This is a great country. It's just the people I have a problem with most of the time. So we may as well dance like the world isn't watching, and do what we gotta do
. . . .for the next generation
Kanye West: Love him or hate him. He has a right to speak his mind. Unfortunately he spoke while Pepsi corporate cronies were listening.
University of Florida Newspaper: Publishers a highly offensive cartoon of Condeleeza Rice (who could be related to me since she's from the south) and Kanye talking about "race cards." I do not agree with the lady's politics or her boss most of the time, but that's no reason for a college newspaper editor to allow a cartoon with Condi proping her hands on her hips in a suit that obviously didn't come from the value rack at J.C. Penney with "Nigga Please!" as a caption over her head.
Justin Timberlake: I still think he planned to rip off that little tab over Janet Jackson's boob, but then again, she was a boob for not knockin' Timberlake into the endzone when it happened, IF it was a wardrobe malfunction, which I doubt. Look here Janet, a wardrobe malfunction is when your front zipper splits because you're stomach is bloated in the middle of the month. Ask any normal woman. (Oh, sorry, your family isn't too normal, are they?)
FEMA: Would be better off leaving the rescue work to the mothers of the world. We're always out there savin' somebody's butt from somethin' every single day of the week!
Race Relations: Where's the track, and where can I find discounted tickets?
Freedom: Ain't free; ain't created overnight; and ain't for whiners.
Woman: What the next president of the United States will definitely be after the shenanigans from THIS administration!
Are we there yet?
love and peace, and chicken grease,
cynth'ya... and a friend in Aberjani's territory of Savannah GA, Brother Nadra Enzi, has this to say about OUR FREEDOMS. He is co-founder of BANKBLACKWELL.COM, the world's first African-American owned Direct Community bank. Permission granted to post his comments below on 9/27/05.
I interviewed him on for a nationally-distributed story that will be released in February for Sophisticated Groom Magazine out of Atlanta, GA. Proud to know him, and you will be too.
Note: The author of the following worth-reading piece is a security consultant with work on any search engine. SWS Results! is his company and specializes in enhancing the safety and success of events and organizations.
Nadra Enzi, Owner, SWS Results! PO BOX 11042, Savannah, GA. 31412 (912) 412-3806 and swsresults.com.
President Bush recently suggested placing the Department of Defense ( DOD ) in charge of federal responses to mega-natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
He will ask Congress to make this suggestion law and hopefully it won't get the same rubberstamp received by the Patriot Act.
On its face, it sounds good. What's wrong with legions of professionals trained to perform in harsh conditions selflessly and efficiently doing so in the oft-mentioned homeland?
Those so inclined should consider the chilling effect a large scale military deployment has on dissent, restraint and inquiry.
A general or admiral in charge is not as accountable as his federal civilian counterpart. When the military is used, martial law has been declared and new sets of draconian rules are in effect.
When Army General Douglas MacArthur presided over post war Japan, he did so as its unquestioned authority and reshaped the fabric of society without pause.
The commanding officer becomes ( no offense ) a warlord who does not answer to the public, local legislators/law enforcement or civil liberties groups.
His mandate, compared to civilian authorities, is absolute. Citizens can be detained and even shot without the usual formalities, i.e due process and people and property can be commandeered at gunpoint.
After howling criticism from hordes of angry Black Katrina survivors and supporters, the president is seeking to initiate a stateside shock and awe campaign against criticism, punctuated with bayonet points for added emphasis.
The Bush Administration has become enamored of its post-September 11th powers to arrest with explanation; spy without limit and other activities frowned upon before the towers in New York fell.
Observers Left, Middle, Right and Extreme have noted with alarm the past militarization of federal law enforcement and the same among local, county and state agencies.
Everybody has a helmeted, armored, machinegun-wielding SWAT-type capability and aren't hesitant about their use.
Compare this to soldiers, sailors and Marines whose doctrine, while perfectly logical overseas, would collide brutally with the popular view of rights and freedom.
When a column of US Marine vehicles rode through my inner city neighborhood during a training exercise, with men at their gun turrents, I saw the handwriting on the wall.
This would be the response to protests in a federally declared, military controlled disaster area. No discussion, no debate, just overwhelming power being directed against the "threat" until it was neutralized, either by surrender or destruction.
A Bush-era signature has been the criminalization of criticism. Frankly, I think the post-Katrina African-Americans mass critique was too much for him.
Being verbally attacked in such an "in your face" fashion has led to this suggested shift in mitigation responsibilities away from the Department of Homeland Security.
He never again wants the office of president of the United States subjected to what I'm sure his Southern sensibilities considered unpardonable disrespect.
Placing the DOD in charge of disaster response insures he won't endure day after day of embarrassing coverage that simply wouldn't be aired were the place in question Iraq.
Militarized disaster response means methods far more heavy handed than seen on these shores, at least by members of the majority populace.
Troops are trained to execute orders in a direct and aggressive fashion. Imagine this model in action at a turbulent civic center being used as a shelter?
Force, not diplomacy, would be the preferred approach to those violating OPSEC ( operational security ) by complaining to the media, if they even would be allowed on site.
