Riddle Me This: The Intentions Edition

How important are the intentions that we place behind our actions?

Amos Wilson said the following: "Our succeeding for the wrong reasons sets our mind up for being inculcated and possessed by the very devil we fight against. And therefore, another revolution will have to be fought, and it will be fought against us."

[SIDBAR: In the upcoming week, I will be posting some of Amos Wilson's words regarding the study, manipulation, and importance of history. I greatly appreciate and respect Amos Wilson's sound words and reasonings.]

Quote Of The Day

"It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more 'manhood' to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind." -Alex Karras

Definitions Better Than Webster's: Part 28

OPPRESSED:
"To be oppressed is by definition to have one's thought processes disturbed; emotions impaired; motives and values inverted;and one's body functions imbalanced." -From, "The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness" By: Amos N. Wilson

TODAY IS...

PLEASE PASS THIS ON! (EACH ONE TEACH ONE OR TWO!) THIS IS PHASE ONE ON HOW WE CAN HELP TO STRENGTHEN & EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY:The 2008 not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell case evoked outrage, emotion, and debate. It is not an anomaly that the police officers involved in the Sean Bell slaying were acquitted of all charges on all counts in State Supreme Court. I could run out of ink printing the names of people who have been victimized by the inaptly named justice system.

The American justice system has been especially terroristic towards the African American community. Many community members can cite historic and personal accounts to prove this. Therefore, it would be foolhardy (at the least) to turn to a system that has methodically oppressed us, and request that they free us. We can only free ourselves through extreme discipline and intelligent planning.

As a community we have been too compliant with leaders who organize ineffective, delayed reactions. The only strategy that can save us in this last hour is one that calls for a collective code of conduct that will be conducive to improving the conditions of our community, and shifting the paradigm of how we are treated by outside entities. The first step of this code of conduct should be based on economics.

The old adage of “money talks,” still reigns true in the new millennium. Any political scientist worth his or her library card will tell you that: “Economic powerlessness equals political powerlessness,” and conversely “economic power equals political power.” This means that if we continue to allow our wealth to be extracted from our community, we will remain impotent.

The power of the collective “Black Dollar” is often discussed. However, that power has been left unchanneled. Today is the day to change that. A one-time boycott is not going to bring long-term change and respect to our community. Our community has launched boycotts before. Our success and ascension will be based on what we consistently do. For this reason, we should initiate “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS.”

BUY BLACK FRIDAYS is a small step towards our community acquiring power via controlling our economics. Every Friday, people who acknowledge the injustice and oppression that the African American community has been consistently subjected to should do one of the following:

Option #1: Spend $0 on Friday
Option #2: Spend no more than $10 on Friday
Option #3: Only Shop at Black Businesses on Friday
[PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE OPTIONS CAN & SHOULD BE EXERCISED ON A DAILY BASIS. However, we can all at the very least focus on Fridays. This way we can take a collective stand and build our collective discipline. Please remember that this is only Phase 1!].

To the people who are tempted to label “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS” as racist, I say this: In the big scheme of things, this is about right & wrong, justice & injustice. The African American community is a strong, proud community that has endured the brunt of America’s iron fist. We must stop the pounding. I feel that any fair-minded individual will concur, and join in.

ANY business that is privileged to enjoy the support of the African American community MUST return that support.

I thank you in advance for your effort and dedication.

-Elsie Law AKA Starface

Quote Of The Day

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." -Albert Einstein

Video Of The Week

Think about the how, where, and why learned helplessness is implemented in our society and communities. What has been the effect?

Quote Of The Day

"Four things support the world: the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the valor of the brave."  -Muhammad

Quote Of The Day

"You must love yourself before you love another. By accepting yourself and fully being what you are, your simple presence can make others happy." -Unknown

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

"I remember reading a phrase once that said, 'the freedom of the press belongs to those who own the press.' We can thus reiterate that the constitution and the legal system in this soceity are not a neutral instrument, and that the law belongs to those who write it, and to those who use it to control the resources of a society.

