Mexican misconceptions of Black Americans

From the Los Angeles Times

A bias based on ignorance

Mexicans' views on blacks are often based on popular depictions. 
Eventually, that will change.

By Gustavo Arellano

November 25, 2007

Black-brown tensions are simultaneously overplayed and understated -- 
and I'll explain the paradox with the following embarrassing anecdote.

Years ago, a friend introduced me to an African American writer I had 
long admired. When we finally met, I tried to greet the guy with a 
soul handshake: a grip of the palms followed by the clasping of 
fingers and ending with a gentle knuckle rap. The writer, however, 
went for a conventional handshake, and his arm went limp when I 
attempted my dextral gymnastics. We both grimaced. 

"He didn't grow up in the 'hood, idiot!" my friend yelled at me after 
the awkward exchange. D'oh! I assumed all black folks greeted each 
other in that manner. Few black kids attended my overwhelmingly brown 
elementary, junior and high schools, so I based my actions toward the 
writer on pop-culture depictions of African Americans. And we all 
know how accurate those are.

Was I a bigot? No. An ignorant dope? Absolutely. And that's the lens 
through which I consider the troubles between African Americans and 
people of Mexican descent in Southern California over the last couple 
of years.

There is a problem between the two communities, and the onus falls on 
us to fix it, as we are the ones taking over black L.A.'s historical 
role as the most visible and vocal group demanding equality with 
white Anglos. But the brouhaha isn't pathological or even permanent.

Unlike most Latin American nations, Mexico doesn't have a significant 
Afro-Latino community -- about 1.5%, according to Mexican government 
figures. As a result, Afro-Mexicans don't experience ruthless 
discrimination from the population at large so much as a patronizing 
attitude that treats them as perpetual negritos -- harmless, somewhat 
amusing "darkies." 

Most of the popular depictions of Afro-Mexicans I grew up with -- 
Memín Pingüín, the lovable, dark-skinned comic-book character who 
looks like an ape, or the black characters on telenovelas or films -- 
made Stepin Fetchit seem as dignified as Cornel West. When Mexicans 
migrate to the United States and interact with African Americans, 
their attitudes toward blacks therefore ensure some degree of 
cultural misunderstanding. And it's from this dehumanizing bias that 
Mexican gang members justify their hate for innocent blacks.

But I'm optimistic. We must place such clashes in their historical 
context. Assimilation in America isn't pretty -- witness Chicago's 
ethnic wards, or "Gangs of New York." But it happens eventually. 
Think of how black culture has become part of Mexican culture. 
America's favorite Mexican song, "La Bamba," is the signature tune of 
son jarocho, a musical form created by African slaves and indigenous 
tribes in the southern Mexican state of Veracruz whose rolling 
rhythms heavily influenced mariachi. One of mariachi's most famous 
melodies, "El Son de La Negra" (Mexicans will know it by its opening, 
lilting trumpets and looping guitar strums), translates as "The Song 
of the Black Lady." And all Mexican parties eventually feature 
cumbias, the slow, tropical dances of Colombia that emerged from the 
country's rich African heritage.

In the States, the predominant audience for Los Angeles' nearly 
forgotten R&B oldies artists like Brenton Wood and the Penguins are 
second- and-third generation Chicanos. Mexicans cheer on the Lakers 
and tune in to KPWR-FM (105.9) morning-show host Big Boy. Even less-
assimilated young Mexicans get into the mixing of cultures by 
grafting Mexican regional music like banda (brass bands) and conjunto 
norteño (the one with accordions) onto hip-hop beats to create a 
future everyone can live with and shimmy to. 

Over a decade ago, Tupac Shakur wondered, "Would it be L.A. without 
Mexicans?" and urged solidarity between black and brown. Nowadays, 
whenever I hear Tupac blasted from rattling SUVs, it's usually by a 
Mexican. We learn. We assimilate. The road to racial harmony between 
the two groups isn't pretty -- wasn't I dumb for my soul shake? -- 
but it's a road, not a wall. 

Gustavo Arellano is a contributing editor to Opinion, the author of 
the book "¡Ask a Mexican!" and a staff writer for the OC Weekly.

Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times 

THE WHY OF BLACK, THE WHY OF RED

Black scouts in the 1800's

"Why is it that most people of Black and Native American decent Identify as Black Indian or AfroNativeAmerican? But most people of White and Native American decent dont identify as a White Indian? Their are Blonde haired blue eyed Cherokee that would most likely get upset if you were to refer to them as a White Indian. I choose to identify as a Black Indian because i am proud of my Black and Native American Heritage." - Bubs Wright 6.1.14

Black woman in the sunlight.

"Blacks in England will not labeled themselves as a Black English. French do not labeling themselves as a BlackFrenchmen. Blacks in American must identify as Black if they are mixed. Me I go by native and if they want more answer then I will say. America citizen then Native America. I will also included my dad was Black . Most black natives I have encountered go by native. It is not to say they are ashamed of being black I guess it depends on your upbringing." - Cathy Nottingham 

 "Well a lot of it has to do with the politics of race. White people have controlled racial classifications for as long as race has existed. So white ppl are given the freedom to move freely into racial categories because they control the institution that has created it. We as black or ppl of color were always assigned a category by those people in control. This categorization was based upon what who can have resources. I was always told when it comes to black and native ppl, "they want to own you, not owe you" which kinda brings into the discussion the one drop and the blood quantum laws." - Sheilah Naajiibah Dasher

Black Indians And Intertribal Native American Association

My Black Don't Crack

Walking the Red Road
 

 

In 1986 when I started Binay AKA Black Indians And Intertribal Native American Association. I have to admit I knew we would get flack. Also, we would stir up the world. I knew that it was something burnt in my heart because Creator had put it in my heart. Now nearly 30 years later I still find it that people have a problem with the word black in front of Indian. So maybe I can shed a little bit of why I feel this is a good thing.

Everyone knows about Natives, Whites, Blacks, Chinese  and so forth. But most do not know about Blacks and Natives. Now the reason why you see the Black Ancestry come through so much in a mixed blood Native with Afro inside of them is because those who came over here of African pure blood was the strongest Africa had in Genetic pool. Just think of the rigoress atrocities they went through to get chosen, then weened out and then cast inside a boat like sardines and those who where weak died off and those who where of the strongest breed and strongest health and strongest spirit and strongest of everything inside of them to live on were the ones that made it here....................

With that said, being of such strong genetics if you mixed with anyone of a different race you would see the stronger gene show up in the children. And thought that is thinning out quite a bit as we all mix that is the way it was in early America.

The Colonials gave the 5 so called Civilized tribes thousands of pure African Slaves to assimilate them. Those who married had children and thus here you and I are: Black or African Indian. I love the word Black its full of Power and Might its the best of Africa!! Its awesome Word and though we are not from Indian we are associated with the Native word. So we are BlackIndians!! And those who don't like it must contend with the truth and facts that we exist and we are a Proud people. Moving forward with Power spirit and heart to keep our ancestry alive.

I had a Hidatsa Mandan woman enroll her children onto our tribal rolls of our association and when I asked her why she said I love my children and they are Black Indians. I also had a Hawaiian woman enroll her daughters into our tribe because of the same reason. We are a people who do not need BIA to tell us who we are. We are who we are not by choice but by Creation by our Creator. And so we must accept ourselves and we a people who can shine a light into darkness and make aware that which is not known. That our people exists and alive and well today.

Yes, 30 years ago I created our own Tribal rolls long before Katz wrote Black Indians a Hidden Heritage and long before those books came out because I saw the problems of racism at Pow wows and festivals and events where Black Natives where shunned. I didn't like what I saw and made sure that just because I had long hair and red-brown skin I made sure that those at the drum with me treated those with African Blood were treated equally. That is why I formed BlackIndians.com. It was time to create our own way keeping our ancestry in tacked and making sure that we continued in our ancestors foot steps. I love the word Black Indian because its empowerment of two great people who forged themselves together to create a great people. I love the word blackindian because it speaks of a duality that sings to my spirit that says I know who I am, and I am proud. And I do not have to chose to be one or the other. But I can be who our Creator created me to be and that is the love and power of them both.

Can you say that about other races? Sure you can, if that's what you want to do but no one has our legacy and it takes Black + Indians to = BlackIndians. That is who we are.

