A Glimpse Of My Art (The L.O.T.E Tree)

Been a long time since I've posted here. As Yasiin Bey (fka Mos Def) said on his "Black On Both Sides" debut album, a lot of things have changed, a lot of things have not. Also been a long time since I've touched a brush, marker, or anything art-related. Lonnie Ali, the widow of the late Muhammad Ali (RA) said Parkinson's Disease robs you of your confidence. I can attest to that. Developing arthritis in my left hand only adds more sugar to the Kool-Aid. Typing has become a trial of epic proportions. I think I can do about 15-20 words a minute now. LOL. But it's all life right? And this life is a test. I'm thankful for the opportunity to be tested. This is a piece I've been woking on, and finally decided on a name. Introducing The L.O.T.E Tree. The Lesser Of Two Evils. Maybe someday, God Willing, I'll do into depth about it. Stay Tuned and take care.

New Year, Same Old B.A.D News

Blogger's Note: This blog may be a bit challenging to those with short attention spans. But it's about time to let it out. If you're patient in reading this, I pray that your patience will be rewarded.

No, I'm not doing this age challenge thing that's going around on social media lately. Although it has occurred to me that it has been 10 years now since I've officially started blogging, and if I must say so myself, I am quite amazed at how I continue to do this. It's not like I'm getting paid for it, it's not like I have a lot of followers or readers, and recently it's been quite hard trying to muster up the energy to do this. Over the past couple of years my postage has dropped significantly, first from just doing too much and fear of redundancy, and now just from burnout. It must be some passion to this.

2018 was particularly brutal for me, as throughout the entire year I found myself constantly in a state of mood swings, mainly due to deaths of relatives and friends, beginning with the first day of the 2018 itself. I found myself having to go to a longtime friends' house before the crack of dawn, and it was cold too might I add, to see a friend who apparently passed away in his sleep. I didn't get the chance to see his face, due to the paramedics blocking off the entrance way. That sudden death affected me very deeply. If it wasn't for the cheap phone I had breaking down on me, I'd probably still have the voicemail I received telling me of his passing.

In all, I experienced over 10 deaths of relatives and friends last year, each one having it's own significance, and a couple more close shaves. These were lifetime friends, and relatives I grew up with. Not just mere acquaintances. Those memories last, and the pain never really goes away.

Not all of the past year was gloomy, there were a few bright spots here and there. I got to showcase my work in two exhibits, the Art 214 exhibit, showcasing the local Dallas artists, and the Unapologetic Exhibit at the South Dallas Cultural Center last May. Along with my mural being hung in the local library last January, there were some pick me ups along the way to help me keep my chin up. But there was more to be sad about last year than happy, at least on a personal basis.

But those were personal issues, and thankfully, I am able to keep standing, smiling, and swinging when I need to. Once I'm reminded that this life is a test, I feel that my faith will help me get through those times.

Now dealing with the societal matters, that's a different story. You have little or no control over these affairs, and very little say. And to make matters worse, very few people are willing to listen anyway. Social media dialogue is basically people talking AT each other, unfunny, ignorant and misinformed memes, and the same propaganda that I thought with this so called "democratization" of information, was going to diminish due to corporate media not having as much control over the media...Boy was I freaking wrong.

You're subjected to watching groups of people gripe and moan, point fingers, and complain about issues that either don't get to the main point at hand, or even worse are fabricated lies, bent on persuading people to see things their way.

Last year we witnessed President Donald Trump use all types of mis and disinformation to drive home his "need" to change immigration laws, and build some wall designed to "keep out" immigrants who as he would put it, take jobs and bring about mayhem and decay to good old "American society and values." He did this despite the blitz of mass murders and shootings in schools, houses of worship, yoga studios, grocery stores, nightclubs and shopping malls inside America alone, and committed mainly by White men. He and other deniers chalked that up to "mental health" issues, which is now also becoming the buzz word for America's growing obsession with depression, suicide, escapism of all sorts, violence, drugs and bigotry.

His separation of some immigrant children from their families and holding some in detention cells became widespread in social media, and hard to even look at in many instances.

He even blamed the death of Indianapolis Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson on the failure to do something about the immigration laws, and not on the fact that he was a victim of a drunk driver, one of tens of thousands of people killed every year in America because America refuses to acknowledge alcohol kills more people here annually than any drummed up terrorist act could ever accomplish.  Only a fool could think the slogan "Drink Responsibly", which was preceded by Think Before You Drink, before breweries realized that slogan actually represented a conflict of interest, could ever have any major impact, or actually be some sort of resolution towards alcoholism and drunk driving.

He and others either failed to read, or completely ignore recent stats from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which the picture below shows an astonishing 72,000 people died from overdose in 2017 alone. This is not even talking alcohol and cigarettes! Add those in, and add the 30+ thousand suicides committed yearly, and what you have here is a great deflection of the problem in America, people focusing on their own intolerance and prejudices, instead of honing in on the real issue at hand.

One can only imagine what the stats will be now that he's taken it to a level of actually shutting down the federal government, sacrificing the well being of many employees, many who voted for him yet still think for some reason this is a good idea to hold the nation hostage over a supposed wall. It reminds me of Reagan and his "Star Wars" rants back in the 80's, trying to conjure up support for satellites and things in space, all designed to protect us from the evils of Russia.

Hate and fear-mongering at its finest. And yet America continues to eat itself alive.

This "wall" he is willing to shut down the government over will only keep out the "external" issues he and his ilk continue to demonize.

But not to be outdone by the likes of Trump and his ilk came the liberals with even more insidious accusations and injustices of their own. 2018 was also the year of deflection for the liberals and feminists as we saw the likes of David Hogg and his tirades concerning gun control, using the Parkland High School shooting in Florida to spearhead his campaign against guns. Virtually every shooting that occurs in America now is classified and propagated by liberals as gun violence, whereas conservatives point to "mental health" issues as the problem, but that's only in the case of a White man being the culprit.

As if the gun has a mind of its own. People, the gun is an instrument used in the killing of people. To rant against gun violence every time someone is shot in America makes no sense. But again it's people's politics that are more concerning, not the truth of the matter.

We seem to forget about the impact of the bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City,which took the lives of 162 people, and hurt many others. Maybe because it threw a serious curve into people's politics. I mean you couldn't blame it on so called radical Muslims and immigration, although they tried, and you couldn't point the finger at gun control either, because guns were not used in the killing of people in this instance. It was a deep and dark reflection of what's wrong internally in America, and yet almost 25 years later, we still don't get it.