Business crime is more damaging than most working class crime and so-called lower-class crime. As a matter of fact, we tend not to even see business-crime as crime itself, but instead as violations of codes, as not following procedure, even though it may rob people of jobs. It may rob people of their very lives. How many people from Dupont will be arrested and put in jail and locked awaay for killing those thousands of Indians? How many people will be destroyed or executed as the result of the stealing of monies, of millions and millions of dollars from the general populace as a whole? Will Chase Manhattan be permitted to go out of business? Or will Citibank, for the mistake of making bad loans? No, they won't. What will happen? They will rob the very monies out of our pockets so that they may stay in business.

It has been established that while robbery, burglary, auto theft, and larceny account for 15 percent of theft against property, embezzlement, fraud, forgery, and commercial theft (the so-called white-collar crimes) are responsible for 78 percent of crimes agaainst property. It is difficult for people to even see a so-called top business executive as a criminal. The very concept of criminal has an image attached to it. We shall find, of course, that to a great extent that image is non-European, non-middle-class and non-upper-class, but is an image that portrays the so-called lower-classes (or non-Europeans). It is of interest to note that Zacarro, husband of the vice presidential candidate [Geraldine Ferraro], could steal millions and pay a thousand-dollar ($1,000) fine- and continue in business- while our sons and daughters who may steal nickels are sent to jail, and executed, done in, beaten, and assassinated by the police. We are gouged for rent and other kinds of things by the system; yet those that gouge us are perceived as pillars of the community.

These are the kinds of contradictions that breed disrespect for the law, and disrespect for those who enforce the law. It does not matter if a law is written in neutral terms. What really matters is whether that lar is enforced non-discrimitaely; and this societyis one that is famous for writing beautiful laws, which are enforced in a non-equal fashion." -From, "The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness"

Quote Of The Day

"Law in origin was merely a codification of the power of dominant groups, and did not aim at anything that to a modern man would appear to be justice." -Bertrand Russell

Definitions Better Than Webster's: Part 27

HISTORY:
"History is what creates a shared identity in a people. It is based on that shared identity that they act collectively. To take away a people's history, to degrade their history is to degrade their sense of shared identity, is to remove the basis upon which they must behave collectively and reach their goals collectively. That's why the history is rewritten and why people get alarmed about it...

History is about locating one's self in time and space. History is a grid, a set of coordinates that permit the individual to locate himself in reference to other points in the world. History is a mathematical concept, ladies and gentlemen, it is a geometrical concept; it locates and positions one relative to other things." -"The Falsification of Afrikan Consciousness" By: Amos N. Wilson

Quote Of The Day

"He that can heroically endure adversity will bear prosperity with equal greatness of soul; for the mind that cannot be dejected by the former is not likely to be transported with the latter." -Henry Fielding

Book Review: “George Washington Carver” By: Tonya Bolden

I received an autographed copy of “George Washington Carver” By: Tonya Bolden as a stocking stuffer for Christmas. Although this book is deemed a “children’s book,” I thoroughly enjoyed absorbing the knowledge that was presented within its pages.

In the pages of “George Washington Carver,” author Tonya Bolden tells a comprehensive story of the life and accomplishments of the pioneering agricultural genius George Carver. Despite the format of the book being constructed for an audience of child readers, the language and vocabulary used in the short tome is not “dumbed-down.” The book is also emboldened with historic photographs and illustrations.

“George Washington Carver” provides a broader view of a man who is myopically known for his work with peanuts. Although George Carver created hundreds of inventions from the peanut, he also performed ground breaking work with experimentations of other foods- including the sweet potato, soybean, and persimmon.

The genius of George Carver wasn’t just confined to horticulture and botany. The prolific inventor was also a painter, a musician, and a professor.

Reading “George Washington Carver,” increased my knowledge about the achievements of this great man. There is something to be gained by book-lovers of all ages from reading this book.

Sunday's Op-Ed

Inside each of us lives the kind of faith that can create miracles. We come from a legacy of people who have: Thrived under the harshest conditions, invented, created, loved, built civilizations, and led revolutions.

We have indestructible constructive power. It is available for us to enhance and use at will. My New Year’s wish for each of us is to positively use this power to the best of our abilities in 2010.

May we escape the mind set that has us “preparing for the worse.” May we prepare for the best, and accept it with open arms.

All the best in 2010!

Lots of Love & Prosperity,

Elsie Law

Quote Of The Day

"Each created thing is an indispensable factor for the great whole." -George Washington Carver

Quote Of The Day

"Without appropriate motivational structures information can be put right before our faces and we will gain nothing from it." -Amos Wilson

TODAY IS...

