He Took Me Away: A Simple Reflection

April 24th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

Whenever things get tough in my life, I start to think back on the past.  I’ve learned there are no new lessons, just lessons learned the hard way and forgotten.  Even the most self-reflective person falls victim to apathy. And it is in this moment God hits you with a dose of reality.

He took me away.  I was only an infant and my mother was addicted to crack.  My father wasn’t ready to  be a single father, so he gave me away.  I found an Angel on earth.  God gave me my mother.

He took me away.  I was always one to question, so he sent me a pastor who welcomed debate.  In the youngest years of my religious up-bringing my pastor preached self-sufficiency, the power of faith, and an always open mind. I had a spiritual guide sent by God

He took me away.  In high school I got Honor Roll without even trying. I did the minimal to succeed and spent the rest of the time skipping. When I was forced to switch schools my junior year, I was awakened.  One old bald teacher asked questions that made me think, this was a foreign concept.  I was used to regurgitation. God blessed me with the true method of learning.

He took me away.  I was surrounded by conservatives that preach liberalism. Single mothers who pay all their bills on time will encourage you to get food stamps. First generation fathers convince their sons abortion is acceptable.  Former felon turned business owner proclaims “The man in trying to keep me down”.   God gave me a sense of humor for irony.

He took me away.  I love a bad boy. A crisp white tee, fresh braids, and an attitude to match.  Crohn’s stopped that fast.  It’s hard to deal with the drama of a hard-headed stubborn male when you spend every other week in the hospital.  God knows better than you, I’ll leave it at that.

He took me away.  Away from his church, away from school, away from my family and friends, and away from my own personal desires.  He took everything from me and I was left wondering what was next. For a long time, I wondered what was the purpose. Why did God put so much time and energy into guiding my life, even when I had turned from him?

Only now that God has built me back up do I understand the wisdom in his plan.  He knew I needed something strong in my life that wouldn’t let me stray to far and he blessed me with Mary. Before she gave birth to me, someone slipped something in her drink.  She hasn’t been right since.  Though I wasn’t perfect, I knew that my actions held consequences.

He knew his church wasn’t what it used to be.  At 16 I began to wonder why the church had never built anything.  Not to be funny but since I was 6 there was a building fund to buy land adjacent to the church.  My Grandmother forced me to attend meetings, so I know the county was selling the land to the church at a reduced price.  To this day, no land.  You get a message, with no real community outreach just judgement, criticism, and a collection plate.

He knew schools were no longer teaching the truth.  I did three book reports on Langston Hughes and was never told he was a Communist.  No books available to me at the time revealed this fact nor did any teacher correct my error.  And don’t even get me started on W.E.B.  I would love to ask just one English or History teacher for the truth about him and the Eugenics movement.

He knew I had surrounded myself with people who had already surrendered.  They are in the same place now as they were when I left.  No progress, no advancement just a bunch of complaints.  I love to talk so I have two options; complain or speak out.  When in Rome……..I’d still be there complaining.

He knew that when I set my mind on something I wanted, or something I wasn’t supposed to have, there was no stopping me.  Even to my own detriment.  The hardest transition is taking your personal desires and pushing them to the side to do God’s will. It leaves you wondering what could’ve been, if you don’t have the faith to put it all in God’s hands.

He took me away and he placed me in this bubble.  In this confined space I have reaffirmed my commitment to God, I’ve captured my history, I’ve build a new group of friends, and now I’m fighting the last step in the process.  Why?  I know what God has in store but I can’t help but want what I want.   God I am a work in progress.  Please keep your hands on me.

Racism vs Elitism: Which Game are You Playing?

April 19th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

This article is weeks in the making.  I’ve actually sat at the computer and started to write four time already, to no avail.  I really don’t want to write another race article, yet God has put it on my heart  so here we go.

What is Racism?  Dictionary Definition- a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.   WOW! 

This leads me to all sorts of questions.   Let’s start with America’s most known racist, the KKK.   The Ku Klux Klan was created by Democrats after the Civil War.   After the Confederates defeat, there were a lot of soldiers and land owners who wanted to maintain White Supremacy.   Why?  If they we’re really Racist, they would be unafraid of giving blacks their freedom.  In fact, they were cowards afraid to compete.

Just think about it.  These white men had been taught their whole lives that they were the cream of the crop.  They were the race that God put here to dominate America but in their heart of hearts, they knew better.  They had seen the Black Men in the fields and they knew they could not outwork them.   They knew the only thing standing in the way of Black People rising to take over the South was lack of education.    Now they were no longer in the position to deny them that right. 

Blacks outnumbered whites in the South, so if they found out they could vote, it was all over.  This is what sparked the KKK.  FEAR!   Fear they were not pre-destined to greatness.  Fear they were really equal to blacks, therefore we had to be put in our place.   Fear of their own inferiority.  So, were they racist or  elitist, thrown from their mis-placed high perch? 

Their mothers and fathers, not God, gave them the feeling of Superiority.  They were Elitist.  Dictionary Definition-  the socially superior part of society or a group of persons who by virtue of position or education exercise much power or influence.   As long as slavery existed, they could control the minds of the people and keep their social stature.  Elites are always scared to compete.  That’s why Kings, Queens, and Slave Owners ruled with absolute power.  Who are you to question me?

I’ve run this concept across a couple of people and I get the same reaction from those who disagree, just look at the Nazis’.  Ok but first we have to look at the Jews.  What is the primary argument used to justify hating the Jews?  Most say, “they crucified Jesus”.  Ok, they played their part in God’s will.  What else you got?

The real reason Jews are hated is because they are perceived as the pervayers of money and power.   They are the reason this group is poor or that group is unhappy.  They have  been used as a scapegoat all throughout History to redirect a nation’s hatred away from the “ELITES” that rape and plunder private property and personal funds.  Just blame the Jews.

Now, if you are Hitler and you already have the people, what’s next?  If you were really that secure in the dominance of the Blue-Eyed Blond-Haired race why not build a nation on that dominance?  Like, “German People stand up, strap up your bootstraps and let’s show the rest of the world how a perfect White Society looks”.  Instead, it became “if we could only get rid of the Jews”.  Why?  Are Germans so inferior that you have to eliminate all other ethnicities to be successful? 

This is Cowardice, not Superiority.  Are Germans incapable of practicing frugality?  Are they to stupid to manage, stack, and re-invest the resources and capital within their society?  Why is their whole existence predicated on the extinction of another race?  Nazi’s were not racist, they were Elitist who believed they could forge a perfect society once they became the only strong group.  While all Jews were sought after, those who owned land, businesses, and personal wealth were the first to go. 

This is the part where I really piss some people off.  If the definition holds true, we are the most racist people on the planet and to make it worse, most of our racism is targeted back towards ourselves.   We were taught by our mothers and fathers, “A white man doesn’t want a black man to succeed”.  Does this actually affect a Black Person’s ability to succeed?  Only if that Black Person believes they are inferior.

