They’re trying to close City College … and it’s more than rich fucks wanting the land. It’s always baffled me why so many white folks chose mediocrity over the experiencing the joys and highs that blacks can bring. Better to dumb- down what they think is, “the competition” and lower the bar on the quality of life, just so they can enjoy a false sense of “superiority.” Even a brilliant thinker like Jim Rohn sees the world in opposites … a world–nature–that operates and functions by one “opposite” competing against another.
Naturally, if he sees himself as “White” … that “opposite” is Black. Isn’t love a higher motivating force, or is this simple social construct a true, “force of nature”? There are only three natural forces of nature: Gravity, Electromagnetism, and Nuclear. Nowhere in there is “color nor hue.” And there is only one “Race” … and that’s the Human Race. Many cultures and ethnicities… but only one race. So when a man stuck in ethnicity or even culture, and he needs to find a source of motivation to achieve a thing that gives him a purpose in life and he looks to someone who’s skin is a different hue, and proclaims, “I am opposite from HIM,” then he’s not looking very deep or far. And this failure to look far has brought us to the world we live in today.
Black Americans have always had to figure out how to move around the wall placed in front of us… to survive… and more, to succeed. I’m quite sure that racism is a sign of mental illness and this racist American culture does the same thing to Native Americans… but most Indian tribes at least have land and water to work with. (Land that the insane psychopaths of business and the sociopaths of government continues … TO THIS DAY… to try and rob and poison.) It continues in part because in American style Capitalism, to have a TOP, you have to have a bottom, and there’s a lot of money made off those on the bottom, and by keeping them there. (For example, JP Morgan made a half BILLION dollars financing EBT [Welfare] Cards last year.)
It’s not the situation, but my outlook on the situation.
So right now, there’s a TON of opportunities that the crazy racists are providing for black people–ESPECIALLY YOUNG black people, if we will just change how we look at road blocks and recognize them as flashing lights of opportunity. “Every problem is an opportunity in work clothes” so don’t do like the lazy thinking “opposition” … look FURTHER ahead and think about what the problem or situation needs… and supply it.
There are some NATUAL “problems” that we as a group historically have gifts on solving and handling them. and Kendrick Lamar said, “trying to get ahead by going against” … just might not be the best Business Plan.
My Argument FOR Learning and Playing Jazz Again
- Jazz is a “Civilized” music form that brings in audiences with money.
- Jazz has a large economy attached to it that the Oligarchs shut down when they wanted to stop us from living our dignity and creativity.
- You have instruments to rent and buy from … “someone.” There are lessons to learn so people with the desire to learn have to learn how to get along so social skills must be developed.
- AND the CLOTHES! Jazz musicians competed in dressing their “Temple”… the body. Class. Instead of a pair of dirty saggin’ jeans and an old T-Shirt, you had to dress. That means bringing back men’s stores that sell real shoes, suits, and well made shirts… that “someone” has to know how to make or where to order. How you take care of the body can reflect how you care for your body and soul.
- Jazz musicians are welcomed worldwide. Even during segregation, black expats were able to travel the world, live where they wanted, and make a living while there–with dignity.
- Jazz helped win the Cold War! Eastern Europeans loved to learn. They loved art, books, and music. Jazz of the 40s and 50s was so complex and engaging that the Military Propaganda Machine and the State Department used “Voice of America” to broadcast over the Iron Curtain. That brought them in… the rhetoric and propaganda of Capitalism then inserted their messages. [NOTE: NPR (National Public Radio) used to be an awesome tool for education… until the former head of Voice of America, Kevin Klose, was hired to be the president of NPR… and the CIA did to it what it did to Black music.] THAT … is how powerful the messages and values shaped in music is. Take the culture back!
- You never hear of a mass shooting at a Jazz performance.
NOTE: Have you notice how much hell Rappers are catching in their Midlife? DMX finally succumbed to his “lifestyle” and mental health issues, Kanye West is crazier than two biscuits in a cracker barrel, and Baby CEO left the planet at 27. (List of Rappers rapping about Mental Health Issues...)
