the dangerousNEGRO

How To Be a Responsible Black Consumer by Tre Baker I've done a lot of studying and research on economic development as it relates to the Black community, and, as you can imagine, I've found many critical issues that need to be addressed.  But I think most of these issues stem from the same core  problem: lack of ownership and control of the companies that we spend most of our money with.  Economics can be complicated and boring, which I guess is why we kind of forgot to deal with it while we were worried about integrating in white schools...

The story behind this poem is pretty interesting.  Apparently, the author was put in a trance and prompted to verbalize how they felt about their situation in life and how to improve it and the interviewer encouraged them to keep going by asking questions at certain points, which explains why it jumps around a bit at times.  Don't know if that's true or not, but even if it's not, it's still deep stuff. Author Unknown Stream of consciousness thoughts on problems and solutions, questions and answers: I am African American.  I feel inferior.  How do I fix it?  If I...

To continue Black History Year, here's some relationship advice from over 4000 years ago.  The wisdom of Africa is much older than we are lead to believe.  From the Teachings of Ptahhotep: 21. When you prosper and establish your home, love your wife with ardor.  Then fill her belly and clothe her back.  Caress her.  Fulfill her wished for as long as you live.  She is a fertile field for her husband.  Do not be brutal.  Good manners will influence her better than force.  Do not contend with her in the courts.  Keep her from the need to resort to...

In the religious folklore that is Hip Hop, DJ Kool Herc is the Father, the author of Genesis.  Every time you nod your head, admire the rhythmic marriage of two disparate beats, kick a drunken freestyle, or watch your favorite athlete hit The Dougie after scoring, you have Clive Campbell to thank.  If Hip Hop made any sense, every culture junkie would adorn their home with a shiny, brass relief of the revolutionary DJ. Yet, despite Herc's legacy, Hip Hop has tragically failed its founding father. This week news spread of Kool Herc's unfortunate health condition.  As he painfully battles...

This is an excerpt from The Destruction of Black Civilization by Chancellor Williams (available here).  If you don't know a lot about African History and have only been taught Black history starting with slavery, you should definitely read this book. The setting for the story described in the excerpt is Angola around 1622.  The Portuguese were up to their usual nefarious business of rape, murder, and pillage, even against their own economic interest (slaves were worth more dead than alive, but the savages that they were, they couldn't help themselves and kept on with the mass murders). It had gotten...