And as a community, we have brought into this notion hook, line, and sinker.    “They” want Black Communities to fail and we stand and watch as they crumble.  “They” don’t represent us and our needs in Government, so we stand back and let them make the decisions for us.    “They” want to see our Black men in prison, so we sell drugs and shoot each other to make their job easier.  Here comes the million dollar question, WHO is THEY?

Are “They” white men in sheets or are “They” the black people that convinced our mothers and fathers we needed government?  I ask this question because I’ve been learning my history.  When those white men were running around afraid to show who they really were, Blacks were building towns, industry, and healthy, happy families.  While those white men hung us from trees and burnt down our churches, we were taking our rightful place in the food chain of America.  For all the hate and destruction perpetrated by the KKK, in actuality, they were a complete failure as a group.  We beat them by building, when all they could do was destroy.

While white racism towards blacks may still exist in America, is it the true force behind our ills?  Take a look back at the footage of the Civil Rights movement.  Most Blacks were in suits and dresses with their heads held high as they marched through White neighborhoods unafraid.  They didn’t care what White people thought, maybe because they had white people marching along side them, they marched because of their own strength and dignity.  They owned homes, businesses, and were productive members of society, whether a white man wanted them to be or not.

So how did we get to thinking we have to take everything from White People to be successful Black People?  When did our existence start to depend on the extermination or degradation of another racial group?  When did we become Cowards afraid to compete because of our own inferiority?  I don’t believe this is who we truly are.  I believe we are powerful beyond measure when we count on ourselves instead of focusing on tearing down someone else.

Where did our current lack of self-sufficiency begin?  In my opinion, it started in the 1920’s with W.E.B. DuBois.  While Progressives like Margaret Sanger were trying to develop means to destroy the black community, DuBois stepped in and said Wait.  All blacks are not inferior.  There are 10% of us who are equal to white people.  The other 90% can be controlled by us Black Elites.  What percentage of the black vote did Obama receive?

Then the Civil Rights movement began.  We wanted to prove we were equals and all we demanded was an equal playing field.   This movement wasn’t started by the Elite.  It was started by a single black woman, Rosa Parks, who had enough pride and dignity within herself to say enough is enough.  She became a national treasure because she showed the strength of a single American to start a Revolution.

And where were the Elites?  They were negotiating with President Kennedy.  It didn’t matter to them that Kennedy had both Martin Luther King Jr and Malcom X under government surveillance, it only mattered that they be the one’s that officially broker the deal of Civil Rights.  How upset the Talented Tenth, DuBois’ Elite 10%, must have been to have the 90% of inferior citizens move mountains.

After King’s Death, the Elite went right to work within the Democratic Party.  They missed their chance to win over the black community, who still voted Republican, and they were hell bent on proving their superiority.   They were now amongst the Elites from the KKK, the Elites from the Progressives, and the Elites of the Unions.   

If you are a White Democrat and you want to secure the black vote, you must now go through the Black Elite.  And this is where we have been for the last Forty Years.  It doesn’t matter if a Democrat has our best interest at heart, it only matters they are accepted by those who presume they are the Cream of the Black Crop.  The Jesse Jacksons’ throw out accusations of a Racist America, when they are Millionaires.  The Al Sharptons’ preach on “fairness” and “social justice”, without explaining what they mean is Socialism.    They make it seem like being Black in America is a plague, yet they are invited to all the parties, galas, and conventions with the other Elites.

And we are left to argue over Race.  We still talk in Black and White, while the Elites have moved on to giving favors to the Unions, Car Companies, Banks, and other Financial Institutions.  Slowly but surely, this generation of perceived Black Elites are learning a hard lesson.  Barack Obama didn’t come up through the traditional “Harlem” channels.  He didn’t seek out Al Sharpton, he had Andy Stern.  He didn’t seek out Jesse Jackson, he had “Chicago Politics”.  And now they are surprised there is no “Black Agenda”.

We must stop talking race and start talking Financial Freedom.  We must stop waiting for Government to be “FAIR” and “SAVE” us, we must begin building the life boats to save ourselves. We must declare our own equality copying those before us.  We must build.  We can no longer play the game of React and Destroy, remember you reap what you sow.  We can no longer accept someone else’s failure as our only access to success.  We’ve done it before, can we do it again?

What I Got From the Tea Party!

April 18th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

Holla at ya Girl.  I did my very first speech ever Tax Day 2010 down in Roanoke Virginia.  There were a lot people there and I was excited to be apart of such a fantastic rally.  The Roanoke Tea Party Coordinators and Participants are AWESOME.

And that’s the question I’ve gotten asked, How did the White People treat you?   Such a moronic question and I’m so tired of hearing it.  Let’s have an adult conversation here.  How do the white people treat you at the bank?  How do the white people treat you at the grocery store, the mall, or any other place in America where there is integration?

Wait!  Isn’t that what the Civil Rights movement was about?  The right for blacks, whites, and every other color or shade to use the same bathrooms, eat at the same restaurants, and YES, PROTEST big government spending at the same rally.  This, more than the election of Obama where most blacks admitted voting on color not character, is a true reflection of Martin Luther King Jr’s dream.

I was unafraid to bring up the issue of race during my speech and the people where not scared to bring up race in personal conversation.  They were a lot like me, they didn’t lie about not seeing color, they just didn’t care about color.   Just Check out the Speech………

Part 1

Part 2

April to Celebrate Democratic Confederacy/May to Celebrate Republican Reconstruction

April 8th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

If I were petty and racially-driven, I would be upset with my Virginia Governor Bob McDonell.  His decision to call April Confederate History Month has sparked anger with Black Democrats across the state.  Black Republicans within the state are now scrambling to answer calls of “Uncle Tom” and “Traitor”.    As the newly named President of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of Virginia, I am left looking at this as an opportunity.

Ironically, a couple weeks ago at the Frederick Douglass Foundation Leadership Summit, I got to ask Va Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli a question on this very topic.  I pointed out the rather large Robert E. Lee Statue is celebrated in Richmond as a part of Democratic History in Va.  I asked the Attorney General when will we start to celebrate Virginia’s Republican History?   I contrasted the Robert E. Lee Statue against the Maggie Walker House and the former Black Wall Street only a few blocks away.

He gave the best non-answer a person can give, he plainly stated he didn’t know about the History of which I spoke.   O.K.  I’m giving him to much credit.  He rambled on and on until it was plain to see he couldn’t answer my question because he didn’t know the History of which I spoke.  Yet, I held no ill will.  It would be like inviting me to a fancy dinner and asking me to point out the salad fork, not going to happen.

Most of the Black Residents of Virginia don’t know the Republican History in this State.  Since most of that History is centered around Blacks, maybe we can play a little game.  April is Confederate History Month, where we learn how Virginia Democrats seceded from the Union to keep their slaves and May can be Reconstruction History Month, where we learn what Black Republicans did during that time period to enhance Va culture, education, and financial freedom.