All we see mainly from liberals are marches which stir up emotions with speeches, sloganeering, chants, and now with silly hats, much like conservatives, but refuse to lay down much analysis and critical thinking. Along with marches for gun control, we saw women's marches all over the place. We even witnessed rapper Common reciting the lyrics to his song "The Day Women Took Over", at an event supposedly advocating "gender equality". Go figure.

But one march that was grossly overlooked in 2018 was the march against suicide, the Out of the Darkness March, which took place in three cities, with Dallas being one of the cities.

This received scant, if any coverage by any of the major media markets. It serves as a testament to the selfish concerns of political parties and special interest groups in America to overlook the real concerns with the masses, yet dupe them to blindly follow their personal whims and wishes. According to this site, 30,000 people in America alone commit suicide, and countless others attempt to every year, but since this tragedy cannot be attributed to people's political agendas, it's swept under the rug, with the best that can be done is labeling it a  "mental health issue", and the distribution of pharmaceuticals and psychotic drugs.

But 2018 seemed to have brought out the worst in feminism, as we were hit with a barrage of victim narratives aimed only pointing out this "toxic masculinity" and "misogyny"conspiracy. In 2018 women were encouraged through feminism to render themselves as conveniently stupid, 'misled" and oppressed, all in an effort to absolve responsibility and accountability for their own actions and predicaments.

Women were encouraged through the likes of former strippers Amber Rose and rapper Cardi B., porn stars, and other women, mainly feminists, that for a woman to tease, taunt, tempt, floss, exhibit, flirt, arouse the senses in men with her actions, speech and dress should not lead to any ill-conceived notion that such a woman wants sex, is interested in having sex, and should not be misconstrued as a woman of ill repute.

That the plethora of pornography (which modern feminists find no problem with, and exhort other women to produce as long as they are the producers, directors and manufacturers of such media) , provocative songs and videos and writings should not have any connection with the degeneration of morality here in America. To them, that's just "men being men."

Even worse, in this so called world of "toxic masculinity", "patriarchy" ,"rape culture" and "street harassment", women were encouraged more to "flaunt it if you got it", despite the ill consequences that comes from such open sensuality. To exhort modesty or take responsibility, you will be pelted with accusations of victim blaming, slut shaming, and being a part of some patriarchy. Baloney.

It defies all logic, reason, nature and conventional wisdom. Everyday we close and lock our doors and windows to our homes, offices, automobiles and filing cabinets, we encrypt our online information with passwords to keep all private information shielded from potential violators. But the woman, with her body, is encouraged to expose it to the fullest extent, and not expect any type of reciprocation from the male in either speech, thought or action. Along with this hideous idea comes the vilification of those who admonish women to "act like a lady" or simply "take responsibility" of their own predicaments. And any woman who takes up modest dress, especially religious women, and in particular Muslim women, are attacked through media outlets and liberal groups. No longer are Muslim women attacked by conservative White men, they are also attacked in a passive aggressive manner by liberal White women.

I can never forget the question I received from a Black woman last year who inquired why should Muslim women be executed for committing adultery. If one is not astute to the ways of feminists, both Black and White, one would not catch what she is actually saying. She was not concerned about why are people, both male and female, are executed when it comes to adultery, just women.

We also saw the PR metamorphosis of prostitution into "sex trafficking", a more appropriate term for feminists, since it implies that all female prostitutes are "forced" into this lifestyle by lecherous, parasitical, predatory males bent on dominating the woman. All women became sexually exploited creatures, and the decision to use her body for monetary gain could not come from the woman herself.

The picture of the sensual prostitute on Donna Summer'a "Bad Girls"" album cover has been replaced with repetitive propaganda of  kidnapping, bondage, enslavement, misogyny, and outright cruelty of women by the hands of men.

We forget to acknowledge of how that famous jazz singer named Billie Holiday was a young prostitute at one time, along with her mother. To my knowledge, she did not have a male pimp.

I went to an art exhibit held last April, which supposedly addressed "human trafficking", but it was nothing but women and liberals railing against female prostitution. No mentioning of slave labor, sweatshops, child labor, slavery of that type. Just paintings, photography, of women in fetal positions like little children, one picture was a smartphone, which supposedly symbolized predatory men on social media, one picture had a woman with her mouth taped shut, and information posted about human trafficking by the University of Texas is what was exhibited. This is the same university that had an campus carry rally in 2016, where organizers passed out rubber penises to students, and slogans such as "cocks not glocks" where broadcast without shame. I can't possibly put the pictures to this event on this blog, but trust me, it happened. If you want to, Google it on your own time.

BLOGGERS' NOTE: Please do not misconstrue this to mean I do not think that some women/girls are not kidnapped and sold into prostitution. However, based on the evidence I've seen, I've come to the conclusion that it's another propaganda tool to indict ALL men, and to absolve ALL women and girls of exploiting their bodies for monetary gain. This "sex trafficking" conspiracy is to modern day feminists like pornography was to the feminists of the '50s and such, before women starting declaring their own "sexual liberation".

We saw the unjust, oppressive and deceitful #metoo movement claim victory in the conviction of Bill Cosby, who was accused of "sexual assault" by Andrea Constand, a woman who not only could not remember what day she was "assaulted", but called him several times after receiving a drug from him that she claims, had her "crying" on the inside. She did not call police, She also brought him gifts. What "victim" does that? Don't give me no "Stockholm Syndrome" nonsense. Either she liked what he did, or she didn't. Obviously she liked it.


This same movement, which harbors actress Alyssa Milano, not only justified the results in the Cosby case, but apparently endorses her statement that the #metoo movement defines what "due process" is. Basically every man accused of rape/sexual assault is guilty until proven innocent. Sounds familiar Black people? Yet these feminists rant about White privilege, but only in terms of White men.

Again, two sides of the same coin.

Yet this same movement was left with their deceitful mouths open after the allegations of sexual assault against actress and #metoo advocate Asia Argento came up. They were left scurrying to find all types of deflection and damage control to diffuse the situation. In an article in the New York Times, the author resorted to typical feminist pettiness by exclaiming "men do it too." This movement does not want to get to the real truth of the situation that rape and sexual assault is not about power, because it forces the women to admit their culpability and contributions in the decline of sexual mores of this society.

We also saw Serena Williams accuse a referee of sexism after receiving a mere warning for receiving coaching from her coach in the audience. A mere warning became a conspiracy theory of misogyny, White Privilege, and pulling out the race card, by both sides might I add.

