Taking a Stand

As we speak I am about to do something that will bring attention to the ugly situation we are living in and about to take inititive on my own merit. I am about to stand up for my people who are oppressed on my own merit.

Coming Together with Colors and Community

This is in response to what will be happening on Nov 29th 2008 at the Academy of Music in Northampton Mass. It was written by a cosponser of the event who also took me into his home and has inspired me to keep working on being a Community Organizer we need more people like Mr Thomas Schuman to step up to the plate in these hard times.

One thing for sure - is going to happen on November 4th 2008. In our country there is going to be a new president elected. We will have a CHANGE in leadership at the top of our government. But will it really CHANGE much as for as how our lives are,day to day?
Yeah people are losing jobs and 401k money, so they can't live as comfortably as they have, but maybe that's not a bad thing. What we tend to do in America when our wealth increase is to get more selfish.
Selfish means sharing less.
We would not have poor and homeless people if those of us who have shared the have not's instead of expecting the government to do it.
Why should some have 2 or more homes and others have none? So it could be a good thing that people are losing money if it helps them to face how selfish they've been with all their extra cash.
Things can be and should be different which is what we are all about in our efforts. We all need to think, feel, and behave differently with our time and money. There needs to be some collective shutting off of TV's and computers and going in search of somebody to help.
It isn't just for the minority communities to care life in minority neighborhoods.
Shame on us, my white brothers and sisters, if we abuse our position as the race in power.
We can and should do better, and I believe we shall.
So open your eyes to somebody else's pain, figure out what you can do, and go do it. OK?

written by Thomas Schuman

John Brown- Oct 16th 1859 - raided Harpers Ferry, Virginia Federal Arsenal- Hoped to give the guns to the slaves.
Asked why he did it he said " I pity the poor in bondage that have none to help them. That is why I am here... It is my sympathy with the oppressed and wronged who are as good as you and as precious in the sight of God....Had I interfered in the behalf of the rich, the powerful, the intelligent, or the so-called great, every man in this court would have deemed it an act worthy of reward rather than punishment.......Pg 195...Journey Toward Freedom The Story of Sojourner Truth

Change

Change starts from within, Change starts with me. Change starts from the bottom up.
Over the last couple of weeks I have been stressed, I have takin on a major resposibility and have not responded positively negative feedback, which sort of makes me look like the bad guy to all those that don't know what is going on with me.
I have been put to the test on a number of occassions and the angry black man has come forward and scared some people.
These same people do not know how much they scare me also
With the way the world is at this present time, things likr the financial crisis, proverty, global warming and racism
All of these things effect me in a negative way.
I had to live in a tent for 5 weeks because of my beliefs and I still hang on to my vision that we are going to live in this great world in perfect harmony
I have been in alot of negative situations in the last few weeks and my strong personality has come to the forefront.
I will keep my faith in the man above because it is his judgement that I seek. that's all that matters to me.
Social Change in Mind..

Hard Times

In this day and age it is hard for everybody to make ends meet, so I am trying my hardest to keep my sanity and survive in this cruel cruel world. I have a great idea on what to do with the city's homeless and unemployed population and that is to start an Arts and Training Institute in the Northampton Mass area. With the help of area churches, businesses and the political people we can bust up our own economy with this project by investing in our own people. more information to come on this project real soonb

I have only just begun to fight

My experinces in the last month, have been good and bad, I have seen some of the ugly sides of mankind and I have also seen the good in mankind......I have met some interesting people on this short journey, who have peoples best intrest at heart but because of their strong convictions in what they are trying to do for their fellow man they have become victims of the system like my new friend Suyara who wants to help people not lose their homes in this world of high intrest rates and forclosures and has basically put her own happiness on the line for this just cause.....In the process of my putting together the Homeless and Unemployed Art Showcase I to put my self on the line with my convictions, I lived in a tent for 5 weeks and had to walk numerous miles to bathe and go into town for meetings and dinners and get togethers, just so I convince people that my cause was a worthy one....I wanted to give up so many times because I know alot of the general population just doesn't get it and is only concern about themselves...So I had to pray to God to give me the strength to keep moving in a positive direction and not give up.....And you know what?....I am still not done I have alot more to do because Like Mother Theresa said" The good you do today, people will forget by tomorrow but do good anyways".......So people out there remember this, I have only just begun to FIGHT!!!!!......PEACE