We all know the name Langston  Hughes but very few know the name, John Mercer Langston.   He was the famous poets Great Uncle and one of the first Black Republicans to obtain a United States Congressional Seat.  Since this happened after the Civil War, it won’t be celebrated by McDonnell’s little proclamation.   And there in lies the problem.  We give the preception of celebrating Southern History with Southern Pride,  yet we leave out Southerners of color who stayed to improve the conditions of the newly freed slaves. 

So, my question is “Why celebrate and give notice to the Democratic Legacy in Virginia, if you are a Republican Governor?”  Where is your Republican Southern Pride?  Now, I can understand why White Republicans don’t officially go after the Black Population.  I’ll give credit to McDonnell.  He had multiple Black Republicans working on and supporting his campaign but did he stop to think how this decision would affect them?

Before I follow the racial path and shout, “Don’t these White Republicans know what us Black Republicans have to go through just to represent our party,” I’ll instead offer a different point of view for the Republicans in power.  If you don’t know how to communicate with the black community, then how about reaching out to the young Conservatives on College Campuses?

Maybe you can point out how Hampton University started with classes under an Oak Tree by a single teacher, Mary Smith Peake.  Explain how, under Union protection as “Contraband”,  free blacks flocked to Republican Strongholds for Safety and Education.   Enlighten Virginians on how Rich and Affluent Republicans gave huge donations that turned that tree into an Emancipation Oak.  Then that Emancipation Oak into a little brown cottage.  Then that little brown cottage into  Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, and now it’s Hampton University, a proud HBCU.  Just for kicks, add the fact that Booker T. Washington, an abolitionist entrenched in the Republican Reconstruction graduated from Hampton University.

Since I brought up John Mercer Langston earlier, let’s see what we can say to college students at Virginia State University.  Let me bring up another name most Virginians, black or white, don’t know; Robert Russa Moton.

   The next morning I asked my father about the school for coloured people, which was being projected under the influence of General Mahone at Petersburg, now a State Normal School. He told me much about it. It was to open the following fall. The Hon. John M. Langston, he said, a coloured man who was as well educated as any white person that he knew of, was to be the president. He said I might go if I wished and that he would do what he could to help me. It being a state school, and he having certain strong friends in the Republican Party (General Mahone among them), Hon. B.S. Hooper, a member of Congress from the Fourth Congressional District of Virginia, would probably arrange for me to have a scholarship.”

When VSU was still Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, blacks seeked out Republicans to help them aquire an education.  No wonder J. W. Langston became the schools first President.  You know, the same man who broke Virginia’s racial lines to become an elected official.  Because of Republican efforts in education, Robert Russa Moton was able to follow in Booker T. Washington’s footsteps to become Principal of the Tuskegee Institute.

We can stop by Virginia Union University.  We can show how Religious Groups, along with the Republican Party, stood up to Virginia Democrats to teach released slaves about their heritage.  Slavery had ripped the titles Father, Mother, and Family from the black vernacular and VUU played an important role in returning the family unit.  Then we can go to St. Paul’s College and Norfolk State.  Same message for every school, the Republican Party has played a major role in establishing some of the most prominent colleges in Va.

So why is Confederate History Month so important?  Who is McDonnell really trying to impress with this edict of respect?  This is my only problem with Reaganomics.  It leads modern day conservatives to believe the Republican Party started with Ronald Reagan.  What about Carter Woodson, Sojournor Truth, and how many more that held the Republican label as a badge of Honor long before the Cold War.  Is there any importance in this History, while you are picking and choosing which History to celebrate?

This whole mess has presented me with the answer to a long held question.  Why is the Republican Party unable to connect with the Black Community?  I’m convinced I’ve come up with an answer.  Most Republicans don’t know the full extent of Republican History, as demonstrated by my Attonery Generals’ lack of an answer, and most Blacks don’t know the full realm of Black History, as evident by the majority of Black Citizens assuming Democrats have their best wishes at heart.  If both groups would brush up on their History, they would realize it’s one in the same.  You can’t celebrate the Republican Party without Blacks and you can’t celebrate Black History without Republicans.

With all that being said and as a precursor to insults and judgements sure to be hurled my way, I offer this bit of solace.  I am a Revolutionary, not a reactionary.  I won’t accept Foodstamps as a solution to poverty because Bob McDonnell wants to celebrate the Confederacy.  I won’t accept Obamacare because he didn’t mention slavery in his declaration.  I will not be led by the collar on the basis of race by either party.  Instead I will do what those great black Republicans did before me and make a way when elements on both sides are praying for my downfall.

Michael “Man-O” Steele: Super Hero of Hard Truth

March 21st, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

I’m standing in the Republican Capital Hill Club conversing with Lester Phillips, candidate for 5th Congressional Seat in AL, when I noticed “that’s Michael Steele”.  I immediately began to run my questions in my mind.  This was the moment I had been waiting for,  the moment I got to meet my Hero in the 2008 elections.

Nervous.  In one word, that’s all I felt.  Let me qualify that.  I’m not a believer in making Men idols.  This wasn’t the greatest event in my life nor was it the second greatest event,  it was simply a moment I got to meet and greet a part of American History.  The first Black man elected Chairman of the Republican Party, the Anti-Slavery Party.  My Party.

I approached Michael Steele and a bright smile appeared on his face.  “Hey, I’m so glad you’re here”.

“You don’t even know me.”  I smiled back as only I could.

“That’s why I’m glad you’re here.  Now I can get to know you.”   Instead of my list of prepared questions, I ended up telling Michael Steele how inspirational he was and how he affected my acceptance of the Republican Party.  He stood quietly and listened to me speak, even while actual candidates gathered around waiting for their turn to converse with the RNC Chairman.  It wasn’t the grounding breaking interview I’d hoped for but it left me happy and smiling.

We were then prompted to take our seats as Chairman Steele took the podium.  This was my first forum, of any kind, and I was expecting a roof raising, highly passionate march towards victory speech.  Instead Michael Steele gave the room full of potential candidates what all black conservatives are seeking from their leadership, TRUTH.

“Some of you will not win.  So, what happens when you lose?”  Steele asked a crowd with hushed breath.

At that moment Michael Steele became the man I hoped he would be.   He stroked no egos.  He held no punches.  He didn’t waste time painting some fancy portrait about how “This is the year of the Black Republican”.  He didn’t promise a Black Face at the head of the Republican Party would produce a whole crop of new High Level Black Republicans.

Instead, he placed the weight of each campaign squarely on the shoulders of the candidates.  If they didn’t communicate with each other and learn the trade secrets, “Shame on You”.    If they didn’t seek out and access the many tools at their disposal through the RNCC, “Shame on You”.  If you lose and give up…….I guess you get the point.

Michael Steele demanded self-accountability of his candidates, most of which are still fighting in Republican Primaries in their Districts.  He didn’t favor them because of their color, he demanded they understand the situation and realize this is an on-going battle.   He didn’t coddle with rhetoric intended to rile the candidates up, he hit them with hard doses of reality meant to humble their very existence.

