Pen to Paper & Finger to Key

Still

2018-03-25T17:06:00.000-07:00

I am not done yet

I have not passed on

My back may hurt

it still moves

The sloth in my movement may be caused by pain

Id rather feel pain than not feel

My heart may be tough and leathery

it is not cold

it is not stone

My laughs are deeper

longer

My love is harder

stronger

When I do speak

it is often low

there is no need to shout

there is no need to comment on everything

every thing is not my concern

What I have

now

is knowledge

What I know

now

is how to filter information

Aganju seeing Shango’s heart

2018-03-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

He is Fire
Fire like mine

Fire I could have been
Fire I should have been

Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda

He didn’t waste time
He didn’t waste his fire

looking for love
in clubs
in gyms
on-line
Everywhere in-between

He didn’t waste time
He didn’t waste his fire

getting his heart broken
getting cheated on
deferring his dreams for a fantasy crafted by others

He let his fire shine and burn
I hid mine away
the only heat felt from mine was by proximity
the only light that shone from mine was in comparison to shadow

He would never be like me
His fire is not like mine

He is smart enough to not bother with things that would take away
He is smart enough to protect his fire from the water
He would never fall in love with it

He is
not me

His fire is
not mine

His fire is
Better

His fire is not as hot as mine
He can selectively burn with his
mine can only be contained by that which would try to destroy it

I don’t regret me
I don’t regret my fire
that is not the point

I want to protect
him
his fire

The way no one protected
me
my fire

© Christopher F. Brown 2018

Whodini

2017-12-13T20:09:00.002-08:00

Im not that friend

I wont come to your pity party
I wont entertain you or others putting you down
I wont help you adopt dispositions for your own defeat

Im not that friend

Im not the friend that will turn a blind eye when you are in
Any type of
Abusive relationship
Even when you are single

Im not the friend to come to:
When You want to wallow in hopelessness
When You want to drape yourself in depressed
When You want to settle into a quaint and comfortable BnBs of stress
When You want to practice patterns that pave cyclical paths
Leading you back to the very same place of pain you are in now

Im not that friend

That will fight for you when you make no effort
That has the ability to read your mind
That will watch you torment and torture yourself
That will compete with you
That will want the best for you so long as your best isn’t better than mine

Because of all this

I don’t call many people friend
my circle is always very small and self-regulating
And
Those that do know me as friend have been around for decades
That’s my deal

Because of all this

I may not be a friend to you
Yet
That may not be my fault

© Christopher F. Brown 2017

Too Many People Have Your Name

2017-08-02T18:57:00.000-07:00

When I first met you

you could barely stand

yourself

your words

not mine

It wouldn’t have been fair

asking you to stand with me

Unfair to me

not you

I see you question yourself now

“Can they see?”

“Do they know?”

You know you only hide

masks

shells

I laugh because you’ve even tried fur

Some see

Some know

And you pray

To see them before they see you

And you pray

To know them before they know you

I’ll say a French sigh instead of writing it

Anyway

You play a game called self

Id like to ask you some questions

but you already knew that didn’t you

Children of The Genius Child

2016-12-03T18:22:00.000-08:00

Shouting
In places where people try to force them
Not to hear

Quiet
In places where people try to force them
Not to listen

Kill them
Set them free
Watch them fly wild

They are indigo, X, and Y
They are naturally Tech savvy and more intune with all that is natural
They are everything but what they know they want to be

Kill them
Set them free
Watch them fly wild

Love

Love has never been one of their considerations
They have never bothered with the fantasy
They were born knowing
Grew tall and mighty watching

No one ever loves a genius child

Kill them
Set them free
Watch them fly wild.

© Christopher F. Brown 2016

Unsolicited

2016-07-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

I was wondering if

is there anyone in your life telling you

you are beautiful

you are sexy

you are intelligent

I wont be cliché and say all those things

even though I want to

even though I just did

I was wondering if

is there a person in your life to voice

these spirits

say these words

speak these truths about your existence

My schedule is quite flexible if the position is available

I’ll probably never say the previous to you

You don’t need

someone to flatter and praise you

the truth is its own keeper

Just as the sun does not need shade

still

There is the moon.

The Blacker The Berry / Completely Clueless

2016-05-15T13:51:00.001-07:00

The Blacker The Berry / Completely Clueless

The American Justice system was constructed around the idea of Black People being inferior beings, considered nothing more than living property purposed for American profit. In many ways, the idea of Black People being an inferior race of people whoes sole function in America being living, breathing mechanisms purposed for the proliferation of American profit, even though not explicitly stated as law any longer, present actions and decisions of various American government entities still support the notion as strongly inferred. The punishment for any Black person or group of Black people asserting their humanity and claiming the rights belonging to humans in America has historically been, and today remains, severe abuse or even death at the hand of the country that proclaims, "Freedom and Justice for All." The previous eight lines are not blindingly new to many eyes or deafeningly original to many ears, and variations of those lines have become cliché and even considered revolutionary rhetoric to some people and in some circles when the opposite is incontestably true. The discussion about the struggle against oppression and abuse is not cliché or revolutionary rhetoric that is ultimately useless. The discussion about the struggle against oppression and abuse is essential and extremely fundamental no matter how long or how many times the same things are said because the discussion is how the knowledge of oppression is passed down to future generations and the information about former forms of abuse communicated. The conversation about the struggle against oppression and abuse is also crucial in efforts of preventing the former forms of oppression and abuse ever be enacted again. The discussion about oppression and abuse should also serve as a wakeup call that more efforts, as well as different efforts to end the abuse and oppression needs to happen