R & B…
It doesn’t have to be Jazz… but it’s time to graduate from having teenagers who never finished high school hijack our culture. Yes, it’s all been a part of what Thom Hartmann explains in his badly titled but greatly written book and video called, “The Crash of 2016.” In it he documents all the policies of, “Too Much Democracy” that was implemented after the 70s to imprison us and narrow democracy throughout the nation. It was all done relatively easily … and now that we see it, we can answer it… quietly … by pulling our nuts out of it’s traps.
The reason I harp on music is because it was (is) the method our cultural values and identity flowed through. We are a VERY different people than we were before 1980 and it’s past time for more of us to wipe the Okey-doke from our eyes and mature before we no longer exists. We are the ONLY people in America who aren’t replenishing our numbers.
Cain and Able— don’t be the jealous twin… if you see a culture that is flourishing, step back and analyze what they’re doing right. Forget about who and what is against you… all that is opportunity if you have the game to recognize it… and the emotional balance to handle it. Management classes are online now… and many are free!
Pottery, Art, and Sculpture
No one is higher than you when you are in front of your canvas, blank page, or block of clay. To be a creator of beauty or one who creates something the enlightens the eye of the beholder means you are “god-ing” while doing it. Enough with the spray can defacing everything just because some poor guy wants the world to see how ugly he feels inside. You are what you see… so start looking for beauty and strength. The world is so hungry right now for images that reflect black beauty that I guarantee if you create it… people WILL buy it. And… there’s a chance even YOUR name will live on far beyond your years. Who doesn’t have a hand made cup or plate that they don’t know where it came from or who made it. Thrift stores used to be full of them, but now they are quickly grabbed up.
These kinds of artist usually hang out with smart and interesting people. They can live how they want and they add small chunks of revitalization to the world. People used to always say you can’t make money as an artist, but everybody I knew who became one, did.
Besides, we need our own Artisan communities and guilds. As we rebuild, this time wiser and with a bigger scope in mind, we don’t want to position ourselves AGAINST anyone. Let other’s play the role of the Oligarch’s “Shadow.” It’s just no healthy future in being the bad guy who is also poor. That’s … stupid. There are cultures with 2,000 years of cooperating and we black Americans are the “newest” culture on the planet, our intellectuals stand shoulder to shoulder with any on earth and we can more than easily figure it out. Our main obstacle is emotional trauma … and misplaced adolescent ideals. So we have to relearn how to live together and cooperate together…. without guns nor “using” each other and art may be one of the best ways to do it.
There are brothers making hand made shoes (BIG money), handmade suites, and lets not forget…
Food
Everyone eats. In overweight America, most eat more than three times a day. Once in Metro DC, I saw a brother who went through a free baker’s course (like the one offered at St. Vincent de Paul) and got a simple food handler’s card, bought a coffee pot, and then rented a tiny vendors space next to the Metro train. He was making BANK. He baked his cakes and pastry at night, and in the morning, put on his white starched cook’s coat and large stovepipe hat, put the coffee pot on… and began rolling in the money. They even have FREE baking and cooking classes online now!
The Internet Economy
The Internet IS providing SOME opportunities for self-employment and “side hustles” that weren’t there before. But it’s still not a real option for most ANY group. Yes– I’ve been resistant, but younger brothers and sisters ARE making money… and some are making BANK. The only thing to worry about using the Internet to get your nuts out of the sand is:
- Spending even MORE time looking at screens instead of interacting with real people… which means mental illness continues to grow, and Alfred Adler’s “Relating Factor” continues to decrease…
- And do we need more gas poured on Narcissism and Borderline Personality Disorder???
But if Regular Joe’s like JT Hustle can make BANK, then why not … you? Of course this includes all the connected networks like Social Media, eBooks, etc… etc…
Whatever option you choose in life… a “J-O-B,” or a career where you’re still employed by someone else, or working for yourself, you need to first realize the major obstacle– is YOU. All those clichés about the world gets better when you get better are true. Regardless if you’re just starting out in life or you’re in a Midlife Crisis… or you’re a senior desiring to make cash on the side or fulfill your life’s dream… you need to develop a set of Goals– and a Plan. Motivational speaker, author, and Business Planner Jim Rohn said, those who don’t make a plan… are planning to fail.