The Restoration of all things

My show " I Hear Music in the Streets' is 6 days away.... Me and Tom Schulman who has graciously let me stay with him and his beautiful wife Pat, was discussing many things last night, alot of it had to do with the world today and how it relates to the teachings of the bible and Tom showed me a passage in The Book of Isaiah and has alot of to do with the way I view the World today.......Book of Isaiah Chapter 58.............Cry loudly, do not hold back, Raise your voice like a trumpet. and declare to My people their transgression, and to the house of Jacob their sins. ( The Church). Yet they seek me day by day and delight to know my ways. As a nation that has done righteousness...And has not foresaken the ordinance of their God....They ask Me for just decisions...They delight in the nearness of God.....Why have we fasted and you do not see?...Why have we humbled ourselves and you do not notice?....Behold, on the day of your fast you find your desire, and drive hard all your workers...... Behold, you fast for contention and strife and to strike with a wicked fist....You do not fast like you do today to make your voice heard on high.....Is it a fast like this which I choose? a day for a man to humble himself?....Is it for bowing one's head like a reed, and for spreading on a sackcloth and ashes as a bed?.....Will you call this a fast, even an acceptable day to the Lord?.....Is this not the fast that I choose, To loosen the the bonds of Wickedness, To undo the bands on the yoke. And to let the oppressed go free And break every yoke.....Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry....And bring the homeless poor into the house; When you see the naked cover him; And not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then your light will break out like the dawn, and your recovery will speedily spring forth; and your righteousness will go before you;.... The glory of the Lord will be your rear Guard.....Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;.... You will cry, and he will say" Here I am"....If you remove the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger and the andspeaking wickedness, And if you give yourself to the hungry.... And satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in the darkness and your gloom will become like midday....And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden...and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail......Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins;....You will raise up the age-old foundations;....And you will be called the repairer of the breach.... The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.....If because of the sabbath you turn your foot ...From doing your own pleasure on my holy day, and call the sabbth a delight, the holy day, the holy day of the Lord honorable...and honor it, desisting your own ways, From seeking your own pleasure...And speaking your own word.....Then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the Earth.....And I will feed you the Heritage of Jacob your father......FOR THE MOUTH OF THE LORD HAS SPOKEN!!!!!!!!!!....

Persecution

Regardless what people think of me I will never falter from what I think is right. In this process of trying to put together this show. I have experienced some of the most unpleasant things known to man. My eyes have seen the people that society has called the unfit, because they do not dress the way others do, or they do not speak the way others do, or they are not the same color as others are. All my life I had to fight to belong to what society thinks is right, when in my heart I know that it is wrong. It is wrong to group a class of people in section of a city and then refuse them jobs, adequate health care and food, and then flood that section with drugs, just to see them eliminate each other. In that same vain the fathers that can't get jobs to provide for their families, now have to turn to doing illegal acts to put food on the table. Now they go to jail and the mothers are left to raise the children the best way they know how. By giving them playstations and letting them watch violent music videos and movies, this is what is raising the youth of today. Now the government who would rather put money into a senseless war, instead of putting money into the Arts and Education. Now the people we see begging for money, so that they can stay alive for another day. As we live and breathe we're depleting the earth of its Natural Resources, Gas, Food, Electricity is at a all time high. As a people we are killing ourselves. I think when the lord said " And the meek shall inherit the Earth". This what he forsaw, I know how to dumpster dive and live in a tent, but can you adapt to this harsh reality. So let's start now with supporting those less fortunate than us who are crying out for our help, because you never know someday it might be you asking those some one's to help you build a fire to stay warm. My faith in God has become stronger everyday because I know that at least he has not foresaken me, when I see mankind has. "I hear Music in the Streets" was put together so that we can show Northampton Mass and the surrronding areas, the talents of the people you call no good and not normal. I am in that category because of the color of my skin, When in this day and age people still call me Nigger when they know my name is Ira. But I have talents just like other peopleinthis town and I will never give up and made to feel that I am less than because I don't fit the perception of the upper class.

