Hello Bloggers, I’m so glad you are continuing to not only blog, but are actually engaging in discussions that are so very vital not only to your growth and but to the stability of our country. It really doesn’t matter if you are a Democrat, Republican, Progressive, Independent, Conservative or a Tea Bagger, in this country you have the right to free speech, whether I agree with you or whether you agree with me. If we can just agree to disagree, maybe we can attempt to solve the problems of this country without the polarization, hate and vitriolic behavior.

My comment regarding “Strange Fruit” was highlighted in the final comments in my Blog dated September 4,2011, “Will the polarization of our country ever end”. It is my hope that some of you will already remember and know this comment. But as I continue, I need to add a warning to my remaining comments, which are sometimes initiated by the TV commentators, ” The following maybe offensive to those who continue to view the following content”.

“Strange Fruit,” is from a poem written by a Jewish high-schooler from the Bronx N.Y., Abel Meeropol, was sung and released in 1939, by the famous Black singer, Billie “Lady Day” Holiday, probably the first great Jazz vocalist of her time. Holiday had a very troubled life, raped at 11 years old, prostitute at 14, drug and alcohol addiction, sent to prison in her teens and finally her death at age 44 years old. When she sang the song, it brought tears to her eyes and tears to the eyes of every one who knew the meaning of the song.

If you Google the name Billie Holiday, you can hear her haunting and emotional rendition of the song!! YOU WILL BE MOVED!!!! Maybe it is ironic that Meeropol wrote the poem during the period of the persecution of Jews in Germany in the middle of 1930’s and the eventual extermination of 6,000,000 Jews by Hitler.

“Southern trees bearing strange fruit. Blood on the leaves and blood at the root. Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees. Pastoral scene of the Gallant South, the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth. Scent of magnolia sweet and fresh and then sudden smell of burning flesh. Here is a fruit for the Crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck, for the sun to rot, for a tree to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop”.

The Black Congressman referred to in my blog, was reliving in his mind, the factual history of how his ancestors were treated, as less than human beings, who were lynched, burned and brutalized in this country because of the color of their skin. He was telling the extremist element of the Tea Party, again he was talking about some, not all members of the Tea Party, that their preaching of racial hatred, reminded him of the days when ” Strange Fruit” was hanging from the trees.

Some will say that this is OLD news, but when white teenagers recently beat, ran over with a pickup truck , laughed and expressed joy at killing a “Nigger”, how far have we really come??? This incident happened only a few months ago in Mississippi.

Now is again the time to decide if you want to read on!!! I have attached an iconic photo taken by Lawrence Beitler in 1930 in Marion, Indiana. It vividly illustrates the “STRANGE FRUIT.” The Black men were falsely accused by a white teenager of rape after they allegedly killed her white boy friend. The rape was found to be a lie. This photo allegedly sold thousands of copies and was made into postcards to show off civic pride and white supremacy!! Most of the lynchings of this type actually occurred in the South ie. Emmett Till. ( taken from http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/lynching-of-young-blacks/)

Lynching of Young Blacks photo

Now focus on the faces of the white mob. They look like they are at a picnic, smiling, pointing and laughing. Is this where we are going?? Can we collectively do something to prevent these types of incidents?? Someone once said, “IF NOT NOW, WHEN!!!!” The Hatred and Vitriolic Comments are only producing more divisions in our society and the political divide is only adding fuel to the fire. Can an explosion be on the horizon?? Keep communicating, keep thinking and Keep Blogging.

I think this is very important, not only for you older adults, young adults, but for our future generations. The mantle needs to be passed for our survival. Keep reading, communicating and blogging!!

BILL HAS DONE IT AGAIN,and again,and again,and….

‘They’re standing on the corner and they can’t speak English.

I can’t even talk the way these people talk:

Why you ain’t,
Where you is,
What he drive,
Where he stay,
Where he work,
Who you be…

And I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk.

And then I heard the father talk.

Everybody knows it’s important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can’t be a doctor with that kind of junk coming out of your mouth
In fact you will never get any kind of job making a decent living.

People marched and were hit in the face with rocks to get an Education, and now we’ve got these knuckleheads walking around.

The lower economic people are not holding up their end in this deal.

These people are not parenting. They are buying things for kids.

$500 sneakers for what?

And they won’t spend $200 for Hooked on Phonics.

I am talking about these people who cry when their son is standing there in an orange suit.

Where were you when he was 2?

Where were you when he was 12?

Where were you when he was 18 and how come you didn’t know that he had a pistol?

And where is the father? Or who is his father?

People putting their clothes on backward:
Isn’t that a sign of something gone wrong?

People with their hats on backward, pants down around the crack, isn’t that a sign of something?

Isn’t it a sign of something when she has her dress all the way up and got all type of needles [piercing] going through her body?

What part of Africa did this come from??

We are not Africans. Those people are not Africans; they don’t know a thing about Africa …..

I say this all of the time. It would be like white people saying they are European-American. That is totally stupid.

I was born here, and so were my parents and grand parents and, very likely my great grandparents. I don’t have any connection to Africa, no more than white Americans have to Germany , Scotland , England , Ireland , or the Netherlands . The same applies to 99 percent of all the black Americans as regards to Africa . So stop, already! ! !