What is that you came into life to do? Stop buying into someone else’s plan. Stop grabbing for low lying fruit… and stop trying to do or be whatever “everybody else” is doing. Don’t be afraid to work, and beware that if you make your choice based solely on money, you’ll probably burn out because you’ll sitting in someone else’s chair. Dream YOUR dream. READ because with each book you read, your options and your world expands.
The greatest part of any culture is Traditional – Conservative. That is the segment of culture that keeps the sewers flowing, the grid flowing, and corporations making money. Conservatives usually work harder and give as much as 50 to 80 hours a week to their jobs. When you spend that much time … “working” for money, power, or prestige … you rarely have time to develop their character, evolve their maturity, become better husbands and wives. BUT … if you’re spending some of that time doing what you love, developing the innate talents you came in the world with, and doing it all for the sacrifice of bettering your family and the culture… the world you live in… then, THEN, by the time you get your “Silver Crown”…. your grey hair, you’ll be rich regardless if you have two hundred million in the bank… or 200 dollars… because you’ll have what money can’t buy…. the wealth of those who love you… children who saw you sacrifice for them, and a wife who signed on to work your plan with you… because it fit hers.
The Outsiders
Yes, Conservative Fundamentalist – Traditional culture is the larger part of any nation or state and yes, most of them are heterosexual because the name of the cultural game is to raise your prodigy to sexual maturity. But … if that was all there was, we’d still be living in tents and homes made from mud. Culture… needs the OUTSIDERS… the “weirdos” … freaks, Queers … the artists, musicians, poets, and writers… because it’s the outsiders who SEE what those with their nose to the grindstone fail to see. It’s the Outsiders who come up with the new ideas that the Traditionalist take and work hard to turn into Hilton Hotel chains and technological ideas that no one ever thought possible.
Everyone needs to continually work on THEMSELVES… because any fool can see the differences in people… but it takes a wise man to see where we’re the same. Remember… there’s a LOT of very angry and very crazy rich people. Money nor the crap they call, “Celebrity Culture” will make you happy… regardless what Personality Disorder you have.
When times get hard.. more stressful, people often gravitate to the extremes… the extreme Right (… which is most often WRONG) or extreme, “Old Time Religions”… rigid and full of blame and shame. Therein is the land of a special kind of crazy. Black Hebrew Israelites who claim to be more Hebrew … than the Hebrews. That’s a group of rigid nut-buckets slowly coming apart because even they can’t stand the narcissism that need to be superior and “better-than” breeds. (Never forget, that when man loses faith in the Divine– he or she– gains faith in the Demonic…)
Take The Culture Back !!
Yes– We HAVE to take back the culture… and that we can make bigger bucks at the same time. See, the culture NEEDS to grow up. Rappers are dying from “lifestyle” early but you can play Jazz ’till you’re 90. And the culture NEEDS to put out a healthier product and convey Black Values… not be sell-outs who go for the money by pushing values that are what “da white man” considers his “opposite”. Who says I have to be in the gutter so another man can ride in a Bentley and be invited to places where if Rappers show up, the police are called? And what NUT thinks that being a criminal and going to prison is the BEST way to achieve success in life???
In rebuilding our “house” … we may need to rip up the old and lay a new foundation. We may only need to shift our focus. Before the turn of the 19th Century, the largest group of criminals in New York City were Jews… until a few Rabbis reminded them who they were: “Jews are an INTELLIGENT and creative people!” Despite the fact that a lot of that “creativity” has been “borrowed” … even stolen from black people, the issue of IDENITY … is HUGE.
Joseph Campbell proved to we “moderns” that Man is the only animal that requires a “mythology” as an operating system to function. The propaganda of the past 35+ years has been so destructive, that it has caused us to kill more of us than the Klan and lynching ever did. Like slowly turning up the heat, we failed to notice the cause of why we were being boiled alive.
We have no common Mythology that shows us how to love ourselves and each other. Look at the words and their common root: “Theology and Mythology.” Calling your religion a “Myth” doesn’t mean it’s false or didn’t exist… it means that the story is written just as they tell you in the Bible… “these things are allegory.” Meaning it’s written with two or three levels of meaning… not just the first (literal) one. The Bible is also written with metaphors and it is chock full of symbols. Therefore, hardly noting in it means what it says upon first (literal) meaning. You have to have the courage, instruction, and wisdom to digests it’s deeper, more powerful meanings.
