostile or dangerous places to live--and truth be told many of them are not in the new communities that are being built. Speaking of social networks, these can be wonderful places to network in! I personally would not tell some one to go from one hostile place to another. I hope that anything can help some one move on….
: )Good luck!"
Hello there, Sister Seeking/Miriam!
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU for laying out a detailed escape plan. I co-sign 100%; especially the detail about investigating what prospective areas are like on weekends and late nights. And you're right about the effect of former state wards coming back into Black areas. Black residential areas have already been battered by several earlier waves since the Reagan years:
1-Waves of mentally ill people being dumped back on the streets after many mental health facilities were closed and/or had drastic budget cutbacks.
2-Waves of teenage and now-adult crack babies born during the 1980s who are now parents themselves. Former-crack-baby parents who are raising their children to be even more deranged than themselves.
3-Waves of halfway houses, social service agency branch offices, and other loser-magnets being placed into Black neighborhoods.
4-Waves of Section 8 recipients overrunning previously stable working class and middle class Black neighborhoods.
5-In Chicago, the city has torn down many public housing hellhole projects. What this means is that violent Black criminals are now dispersed throughout MANY Black neighborhoods in the city. Instead of being quarantined into these projects.
6-Waves of paroled criminals coming back to their old stomping grounds within Black residential areas.These waves of industrial-strength, concentrated madness have been added to pre-existing problems such as the disintegrating Black family structure, and Blacks adopting strange White ideas about child-rearing (i.e, a refusal to discipline one's children).
How in the world could anybody seriously think Black residential areas can remain habitable under all of these combined conditions? They can't. They aren't. That's why it's time to roll up out of these places. Peace, blessings and solidarity.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
"All Colored People That Want to Go to Kansas, On 9/5/1877, Can Do So for $5.00," Part 1
This essay is contained in my new book. I'm delighted to announce that The Sojourner's Passport site has launched! You can visit it at http://www.sojournerspassport.com/.
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Everyone, I can't thank you enough for your ongoing encouragement and support; I truly appreciate it. Your support is what made this possible. And here's a special shout-out to my web designers at Educo Web Design. They're nice people to deal with, and they do outstanding work!
Peace and blessings,
Khadija Nassif
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
