Friday, July 30, 2010

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

“May the love hidden deep inside your heart find the love waiting in your dreams. May the laughter that you find in your tomorrow wipe away the pain you find in your yesterdays.”

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Black History Fact Of The Day

"On this day in 1919, The Chicago Race Riot was ignited after a young Black man was stoned and drowned in Lake Michigan for swimming in an area reserved for Whites. This riot was the most severe of approximately 25 race riots in the 'Red Summer' following World War I." -From, Page-A-Day Notepad

Quote Of The Day

"What's done to children, they will do to society." -Karl Menninger

Monday, July 26, 2010

Quote Of The Day

"He who fears is literally delivered to destruction." -Howard Thurman

Friday, July 23, 2010

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

"There is no other American community in which the huge bulk of local business, from the smallest to the largest, is operated by outsiders." -Claude McKay

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Definitions Better Than Webster's: Part 29

GENOCIDE:
“Resolution 260 (III) A of the United Nations General Assembly of 1948 states in part: ‘Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial, or religious group, such as:...(a) Killing members of the group; (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; (c)Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction in whole or in part...’

The document also prohibited: ‘(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group,’ and ‘(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.” -From, "Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to The Present" By: Harriet A. Washington

[SIDEBAR: This book is a MUST read! Please go out and get it. It has superb information in it! It should be required reading in all educational institutions.]

Quote Of The Day

"I believe I was born to help my people be free." -Muhammad Ali

Monday, July 19, 2010

What Happened To Addie Mae Collins?

Many people assume that belief in the theft of black bodies is paranoia born of a violent racist history. But Jamie Gaines and Sarah Cox know from experience that black cadavers tend to disappear. In January 1998, the sisters frowned as they surveyed the crumbling headstones, trash, and tangled weeds strangling Greenwood, the Birmingham, Alabama, cemetery in which their family had long ago laid their sister, Addie Mae Collins. Although most Americans do not know her name, Addie Mae Collins is a national icon of sorts. The thirteen-year-old was a martyr of the civil rights movement, one of four girls who were murdered in the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church a few days after the city’s schools were integrated. Martin Luther King Jr., eulogized her, and her tombstone bears the rousing inscription ‘She Died So Freedom Might Live.’

It was thirty years before her sisters could bear to visit her grave, and when they saw its neglected state, they immediately arranged to have Addie Mae moved to another, better maintained cemetery. However, workers who opened the grave recoiled in shock: It was empty devoid of casket and corpse. Addie Mae’s body, like so many buried in black cemeteries throughout the South, is missing. No one can know with certainty who took the body or why, but many are convinced that her body joined the untold thousands of anonymous black cadavers on anatomists’ tables.” -From, "Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to The Present" By: Harriet A. Washington

[SIDEBAR: This book is a MUST read! Please go out and get it. It has superb information in it! It should be required reading in all educational institutions.]

Quote Of The Day

"Racism systematically verifies itself anytime the slave can only be free by imitation of his master." -H. Rap Brown

Friday, July 16, 2010

Black History Fact Of The Day

Today is Ida B. Wells' Birthday. Wikipedia says his about her legacy: "On May 4, 1884, a Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company train conductor ordered Wells to give up her seat on the train and move to the smoking car, which was already crowded with other passengers. At the time, the Supreme Court had just struck down, in the Civil Rights Cases (1883), the federal Civil Rights Act of 1875, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations. Several railroad companies were able to continue legal racial segregation of their passengers.

Wells protested and refused to give up her seat 71 years before Rosa Parks. The conductor and two other men dragged Wells out of the car. When she returned to Memphis, she immediately hired an African American attorney to sue the railroad. Wells became a public figure in Memphis when she wrote a newspaper article, for "The Living Way," a black church weekly, about her treatment on the train."

Ida B. Wells was a schoolteacher, writer, and activist. She vociferously spoke out against lynchings and other injustices.

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

"You have to be taught to be second class; you're not born that way." -Lena Horne

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Thomas Jefferson's Medical Experiments on Slaves

“In the best patrician tradition of his times, Thomas Jefferson was not only a country squire and leading politician but also a scientist. Eager to make his mark, Jefferson embarked on enthusiastic adventures in vaccination by gambling with the lives of his slaves. He wished to establish that Edward Jenner’s new technique of vaccination was superior to the technique of inoculation (or, as it came to be called a century later, variolation). Inoculation consisted of inserting or injecting infected material from a sick person directly into a well one to induce immunity. Vaccination in this era, referred to the process of injecting cowpox to provide immunity to smallpox, as Jenner first described in 1796. Jefferson obtained some cowpox vaccine indirectly from Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse of Boston, but it was known to be of dubious potency: The vaccine had failed to protect the subjects of an earlier trial. Jefferson spent that summer vaccinating two hundred of his family’s and his neighbor’s slaves. Only after they escaped illness did Jefferson inject his white family at Monticello.