We also saw the public relations makeover in the Cyntoia Brown story, which has now resulted in Cyntoia being granted clemency from serving a life sentence for the murder of a man who solicited sex from her. By painting her as a "sex slave" and a "victim", she was finally able to convince at least the judge of being "too young" to accept such a harsh sentence. Never mind the fact she was a reported drug user, also former prostitute (which the state of Tennessee does not accept that label when referenced to prostitutes under the age of 18, thanks to women's propaganda) and all around delinquent, who shot a customer in the back of the head at close range, and robbed him of his vehicle, guns and money. She was a "victim" in the eyes of feminists, and sad to say, a growing number of duped Black people in  America who not only will judge an individual based on pure emotions and not facts, but will judge a person based on a one sided story seen on TV, or heard through the jokes of a comedian.

And although the liberals portrayed Trump in heinous forms regarding the separating and detaining of immigrant children from their families and parents, they conveniently forgot to mention the ongoing war in state and federal circles regarding abortion, which they've neatly repackaged as women's rights" or"reproductive rights." Women are constantly in battle about having the right to terminate a life, to which many have contributed in the reproduction, but don't want to keep for whatever reason. Now a bill has been passed in New York state that will grant a woman the right to abort up to 40 weeks. So the woman can wait until the baby is ready to come out, and on a whim, decide to terminate...wow.

And now many of these same women, with this same line of thinking want to run for President in 2020. Am I supposed to feel any safer with these people?

It gets to be a very tedious task trying to explain to a society bent on self destruction, prejudice and intolerance about impending doom to such a society, unless some drastic changes take place. Changes that could mean true justice for all and a true spirit of truth, justice, peace and unity for all, but only through the elimination of personal desires and beliefs contrary to the true nature of human beings and their purpose here on Earth. I'm learning more day by day of how mankind is not a creature of rationale, but a creature of emotions and desires, and those desires, wishes and emotions will lead to his destruction when the ultimate goal is personal fulfillment. 

As for now all I see is the constant bickering between parties, and people trying to fulfill self serving wishes and desires, despite whom it may hurt. And when the smoke clears, and there's nothing but rubbish and remains, who will really benefit? Not us.

We just don't get it.

It's All Connected (But We Still Don't Get It)

 The more I reflect on the Brett Kavanaugh hearing going on at this moment, along with Bill Cosby being sentenced to prison, Jameis Winston being sued by the Uber driver, and other events  where men are accused of assault/rape, the more I keep going back to Serena Williams and the US Open controversy, which took place a couple of weeks ago. The world got to witness up close firsthand, uncut, live and in the flesh what happens when a woman accuses a man of sexism without evidence, which is slander,  and the reactions by those who support her without factoring in any evidence that points to the contrary.

  The following days proved that many of us missed the point altogether.

  It was an open and shut case that proved how human beings are not creatures of rationale, but creatures of emotions and desires. Emotions and desires are great, when used in the right context. But when love and hatred blinds one from seeing that which is clear and evident, there is no hope for truth, justice and guidance.

Artwork by Quwwa Davis, with digital assistance by S. Davis

  Serena Wlliams' antics at the US Open were only a continuum of the ongoing story of the mythological Champion of Women's Rights aka Feminism, that Serena has fallen victim to. This was not an isolated incident, nor was it the first time for her to rail against what she sees as sexism.

 When Serena was nominated as Sports Illustrated's  Sportperson of the Year in 2015, it marked a monumental point for feminism. Around this time we saw a rise in feminism, politically helped by the Obama administration( and no I'm not Republican either), and repeated over and over in the media, which lead to other token feminists getting their shine, especially the likes of Beyonce'. Remember the Super Bowl halftime show, and the preceding video "Formation"?

Around that time Serena seemed to began chanting more about advocating "women's rights" and dedicating her matches for "women's causes" and the like.

This past summer we found Serena at a "Purple Purse" event, advocating "awareness" against domestic abuse, a feminist pseudonym for men hitting women. When addressing the topic of domestic abuse, she calls for not only men, but boys to be educated about domestic abuse.. She  also uttered "That could be something my daughter could face and that's not cool." My question to her would be "what if your daughter is the perpetrator?"  Domestic abuse is not just men abusing women, but women abusing men as well. But we all know feminists don't see it that way.

This past summer we also found out #MeToo advocate and one of Harvey Weinstein's accusers Asia Argento has been accused of trying to pay off former child star Jimmy Bennett, for an alleged sexual assault incident occurring in 2015. The New York Times wrote an article about the incident, but quickly deflected the issue by proclaiming "men do it too", and reiterating their bogus claim that sexual assault and rape is about "power and gender". and not sexual mores.

  The parasitical MeToo and Times Up movements are misleading people, and merely exploiting those who have truly suffered from these traumatic experiences.  Under these quasi-justice organizations, the true victims are being relegated to the status of pawns, tokens, expendables and collateral damage in their so called war. The very moment they publicly stated rape, sexual assault/harrassment, and domestic abuse were issues of power and gender, and not declining sexual morals and morality in general, we should have known their intentions, but we failed. We dropped the ball.

  Some of those who disagreed with Serena's antics also dropped the ball by asserting race was implied. The infamous comic strip drawn by the Austrtailian cartoonist clearly accentuated stereotypical Black/African American features; big lips, large, volatile and angry women, yet it was insisted that race had nothing to do with the cartoon.

  Some broadcasters clearly accused her of also pulling out the race card, to which I did not hear any instances of race in her tirade, nor in the post-game press conference. Reviewing the clips will show she clearly stated she was trying to stand up for women's rights.  Instead of focusing on the fallacy of feminism, some people took it as part of a broader issue to attack what they call "identity politics" and "social justice"in the broader sense, and left wing politics, with multiculturalism being mentioned as well, a pseudonym for race-mixing.

   Frankly speaking, I don't see how she can rage against racism, or especially White Male Privilege, seeing that she's married to a White man anyway. If anything,  Serena,  like Bill Cosby, Monique and other Black celebrities suffer from the illusion of inclusion.  This usually occurs after achieving some sort of mainstream acceptance, or adulation. It causes them to either give unbalanced and unfair criticism at poor Black people , while downplaying or avoiding racism and bigotry, or to harbor grandiose feelings toward one's personal achievement, and totally deny racism altogether. In the end, most of Serena's talking points, like feminism itself is mostly White liberal-influenced talking points.

  The masses of people are being misguided by those who desire something other than truth and justice, and here belied the opportunity to begin to detect and rectify the matter. It was served on a plate, for all to see, reflect, and begin to repair. But we turned it down. Instead we went to our colored corners, one corner blue, and the other corner red, listened to the pundits whisper in our ear, and came back out to the center of the ring, swinging away, and not hitting a darn thing.

We still don't get it.

A Little Art For A Change

Art patron views my piece Envisioning Freedom at the ART214 Exhibit, where the reception was held this past Sunday.