Fifty year old former teen actress and D-list celebrity Stacey Dash would be an example of the type person that would call the eight lines in question cliché and revolutionary rhetoric after having previously said,

“The Holocaust happened only 70 years ago, yet the Jewish people stay united and have persevered. They don’t complain or blame anyone or anything for their circumstances. They work hard and integrate as they see fit, where they see fit. They are a people of faith that I respect greatly. . . Blacks need to do the same. Blacks, stop believing the false narrative that race is what stops you or kills you. Take responsibility. Integrate. Stop complaining and blaming others for our destiny. Slavery ended in 1865. One hundred and fifty years ago. Respect that it is ours and work hard to achieve your own AMERICAN DREAM.” (Dash)

Because of, “Americans” like Ms. Dash and their misguided misunderstanding of how race has and continues to kill black people in America and worldwide what is considered revolutionary rhetoric bears repeating. The discussion surrounding oppression and abuse bears repeating as long as oppression and abuse continue to be inflected upon a single person or group of people, rather they be Black or Jewish or anyone. Because of, “Americans” like Ms. Dash, the discussion about why and how a person or group of people became oppressed and abused, and how to stop and prevent said oppression and abuse must continue to happen because the discussion will lead to informed action and the reality of change can then be realized not theorized. The problem with repetition is that people tend to become desensitized to whatever it is that is repeated. African Americans have been fighting oppression and abuse in America since most still considered themselves African

When W.E.B Dubois wrote,

“Bureau courts tended to become centres simply for punishing whites, while the regular civil courts tended to become solely institutions for perpetuating the slavery of blacks. Almost every law and method of ingenuity could devised was employed by the legislatures to reduce the Negroes to serfdom – to make them slaves of the State.”

The same sentiments were echoed by Michelle Alexander eighty-four years later, “Race has always influenced the administration of justice in the United States. Since the day the first prison opened, people of color have be disproportionately represented behind bars” The repetition of these types sentiments should not cause our ears to deafen, or our hearts to go numb. These statements should cause us African Americans and people like Ms. Dash to question why the problems of abuse and oppression still exist. These sentiments should cause any person including Ms. Dash not to tune out or blame African Americans as the cause of the problem but to harken inward and question why it is that a people that are supposedly not oppressed and abused any longer are not only still claiming their abuse and oppression but showing proof and evidence of abuse and oppression. Later Michelle Alexander writes, “Few Americans today recognize mass incarceration for what it is: a new cast system thinly veiled by the cloak of colorblindness.” These lines, written almost a century apart, should not cause us Africans displaced by oppression and abuse into America’s various unjust and duplicitous systems and onto America’s stolen soil over centuries to tune out, like Ms. Dash, but to question why we should seek new ways to say the same things about the same problems when the problems have not changed or been fixed. The words that Michelle Alexander writes should stir up emotions not of apathy and indifference but fire and rage. These lines that some would considered repetitious and cannon of revolutionary rhetoric, should cause us, a mighty race of Africans, descendants of the survivors of history’s most horrific atrocity and warriors against history’s most racist society and culture not to label these blood bought words, “cliché.” These words should instead invigorate new ways, or rekindle some old ways, of solving once and for all, the problem of our people being oppressed and abused. When the focused goal then becomes fixing the problems, the discourse about the problems can never be cliché because fixing the problems requires an action that is not birthed from nor gives birth to and attitude of stoic apathy.

“The truth is that the police reflect America in all of its will and fear, and whatever we might make of the country’s criminal justice policy, it cannot be said that it was imposed by a repressive minority. The abuses that have followed from the policies. . . are the product of democratic will. And so to challenge the police is to challenge the American people who sent them.” (Coates)

These words written in 2015 should not shock anyone but they do however seem morosely cliché when forty years earlier Assata Shakur wrote, “But it was a lesson I never forgot. Anybody, no matter who they were, could come right off the boat and get more right and respect than amerikan-born Blacks.” These words seem morosely cliché when put into the context of the same time period, when in Oakland California, ordinances in public neighborhoods stated, “No persons of African, Japanese, Chinese, or of any Mongolian descent, shall be allowed to purchase, own, or lease said property or any part thereof or to live upon said property or any part thereof except in capacity of domestic servants of the occupant thereof.” ("Cheney Photographer photo album photoprint 1916.") This fact shows that when a person like fifty year old former teen actress and D list celebrity Stacey Dash says, “. . . there shouldn’t be a Black History Month. You know? We’re Americans. Period. That’s it” (Cummings) her words are hallow, vapid, misinformed, and the actual cliché because many have been and still are legally or, as a point of practice, excluded from being part of her definition of, “American.” For all these reasons, for all these past and present incidents, the conversation about the struggle against oppression and abuse is crucial to efforts of preventing the former forms of oppression and abuse ever being enacted again.

The question that must be asked now is what mental conditioning has taken hold of some minds, like Ms. Dash’s, for them to see words like the ones in question as something other than the long agonizing scream of suffering, crying out against oppression. When Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said, “… its very clear that there’s a difference between what we saw last week between the peaceful protests…and the thugs, who only want to incite violence and destroy out city.” (Fang) She failed to see, or refused to see, that the people she deemed, “thugs” were the sons and daughters of the oppressed people that elected her into office, crying out of rage and frustration at the fact that the police whom swore to protect them were murdering them. Instead of these official government murders being held accountable for their actions against what is supposed to be law for all, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake blamed the people. Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake blamed the people, some would say her people, for being angered and outraged, reacting to the injustice done to them and not herself for not creating a system that would have prevented the injustice from happening to her people. Instead of viewing the reaction of the people, her people, to the murder of Carlos, “Freddie” Gray Jr. and their frustration and calls for justice as thuggery, earlier discussions about oppression and abuse could have served as prevention, and maybe, Carlos, “Freddie” Gray Jr. might be alive today.