Rebirth

I am in the process of rebirth. My views on life are changing everyday, trying to take the good with the bad.....I have done somethings in my lifetime that I am not proud of today, but I will try my best to make amends the best way that I can. My mother has Alzheimers and right now I am in no position to help her or my sister who is her caretaker out. But with the grace of God sometime in the near future I will be there for her. I will always love my momma, She's my favorite girl. You only have one.....God has taken me on a journey right now and in this process you know who your real friends are.....So in saying that there are three people I want to thank Steve Conners for all your support. Pastor Steve Belke for believing in me and my project. The way you preach God's word is awesome, and last but not least Mr Bill Hairston for the inspiration and motivation that helped me with the course of others started me on this project. Bassam Kurdali you have been a true friend through out this process...... My rebirth has changed my life I am going thru some hard times right now but I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Everything is Meaningless

This excerpt is from the old testament and I think that it goes right along with my thinking. Pastor Don mentioned it in yesterdays service at College Church in Northampton Ma...It comes from the book Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 verse 8 thru 17.......... If you see the poor oppressed in a district, and justice and rights denied, do not be surprised at such things; for one official is eyed by a higher one, and over them both are others higher still. The increase from the land is taken by all; the king himself profits from the fields.....Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. this too is meaningless.......As good increase, so do those who consume them. and what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?.....The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep........I have seen a grievous evil under the sun;.......wealth is hoarded to the harm of its owner, or wealth lost through some misfortune, so that when he has a son there is nothing left for him. Naked a man comes from his mother's womb, and as he comes so he departs....He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand......This too is a grievous evil......As a man comes so he departs, and what does he gain,since he toils for the wind? All his days he eats in darkness, with great affliction and anger..........Can't take it with you when your gone so why not share it with everybody on God's green earth....To much like the right thing to do........Social Change in Mind

Mission Statement

1. This one goes out to Brianna.....The young lady I met at the Young Professionals get together put on by the Chamber of Commerce of Northampton at PACKARDS......I have come to the conclusion that my goals of this event is to like we discussed, to showcase the talents of the homeless and unemployed populations by giving them a forum to participate in.......This way we can educate the public and private sectors on the plight of this particular population in hope that we can open up a ongoing dialouge, on how to best address the needs, cause and the solution to the problem.......I hope this fits into the type of proposal of a mission statement that you were looking for......CUT and DRY.....Social Change In Mind

Education

To be learned in all that is worth while knowing. Not to be crammed with the subject matter of the book or the philosophy of the classroom, but to store away in your head, such facts as yor need for the daily application of life, so that you maybe better in all things, understand your fellowman and interpret your fellowship to your creator...........You can be educated in soul, vision and feeling as well as in mind.............To see your enemy and know him is a part of the education of man.......To spiritually regulate oneself in another form of the higher education that softens the ills of the world and makes us kind indeed............Many a person was educated outside the school room. It is something you let out, not completely take in. You are part of it, for it is natural; it is dormant simply because you will not develop it, but God creates every person with it knowingly or unknowingly to him who posseses it..... That's the difference.........Develop yours and you become as great and full of knowledge as the the other person without even entering the classroom.......Marcus Garvey.........Question to Malcolm X- What do you think is responsible for prejudice in the United States.........Answer-Ignorance and Greed....And a skilfully designed program of miseducation that goes right along with the american system of exploitation and oppression.....If you want to know more of this response by Malcolm X continue to read my blog in the coming weeks.........Social Change In Mind

Social Inequality

Let's talk about social equality. What I am about to write comes from the book ' Race How blacks and whites feel about the american obsession" by Studs Terkel......... This view was written by Douglas Massey- Professor of Sociology, University of Chicago, written 20 yrs ago still stands true, evermore so today....." In these past years we've become a unequal society. It started in 1973 with the recessions. In 1980 Regan came to power, the tax cuts benifited the better off. Incomes for the top ones just shot way upwards. By the end of the eighties, the income inequality was the greatest it's been in fifty, sixty years. There's been this tremendous transfer of wealth from the poor and middle class to the rich......The quality of our public life has deteriorated so much, we need something like a new WPA program. Look at our bridges( highway in Minnesota bridge collapse) look at our highways, look at our buildings . By rebuilding these facilities, we can create jobs for people without alot of education. It will benefit everyone, not only the poor. Private affluence and public squalor, something John Kenneth Galbraith pointed out thirty years ago, is the accepted order of the day. It's gotten worse........Now you have three class of people. There are those who own capital. They've done extremely well these past twenty years. There are those who own human capital-their education, their skills: the upper middle class. They've done pretty well. And you've got those who have only their labor to sell. they've done badly. The only way out of this bind is making sure everyone has a chance at education. Until then, we need governmental WPA projects to jump start this whole process........WOW!!!!!!! This was written twenty years ago under the old Bush regime. Guess what's going on now under Bush Jr, Wake up AMERICA!!!!! before it's to late.... Social Change In Mind. Peace!!!

