Learning from Conscious Living

God is a Black Woman

In William Young's bestseller, The Shack, the protagonist  encounters God as a black woman, Jesus as a Middle Eastern laborer and the Holy Spirit as an Asian girl. I am not a particularly religious person, so I am unlikely to read this book, but I find it fascinating. I did however skim the book in Barnes and Noble today and it seems to be a pretty easy read. The book is about how a man learns how to face the demons in his closet with God's help. It's being touted as one of the best books of 2008.

Nina Simone's 'Four (Black) Women'

Nina Simone (1933-2003)

 

The Lynching of Mary Turner in My Hometown in 1918

"Her body was cut open and her infant fell to the ground with a little cry, to be crushed to death by the heel of one of the white men present."  - On the lynching of Mary Turner

For the last year or so, I have been researching my family's history in Virginia and southern Georgia. For the most part, this journey has been very rewarding, finding a newspaper article on my great, great, great grandfather who was born into slavery in the 1850s, discovering an extended relative who was one of the first Black principals in Central Virginia, and uncovering Native American ancestors. Unfortunately, I have also confronted the brutality and racism that defined the world in which they lived. Such was the case in Valdosta, GA in 1918.

Lynching has a long and a very depressing history, the history of which I can't even begin to describe in this entry. What I can say, however, is that experts have approximated that the number of African Americans who were lynched between the 1890s and 1930s averaged 103 per year and were often perpetuated by lynch mobs. As early as 1880, Brooks County, a county formed in 1858 from a portion of Valdosta, had developed a reputation for racial violence.

Brooks County, named after South Carolina congressman Preston Brooks, established a reputation second to none in Georgia for race violence. During the era of lynching, 1880-1930, the county established a ...reputation for mob violence on an unprecedented scale; there were at least twenty-four confirmed victims of lynchings. In December 1894, a mob lynched five men in a single incident. Lynchings were carried out on a regular basis, with mobs taking lives in August 1898, January 1901, July 1909, June 1911, March 1913, November 1917, and May 1918. There were more lynchings in Brooks than any county in Georgia; Fitzhugh Brundage has suggested that the county was the most mob-prone county in the entire South.( n10) It should come as no surprise, then, that the single lynching incident that claimed the most number of lives in Georgia, in May 1918, occurred in that county. ("Killing Them by the Wholesale" by Christopher Meyers)

It was in this historical context that Mary Turner, eight-months pregnant, became one of the most gruesome cases of lynching, racism and lawlessness in the United States. Responding to her husband's lynching, which supposedly involved his complicity with the murder of a white man, papers reported that Turner's statement about her husband's lynching being "unjust" "only inflamed" the white mob which had already claimed eight Black lives. Descriptions of Mary Turner's lynching are some of the hardest writings to stomach.

"The mob tied her ankles together and hung her to a tree head down and gasoline from automobiles was poured over her. Turner's clothing was burned off of her body. A member of the mob produced a sharp knife and her stomach was laid open; her unborn child fell to the ground. Hundreds of bullets were then fired into Turner until she was barely recognizable as a human being. Both Turner and her child were buried about ten feet from the tree, the grave marked by a whiskey bottle with a cigar placed in the neck." (Meyers)

"Mary Turner was pregnant and was hung by her feet. Gasoline was thrown on her clothing and it was set on fire. Her body was cut open and her infant fell to the ground with a little cry, to be crushed to death by the heel of one of the white men present. The mother's body was then riddled with bullets." [1]

The white residents of Valdosta, Georgia decided to teach her a lesson for being uppity enough to be vocal about her pain. A mob found her tied her upside down to a tree, doused her with gasoline and burned her alive. One of the crowd members took a knife and split her belly open letting the baby fall out. Another member of the crowd smashed the baby’s head with his foot. Then the crowd took out their guns and filled the burning body of Mary Turner with bullets. The Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made unwise remarks about the execution of her husband. [2]

"...a man stepped forward with a pocketknife and ripped open her abdomen in a crude Caesarean operation. 'Out tumbled the prematurely born child,'" White wrote. "'Two feeble cries it gave - and received for the answer the heel of a stalwart man, as life was ground out of the tiny form. [3]

Gladly, Valdosta has come a long way from Mary Turner, but unfortunately, two recent story coming out of Valdosta show me how far Valdosta still has to go.