The discussion about the struggle against oppression and abuse in America has become cliché to some people including many African Americans like fifty year old former teen actress and D list celebrity Stacey Dash. The discussion is said to be no longer useful in ending the oppression and abuse yet the reality is that the actual oppression and abuse continues to happen. Instead of growing weary of the discussion, the discussion should serve as a wakeup call that more efforts, and different efforts to ending the abuse and oppression need to happen. The discussion also serves to inform the misinformed like Ms. Dash, as well as future generations about former forms of abuse and how to prevent them from ever happening again. Also, no matter how many times the same thing is said, the repetition should not foster an attitude of apathy like Ms. Dash’s but instead ignite a flame of unquestionably righteous indignation.

©Christopher F. Brown 2016

Technorati Tags: The Blacker The Berry / Completely Clueless,essay,Christopher F. Brown, a1abwriter.wordpress.com

Works Cited

Alexander, Michelle, and Cornel West. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. Revised edition ed. New York: New, 2012. Print.

“Cheney Photographer photo album photoprint 1916.” OMCA COLLECTIONS. Oakland Museum of California, n.d. Web. 10 May 2016. .

Coates, Ta-Nehisi. Between the World and Me. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2015. Print.

Cummings, Moriba. “Stacey Dash Doesn’t Want a Black History Month or the BET Awards.” bet.com. http://www.bet.com, 20 Jan. 2016. Web. 10 May 2016. .

Dash, Stacey. “Blacks Should Learn a Lesson from the Jews’ Response to the Holocaust.” staceydash. Patheos, 16 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 May 2016. .

Fang, Marina. “Baltimore Mayor Apologizes For Calling Protesters ‘Thugs’.” Huffpost Politics. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Inc, 29 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 May 2016. .

Shakur, Assata. Assata: An Autobiography. Chicago: L. Hill, 1987. Print.

Washington, Booker T., W. E. B Du Bois, and James Weldon Johnson. Three Negro Classics: Up from Slavery. New York: Avon, 1965. Print.

What Threatens My existence

2016-02-19T09:45:00.000-08:00

What Threatens My Existence

What threatens my existence, immediately without question; White Supremacy. Most do and probably have tuned out now, thinking believing that they already know what I’ll write. Thinking, believing that they have already heard this before, and that’s is fine, that is a part of White Supremacy. White Supremacy threatens my existence because when I say, “White Supremacy” it causes people to hear, think, and assume I mean, “White people” when that’s not at all what I said. White Supremacy threatens my Existence because when I even mention it, I become the, “Angry Black Man” stereotype personified and whatever else someone’s imagination can conceive. In reality, if I was an Angry Black Man, I would have every right to be.

As an African, Same Gender Loving Male born in America, the white, heterosexual, Christian, male supremacy structure is my only true obstacle, my only direct threat and it is a constant daily one. Little things like the guy on Bart riding into the city believing its his right to take up two seats on a crowded train, one for him and one for his macbook, while I and others have to stand. White Male Supremacy is the belief that because he is getting off in the financial district and is fluid with millions, its ok. White Supremacy is belief that the coward cop has that allows him to think that something as small and insignificant as a gun will ever make him or her equal to me.

White supremacy threatens my existence because I see it in the hearts of some other Africans born here in America that will tell me, “Im not black enough” because I don’t wear wood cut Africa necklaces or silver Anhks. White Supremacy tells other Africans born in America that because I know a little bit about African spirituality then I must be running around putting roots on people and I need Jesus or Allah. Since when did a piece of material made by some poor person in china, sold to a poor person in America, help a poorer person in Africa? How could me just knowing about the gods my ancestors worshiped thousands of years before, merchants, conquerors and killers brought their gods to my ancestors homeland make me defective?

White supremacy threatens my existence because I see it in other people of color that look at me while im claiming pride in my Africanness and say its not the, “American Way” and that’s the problem with “people like me” because “We” need to assimilate.

This is how White supremacy threatens my existence, it teaches others to believe that my culture as it was and is, and myself, as I am and will be, should not exist.

©Christopher F. Brown 2016

Comicbook Friends

2016-02-12T10:12:00.000-08:00

These days

Adam Worlock is my best friend

He knew I never was

what they call

a bad guy

He knows what it was like for gods and kings
When we go for love

we go hard

He could see
more than anyone in the universe
I knew and know
myself

Its not about being cocky
Its about doing and be me

I can say that about my friend

He needs to examine his self
examine his personal issues
Instead of pretending like they don’t exist
The day will come when they want to fight him.
Hes going to be kinda stuck

But that’s what best friends are for

These days
I'm out of that love game
no more future ex’s
no more making ex’s current

I'm reading and writing a few books
getting back to meditating
Might even plant a garden

©Christopher F. Brown 2016

An Examination of and Identifying The Historical and Current Politics and Power of Black America Focusing On Comparing and Contrasting Aspects of The Civil Rights Movement And The Black Lives Matter Movement

2015-12-06T14:35:00.001-08:00

An Examination of and Identifying The Historical and Current Politics and Power of Black America Focusing On Comparing and Contrasting Aspects of The Civil Rights Movement And The Black Lives Matter Movement