It's been a minute since I've actually blogged, for several reasons, some personal, and on some occasions it just felt as if the timing wasn't right.

For example I wanted so bad to discuss these plethora of marches that are going on, especially in the U.S.A, especially doing a close-up on my opinion of one David Hogg, and the March For Our Lives event that took place last March, but other things got in the way, and after trying to discuss this issue with people, it seems as if  I needed to gather my thoughts before I go full blast on what I see as a serious failure to connect going on in America, which concludes in all of these marches and rallies going on in this country.

Trust me. I haven't left, nor forgotten, because I just have a funny feeling things will come back around, and this situation will be discussed at length again. Why do I feel this way?

Simple, we haven't learned our lesson yet. So we're doomed to repeat it in some form or fashion.

But in the meantime and in between time, I wanted to show a couple of pics from the ART214 exhibit going on right now in Dallas, Texas, where 4 different cultural centers celebrated this occasion by selecting artists residing in the Greater Dallas area, the Bath House, Latino, South Dallas, and Oak Cliff Cultural Centers.




My piece entitled "Envisioning Freedom" was selected to be displayed at the Bath House Cultural Center, located at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.




Envisioning Freedom is simply a token gesture at paying homage to those previous generations who strove for freedom and justice against great odds being  levied against them. Regardless of whether I agree with some of their stances and tactics, they must be given their due respects, and their histories fully narrated and analyzed, whether  the outcome was successful or not, in order to continue the struggle, and claim victory in the end.

Envisioning Freedom, created by the artist, is now on exhibit at the Bath House Cultural Center from March 24th to April 21st, 2018.

This is not the first time I've done such a piece, I did a piece for Staff Sgt. Homer Hogues in 2013, and presented it to him at a tribute for his contributions to the Tuskegee Airmen. It was a great event, and the piece was well received by him and the family, as well as the community of Highland Hills, who finally got a chance to pay tribute to a legendary figure, who lived in the area. 

Doing pieces like these has taught me a great lesson in telling stories, regardless of my personal opinions. 

I'm now waiting to hear word from an upcoming exhibit, Art and Activism, slated to be held at the South Dallas Cultural Center from May 5th to July 29th, 2018. I'll be sure to keep y'all posted....

Until next time....

Still Ain't Gettin' It (More B.A.D News For America)

"No child, teacher, or anyone should ever feel unsafe in an American school."

President Donald Trump after the Parkland, Florida school shooting, which just occurred yesterday.

And to think: Here I am scolding myself for not speaking about the President's latest tirade (well now it's old news since he made statements about cutting food stamps and giving poor people boxes of food.). This time he blamed immigration laws for the death of two individuals, one being an Indianapolis Colts linebacker, Edwin Jackson.

Never mind the fact the suspect was allegedly drunk, just like the other tens of thousand traffic deaths attributed to drunk driving on a YEARLY basis. Nope, look past that, and get to the heart of the matter, at least in his eyes, illegal immigrants. So now only illegal immigrants are going around in a drunken state, killing others on the road. Wow.

I sat here being mad, trying to find some sort of excuse for why I didn't jump on this latest obvious display of bigotry by the so called Leader of The Free World. Could it be that I was procrastinating, as I usually do? Or was it out of fear of sounding redundant? Or was it because I didn't want to come across as the usual Trump-hating liberal?

Whatever the case, there's always something happening in America to bring events such as this back into perspective, regardless of the age of the issue. This country is draped in enough bigotry on all sides to never have to worry about running out of incidents to compare or reflect on the constant double standards, hypocrisy and denial that continues to plague this "Land of the Free."

Yesterday's shooting in a suburban Florida high school is another constant reminder of what bigotry can do to a person, as well as a society. It makes those who engage in bigotry not see the true reality of things, how the decline of morality, values, and intelligence is a direct result of their own doing, and not some outside entity, as many are led to believe.

We have witnessed during this administration alone SEVERAL mass shootings in a frightening span of only a FEW months. When the church shooting in a Texas small town killed 26 people late last year, people were assured by the President that "God and YOUR COUNTRY are with you." In the Las Vegas shooting we heard practically the same speech, yet no reason why. We witnessed in Plano, Texas last year a shooting at a football watch party that took the lives of 8 people, which included the shooter himself.

So far in only 45 days into this new year, there has been 5 school shooting incidents whereas someone has either been injured or killed. And neither of these incidents happened in Chicago, Illinois or Chiraq, as some may say.

Yet when the smoke clears, the bodies have been buried, and all of the tributes and memorials have dried up, for some reason we go right back to hearing about wild immigrants, shithole countries of color, persistent threats of terrorism from someone who just can't stand America's toxic freedom, or poor people inside the country supposedly tearing this nation down, the usual conservative banter.

But Conservatives are not the only collective of people that can be called into account for displaying bigotry. Liberals and the like are not absolved from such accusations either. Clear case in point is the the out-of-the-blue video from CNN of all people, that supposedly shows Africans being sold into slavery in Libya. Black Americans went up in arms again at the sight of  seeing or being led to see Black people once again in a state of captivity, oppression and slavery.

The usual emotional response? Attack Arabs and Islam, of course. Spread vitriol hatred against a whole group of people, and accuse a way of life as the catalyst for such actions.

Imagine CNN, the news network that doesn't like the antics of the Black Lives Matter movement, but just can't seem to expose the movement for what it really is: a movement led by Black feminists and members of the LGBTQ community, using the plights of unarmed Black men who were murdered at the hands of police, but only as a mechanism to get into the psyche of the Black collective. They can't seem to show the real intentions of the movement in their own land, how it poses as a conflict of interest to heterosexual Black men, families led by Black men, and how they wish to subvert the Black community from the inside to inject its matriarchal beliefs. But they can tell you what's going on in another part of the world. Yeah right.

But it's easy to get the Black public in America. Just take a look at the Disney-produced Black Panther movie. Oh, and let's not forget the pseudo-Black Panther, Black-empowerment tribute from Beyonce at the Super Bowl two years ago. Nothing has changed.

I encountered such a bashing against Arabs and Islam a couple of weeks ago on a Youtube page, whereas a so called Pan Africanist posted a video from of all people, White conservative media reporter Alex Jones. This video has Alex Jones spewing the most agregious lies against Islam, alleging that the Qur'an speaks in the most hideous of terms about Black people, although he could not bring up one shred of evidence. He played off as if to say there was so many bad names given that he couldn't list them all, although he couldn't even list one name and show one single verse.

 He then proceeded to claim that these some of the slaves are butchered, and then fed to other slaves, who are then forced to eat the remains before they are executed, with the belief that this will make them enter Hellfire.

