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America – The New Third World? -- August 2010
I thought I had seen it all during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when thousands of people waited for days at the convention center for a drink of water, where some of them died in the hot sun and the rancid water, where thousands more were holed up in the Superdome in conditions that rivaled foreign prisons, and where many who were looking for food in order to survive were accused of looting and subsequently shot down like stray dogs. I thought I had seen it all when people were herded off to places unknown, into other stadiums in other cities where, according to Barbara Bush, things were “working very well for them.” I thought I had heard it all when those affected were referred to as “refugees.”
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The Steele Trap March 2010
I have heard it all: A black man saying we need to “take our country back.” I thought I’d heard it all when the same guy said, “a million dollars is not a lot money” after taxes. And before that, when he said he would lure Blacks into the Republican Party with “fried chicken and potato salad,” I thought this guy was auditioning for Comedy Central. But then again, most of us understand the strategy here: Put a black face out front, no substance, no power, just image. It’s another in a long line of traps – this one is a Steele trap.
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A Rising Tide Lifts all Boats - April 2 010
You’ve heard the saying; it was made famous by John F. Kennedy to suggest that an increase in a particular region’s wealth would enhance the overall wealth of the entire country. Ronald Reagan and his minions came along and used the same aphorism to suggest that an increase in individual wealth, namely through tax cuts, would result in a “Trickling-Down” of prosperity to the poor (Supply-Side Economics). Now we hear the phrase being uttered by President Barack Obama – I wonder what he means by it.
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Paying the price for squandering resources -- April 2010
The latest cases of two Black multi-millionaire NBA stars who now find themselves in dire financial straits follow a long line of misguided, uninformed or ill-informed, unprepared, and self-absorbed brothers (and some sisters) who squandered their financial resources. It is sad to see Kenny Anderson and Antoine Walker suffering from the consequences of their ineptness, ignorance, and cavalier attitudes when it comes to their money and their fame.
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Introspection -- July 2010
What has this country become since Barack Obama was elected President? Or, has it always been this way? Where have all the evil, vicious, malcontents been hiding for 100 years? Or, have they been here all the time? How is it that we have not achieved that state of nirvana so many talked about on January 20, 2009? Or, is it really unreachable?
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Is Your Net Working? A Tribute to George Fraser -- July 2010
I posed the same question in an article I wrote in 1994; it was dedicated to the brother who has made his mark in networking and is now called the “Guru” in that regard. Of course, as I was then, I am talking about George Fraser. To the vast majority of those who have read my column over the years, George needs no introduction. So I’ll just get right into my comments about this phenomenal brother whom I have known for two decades now, and a brother who does what he tells others to do, “Stay the course.”
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The Hazards of Greed - Death and Destruction -- June 2010
An oil rig explodes and 11 persons lose their lives in the inferno. As we watch the daily news constantly showing the oil gushing from the pipe a mile down in the Gulf of Mexico, as well as the crude lapping against the marshlands of Louisiana, and now threatening Alabama and Mississippi, and maybe even both coasts of Florida, the prognostications are even worse. Of course, the political shenanigans are at play, and the politicians who are least affected by this tragedy are spouting off about how they “feel” for the folks on the Gulf Coast.
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How about getting a Black person on the Supreme Court? -- May 2010
It’s been a long time since Thurgood Marshall served on the highest court in the land; I think it’s time we get another Black person on the bench. We have a “Black” president who has now nominated two females, one white and Jewish, and one Hispanic and Catholic. Now we have six Catholics and three Jews on the Court, and no Blacks or so-called Protestants, the most prevalent religious segment in the United States. Hmmm.
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Economics is Local - February 2010
The economic problems we face are right in our own backyards. Unfortunately, until our problems reach crisis level we are content to engage in spirited conversations and philosophical diatribes about the likes of Tiger Woods, a billionaire who could not care less about the economic plight of Black people. We live vicariously through super rich entertainers, many of whom would not even stop to shake hands with us if we met them on the street. We get lost in the euphoria of having a Black President, arguing about his issues and his battles in DC, rather than dealing with our own in hometown USA.
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The Palin Mystique February 2010
I thought we had seen it all after a Trenton, New Jersey sixth grader had to teach the Vice President of the United States, Dan Quayle, that potato is not spelled with an “e” on the end. But then we had eight years of Dubya and his malapropisms. Now we have Sarah Palin, no, not elected yet, but waiting in the wings. Someone said, “Get all the fools on your side, and you can be elected to anything.” The more I watch politics, the more that statement rings true. To even think for a minute that this country could actually have a President named Sarah Palin causes me to get my passport in order.
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Since when has eating become looting? 01/18/10
It’s like Yogi Berra said, “Déjà vu all over again.” We saw it in New Orleans, when the cameras caught the white couple in the act of “finding” food and the Black people in the act of “stealing” food. Now in Haiti, we see reports of “looting” by the citizens as they forage for food to survive. I wonder if those reporters have heard of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory. Not excusing criminal behavior, but c’mon, brothers and sisters. If you get hungry and desperate enough you will engage in what is deemed as criminal behavior.
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A case against Noneconomic Liberalism -- December 2009
A term made popular by the venerable Harold Cruse, noneconomic liberalism is a social strategy which focuses upon political empowerment without adequate attention to economic empowerment. The nascent NAACP, according to Dr. Khalid Tariq Al-Mansour, in his book, Betrayal by Any Other Name, wrote into its constitution a prohibition against owning land. Mansour goes on to describe a call by William English Walling, a white Southern journalist with liberal views on race, for the achievement of “absolute political and social equality” for Negroes. Sound familiar?
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Strange Bedfellows -- December 2009
At first I could not believe it. On Deck Capital and the National Urban League (NUL) formed a joint venture to make loans in “urban” areas with high concentrations of “minority” businesses. As I read the details of this relationship I grew more and more disturbed at the relationship between these strange bedfellows.
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Take heed of the greed. November 2009
Corruption, exploitation, usury, selfishness, and unmitigated greed among our political and corporate leaders are running rampant and are at an all-time high. No need to recount the litany of dastardly deeds; we have seen enough scenes of embarrassed CEO’s led to jail in handcuffs, as well as crying and lying politicians slobbering through their mea culpas for theft-in-office, adultery, and bribery.
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Building Bigger Barns November 2009
Anyone familiar with the Book of Luke (Chapter 12) will recall the passage about the young man who had accumulated so much “stuff” and decided to tear down his old barns and build bigger ones in which to store his “stuff.” In other words, he had great excess and was not the least bit interested in sharing it or using it to glorify God. The young man was so proud of what he thought was his own accomplishment – accumulating so much material wealth – that he never considered the temporary nature of earthly treasure, nor how he could use his treasure to help others.
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