With names like Shaniqua, Taliqua and Mohammed and all of that craziness……… And all of them are in jail.

Brown or black versus the Board of Education is no longer the white person’s problem.

We have got to take the neighborhood back.

People used to be ashamed. Today a woman has eight children with eight different ‘husbands’ — or men or whatever you call them now.

We have millionaire football players who cannot read.

We have million-dollar basketball players who can’t write two paragraphs. We, as black folks have to do a better job.

Someone working at Wal-Mart with seven kids, you are hurting us.

We have to start holding each other to a higher standard..

We cannot blame the white people any longer.’
Dr.. William Henry ‘Bill’ Cosby, Jr., Ed..D.

WELL SAID, BILL
It’s NOT about color…

It’s about behavior!!!

PASS THIS ON AROUND THE WORLD!!!!!!

Hello Bloggers here is another article that is sure to reach some of you and your personal thoughts. As always can’t wait for all of your comments. Happy blogging!!

Obama Faces Historic Threats, Former Secret Service Agent Says

read more

Hello Bloggers!! It has been awhile since I last posted and it feels good to be back talking to all of you. I was in my home town, Chicago ( in Tinley Park, Ill) a few weeks ago at a very nice book signing for my book “The Two Edged Sword”. It was hosted by a fabulous woman Linda Davis of Davis Elegant Events and 16 different book clubs were in attendance. The Clubs were from all over the country. It was heart warming to be in the presence of so many wonderful women, who are not only sharing life experiences but reading and reading and reading. Some stated they would rather read than SHOP!! Wait, only a few made that statement:):):)This is so needed in this country, to share the knowledge gleaned from this venue and to passed it on to our future generations. Keep it up Ladies!! However, the one problem I did noticed, where are the men’s book clubs?? Come on guys, stand up and be counted, our kids need you to help them become better people. Least us not forget, our prisons are populated with guys who probably didn’t have enough mentors and readers to point them in the right direction. Our woman can’t do it alone, although they are trying. Ladies you are BEAUTIFUL!!

Comment: recently the news has been filed with yet other stories of polarization in our society. A Black congressman from Indiana made a statement, at a Congressional Black Caucus event, about some members of Congress, who owe their election to the Tea Party Movement, “would love to see us as second class citizens. Some of them in Congress right now would love to see you and me … hanging on a tree”. (Focus on the use of the words “SOME OF THEM”), he was talking about and identifying the extremist in the Tea Party Movement who have had no problem spewing hatred and vitriolic venom towards the President, depicting him and his family as chimpanzees and even spitting on black members of Congress.

From the other side, you have a white Congressman from Illinois, who not only stated he wasn’t going to attend the President’s speech next week on trying to produce JOBS, but he also called the President an Idiot.This individual also supports a portion of the Tea Party agenda for fiscal responsibility, yet owes over $100,000 in back child support for his own kids. And he talks about hypocrisy!!!

So who is right?? Since they both have the right of free speech, we need to examine their thought process and how their statements may or may not have any resemblance to any facts.

First let’s examine the statements of the Congressman from Illinois. Both Political Parties are talking about JOBS!! The Country is hurting, unemployment is over 9% and almost 16% in the black community and here he is he stating he is going to boycott the speech?? What was he sent to Congress for?? Does he hate this President so much that his disrespecting the office of President means more to him than trying to find a solution to this country predicament?? Second he called the President an idiot. This statement requires no explanation but let me try!! The President is a Harvard Graduate, was President of the Harvard Law Review, a community organizer, a U.S. Senator and now President of the United States. Who is the real idiot!?! Although he is now trying to dial it back and issued a lame apology, the utmost inner feeling of this man is exposed and he can’t dial it back, no matter how hard he tries. He is now only trying to be politically correct, but that racist attitude is still festering inside of him. That attitude is what the Black Congressman was referring to…… Going back to Jim Crow laws and the hanging from trees of black people who were lynched in the south because they were considered less than a human being, property if you will!!

Now let’s examine what the Black Congressman thought processes were. Unlike the white congressman, the black congressman is reliving the dark history of racism that his ancestors were subjected to. White people have never walked an inch in a black persons shoes, to know how it felt to be a slave, persecuted, demonized, treated less than a human being and yes, even murdered just because of the color of ones skin. The Black Congressman was pointing out the recent incidents of horrible behavior against people who they believe are inferior to them and definitely should not be allowed to hold the office of President of the United States.

Again he was not calling out all Tea Baggers, just the certain ones who are extremist who “want their country back” and go back to the good old days of segregation, unequal treatment and slavery.

So, in conclusion, the Black Congressman was sending out a warning that the extremist behavior will not be met with silence, but with vigorous candor. It’s a message that should also be sent out by the non-extremist of the tea party, that such vicious, vitriolic attacks on any person, will have no place in their movement. Some, not all, means just that.

Yes, the black congressman was harsh in his description of the Tea Party, but someone told me along time ago and it is appropriate to this discussion: IF THE SHOE FITS!!!

My next blog will be on another topic that is in line with this post. It is about the meaning of the Black Congressman words ” hanging on a tree”. Think of the great jazz singer Billie Holiday’s rendition of ” STRANGE FRUIT”!! Keep Blogging!!