Hi everyone,

In light about all the PROTESTS going on because of the recent deaths of Peter Floyd, Ahmed Aubrey, and others (as of this writing)…

I decided to dedicate a page of this website to discussing a subject to talking about “The monster in the room”, so to speak, i.e., a subject we all know is there, but no one wants to talk about.

THAT SUBJECT IS RACISM.

I originally posted this as part of the “IT’S GONNA BE A BRAVE NEW WORLD” page, but I decided that this subject deserves it’s own page. So…

LET’S TALK ABOUT RACISM, AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO CURE THIS MENTAL ILLNESS.

(Or more accurately, I’ll type and post videos about it, and you all can read and watch them).

Okay, let’s do this.

Now, although I have my own issues with this particular song, I like the message this song is trying to convey, which is that between the races of people on this planet, we need to have an HONEST discussion, where we can find a common ground, in order to create some measure of truce and racial conciliation.

Take the message on-screen at the end of the video for instance:

“We were all humans until race disconnected us, religion separated us, politics divided us, and wealth classified us.”

Once again, although I have some issues with that statement, I get the message it tries to convey, which I believe is that we as the human race, regardless of our nation, color,  creed, religion,  sexual orientation, etc. must come together as one voice, one people if we want to be able to change the world for the better.

O.K., but can we as a society reach that goal? Yes, I believe we can.

how do we get there, you may ask? Well, it’s gonna take a lot of work on ALL sides.

So,  Why is this so important?

Well, I lifted this little story from the website of a Mr. TIM WISE(More about him below), about a time when he cleaned out a pot of GUMBO.

(Click HERE to read the whole speech)

Shortly after I graduated from college, I made the decision to move into a large house with five other roommates, which soon became nine other roomates. Please note, and let me spare you the experience, this is never a good idea. But we thought at the time that it would be great. It would be really cheap and we would even share grocery expenses, and take turns cooking so as to share responsibility for the group.

One night, about two weeks into our little experiment in collective living, one of my roommates made a big pot of Gumbo, because that’s what you do in New Orleans. And when I returned from work that night, he asked if I wanted some. I said no, having already eaten; but I asked him to please save some for me and to put it in the fridge for the next day, as I might take it to work with me; and then I went upstairs to my room, watched TV and went to bed.

The next morning, I come down for my coffee before heading out the door, and what do I see but that pot of Gumbo, half-full, still sitting on the front left burner of the stove. No portion of it had been saved for me, but more to the point, a great quantity of food had gone to waste. And I was upset. Having a little time on my hands, I thought to myself, perhaps I should clean up this mess. But then I caught myself, and I thought, “Wait a minute: I didn’t make this mess; this isn’t my fault, and so I’m not cleaning it up.” And I took my self-righteousness out the door and went to work.

About 6 o’clock, I returned home and noticed another roommate cooking the evening’s dinner on the front right burner of the stove, but on the front left burner, there was still that pot of Gumbo, getting nastier, and crustier and funkier by the minute. And I asked roommate number two what he was doing; why was he cooking around last night’s dinner; why hadn’t he cleaned up first? To which he responded that he hadn’t made that mess; it wasn’t his fault; and so he shouldn’t have to clean it up: logic with which I could hardly argue, as indeed I had said the same thing just a few hours earlier. So I grabbed a plate of the night’s meal, went to my room, did some work, and went to bed.

7 a.m. came, and I had forgotten to set my alarm, but I really didn’t need one; for I assure you that when Gumbo has been sitting on a stove for thirty-six hours, the smell will extend beyond the kitchen, will travel up the stairs, down the hall, under your door and through your keyhole, and assault — in a way I cannot describe — your nostrils; and indeed that is what happened. And now I was mad. I bolted down the stairs, glared at the pot of Gumbo, as if somehow I expected it to return the stare. I saw it sitting there, now even nastier, and funkier, and there was not a roommate in sight.

And it was at that point that I said to myself, “I might not have made this mess, this may not be my fault, but I’m going to clean it up, simply because I’m tired of living in the funk.” And you see, it is the same with human societies. When we finally become tired of living in the funk, in the residue of injustice passed down to us from previous generations, we will seek to clean it up, issues of blame and guilt aside.

Yep, I believe that’s a great reason. Another GREAT reason is…

It is truly one of the most REVOLUTIONARY things you can do in this society.

PEOPLE, LET’S FACE IT:

(This picture was brought to you by FB/POLICETHEPOLICEACP.)

Yeah, that’s right. If what you see in the above pic  EVER HAPPENS IN REALITY, the powers that be (Whatever you want to call it) would be quaking in their boots.

In fact, the whole concept of race has only been around RELATIVELY RECENT in our history…

That’s right people. The powers that be on this planet, whoever they are, have been dividing us for many centuries, by using various ways, race being just one of them.

They’ve done this to better control us, so we can’t come together and unite.

I know what you’re thinking… Why would they go to so much trouble? because they know that if we ever do unite, their system will collapse TOMORROW…

We are all brothers and sisters living  on this grand rock floating through space. We all desire to belong, love, and be loved. Let us begin to heal the wounds that have been caused by this conspiracy and work to realize true abundance in this world.

“Changes can come from the power of many, but only when the many come together to form that which is invincible… THE POWER OF ONE.”

It’s only when we as humans, ALL OF US, realize that WE ARE ONE, and only when convince whomever runs this planet of this as well, it is ONLY THEN when we will break our chains and start to make some truly positive changes in our society.