Valdosta Court Refuses to Admit Muslim Woman for "Security Reasons"

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today criticized officials in the Valdosta, Georgia, municipal court for denying a Muslim woman entrance to the courtroom because she refused to remove her head scarf. 20-year-old Aniisa Karim had come to court to challenge a speeding ticket, but was denied entry on the basis of security concerns, security guards told her....Read More

White Students Hang Black Doll From Tree

Three white students painted a doll black and hanged it from a schoolyard tree, prompting calls from parents and the local NAACP that the FBI should investigate the act as a hate crime....Read More

We Can No Longer Ignore the Issue of Race

I talk a lot about racism on my website, but never did I think that someone could be tortured, held in captivity, sexually abused, humiliated, and be forced to eat dog and rat feces all because they were black. In commenting on Megan Williams' ordeal in West Virginia authorities are saying this...

"At one point, an assailant cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, authorities said. They said the young was also forced to eat dog feces..."

"Her captors, all of them white, choked her with a cable cord and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, poured hot water over her and made her drink from a toilet, according to criminal complaints."

I have said time and time again that the white population in this country does not want to talk about race because they are afraid of what they might see in the mirror. Whites like to think and would like for everyone else to think that the United States is the freest nation in the world, but it is the freest nation in the world if you are Caucasian. If you are Black, even educated, you face a lifetime struggle in fighting for your rights to be heard, represented, and respected. I can't say that I am altogether surprised by what happened to Megan Williams, though the manner in which she was treated was comparable to being a slave in the deepest part of the Deep South.

As long as whites treat the issue of race as being a 'Black problem', they will never truly understand democracy, humanity, and freedom because in order for their freedom, humanity, and justice to be realized they must release themselves of their own white supremacy and hatred against everyone who is not white.

I am not just talking about the more overt forms as with Megan Williams, but I am talking about the subtle forms, like using affirmative action as a scapegoat for their own desire to preserve the greatest gifts of this country for whites. Affirmative action is not an automatic ticket to higher education or employment, nor should it be, but the mere use of race as one factor is being manipulated to mean that minorities can't even get into a college without allegations of not working hard enough, being smart enough, or deserving enough. Whites also have a way of ignoring minorities in how they contribute to the character of this nation.

They don't care much about Black history or culture, neither does their ignorance excite them to put up a book, or watch a movie, or start a conversation with a person of color. I once discussed this issue with a white student who was entering into the teaching field with a focus on American history. In encouraging him to read various books on minority history, he dismissed my gesture by saying that he does not have have time being that he's a new teacher, but as soon as he's comfortable in his subject matter, he'll "look into it". This is the nature of being white in America. 

Whites are so secured in their notion that this nation belongs to them that any other groups' attempt to claim ownership is disposable, sneered at, and ridiculed.

To them, the notion that Blacks have made an indelible mark on this country seems fabricated, if not down right stupid. If my remarks seem hyperbolic, then just a white person, "What does it feel like to be white."  More than likely they will look confounded, but deep inside they will know that whiteness in this country is power: power to dominate, power to inflict, and power to conquer.

It is with this power that  those white West Virginians virtually enslaved Megan Williams.

Here are the facts as reported in various news stories

1. 20-year-old Charleston, W.Va., resident Megan Williams, a black woman, was allegedly abducted, held captive for at least a week and tortured by six white individuals from Logan County, W.Va. Black Missing

2. A prosecutor said police are investigating the possibility that the victim was lured to the house where she was attacked by a man she met on the internet, but Carmen Williams insisted that wasn’t the case. “This wasn’t from the Internet,” she said. ABC NEWS

3. On September 12, 2007 six white residents of Logan County were arrested and charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding, and battery against Megan Williams, who is Black and Mentally Challenged. It is also reported that the defendants allegedly repeatedly used racial slurs while forcing Megan to eat human feces, rat feces, and drink urine while trapped at the Logan County, West Virginia residence. Send 2  Press

4. Frankie Brewster, 49, and her son Bobby Brewster, 24, are accused of kidnapping, sexual assault and malicious wounding. Karen Burton, 46, George Messer, 27, Alisha Burton, 23 and Danny Combs, 20, are charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding. SKY.COM