Comments welcomed

Chief Jerry Eaglefeather
BlackIndians.com

STORIES OF BLACK INDIANS

The question came from Elias Provitt: "Why do so many White individuals and White mixed Natives get so angry at the thought of Blacks Natives? Many get so upset, have anyone else noticed this?" The responses came in a flood. Here are a few including mine! 

Tanya Joubert-Auzenne Yes, it happens all the time...even with black people. My great grandmother's tribe doesn't want to hear about any blacks "claiming" to be part Native. They think people are after their money which comes from the casino. Also, most blacks think I'm lying about being part Native American.

Cathy Nottingham Well whites think they r the true natives n blacks natives for some reason want to proved they have more native blood then most black natives.



Sherri Eddowes-Plummer Elias Provitt: Yes, I have noticed what you mention . . . But the matter of "Bloodline" is a long-standing "Value" in so-called "American Culture/Society" . . . Perhaps it's a response to the presumption of Privilege/Authority derived from & enforced by European Nobility/Aristocracy(?)


Edward Brownbear I guess it depends on the tribe, cause most natives I know absolutely despise white folks and only accept a handful of a chosen few.

Black Indian children in regalia 

Yolanda Rowe I've noticed it. I'll share a bit (well, maybe more than a bit) on the subject.

My cousin who lives in Norfolk, VA was approached by a member of one of the southeastern tribes. Out of the blue, he asked my cousin where he was from, meaning which tribe. My cousin explained that we are not affiliated, but identified the locations where kin are found. This dude was not pale, blond or blue-eyed. He'd recently attended a pow wow in Virginia (don't know which one) and was made to feel most unwelcome. He told my cousin that the attitude was best conveyed by, "Boy, you don't belong here." The attitude didn't change much, even when the gentleman presented his tribal identification.

Memories are long. The Virginia Indians have lived through the efforts to disestablish their tribes and remove them from their reservations because they have too much African blood. So, they fought in the courts and their mixed relatives moved off the reservation. Isn't it funny how It only ever mattered if the non-native blood was African? English or any other European group never counted against them.

Family may recognize you, but not when it comes to anything official. They are still just as determined to keep what belongs to the tribe. That's my experience. I have found more acceptance here, but I did have a 'lady' come up to me at a pow wow and berate me for photographing. The sign said, "No flash photography." Lots and lots of cameras and cellphones cams were out and flashing. I was the only one who had a bit more color and was using fancy gear. I wasn't the only one with pro-level gear. She walked right by one guy using a big ole strobe to attempt to intimidate me. Can't imagine why that was...

Virginia being Virginia, many of her residents of European ancestry never got the memo that the Confederacy lost the dang war, slavery has ended and not every person of color has to kiss their behinds.



Cypreunia Simmons I agree Tanya lot of Native Americans have an issue with blacks.I experience it ALL the time here in AZ. Native Americans have had more of an issuse with me being Native then any other people. Thats sad Smh


Cathy Nottingham Well Edward FBI's we're not the problem with me. My experiences in the 70's were with black individuals n it were not positive. Has it changed I think so but still has a very long way to go. I attended a hobbiest powwow in the early nineties in Illinois. My daughter n I were dressed in our regalia n as we approach the circle I noticed it was roped off. We simply lift the rope up n sat dw. A white lady came up n said, miss I am sorry that section is for dancers only! I stood up and said what the hell do u think I have on a Halloween outfit!! Are do u think indians are white? If u think that then I will filed a law suit against u. She immediately said she was sorry n walked away. I looked around n behold every one was a pale face. There are many non indians that blends in with Indians and passed with no problems. If u noticed in the circle there are many mixed natives claiming family ties to full bloods and they are not related. Why hmmm maybe it gives them a feeling of acceptance?


Yolanda Rowe Cathy Nottingham, you're on point about non-Indians passing as and blending. Folks put too much stock in appearance. There are people that would willingly believe that I'm Latina/Hispanic before they would believe that I am of African and Native American descent. And with some of the hoops that a placed before us, I'd more likely qualify as Latina; I can read and speak Spanish. I do not speak or read Virginia Algonquian.