Race and Love

I feel that it is my obligation to comment on the past events that has happened in the last couple of days in our great nation considering race issues. Because of the presidential race where in my opinion, the next president will either be a man of color or a white woman. America is showing it's ugly side with negative Propaganda-( a one-sided comuunication designed to influence people's thinkining and action as in the Fox News Network)...............Now my parents were from the deep south and most of siblings were born in Miami Florida during the 1960's, during the fight for people's basic civil rights......When they where young, my parents which was during the 1930's, 40's and 50's I know they had to be ever conscious of what they did and said, but thru all of that hatred of the time , my parents never taught us to hate another race..........I could not imagine living in those times, I know would have been hanging from a tree somewhere!!!.....I say this because after 50 years of the civil rights movement there are still incidents of our youth having or doing things on college campuses that degrade women and other nationalitities....... For instance in acollege in Texas students had a party where they dressed up like the Hip Hop culture, with the baggy clothes, doo rags on their heads and drinking malt liqour out of paper bags, one young lady even dressed up like Aunt Jemimah with pancakes in one hand and the syrup bottle in the other, they then preceeded to take pictures of the party and then distrubted them throughout the campus..........I myself have recently seen the examples of this, when I tried to go into some clothing stores who cater to some of the richer clientele of Northampton Mass.....the reaction was not pleasant, even though my project is to bring all of us together, their our some of us still to this day who still don't get it and never will.....Now I happen to be interested in a women who is beautiful, Intelligent and White and it isn't that I don't love my women of color, but because of where I am located their are none around........to me it does not matter what color, nationality or religion you belong to, if you and the other person you want to get to know, are compatible, SCREW what AMERICA thinks!!!!!......My Mother taught me that!!!!! So Miss Professional Beautiful Young Lady, if you ever figure out who you are and you don"t care what others might say, you will get a partner who will Love you threw the darkest times and also be ever faithful to you.........Social Change in Mind!!!!

Less and Less Important

James Meredith applied for admittance to the University of Mississippi. He wrote a statement explaining his decision.......I am going to write his statement and instead of using the word Negroes, I will replace it with the word homeless individuals because it applies to us now...........We have a dilemma. It's the fact that the Homeless are not first class citizens. I feel every citizen should be a first class citizen and should be allowed to develop his talents on a free, equal, and competive basis.......I dream of a day when the Homeless can live in decency and respect and do so with out fear of intimidation and bodily harm, of recieving personal embarrasment and with assurance of equal justice under the law.............................I saw a Beautiful woman in the Library and was intrigued by what she was doing, so I observed her writing on her laptop and beside her she had copies of these documents with strange writings from the past. Now I am not or never have been a shy man and anybody who knows me can attest to that, but there was something about this Vision of Aphrodite that told me to be myself and not be fake. It seems because of my strong personality and the way some New Englanders are, that my approach to them has been some what intimidating and so they take my enthusasim the wrong way. Aphrodite smiled and put me right at ease, so that in my passion of relating my project she did not feel uneasy or uncomfortable in my presence, like her it is hard for me being a New Yorker to gage how some New Englanders are taking what I am saying and how I am saying it, I have to wear kid gloves with some. Aphrodite has come to this place from another region where there is alot more sunshine and thus has traveled extensively to other regions of sunshine. So to come to a place where almost half the year is filled with cold and gloom takes a very strong individual to handle with optimism. Aphrodite writer of " Less and Less important" your feelings are valid and it is not you but the cold hard place that your journey has taken you. To this Adonis you are "Very Very Important"..........Keep the Faith........A rich man told me recently that a liberal is a man who tells other people what to do with their money. I told him that was right from the side of the telescope he looked through, but that as far as I was concerned a liberal was a man who told other people what to do their proverty-Leroi Jones

Living together in one society

I believe in recognizing every human being as a human being---neither white, black,brown or red; and when you are dealing with humanity as a family there's no question of intergration and intermarriage. It's just one human being marrying another human being, or one human being living around and with another human being-Malcolm X- From the Pierre Burton show- January 19, 1965............Said 43 years ago and this country still today has a problem with Class issues. It is becoming a society that is either you are Rich or you are Poor and when we can not live together as human beings and one side oppressing the other side, problems than arise

Change of your mind

I know that I am writing alot of religous passages in my blog but that is God's calling of me. If you knew were I have been and how far I have come, through the grace of God you will understand my passion.............The Bible says: " Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete CHANGE OF YOUR MIND. Then you will be able to know the will of GOD."..............We don't see things as they are. we see them as we are- Anais Nin.

