Failure To Lift The Race: My Reflections On The Legacy of Black Male Leadership!

Hasn’t black male leadership or the lack thereof been an abysmal failure?

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I am as a black male willing to acknowledge the historical successes as well as to admit to the long-term historical failures of black male leadership (in deference to what the white races may have or not done to our race dating back to antiquity), and this is not to say that the Nordic/Aryan/Teutonic races have not made some obviously colossal blunders themselves.

I keep asking myself, why haven’t we been strong enough to overcome our challenges and to stand upon our own two feet? Our failure to do so only gives vent to their feelings of mental superiority? Why are blacks so dependent on whites, even in black nations around the world that ought to be independently wealthy nations given the valuable resources underneath their feet? It is scandalous when you consider how oftentimes those resources are to make whites and other races rich?

My God, blacks and some Arabs too, have sold everything in order to benefit others, our continent and even our own sisters and brothers, and still the African continent which ought to be the richest continent on earth, lags behind other inhabited continents, even a small by comparison country the United States of America, which would not be what it is if not for the African Continent!

Our dependency upon the white race to provide jobs, education, healthcare, comestibles, enterprise systems, technology, leadership, even vaccines to stop the spread of disease (consider Ebola and Aids) … must stop. This only underscores my conclusion that we either lack the capacity, will or a belief in our own ability to solve our own problems.

Why is it that we euphemistically push the idea of acquiring a western-centric education as an elixir that will solve our youngster’s problems in the world?

Aren’t we teaching them to retain their dependence upon someone else’s system, a system that was never created or designed to benefit them in the first or second place? When will we devise our own viable systems that will inure to the benefit of our own, as well as others who want to be a part of a truly equitable system?

Our boys in America have given up simply because white America has not provided jobs for them, and because no matter what they do (and many have tried), they are not being accepted in a system that was never designed for them in the first place, other than to be used as servants and garden utensils. Did the white man fail our kids? Should we put that burden on their backs, or have we failed our own kids, and aren’t our kids also failing themselves?

White conservatives will love what I am writing, but the fact of the matter is that we are dependent on the white man for our living and dying?

Isn’t the real failure reflected in our communities, particularly among our boys (who are to be the titular heads of their families) because all of us together have been waiting on the white man to rescue us? The white man, even the racist ones have provided more opportunities (jobs) for our kids and for us, than we have provided for our kids and ourselves!

A child raised in a welfare home, is unwittingly taught to depend on the system, and that dependency lasts for some from the cradle to the grave, even the ones who find a job that was provided by someone else! And when things go wrong, who do they blame? Of course, they blame the man!

And don’t misunderstand me for getting an education can be a fine thing, but it shouldn’t be done just so that one can get a job; aside from an education, every person ought to devise a way to take care of him or herself. I would argue that if every black American were to garner a doctorate from Harvard let’s say, our community would still experience a disproportionate rate of high unemployment, ala El Hajj’s question, what do you call a black man with a PhD…? Like most groups in America, as you have pointed out, there is a leg missing on the community/economic/enterprise stool in the black community!

We must create our own models that work wherein our own people have an opportunity to rise to the top, just as other communities are doing. Otherwise, we will be lost or exploited even more in the burgeoning global economy as we continue to beg for jobs and for other hand-outs, healthcare, retirement…! Our ideal model may not have anything to do with currency for it is not money that we need outside of the current system, but a means of providing a successful quality of life for ourselves and our young! Why did W.E.B. Dubois return to the motherland where he was willing to live and complete his life as an indigent by western standards? Was he indigent mentally? I think not!

Who failed? We certainly cannot blame the black women for our historical failing because in 70% of black American households, black women are raising the kids (Bishop Jakes’ comments aside that black women can’t raise children - obviously, they are raising the children and oftentimes without any assistance from black males), they can’t do it all. If the black women weren’t raising them, the kids would be abandoned to the streets, the grandparents, or to the white man’s adoption or child-warehousing system. Why? We don’t have one of those either!

The fact is that our kids should not give up, but on the other hand we must lift ourselves as a race and create a commonweal/system, currency-based or not, that works for our youngsters as well as for us. And, our youngsters who have been taught to be dependents must create their own sense of community in addition to enterprises that will sustain them as well as their loved ones. The killing off of each other, selling drugs and going to prison by our young is a cowardly cop out, one in which the end result is still dependency upon the white man’s penal system to take care of them for 20 to 40 years, or to bury them.

It is time for us to come together and to fix what is broken within our psyches and within our communities. I watched a program on television the other night, about the sub-Saharan females who were doing back breaking work in order to reclaim portions of the desert in order to plant crops. And those women accomplished their objectives, and as a result, they have reinvented a system that is working to provide for themselves and their families.

But I thought to myself, where are the men? The men, as it had turned out, went off to look for jobs, of the kind that they will likely never get anyway. Why couldn’t these black males create opportunities for themselves I wonder, why didn’t they help to reclaim the land and create an agricultural system to feed themselves and their family. I know that we are getting in to the area of cultural anthropology here, but the question still begs to be answered.

Who needs a job anyway? Isn’t a job today, simply a western invention? One can have a job, but still fail to lead or to be a leader!
What humans need, is what took place in Eden I believe, a method or way to create, security, sustenance and fulfillment for individuals and for their families, and there are people around the world who are doing just that and without currency. They may not drive a Lexus, Cadillac or BMW, but their lives seem to be living fulfilling lives!

God apparently spoke to Jeremiah thousands of years ago, when the Hebrew system was system not working, by God’s standards. See Jeremiah the 1st Chapter.

Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.

Even God recognizes that at times that there is nothing else to be done but to put someone over a nation (ethnos), who will root out, pull down, destroy, throw down and then build and plant all over again.

We need to start again, instead of hoping to repair a system that is apparently doomed either to failure, or to serve the needs of only certain groups or individuals who choose to thrive in this type of system. Some of us might have to remove ourselves to cooperatives or to our own reservations where we can begin again, and restore dignity and fulfillment to the lives of our youngsters, and bequeath something to them that works, something that they can build upon!

And I will end on an educational note, knowledge without understanding is a waste, therefore Solomon wrote, get knowledge (education), and get an understanding. We have a lot of people in our communities with degrees (knowledge), but many still do not have an understanding sufficient enough to help solve the problem in our communities!

If someone were to shoot me and I fell down and chose to remain there until I died, who would be responsible then for my death?Should I wait until the person who shot me rescues me or calls an ambulance, or should I try to save myself?

Peace & Grace
Reverend C. Solomon

Rev’s Recent Uncut Dialogue With Respected Intellectual Friend & Nemesis Westthea on YouTube:

You have heard of ‘The Symposium’, now witness ‘The Dialogue’!

revcsolomon
Tavis and other black leaders who have been repudiated by America's black Janjaweed are about to be restored to prominence by Senator Obama himself (as he continues to practice the politics of appeasement and recapitulation). Many blacks that have proven that they are not politically astute are beginning to see the light. Obama could have made a great President in about 4 years, however, he ignored protocol, jumped the gun and is currently making a fool out of himself & his followers!

westthea)
Rev, are you one who believed the propaganda about the "Janjaweed" being "Arab"?
Obama will be president in about 4 months, not 4 years. Recall the song, "everybody plays the fool..... sometime"? We must be careful that today is not our time.

revcsolomon)
I would recommend that some of you be more analytical and rational, and less emotional and emotive. Answer this question: Why is it that Senator Obama supports AIPACs revolution, however, he has distanced himself from Minister Farrakhan and Civil Rights baggage, and has little to say about black America and other 3-rd world nations and their revolutions? And before you call me uncle Tom, just remember that you are supporting a Scotch-Irish African, which would make you at least a half-a-Tom!

westthea
Don't think for a moment that AIPAC is going to get much of what they heard in the speech. Scotch-Irish African...... nonsense, there are lots of Blacks in America who are _____, ______, _______ African. Ones genetic makeup is not what makes one a "Tom".

revcsolomon
Obama may become the next President according to Westhea, however, it will not be a new day. He has been for the past year practicing the politics of appeasement and recapitulation. The more things change, the more they will remain the same under an Obama Presidency. So far, he hasn't stood up = he keeps backing down - politics as usual folks!

westthea (4 days ago
Politics is what it is. Some politicians are good and do not allow the most rabid form of "many tricks", i.e., politics to rule. He certainly have stood up and he will continue to grow.