The, “Black Lives Matter” movement has brought the plight of African Americans and black people across the diaspora back to the forefront of mainstream western media. The reality of issues such as the school-to-prison pipeline, the overwhelming and disproportionate nature of black unemployment rates, and what will be examined in this essay, the staggeringly high brutality and death outcomes African Americans disproportionately face when encountering police in America and the politics of such, have once again placed the African American community and the politics of and behind the African American community on the table. These discussions and debates have become reminiscent of the debates and discussions held in high offices about similar issues effecting African Americans in the reconstruction era, 1960s, and 1990s. Little has been done outside of the African American community by elected political officials to effect and change said issues facing the African American community. The question then becomes, do Black Lives Matter only long as they equate a politically liberal, democratic voting block that can be counted on as part of a political base and will the leaders of the African American community be satisfied with high ranking liberal political figures saying their names and handing empty promises and vapid to no efforts of aid.

As did Booker T. Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and many other black leaders of respective eras met with high ranking figures in American politics, the leaders of the, “Black Lives Matter” movement have also met with high ranking figures in American politics with the exception of the President of the United States, whom in this era is paradoxically and ironically African American. At the Congressional Black Caucus’ annual legislative conference, Khalilah Harris, Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African-Americans said, “The administration definitely considers Black Lives Matter, because we agree that Black Lives Matter,” Harris later went on to say, “We understand the nuance of being clear that everyone is a valuable person the moment that they are born.” she went on to say that those in government should be tasked with making sure they use “race consciousness” when considering policy, something she says the White House is currently doing. (Coleman)

While Franklin Roosevelt initially took a big political risk in redefined the Democratic Party in the 1930s, with promises that the new deal would affect African Americans in positive ways, it was the Civil Rights Movement that solidified African Americans within the ranks of the Democratic Party, both as a dependable voting block and source of political power. These moves further displayed that American politics and the African American Community were married to one another yet the Democratic or Republican parties have done little of the own volition to directly address the unequal treatment that African Americans face in regards to criminal justice, police brutality and or death outcomes, unemployment and other aspects of systematic inequality faced by African Americans. Much of the state of “Black Politics” can be viewed and revealed through comparing and contrasting the Black Lives Matter movement with the Civil Rights Movement through a historical lens.

The assumption might be made that by President Obama being The United States first, and so far only, African American President, the politics that have arisen and surround The Black Lives Matter movement would affect him personally. The reality is that President Obama has only given verbal support to The Black Lives Matter movement by making statements such as,

". . .there is a specific problem that's happening in the African-American community that's not happening in other communities. And that is a legitimate issue that we've got to address." ("President Obama Defends Black Lives Matter Movement.")

The problem occurs when he then follows that statement with other statements like,

"understand the overwhelming majority of law enforcement's doing the right thing and wants to do the right thing" and "recognize that police officers have a really tough job and we're sending them into really tough neighborhoods that sometimes are really dangerous and they've got to make split-second decisions." ("President Obama Defends Black Lives Matter Movement.")

By having these two statements follow eachother, he does a fine job of addressing both sides of the assumed issue and gives an allusion of being nonpartisan on what should be a nonpartisan issue but these two statements negate eachother. If the overwhelming majority of law enforcement was doing the right thing, at all times, then it would stand to reason that there is a specific element within law enforcement that not only escapes the already implemented policies to weed out agents that seek to do specific harm to the African American community, but in fact, find ways to specifically target the African-American community. It also stands to reason that if the understanding is established that as a law enforcement agent you will be sent into dangerous neighborhoods and have to make instantaneous life or death decisions, an extra emphasis should be placed on making sure that whatever decisions that said law enforcement officer makes, they are not one made out of racial bias or prejudice, or one that is intended for specific harm.

The president, or Congress, could enact special legislation, or begin the process of legislation, that would task people with the power of special oversight of local law enforcement; such actions had been put in place during the Civil Rights Movement to protect African Americans. Federal Marshals were sent into southern states to protect African Americans not only from the population that sought to do them harm but from the corrupt officials that openly violated federal law by not protecting African Americans from the population that intended harm, or even those officials that participating in the harming of African Americans (Reuters). What has taken place under President Obama’s administration is that the United States attorney, general, whom is also African American and the person that would be responsible to investigate the killings, misdoings, and widespread corruption that has given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement, is instead investigating the corruption of Fédération Internationale de Football Association aka FIFA (Staff). FIFA is the international governing body of soccer, a sport that North Americans care little about, but if the her actions of investigating FIFA and not the wide spread corruption of the death outcomes of African Americans interacting with local police, then one could draw the conclusion that North Americans care even less about black lives than they do soccer. This act personifies the blatant disregard for black lives that the Black Lives Matter movement speaks to and about. However the President, and Hillary Clinton have been very vocal about their plans to strengthen gun control laws and about what they both view as the regrettable and deplorable routine of recent mass shootings (Harris). Bills with various implications and plans to affect gun control have been swiftly crafted, and just as swiftly defeated in both houses and parties of Congress in the wake of the recent mass shootings (Everett). This then brings focus back to the question, do black lives actually matter to Americans, American politicians, and non-African Americans.

This pattern of lip service and non-action squares with the political game and actions of some of the other members of the democratic party that have also only given lip-service to the current politics and issues concerning the African American community through the Black Lives Matter movement. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has had two notable encounters with members of the Black Lives Matter movement. After first incident, where a group of assumed Black Lives Matter protesters were not allowed into the main room of her presidential forum on substance abuse (Merica), Hillary Clinton had a fifteen minuet meeting with the members of the Black Lives Matter movement and told them,

"Look, I don't believe you change hearts,". . ."I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources, you change the way systems operate. You're not going to change every heart. You're not. (Merica)

Again, her statements square with the Democratic Party as a whole and the president in that they say that they offer their support but have done very little to actually effect change or create policies or implement changes that would match her words.