Purpose

Hillel The Elder: If I am not for myself, then who will be for me? And when I am for myself, what am I? And if not now. When? (Pirkei Avot 1:14) ..................... I observed that the basic motive for success is the driving of envy and jealousy (Ecclesiastes 4:4 lb)................The man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder-a waif, a nothing. a no man- Thomas Carlyle.

Keep the Faith

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway........If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway.......If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.......If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway.........What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight; build anyway..........If you find happiness; others may be jealous; be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway........Give the world the best you have, it may never be enough; give the world the best anyway........You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God; it was never between you and them.........Mother Theresa.......No matter what you say about me or do to me I will always keep the faith.....Social Change in Mind.

The Calling

You may not be a religous person, and that is all right because I am and what I am about to quote comes from the New Testament. I heard it preached at College Church in Northampton Ma, from Pastor Steve Behlke and I think I should share it with you..............From 1st Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 26 thru 31.............Consider your own call, sisters and brothers: not many of you were wise by human standards, not many powerful, not many were of noble birth, but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God. God is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, in order that, as it is written, " Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord"............

Thank You

If you are able to state a problem, it can be solved-Edwin H Land, American Inventor......................The only real revolutionist people say, is a man who has nothing to lose. There are millions of people in this country who have very little, or even nothing to lose..................THANK YOU, to Jennifer Ditkoff, Information Services at Forbes Libary, Northampton Mass. Without you the making of this blog would have been much harder...................James F. Lowe for writing the article in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on March 1st 2008 Northampton Mass, On Homeless summit. and interviewing me

About me and my cause

The business of filling our nation`s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs into the views of people`s normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields, physically handicapped and psychologically deranged cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love........ A Nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense, than on programs of social uplift, is approaching spiritual death. ( Martin Luther King Jr)..................DEFINITION:.......(Social)- Relating to Human Society and its members Living together or enjoying life in Communities or Organized groups./ Tending to move or live together in groups or colonies of the same kind................(Change)- Make or become different./ Transform...............(Mind)- The element of a person that enables them to be aware of the world and their experiences to think and to feel./ The faculty of consciousness and thought.........................I have to DEFINE the title to my blog so that will not be any misunderstandings about the nature of what I am trying to achieve. I am not or ever was (AntiAmerican), I am just the opposite. When I explained to some individuals what I was trying to achieve in the writing of this Blog, they either tried to deter me from doing it or they are very encourageing. One person even said that I might have a visit from Homeland Security. I have nothing to hide, I am not afraid of speaking my constitutional right as an American. As an African American, who is also Homeless, I am only interested in change for myself, to become a better human being and hopefully share my insights and those of other`s along the way..........You do not have to agree with me and your opinions are truly welcomed, but if I can open up some of your eyes to some of the plights of what is happening to those less unfortunate than you than maybe this WORLD would be a better place to live in for all of us.

Invisible Man

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, It is as though I have been surronded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. when they approach me they see only my surrondings, themselves, or figments of their imagination-indeed, everything and anything ecept me. Ralph Ellisons`s " INVISIBLE MAN " ( Message to the Poor Man ) ............ Poor man we must not let our children be, as we are, Beggars of another man, for his Home, Facilities, Clothing, Food and means for providing a living. As a people, we must become producer`s and not remain consumer`s and employee`s. We must begin at the cradle and teach our babies that they must do something for self. We must educate ourselves and our children into the Rich Power of Knowledge......" Condensed from a speech by : The Honorable Elijah Muhammed........ In the Northampton Mass area there is a community called the Pedal People, yes those individuals you see collecting the garbage downtown. ALAS!!! but they are more than just Garbage Collectors ( which they are doing without the use of gas powered vehicles, which we all now know is harmful to our environment.) They are a bunch of beautiful people who have started their own Healthy Community!!!! They have a community garden, a Co-Op Food Market, where they share and distribute Wholesale Natural Foods. These beautiful people even open their doors to the community for a Potluck Dinner every monday night at 7:00 pm.... More to come on the Pedal people....... If you live in the Pioneer Valley there is an article in the "Daily Hampshire Gazette" regarding the homeless issue. Now I am a Homeless Individual and according to the article there will be a Housing Summitt at Holyoke Community College in the Kitteredge Center Peoples Bank Room. The host are the Mayors of Northampton, Holyoke and Springfield Mass..... With speakers from State and Federal governments. WE will see how serious our representives are in addressing our Homeless issue. " I will be there to voice my opinion"........As seen on a T-Shirt worn by a Female Employee of the Haymarket Cafe in Northampton Mass "LABOR CREATES ALL WEALTH"............I also Interviewed two young ladies from Smith College, who also volunteer at the Interfaith Homeless Shelter. Their Names are Estelle and Concetta, when asked what they thought of "the State of the Nation, Estelle responded " It`s a mess, the way we do things, we are in need of major changes. It is atrocious what we do and who we do it for(Nations).......When asked about Race Relations in this Nation, Concetta said"Of course the African Americans have had it worst of all but Americans has been Racist against every Nationality, that has come threw Ellis Island or across the U.S. borders......Why is that?....Why can`t we all just get along .......Until tomorrow.... please dont be afraid to share your views on the blog comments....