Lastly, it is good that major news anchors are traveling with him on his foreign trip. This is the preferred way of assassinating such a rising figurehead as Obama, i.e., plane crashes with military. Lots of big people go down in media, firestorm of questions and investigations.

win1sune
Dude? I'm Black, Male and Voting for Obama...
But I see NOTHING wrong with Tavis Smiley raising questions and demanding more from we as American Citizens as well as Barack Obama himself. If Barack can do that to "Black Males in the U.S.", why can't Tavis (or any of us) do it to him? I'm sick of trying to have intelligent conversations about Obama with other Blacks and not being allowed to raise valid questions or concerns. They will fight you for just suggesting that he should be watched!

westthea (4 days ago
There is a right and wrong way to do what you are referencing with regards to Tavis. There is a right and wrong timing for saying or doing a thing. Tavis's timing was wrong and his motives were wrong. I'm sure he knows that now. We still love him and look forward to him doing greater things.

Yes, Obama should be watched but not "crabized". We must work towards keeping him balanced but in a smart way and at the right time.

revcsolomon
Janjaweed: Westhea, you are being disingenuous, your relativist spatter with respect to Tavis having spoken at the wrong times is light-hearted and insincere. What do you say to all of those who say that it wasn't Obama's time to run? Just like the Bush Campaign once augured, you seem to believe that Obama's campaign was divinely ordered. Neither man is or was qualified to be President. Obama could be ready in four more years if he would 'get in the real world', humble himself & be taught!

westthea
One cannot be taught how to be president of America. You will be very pleased with the job Obama is going to do as president.

I say it is Obama's time. There is none who can change that or turn it back. Neither was their any who could change the certainty of Bush's two terms. It laid the groundwork for a need for someone such as Obama. Things are more interconnected than people can imagine.

revcsolomon
A great legacy i.e., Frederick Douglass...W.E.B. DuBois.... Booker T. Washington.... Charles E. Johnson....Dr. Martin Luther King.... and all in between. Now we witness the end of the golden age of astute black male leadership; It ends with Obama. Obama wants to preside over and export the white man's system of white supremacy. He chooses AIPAC over HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, CUBA, VENEZUELA, IRAN, IRAQ. Senator Obama is the wrong man by any standard. He has repudiated all that is black - to win!

westthea
Rev, stop being extreme with your conclusions.

revcsolomon
Obama rebukes blacks, but never whites, Israel, white supremacy...! Black Americans wake up. You are supporting Obama en masse. The same whites who are supporting Obama because he rejects you and all that you hold dear, have not and will not accept you or other Third World People!

westthea
"Bitter", gun loving, rural, entrapped by religion is hardly something one can conclude as a non rebuke of whites.

Obama is saying the right things as relates to Blacks and you know it. Blacks will vote for Obama in November en masse. Blacks after November will hold Obama accountable en masse.

revcsolomon
Obama has 'turned to the White': Consider his lack of support or turning on the following: Wife's comments of being proud..., Wasted troops in Iraq, Gun toting religious-marginalized, His pastor & the black (our historical institution) church, NAFTA, AIPAC & Jerusalem & their revolution over Farrakhan & 3rd world people, The Iraq troop pull out, Public Financing, Discussions w world leaders, Citizen ownership of guns & DC Ban, Campaign Finance and finally regrets having his ethnic family on TV.

revcsolomon
There are extreme issues that this neophyte is not prepared to face. Consider his negotiation skills. On every subject that matters, see my previous post, he has lost or backed down. If he can't stand up to the footmen in his own party, what will he do when the Calvary comes. He is not prepared to face the EXTREME issues that have been neglected for 232 plus years now. He has succeeded in one thing that pleases Republicans, stop the Clintons & a white man's black man trumping black leaders!

westthea
Regrettably, many black leaders over the last 35 years have failed. Jesse Jackson's sins are flying back in his face in a very public way. The new generation is Obama, Jesse Jackson, Jr. and others. Yes, Joshua......

revcsolomon
Westhea, You are indeed a loyalist who is going down with a sinking ship. Obama at the beginning of the campaign is not the Obama that is running now. That blacks will vote en masses means nothing, they also voted en masse for Joe Lieberman, GW Bush and Ronald Reagan in the past. They don't realize yet that whites are accepting Scotch-Irish & African Obama, not blacks or their values. And regarding the plane trip, it will swerve to the right when the pilot navigates left - someone said!

westthea
Going down with a sinking ship? Is that to say that Obama will not defeat McCain? As I have said all along, Obama shall be the next president of the U.S.

Even with the planes, none can destroy or remove what has been destined. Even now Israel claims that Obama's security in the area will be a "nightmare". Many of them hate Obama.

revcsolomon (
No, its far greater than that, Obama's ship is sinking even if he reaches the shore. Senator Obama is not radical enough. He will be as effective a President as Mandela was with Botha and DeKlerk ... controlling the real power in South Africa. So far he has shown himself to be extremely malleable; he hasn't won a fight yet. I can just see Jo Biden all up in his face, and undermining his authority, as he and the other powerbrokers look down on the ruddy kid 'who would be President'.

westthea
How effective he will be with the old heads, the status quo personalities remains to be seen. I'm sure he will be strong and resolute.

Tavis will be speaking in October in Seattle but I am scheduled to be out of the country at that time, otherwise, I would be present.

revcsolomon
win1, The American black Janjaweed does not tolerate dissent or critical analysis. Our people have waited so long for a black Messiah, that they will settle for a Scotch-Irish/African one; a man that all they know about him is that he appears to be black. I weep for my people and the disappointment that they will experience, if he becomes America's 1st black leader. It will be similar to what S. Africans experienced w noble Mandela and Mbeki. The structural problems still exist.

westthea
Yes, the structural problems must be addressed but most of that involves us. You probably have supported Jesse Jackson strongly, yet, he too is of mixed ethnicity. Do you have a problem with that?

revcsolomon
No, and I don't have a problem with Senator Obama's mixed ethnicity, I have defended it. I'm simply looking for the best, most-qualified, skilled and caring person who will stand up and do the job. Jesse was right, that the Senator whips on blacks (message true or not), however, yet he is far more reserved on the white side of town - just consider all that they need to be chastised for, just consider Farrakhan. At the DC March he got on blacks, but he doesn't spare whites like Obama does!

westthea
Rev, if you do not have a problem with his mixed heritage, why do you repeat it? Jesse needs to be whipped on with regards to some things and those who are like him.

Farrakhan is not Obama and has stated such. It was he who stated that Obama is a politician and that he hoped Obama would remain fresh and not become corrupted like many other politicians. We have a job to do to assure that this does not happen.

westthea
I can assure you that some of the ugly deeds yet perpetrated against blacks by whites in government and corporations are not going to go unanswered. HIV/AIDS is at the top of that list. Note this week that the Senate voted to allow visitors with HIV/AIDS to enter the U.S. I mentioned this in my last analysis on this channel, "Source of Strength as Attack Zone", Part 1 & 2.

revcsolomon
To Westhea's readers (I am one of them), he is one of the most erudite writers that I have read on YouTube. That we disagree on major points does not reflect on my respect for the man. We are in 100% agreement in many areas. We simply do not agree on the Obama Phenomenon. The generational gap, not just in America, is attempting to change the world. Many pf the changes being pursued will leave America just as it has been-white supremacist, but with a black leader presiding over the morass!

westthea
Rev, as always, I appreciate your input and even your concern. However, I have great faith in my ability and the ability of others to assure that Obama does not change with the tide but be the counter tide that balance out the ships riding upon this sea.

