In Memoriam of Trayvon Martin

PETITION FOR JUSTICE  


Video Transcript: Suspicious, written by Cheryl Williams a.k.a Bornscorpion (2012)

I know

I know what’s on your mind

You think that we have too much time

Blast from a watchmen's gun

Closing credits after Sanford’s son

There you are in a room

Watching

Thinking it's doomed

Flowers in bloom next to death's young groom

You think it’s over

Gone too soon

Time it flies

Like dragons in dark skies

Hearken

The fire of goodbye on our tongue

For his life had only just begun

Foul men acting on a whim

Again and again

Between black and white

Lies the gray area where no one wins

Meanwhile, lady liberty in all her glory

Blind eyes & untold stories wherein the purgatory between “just us”

I know

I know what's on your mind

You think that we have too much time

To dream

Take on the plight despite loss

Fight for the sake of human rights at all cost

No justice

No peace

I know

I know you are in a room

Watching

Thinking you’re doomed

The memory of death’s young groom

Haunts you like a thousand grim reapers

You think it’s over  

It’s only just begun...

Black History: Sojourner Truth

 

A Biography of Sojourner Truth 
by Cheryl Williams

It was the dawn of a new day. On the cusp of the 19th century, and a young America rose starry-eyed with religious fervor and abolitionism during the Second Great Awakening – and so forth did an unlikely heroine rise to the occasion as well. Isabella Baumfree reinvented herself, Sojourner Truth – the willful, passionate, charismatic, Bible toting ex-slave with a self-proclaimed calling. An ordained mission that came with every good intention to “make the nation rock like a cradle” if mired against her life’s pursuit; pioneering subjugated blacks and women alike out of the antebellum dark ages of slavery and women’s suffrage, into spiritual enlightenment and sovereignty. 

Black History Month: A Closer Look

In America, November is Native American Heritage Month. Likewise, February is Black History Month... African-Americans enjoy a whole 29 days of fame and seemingly obligatory adoration. Admittedly, when it comes to "history months" I am on the fence. In my opinion, they are well intended but fall short of glory. In reality, the very premise behind "history months" is to highlight the significant actions of a particular minority as opposed to the majority in an effort to signify and facilitate cultural equality. This cultural conundrum is explained by one of my favorite entertainment bloggers, Lincoln Blades of This Is Your Conscience. In a recent post, If You are Celebrating Black History Month You Really DON'T Care About Black History At All he holds no punches stating "...I would rather see our contribution to history be fully IGNORED than recognized as ONLY being worthy of one month of trivial recognition." A notion typified by your memory a la "Everybody Hates Chris" English teacher beginning a black history lesson with, "Kids, did you know a BLACK man invented peanut-butter!" Now, I do not agree the celebration of Black History Month in and of itself to be disingenuous (unless of course that's the ONLY time one gives a hoot about black history); but do agree with Blades overall take on the matter:

DISCUSSION:  If ANYONE quote/unquote "deserves" their due diligence in the form of equal representation within the United States it is the actual Native American/American Indian. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not? 

Hypothetically, let's say educational bias has been eradicated and diversity is equally represented and discussed in American History. Therefore, since everything is square... would it then be fair for Caucasians to have a dedicated "history month" in honor of their respective contributions to society? Or should all "history months" be essentially done away with since the premise for their existence is inherently resolved? 

Personally, I am proud of the fact our nation dedicated time to reflect, educate, and honor the plight and contributions of minorities. Yet, on the contrary disappointed that these very achievements are generally concentrated within their respective history months. Typically, an individual is cherished and recognized by their family members and friends year round but honored (per say) on their birthday, right? Well , in this same sense "history months" are like birthdays sort-of-speak. Likewise, [in Lincoln's words] it would be disingenuous if peeps neglected to show you any love or recognition until your birthday rolled around! Oddly enough, that's often a general complaint among people [lol]... but I digress. 