The second incident was an hour long meeting where she and they discussed, “militarization of police, violence against black members of the LGBT community, and the so-called "school-to-prison" pipeline.”(Tani). The meeting concluded with the two main representatives of the Black Lives Matter movement stating, “they are still waiting to hear more specifics about how Clinton will actually implement the changes she proposed in the meeting.” (Tani) This again furthers the point that in liberal politics, one addresses the issues and concerns of minority groups to secure the support of those groups and to also appear to be apathetic to their issues in the eyes of the non-minority liberal community, but historically, little is actually ever done by these liberal candidates bases to effect change, and if anything thing is done it is because of overwhelming force or pressure calls for them to act.

A less direct approach of the Democratic Party was one implemented by the Democratic National Committee. The Black Lives Matter organization had sought a direct debate with the members of the Democratic National Committee candidates. This debate did not happen. A direct debate was rejected by the DNC and a town hall-style forum was offered in its place ("President Obama Defends Black Lives Matter Movement.") The issue with changing the discussion form was that a debate would allow Black Lives Matter members to directly address the candidates. A town hall style forum would allow candidates to take questions from all areas of the public, allowing them to ignore direct questions from the Black Lives Matter participants if the so chose. These are passive aggressive political power tactics that have been employed by liberal and or democratic politicians in the past.

In the 1960s the Kennedy brothers and the Democratic Party made it a point to offer a similar appearance of support for the Civil Rights Movement and Dr Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (Stanford University). In one instance in the 1960s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had been jailed for a probation violation after participating in a sit-in in Atlanta (Stanford University). There were even speculations that if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was left to serve out the four month sentence, he would be lynched in prison ("The Kennedys and Civil Rights."). JFK called Coretta Scott King offering her words of support and concern while Robert Kennedy made calls to the judge and governor and used his power as a senator to have Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. released, both against the advice of their staff saying they may lose their southern support (Duke). While this act may have seemed noble and righteous, it was really a calculated move by the Kennedys because even though this may have seemed small, so small that the mainstream media of the time ignored it, the African American community payed attention and Martin Luther King Sr, whom had just as great of standing with the African American community as his son, switched sides and stopped endorsing Nixon and endorsed Kennedy ("The Kennedys and Civil Rights.") With Dr. Martin Luther King Sr’s support many older African Americas threw their support behind Kennedy as well. This tactical move ultimately paid off because, “The black vote was pivotal in the swing states of Illinois, Michigan, and South Carolina that Kennedy carried.”( "The Kennedys and Civil Rights.") This simple political power move was not lost on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. because he made it known that he himself and his personal organizations did not fully support either candidate. This is strikingly similar to how Alicia Graza, one of the founders of the Black Lives Matter movement, stated how the Black Lives Matter network as a whole does not endorse and republican or democratic candidate (New York Post,.). When asked why Graza said,

“It’s too early in the development of the network and it’s too early in the genesis of the movement to rally around anyone in particular who hasn’t demonstrated that they feel accountable to the Black Lives Matter movement or network,’. . .‘What we’ve seen is an attempt by mainstream politics and politicians to co-opt movements that galvanize people in order for them to move closer to their own goals and objectives,’ she said. ‘We don’t think that playing a corrupt game is going to bring change and make Black Lives Matter.”’

The concerns of Graza are historically valid because while the Kennedy brothers publically used and supported King, his supporters, and the Civil Rights Movement to tentatively gain the pivotal “black vote,” Robert Kennedy as attorney general authorized a phone tap of King's and his associates' phones, homes, and offices. (Christensen). Kennedy also dictated to the FBI the "delicacy of this particular matter" and that he wanted to be personally informed of any pertinent information (Christensen). The FBI watched King from 1958 until his death and due to a court order, some information will not be released until 2027 ("Pickler Memorial Library.").

The Democratic candidate’s actions are in sharp contrast to the Republican candidate’s actions in regards to The Black Lives Matter movement. Jeb Bush, a republican presidential candidate, claimed to have had a private meeting with members of the Black Lives Matter movement but it was later confirmed that no actual members of the Black Lives Matter movement were in this private meeting.(Liebelson) The people whom were in this private meeting were a local elected official [that is black], a GOP lobbyist[that is black], and a staffer from an anti-poverty organization[that is black] (Liebelson). This again follows a historical pattern. While liberal politicians have been willing to work and meet with African Americans to discuss the issues effecting the African American community, conservatives have been the ones either causing the harm or refusing to help African Americans.

During the Civil Rights Movement one of the most vocal and out right openly racists that opposed any advancement of African Americans was George Wallace, whom was a member of the KKK and governor Alabama (Karson). He is most infamously remembered for a speech in which he said in regards to race relations, “Segregation Now, Segregation Forever” (Karson). With this historical remembrance of conservative treatment, many African American activists like Marissa Johnson, a co-founder of Black Lives Matter Seattle, refuse to even engage conservatives. When questions why the Black Lives Matter movement had not, at that time, engaged the GOP she stated that there would be, “no point to confronting the GOP … during the primaries, because GOP members will pretty much tell you flatly that they don't care about black lives.”(Lillis).