Now in America's darkest hour, it us who must lead it through. Obama will be that leader. Also, Israel has already indicated Obama coming to the area is a security nightmare.

revcsolomon
You have something in common with most of the ardent Obama supporters that I have come in contact with, and ironically, I end up saying the same thing to them that I will say to you. I could only wish that he was as strong and as resolute as his supporters happen to be; and who knows for sure perhaps he is as strong and stronger. All of you seem to believe that he is doing what he is doing in order to get elected. I simply hope that you are all correct - for there is much to be righted!

westthea
Yes, there is much that need to be made straight but it cannot be done if the status quo continues.

We will make certain that Obama is strong and fight for what is best for the people of America, including redressing some critical issues. The last thing he would want is our legitimate wrath. He would have to hear it from his wife and his brother-in-law.

revcsolomon
You have expressed my concern in a better fashion than I have, Senator Obama more and more, 'is status quo'. He has abandoned his original message, he isn't considered a change agent by anyone anymore. It should be obvious by now why the Republicans were far more afraid of Senator Clinton; she would have brought worldwide as well as national power-backing to reify her positions. He only has the good-will of liberal supporters who will turn at the drop of a hat; he keeps capitulating!

westthea
Rev, you know that I will not go backwards and entertain the bemoaning of Hillary Clinton losing. Turning is all a part of change. Had we seen this characteristic in George Bush, America would be in a different financial situation. I expect Obama to change, to flip, to flop. However, at the end of the day I expect him to be where he needs to be.

revcsolomon
My point with regard to Hillary is simply this, how come they feared the Clintons? The fact is that whites, even conservative whites, do not fear Senator Obama other than for what they believe might turn out to be a lack of experience and ineptitude, which would place them, their wealth and their standing in the world at risk. They are so comfortable with Obama, knowing that nothing will change, that they are still not coming out in droves to support Senator McCain.

westthea
Rev, you should look at the financial calamity happening around you. Whites hardly fear what Obama is going to do to their wealth because that wealth is already going up in vapor. They want him because it has disappeared. Your logic on this is exactly the opposite of mine and I'm certain that I am correct. It was under the Clintons that Go Global became the big thing. What was it? It was the taking of wealth to Europe.

revcsolomon
And recently Senator Obama reversed himself, politically, with regard to NAFTA, reprising what B. Clinton did. I bet GATT and CAFTA are soon to follow, The love of money is "a" root of evil, I won't say the root of all evil - I don't believe that. Yet, whites love their residual capital. Perhaps you are correct, and they believe that Senator Obama will make money for them as Clinton did years ago when he raised taxes to balance the books. In the end it worked, the books were balanced.

westthea
Rev, change is constant and that is Obama. He has the capacity to do that, McCain don't.

White America is looking for someone to save them. They're in very, very serious trouble. I stated in 1989 that America would elect its first black president when it becomes financially broke with no answers on how to move forward. Even today Sen. Carl Levin is going after Swiss banks. That has never happened. It's desperation.....

revcsolomon
He should have garnered national & international power first, then run for office. Instead he is relying on an unreliable white-liberal reed, one that has grown out of a generation of liberal whites who believes that it is cool for liberal whites to hang with white-leaning blacks. We witness the same with our black pastored mega multi-cultural congregations. Who gives up the most in these liberal experiments, we do? He has been called aside numerous times already and each time capitulated!

westthea
If you venture off of this particular thread, you will discover that I have taken Obama to task on a number of things. You will also notice that Obama has been pulled back into the pocket on some of these issues. There is a wrong and a right way to do this.

revcsolomon
Not Worried: A decade ago, I was at a reception at the Shoreham in DC, after a week of caucusing and meetings. After a few drinks the men were after the women delegates. A group of ladies asked to stay around me for security & protection, knowing that no one would misbehave in front of the Rev. Of course I complied, afterward I wasn't sure if I should be flattered or not, I had an ego. Should it concern Senator Obama that the other side is not concerned over any changes that he would make?

westthea
Reply
Rev, LOL.......

The other side is very concerned with Obama, especially the Zionists. The American people are more concerned with what has already happened with their money, their wealth, their property. This is why Obama will win by a landslide.

revcsolomon
One of the problems that besets our cultural group is the tendency to dispense with icons. Should the Reverend be chastised? He was chastised even by his own son. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the Buppie/X generation wants to toss aside, wholesale, men like Tavis even, and Reverend Jackson who has worked tirelessly to change their social conditions. Will Senator Obama soon be considered old school? Has the current generation considered footsteps that are coming from behind?

westthea
Rev, these personalities have not been tossed aside. They have been sent a message to show better judgment. Rev. Sharpton was on point with regards to Rev. Jackson. Rev. Jackson continues to screwup and his son knows it. Jesse must hush or he will continue to hurt his legacy. Rev. Jackson put on public display gross hypocrisy. The blame is his alone.

No, Obama is going to be around and the most popular president in America's history.

revcsolomon
I am pleased to hear that you and others are holding the Senator's foot to the fire. I would like to say, keep him on message - but you know yourself that the message has become ostensibly blurred. The public perception is that he is being drifting towards the abyss, after having been carried there by the waves of compromise and tossed by the boughs of political discontent. If he becomes President, all I care about is that he will stand up for what is right, not who is right or has the power!

westthea
There will be some give and take, however, when it's on the line, Obama will be where he needs to be. The public perception is what the major media paints. If there was as much drift as they claim, Obama would not still be leading McCain by 6 points. That lead is going to move into double digits after he returns from the foreign trips.

My message to Obama has been and remains - you do not have to capitulate too much, you already have the majority of the people.

revcsolomon
Overconfidence? What about the historical 4 to 5 point margin of error? It would suggest that Obama leads McCain by 2 percentage points, and we know that 90 days ago, the gap was much wider. Karl Rove and others have concluded that this represents a boon for McCain, for like Senator Clinton did, he is catching up in the stretch. Hillary ran out of track, or she would have overtaken Obama. The question is, why has McCain caught up and what does it portend? The Osama/Obama caricature will hurt!

westthea
Obama has been coasting since defeating Hillary. The 6 points will increase to 15 points in two months.

The gap was wider because of the normal bump related to winning the nomination and it is normal for it to settle back down.

Osama/Obama is played out, it will not work. Karl Rove is an idiot and only looked smart because Bush was such an arch-idiot. Obama shall win by a landslide, you will then know that Rove is an idiot.

revcsolomon
Karl Rove aside, and I am in agreement with your characterization. Having said that, aren't you placing too much confidence in the fickled American voter. If the other side can instill/engender just a little more white fear into the masses, many of America's voters will shift wholesale back 'to the white' regardless of bell curves, analysis and any other political probabilities!

westthea
There is no amount of fear that can outdo what has already been instilled. People are losing their money and they know Black people had nothing to do with it. They know it was people who look just like them. When Carl Levin tells UBS, the big Swiss bank to stop hiding the billions of dollars that about 19,000 Americans hide their, UBS says we will stop doing business in America. The house is on fire and they want the true Olympus; the true Samson; the true Hercules.

westthea
The fear is where their hearts are and their hearts are with their money which is going up in vapor.

revcsolomon
You are correct that some whites know that they are in trouble, but they are not as self-effacing as you have implied. If you consider the history of this nation, it is a fact that Africans are responsible for white wealth and capital.

I suppose that if it takes an African servant President to retain wealth for them 230 years later, that they would endorse one for that reason. The question then is, does this constitute a new form of African slavery? Ah, slaves again!

westthea
Rev, few understand why suddenly the International Criminal Court wants Omar al-Bashir of Sudan arrested and how it is that Britain and the U.S. got slammed by Russia and China with regards to the veto of UN sanctions against Zimbabwe. Africa is playing a central part in the decline of the Dollar and loss of America's wealth. Corporations think they can use Obama to win back that favor with Africa at China's expense.

revcsolomon
I was reflecting on this UN sanction debacle, wondering just how Senator Obama would have handled the matter if he were President. John Bolton is history, but still, for all intent and purposes the USA controls the U.N. Security Council and of the 193 nations represented, we have troops/advisors in most of them. I hope that you will appreciate that until Obama shows some moxy, that some astute political observers are extremely concerned that he does not show what it takes when it matters!

westthea
Concerns are noted.