The public school system is the single most important catalyst for leveling the playing field among peoples of any society. An unbiased education helps diverse citizens better understand one another, facilitates racial tolerance and awareness. The United States isn't dubbed the "Melting Pot" because we have the secret to Bush's Baked Beans. As the nickname suggests, African American, Native American, Asian, Hispanic, Indian and Arab (yeah, I said it) Americans' plight and achievements are all an integral part to the fabric of our nation. These historical accounts are equally as important as those whose ancestors fled Europe (and should be honored as such). Yet, as it were such information was once a blip on the radar against a whitewash of European history & British colonialism ad nauseum. 

Unfortunately, this bias led to a polarized viewpoint of American history [as a whole] and in some cases, blatant unethical writing practices in our nation's history books. Recently, textbooks littered with inaccuracies were discovered in use within the classroom. "Our Virginia: Past and Present", is a fourth grade social studies book published by Five Ponds Press. In October 2011 the book was found to contain as many as 12 historical errors, including the description of non-existent battalions of Black confederate soldiers. Shockingly, after these findings the book was allowed back into the classroom. Instructors were encouraged "to used the [book's] errors to demonstrate to students that they should be skeptical of what they read (Grace Chen, History Gone Awry: Mistakes in Virginia's Public School Textbooks)." 

"For many education researchers, cultural bias in teaching is evidenced within various academic texts and modules across multiple academic domains (Baker, 2005, Loewen, 2007). Particularly in the United States, several researchers agree that most contributions to academic subject matter (i.e., history and social and natural sciences) are made by members of the majority race or culture (American Psychological Association, 2003; Gay, 2000; Rogoff, 2003) and much of the text throughout this subject matter is used to reinforce the superiority of this group (Loewen, 2007). Loewen (2007), for example, offers that most elementary and secondary U.S. history textbooks offer a romanticized view of the Europeans' experience in the United States whereas most of the experiences of Native Americans and/or Africans in these same lands are either misrepresented or underrepresented (Education.com)." 

Bottom line. Everyone has the right to a balanced and unequivocal education. Bias involves bureaucracy and sheer negligence but boils down to prejudice and the reinforcement of "white privilege" within our society; an issue "history months" (though well-intentioned) alone do not resolve. In light of Black History month, I urge African Americans/Blacks to be pro-active and resist complacence by minding the integrity of our history; ensuring it is neither misinterpreted or conveniently omitted. As a general rule, this goes for both minorities and whites. To the best of our ability, the history of mankind should be unadulterated as this knowledge is critical to human consciousness and evolution. Only then will "history months" live up to the expectation... because at the end of the day there's no honor without integrity. Throughout recent years the U.S. Department of Education has made initiatives to monitor the integrity of public schools, colleges, and universities -- including anti-bias curriculum (A.B.C), researching and correcting inaccuracies in curriculum, culturally responsive classroom instruction, and fair representation of minorities in textbooks.

Imagine A World Without Free Knowledge Wikipedia Warns...

The writing is on the wall...in zeros and ones.

Arguably, the 2011 occupy movement and the like signal the cusp of a revolution for some and a something else for others. Whispers of Armageddon or an epiphany of epic proportions dawning over the masses only add to speculation about the year ahead. An "epiphany" that may have very well been sparked by a gem we like to call the World Wide Web. Which is epic in and of itself.  I'd expressed in a prior post, how the 21st century is The Fifth Great Awakening in American history.  The past few years alone have been fancied "The Age of Enlightenment".  Tomato. To-mah-toe. It's all relative. Nonetheless, the face of the free world has and is continually changing... and change is rarely a smooth transition as chaos is the mother of order. 

So, what could be worse than a world without Twinkies? A world without a useful Internet. In the mid 90's the dot-com boom was born. Fast forward a decade later and the Internet is already on skid row facing dot-com crash.  According to a recent Wikipedia blackout on the English version of their website -- typed across a bleak, black and grey homepage reads, ''...U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet." As of January 18, 2012 traditional use of the site is blocked for 24 hours.  Wikipedia is one of many sites including giants Google and Yahoo.com to be affected by new legislation and are actively protesting.  