Tanya Joubert-Auzenne It's true, whites are accepted more by Indians. Many are married to them and have children where I'm from. You will never see them with blacks.

I am not affiliated with my Native relatives in fear that they wouldn't accept my family and me .

Years ago, I worked with a member of my great grandmother's tribe, and I explained to her about my relation. All she said was "they did that back then". What she meant was they were with blacks.

I also asked her how I could go about contacting the tribe concerning my ggmother. She told me a few things, and made me promise I wouldn't mention her name. Her response told me a great deal about what to expect.

I would love to find out more about that part of my heritage, but sadly I don't feel confident nor comfortable pursing it.

Cathy Nottingham on the left in yellow.
December 12, 2010 

 

Yvonne Almore Cathy Nottingham, when my family started participating in pow wows in California, covertly the issue was there. However, we had visited our reservation, MS Choctaw, and we had contacts that helped us in many ways. We had some Mexicans and Samoans, who were perpetrators of Native Americans, felt justified in questioning our ancestors surnames. I had family oral history and research on my own and the help of the reservation. The coup de gras was when a tribal member attended the Long Beach pow wow and came up and embraced us. Never heard another mumbling word!

Jay Winter Night Wolf (Cherokee/Shoshone/African) clowning with Swift Otter (Ojibway )

This has been an interesting read and revelation! Here in Washington DC a small group of us have decided to organize into the National Congress of Black American Indians and "All Our Relations". For more information contact, or pay attention to my wall, or Verona Iriate's wall, Jay Winter Night Wolf's wall. We are gathering July 19 of this year at a church in DC...

Scholarship shows there are more Black Indians than 'other' Indians recognized by the Federal government. That being said we are in competition and war with the blood quantum laws and the defensive motives of white Indians and full bloods which has to do with survival, desperation and a peculiar affiliation with white American's fears in rather complex ways. Many of us African Indians, like myself, have spent their lives deep within the teachings of our Elders, grandparents and the spirit of the land (Turtle Island). That connection is deeper than the political ties and the adoption of white ways of existence. We need to focus our connection to Turtle Island. We need to listen to our ancestors stories and what they are telling us. 

The reason we decided to create this group is based upon the experiences similar to most Black Indians and focus on what is most important: who we are and why we became important in history and the survival of many tribes! ~ Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 6.4.14 

Tanya Joubert-Auzenne November 6, 2013 

 

Cathy Nottingham
November 17, 2013 

 

Yolanda Rowe 
May 20, 2014 

 

TRIBUTE to my People

Crow Man 1883 

"It is hard to gauge where one fits if they are a visitor to Turtle Island. Most see the United States, and dismiss the spirit that formed the land, lives in the land and is the spirit of the land. Thousands of years of ceremonies, families, war, relationship, prayers, and rituals connecting body to spirit, spirit to the Great Spirit, animal people to the two-leggeds and the circles that we came from and taught from and relied upon to see the future, and understand the present preceded the visitors who came, saw and took. 

It is a helluva a thing to live with: being invisible in one's own country, but it is the Americans who cannot see us, and when they do are fond of the cliches that render us invisible or insignificant. 

Like every one of the four colors we belong together, and have a lot to contribute and have given many gifts to the worlds of people. We named ourselves it is thought, the People. It is what our tribal names often mean, but in truth we were named by the spirits that still live upon and with Turtle Island. . ." ~ Gregory E. Woods, (Alowan Chanteh Inyan Wichasha) 2.25.14  

Crow Children 1910 

RACE against Self's Hate

"I'm so tired of people making such a big deal about lineage, while they don't scrutinize others who also have 2 or 3 blood ties. I hope she (Radmilla Cody) does not explain herself not one more time. Whoever does not know by now does not need to know. They should mind their own business and leave hers alone. Her beauty and grace speak for themselves." - Nataska Humminbird

I think it depends on which culture you grow up with predominantly, to say if she was raised in a black family her Navajo ways would have been cast aside is not fair. If she was raised Navajo-then maybe her black culture may have been cast aside. I think it depends on which culture you are raised in." - Sabrina Beharie


"After the European conquest the questions and dilemma of identity is a continuing issue. It does not go away by being disgusted with it. So many are on different levels of understanding how to put their broken pieces  together. I get tired of it from time to time. Just because many whites have grown weary of the outcome of their past doesn't mean they are not part of the solution to what is essentially an identity crisis. There would be an acceleration of the healing process and the reconciliation work if whites, en masse, were able to participate. I am very sensitive to the reactions of white relatives on these issues, and understand the challenges and fears they face in this work. It ain't easy, but that's the work we have cut out for us.