In conclusion, the political issues of race that the Black Lives Matter movement have raised again, such as criminal justice, employment and other issues of equity facing the African American community have been largely ignored by American politicians, from the sitting democratic African American president to the conservative republican presidential candidate. What little attention they have given African American politics and the Black Lives Matter movement have only equated to lip service and photo opps but no actual efforts of change has been put in motion like there has been for issues like gun control. The idea and reality of Black politics in America, even with a sitting African American president, still remains something that to liberal politicians is good to talk about and be seen around, but there is no need to actually effect change. As the Federal government stepped in to assist African Americans during the reconstruction era, and the during the Civil Rights movement, so too should the federal government take initiative and step in now. Instead of being the lead investigators of corruption of the governing body of a sport that most North Americans do not care about, actually investigate how a “pattern” of “isolated incidences” not only continue to happen resulting in the deaths of African Americans at the hands of local law enforcement but also, enact change, establish laws, so that it stops and can never happen again to show that black lives actually do matter to those that are not black.

©Christopher F. Brown 2015

Works Cited

Christensen, Jen. "FBI Tracked King's Every Move." CNN. Cable News Network, 29 Dec. 2008. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/31/Dr. Martin Luther King Jr..fbi.conspiracy/>.

Coleman, Christina. "Deputy Director For White House Education Initiative: Black Lives Matter Is "On The Tongues" Of The Obama Administration." News One RSS. News One RSS, 21 Sept. 2015. Web. 21 Nov. 2015. <http://newsone.com/3188891/white-house-black-lives-matter-obama-administration/>.

Duke, Alan. "Rare Recording of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Talking about John F. Kennedy Released." Fox13nowcom. CNN, 20 Jan. 2014. Web. 05 Dec. 2015. <http://fox13now.com/2014/01/20/rare-recording-of-martin-luther-king-jr-talking-about-john-f-kennedy-released/>.

Everett, Burgess, and Seung Min Kim. "Gun Measures Fail in Senate." POLITICO. Politico, 3 Dec. 2015. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/12/gun-amendment-democrats-216389>.

Harris, Gardiner, and Michael D. Shear. "Obama Condemns ‘Routine’ of Mass Shootings, Says U.S. Has Become Numb." <i>The New York Times</i>. The New York Times, 01 Oct. 2015. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/02/us/obama-oregon-shooting-umpqua-community-college-gun-control.html?_r=0>.

Karson, Jill. "(1963) George Wallace, "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever" | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." (1963) George Wallace, "Segregation Now, Segregation Forever" | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Blackpast.org, 2003. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <http://www.blackpast.org/1963-george-wallace-segregation-now-segregation-forever>.

Libelson, Dana, and Ryan J. Reilly. "Inside Hillary Clinton's Meeting With Black Lives Matter." Huffpost Politics. N.p., 9 Oct. 2015. Web. 2 Dec. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/black-lives-matter-hillary-clinton_56180c44e4b0e66ad4c7d9fa>.

Lillis, Mike. "Black Lawmakers Back Disruptions of Sanders, Democrats' Events." TheHill. N.p., 13 Aug. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2015. <http://thehill.com/homenews/house/250993-black-lawmakers-stand-behind-disruptions-of-sanders-dem-events>.

Merica, Dan. "Hillary Clinton Speaks with Black Lives Matter Activists - CNNPolitics.com." CNN. Cable News Network, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.

New York Post,. 'Black Lives Matter won't endorse presidential candidate'. 2015. 2 Dec. 2015 <http://nypost.com/2015/09/19/black-lives-matter-wont-endorse-presidential-candidate/>.

"Pickler Memorial Library." FBI File on Martin Luther King. Truman State University, 2014. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <https://library.truman.edu/microforms/martin_luther_king.asp>.

"President Obama Defends Black Lives Matter Movement." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 23 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 Dec. 2015. <http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-barack-obama-defends-black-lives-matter-movement/>.

Reuters, Thomas. "Civil Rights: Law and History - FindLaw." Findlaw. N.p., 2015. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <http://civilrights.findlaw.com/civil-rights-overview/civil-rights-law-and-history.html>.

Staff, ESPN. "FIFA Corruption Investigation May Lead to More Indictments - Attorney General." <i>ESPNFC.com</i>. ESPN, 14 Sept. 2014. Web. 06 Dec. 2015. <http://www.espnfc.us/fifa-world-cup/story/2611725/fifa-corruption-investigation-could-lead-to-more-indictments>.

Stanford University. "Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963)." Kennedy, John Fitzgerald (1917-1963). The Martin Luther King, Jr.Stanford University’s The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2015. <http://kingencyclopedia.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/encyclopedia/enc_kennedy_john_fitzgerald_1917_1963/>.

Tani, Maxwell. "Hillary Clinton Had a 'candid' Hour-long Meeting with Black Lives Matter Activists about Racial Injustice." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 10 Oct. 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2015.

"The Kennedys and Civil Rights." PBS. PBS, 2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2015. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/kennedys-and-civil-rights/>.