Yet this person supposedly holds fast to the Ten Commandments, which also includes "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor."

Sad to say, most of the responses from the video proved true about what is said about many Black people, especially in terms of lacking critical thinking, doing extensive research on any given subject, using emotions over intellect, and jumping to conclusions. It also proved that as the old saying goes "stuffed shirts comes in all colors."

When I challenged them to bring one shred of evidence to prove Islam denigrates Blacks and encourages slavery, not one could do it. Just the usual crying out and accusing Black Muslims of being brainwashed and misled, among other name calling.  However one such person tried to reason that his displeasure towards Arabs and Islam was due to some Arabs who sell liquor, pork and lottery in inner cities.

There was a time when such people would chide those who claimed Islam while engaging in acts they knew were forbidden in Islam. Those days are gone for many.

Like Donald Trump, these actions are now used to masked their hatred and bigotry towards Islam, as well as other races of people.  One such individual expressed his joy over some of the atrocities that are happening to the Arabs, even the killing of women and children. He cited that this is the ultimate example that Islam is not true.

Little does this guy truly understand Islam, and how in Islam, the Muslim community can also be punished, if evil and disobedience is prevalent in the community. The Creator will dole out punishment to those who profess belief but act otherwise. However the punishment for the Muslim community only resides in this life, not in the Hereafter.

Indeed, Allah will not change the condition of a people until they change what is in themselves. And when Allah intends for a people ill, there is no repelling it. And there is not for them besides Him any patron. Ar-Rad, verse 11

But this is the problem with bigotry and racism. The hatred of others and desire to be better than another based on superficial factors such as color, ethnicity, class, pedigree or whatever clouds their intellect. The mind knows right away that in terms of race, one's skin color does not dictate intelligence or lack thereof, but a corrupted heart, filled with undue arrogance, hatred, and intolerance will lead one to believe the most ridiculous and illogical of stories about another person or culture.

How can the Black community cry foul against racism and White supremacy, when they may hold the same racist beliefs as described in those Hidden Color documentaries? How can they possibly hope for justice when they're willing to believe the first lie that comes to them about someone from another belief or nationality?

Once I reflected on this, it gave me a whole new perspective on why we witnessed all of these recent slave narratives. As one imam said in a lecture about the New World Order, they were preparing us for something.

This country and its inhabitants point fingers at everybody else and everything for the dismal plight and the decline of this country. Meanwhile claiming superiority over all others at the same time. Yesterday's shooting is a reminder that something is horribly wrong with this democracy we claim we live in.  It will not be fixed with the usual finger pointing and name calling that occurs on all sides. It will only come starting with an honest reflection about this society and freedoms we claim to enjoy. Until then it's business as usual.

Whatever reaches you of good is from God, whatever befalls you of evil is from yourself.  An-Nisa verse 79

No Common Sense and The Illusion of Inclusion

Over a year ago I started a blog about rapper/actor Common (formerly known as Common Sense) commenting on statements he made at that time, some were deemed controversial, such as the statement he made suggesting that Blacks in America should just put away the past, shake hands with White people and just love each other. 

I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, due to the fact that he came across at that time as a Christian, and knowing how Black Christians were always taught to "turn the other cheek" whenever assaulted by someone, especially a White person. I had a Black Christian upbringing, so I know very well the passive demeanor that is indoctrinated in Blacks, although White Christians, especially the conservative Christians, don't have to adhere to such doctrine, especially when they "feel" threatened by people, beliefs or systems that are alien to their way of life and thinking. 

When he made comments about how former President Obama's legacy impacted him, I started to go off on him, seeing that Blacks in America continue even unto this day to deem the Obama administration as the greatest thing to happen to this country. Never mind the open air attack on Black men proliferated with the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Michael Brown as such. , The Feminist movement amped up their attack on men under Obama's watch, especially Black men with the likes of Bill Cosby and Afrika Bambataa. Not to mention giving Israel 38

  billion dollars at the end of his administration. Yet somehow, for some reason or another, I let it go.

But after watching two recent snippets of him, one snippet of him standing and clapping at Oprah's tired propaganda speech at the Golden Globe Awards, and the most recent of him reciting a poem this past weekend at a Women's March from a song entitled "The Day Women Took Over", one cannot help but think what the hell is this guy thinking?

These two recent incidents made me so happy in knowing that in 1995 a Reggae band of the name Common Sense sued Common and made him change the name, to which he removed the Sense from his moniker.

He hasn't been showing much common sense to keep such a name anyway.

Regarding the trifling acceptance speech by Oprah Winfrey, research from the official Golden Globe Award website show that Oprah was nominated for the award for her work in the 1985 movie The Color Purple, a movie from a novel of the same name by feminist Alice Walker and directed by Steven Speilberg.

Stop and think for a moment. She's being awarded for a 33 year old movie? Really? And people accept this blindly? And what was this movie about you might ask? This movie depicted Black men in the most horrible terms, It was a Black feminists' dream and a Black man's nightmare. And as for the author, Alice Walker, a Black feminist who was instrumental in criticizing the Black Panthers and anything else Black and masculine, it should be noteworthy of her extreme hatred towards men, Black men especially. In a BBC documentary about the drug-riddled, troubled life of jazz legend Billie Holliday, Alice had this to say about Billie's bisexuality;

When I learned that Billie Holliday had partners of both sexes, I was delighted, because I like to think there were women who were equally as savvy, equally as canny, equally as voluptuous and equally as loving, and as fierce as Billie Holliday, and they had a wonderful time. 

It should also be noted that Cecil B. Demille, whom the award was named after, was a CIA asset hired by then director Allen Dulles to serve on board for a quasi-organization for Radio Free Europe, which was really a propaganda tool to fight against Communism in the 1950s.

So this PR campaign, which obviously supports the subversion and manipulation of the so-called Women's movement, gives a Black Feminist an award for a 33 year old film that depicts Black men in the most hideous of portrayals, and then Oprah gets on the podium and gives this contrived speech of female victimization, as if only women are the victims of rape, and only men are the perpetrators of rape and abuse, and where is Common in all of this? Clapping as if this was actually an accomplishment.

Then to see him at this Women's March, which was supposed to be about equality(or so they claim), spitting the lyrics to a song entitled "The Day Women Took Over", which gives the impression that things will be so much better if women took over rulership of nations and governments, one has to wonder what is this guy thinking? Is he really that unaware, or is it calculated?