My early adulthood was made very difficult by the consciousness of oppressed people (Black Americans). It was extremely difficult as a young man to live in the Black community as either an African or an Indian. I learned how deeply self-hatred as a growing cancerous element of the soul beat people down. It was hard understanding why and how it all worked into Black pride, but it had to be fathomed to evolve to the place where I could learn to do ceremony with whites, and teach among Blacks, and do more than straddle fences, but live freely."- Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 3.26.13

Dancing around the fires.
Open Mind Healing

THE RIGHT TO BE

Honoring Michael Hondo Whisperingbull
African, Cherokee, Mvskokee Creek & Blackfoot heritage. July 22, 2013

I Love Ancestry



As a traditional dancer in the New York powwow circuit, Michael strives to make Black & Native presence known through his diligent and respectful participation in ceremonies and powwows.

He always strives to be seen in a dignified and graceful way as this reflects well on his people. He dances for those who cannot. He uses his gift as a straight dancer to heal, educate and empower those who have been taught that people of African and Native heritage do not exist.

Michael's mission is where ever he goes to provoke a response from people via the way he dresses or speaks to create a conversation.

It was surprising to him to find out how many people have not heard of Americans of African and Native heritage, or even worse not believing of their existence  However, for Michael it is refreshing to know that after few conversations with such people, they have a much different opinion.

"I let people know we are real! I take great pride in all of my heritage." - anon.

Harlem Newsboy by Gordon Parks 1943

"My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance, but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors." --Maya Angelou

Many Views

Stuff Guys Like

"Same ol', same ol'..."
May 28, 2013

So many views about the Zimmerman verdict greet and support the notion that everything is as it should be. There is a silent white mass deeply pleased that the people of Seminole County, Florida support the right to bear arms against their perceived enemies. Where does this sentiment arise from?

200 years ago President Andrew Jackson waged America's first undeclared war and lost bitterly in a long protracted fight with the Africans and the Seminole nation that lasted 20 years. Previous to that Spain 'owned' Florida. The land was believed to be too harsh to be tamed. When the whites saw how prosperous the dark people lived in Florida they were envious, and enraged! Southerners complained bitterly about Africans running away to live amongst the Seminole, and the Chickasaw, the Creek, Cherokee, Choctaw and other nations. Something had to be done so Jackson, ignoring his promises made to the Indian nations that saved his life, and the will of the Congress sent troops into Florida who were massacred by the Seminoles and their African relatives. They had their asses handed back to them, as we say up here in Washington DC. That first battle shattered the notions of white supremacy that is always in need of validation to support its illogical assertions.

It is a strong story, and it is important to understand the spirit of the land upon which this drama lives, and honor those ancestors. But it is an un-American ritual and mindset to honor ancestors, and land. Those things are not sacred to the American story. What is sacred to the land is not necessarily sacred to the landowner. What is necessary to heal soul, and mind is not necessarily important to many of the participants of this drama we are living yet again.

Last night I was at a marriage renewal ceremony that became celebratory. Many were invited to our friend's ceremony on their property. Their property sits on the Potomac river. It is a secluded area, and everyone invited was dressed in white, and happy as a gathering we ate and danced to live music into the night. It was near time to go home when we saw the verdict on the muted screen in the kitchen. Grief, and sorrow muted most. It was easy to feel people mulling over the verdict around and around in their spirits.

One of the Black mothers broke the silence, and eloquently spoke as a mother of sons with worry, and deep understanding of the trend of the nation's low estimation of Black lives. The ancestral lines of that history are clear and present. We all knew, as our ancestor's knew, the reaction, and feelings of many whites who feel justified and relieved that their skill at word play with their laws will continue, in this case, to replace justice and make them feel good about their secret dreams to kill off 'niggers' and red skins.