Join The Military
The world looks like it’s going to get even weirder. Most young people balk at joining the military because they don’t want to take orders from someone. Now… that’s just crazy … because you’re going to take orders from someone regardless what job or profession you take. So keep your record clean, don’t hang with thugs nor anyone likely to get you a felony before age 20. It’s a tricky tight rope because you’re not escaping racism… but less effects you in an organization where everyone is supposed to be, “Green.”
No– everyone who joins a branch of the military does NOT see war. Only the tip of the spear sees combat. The military is huge and they need (and will train you for) all the jobs any city needs to keep it running each day, plus some. And there are several ways to further your education.
If you don’t have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out of, the military is a traditional way to go from boyhood, to … almost manhood. Contrary to the hype, the military does NOT make a “man” out of you. It is not a full “Rites of Passage.” It’s a partial rites of passage… that takes you from the very important stage of being a teenager… to the matricide of separating from your momma. (Those who fail to do this, become momma’s boys and Puer / puellas the rest of their lives.) You still have the task of becoming a full man who refocuses his archetypal inner “Warrior” from doing battle with the outside world… to the mature man in touch with his compassion, and uses his “Warrior” energy to do battle with his inner foes … like procrastination or addiction… and defeating the aspects of himself that prevents him from being the type of man he came into the world to be. You can’t be a good husband, father, nor neighbor without compassion, skillfulness, and wisdom. In no way is it… “all about you.”
Fear of getting hurt? You can get hurt driving Uber… but if you’re working for Sam, at least he’ll pay you for it and try his best to take care of your sorry butt the rest of your life.
Render unto Caesar, that which is Caesar’s. Think of it this way… you have to give to get. You want to develop yourself… and give your culture and your nation it’s pound of flesh required when you entered the world as a boy, expected to become a man. Too many are brainwashed into thinking they came either to bite the world, or get all the pleasure out of it they can. The rubber is running off the wheels of American culture and it feels like an apocalypse is coming because everyone is trying to “get” and too few know they’re here to give, provide, and sacrifice. You know that story about Jesus and the fishes and the loaves? It’s cosmically true… oh so VERY true. A great part of your success and happiness in life will come from sacrificing something of yourself for a greater good. You came to revitalize the world, not to be a victim nor perpetrator to it. Even an Inadequate … partial sacrifice is far, FAR better than none.
Police Officer ????
Become a Police Officer. The name of the game is to position yourself as close to security as possible. Having a badge and a gun in unstable times … ain’t a bad idea… in fact it’s a daaaam good one. Do NOT sell your soul. Do NOT lose your identity nor desire to become one of the group so much that you do things that will destroy your soul forever. There’s all kinds of police forces… from park police to those lazy chumps at the Federal Building that make you take everything out of your pockets to you can go talk to an IRS agent. If we’re getting done wrong because too many megalomaniacs are on police forces (and yes, racism is a mental illness) then we need to join in droves.
See, the trick with jobs like the military and the police is they are SHORT careers. In this society, most guys aren’t even close to being a man until age 40. In these professions… you’re RETIRED and ready to do anything you WANT to by then. And you’ve made the connections you need to go out on your own and make six figures. Motha FUCK a damn fool “criminal.” Who in the hell says it’s a good idea to get locked up in a cage every night with a bunch of hard dicks who think you have pretty eyes???
Now… since the world is full of rackets… if your Karma is that you were born into a family connected to one of the world’s Mafias or somehow become best friends with a guy who’s parents make millions in the Black Market each month and want to bring you in… then hey, why look a gift horse in the mouth? BUT REMEMBER …. that route is extremely easy to get mentally corrupted in… so make a set of values that you won’t cross… or try not to. Don’t lose your humanity.. nor your soul, because just like the military, if you do, it’s a wound few ever heal from.
BUT…. if crime just has to be your thing… do it like the Italian Mafia or the Vietnamese Mafia. The Southside Crips rule the roost in Southern California. No one is badder–no one. But where are their hotels? Who do they hire? What businesses do they own so that the next generation can get Masters Degrees and build sky scrapers? I’m told the Italian mafia even have their own license plates.