How could he recite such dribble to a crowd of women and a movement who DELIBERATELY omit the sufferings of men via domestic violence and rape with a metoo campaign? Bullying those who dared to challenge or even discuss rape, sexual abuse, and mistreatment of men BY WOMEN by name calling? Flooded the MEDIA with open letters and allegations of rape by men, such as the allegations made against Russell Simmons, and sent waves of allegations of rape by men resulting in suspensions and firings without due process? Does it make sense that their definition of justice and equality is to emasculate men, heap untrue allegations and absolve women from accountability of their contributions to the moral decay of society?

So tell me Mr. Lonnie Rashad Lynn Jr., aka Common, is this how women are going to take over the world? With the same underhanded, deceitful, lying, manipulative tactics that they claim keeps the so called patriarchy alive? Can't you see that any so called gains made by using these tactics are just as unethical as if men did it? Or do you think women don't lie and cheat? Remember Emmitt Till.

Is this what happens to the minds of Blacks when Black people win awards? Apparently so. Now we're having to put up with the all-of-a-sudden Black antics of Academy Award winner Mo'Nique, who now wants Black people to boycott Netflix for what she calls "gender and racial" bias, simply because she doesn't feel she's being compensated properly... We have to remember she won an Academy Award for her ghetto role in the movie "Precious". 

Get real...Go take a seat over there with Colin Kaepernick, Jada Pinkett Smith, and the rest of the middle class Blacks who scream racism and boycott only when they don't get THEIR way.

Should I recognize Common's winning an Academy Award for a song he did in the movie "Selma" as an "achievement" when that same academy gave the same awards a few years back to a group who created a song entitled "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp"? Really?

Oh and I forgot all about the Black Panther movie coming up...Give me a break, please...

I sit here wondering just when Black people are going to realize this illusion of inclusion in America by both conservatives and liberals is only just that? An illusion?

The Creepiest October Yet

Untitled painting by the artist, Quwwa Davis.

After becoming Muslim in 1992, I stopped celebrating the usual holidays and certain cultural festivals. I figured October wouldn't have that same creepy feel or atmosphere, since I no longer participated in Halloween festivals, both on the job and at home.

Yet another form of creepiness has started taking place in October that seems to get worse every year.  One that has devastating and frightening effects on society, and unlike Halloween, is far from fictitious.

It seems to have started before the turn of the decade,when the NFL jumped on the "humanitarian" and PR bandwagon, and decided to promote Breast Cancer Awareness to its fans, by making the players add pink to their usual attire....

Let me pause for a moment to let that sink in. So the NFL took the opportunity to publicize its support for Breast Cancer Awareness, a condition mostly experienced by women, who at this time only made up a small fraction of the fan base until 2009, and even to this day has very little to no female personnel on the field, by making the team players add the effeminate color of pink to their attire.

Then the field began to look increasingly pink in hue. 

This also allow the NFL to promote Breast Cancer Awareness by selling pink NFL paraphanelia to its patrons.



One would begin to wonder since this is a sport dominated by males, shouldn't the NFL at least provide some sort of balance by promoting prostate cancer as well? It's only logical, but for some reason, they've failed. I guess they figure the only thing men should be concerned with is erectile dysfunction, but even that's gone now, since Viagara and Cialis have pulled out of sponsorships due to loss of patents.

So I sit here, years later, still trying to make the connection between breast cancer and tossing a football around a field, and trying to avoid getting clocked by a 250-pound linebacker who runs a 40-yard dash in 4 and a half seconds. My primary conclusion seems to be to tap into the largest consumer bloc in the world, being that of women.

My one sole consolation in all of this is that I no longer had to watch Jessica Simpson prance around Texas Stadium and abroad with that God-awful Pepto-Bismol Tony Romo jersey. Good riddance to both.



But then it got creepier, as the Ray Rice/Janay Rice debacle in 2014 kicked into overdrive, causing Ray Rice to lose his livelihood and be stripped of his constitutional rights of not being punished for the same "crime" twice by the tyrant and protector of feminists' interests, commissioner Roger Goodell. But that didn't matter, nor did it matter that Janay instigated the altercation by spitting and hitting Ray. The only thing that mattered was that Janay seemed to have started something she could not finish.

The NFL announced in October of 2014, primarily as a response to 16 female senators and other womens' groups trying to throw their biased and partial influence around, it was adopting a "No More" campaign, where NFL players this time had to appear on a series of commercials taking a stand against "domestic violence", which is really a code phrase for violence against women. The month of  October is now also recognized as well for violence against women, or domestic violence. In addition to having a pink ribbon to commemorate BCA, now a purple effeminate ribbon is now introduced.

Never mind the fact that a growing amount of studies show the rise of abuse of men by women. Forget studies showing that a growing number of altercations and domestic abuse are instigated by women, the only concern is what happens to women.

The No More campaign had some very head-scratching moments, to say the least. My biggest question was what in God's Holy Name is Ice-T doing on such commercials? Mr. Ice "Mutha-F***in'" T, who introduced himself as "The L.A. Player" on his first album "Rhyme Pays", who cites the late pimp and author Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck as a main influence, whose songs about sex and women would make Tipper Gore's face turn red with rage, is now concerned about "domestic abuse?" Wow.




Then in October of 2015, Ebony Magazine tried to get into the act, amidst multiple accusations of sexual assault against comedian and TV star Bill Cosby. They conveniently used the month of October, designated as Women's month, as a springboard to promote a November 2015 issue entitled The Family Issue(s). Yeah, I'm scratching my head at that propaganda move to this day. But it also gave a chance to show-off the new editor-in-chief and self-proclaimed black feminist Kierna Mayo, as she took to national news to discuss the edition with other White female journalists, who obviously threw softball questions at Kierna, all designed to not only subtly implicate Bill in the accusations, but to generalize ALL BLACK MEN as monsters and predators, and to subvert the traditional definition of a nuclear family, which included both a mother and a father, and the father is normally the head of the household.

Suddenly October no longer seems like a month to promote the overall well being of women, but to scandalize and propagate feminists' man-hating notions, and promote power trips by using issues such as sexual harrassment and assault, street harrassment, rape, and the totality of no good men. October looks less like a month of preparing to dress your kids up like ghosts, goblins, witches and warlocks, and more like a male witch-hunt by malcontent feminists.

But October of this year has been the creepiest yet, especially in light of the sexual assault allegations of film mogul Harvey Weinstein. With numerous charges  and allegations being levied against Harvey, two of the craziest incidents occurred. 

 The first concerned Donna Karan, the famous fashion designer, who briefly added in a short interview that it is women's responsibility of how they project themselves in public, which opened the floodgates of howls, boos and hisses from the feminists. Donna apparently broke the first feminist commandment;

Thou shalt not hold women accountable for anything bad that happens to them. It is never their fault.