What legislation? Well, the keyword here is censorship. The legislation is Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). The catalyst to this legislation -- and what social media companies are touting as a "China-scale censorship" of the United States Internet -- is piracy. Piracy is the illegal practice of online file-sharing. In relation to copyright infringement and sales; understandably, the entertainment industry is spearheading the anti-piracy initiative on Capitol Hill. Specifically, with PIPA. 

"However, in the name of intellectual-property rights, media companies have enlisted a bipartisan chunk of Congress to pass anti-piracy legislation weighted irrationally in their favor. Copyright holders want to give themselves and the U.S. Department of Justice the power to block websites accused of infringement. They want to force Internet service providers to create a wall between their customers and these websites. They want to force banks and payment services like PayPal to cut off these websites’ money. They want the websites removed from search results and to ban people from linking to them. And all of that, without any kind of formal hearing. The measures won’t stop copyright infringement. The Internet, and the flow of information, will find a way around any dam the entertainment industry tries to put up. But as ineffective as the measure may be, to continue with the metaphor, the dams themselves will do serious damage to the ecology of the web." --San Diego CityBeat, Staff (click here for full article)

Wikipedia stands firm and warns all end users of what they believe is at stake; asking visitors to "Imagine a world without free knowledge". A nightmare if you're an information junkie like myself. An the Internet is our main supplier. Yes. Poor analogy, but do you see what I'm getting at? Though the Internet can never replace good old-fashioned books or a telephone call for that matter; it is an invaluable asset and defined an important stride in modern technology and facilitating all manner of speech (and the First Amendment Right that comes along with it). Bottom line. I take the stance that piracy is wrong and should be dealt with accordingly. Yet, blind censorship of Internet would do much more harm than good.




LEARN MORE - Take action: 

http://americancensorship.org/

Revelation

Happy New Year folks! We made it! Cheers & Salutations~

SO, uh, in case anyone noticed my last written post was months ago.  Welp, didn't think anyone would start bitching b/c let's face it, I'm no Necole Bitchie lol; but I played hooky and slipped "Out of the Office" sort of speak. Towards the latter part of last year I realized a need for a mental hiatus from blogging for a time to recharge, reflect, and re access certain priorities, purposes, and plans. Suppose sensing the transition in my own life contrasted the urge to "do" moreso than "jot". I'm back in school and in the land of the working.  

I'm excited and anxious all in the same. Nevertheless, I decided to the put the sword down for awhile -- along with any guilt for simply allowing myself breaks in writing.  I was being hard on myself as usual but quite frankly, I wanted to muzzle my muse for the moment.  I've been on my soap box typing away since 2008 (with the creation of my main blog CKMag); using blogging and freelance writing as a catalyst I commenced to heal a battered self esteem, position some healthy challenges and feed an insatiable inquisition (which I pray will never go away). I soon realized my digging for truth against world corruption was a cry for help! LOL. I wasn't necessarily angry with the world -- well, perhaps I was b/c I'd felt abused and mistreated. However, I was disappointed with myself. I had let myself down and desperately wanted more for myself.

Fast forward. It's 2012... a new year with its own set of lessons, challenges, and blessings. Bottom line. Spiritually, mentally, emotionally, I  am a grown woman and can finally say with a doubt I KNOW MYSELF. I am centered with a plan and confident about my future b/c I KNOW I am able and in control through CHRIST who strengthens and guides me. And boy does it feel empowering to gain confidence and clarity. Again, I owe it all to GOD working on and within me.   This is my testimony and I have yet a way to go...he's with me every step of the way though, so should not fear or doubt. Two feelings that have held me back for waaaay too long!

As far as blogging and freelance writing... I know as I transition so will my creative focus and desires. As long as the LORD keeps my mind and body able I will write. There's no rush.  Again, Happy New Year, everyone. May this year bring forth good times, fortune, a sense of renewal and empowerment. We certainly have our work cut out for us as the winds of change are blowing ever, ever more. Remember, we have the power to harness that energy. GOD speed.