I sat in the back of the room and watched the candidates sit like statues.  I wish I could’ve seen their faces.  Since they had arrived at the Washington Marriott, the candidates had been attacked by people like me and other reporters.  They were floating on top of the world and I accept my responsibility in giving them that feeling.  Michael Steele gave them what no one else could, the realization they were not to big to fail.

He left them with the only thing that really matters in this world, Perserverence.  He recounted his unsuccessful 2006 campaign for a U.S. Senate seat in Maryland.  He told the candidates how he broke fundraising records in the state and still lost the election.  But only through that loss did he have the chance to run for and capture the head position in the GOP.   Failure was not the worst thing that could happen, failing to get back up was.

School Vouchers: A False Choice

March 1st, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

History is filled with broken promises, unrealized dreams, and an elite class of people who think they know better than the rest of us.  Every Dictator knew it was more important to expand his empire than feed his people.   Every King understood History would record their battles not the atrocities committed by his soldiers.  Every Political Class has pressed their idea of thinking into the heads of children because they realize if they control the History, they control the people.

We will pass to our children a public school system that does little to nothing to prepare them for the real world.  The sad part is we are faced with two false choices.  We can continue to allow the Federal Government and the Elites to control what and when we learn (Making it more important your child understands why Timmy wears a bra instead of the true intent and purpose of the Second Amendment)  or we can push for school vouchers and school choice.  While I was once a proponent of the latter, I’m now starting to realize my idealism.

The option for children, with parents that care, to go to a private or charter school sounds great.  The success rates of these schools shows real promise for  America’s educational system.   The attitude and hope for the future in the kids lucky enough to attend should inspire an entire neighborhood.  That’s where my idealism ends.

The kid that goes to the private school and does all the right things will more than likely be the kid that happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  While we bus him 40 miles away to go to a better school, the community in which he lives still suffers and they direct that anger towards the one or two lucky enough to have a chance to make it out.  It is anger and envy that just because my mother is on crack and I don’t know my father, I don’t have a chance.  Educating a few will not break that cycle.

Until 1965, elementary and middle schools were locally built and run, like the charter and private schools of today.  HMMM I wonder if that holds any correlation between those schools now being coveted. Lyndon Johnson comes into office with his idea for a Great Society.  One of his first moves was The Elementary and Secondary School Act.  This was the first time large amounts of Government funds poured into public school systems.

Here’s where it gets interesting.  The majority of these funds were targeted towards low-income communities, mostly within the major cities. What does that mean?  It means the Government (DEMOCRATS) basically formed the school system that currently exists.  While we complain about not getting the same equipment as the suburban schools, we get triple the government spending.  Why are our schools less effective, if Government is so powerful and all-knowing?

Shortly after the Act was passed, the Elites quickly realized the quality of the education was not as important as the family structure.  A child with a broken home, a broken community, and a broken conception of life was still unable to make it, no matter how the Elites tried.  Their answer, the push to take God out of schools, like it was somehow his fault.  Like he had somehow made these children to fail.

It never occurred to the Elites, it was their fault.  In 1949, Harry Truman passed the Housing Act, this was the beginning of the modern day ghettos.   While the intent was to create cheap public housing, it actually started the process of killing the American Dream in the Black Community.  For most people, finding that something you’re good at takes you far away from home.  Instead, we began to value our “trap” like all of lifes’ treasure could be found within our block. 

If the schools were bad, so what?  If the crime rate was higher, who cares?  We don’t move or seek better opportunities elsewhere.  We represent, keep it real, and watch our communities burn in front of us.  What you get will all this meddling is the current situation we face, how did we get into this mess?  Where once as a people we ventured deep into the South, with the Klan (DEMOCRATS) in full force against us, to build schools and uplift our own people, we now allow those same thinkers (DEMOCRATS) to control our education.

And our only options are to let them continue or give up on the neighborhood and focus on individual students.  Talk about a lose/lose situation.  Where are our backbones to reach for more?  Every five years, the Elementary and Secondary Act has to be renewed, the latest being the “No Child Left Behind Act”.  Is there a candidate that believes we should push taking back our schools systems from the Federal Government?

Now, there will be critics who say, we need the Governments’ money to run these schools.  I say, the governments’ money is mostly going to teachers’ unions and not the actual school system.  When Lyndon Johnson instituted these reforms, he introduced the Teacher’s Union to the Democratic Party and there they still stand holding hands today.

This does not benefit our children.  A teacher can walk into a classroom, tell the kids to read pages a-z, take a nap, and face no disciplinary action because the Teacher Union protects his ineffectiveness.  A child can be bullied by student, complain to the principle, complain to the school board, and get laughed out of the proceedings.  If you can’t hold teachers accountable or insist better overall safety of your child at school, is it really a Public School System or is it a Bureaucratic School System?

A Public School System would let the people decide in each community whether or not prayer should be allowed.  A Public School System could decide some students are better suited in a trade school, in military service, or hell, the circus and shape paths appropriately.  And no, this does not mean pick black boys to go into the military.  It means give them their options.  Some kids don’t like school, reading, or books and no amount of Liberal Love will change that.  Yet, put that same student in front of a car and he can pull it apart and put it back together.  A Real Public School system would realize this and encourage him, instead he’s downgraded because he’s not like the Elites.

Parents could decide more time should be spent acquiring computers instead of trying to micro-manage school lunch.  Parents could say, “Don’t Green our School, give back our after school programs”.  But more than that, the direct blame for a school systems failure or success would depend on the individual School System.  That’s how it works in all other majority ethnic communities.  They don’t accept failure, so they succeed.

Enter the catch-22.  The Governments’ aim with this program is Low-Income Cities, mostly run by Democrats.  They have to maintain a 40% poverty level in their communities to continue to get these funds.  Politics are front and center in our School System and that is the danger of the Voucher Program.  Once a private or semi-private school starts accepting Government Funds, they fall vulnerable to Government Control.  Using History as a Guide, this system will not last long with Government Subsidized Entry.

Instead of wasting time taking it back bit by bit and allowing corruption to slow the process, we should take a true embrace on Limited Government.  My Idealism Returns.  They have us under their thumb and we must fight a thousand battles to get to one victory.  Thinking in terms of strategy, the best place to start is with our Schools.  We could teach Real Capitalism and Freedom, making it impossible for the Liberals to rob another generation of our children.  We can show our kids it doesn’t matter if you have a strong grasp on Chemistry, there is still a profession out there that will allow you to take care of your future family.

With all that being said, Is our aim as Black Republicans and Conservatives to save the few or elighten and uplift the many?

Free Cells Phones: It Only Cost Your Privacy!

