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Editorials/Columns
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
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For Some, Pride Has No Sting
hen it comes to the
presence of racism in society some Black people seem completely clueless to its existence. Their blindness to the issue, more often than not, is so overwhelming and their desire to be accepted by the dominant white society is so great that they refuse to ac- knowledge its ugliness even when its thrown directly into
their faces.
Of course, this willful igno-
rance is nothing new. It has been around since the first house slave tricked himself into believing that he was a beloved member of his mas- ter’s family. And it exists today in the minds of that house slave’s descendants who still hold on to the false idea that the comfort of their sleeping quarters means that they too are thought of fondly by the owners of the house in which they reside.
This lack of consciousness or “wokeness,” as it’s called these days, also explains the actions of the woman, Ms. Terry Mango, whose son was at the center of the H&M controversy recently.
When she told the rest of
the world to “get over” the fact that H&M exploited her child, by dressing him in a “Coolest Monkey In The Jungle” sweatshirt in an ad campaign that mocked every person of African descent on the planet, she provided a textbook example of the type of destruction that can be caused upon a Black brain when it’s doused in bleach.
To the average person of color the offensive nature of the advertisement was obvi- ous at first sight. But to Ms. Mango, who obviously didn’t recognize something was off at the photo shoot and who still didn’t see anything wrong afterward, her desper- ation to belong, and profit in process, not only outweighed her own self respect, but her son’s as well.
The interesting thing about this entire episode is that, while Ms. Mango cur- rently lives in Stockholm, Sweden, she is originally a native of Kenya in East Africa. A country that became very familiar with brutal Eu- ropean racism during the British occupation of the 1950s when thousands of
members of the Mau Mau tribe were tortured in gulags for refusing to submit to British authority.
As documented in the book, Imperial Reckoning by Caroline Elkins, British soldiers routinely engaged in atrocities such as breaking bottles deep inside of women’s vaginas and pouring sand into the rectums of men who resisted the foreign in- vaders. You would think that someone only a generation or so removed from this trauma- tizing history would be more sensitive toward anything that remotely resembled the dehumanization that oc- curred in her own homeland, especially since that kind of vicious stereotyping of an ethnic group usually precedes that group being targeted for gross mistreatment or exter- mination.
I can only imagine that none of this crossed Ms. Mango’s mind in her at- tempt to remain in good standing with the H&M Cor- poration. She may have felt deep inside that something wasn’t quite right. But for the sake of going along to get along she, like a number of shallow individuals who came before her, made the cow- ardly choice to simply look the other way.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Com- pany. You can contact Mr. Barr at barr6502@gmail.com.
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C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
Help! Our Children Are Under Fire!
he sanctity of a Kentucky public school was shat-
tered when a distraught student destroyed the lives of at least two classmates, leaving no less than fif- teen other children and adults hospitalized by gunfire. Rumors run rampant that at least one other American school has become a target.
Now, by the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousand- sAmericans must march on Washington, Tampa, Tal- lahassee, St. Petersburg, cities, towns, and hamlets throughout America — to demand unilateral and un- conditional safety for our children when they go to school.
Indeed, if firearm removal is unthinkable, is the safety of our children too much to ask?
Perhaps, you thought the title of our Editorial too dramatic. Would you have thought so if you’d lost a child to a school shooter? Therefore, our directives are clear: March for the sake of our children! Attend school board meetings and speak your conscience! Find out what your school’s safety plan is.
Teach your children how to respond to bullying and to report all bullying they observe.
Adopt a school! And finally, save public education, for it is America’s heritage to the world.
The Importance Of Having A Vision
mpowered Greet-
ings. The importance of having a personal, profes- sional, corporate or organi- zational vision is that your vision is a source of disci- pline to guide you to your destiny. In life you will find that there are many issues that need to be resolved; is- sues in your extended family, community, church, local, state or national govern- ment. Although these issues exist, it is imperative to your success that you understand that you can’t solve them all. You can’t be everything to everyone. However you can be something to someone that has need of what you have to offer. Your vision,
when adhered to, will help you say no to everything and everyone else. In other words, if it doesn’t fit with your vision, you must quit it. Otherwise it becomes a dis- traction that could be fatal. The Bible says that it is your vision that helps you to exer- cise restraint. Your vision will assist you in setting pri- orities and staying centered on your plans.
The importance of your vision is to keep you focused and on track to meeting the needs of those, whom you have been called to serve and provide a service or product to. If you are going to be ef- fective in pursuing your dreams and actually obtain-
ing them, then allow your vi- sion to be the driving force that directs your decisions and actions. Your vision is what will empower you to make the life that you live count so that you move be- yond the status quo. This year let your vision be a source of hope the enables you to see farther than your eyes can look.
Selphenia is a Life and Business Success Coach committed to empowering you to succeed. If you desire to win in life but lack the so- lutions you need to succeed, then go to her website: www.successcoach- towomen.com and check out her FREE success tools.
Stay Connected with Selphenia on social media. Twitter: @queenofsuccess1 Instagram: Selphenia; Face- book Fan Page: Selphenia Nichols Success Coach To Women; Call to book Selphenia to speak, host or facilitate your next event at (813) 603- 0088.
FRIDAY, JANUARY 26, 2018 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
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