5. Authorities say they held a 20-year-old black woman for about a week at their mobile home, where she was tortured, sexually assaulted and forced to eat rat droppings. Court TV

Black Folks Really Get on My Nerves

Black folks really got some nerves. We'll march until the cows come home in protest against a white person who has done some immoral or unlawful crime against a Black person as in Jena, but when our community is at fault for being the criminal and victim, mum's the word. Whatever happened to marching against thugs, which of course the Jena 6 were not, who ruin our communities, kill our children, and somehow make it fashionable and cool to become part of this prison culture? Whatever happen to making our Black parents accountable for not teaching their children what it means to dress honorably, to talk intelligently, and to be respected? I am not saying that Black folks should not be in Jena right now (because they absolutely should), but they need to get their head out of the clouds. When it comes to more pervasive questions...

Can parents feed and shelter their children?
Will a Black child fall victim to the streets?
Why are Black people half of all homicide victims and criminals?
Do Black folks live in safe and uplifting communities?
Will Black children learn of their people's history?
Do Black people care enough about their history?
Why Do Black people vote in such low numbers especial given our minority status?

What do they have to say to that?  I don't see any Black people marching over these issues and it's a shame!

Here's something to march about!

• From 1976-2005, 94% of black victims were killed by blacks [3]
• Thirteen percent of all adult Black men- 1.4 million - are disenfranchised (which is related to the first point), representing one-third of the total disenfranchised population and reflecting a rate of disenfranchisement  that is seven times the national average. [4] 
• The prevalence of diabetes among African Americans is about 70% higher than among white Americans. [1] 
• Infant morality rates for African Americans are twice as that of the white population [2]

The Black Church, Oh How I Love Thee!

The Bishop's Council of 1892, Philadelphia, Pa.

During church service in Heard County, Georgia, April 1941.

Church service, Woodville, Greene County, Georgia, October 1941.

A meeting of African American ministers of Macon County, Alabama.

Officers of Baptist Woman's Missionary Convention, 1915

Credit: New York Public Library 

What Made Pastor Thomas Weeks Lose It?

There are rumors circulating that Bishop Thomas W Weeks III, husband of televangelist and best-selling author Juanita Bynum, may have violently assaulted his wife due to threats issued by Bynum that she would go public with claims that he was sexually involved with men from his church. What is certain is that Weeks and his wife were engaged in an argument when he suddenly attacked her, even choking and kicking her. Apparently, when he walked out of a meeting in which they were trying to reconcile after a separation, Bynum confronted Weeks in the parking lot of the hotel. One has to wonder what could have driven Weeks to be so violent when he had demonstrated such restraint by walking out earlier.

Is this the case of a down low bishop? Or a bishop who had enough with trying to piece his marriage back together? At this point, the facts do not lean one way or the other, but if it turns out to be the former, then the whole down low phenomenon has reached all new lows (or highs, depending on how you look at it.) I don't mean to imply that this is a phenomenon in the sense that this is unique in American social development, only that we have just  recently been able to put a label on a practice that predates the church itself. Interestingly, men having sex with men is as natural to human history as is heterosexual sex. Though for reasons related to social norms, religious doctrines, and legal and political structures, this history has been marginalized.  After McGreevey,  Haggard,  Bob Allen, and others, you'd think that we would stop being so shocked that this happens. But I guess it'll take a whole lot for that.

Related Links
Juanita Bynum's MySpace Page
Weeks Out on Bond
Weeks' Official Website
Juanita Bynum Savagely Beaten
Televangelist Attacked in Atlanta

Ten Reasons Why I'm Not Feeling Patriotic

#10-  66.3% of Americans are overweight or obese and no one thinks that we should have public gyms. [11]

#9- The US Supreme Court turns back the clock on integrated schools [10]

#8- We will let the estimated 12 million undocumented workers sweep our floors, work in our fields, care for our young, and pay sales and food taxes, but we don't give them an option of becoming a citizen. [9]

#7- Although only 5% of the world's population, the US shares an astonishing 25% of the world's total prisoner population. While around 6% of the total US population, Black men make up 37% of the US prison population. [7] [8]

#6-  An estimated 37 million Americans live in poverty, among which the Black population has the highest percentage at 25% and we still don't have universal health care. [6]

#5- Fifteen states, including my state of Virginia, have hate crime laws that do not include crimes based on sexual orientation[5]

#4- Military victory in Iraq is not winnable. [4]

#3- Nearly 47 million Americans, or 16 percent of the population, were without health insurance in 2005, the latest government data available [3]

#2- The African American population accounts for 50% of all new AIDS diagnoses. [2]

#1- These are the issues, but they are by and large ignored or half-heartedly dealt with.