But Donna has an undeniable point here. Women are responsible for how they project themselves. Yet these feminists continue to feed their foolish desires using irrational opinions, trying to assure women that sexual harrassment/assault is an issue of power, and not of declining morality, in which both men and women have aptly contributed to. 

We just witnessed a sickening social media challenge taking place, where women appeared on social media, rapping about what extremes they would go through to get some d**k. Some of the participants were of dubious distinctions, some had their careers started by being in sextapes, some were single mothers who had babies by different fathers, all contributing to rhymes describing what lengths would they go through for some sex. The song itself, sung by a rapper name GameOva Reedy, which which is so raunchy that it's not worth repeating, but is also worth noting of the another popularized song from the same area, entitled Monkey on tha D***K

The other incident involved this ridiculous #metoo campaign, where women who were victimized by sexual assault/harrassment/rape posted their experiences on social media to a broad audience. Why this was done was beyond me, for as I stated in a blog of 2016, courting public opinion is not always a good thing to do in this society, and in many cases will come back to haunt, such as the so called War on Drugs, and the War on Terror. Well now add the War on Men to that list. 

Using Harvey's allegations and President Donald Trump's comments, feminists used these men, as well as Bill Cosby, and other male public figures to suggest that sexism and assault/harrassment are issues of power, and not of declining sexual mores. That's why it's important to them to leave out the male counterpart narratives, because it exposes their faulty logic. 

Many women became upset at the fact that men were trying to chime in on this silly social media campaign, and some publicly showed their disdain towards such a thing, but the question is why? Why are they so hellbent not to include the male counterparts' story, whether it regards domestic violence, rape, or any other trauma women wish to claim only they suffer? 

Why do they always refer to these things as issues of power? Do they not realize it does not take a person of power/influence to sexually violate someone, nor does someone have to sexually violate a person to wield power or influence over another? So when these female teachers are seducing young males into having sex with them, where is the power dynamic in that? 

They know those theories won't hold water. But they also know when a person is emotionally vulnerable, it does not take much to make them feel good. Just boost their self-esteem, even if you have to LIE. 

Tell them your clothing does not make a difference in how you are perceived. They'll love to hear that, even if it's not true. Never mind the fact the man has seen MULTIPLE IMAGES of women in provocative or scantily clad clothing, which obviously is going to have an effect on his perception of women in general, especially in Western societies. Just assure them they are not accountable for any degradation and decline in society. It's all the man's fault.

Then to cap it all off, a female judge overturned Ezekiel Elliots' injunction, and ordered him to begin to serve a 6-game suspension for charges he continues to deny to this day, and despite refusals to indict from the Columbus, OH police department, to the findings of the investigator that Goodell personally employed, not only has he ignored those findings, he even withheld the investigator from attending the final decision, he and his connected friends have deliberately railroaded Elliot, all for the sake of keeping some malcontent women off his back. 

That letter must have really spooked him.

I know October has spooked me in ways Halloween has failed. I pray I can survive the next October. Only God knows what's in store.  

Untitled painting by Quwwa Davis

B. A. D for America

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

The Holy Bible: Exodus Chapter 20 Verse 16

O you who believe, stand firm for Allah(God) as witnesses of Truth, and do not let the hatred of a people cause you to be unjust. Be just, that is closer to God-consciousness. And 

fear Allah, verily Allah is Well-Aware of all that you do. Allah has promised those who

believe and do righteous deeds for them there is forgiveness and a great reward.

The Holy Qur'an: Surah Al - Maidah, verses 8-9

In the 90's I used to deliver cleaning equipment and mats around the greater DFW area. One stop in Ft.Worth there was an older White man who worked in the back of an Albertson's grocery store, who I met on a weekly basis. Shortly after becoming a Muslim in 1992, I started wear a particular hat, a black kufi, trimmed with silver threading throughout. Once this man saw that kufi, he started asking me about Islam, but then he started mentioning about a Black controversial politician by the name of John Wiley Price. Those who know Mr. Price are familiar with a lot of his antics, but for the sake of brevity I won't delve into that subject.

But suffice to say that whenever Mr. Price made the local news, I had to field questions about  

statements and actions from this man, as if I knew this Mr. Price personally, and I supported EVERY action he took. For some strange reason he drew parallels of Mr. Price's confrontations with Islam and Black people in general. I grew tired of these encounters, and one week I really got to him. He came to me ranting about the police needing to arrest Mr. Price following certain altercations, to which I replied that it doesn't matter to me if they arrest him, but just be consistent. Do the same with unions and other people or groups who commit the same offenses. He didn't like that by any regard. It seems some Whites are quick to lump all people of a different race or belief into a monolithic entity, but don't hold that standard to themselves.

I recall that anecdote whenever situations pop up, even to this very day, because it seems nothing has changed in the American climate of hatred and bigotry. Every time a Black person, or a Muslim is accused of something in America, either certain organizations or the whole collective community is accused of sanctioning such action, and the whole collective community, beit Black or Muslim, has to bear the brunt of such scorn. 

We've seen this too many times in the past, and we see it now, where marginalized people are blamed for the decay in this country, and steps are taken to justify and consent to the removal, slaughter, or incarceration of collective groups of people in America, all because of somebody's bigotry. Very little truth, if any, is broadcast about such groups, and the masses of America become inundated with distorted news articles, soundbytes, and cut and paste video, all claiming to be accurate and non-partial information. And now with Youtube, the madness knows no end.

We've seen this too many times happening with the Black Lives Matter Movement, as well as ISIS/ISIL/IS, whatever the heck they want to refer themselves to. In many cases, it's the same media using the same tactics regarding both collectives. Blacks and Muslims for the most part find themselves having to field questions about such collective groups, to alleviate White people's fear and anxiety.  

Then we find such collective groups and/or certain organizations holding press conferences to publicly denounce and condemn actions that were neither sanctioned by the groups, or explain if such group has any affiliation or relationship to the accused at all. This is especially for Muslims, who we find are always having to fend off accusations o f terrorism and/or affiliation with such "radical Muslims", whatever the hell that is.

If I have not stated before I will state now I do not support the Black Lives Matter Movement, due to ideological differences regarding Black feminism, whereas a false premise has been created where Black men are accused of systematically suppressing Black women from all socio- economic and political endeavors in America, as if Black men were enjoying these privileges themselves to begin with. I also oppose this notion of intolerance behind the LGBT community as well, which BLM states, creating buzz words ( and hard to mention buzz words at that) such as heteropatriarchy and heteronormativity to use as some form of victimization from Black men in America. 