Party of the third Party

2015-11-29T22:53:00.001-08:00

If you are going to love a dreamer

You can not be controlling

You can not be manipulative

their spirit

their passion

would be sacrificed

because of their love for you

because of their love of you

it would be because of you

love ultimately fermented into resent and hate

dreams turned to nightmares at the very mention of your existence

You can not be weak

You can not be moveable

Their fire

their vision

would juggernaut the mightiest of the weary

tears shed in the quiet of the dark

desires whispered in the secret of shadows

would never be known to them

The dreamer is Blind

not deaf

not dumb

If you are going to love a dreamer

You must be courageous

You must be adventurous

To love a dreamer is to bed risk

To love a dreamer is to set a permanent place for gamble

the acknowledgement of chance

the acceptance of failure

Loving a dreamer is to know

the only place of honor

is not with them

is with the dream

Loving a dreamer is to know

the only pedestal

is not for them

is reserved for the dream

Loving a dreamer is to know

they will love you

position their lives around you

but their purpose

their only purpose

is the dream

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Birth Place

2015-11-27T08:39:00.001-08:00

I want to know more than one

Haitian

I want to know more than three

Jamaicans

I want to meet Nigerians that speak

Igbo

Kenyans that laugh at the Swahili I learned in Berkeley

Ugandans that correct my Mandarin

Tanzanians that teach me how to say it in Cantonese

I want to tour the holy city Ile-Ife

trace the pilgrimage path of Mansa Musa

then circle back to Timbuktu

See the reminders of Aksum

See the remainders of Kmt

Touch the Earth and envision the buildings that my ancestors constructed

thousands of years before they were invaded thousands of times

leaving the still standing walls that others never believed were thousands of years old

till their, “science” said so

I want to board a barge in the south and flow north with the Nile

I wonder what eight others will join me

I want to walk the same trail

that was the first trail

compare my foot print

to the first foot print

The vision I see

The things I want to do

The escape I want to take

Isnt one that is new

Its one that is old

so old that its in the blood

in the very fabric and design

of all that claim

Human

What I want is a realization

a reawakening

of my genetic inheritance

of my ancestral birthright

What calls me is the land so old

its true name

its original tongue

is the only

can only

be labeled

The First

There

that is what calls to me

There

that is what pushes me

that is the very intangible force that pulsates my heart

pumping the blood through my veins

That place that is forever older than old

yet

In a constant state of

Reconstruction

Recreation

Revelation

Renovation

Revitalization

Revolution

I want to breath the air in that place that is always in a state of newness

I want to feel the frequency in that place

where there are as many words for new

as there are people to speak them

That is the place

That is the space

That is

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Accidently Whished Upon A Star

2015-11-11T15:10:00.001-08:00

You scare the shit out of me

I know

I've said this before

So many things

about you

just like new

So many things

about you

just like old

There is enough mystery

about you

to where I am reminded of lifetimes

before you

Them's, We's, Us'

before you

There is enough mystery

about you

to where I can not foresee how this could end

but I know that is the lie I want to

I always try to

force into being truth

I haven’t learned not to like that yet.

The cards keep giving me

moons, chariots, and wheels of faith

I just want to see the lover

It could be that

I know it’s not

you

It could be that

I want it to be

you

so I'll just leave it up to

you

©Christopher F. Brown 2015

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Assassination of Sight

2015-11-11T14:28:00.001-08:00

In this world

Weeds are worshiped as beautiful

Roses are cast to compost as a vulgarity

In this world

Worms matter the most

consuming roses

one of their favorite past times

one of their favorite foods

The greater the weed’s ability

to choke the rose

the greater the weed’s glory

In this world

Roses are hated

especially their thorns.

©Christopher F. Brown 2015

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Crazy For Me

2015-11-08T10:03:00.001-08:00

The so called, “Negro Spiritual”

invented on hot fields of cotton and tobacco

birthed of blood, whips, and sweat

tears served no purpose.

The, “Blues”

came with freedom

that wasn’t really free

that could be taken at a moment’s notice

that wasn’t guaranteed

only those that were actually

free

could even understand

could even care

“Jazz”

Jazz is funny

Jazz came into the world

smiling

in the rain.

©Christopher F. Brown 2015

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The African American is Dead; Long live the African

2015-11-08T09:20:00.001-08:00

The African American

has had their time

has had their place

They have bled out every drop of blood

They have emptied every duct purposed for tear

They have broken

every bone

constructed and combined to form a back

The African American

has long dreamt dreams

days yet to come

days gone by

The African American has to awaken to their reality

die to their fantasy

We are:

Africans

America

Africans

The Diaspora

Africans

Are

©Christopher F. Brown 2015

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Sound Of A Butterfly

2015-09-19T18:46:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I've liked anything

New

Pac died

One of the Krazies turned Christian

The sickest of the sickmade is laying in a hospital bed.

They made a movie about nwa

And it made hella money

made me laugh

I remember when they banned them from the radio.

I remember when I had to sneak and listen to my sister's tape

the technique of the immortal one remains strong

On a cloud I called grown

I meditated with my blackness

had relations with the blues

made love to R&B

accepted Jazz as my personal musical savoir.

still

I never forgot

my first

love

I never fell out of love with

my first

love

yet

everything new

except a few

was just bullshit

then one day

high up

floating on that grown cloud

I got confused.

I knew what I saw but

I dint know they made sound

One day

I heard a butterfly

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Murica

2015-09-12T18:32:00.001-07:00

They say,

"America loves a winner."

I ask,

"Why doesn't America like Serena?"

They say,

"America loves an underdog?"

I ask,

"Why doesn't America like Serena?"

They say,

"America loves a good fight and fighter."

I say,

"I already know why but would you,

America,

ever admit

Just once.

You know what,

Nevermind."