Wake Up Everybody

Okay so I got your attention!! What is my goal you might ask, it is to raise social consciousness about the problems that have been around since this nation was born. How will I go about this you may ask? By giving you different views from people from all walks of life. for example I interviewed a young lady today from Smith College here in Northampton Mass. Her name is Raquel Lopez and she she is from the Island of Puerto Rico. Her concerns was that until she came to mainland, she really never experienced racism. She told me that on the Island of Puerto Rico, every shade of Puerto Ricans are treated basically the same, until she came to Northampton Mass and saw some of the ugly incidents like the BLACK face incident, she really never experienced the ignorant reality of racism. She did feel upset about the reality of the American government who used Puerto Rican women as guinea pigs for the research of birth control. Just liked the used the African American male in their research of the effects of Syphillis. I also interviewed a almost 80 yr old Jewish women because of the fear of retaliation she did not want her name printed. That is a healthy fear and I will respect her wishes. She did say that she feels that in this day in age that America is going backwards but she is optimistic that there will be changes in the near future. God bless you Miss. ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW: Horace Clayton A Black Sociologist Co Authur ( with St Claire Drake) of THE BLACK METROPOLIS. Moved to Sweden in the late 1940`s after several years of comfortable life free of racism, he returned to the United States. he was homesick to everything american: Ham and Eggs, Camel cigarettes even the tensions of the day. You would have to say that he was Palpably, Indubitably, Hopelessly an American. From Studs Terkel: Race:How Blacks and Whites think and feel about the American Obsession.

Wake Up Everybody

Wake up everybody, no more sleeping in bed, no more backward thinking , time to think straight ahead. The world is such a different place from what it used to be, there is so much hatred, war and provety. From the song Wake Up Everybody by Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes. Who am I? Why am I here? Answer: I am that man that Ralph Ellison wrote about 55 yrs ago, THE INVISIBLE MAN-40 yrs ago people from all walks of life marched in a struggle to give everybody their basic Human Civil Rights. So why is it in the Year of our Lord 2008, we are still struggling. I do not know where you live but I live Northampton Mass one of the first corporated settlements in the new world called AMERICA. So why does it feel like I am in 1960`s Birmingham Ala, Why do you say I feel this way? well this is just my opinion but I am sure that many who have come before me and many who will come after will agree, that there are lost citizens of this fine city with no sense of being. Wake up Nothampton and listen to your people. Your own children are calling out you saying " Look at me , What about me, Do I matter" I am a Black Male living in a town that is predominately well off White Working Class and Upper Class. So yes I am frustrated with how things are done in this great city of Northampton but so are your children. I am that INVISIBLE MAN that Ralph Ellison wote about, but your children are not. How soon we forget that you were the ones that spoke up for your alienable rights not so long ago. Have you forgotten your past? An old AFRICAN PROVERB says "It takes a Community to raise a child" So it also takes you as a community to listen to your children and neighbors, about what they are concerned about and then lets start a healthy dialouge so that we can address the Cause, Problem and most of all the Solution before it is to late. A friend of mine named Jen a Smith College student from Portland Maine is a true inspiration. Her views on the problems and solutions is what I am going to share with you in the coming weeks. but let me leave with this qoute: " To be in somebody else`s power.... Induces doubt about the order of the universe, while those who have the power, can assume it is the part of natural order of things and invent or adopt ideas which justify their possesion of it." Martin Luthor King " I came to see that no one gives up his privileges without strong resistance" Until tomorrow!!!!!