U.S. and Britain certainly did not get what they wanted with the vote for UN sanctions against Zimbabwe.

revcsolomon
And I was pleased, for how dare a nation that invaded and is still occupying a once sovereign nation, with the former aid of another satrap nation, dare complain about Mugabe and Zimbabwe. If anything, the UN, should have passed resolutions against the USA, Britain and 'the Cotillion of the Willing', pun intended, long ago. Kofi, blew it at the time.

westthea
Well stated.

westthea
Obama is not going to Oblige them without something in return for Black America, Africa and the African Diaspora. This is our day.

Many of the Ashkenazim hate Obama because of the African angle, i.e., the great abundance of the continent and how Obama will bring Black wealth and Black resources together. The Ashkenazim and Sephardim stand to lose the most.

revcsolomon
There is a lot at stake in the worldwide global macro-economic village. And most are not up to speed with respect to English involvement dating back to the Treaty at Versailles, and colonialist sub-division of the African Continent. I understand African concerns for just like me, they are waiting for Obama to show us something, anything but capitulation. Is he asking us to simply have faith? Where are his worldwide connections? What power backs up the discourse? We want a new world order!

revsolomonc
Trending? Most Presidential administrations upon being installed in DC have historically blamed the previous one for America's shortcomings at the time. The Senator may be the benefactor 'a priori' of a new trend, if he were to be elected President. He might end up taking the fall for the economic crisis in America, if he cannot turn the economy around quickly enough! On the other hand if he can turn it around as Bill Clinton did following Bush 41, he will be looked upon as a hero by some!

westthea
I am looking forward to the challenge. This is our time to show what we can do. The financial crisis is like nothing America has ever seen. Their own have ripped them off, forcing whites to experience what most blacks have gone through for so long in America. This is it........

revcsolomon
It is a noble vision, and one that is manageable if given the opportunity to do so, however, we still do not control the majority of American corporations, the stock market, investment banking & investment power, commerce, fiduciaries...in short the material wealth of this nation is still 'consentrated' (new word) in the hands of the few. And if the latter were to disagree (and would not give their consent) even with government/executive policy or orders, they could shut this nation down!

revcsolomon
Hagel once wrote, ownership of property and the pursuit of power through class struggle is a primary cause of man's inhumanity to man. An essential problem over the span of America's existence, has been the onerous and undeniable problem of greed. Greed (search for Trade Routes) was and is responsible for slavery, land-confiscation, indentured servanthood, exorbitant costs in housing, healthcare, energy, pharma, food, transp,education, unemployment, unfair wages & American hegemony abroad...!

westthea
Yes, America's history is steeped in greed and more greed.

revcsolomon
..with respect to greed, it is not confined to one class. Americans at all levels are greedy (and like today's Asian citizen too many Americans hope to get rich). What American economists like Freedman, Sowell & others have to say often amazes me. Many economists have said that there is nothing wrong with greed, ignoring the fact that greed also results in a disproportionate share of the booty and bounty being divided up among the few! Remember the Bolshevik Revolution or Robespierre? Hmm!

westthea
Yes, greed is at every class level in America. However, the greatest damage is caused by the ruling socioeconomic class because it is that class that encourages greed. Otherwise, they could not acquire immense wealth as a result of those who consume which are, predominantly, the lower classes.

Revolution? That's why the Bush Administration has changed the laws to allow more power to do things that laws did not permit them to do in the past.

revcsolomon
If the United States government were to assist in providing health insurance for uninsured Americans(similar to Phil Gramm and other legislators & officials), while ignoring the raison d'etre - lack of affordability (which is the real problem), what will have been accomplished? During the next iteration of price/premium increases, the unintended consequences will still be present? We need to address causal factors, not just symptomolgy; and neither of the two are being addressed at this time!

westthea
We must leap frog and utilize the wealth we do have and leverage it into the strategic industries of Africa with progressive returns to black communities in the U.S. Government's role with pressure from the people will be to assure that tariffs and other impediments are not in the way of this trade. This is the only sustainable way of addressing "affordability".

Black churches in US collect $2 billion each month. Imagine 20% towards investment.

revcsolomon
Forging an east-west alliance!

It was disheartening to witness an exchange that took place between a group of visiting Americans and the Senegalese. During a recently televised docudrama, a group of Americans, about 35 or 40 of them, were told by the natives that they could not understand why black Americans lament their ancestors having been enslaved by the colonial powers. Some opined that they wished that either their ancestors or them had been chosen/enslaved. Can the 'twain meet?
westthea
Rev, there is enough stupidity and ignorance to go around. It is a fool who cannot see that colonialism in Africa was every bit as damaging to the African psyche as was slavery. Apparently, they were involved in distractive conversation.

Africa looks to the African Americans as the biggest source of leadership but respectful leadership.

revcsolomon
I agree in part, but how long can we continue to deny that the primary reason for the failure of our people to rise on the African continent as well as in the Americas and elsewhere, is directly attributable to black male leadership? Dating back to antiquity, black males have been mostly in charge, rarely females. We have enjoyed some successes, but often there have been too many failures. What is wrong with the black male leadership model? How come we haven't overcome our foes, or selves?

westthea
It's not about black male leadership. The first and greatest teacher of that male is usually a woman. Should we indict her for what is, presumed, the ineptitude of the black male? I think not. This is about us, black male, female and child. It is us who must make this happen.

revcsolomon
But isn't it part and parcel of Obama's praxis an insistence on a belief in coalition building. Does he truly believe in 'no one being left behind'! How can he then justify leap-frogging over America's current black leadership?

westthea
It's a question of who is the "current black leadership"? Certainly, we have Congressman Jesse Jackson, Harold Ford Jr. and a host of other old and young political and activist leaders. As you know, much of the leadership strongly back Obama, not Andrew Young or Jesse Jackson at this point in time. There is respect for the leadership of the past and that which is in its twilight. This must not be the consumer of creative energies. Let's get busy.

revcsolomon
I loosely subscribe to that theorem, but more and more I am observing that greed is evenly distributed among the classes, the notable difference being that it is more pronounced among those who have got versus those who have not. I wonder what Maslow or de Tocqueville would write if they could observe what is going on in the great democratic experiment in America today. There should not only be a redistribution of wealth but the necessary controls along with it! American greed conditioning!

westthea
Wealth is constantly be redistributed but it is usually between the wealthy. As wealth leaves America, the wealthy class grows in Europe. Both feed upon the labor masses.

Wealth is labor. Imagine if Blacks who work for government each contributed $30 each month to an investment fund solely for the most strategic industries of Africa. Let's assume 1 million work for government. That's $30mil each mth.

revcsolomon
Minister Farrakhan floated a similar idea during Atonement day in DC a couple of decades ago. Libyan leader Khadafy offered to kick in a billion. Creating an economic enterprise zone with investment potential is an excellent idea, however, the ideas has been around for awhile. Wouldn't it make sense to jumpstart it by approaching Simmons, PuffDaddy..., our wealthy athletes... and entrepreneurs, followed by rank & file investing-just as you folks are doing in order to fund the Obama campaign?

westthea
The Obama campaign is a good model. Driving force behind it is Change and Trust. Mine is UKT (Understanding, Knowledge and Trust).

The problem with Farrakhan's was religion. So many could not get past religion. Many Christians were not onboard because it was coming from an Islamic leader. The opposite would be true if a Christian leader proposed it. This is where the development of UNDERSTANDING and KNOWLEDGE comes in. It moves you past the dogma of religion.

westthea
If Simmons and PuffDaddy cannot involve the black masses in investment as oppose to just purchasing their products, they are short changing the situation instead of maximizing it. Purchasing their products enriches them while maintaining the "black spending habits" of rabid consumerism.