And the powers that be, will be powerless to stop it.

WE WILL BE FREE.

SO… HOW EXACTLY DO WE GO ABOUT FIXING THIS MENTAL ILLNESS?

Well, to be totally honest, I don’t have an answer. And I bet you don’t either. However, I do believe that in order to begin to try, we must have a open, honest discussion. And I believe that the first step to having such a discussion is learning to be able to actually listen to how other people feel about the way they’re treated.

So, I created this video playlist to hopefully show some of the opinions and feelings of how they as an Asian, Black, White, etc. live through their lives. Of course, this can never be a totally complete playlist because many people, have many different opinions, even from the SAME RACE… But I think this is a good start.

Now, Let me introduce you to 3 individuals who in their own unique ways, are fighting ignorance and racism. I’m not gonna type too much about them, because I feel the video playlists I posted about them below more than explains what they’re about.

Now, I believe I mentioned TIM WISE…

.

Now everybody, this is JANE ELIOTT.

And last but not least,

Of course, there are many others currently fighting against racism and ignorance, but you all have to understand; I have only 1 web-site here.

Now, you guys reading this web page and looking at these videos may or may not agree with the way that these individuals are fighting racism and ignorance, and it is your right to believe that…

But they’re putting in the work. What are Y’all doing to stop racism?

O.K. guys, I want to show you something.

I found this show on You Tube called MIDDLE GROUND, where people of different ends of certain issues whether social, religious, political, racial, etc. meet and discuss why they believe what they believe, hopefully to find a  common ground between them.

And that, I think, is all any of us ask for. To find a common ground, and hopefully, come to an understanding.

I posted the 1st episode below. If you want to see more episodes, just click HERE. And, if you would like to be in the next season of Middle Ground, you can  fill out their casting form: http://bit.ly/MIDDLEGROUND

(Oh, and click HERE to subscribe to the You Tube channel called JUBILEE, where this show comes from).

Sometimes, all it takes for 2 people to become friends is to just realize that they have more similarities than differences…

This is one reason why I love capoeira so much.

Most Martial Arts are born from War. Capoeira was born from RESISTANCE. Developed in the 16th century as a martial art, The practice of capoeira created a safe space for enslaved people in Brazil to gather, train, build discipline, share principles and strategies, and pass on the teachings covertly. The songs and practices have been a form of embodied resistance practiced by people of the African diaspora for hundreds of years.

And even today, Capoeira continues to be a social tool for resistance and empowerment. This art form is not only an embodied physical practice of literally fighting back against oppression, but also a a teaching tool for forging community solidarity, building collective resonance, and exemplifying shared leadership.

To quote my 1st teacher, CHARLES WILLIAMS,

“One of the ways to cure this virus of racism is through conversation. Capoeira Angola is a conversation. It is a convo between the light and dark sides of ourselves and others. This art was birthed as a movement to oppose an oppressive and dehumanizing system to reclaim individual and collective freedom and liberation. To stand in the face of hate and fear truly empowered. In the roda of Capoeira it will innately point out the truths we see in ourselves and others. The idea is to lose the illusion of separation into the acceptance of inclusion. You have a symbiotic union with your mirror in the person across from you. Regardless of beliefs and perceptions both are the same because both have fairs, hopes, desires, and feelings called the human experience. Beyond that we are created from the same elements. Words lose meaning and are not spoken because it is in how one moves where we can hear with our eyes and feel their energy that gives us the clearest insight to who they are. Action speak louder than words. In the process of expansion into our awareness we acknowledge where we are and where they are in their process and see if we can meet them there. In that movement there is a tension of the opposites giving birth to a new way being to make both whole and complete like the circle the roda of life. In Capoeira like life we have to play with that tension until we find a balance.”

Perhaps, that was one of the main reasons it was banned at different times in Brazil….

Now, whatever you believe you can do to end our problem of racism, I want you to remember one thing.

And, you need no more source of inspiration than this man…

But as much as people of all races and political persuasions like to worship him now, we tend to forget that in his lifetime, Most of White America hated Dr. King, and viewed him as a troublemaker at best, and a terrorist at worst.

“In the 1960s, the vast majority of white people, South and North, disapproved of the movement’s tactics. In a May 1961 Gallup survey, only 22% of Americans approved of what the Freedom Riders were doing, and 57% of Americans said that the “sit-ins at lunch counters, freedom buses, and other demonstrations by Negroes were hurting the Negro’s chances of being integrated in the South.” Just before the March on Washington, Gallup found only 23% of Americans had favorable opinions of the proposed civil rights demonstration.”

Don’t believe me? click here: Martin Luther King Jr Day: What We Get Wrong About His Story | Time

And also… click HERE, if you want to know a couple of more things about Dr. King that most people don’t know about him.

My point is, if he could make a difference, so can any of us.

As I typed before on THIS page, we may never know when our efforts will succeed, or even if they will at all, but we DO know what will happen if we don’t do the work:

NOTHING.

Now, I want to end with these 2 videos. This first one, I used to watch when I was a teenager, and it really made me think about race and class in our society. I hope you all watch it, and learn from this short movie, like I did.

Now although I hope you liked the first video, it’s THIS video i really want you to watch.

I posted a lot of videos on this webpage, as I do on ALL my webpages, but if you’ve read or skimmed down this far, and you’ve watched NO other videos, I URGE YOU TO WATCH THIS ONE.

Why? Well, WATCH IT and find out.