George Zimmerman is a cultural hero in many sectors of the US. He was able to be proven not guilty by the reasoning of a mindset separate from the heart. It is a fact indigenous people have learned about the approaches to the laws of white people by white people. Where can we find the tools and the skills to mend the brokenness of souls, and at the same time find ways to protect ourselves from the wide sweeping range of white rage against what is stacking up against them. I know from the halls of Congress down into the backyards of poor whites is a numbing fear of being outnumbered by colored people. This fact justifies killing people of color anywhere in the world. The trail of this fear is underestimated and not on the forefront of national awareness, and most certainly not the focus of American media. It is insidious, secretive, and a part of the lexicon of what makes race matter.

Sweet grass teachings give me wisdom, and care. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 7.14.13

The parents of Trayvon Martin, Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton, arrive in the courtroom
of Seminole County Circuit Court in Standford, Florida Tuesday July 9, 2013
photo by Joe Burbank, for the Orlando Sentinel

MY ANCESTORS

"The national park idea has been nurtured by each succeeding generation of Americans. Today, across our land, the National Park System represents America at its best. Each park contributes to a deeper understanding of the history of the United States and our way of life; of the natural processes which have given form to our land, and to the enrichment of the environment in which we live."

George B. Hartzog, Jr., NPS Director, 1964-1972

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
March 15, 2013

His words are true, but they don't include the depth of Turtle Islands' worlds of community and ceremonies and stories that held the world together. My people and hundreds of other tribes held the world together for thousands of years, and the feeling we, in general get, and I, in particular, receive in these tributes from the visitors is non-inclusive, and saddens my spirit.

I know my ancestors feel these emotions. They come to us at different times in the sacred lodges, walks in the open spaces, during Tobacco exchanges and ceremonies, a child's play in the forest somewhere. They always talk to us who listen, and to those who don't they talk anyway. It is the way of our People. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 5.5.13

a Comanche family

Comanche family
1900

Comanche family, early 1900's

Here is a family from the Comanche Nation located in southwestern Oklahoma. 

The elder man in Comanche traditional clothing is Ta-Ten-e-quer. His wife, Ta-Tat-ty, also wears Comanche clothing. Their niece (center) is Wife-per, also known as Frances E. Wright.

Her father was a Buffalo Soldier (an African American cavalryman) who deserted and married into the Comanches. Henry (center left) and Lorenzano (center right) are the sons of Frances, who married an African American man.


I Love Ancestry

WHAT IS NDN?

“There is something inherently wrong within the words, "Native American isn't blood..." I am fully aware of the history around blood quantum, but I am fully aware of the way white Americans deal with guilt, and the jerk kneed response to the claims many white people make in the awakening that occurs within oppressed people given freedoms after the fighting. Between those two pillars of being something disingenuous lurks stripping away at identity, so slyly, sovereign nations can find themselves ousted from their own self. It has happened throughout the last 500 hundred years in various ways. The same thing, the same phraseology occurred during and after the Civil Rights, and the Black Power movements.
These times require authenticity from us all, and a welcome gathering from within and with all people. Being truthful in these times are as difficult as in times gone past.” – Gregory E. Woods

Native American beauty of Bonnie-Jill Laflin with troops

Native American celloist, Dawn Avery

MICHELLE BACHMANN: healing work!

Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), Thomas Rooney (R-Fla.) and Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga.) made allegations that the Muslim Brotherhood is infiltrating the U.S. government. These people recently sent letters to five federal agencies demanding investigations into infiltration by the Muslim Brotherhood.


Robert G. Sugarman and Abraham H. Foxman, the national chair and national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a statement, "These sweeping accusations by members of Congress against American citizens who are Muslim are unfair and misguided. Absent clear evidence of direct ties between these individuals and the Muslim Brotherhood, such allegations foment fear and cast the kind of suspicion that undermines rather than advances American counter terrorism efforts."


The Anti-Defamation League wrote letters to these five members of Congress on Friday (7/20/12), expressing their displeasure with their charges saying, "Members of Congress have an essential role to play in raising legitimate concerns about threats to America’s security from international terrorist groups,” The Anti-Defamation League wrote. "Those efforts should not be tainted by the kind of stereotyping and prejudice that has too frequently accompanied the public debate. ... We strongly urge you to reconsider your allegations and to refrain from promoting or trafficking in anti-Muslim conspiracy theories in the future."