February 23rd, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

Really, I’m trying.  I’ve spent the last year trying not to talk about President Barack Obama.  While I mention him here and there,  it’s mostly about policy.  I am vehemently against a Government take over in Healthcare and it doesn’t have a thing to do with Obama.  Before I was diagnosed with Crohns, the Doctors’ didn’t know what was wrong with me.  I’m glad I live in America were innovative care exists.  Just ask Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams.  How’s that Heart Surgery in Canada?

I understand Progressives plan to make the medical system HORRIBLE, so Americans will beg for something different.  That’s their MO, create a problem and offer a solution that gives them more power.   From our Schools, (where they push Teacher’s Unions as the solution to removing Christ, Values, Principles, and Discipline) to our Kids,( where they push Highly Specialized Lunches as the solution to letting our kids become overweight from lack of play due to Playground Safety Concerns)  all in their desire to create a perfect society.

We’re humans, we’re not supposed to be perfect.  There has never been, nor will there ever be, a perfect society.  Why?  Because Every Person has their own definition of what perfect is.  Is your Utopia Tea and Crumpets in Martha’s Vineyard or Mardi Gras in New Orleans?  Is your Heaven on Earth a small town or a big city?  Is Miley Cyrus singing or Tupac?  What is Perfect?

So, they don’t use the word “Perfect”, they say “Fair”.  It’s only fair.  And this is where I get pissed. 

The Progressives have turned us into cry babies that don’t understand that life isn’t Fair.  Often it is full of messed up twist and turns, really good highs and very bad lows, and moments of peace in between for reflection before it’s time to move on to the next disaster.  It’s LIFE.  Now, in my life I’ve learned that when someone wants to do something for FREE for you, it’s not really free.  It comes with a lot of little strings attached.  Would you accept something a crackhead tried to give you for Free?  No.  But the government says Free and we line up.

The lastest in this string of Create, Destroy, and Fix Again is FREE CELL PHONES.  The Liberals have done such a bang up job inserting themselves into the Lame Street Media, now no one is watching them anymore.  The American People are well aware of the bias.  So, how can you saturate the market with a predetermined message?

Give  everyone a free cell phone, team up with Google to handle the advertisements, and allow tracking of the cell phones with no warrant.  Bingo.  Now you can be alerted via text message when you pass a restaurant with Union Employees or warned those Nasty Tea Party People will be demonstrating in your town.  They can directly target you with the information they want you to have, when they want you to have it.

They can tell where you are eating and decide if you are making choices acceptable under the Healthcare Bill.  They can tell how long your car was in continuous movement and calculate your average Gasoline usage.   They can track who you are with and for how long.  In other words, picture the census on steroids.  No need to collect voluntary information, now they can track which schools your kids attend or where they spend their time after school.  There is no limit to power in this data, including putting a name to every face that decides to protest against a power hungry government.

What’s more appalling?   Every single person paying for their service is currently being taxed for the right to have their privacy invaded.  Yup!  Wondering about that extra $2.00-$2.35 Fee on your cell phone bill? Courtesy of the Obama Administration and the uninformed that need to be made aware they are not collecting all the BENEFITS waiting for them from the Government.

The critics would tell you I’m paranoid.  They would say “it’s good for old people on a fixed income” or “single mothers who need to stay in contact with their kids”, how can you argue with that? I wouldn’t, if it was targeting old people.  It specifically targets current citizen and non-citizens on any form of public assistance.

If you thought I was playing conspiracy theory before, watch this.  While no one can explain why the Government feels the need to get involved in the cell phone industry, their reasoning for cell phone tracking includes keeping an eye on criminals.  Now, these ads are targeted at Poor Blacks and Hispanics.  Do you think we should expect the arrest and conviction rate to increase in our Communities?

It Takes A Hood to Raise A Hood

February 18th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

Once upon a time in a Fairy Tale land called Chicago, there lived a little boy named Tre.  Tre lived with his mother in a two bedroom apartment in a run down housing complex.  His father was a police officer killed in the line of duty.

Tre loved everything about seeing his father in a uniform.  The pride he took in making sure his clothes were clean and pressed made Tre want to do the same.  The time he spent talking to the every person he met on the street had opened Tre’s heart and allowed him to open his ears.  But nothing compared to what Tre’s father gave him outside of his uniform.

Tre’s father loved Science.  He was always in their little garage doing experiments with John, the boy next door.   Tre was to small at the time to help with any of the experiments but he loved sitting and watching as his father tried, failed, and tried again.  After his father died, John would often come over and continue the experiments.

As one year, then two passed, John stopped coming around as much and with his mother working two jobs and volunteering at the Church, Tre was often lonely.  But he didn’t care, he had science and this year he planned on taking top place in the City’s Science Fair.  Tre’s father experimented with weapons, so he took that science and applied it to race cars.  He invented a new way to send his toys airborne.

His mother was so excited for him, she went and bought him a $200 toy race car.  While she never would’ve spent that kind of money on  a regular toy, she knew how important this was for his education and ever more, his confidence.  Tre completed his project and invited John to see.   John was amazed at Tre’s ability to infuse his father’s technology into something so cool.  Tre knew his father would be proud.

Finally, it was time to turn in his project.  That morning his mother prayed over him and kissed his head for good luck.  Tre felt like he was on top of the world.  He passed a group of neighborhood boys on the street who took and instant interest in his car.  Tre wanted to be like his father, so he stopped and took the time to explain his project.  Maybe he could get one of these guys interested in science.

Not so lucky.  The boys began kicking and stomping the car until it was crushed into a myriad of pieces.  Tre stood and watched with little reaction.  The boys laughed and joked as Tre watched all his hard work destroyed.  Tre wanted to cry but he knew his father wouldn’t cry.  He wanted to fight back but he knew his father wouldn’t fight back.  And as he was thinking about his father, he felt sorry for the boys.  They probably never had a father to teach them right and wrong.  So, he did nothing and continued on his way to school.

When the teacher asked for his project, he turned in all his research and explained about his car.  The teacher wanted him to point out which boys wrecked the car but Tre refused.  He had his father’s memory and the knowledge he had succeeded in an experiment, that was enough for him.  The teacher, that one in a million teacher, decided it wasn’t enough for her.  She called Tre’s mom and told her about the situation.

Tre took the long way home to avoid the boys and when he opened the door, there sat his Mom, his teacher, and John.  Tre was confused.

“What happened today?”  His mother’s tone struck fear in him.

“Some boys crashed my car.”  Tre stated back, squaring his shoulders like his father taught him.

“What boys?”  John shouted back.

Tre felt torn apart inside.  His father would find a way to help those boys, not get them in trouble.  What was he to do?  “I’m not telling. My Dad…..”

“Your Dad was a police officer.  His job was to make sure kids like you got to school safely and without being bullied.  Do you think your father would’ve let this slide?”  Tre’s mother tried to contain herself.

“I think my father would’ve thought of another way to deal with it.  He would try, fail, and then he would try again.  But he would never stop trying.”  Tre started to tear up.