If they move to a consumer/investment model without gimmicks whereby a set percentage goes towards strategic African industry with returns to purchasers of the product then that would be best model.

revcsolomon
Both gentleman have been showing up lately at CBC Legislative Conferences in DC. In addition to the latter, both gentleman have been playing a more proactive role in the election process. Isn't it time to approach them as well as other black American icons (even Bob Johnson) and to get them on board? I am still talking about coalition building, a plank in the Obama election campaign. Clarence Jones spoke recently at Stanford and black entrepreneurs came out of the woodwork... it's time!

westthea
Yes, it is that time but with hard and solid rules. The Black Ego must be in check. Next year I plan to attend one of the CBC meetings.

revcsolomon
Great, for CBC Conferences are truly worthwhile, and as it sounds like you are already doing, you will be exposed to and interacting with blacks from all other the world (to include representatives from the nations in Africa, as well as Central and South America)!

revcsolomon
Clearly neither Mr. Bush nor his contretemps/cabal have any respect for domestic or international law. The abuse of Executive privilege is all that mattered, and they hid behind it. Repeating Moe, Larry and Curly (Bush, Rumsfool and Cheney), they were known to say: I care about my base; I don't care what the NSA, CIA Director or allies think (Old Europe) have to say; I don't care about what the American people have to say; neither would I respond to a Congressional subpoena. Cosa Nostra...!

westthea
Rev, I assure you, in the coming years, they will care, when what they have done becomes public knowledge. They will likely be prisoners within their own homes.

revcsolomon (
I am not against seize the day or the moment, however, I also subscribe to 'plan the work and then 'work the plan'. At what level, how long and where has the strategic planning taken place? Good planning prevents recklessness from trumping a good idea. I often write and preach about American Capitalist Church Syndrome! You alluded to getting black churches to invest in something other than bling bling, that would give new meaning to the phrase faith-based initiative, if that were to occur.

revcsolomon
If wise minds were to come up with an inclusive economic model in which anyone could participate, in order to raise the economic status of all human beings-it couldn't be a purely western capitalist model. There would have to be strictly enforced controls put in place. Have you considered other models, e.g., Democratic Socialism? I believe that there is a sufficient amount of wealth (unequally distributed) that would provide all 6.5B of us a top of the pyramid Maslow, standard of living today!

westthea
My concern is first with the "black masses". Once we get much of this resolved, it will go a long ways in addressing the plight of others.

The real power is LABOR. Government and corporations know this and is why they are constantly trying to legislate their way to getting a bigger slice of labor's earnings via 401Ks, and other retirement types of accounts. Even came after social security, attempting to privatize.

revcsolomon
I am not getting your point with regard to Labor, has Jimmy Hoffa been found? I subscribe to Jeremiah's and Minister Farrakhan’s conclusion, i.e., to root out, pull down, destroy, throw down, build and to plant - or as Minister Farrakhan opined at the State of the BU, that sometimes you have to let the house burn down then build again. I suspect that the most prudent thing to do is to erect a completely new model. Derrick Bell warned, "...if you keep doing what you've been doing doing ...".

westthea
The real power is LABOR. Think about it. What is the biggest funding source of government? What is the source of much of the capitalization of corporations? The answer is LABOR. Where does the $2 billion come from each month in the Black church? Again, LABOR. Someone is contributing funds from their labor or someone else's labor. This is why corporations fear it, unless they control a portion of it (401Ks).

westthea
Rev, I will not be nebulous about any of the "isms". Straight up, the power is in the COLLECTIVE. If I have the people and if a good number of them earn money, and if each one contributes towards a strategic industry that is guaranteed to buildup their community, mountains are moved. It's simple and is all about the numbers with UKT.

revcsolomon
Perhaps somewhat oversimplified, however, your rationale is correct I suspect. However, in practice, oftentimes collectives don't work, and there are reasons for that. You mentioned, I believe, the most important ingredient before, and that is the matter of trust. We are not airing our dirty laundry in public, but you and I know that there are historical issues of mistrust that remain in our communities. These issues have not been dealt, consider black banks Guaranty Bank of Chicago?

westthea
In order for anyone to participate in investment targeted at the most strategic industries of Africa, it would require a grassroots effort. With blacks, I suggest beginning with key organizations such as Blacks In Government and other Black professional organizations. If you change the economic relationship between the Africans and African Diaspora people, this will change the vast distribution of wealth to a dwindling few.

revcsolomon
And don't forget the nation's 100 black men organizations, Woodson's and every other chapter in the nation! One of the pre-saged failures that I recognized and raised with the Nation (at the Black Expo in Oakland prior to the First Million Man March), was that they would not be creating a nationwide database at the March that included the names of the attendees. They apparently lacked the bandwidth, however, we cannot repeat that kind of mistake again!

revcsolomon
I offend blacks when I raise this issue, however, just as we often appraise the success and failures of white male leadership, we are going to have to make a similar assessment and determine what are the internal causes for the historical successes and failure(s) of black male leadership. So let's not play the blame game for most black societies, past and present, have been led by patriarchs. Even when we have land and other resources, we come up short! Females thrive in male-assigned roles!

revcsolomon
With regard to females past and present, based on everything that I have read and seen, females represent 'the success model in the black community'. They carry the fetus, raise kids to maturation, find food, water and shelter (70% of black homes today headed by females), they are our community organizers - even Rosa & other females are responsible for the success of the Civil Rights Movement. We cannot player-hate them, there is an apparent vacuum alright, but it points to us 'the heads!

revcsolomon
I sat, listened and observed Oprah at Stanford's Commencement exercise a month ago. It occurred to me that females won in every category - the past primary election. Oprah, Obama's mom and wife were responsible for Obama's success. Hillary won the popular vote. Condi, Secty. of State; Nancy Pelosi (Spkr of the House)..Supreme Court...! Women are standing up all over the world & throwing off backward male rulership. In 2012, Benazir Bhutto's in majoritarian societies all over will wrest power!

Peace & Grace
Rev. C. Solomon

Addenda: There is a need for more of this kind of a dialog, I believer, to take place in the black community. We are not a monolithic community – and hopefully all opinions will be given their due airing!

Senator Obama: Moving Further to the White!

Years ago at my high school alma mater, a black student popped in, unexpectedly during class one day to announce to our 90% black American class that, 'it's right to be white', and just as suddenly he departed. Based upon the Senator's behavior over the past year and a half, I suspect that Senator Obama knows that it is right to be white, better than this black student did at the time!

Senator Obama a Scotch-Irish African is both black and white. He began his campaign as a black man, he is finishing it as a white man - he has not moved to the center as some of us have been reporting, he has moved to the white! And guess what, it's working for him at least!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Has anyone else kept been keeping track of Senator Obama’s weak negotiation skills, and as a consequence - all of his negotiation losses? Is anyone else keeping score?

So far all that Senator Obama has done over the course of his election campaign is to practice the politics of appeasement, recapitulation and moving to 'the White'. And sadly, it appears that his strategy is working for him to be sure, for by doing so he has become the presumptive Democratic choice to become the next President of the United States in 2008. The question is, but how did he arrive at 'his success'

The strategy among Democrats is to simply get a Democrat into office in order to halt the faltering agenda of the Republicans that all of us have witnessed over the past seven and a half years, and to replace it with their own agenda. If they are correct that it is all it will take, for a Democratically elected President will be working with a majority-democratically controlled Congress.

Yet and still, when I consider the strength of the man vis-à-vis his negotiation skills, I’m talking about Senator Obama, I cannot see for the life of me how this man will stand up and fight for any cause - for so far he has backed down every time that he has been confronted with dissent from 'the White'. What has he stood and fought for so far that resulted in victory?

Let’s consider his won and loss record and what he has accomplished during the current election cycle given his less than adroit negotiation skills. Senator Obama has been in the following fights and he has lost, backed down, recapitulated, vacillated or caved in each one of them.

• His wife’s comments with respect to finally being a proud American.
• His own comments with regards to the lives of the troops that were wasted in Iraq.
• His own perception of Pennsylvania’s religious gun-toting marginalized.
• His pastor and mentor of 20 years and his church (he quit the church and his pastor instead).
• NAFTA, he has reversed himself.
• Ministers Farrakhan v. AIPAC, he chose AIPAC and Israel’s Revolution.
• The immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
• His stance on guns.
• The Death Penalty.
• FISA.
• Meeting with world leaders in order to resolve stalemates.
• The military budget, he wants to expand it (to fight unjust wars I suspect)
• Even his decision to appear with his family on television, he subsequently decided that we will never do that again (they must have appeared to be too ethnic).