These people were concerned that top State Department official Huma Abedin, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the wife of former Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) had ties through family members to the Muslim Brotherhood.

 Most notably, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) took to the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon and strongly criticized his GOP colleagues.

"When anyone, not least a member of Congress, launches specious and degrading attacks against fellow Americans on the basis of nothing more than fear of who they are and ignorance of what they stand for, it defames the spirit of our nation, and we all grow poorer because of it," he said.

Michelle Bachmann must have had a mental relapse thinking Bush was in office where groundless accusations could sway public opinion like a yo-yo to accept whatever expenditure needed to be passed without debate or thought, or whatever person needed to be blackballed and screwed over with impunity.  That feeling is still in the rage among millions of conservative citizens, most of whom are white and Christian. It is nestled in fear. What is that like? What is it like to be in power as a white person and all the signs around are indicating the end to an era of domination and supremacy? When all the chickens come home to roost? What is it like? What does it feel like to feel one's grip slipping when every standard you hold dear and over people is disseminated, and correctly interpreted, and discarded by the very people your laws were meant to take advantage of, and render, if you so desired, a person, a tribe, a nation of people invisible?

Shooting into the dark terrified by the shadows you cast as the 'enemy' encroaches upon your physical and intellectual property and claims is bound to wound the wrong people who might easily be your own children! For people of color it is hard to be kind to white people lashing out in pain as their reality shifts in favor of the good of all. It is hard for millions of Black Americans to think deeply about the implications of a shift of power. We haven't learned that language, and it mocks us daily as we allow power to be rent from our hands every 15 minutes as our earned dollars go out of the communities back into white, and Asian communities.

The ethnic groups living in the United States need to ponder the shifting sands and determine when and  how to build better futures not only for themselves but for the rest of the country. Since the patterns and structures of business, and social interactions, and government are firmly entrenched in the paradigms of white  thought, and supremacy we have an extra responsibility to unlearn all we know. The shifts within power and the shifts of power require reassessments that defy the laws of complacency, and mediocrity, which fit so well on so many.

Because the relationships between Black and White America is so crucial to the identity and culture of the U.S. the deepest work will have to be undertaken not in the political sector, but in the realm of spiritual work, emotional restoration, parallel journeys into the unknown of remembering for the sake of the ritual of recapitulation. Relationship with food, and water has to be reestablished as a sacred undertaking, and the power over land has to taken by the Holy Women, Womb and Water Caretakers, and the children have to be blessed and honored as Sacred Beings. Warriors will have to be re-directed and assigned to the rigours of becoming Healers.

We are living in a time of prophecy. More and more children are coming through the channels of timelessness and formlessness into the world who were once enormous conduits of healing energies now shaped into a human form that is uncomfortable to wear, but wear it they must. We need to see them. People of the old guard are terrified of them, and religious folks resent them because they (the children) require so much inner work of their parents, guardians, teachers, pastors, and lay people who think they don't need to be involved in child-rearing!

There is so much to unlearn, and as I have said, and insisted upon times before; unlearning is the first lesson of power! Before any of the other steps can be made this one has to be made before we learn how to see who and what is really surrounding us, and before we can build bridges over the chasms built by fear and engineered by hatred. It is a lot of work, but for the Christians Jesus laid down not only his life, but the foundations, the structure, the design of a healing modality rooted and from the mysterious past before his religion was born! When, and if the Jesus Walkers ascend that height, and depth the adherents of other faiths will have to match the ancient practices and our elevation beyond the heavens Enoch wrote about will be reached, but that is high of a dream for the mundane. Jesus spoke of it, and few have grasped it, and those who did have suffered for the revelations if they dared to speak, or teach them. Let me stop here.

© Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 

BLACK MAN IN RESTRAINTS

HANGING

There is a saying white men were fond of telling each other in those days. "A man ain't a man 'til he's had a nigger." What they meant was sodomy. White men used to gang rape Black men before hanging and during torture. Today Americans like to pretend, and lying to oneself is applauded. There is a great deal of pressure and enormous criticism of Black American's attitude towards homosexuality. Given the history between whites and blacks colored by creative rapes upon men and women and children, and the way whites killed and tormented Native Americans, who were so much a part of many Negro families, the feigned alarm of gay activists disturbs the memories and scars of recent times in countless Black American families who’ve also lost men to the prison system.