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“No Name in The Street” by James Baldwin: A review

2015-08-28T09:40:00.001-07:00

“No Name in The Street” is the title given to a work of art James Baldwin penned in 1972. This production of a master wordsmith chronicles certain events of his life up until that point. It’s poignant that the words he forged 42 years ago are still razor sharp and piercing in regards to the times and issues of today. His words then, as they are now, are glowing red hot concerning the issues of today. It is a great failing of American society and culture that these words, this wisdom titled “No Name in The Street” has been meat in the pot of American sub consciousness for nearly half a century, and the same words are still said and still, fall on deaf ears and dead hearts. The same passionate reactions and same pin point accuracy that “No Name in The Street” voiced about race relations, police brutality, and the injustice of the American system labeled justice, has not changed. The attitudes that birth and nurse these demons of society have only evolved and added technological ways of camouflaging themselves, but the same bitter and rotten blood that Baldwin wrote of still pumps vigorously through America’s veins.

I would not say that is an autobiography in the traditional, or what a publisher would ask for sense. “No name in The Street” does not follow the liner path that has become the rule-of-law prescribed to modern and most autobiographies. The book does open with him writing about his childhood but what he does write about circles the relationship between his older brother and father. The book then jumps about twenty years or so to his time in France, witnessing the brutality that Algerians were suffering. Baldwin, like Langston Hughes, marveled at how well the French treated him as a Blackman from America, shellshockingly different from the treatment he had received in America. Baldwin, like Langston, soon came to see that was only spared the tragedy of American style hate in this society because at that time in France it was already in use and they focused it upon North Africans. Baldwin, like Langston, eventually had enough and could not idle hemisphere away while witnessing a people not his own suffer like his people whom were being brutalized in America and eventually left.

In “No Name in The Street” Baldwin gives praise to the Black Panthers, something that very few black public figures did at all at that time and rarely ever did openly. He addresses how the police were constantly on guard and the instigators with the panthers. How the media painted the panthers as violet gun totters but never spoke of the community programs that were started by the panthers. Baldwin even wrote about how it frustrated the police that the panthers were not in possession, even in the smallest amount, of the fear that the they attempted to instill. Baldwin also speaks of his depression having spoken with Malcolm X and Martin Luther King face to face weeks and even days before they both were assassinated. He wrote that the new suit he brought to meet Martin and then for an event with Malcolm also became the suit he wore to their funerals and how he could never bring himself to ever wear that suit again. The suit also became an entry way back into the neighborhood he grew up in and showed him how much he had transitioned from what people thought they knew about him to what was actually the truth about him.

By Christopher F. Brown

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Hip Hop from the artist perspective. This is interview I conducted at thelegengspanel.com, go check it out

2015-08-16T08:14:00.001-07:00

http://www.thelegendspanel.com/entertainment-blog/hip-hop-started-in-the-heart-and-is-still-there-an-interview-with-the-artist-y-jelal-laluddin-huyler

Ghosts In Shells

2015-08-07T01:40:00.001-07:00

in between shadows

the sounds of quiet in the night

riding the backs of afternoon breezes

caressing the cold outsides of windows

existing as someone

other

Something

other

only in touch

only in sound

a hand on the back of a neck

its not there

pressure and heat compressed against lips

its not there

memories of fragrances navigating auras

They are not there

fires by moonlight

rivers deep beneath earthen floors

lingering far beyond the time

the time to begone

It's over

still

It's not done

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A Parsec Away

2015-08-04T14:45:00.001-07:00

On the planet where I live

gambling and narcissism

are recognized for the diseases they are

racism and homophobia

that's just people being people

Here

having a conversation with some is battle

mental exhibition bouts with jaw juggernauts

most only listen for their position to pounce

Never hearing a thing

favors and helping hands

well laid traps and plans sewing deeply rooted weeds

intended to bind over time

your worth is assessed by how much value you can acquire for other

animals are measured greater than people

it makes sense

People have yet to meet or even be human

Here

I'm not the type of Blackman you see on TV

six feet tall maybe taller over three hundred pounds

a well-read autodidact master of many things

On the planet where I live

that is considered a threat

Here

the goal is to populate Mars

before the pollution on Earth becomes inhospitable

to the people of Earth

after all

Mars is ours for the taking

Here

you're supposed to mow your neighbor's lawn

while your back yard is overgrown

while your kitchen burns down

On the planet where I live

all of this is common knowledge

some say sense

It's spoken of and considered

immoral and deplorable

Here

if you exist in any different or other way

you're labeled

one of the crazies and shunned

you’re supposed to know its wrong

not admit to it

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VIP

2015-08-02T07:55:00.001-07:00

I’m not one for

Status and Privilege

I don’t want or need to be

Exclusively VIP

I don’t need a special thing

Just for me

Just because

Yes

I am a unique and wonderful creature

Yes

I can do many things most can’t

Yes

Some times

Most times

I’m the only one

We all possess god given abilities

Natural unlearned talents

the cheetah naturally being seven steps ahead of its prey

the sun issuing forth heat and light

Tell me

When you look across the hunting ground

do you not see the pack of hyena

When you gaze upon the night sky

Hypnotized by the twinkling stars

Do you see only one

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3rd radio spot

2015-05-29T14:51:00.001-07:00

Here is my 3rd time on the radio with Chris Stroffolino and Monae Dawson at9th Floor Radio. thank you again for having me back

http://www.9thfloorradio.com/yaketyyak/2015/5/28/05-28-15

Partially Other

2015-05-29T14:09:00.003-07:00

ninety-five percent of life is subject

choice and change

that five percent

is mostly formed by birth

this five percent

is mostly formed in childhood

I keep saying

but they don’t trust

its fine

they keep asking me

why don’t you do that

this way

why don’t you make this

that way

they don’t understand

or believe

maybe

its part of the five

I keep asking them

what if we did this

that way

why don’t we make that

this way

they don’t believe

or understand

maybe

its part of the ninety-five

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