Why not Senator, why won't you appear with your family again on television? Did you read an unfavorable opinion poll the next morning with regard to the airing of your family, or did your white supporters tell you that you should abandon your darker-hued ethnic family just as you have been doing with everything else that is black?

To be fair Senator McCain has engaged in the artful craft of political flip-flopping as well. He flip-flopped on the following:

• The Bush Tax Cuts.
• His feelings about Evangelicals and the association of politics with religion.
• Oil Drilling.
• Healthcare
• Support of Corporations.
• Immigration
• Torture.

What does this tell me about these gentleman? It says to me that neither one of the two has a real plan, and like the Wright Reverend said, clearly Senator Obama and apparently Senator McCain as well will say whatever they have to in order to get elected. How do these gentleman develop policy, in short it depends on whatever way the winds are blowing because they shift with the sands of time and political opinion?

Is it a good thing on one hand to have leaders that are somewhat malleable and that will responsive to the will of the people that they serve, certainly the previous administration had zero interest in what the American people thought or felt vis-a-vis George Bush who cared only about 'his base'; Dick Cheney who flatly proclaimed, I don't care what the American people think', and Don Rumsfeld who ignored his generals, other Cabinet members like Dr. Rice and America's 'old European allies!

These were not the kind of leaders that one would expect to lead in a Representative Democracy, where the leaders are supposed to be there to serve the will of the people and to defend the Constitution.

On the other hand, one has to wonder what will either of these gentleman fight for or take a stand against in order to convince the people? In Senator Obama’s case, clearly he is not the man that the people voted for, he certainly does not represent the policies in other words that the ones who voted for him in the primaries believed in – he has already abandoned them and those principles already. How long will it take for him to abandon them altogether like Senator Joe Lieberman did? So far he has simply done what he had to in order to get himself elected, just as his Shepherd said that he would do.

And if you’re keeping score, Obama’s score is about a dozen losses and zero wins. Senator Obama hasn’t won a single battle yet except to become the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party. And with that in mind, it’s not too late to draft Hillary. With respect to Senator McCain, his own Party cannot figure out who he is, and if you’re keeping score, his record is not much better than Senator McCain.

Can you imagine if either of these two gentlemen was negotiating with any of the world’s adept leaders, or on any important domestic issues? Neither of the two has a very impressive record when it comes to negotiating unless negotiating is synonymous with capitulation. So far all that either one has done is to win the partial support of their respective parties, and that may simply be not good enough, there is too much at stake both domestically and abroad.

Senator Obama can attribute his success so far to swerving not to the center, but to ‘the white’ (whereby leaving the black church, his pastor and his black values behind, and by taking the minority vote for granted. He hasn’t stood up for a single black or Third World issue yet. The most important institution in the black community is the church, and Senator Obama abandoned his black church of 20 years.

That tells me a lot about what he will do as President! Can you say, extended Cuban Embargo, or sorry Africa, Hamas and Hezbollah, for nothing is about to change where you are concerned?

I attended a Principled Negotiations workshop years ago in order to study the art of principled negotiations. When it comes to these two gentleman and negotiations, neither of the two so far has shown me that they have any principles!

Peace & Grace
Reverend C. Solomon

Addenda: And black Americans are under the impression that they have elected a champion that will fight for them, when so far all that he has done is to rebuke the black community, so far just as Reverend Jackson said, he has yet to use a phrase like 'white Americans ought to or need to...! If Senator Obama is elected President, he will preside as a white man's black man - I predict that he will not simply stand up and 'BE A MAN!

Senator Phil Gramm v. American Whiners!

Class warfare is alive and well in the United States of America, now that a sufficient number in the dominant cultural group are feeling the pinch!


Actually, I am amused but not surprised by Phil Gramm’s comments with respect to Americans having become a nation of whiners. Phil is simply another Washington caricature who has stayed in Washington far too long, without having any idea of what is going on with the people who he is supposed to be there to represent and neither does he care about the people!

In the past that kind of remark, in this representative democracy of ours, was reserved exclusively for black Americans (the minority group that has been disproportionately represented on the lower rungs of the American capitalist enterprise system). It would appear that the chickens have come home to roost given that many white Americans who used to look down their noses at their black counterparts are feeling the economic pinch and finding out what it means to be sold out.

White Americans, how does it feel to be referred to as a whiner, black Americans have experienced that kind of labeling for decades it would seem? The government and corporations that white Americans have staunchly praised and stood by for so many years (in deference to what black laborers experienced), are letting them down now, and as a result white Americans are speaking out just as their non-white counterparts have been doing!

Phil Gramm, if I owned or sat on the board of a corporation that paid me four hundred times the average salary of one of my rank and file wage earners, perhaps I would be like you in asking, why are they so jealous and what are they complaining about? But thank God Phil Gramm, I am not like you or your cohort group!

White Americans who work everyday, the ones who can still find jobs, are feeling the economic pinch more and as a result they are beginning to complain just as blacks did to no avail to their representatives in Washington DC. Phil forgot that he and others in Washington DC are there to represent the interests of the people and not to chastise the people.

And something had better get done for unlike black Americans, when the government isn’t working to the satisfaction of whites they will get their guns or drive tractors into the Reflecting Pool on the Capitol Mall claiming that they have a bomb or some other incendiary device aboard to blow up Washington DC. And the Supreme Court's recent politically motivated misinterpretation of The Constitution only bolsters your right to get your guns.

Perhaps Senator Obama wasn’t so wrong after all when he recently referred to America’s religious gun-toting marginalized, even though he wants black fathers to support their kids given the economic conditions in this country where these fathers cannot find jobs to support themselves!

The fact is, and I reiterate it, that white Americans won’t just sit by and complain decade after decade in the manner that black Americans have done, simply ask King George the third about that. And white Americans won’t march on Washington and simply sing songs like, We Shall Overcome.

The fact is that American wage earners are earning exceedingly more than that they did just two decades ago. However, even with increased earnings - the value of a dollar is clearly far less than it was twenty years ago when you control for inflation and greed. The average American does not need an economic adviser to tell them that something is wrong and that they are sinking while watching others get richer.

Middle-Class Americans have not forgotten a time when one age earner could work in an unskilled or even in a semi-skilled trade and earn enough money to support a family of five or ten, while one partner remained at home to manage the home front. What happened? I will tell you, greed, government collusion with a wealthy elite happened and the mistake of American sin the past who were willing to look the other way!

White Americans, who once looked the other way, are experiencing what black Americans have experienced for years, given the egregious misuse of the American worker by the greedy corporate elites who are being taken care of by policy wonks in Washington DC. Yes, it is our fault for outsourcing, depending upon and entrusting our futures to the government and to American corporations.

Just think about Phil Gramm for a moment, and who pays his salary or for he and his family's health benefits and retirement? Answer, it is the American taxpayer who takes care of Phil's family? If he or his family members need to go to the hospital or if they acquire medications, all they have to do is go to the hospital or get the drugs that they require thanks to the American taxpayer.

I suspect that it is time for American corporate leaders as well as for our government leaders, who have colluded with corporate America, to make some financial concessions! Let's cut their salaries and place some limits on their earning potential, then we will witness just how quickly things change around here! Yes, we need to place restrictions on what our leaders and corporate leaders can earn; they are getting paid too much. And how about these guys and gals, when they run short of money what do they do? Answer, they raise your rent, the cost of home ownerships, insurance rates...!

Phil Gramm and his family are secure, just like all other Americans in the upper percentile are thanks to the policies of George H. Bush over these past 7.5 years, and because we take care of him, his colleagues and the Bushes! And how Phil say thank you to the American, by whining himself and accusing those Americans that he and his family owe their existence to of being whiners?

The fact of the matter is that the corporations and corporate lobbyists that Phil Gramm and his senatorial and Congressional cohorts take care of, and the rest of the wealthy are not whining at all thanks to George Bush. And neither are those individuals who reside in the upper third of income earners in this nation - they are not whining because they all received tax breaks from George Bush.

America's corporations are being well taken care of and if they get in trouble the government will immediately come to their rescue. Black Americans and others who are perennially at the lower end of the economic scale can take some comfort in knowing that when other Americans feel the pinch, they will speak up just as they have been doing - we didn't do anything wrong. Speaking up is what you do in a Representative Democracy, it should not be considered whining.