But with all of that being said, I also disagree with associating acts of violence with Black Lives Matter, such as the recent social media incident involving four Black youth and a "mentally challenged" White youth in Chicago, Illinois,  or with the shooting last year in Dallas, Texas,  whereas an alleged lone gunman opened fire, killing 5 police officers, at a rally following the deaths of two unarmed Black men by police, Philandro Castille and Alton Sterling. Those who remember can recall many newscasts labeled the rally a "Black Lives Matter" protest, when the reality is the rally was organized by the New Generation Action Network, along with others. 

In addition I am a Muslim, and I am familiar with Salafi movement, and have fundamental disagreements with them as well, however I also disagree with associating terrorism with such a group as well, and the labelling of Wahhabi, which is actually one the Names of Allah, Al-Wahhab, meaning The Bestower, and not this conjured up concept by bigots who hate the Islamic Way of Life by manufacturing lies about a group of people, claiming they are hell bent of forcing the whole world to believe in what they believe, employing young women, and in one case employing a young "feebleminded" teenage girl to perform a suicide bombing in Nigeria as reported, or random acts of killing people without true evidence, such as the Orlando, Florida incident last year as well.

My disliking and/or disagreement of an individual or group does not give me license to distort, lie, defame, vilify such person/s or movements. Truth will always come out in the end, and only then will factual evidence, and not tabloid journalism and witch hunts bring about any removal of wrongdoing and injustices. Marginalized people should not be made to feel anxiety whenever an incident flashes across the screen, leaving them to offer prayers that the alleged resembles or represents one of them, for fear of unjust reprisals.

America's fall or degradation cannot be attributed to any of these incidents, for the statistics about murder, crime, the impoverished, and other forms of social decay either show major contradictions, or outright lies made about Blacks and Muslims in America. But rather America's bigotry, or intolerance of other races and beliefs, accompanied with racism and a lack of truly understanding diversity, and not their twisted definition of diversity, and worst of all DENIAL of intolerance, bigotry and racism will be America's downfall.

What You Watchin' Common? A Response To Common's Comments About Obama's Legacy Pt 1.

Painting courtesy of the artist.

One of the lies we(Black people) tell ourselves is that we're making progress...We're 

not making progress. We tend to equate progress with concessions. We can no

longer make that mistake...

...There is no difference between the Democratic and the Republican Party. The 

similarities are greater than the differences in those parties. What's the 

difference between Lynch' em Johnson and Goldwater? None!

But a lot of you (Black people) running around, talking about you Democrat, 

and the Democrats got you in the biggest trick going! They tell you "it ain't our fault,

it's the Dixiecrats' (another way of saying Republican) fault!" There's no such thing as 

a Dixiecrat! The only difference between George Wallace and Lyndon Johnson is one 

of them's wife got cancer. But you go for it.  You go for it because you're chumps...

You enjoy being lied to...

Excerpts from a 1968 address to the Black Panthers by H. Rap Brown (now Imam Jamil Al-Amin)

For all intended purposes, I am a huge fan of  legendary rapper Common, and I thoroughly

enjoy most of his work, especially his 2014 album "Nobody's Smiling",  which I still rock to this day. At a time when Black youth are being socialized and conditioned to render any Black person dead or alive, and over the age of 30 as old, dead and/or irrelevant, while simultaneously rocking apparel with Marilyn Monroe's 1950's, old dead image plastered on it, I found it comforting that a legendary rapper produced a relevant and remarkable album about the plight of today's urban youth, especially in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois, complete with guest appearances from younger contemporary rappers. This was achieved without trying too hard to sound "updated" or appeal to only a younger audience. I found it very insightful, and something that every music fan and art enthusiast should enjoy. 

I even found myself coming to his defense somewhat after the backlash concerning comments he made in a 2015 interview with former host of  The Daily Show Jon Stewart about Blacks "getting past the history of racism and slavery" by extending their hands in love, and not fists. This and other comments raised the ire of many Blacks, which led to calling Common names such as Uncle Tom, sellout, and mostly the word used so popularly now, coon.  While wildly disagreeing with his stance concering racism in America and how to deal with it, I can neither agree with the oversimplification and the dismissive nature of those who oppose his view by simple name calling, and especially a sellout, or a coon. It goes to show how those who utter these words ad nauseam do not have any idea what they mean.

Common's stance towards racism is a typical Black Christian stance, a passive, "turn-the-other-cheek" stance, which goes over well concerning both White conservatives and liberals' interests. Neither of the two can fathom the idea of Blacks and other people of color or minorities going beyond mere marching, singing and voting, and becoming more aggressive and even militant in seeking justice from a country which has basically turned a deaf ear to the cries of the slain and marginalized.

But what worries me about Common, as well as others who uphold this approach is the lack of understanding of who really benefits from constantly turning the cheek at those who continue  to strike, maim, and kill Blacks without any impunity. It's not about Blacks wanting mere "payback" or "getback",  or "kill Whitey" but there is nothing in place in this country to deter these hateful people from committing these heinous crimes. Years of singing "all you need is love" and passing ineffective hate crime and civil rights bills have produced nothing, at least for Black people, and in particular Black men. 

While he and others like to push Dr. Martin Luther King's philosophy of non-violence, even at the expense of self-defense, it seems that it only encourages the aggressors to amplify their "terror" (YEAH I SAID IT...TERROR!) and terrorism. The reality remains that these actions stem from a ideological belief, and only the removing of these racial fallacies that encourage racists and bigots to disenfranchise and slaughter those who they deem inferior and blame for the moral decay of the nation( nevermind the statistics proving otherwise) will begin the process of healing. Love cannot conquer hate, despite what Marvin Gaye said. 

NOTE: I didn't mean to go this far into depth concerning Common's past comments on The Daily Show, however after careful consideration I felt I had to elaborate further on it, due to the emergence of a peculiar pattern that seems to land Common on shows like The Daily Show, and recently Chelsea, with host Chelsea Handler, which provides Blacks who hold similar views a platform to broadcast their "views" and "opinions". In reflecting on this I'm reminded of a statement 

by Frances Stoner Saunders in her book The Cultural Cold War which stated;

"The most effective propaganda was defined by the CIA as the kind where the subject moves to the position you desire, but for reasons he believes to be his own."

. 

Seems like a long time ago when Mos Def (now Yasiin Bey) boldly declared on Bill Maher's show that Osama Bin Laden was not responsible for the 9/11 attacks. Nowadays Bill spends time talking about "radical Muslims" and "terrorists" with panels of people, and not one of them will include an

actual Muslim. Which makes Common's appearances on these shows nowadays all the more suspect. And no I'm not calling him an agent. 

Now let's get to the heart of the matter....


PART 2 COMING SOON....