The three sat and watched as Tre grew up in front of their eyes.   “We get it.  We know what your father was and how he thought.  We know that you miss him like crazy but your life can’t be based on the past.  You are not helping those boys by forgiving their misbehaving.  You are only giving them the confidence to escalate their attacks.  You like the fact that your father tried and failed.  They have to fail, too.  Someone has to stand up to them.  That’s what you’re father did every time he put on that blue suit.”  That one in a Million teacher chimed in. 

“And what about your dreams?  You can’t spend your life tip toeing around these fools.  I know them.  I get hassled everyday because I joined the Science Club, but I have a job this summer in the burbs’ at a manufacturing plant.  If they think they hate me now, just wait til I roll up next year in my new ride.”  John inserted with a pop of his collar.  “If you let them, they will suck all the drive and passion out of you.”

“Both of those are really good  points.  But while you’re remembering your past and your father and dreaming about your future, don’t look over lessons being learned right now.  We could move to the burbs’.  Hell, I work to two jobs, money isn’t the issue.  Your father and I grew up in this neighbor.  We remember when the playgrounds were clean and the people were nice.  I stay because this is not what your father and I wished for this community.”  His mother began to cry.

Tre’s mind wondered as he processed all the information.  It was immensely important he make his father proud, equally important he make a better life for his future family, and even though he didn’t have memories of a clean playground, he wanted to one day see it come into existence.

“O.K. So what do I do next?”  Tre asked.

“First, you come up with another car by the end of the week for your project.  I got you an extension.”  His now Favorite Teacher spoke first.

“I’ve cleared it with my school and some of the clubs are going to miss second period to walk you and your other classmates to school.”  His Confidant John spoke next.

“And you are going to tell me which boys crushed the $200 toy I bought.  Then you are going to trust your mother to do the right thing.” She wiped her tears and returned to her normal state.

The end of the week came and Tre had successfully turned a $25 thrift store car, bought with his own money, into a projectile sports car.  His mother prayed over him and kissed his head for good luck.  Tre’s heart was still a little heavy.  When he exited his building, John and one of the boys who stomped his car were standing out front.  Tre instantly hid his car behind his back.

“You ain’t gotta do that, lil man.  I’m sorry I ruined your car.  We were just having fun, we didn’t realize how important it was to you.”  The boy stuck out his hand for a pound.

Tre was not feeling so gracious.  He knew his father would accept and he knew accepting could prevent future incidents, but his mother’s word rang loud in his head.  “It doesn’t matter if it was important or not.  Wrong is wrong and you were Wrong.  I love science. One day when you realize you’ve wasted the time you should’ve spent finding out what you love and you turn to selling drugs, you can come to my little garage and I’ll show you the science behind it.  Including  how your stomping my car is a direct result of its usage in our community.”  Tre could feel his emotions rising.

“Whoa, little man.  Calm down.”  The boy could see Tre puffing out his chest.

“I’m serious.  It took away my dad and I’m guessing it took away yours, in some shape, form, or fashion.  If the only thing you can find in this world to love is bringing other people down, then I will make it hard for you to live in this community.  I’m here now and my mother wants to see a clean playground and before I leave this Earth she will see a clean playground.”  Tre stood proud with his car on display.

Tre finished first place in the Science Fair and was approached by John’s manufacturing company to put his cars into production.  Tre made two requests.  One, the plant had to be built on a bus line.  It had to provide jobs for the people in his community.  And second, the company had to build a park close to Tre’s run down housing complex.  And Tre vowed to keep it clean.

A Good Ole’ Fashion Lynching: Secrets Revealed

February 11th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

uring the last week, I’ve asked 10 random friends “Do you know who Willie Lynch  is?”  9 out  of 10 responded, He’s the guy they named Lynching after.  And that’s the problem with how American History is portrayed.  Bits and Pieces of missing information that until linked together makes a Black Person’s skin boil.  We are not going to research the person who invented Lynching because we think of Black People hanging from trees with good ole’ boys laughing.  We assume  we know Lynch’s true intent.

Nothing could be further from the truth.  Lynch was, using Obama’s word’s, A Fat Cat.  He was a man that put profit over human dignity and suffering.  To him, it was all about maximizing your inventory and profit.  He looked down upon the average “Lynching” as bad economics.  It’s sheer brutality and lack of future planning resulted in uprisings, run away slaves, and an unsafe environment for slave owners.  It was not good business, you see.

*There is a dispute over the authenticity of Willie Lynch’s The Making of  a Slave.  I say this: if I gave you a recipe to turn rocks and dirt into diamonds, would you care who wrote it?

 The formula contained in this document is sickening.  I literally had to re-read it ten times before I could comprehend the evil in this man’s heart.  I also realized, no matter how sickening it was, it wasn’t about Black People.  It was all about money.  *Now, before you Liberals jump in and try to bash capitalism, keep this in mind:  the top 50 companies in 2008 made 362 Billion in profit, the Obama Administration had a 2009 budget of 3.5 Trillion.  Who has more of a money incentive?

Lynch realized in order to get the money, you had to “regulate” or “control” the population which served you.  Which brings me to one of the most important tid bits in Lynch’s letter, the control of language.  As simple folk, we don’t speak the same language as the politicians.  We don’t talk inflation and deficit, we say stuff costs more and we’re in over our head in debt.  Politicians like it that way.  WHY?  “Take a slave, if you teach him all about your language, he will know all your secrets, and he is then no more a slave, for you can’t fool him any longer and having a fool is one of the basic ingredients of and incidents to the making of the slavery system.”

Then you’ll have Tea Party People marching on Washington demanding to be heard.  You can’t have that.

Ouch!  Secret Revealed.  All we need is Fools’ to follow us.   People who don’t realize without the Republican Party there would be no Black History Month. Hell there maybe no Black History, except slavery, at all.   We as black people complain about not being taught our history, even though we have an entire month dedicated to it, yet we never question Who leaves them out of the history books?  The answer: THEM.  Who’s them, the Republicans?  Republicans don’t want you to know a Great Black Republican Carter Woodson said “If the Negro in the Ghetto must eternally be fed by the hand that pushes him into the Ghetto, he’ll never have the strength to get out of the the Ghetto.”  I would think Republicans would put that on the front of the text book, especially with a 90% of blacks voting Democratic.

Democrats “control” the message by controlling what you learn in history books.  Not only do they control what language you speak,  they also control what becomes fact by common knowledge, not by actual events.   As disturbing as that sounds, there is good reasoning behind it. “Our experts warned us about the possibility of this phenomenon occurring, for they say that the mind has a strong drive to correct and recorrect itself over a period of time if it can touch some substantial original historical base; and they advised us that the best way to deal with phenomenon is to shave off the brute’s mental history and create a multiplicity of phenomenon or illusions so that each illusion will twirl in its own orbit, something akin to floating balls in a vacuum.”

Oops!  I did it again.  Secret Revealed.  Why have we yet to reach Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream?  Illusions!