The average American is not a whiner - it's worse than that! The average American is stupid for having permitted this gross indiscretion to have gone on as long as it has gone on, while some Americans benefited at the expense of other Americans. The solution may not be to simply change the policy in Washington, we may have to change the system altogether because the Phil Gramm’s of the world, who have made a living in Washington off of American taxpayers, have learned to manipulate the system so that it will inure to the benefit of the minority, themselves - they no longer represent the people if they ever did.

And with respect to Phil's contention that by definition the country is not in a recession because there have not been two quarters..., there are many Americans Phil that have been in a recession for decades. Just get in your vehicle sometimes Phil and instead of proceeding down the Whitehurst Freeway to Georgetown or out to Great Falls, take a 5-mile drive down East Capitol, or up North Capitol where less than a mile from the Capitol you will see Americans who have thrived under recessional conditions for decades, while you and your ilk on Capitol Hill did nothing about it.

Phil is an insensitive bum who like most of his cohorts needs to get in the real world and thanks to the American taxpayers, their lives are recession proof, no matter what the real conditions happen to be for the majority of Americans!

And I approve this message!


Peace & Grace
Rev. C. Solomon

Addenda: I am voting Third Party this year, and let the chips fall where they may!

And I heard a saying once that goes like this: When a majority suffers, a minority is in trouble! The Czars from the old Russian empire, if they could speak, could tell what happens when the majority suffers!

What The Church And Religion Did Not Want You To Know!

Just consider what Copernicus and Galileo discovered, critical information that they were forced to conceal due to church censorship at the time). And which one is correct, creationism, intelligent design or theistic evolution?

One has to wonder why so many great thinkers, researchers and scientists, past and present, have been forced to suppress information that would be beneficial to all humans if not to the flora, the fauna and the Universe. What was the church’s motive for suppressing knowledge in the first place, and is the church still behaving in the same manner today? Has the church and other religious dogma hindered or advanced the attainment of human knowledge?

The organized church, it could easily be argued, has been a blessing and at the same time a curse to human understanding and evolution. Why? The church has its own established ideas of what represents absolute truth, ideas that have often been debunked - yet the church and other religious groups fight against all other individuals and disciplines that question their absolutism. Is the church alone in this regard, I doubt it? In fact it would appear that the same holds true for most religious and other philosophical groups.

I have, as an example, a theory about homosexuality which is based upon my own research and interaction with homosexuals during my years as a counselor. I suspect that the church is altogether wrong about the origin of homosexuality. I suspect that homosexuality is a result of a chemical biological phenomenon, and that sexual-behavior in humans that weren't born that way can be influenced by environmental factors just as it is in each one of us.

If humans are born either 100% female or 100% male as the church and religion teaches, then there cannot be any deviation at all, correct? Or, when there is deviation, it is because the individuals themselves have decided to violate the laws of nature, at least that is what the church and religions.

Factually, we know that there are many exceptions and deviations in nature. Even when we consider human biology not everything always proceeds along according to design. Humans are born with a considerable number of birth defects as an example to include mongoloidism, epilepsy, autism and other psychological impairments, uneven limbs, missing limbs…! Humans tend to accept all of the above as being a product of nature. And typically, although there are exceptions to the rule, humans do not do not tend to persecute other humans who appear to be different from the so-called norm.

However, the same humans cannot conceive of someone being born that is not purely male or female oriented, when we know that there are intersex babies being born everyday. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the ones with perceived defects are the norm and the rest of us who are considered to be normal happen to be ‘the exceptions’?

Homosexuality is becoming more and more visible in society today given that homosexuals are no longer, in many instances, hiding. At the same time homosexuality is still being discussed in a hush hush fashion at the church (even the homosexual-priest laden Catholic Church). The Church. religion and some humans would have you to believe then that humans cannot be born either psychologically or physically a homosexual.

Interestingly enough when we consider the argument about which came first the chicken or the egg, biological research teaches that with respect to the human fetus that all fetuses are originally female during the early stages of the reproduction cycle. It is only after the injection of male hormones that what was a female fetus becomes male.

Could homosexuality begin at the chemical-hormonal injection stage, resulting in the zygote being less than 100% male or 100% female? We know that many of the neurological conditions that humans experience are the result of chemical imbalances.
Do we accuse humans with neurological conditions of being sinners then?

If the church and religion had its way, most of us would still be saying that the Earth is flat and that it remains at the center of the Universe! One need only to consider the prohibitions by the church that have hindered or prevented scientific research that would extend the human life cycle, consider stem cell research as an example. Why is the church afraid of scientific research? Isn't it because what the church believes is inerrant truth based on the writings of historical figures who who only repeated what they had been taught without doing any research themselves, runs the risk of being debunked?

Frankly, I empathize with homosexuals and I have the courage to say it. From what I understand there have always been humans who live with some incongruence by comparison with their inner selves and their outer biological shell. Homosexuality is just one example, I suspect, of the church and religion drawing dogmatic conclusions without doing any real research. Are people who are born outside of societal generative norms freaks or impaired somehow? Or, like the disciples who wondered in John chapter 9, why was the blind man born blind, did he sin in a previous life or did his parents sin, is the church simply too condemning?

The church like the disciples who questioned Jesus that day were more interested in knowing why the man was born blind so that they could assign guilt, as opposed to accepting the fact that the man was in fact born blind. The church today often does the same thing in too many areas. The fact is that people are born homosexual, some social scientists have concluded that approximately 15% of any population is homosexual.

If the church really wants to help then it needs to get on with the business of helping individuals who have lived their lives being persecuted, and to help them to understand why they are exceptional, and to preach against those who persecute other people including homosexuals! The church also needs to stop fighting against those disciplines and individuals who are willing to engage in unbiased research in order to seek answers that extend beyond mythical or historical inaccuracies.

And if the church were to do like the disciples in the illustration did, and ask God what is wrong with these people, they might be surprised to find out as the disciples did that the reason for the difference has nothing to do with sin – that’s what Jesus answered, neither the man nor his parents sinned that the man was born with congenital blindness.

Back to the findings of Galileo and Copernicus, but let me say this first, whenever you discuss a topic like homosexuality or do any other questioning the status quo, the reader or hearer’s first inclination is to wonder, well then you must be one yourself or apostate. I hate to respond to this question at all whether I am or not homosexual, because it makes me sound as if I am saying that there is something wrong with someone who is born homosexual.

However, I will answer in this manner, I was not born homosexual and to my knowledge I am not homosexual. On the other hand I was born black, and for many including some in the church there is still something wrong with my racial group and they treat us as such. To many whites the norm is to be non-colored, in other words to be heterosexual white is the perfect measure of a man or woman, all others are deviants.

Whites considered blacks, short and simple, to be cursed; of course anyone other than a non-white to them was considered cursed! Were we cursed? I don’t think so, but one thing I know for sure is that I was born this way and I love it. And,I wouldn’t pretend to be anything other than what I am either, particularly not just to satisfy white elitists or those who thrive in ignorance!

Why was the church offended given the findings of Copernicus and later Galileo? The answer is simple; their findings right or wrong conflicted with what the church taught to be truth, a truth that was purportedly revealed by God (himself) at the time. The consequences of these apostate teachings were expected to be devastating in more ways than one' many priests feared that they would have been found to be frauds!

Ironically, when truth could no longer be censored by the church, what the church feared the most did not happen at all – there wasn’t a mass exodus from religion when humans learned from scientist that the Earth was not the center of the Universe. The church simply had to update its dogma to the truth that had been revealed by the scientific community. We will likely have to update the canon and other religious books in time.

Humans are resilient, and it is a good thing that they are resilient given that more information has been revealed that has come into conflict with the teachings of the church and many of man’s major religious and philosophical groups. And just as it did not occur in the past, I am not witnessing a wholesale evacuation from the church or from religion today as a result (just because someone studied learned something that before was considered to be out of bounds in religion or the church. Humans have proven to be very capable of placing the understanding of others within a proper historical context.