Other Important Issues

Source: http://www.publicagenda.org/issues/factfiles_detail.cfm?issue_type=gay_rights&list=14

Imus is not the Problem. We are.

Why Our Support Gives Them License

What is unfortunate about the Imus controversy is that everyone is so busy pointing the finger at Imus that no one is asking the question, “Under what conditions is he saying these remarks?” Certainly, had he known that there was an expectation that he was to conduct himself in a way that does not degrade people based on their race or sex, there is no doubt in my mind that he would not have risked his job just to be able to call a group of girls a bunch of nappy headed hos. The point is that there was a certain comfort level in which he was permitted to say such derogatory remarks. Now, we speculate that his immediate environment reinforced his attitudes and behavior, but I want to suggest that the context is much bigger than his studio. The long list of sponsors which include GM, American Express, Staples, and others signal to me that Imus has too many eager fans and not enough referees. I wonder if anyone ever counseled Imus on what it means to be respectful and honorable or what is the standard by which he is to conduct himself and his show. What no one wants to admit is that Imus is not the only one who contributed to the culture in which he thought that his remarks were acceptable. I believe that top executives are responsible. I think that his listeners are responsible. It’s like they want to give the crazy man the gun but do want him to shoot. When he shoots, then they run for cover. “He went too far,” they cry. But where were their cries when Imus degraded Jews, Blacks, and gays in other ways?

American society is very much the same way. We tolerate bigotry, racism, and homophobia on many levels, but when radio deejays, talk show hosts, and celebrities go too far we try to act like we had nothing to do with it. When George Allen called a student macaca he wasn’t doing so because he thought this would ruin his gubernatorial chances, but because he knew that the conservative base to which he was appealing in Southwest Virginia was used to such racist innuendos. The same goes for Bob Corker in Tennessee. In his case, he rightly assumed that the likely Republican voters wouldn’t mind slight racist talk. When it comes to homophobia, there is hardly any difference. In private and sometimes in public spaces like churches and bars, we tolerate language that degrades gay men and women.

This Imus controversy is less about what he said and more about why he said it. I wish that we would begin to seriously question our responsibility in how these big name celebrities behave. By and large, they wouldn’t say such offensive language if they lack our support in the first place.

Click Here to Listen to Audio Version

They Didn't Just Sit There and Take it!

They were my ancestors who experienced slavery. I refuse to treat them as “slaves” who did as they were told and not much else. My people created a rich and dynamic history from which I benefit and to which the United States is inextricably linked and undeniably indebted. In fact, at the most difficult moments in our nation’s history, it was my ancestors who provided a lifeline to the nation; men and women who stood up for justice, morality, and freedom. I hope that one day we can look back on slavery without feeling guilty or ashamed. If we just try to give those enslaved African Americans some credit for their contribution to our history, then we could begin to move in the right direction. I’ll do my part. How about you?

Smalls was born in Charleston, S.C. and for many years was a ship's pilot in Charleston harbor. In 1862, while Union forces had blockaded the harbor, the 23 year old Smalls (a slave at the time), and eight other "colored men" who comprised the engineers and crew of the Confederate gun-boat "Planter," ran the blockade and delivered the "Planter" to the Union side --it was, in the words of the Harper's Weekly account, "one of the most daring and heroic adventures since the war was commenced" (p. 372). Smalls later became a major general in the South Carolina militia, a state legislator, and a five-term U.S. congressman. He also participated in drafting the state's constitution. In February 2004, The Army's chief of transportation at Fort Eustis (on the James River by Newport News, Virginia, the home of the US Army Transportation Corps) announced that the Army's newest ship will be named for Robert Smalls. "The Major General Robert Smalls" will be the first Army vessel to be named after an African-American and the first to be named for a Civil War hero;

Credits: http://hitchcock.itc.virginia.edu/Slavery/index.php