 When a white person looks at a black person what do they see?  A Black Person. (Seriously, what do you see when you look at a white person?)  What does a black person see when they look at another black person?  Differences!  “I HAVE OUTLINED A NUMBER OF DIFFERENCES AMONG THE SLAVES; AND I TAKE THESE DIFFERENCES AND MAKE THEM BIGGER. I USE FEAR, DISTRUST AND ENVY FOR CONTROL PURPOSES.” 

 Let’s pit the old vs the young.  Light vs Dark.  Tall vs Short.  Educated vs Illiterate  Rich vs Poor  And let them argue amongst themselves and be envious and distrustful of each other.  That will stop the phenomenon of correction!  DISTRUST IS STRONGER THAN TRUST AND ENVY STRONGER THAN ADULATION, RESPECT OR ADMIRATION    How many black conservatives are reading this like, DAMN.  Is that why I get raked over the coals for having a point of view? YUP!  Have you noticed how quick a black person is to judge another black person, unless that black person is in Democratic Power. 

While Obama could be a useful example, take the new tax on public radio.  There is virtually little black resistance to the devastation currently running through public radio in anticipation of this new tax.  Donnie Simpson, B.E.T. great and DC AM man, just had his contract cancelled because they didn’t want to pay him an appropriate salary.  While everyone called in and sent letters of love, there is still no backlash for the Democrats that are causing Black Professionals in the Radio industry to lose their jobs.  So while they respect and admire Donnie Simpson and all the people he employs, they are more concerned with the Democrats sticking it to the rich.  YOUR SLAVES TRUST AND DEPEND ON US.  THEY MUST LOVE, RESPECT AND TRUST ONLY US.

But Donnie Simpson will be alright.  He’s worked along time, he’s got money.  And they say we have a slave mentality, they would follow Democrats to the lynching of a black man.  You Doubt Me.  T.I.- while everyone talked about the Government going after a Black Man, which was easy because Bush was in office, no one looked at the policy that forces T.I. to buy illegal weapons.  Democrats push more and more gun “regulation” or “control”.  True believers in the Second Amendment, mostly on the Republican side, believe reformed felonies should be able to regain their rights to bear arms.  No Democratic Policy, T.I. legally applies to get his rights back and never goes back into the prison system. 

The sad part, that’s only two illusions.  Let’s move on to Lynch’s most important factor, Breaking the Family.  if you break the female, she will break the offspring in its early years of development and, when the offspring is old enough to work, she will deliver it up to you. For her normal female protective tendencies will have been lost in the original breaking process. For example, take the case of the wild stud horse, a female horse and an already infant horse and compare the breaking process with two captured nigger males in their natural state, a pregnant nigger woman with her infant offspring. Take the stud horse, break him for limited containment. Completely break the female horse until she becomes very gentle whereas you or anybody can ride her in comfort. Breed the mare until you have the desired offspring. Then you can turn the stud to freedom until you need him again. Train the female horse whereby she will eat out of your hand, and she will train the infant horse to eat of your hand also.

Most Black Men have no problem playing the role of stud in limited containment.  In fact, they don’t mind making boat loads of money off that persona.  This is what slave owners had planned for you.  See, they didn’t want you to stay around and be a father to your sons and daughters.  They wanted you drop your seed and move on to leave the women defenseless against their attacks.  They knew your absence would break the female completely and she would teach YOUR sons and daughters to depend on them, not you.

Back in the days of slavery, most men resisted this.  They made time and put in effort to teach their children stories and lessons of life, even though they couldn’t read, write, or afford $100 Nikes.  Even on a plantation where the child would see his father brutalized and beaten.  They understood their role and they unbent their backs and were role models in the worse of circumstance.  While there are some of those men still around, what about those that follow this script to the tee?  Your natural state is not a STUD, it’s at the head of your dinner table teaching your child to eat from your war torn hands.

That’s a shout out to all the male Hip Hop Artist that rhyme about Bitches and Hoes, then go home to your Wife and Kids.  Thanks for keeping the cycle going.

Before I jump to Black Women, I need to inject this.  When I was young, my mother was on food stamps; everyone in my neighborhood was on food stamps. LOL  When we would ask for money to go to the ice cream truck or to the store, if my mother didn’t have cash we didn’t get money.  Even though all the kids in the neighborhood used food stamps, we were not allowed.   It was a necessity for her at the time but she refused to let it become apart of who we would be. 

That’s a shout out to all the Black Women who get it done, by any and all means necessary, and don’t take any mess along the way.  You’re not alone.

To my Black Women in the Projects.   “Take the female and run a series of tests on her to see if she will submit to your desires willingly. Test her in every way, because she is the most important factor for good economics. If she shows any signs of resistance in submitting completely to your will, do not hesitate to use the bull whip on her to extract that last bit of bitch out of her.”

What’s one of the first and most important things they tell you when  you apply for Section 8 or Government housing?  You can NOT have a man living with you.  It is cause for immediate removal.  That’s the first test, are you willing to allow the Government to become the Father in your home?  If the father is a Stud in Limited Containment, the first test is easy.  Matter of fact, they make it easier if you have  a Stud in Limited Containment.  If you got a man that sticks around, then the Government wants his Social Security, W-2’s, and anything else that will break him.  That’s why there are a lot of kids running around with no Father’s name on the Birth Certificate.  Second test, will you choose the Government over your baby daddy and allow them to collect and redistribute what they think you should have?  (Notice this is very different from child support where a mother can choose where she wants to live because she is payed in CASH.  I’m talking about the Government paying you back in a welfare check, public housing, and food stamps.)

And what happens ifyou get bold and decide to get a job and save up for a car?  They knock you back down to size and threaten to take away all Benefits for Obediance.  They cut off the check, drastically reduce food stamps, and you are informed your lease won’t be renewed.  How dare you try to make it without us?  And this is not to rag or put down anyone, you know I’m right.  How are you supposed to get off welfare if every time you try, they slap you back down?  If you don’t have family or a support system, it’s almost impossible.

Unless,  For fear of the young male’s life she will psychologically train him to be mentally weak and dependent but physically strong. Because she has become psychologically independent, she will train her female offspring to be psychological independent as well. What have you got? You’ve got the nigger woman out front and the nigger man behind and scared. This is perfect situation for sound sleep and economics. Before the breaking process, we had to be alert and on guard at all times. Now we can sleep soundly, for out of frozen fear, his woman stand guard for us,  we break this cycle.

We do no service to our men allowing them to be weak.  We do more damage to our black men demanding Prada, Gucci, and Bling, than any white man could do in this day and age.  Most of us take value in our own money but have no concern on how we spend the ill gotten gains of those we say we love.  We don’t demand daddy daughter time every Saturday, we seek $60 for the club on Saturday night.  And we complain about a failing school system and a Government that doesn’t care when our children have three pair of Nikes and not a single book at home.