We are very capable of understanding why an individual believed what they once did under the circumstances, only to adjust their understanding under different circumstances. I suspect that humans will progress even further once the brakes of religion have been removed and man is freed to pursue knowledge without fear, particularly knowledge that might come into conflict with religious dogma.

During antiquity, humans explained things in a context that he or she understood. The creation of an anthropomorphic God was and is understandable under the circumstances. Given where human learning and understanding was at the time, it is conceivable and understandable that humans believed God to be a flying superman, and therefore God was part biological and part transcendent. Over time, other ideas were attached to this greater than life anthropomorphized God which has given us the idea of God that we have been presented with up and until recently.

Having gotten around the constraints of the church and religion, many humans are wandering today if they have a better understanding of what may be a sovereignty as opposed to the superimposed mysticism and superstition that attended the thinking of early human beings. And trust me; some of those believers keep their beliefs ‘in the closet’ too! The latter are afraid of being considered atheists or secularist. The question remains, can you believe in the truth and not believed in an antiquated idea of God, and not be somehow a deviant!

We may discover that 90% of what early humans believed God to be true might turn out not to be accurate after all. Certainly deities like Horus, Baal, Damon, Zeus…have already been put to bed. To have spoken against any of these and other deities within their context would often have represented sudden death, or at least have been considered blasphemy. However, today humans do not give a second thing thought to assigning these previous myths to their proper relative context.

Does God exist as early humans believed and in the context in which they believe that God existed, I seriously doubt it? At the same time there is proof that the centrality of all things upon which early man, within his context, based all things according to his level of awareness is in fact accurate. In our lifetime we might move beyond antiquated ideas of God all together ourselves and began to grasp truth, which is what I suspect that we should have been doing in the first place.

Once the stigma of not believing in an antiquated God of antiquity has been removed, I suspect that humans will be freed to pursue truth in many of the areas that plague us. We will seek truth as a result of a better understanding of all phenomenon and without fear of repercussion from religious group, or by the associated guilt that attends our minds whenever we consider stepping outside of the box to pursue ideas that have not been sanctioned by a religious group or the church.

Even if we accept church dogma, according to everything we read and according to early religious prognosticators, by now the world would have come to an end and the God of antiquity would have returned to the Earth by now. Even modern day prognosticators, many in the 18th and 19th century have failed apparently, in their prognostications. The Apostle Paul clearly expected that the rapture would occur in his time and prior to his own death, i.e., ‘We shall not all sleep…'.

There is much more to be studied and to be delved into, including medicinal research, and we must have the freedom to do so without the fear or perceived punishment that would come from any group that is guided by myth, guilt and superstition as opposed to having sustainable proofs to justify its teachings and its concerns in the first place.

In other words, the Gods of antiquity may not be God at all, but how refreshing it is to be able to pursue what is actual, even if it turns out to be be something other than what we have been taught! I cannot close without answering the question that I posed in the beginning, what is it that church and religion do not want you to know! The answer is simple, TRUTH!

Peace & Grace
Rev. C. Solomon

Addenda: And if you’re wondering whether or not I still believe, “I Believe” that we ought to always be pursuing what is real, for I believe that there is more to it than what early humans, religion and the politically-divided church held to be absolute truth. If the church is too remain viable and relevant, it must be willing to test its hypotheses and to move beyond absolutism that is based upon speculation and unproven and outdated paradigms.

Whose Fault Is It Black Male Leadership?

A Failure of Black Male Leadership: Is It Too Late Too Change?


White Americans will love reading this, and some blacks will hate me for writing this, but brothas, haven’t we failed as leaders?


My position is that what has succeeded and what has failed on the continent of Africa and the rest of the world can be attributed to the success or the failure of dominant male leaders who took charge, and in our communities to black male leaders.
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I am willing to admit, as a black male, that I am part of the reason that the black nation in America has not risen to its fullest potential and overcome all of the structural barriers and bitter racism that was thrown its way, and how many of you will join me?

Let’s face it, with few exceptions males have been in charge in Africa as far back as most of us can remember, and where has it gotten the nations of the African continent? Yes, there have been some matrilineal and female-dominated societal exceptions, but so far it would appear that women heads-of-state, nations and nation-states have been the exception and not the rule.

A historical and disturbing trend in the world-wide global village is being amplified and expressed more and more as women are beginning to emerge from behind their male power-bosses and speaking out about the historical injustices done to them under draconian male leadership? It has become clearer and clearer that many of the failures that we are witnessing in the world today, in western and non-western nations, has had to do with exclusive and dominant male leadership.

I love reminding males who believe in ‘the divine right of male rule’, a belief that man is supposed to rule over especially women, children and the Earth (which sounds man-made in and of itself), of the Golden Rule. Men often forget that rule, and I believe the latter trumps the former and is incontrovertible, whereas the meaning of the other is ambiguous. What happened to doing unto others as you would have them to do unto you? Men believe that good or bad, that they are supposed to rule, even when we take everyone into the ditch with us!

I sat wondering the other day why of the 57 nations on the continent of Africa, why are so many of these nations in such dire straits, particularly the black nations. All of us mostly have read about the Golden Age in Africa and of the great black empires of antiquity. Well what happened to make them great in the first place and why is it that so many of these former empires are so weak today? There is a common denominator that cannot be overlooked, males have been and still are in charge?

Anecdotally, the problem had to be because of male leadership given that it is a known fact that males in most instances were and still are in complete control of governing, defense, planning, law-making and making provisions for the people! The rise and fall of African societies depended on the wisdom and vision of male leaders the same as in other non-African societies certainly; you could not blame the failure of many African nations on the women, just as you cannot blame the failures of the black nation in America on the women.

In fact, I will catch a beatdown for saying this, but if the leadership in all of the historical failing nations on the African continent and other parts of the world were turned over to women, these societies, nations and nation-states would turn around in just about two decades or less I suspect.

I wonder just how often it has occurred, historically, that females who were forced to sit idly by, realized that the males did not have a clue as to what they were doing, but they had to keep quiet order to save their own lives so they simply kept quiet. Poverty, sickness, hunger all abound in many nations on the Africa continent, just as it does n many predominately black areas in America.

Apart from the known reasons why blacks have suffered disproportionably in America, one still has to wonder why the African nation in American has not overcome. I suspect that the problem again points to failed black male leadership. Some will say then are you excusing the injustices that were promulgated against blacks. No, I am not excusing it all. I am simply wondering, why haven’t we overcome it, are we weak?

I am willing to say, as a black male, that I am part of the reason that the black nation in America has not risen to its fullest potential and overcome all of the structural barriers and bitter racism that was thrown our way; how many will join me?

Okay, before the women say, what a great guy! Trust me, I am a male chauvinist and I hate to see a woman acting like a man or having one bossing me around – I still have chauvinism down inside me. In fact, I still believe that women are hum baby, pretty, however, you're also pretty darn smart. Okay I said it, and in so doing I have likely forfeited my membership in the boyz club forever more!

But having said that, I stand by what I have written, I don’t believe that we have been very nice to you folks, and I believe that the world would have been a much better place and our home continent a greater continent, if males would have abided by the Golden Rule and treated women just as we wanted to be treated with honor, dignity and respect.

Many of you would have and still will make better leaders in many instances than many males have done and are doing (not just in the black community), and I suspect that our kids would be a lot further ahead if it had not been for the failures of black male leadership!

One of the saddest things that I ever witnessed was when I visited a church in the Almaden Valley in California. The pastor was retiring after 50 years of service. His wife was invited to the pulpit to have remarks. She said, that in 50 years I have never stood in this pulpit or the pulpit of the former church that we built. And now, she went on to say, my son is taking over. I thought, my God this woman has sat out there on the front pew supporting this man for 50 years, changing their sons diapers in the interim and raising him up so that he could take over! Hmm, 'that ain't right'!!!

Peace & Grace
Reverend C. Solomon

Addenda: I will fill in the substance later, it was on my mind so I simply wrote about what I was thinking about! BTW, Jesse Jackson, Dr. MLK and the Civil Rights leaders are not the leaders that I am talking about, black males as a hiostircal collective cohort group are the ones that I am talking about that failed.