PLEASE PASS THIS ON! (EACH ONE TEACH ONE OR TWO!) THIS IS PHASE ONE ON HOW WE CAN HELP TO STRENGTHEN & EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY:The 2008 not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell case evoked outrage, emotion, and debate. It is not an anomaly that the police officers involved in the Sean Bell slaying were acquitted of all charges on all counts in State Supreme Court. I could run out of ink printing the names of people who have been victimized by the inaptly named justice system.

The American justice system has been especially terroristic towards the African American community. Many community members can cite historic and personal accounts to prove this. Therefore, it would be foolhardy (at the least) to turn to a system that has methodically oppressed us, and request that they free us. We can only free ourselves through extreme discipline and intelligent planning.

As a community we have been too compliant with leaders who organize ineffective, delayed reactions. The only strategy that can save us in this last hour is one that calls for a collective code of conduct that will be conducive to improving the conditions of our community, and shifting the paradigm of how we are treated by outside entities. The first step of this code of conduct should be based on economics.

The old adage of “money talks,” still reigns true in the new millennium. Any political scientist worth his or her library card will tell you that: “Economic powerlessness equals political powerlessness,” and conversely “economic power equals political power.” This means that if we continue to allow our wealth to be extracted from our community, we will remain impotent.

The power of the collective “Black Dollar” is often discussed. However, that power has been left unchanneled. Today is the day to change that. A one-time boycott is not going to bring long-term change and respect to our community. Our community has launched boycotts before. Our success and ascension will be based on what we consistently do. For this reason, we should initiate “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS.”

BUY BLACK FRIDAYS is a small step towards our community acquiring power via controlling our economics. Every Friday, people who acknowledge the injustice and oppression that the African American community has been consistently subjected to should do one of the following:

Option #1: Spend $0 on Friday
Option #2: Spend no more than $10 on Friday
Option #3: Only Shop at Black Businesses on Friday
[PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE OPTIONS CAN & SHOULD BE EXERCISED ON A DAILY BASIS. However, we can all at the very least focus on Fridays. This way we can take a collective stand and build our collective discipline. Please remember that this is only Phase 1!].

To the people who are tempted to label “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS” as racist, I say this: In the big scheme of things, this is about right & wrong, justice & injustice. The African American community is a strong, proud community that has endured the brunt of America’s iron fist. We must stop the pounding. I feel that any fair-minded individual will concur, and join in.

ANY business that is privileged to enjoy the support of the African American community MUST return that support.

I thank you in advance for your effort and dedication.

-Elsie Law AKA Starface

Quote Of The Day

"To manipulate history is to manipulate consciousness; to manipulate consciousness is to manipulate possibilities; and to manipulate possibilities is to manipulate power." -Amos Wilson

Black History Fact Of The Day

During World War II, Percy Julian created a fire-extinguishing foam, which put out oil and gasoline fires. He named his invention, "AeroFoam." He created it from a soy protein.

Today's Fly Or Die Commerce Report: YouTube Expands Into Video Rentals

By the end of the week, the Google-owned video website- YouTube- plans to introduce their visitors to a new video rental service.

According to CNN, YouTube has joined with the Sundance Film Festival to release a handful of films to their users for paid rentals. The currently chosen films will be available until the end of the month.

CNN states that YouTube "is on the hunt for additional independent film makers...Allowing those it selects to [:] Keep their rights, decide where they want their content to be available, the price of their video and the rental duration."

Elsie Law's Daily Dose Of The Law

According to DumbLaws.com, various parts of New York have the following "dumb laws" on the books:

"A person may not walk around on Sundays with an ice cream cone in his/her pocket.

While riding in an elevator, one must talk to no one, and fold his hands while looking toward the door.

Slippers are not to be worn after 10:00 PM.

During a concert, it is illegal to eat peanuts and walk backwards on the sidewalks.

Eating while swimming in the ocean is prohibited.

People may not slurp their soup."

Quote Of The Day

"Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen." -Author Unknown

Happy 2010...Will Be Back

Happy 2010! I hope that everyone is having a great 2010 thus far. I've been taking a hiatus from blogging for a while; however, I will be back blogging in full effect on 1/21/10.

Lots of Love & Best Wishes,

Elsie