The vaccinated persons remained well and the unvaccinated ones fell ill, but this did not convince Jefferson’s scientific peers, so Jefferson had a vaccinated slave injected with live smallpox material. When this slave remained well, Jefferson wrote his daughter Martha to proceed in order to ‘place our families and neighbors in perfect security.’

As a seasoned politician, Jefferson knew that his experiments on slaves would be criticized and that they seemed at variance with his sympathetic statements about blacks, so he slyly used language to deflect possible criticism, referring to conducting experiments ‘on some of my own family,’ without clarifying that the ‘family’ in question consisted of slaves owned by himself and his son.” -From, "Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to The Present" By: Harriet A. Washington

[SIDEBAR: This book is a MUST read! Please go out and get it. It has superb information in it! It should be required reading in all educational institutions.]

Quote Of The Day

"It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts...It is to teach them to think- if that is possible, and always to think for themselves." -Robert Hutchins

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Quote Of The Day

"Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere." -Chinese Proverb

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words Pic Of The Week


The Oscar Grant Verdict

The Oscar Grant Verdict has been noted in the press as, “The first time a police officer has been convicted for shooting a Black man in Bay Area history.”

Oscar Grant is the young man from the Bay Area who was murdered by a transit cop with a shot to his back while he was lying prostrate face down on the ground. Oscar Grant had been inexplicably stopped and detained by police officers in an incident in which witnesses have said was completely uncalled for on the part of law enforcement.

A few days ago, Johannes Mehserle- the police officer who delivered the fatal shot to Mr. Grant- was convicted by a jury for involuntary manslaughter.This charge carries a sentence of 2 to 4 years.

Involuntray manslaughter for killing an innocent man who was lying face and not resisting? Again, I say: "A world without justice is doomed."


Previous Links:
Cops Gone Wild Part 26: The Murder A Man In Cold Blood While He's Lying Face Down Edition

The BART Police Murder Of Oscar Grant Sparks Riots In L.A.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words Pic Of The Week- Part 1

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words Pic Of The Week- Part 2

Oscar Grant's Killer Has Been Apprehended

Cops Gone Wild Part 36: The Murder An Innocent Father In A Hail of 50 Bullets and Then Sue His Estate Edition

A police officer who was involved in the 2006 murder of Sean Bell, is now suing his estate for injuries he claims was inflicted upon him in the despicable event that lead to the death of Sean Bell.

According to “Find Law,” New York City police officer Michael Carey, claims that he “suffered a serious leg injury” due to Sean Bell crashing his car into his leg. Find Law also states that: “The Carey suit was reported to have been filed in response to the wrongful death suit filed by Bell’s fiancee, Nicole Paultre Bell.”

The police officers who participated in the unjustified slaying of Sean Bell are still on the police force. In 2008, they were acquitted of criminal charges for their involvement of taking the life of this innocent father on his wedding night. Federal prosecutors are also reported as saying that they have, “insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges.”

[SIDEBAR: A without justice is a world that is doomed.]

Special Thanks to Verse*All for bringing this developing news to my attention.

Quote Of The Day

"There are years that ask questions and years that answer." -Zora Neale Hurston

Monday, July 12, 2010

Quote Of The Day

"Respect commands itself and can neither be given nor withheld when it is due." -Eldridge Cleaver

Saturday, July 10, 2010

Happy Birthday To The Great Artur Ashe

Quote Of The Day

"I have tried to keep on with my striving because this is the only hope I have of ever achieving anything worthwhile and lasting." -Arthur Ashe

Friday, July 9, 2010

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

“Love is the only cement that can hold this broken community together. When I am commanded to love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs of my brothers.” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

How Many American Corporations Were Built On The Backs Of Slaves?

"In 1858, 75 percent of the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance policies were written on slaves." - From, "Medical Apartheid" By: Harriet Washington. So many American corporations were built on the backs of slaves.

Quote Of The Day

"Science without conscience is the soul's perdition." -Francois Rablais

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Quote Of The Day

"If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now- when? -Hillel

Friday, July 2, 2010

Black History Fact Of The Day

On this day in 1925, civil rights activist, Medgar Evers was born.

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

"Science without conscience is the soul's perdition." -Francois Rabelais

Thursday, July 1, 2010