Black Lives Matter?
Do black lives matter? To who? You might matter to you mother or to the guys you play basketball with… but if you’re not bringing something of material wealth to the Market Place… you DO NOT matter. Just the facts. And you know that “sacrifice” that ever culture has to make? Right now, the Secrete Societies are using us as Sacrifices.
At first it was chickens… then men decided to sacrifice women. (Big of them, right?) Then the sacrifices became horses. Big, strong horses. You can’t have a civil society with horses running down the middle of the street. So they began sacrificing horses. Any segment of the population that allows itself to become unable–or unwilling– to bring its gifts to culture and keep it going, will find itself being the “sacrifice” the larger segment offers up. Right now, WE blacks are being used as “the sacrifice.” But you can’t just use anything to sacrifice to the gods. The Aryans who came down and conquered Indus India were known for setting up this practice… but unfortunately they also set up the caste system that is so dysfunctional that to this day it’s a problem that corrupts humanity of the nation-state of great India.
There’s simply too much in life to learn by yourself. You will always need mentors. I’ll soon be 68 and I’m asking my friends in their 70s what wisdom I’ll need then. You MUST log off and develop ties with Elders and mentors. It takes a LOT of blessings for a man to bring his gifts to the table… and those “gifts” traditionally come from the fathers, uncles, and the Elders. If yours are dysfunctional– seek and ye shall find– others more functional.
Any culture without elders– is a dying culture.
Social Work and Helping Professions
We should be the Go-To people who care for the homeless.. because so many of us are targeted to become homeless. (If more people got a Masters in Social Work or Public Health, MILLIONS of dollars would be in our hands for the purpose of opening up housing and treatment to care for them.) With the LICENSE that a Masters gives Social Workers, they can answer Federal, State, and County RFP’s (Request For Proposals) that Congress allocates yearly to serve these (and other) populations.
We should be the Go-To people who SERVE others…. because our history is so full of doing just that. Service to others is one of the HIGHEST spiritual values a human can embrace. Service to others not only helps heal the Personality Disorders and traumatic illnesses of the server… it can make a person wealthy… but all that teenage chest beating and over-emotional resentment that Rap and Hip Hop fuels has to be looked at and … altered. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it… but clearly we have a HOST of broken aspects to current “black” culture than needs fixing.
Thinking is hard, that’s why most people judge.” – Carl Jung
Everyone has a Mother Complex. America is currently in the grips of a Mother Complex. (“Immo tell on YOU! “Momma loves me more than she loves YOU!! Momma said you can’t do THAT!!) And too much Big Momma-ism is literally killing us, and that’s one of the things we have to address. Why are so many black women raising men they hate? Well, Momma has to look at who raised him… who had the product last? Over active Animus in women? Plus all that Rap DRAMA and Borderline emotions and the results of beating and whipping boys to the point where they can’t control their emotions (CPTSD) … like Oscar Grant who even after handcuffed, face down and a cops knee in his back, still can’t stop shouting and screaming… BaM!
So what is an Alpha Male today? We don’t live in the 18th Century nor the Industrial Age where broad shoulders are required. Today’s Alpha Male is more likely to be a 98 pound weakling with tape on his glasses and a degree in a tech related field like Software Engineering. No he’s the guy who tells the 230 pound hulk of muscle what to do. Troubling more is the fact that today, neither of them knows the path of manhood for THIS era and since Masculinity is off course, so is Femininity. It’s MYTHOLOGY that shows us the map for Modern WESTERN men and women.
One After Thought on Religion —————————-
Sadly most who do still believe in a spiritual mythology like Christianity, are still reading the Bible literally– drinking it’s milk and missing its meat. Every system is a trap–and each must be prepared to venture out into the uncharted lands for the purpose of Individuation. “Enlightenment” isn’t becoming a slave to Buddha or Christ… it’s learning to LOVE YOURSELF … your unique SELF with all your quirks, shadows and lights… unrepeatable and unprecedented– YOU. But you still need that myth to chart what KIND of man or woman you shall be–and hopefully through gained wisdom, appreciate and love ALL THE REST of God’s creation.
31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the [c]holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’
41“Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’
44“Then they also will answer [d]Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” ~Matthew 31-46
Black Traveler 