There are words spoken by an Elder today that fits: "Start being honest with yourself about everything. Be honest about what’s right, as well as what needs to be changed. Be honest about what you want to achieve and who you want to become. Be honest with every aspect of your life, always. Because you are the one person you can forever count on. Search your soul, for the truth, so that you truly know who you are. Once you do, you’ll have a better understanding of where you are now and how you got here, and you’ll be better equipped to identify where you want to go and how to get there." - Juanita Ramos Corum

My father is right slavery is recent, and we are too close to those times to be flippant about the outcomes of those days. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories (July 6, 2012)

WHAT STORIES WILL CHANGE CONDITIONS 4

WHY INDIANS KEEP THEIR HAIR LONG


http://www.sott.net/articles/show/234783-The-Truth-About-Hair-and-Why-Indians-Would-Keep-Their-Hair-Long

“Quite an insight into old teachings and old ways. I never heard of this government program. If it is true, and I lean towards believing it, they conjured up a deep connection in a linear fashion, and unable to capture the essence it escapes them and the public because of the separations engineered by an approach to life and a distance from walks around and within various Medicine Wheel teachings Hair Medicine opens one up to... Dig what I'm saying?” – Dawn Wolf

 

POVERTY: North Carolina



North Carolina is reported as the 10th poorest state in the US of A.




Miss North Carolina USA 2011 Brittany York

We like to cover our blight, and poverty is a blight, to create appearances that don't reveal the blight. We also like to pretend our root problems don't exist, and the South has mastered the art of condemnation in the Lord's name, and been learning to adjust to gay communities, educated Negroes, enterprising Indians, integration, and a shrinking economy.

North Carolina is a beautiful place. I love going there. I sometimes dream about living there. I have visited the state a few times, and I am by no means deeply invested in its culture, politics, or its history. But, I do know enough of the history to appreciate its wild beauty with a calm eye, and brace against the subtle hatred from educated whites, and poor rednecks, and the suspicious but friendly Blacks, and the Cherokee people's open contempt for Blacks and Black Indians. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories

Clarence E. Lightner, first popularly elected Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina

Clarence Everett Lightner (August 15, 1921 – July 8, 2002) was the first popularly elected Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina and the first African American elected mayor of a metropolitan (defined as having a population of 50,000 or more) Southern city. Lightner, a Democrat, was also the first and to date only black mayor of Raleigh, serving in office from 1973 to 1975.


His mayoral election gained national attention since only 16% of registered voters in Raleigh were black, and it was unique for a white-majority city to elect a black candidate for mayor. Even more surprising to some was the fact his race was rarely mentioned in the campaign. Lightner came of age in an era when most blacks in the South were still disfranchised, was elected to the City Council two years after passage of the Voting Rights Act, and was elected mayor six years later. Lightner was a man of "dignity and perseverance", who brought people together when he entered public political life, as he had for years in his community work.

In a 1976 book on Southern politics, authors Jack Bass and Walter DeVries wrote "Perhaps no political campaign better reflected changing attitudes on race than the 1973 mayor's race in Raleigh, in which black City Councilman Clarence Lightner won support from a coalition of white suburbanites concerned about urban and suburban sprawl."  [From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

Mrs. Black North Carolina 2011 - Sandra Dubose-Gibson

10. North Carolina
- Median income: $43,275
- Poverty rate: 16.1 percent (tied for 9th highest)
- Without health insurance: 16.7 percent (13th highest)
- Unemployment: 10.1 percent (9th highest)

North Carolina has one of the lowest median incomes in the country. It does not perform much better on other metrics related to poverty. There have been a number of programs implemented to help combat poverty in the state recently. One example is the No Kid Hungry program which aims to end childhood hunger in North Carolina by 2015. According to information from the program, “more than 1 in 4 children in North Carolina do not get sufficient food.”

Mrs. Black North Carolina Sandra Dubose-Gibson 2