We are the women who stick our chest out and dare you to say something, though I LOVE that trait in us, we must make the Men come up to our level.    Our black men have no problem proving their physical strength; some cowardly men hide that lack of physical strength behind a gun but I digress.  They are not scared of standing toe to toe with a white man in a fist fight but they are threatened by seating across from them in a class room.   What is wrong with this picture?

We take our children to visit their father in Jail Cells convincing them it was the system, not the Father’s actions that landed him there.  And upon their release, “when you gonna start making money again.  I need this, I need that.” Bam, he’s right back in jail and the system is at fault.  Then when your son thinks that money is more important than an education, you wonder where you went wrong.  We must challenge our Son’s to be mentally strong.  While he’s dribbling a ball, teach him the physics of trajectory.  While he’s playing football, stress the mathematical force behind two linemen colliding. While he’s rhyming, collect books filled with Great Philosophers that encourage him to create High Quality Hip Hop, if that’s his choice. (Yes, this means you might have to teach yourself a new trick or two.  We’re smart, we can do it.) 

 So, with all that being said.  I think it’s time for a Good Ole’ Fashion Lynching.  “For example, if you put a slave in a hog pen and train him to live there and incorporate in him to value it as a way of life completely, the biggest problem you would have out of him is that he would worry you about provisions to keep the hog pen clean, or take the same hog pen and make a slip and incorporate something in his language where by he comes to value a house more than he does his hog pen, you got a problem. He will soon be in your house.”

Lynch’s theory included a time table of One Year.  If used unrelentlessly, never missing an opportunity(to quote Rahm Emanuel), this cycle will repeat itself.  So, if we spend an entire year bombarding our family,  neighbors, and friends with the plan that was meant for us and how we have fallen into it, we can be the phenomenon.  That great forces that throws a Noose around the neck of Willie Lynch’s monstrous plan, turned into a Progressive Democratic Platform.

Start here.  “… that true faith flowers from and through doubt. If you never questioned your beliefs, – you are just a puppet dancing to somebody’s strings. If God had wanted your mindless obedience, you would’ve been created without mind and without free will. But you have both so… you can come to God of your own accord. Just look at the lives of saints, – most of them had gone through a dark night of the soul, and that’s why their faith was so strong. The path to true faith always goes through doubt. So ask those questions you’ve always been afraid to ask, and find the answers, and then your faith will become unshakable.”

Their distrust in Republicans is stronger than their trust in Democrats.  Make them question that blind faith.  Do not allow them to make it about you cause it’s not.  It’s about how we currently treat each other and WHY?  Do not talk in “us” vs ‘them” because we are speaking two different languages.  They see black and white, not the elite and the rest of us.  We’re having two different conversations about the same subject and that’s why we don’t understand each other.

God Be With You and I’ll See You Back Here Next Black History Month

Black History Month Without White People: Part One

February 4th, 2010 | By Sonnie Johnson

White people, don’t be mad. This isn’t about you. This is about the Black communities constant need to equate Black History Month with “What White People Did to Black People History Month”. I have but one request. Don’t learn about what happened to Black people, learn what Black people did against all odds. We need a little change in perspective.

 This is coming from one angry Black woman who only now is learning what the schools refuse to teach. We learned about slaves, sharecropping, and Civil Rights, but there was never a true conversation about the Black Faces and who they were as People. The power of Black History is not in the pain of slavery, the injustice of Jim Crow, or the segregation of the ’60’s. The true motivating force behind Black History are the INDIVIDUALS who wielded extraordinary strength againt overwhelming odds.

Normally, a myriad of names would enter the spotlight but what’s the point?   We will hear they invented this, said that, or became the first to…..whatever.  We will learn they were spit on, hung from trees, and separated from their families.  Then February will fade and so will all those Great People until next year.  As a people, we should be ashamed.

We glimpse over a Rich American Black History and claim Africa as our homeland.  Why?  Africa didn’t want us, that’s how we got on slave ships.  Our ancestors’ African enemies won, rounded us up, and sold us off to build up their territory.  We were casualties of War or God had a plan for us.  He knew that this GREAT NATION lay on the horizon and would be incomplete without his beautiful Black Children.

Should we forget where we came from?  NO.  But we can’t forget African Kings like Gezo of the Dahomey who said “The slave trade is the ruling principle of my people.  It is the source and the glory of their wealth……the mother lulls the child to sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced to slavery….”  Now, this may sound silly but I have a little more hatred for another black man that tries to break my spirit.  While we picture Kunta Kinte being broken in America, imagine how he felt when his own kind lead him to those ships and away from everything he had ever known.  Turned from a man into property long before he reached America.

And this is where the BS starts.  The constant chatter and talk about my personal attachment to master or my inability to couple reality with history.  It’s my inability to uncouple reality with history that makes me write articles like this.  I can’t look past people like Anthony Johnson, one of the first slaves to reach America.  He worked, got his freedom, made some money, and bought himself an indentured servant, John Casor.  When Casors time was up, he demanded his freedom.  Johnson said “NO” and went to the courts to maintain possession of his property.  He won and Casor became his slave until death do them part.

A black man, who was once a slave himself, knew the potential of America and took advantage.  Was it right?  Of course not.  But it happened.  Since the very inception of slavery in America, black men have been slave owners. Even when their brothers and sisters were in chains, they were looking out for their own self interest.   That’s important imformation to have in this day and age of blacks leaders like Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson. 

Don’t you even say it.  No, we are not going to talk about white slave owners, it’s Black History Month.  I want to talk about the strength of a WOMAN.  Imagine having no rights due to the color of your skin and top it off with having no respect due to your gender.  Imagine not only risking your life on the Underground Railroad but also trying to protect yourself in a male dominated society.   Image you’re Harriet Tubman trying to convince a slave God has ordained their freedom and all they have to do is trust a BLACK WOMAN.

While we revel in the wonder and strength that is Harriet Tubman, she would be nothing if there weren’t people willing to follow her.  They had jobs, shelter, food, and a structured existence but they RAN away from it all.  They left everything and everyone they had ever known because GOD had sent them an Angel and Guide away from the conformity of slavery.  No longer was everything given to them, now they had to work for it because “not even God will do for man what man can do for himself.”  Nannie Burroughs

Another great lesson to learn in this day and age.  Slavery is about conformity and acceptance.  You conform to your surroundings and you accept what ever is handed to you.  While we fester in Ghettos and public housing accepting welfare and food stamps, there is a modern day Harriet Tubman.  She is a mother that walks her child to school everyday in Chicago because she believes God has ordained him to be more than a street thug.  Now imagine her son looking at the holes in her shoes or naps in her hair, wondering if he should have faith in this BLACK WOMAN.

And this is just part one.  Both good and bad aspects of Black History told without white people.  A focus on how the Matriarchs and Patriarchs of our history treated each other, in addition to their contributions to America.  A glaring mirror into what is loss when we value the actions of others and forget the inaction of our own.  A plea to remember not just inventions, but faith in God, character, determination, and strength.