Anyone who has read a base newspaper or listened to military radio realizes how sterile content appears. All coverage supports the mission and nothing to the contrary is allowed.
Under the rubric of national security, any errors or outrages committed by a DOD-led disaster response would be shielded by layer upon layer of secrecy. While the truth could emerge, it would be under great difficulty.
A better suggestion would be to institute a greater civil defense focus among the populace and retool FEMA in this direction.
Create tax incentives for those who take first aid, self-defense and related courses or join private relief or auxiliary organizations of law enforcement, fire service or emergency medical agencies.
Increasing the number of emergency skilled citizens is an excellent measure in the wake of what 9/11 and Katrina taught this nation.
The concept of relying upon the "experts" can have fatal consequences when the bottom falls from beneath social order.
Making it popular and economical to become emergency skilled is a better bet than turning the military loose on its own citizens, even with the noble intention of helping them.
Armies are a sledgehammer, not a scalpel. A reorganized FEMA can be the precision instrument of choice when a mega-disaster hits.
Unless the presence of foreign power or domestic terrorists is proven, civilian authorities and skilled citizens should be the lead elements in any disaster response.
Any military presence needs to be commanded by a civilian leader or there could be unforgivable results.
How many reading this article would be comfortable with an anxious veteran of Bagdad patrolling your ruined neighborhood, with the same rules of engagement?
The same conduct applauded overseas would be considered totalitarian stateside.
That's why the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act was passed, because soldiers, even those taught to do peacekeeping overseas, are not acceptable domestically in most cases.
Katrina put Bush on the hot seat and he's resolved not to return again!
A justifiable focus on counterterrorism has nonetheless impaired the federal government's ability to address natural disasters.
Impaired "leadership", in the person of former FEMA director Michael Brown, magnified this deficit.
Compared to stellar past directors James Lee Witt or Joe Allbaugh, one can only question the priority President Bush placed on disasters in the scheme of things?
The War On Terror must occupy top billing but Mother Nature still hasn't exempted America from her wrath.
FEMA is a good idea but its executive approach is too limited. The certified few need an able multitude to effectively energize relief and rebuilding efforts.
The civil defense efforts of World War II and the cold one that followed alongside the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s illustrate the effectiveness of a trained citizenry.
Under no circumstances should the military trump civilian authority and a skilled populace.
Urge your Congressman to vote against this proposal should it become a reality.
We don't need militarized disaster response, unless the goal is to silence opposition and government embarrassment.
by Nadra Enzi, CEO and Founder, SWS RESULTS!, Savannah GA.
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I don't know how many writers from the site have read that appeal. It may be getting hits from nonwriters surfing the Net. Nevertheless, I think folks don't want to reflect on possible solutions or the power to change for the better in areas of race, class, and poverty in this nation, or they believe someone else will take care of it; it's those other people's jobs to take out the garbage. I suspect the majority of us just want gripe and point fingers and that's why so far only Linda Gayton, Mark Rockeymoore, and Iva Lawson have bothered to comment. To Linda and Mark's credit, they did so before I made the appeal, and so don't know that I'm now requesting full writing pieces.
Personally, I think race, class, and poverty issues affect us on such a deep level that when we look at ourselves honestly on these matters we discover that we each have demons in our own closets about how we feel about other groups. We have wounds we like to look at often or empires we want to keep. Consequently, in asking folks to to think in terms of being fair and solutions-oriented in responding, I may be be asking too much. Perhaps the response is low because that means the writer really has to examine his or her own heart on the subject, but then again, I am playing the "George Bush Don't Like Black People" remix on the page to get people thinking. I think some people can't even bring themselves to listen to the song. But isn't that a big part of our problem in this country? We jump to conclusions or assume what other people think and feel or want to judge how they should feel when we've got a gun against their temples or a foot on their necks. We really just want the oppressed or discontented to shut the fuck up and take it so we can sleep well, go on our vacations, and get our precious children into private schools. Trying to see both sides or to walk in our brothers' moccasins for a mile may make us have to give up part of "the good life" if we want to do the right thing truly. The page has a lot more on it than just the "George Bush Don't Like Black People" mp3. I tried to create a filled with variety.
I'm asking you specifically to leave commentary because clearly you aren't afraid to say what you think. The page is not about come agree with Nordette. That's not what I want from anyone. After you look over the page, you may leave your own commentary in the form of something like the piece above, an essay, or even poem by clicking the comments link at the bottom of the commentary on the page. If you want to hear The Legendary K.0.'s remix, then you'll need to have your sound turned on. :-)
I made a similar appeal at NJ Spoken Word , but that little blurb hasn't gotten nearly as many hits as the news article asking for response on AuthorsDen. Plus the NJSW request is a fairly recent post and that blog has been getting hit lately mainly by people looking for information on Lake Ponchatrain. :-) But there I said I would create a page of links to the websites/webpages of writers who respond that includes a two or three-line bio on each writer who takes the time to write something of substance. Thank you, C. ~~Nordette
Love Tinka
Love your reflections on the seeming state and ironies thereof regarding race relations in our beautiful country. We have indeed come a long way but, to paraphrase Robert Frost, we've got a whole lot of miles to go still before anybody can afford to fall asleep on this issue.