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Editorials/Columns
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Black Life Does Not Matter In Chicago
have never agreed with Bill O’ Riley on one thing. I personally think Bill is an edu- cated racist who should not be on television spreading his mes- sage of racial hate. As much as I hate to agree with this man, I must agree that all the shootings in Chicago are not acts of racism. Chicago has long had a reputation of being a very dan- gerous city. Bullets are said to fly so often that anyone could lose his life for just being in the
city.
It is documented that the
vast majority of shootings occur in Black communities and it is Blacks shooting Blacks. Some died and others managed to es- cape being numbered among the dead. These shootings go on and on, unchecked. They con- tinue to mount in numbers
Officials explain away these shootings by saying they are gang related and drugs are at the center of all the gun violence in Chicago. The gun violence there will grow because the number of gangs continues to grow.
A gang is born when a group of hoodlums band together to change the world or to beat it out of living with some wrong
doing. Gangs stake out a part of the city as being their territory. They feel like they control that territory and have a say on what goes on there.
In the meanwhile, they feel like they can do anything they want to. They subscribe to the philosophy that anyone who crosses their path must die. They don’t have respect for any- body, not even the police.
A city as big as Chicago should not be held hostage by a bunch of gun-toting gangsters. The mayor knows how bad the crime and killing are in Black communities. So does the Gov- ernor and so do the President? The President needs to be con- cerned. He will be back there shortly.
As O’ Riley said there are communities where the shoot- ings, killings and the high crime rate would not be tolerated for one minute. Can I get amen to that?
There are communities where the Mayor and the Gover- nor would have every law en- forcement unit available to them and run all of the thugs to prison. Because this gun vio- lence is basically occurring in Black neighborhoods, officials
don’t care. What Chicago needs is for officials on all levels of government to come together and devise a plan for cleaning up African American communi- ties.
Then just do it and prove that “Black Life Really Does Matter” and it is not just talk. Let us prove Bill and me to be liars. Stop the killings and the gang rule mentality. You all have the power to do so, Mr. Obama.
What Bill and I are wonder- ing is how can the citizens of Chicago sit by so idly while Chicago gangsters kill babies who have never done them any harm? Why aren’t the people forcefully and in large numbers demanding that the government does something?
I guess they haven’t learned that action speaks louder than buttoned up lips. I also wonder where are the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the rest of the community ac- tivists. I bet if a white policeman had shot a Black all of the above would be raising all kinds of hell.
All of these people are send- ing a message that Blacks have to be killed by a white for Black lives to matter. We say that all the time, but we really don’t mean it. Let me shock you.
More Blacks are killed by Blacks than all the other races together. Isn’t that news?
It looks like Chicago isn’t the only place where Black Life Doesn’t Matter. Somebody tell Black Folks that Black Life Mat- ters all over the World.
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Perry Harvey, Sr. Park Defiant!
e overheard someone say as we were leaving the ded- ication of Tampa’s newest recreational facility (Perry Harvey, Sr. Park), “Now, if they can only keep it look-
ing like it looks, today.” But like everybody else, we smiled, scratched our heads, and went on about our business.
For, who in his or her right mind would stoop so low as to vandalize a public park that symbolized the painstaking struggle of a people to make certain the world did not forget that they were once known as “Central Avenue: The Harlem of the South?”
But just like that, late one starless evening, some knuck- lehead took a hammer and smashed holes in a Southern city’s hope that it, at last, “had overcome.”
Does it matter if the vandals were Black or white? Cer- tainly, if they were Black, then Mayor Bob Buckhorn’s three word rebuke was indeed worthy of the sting it delivered. He said, “It’s plain ignorant.” And if the culprits were not Black, but spoke their race hatred with a hammer and crowbar, then what City of Tampa Manager of Art Programs Robin Nigh said was all the more compelling. In four words, she re- sponded, “This makes us ill.” (“Sick” is a better word.)
The City has responded by promising to provide more lighting for longer periods during the evening. And while such action is appreciated, something delicate and beautiful has been broken at Perry Harvey, Sr. Park that may take a long time to be rebuilt: Call it “Trust.”
Vandals broke the jaw of Perry Harvey, Sr. Park. Perhaps, in time, they may do even worse. But friends and enemies have no fear. No matter what you do, our park and our peo- ple will still be here.
The Beauty Of An Orange Moon
omeone recently showed me a picture of rapper Lil' Kim after the latest, of the
many, changes she's made to her appearance over the years. And to say that I was shocked by what I saw would be an under- statement.
As I sat there staring at the photo, trying my best to recog- nize any resemblance between the image and the woman I re- membered, the only thought that continuously crossed my mind was, "what has this crazy woman done to herself now?"
For those who may not be fa- miliar with the entertainer, known for her raunchy lyrics and skimpy outfits, there was a time when Lil' Kim was consid- ered the queen of hip-hop. A pe- tite and attractive, mocha-colored street poet who, to most young Black men in the mid 1990s, Lil’ Kim was con- sidered the epitome of a sex symbol.
Part of what made her so ap- pealing to the eye were her around-the-way-girl looks. Un- derneath the sex-kitten persona she reminded you of the cute brown-skinned girl you may have run into walking out of a 7- 11 or the one trying on shoes at a local Foot Locker....
Unfortunately, the female looking back at me from the pic- ture in the magazine was no
longer that person.
The skin, that was once
honey-glazed, appeared Nordic white. Her thick nose seemed to have been shaved to the narrow- ness of an arrow and her straight blonde hair and shrunken lips completed the look of, what can only be de- scribed as, medieval Norwegian. All of the features that would have, at one time, easily pointed to her West African ancestry were virtually untraceable.
The sight of this extreme makeover made viewing the be- fore and after photos of Lil' Kim's face truly heartbreaking. And, each time I caught a glimpse of her distorted profile, I couldn't help but wonder what would cause a woman to ex- change all of her beautiful Blackness for what, I imagine, she believed constituted even more beautiful whiteness?
This isn't a question neces- sarily reserved strictly for Lil'Kim. It can be applied to any one of the Black women who I've read about over the last few years who've used cosmetic sur- geries and skin-bleaching tech- niques to relinquish themselves of their own uniquely African visage.
The bleaching part is probably the most disturbing aspect of this new trend because it speaks directly to how deeply self-hate
has penetrated the psyche of the average woman of color. And the fact that this whitening process has, allegedly, taken a strong hold inside of countries like Nigeria as well, is evidence that the ramifications of the ideals of white supremacy, as well as the European standard of beauty, is just as influential today as it was 300 years ago.
The thing that I would love to figure out, though, is how to convince these young women, who feel the need and desire to take the route of racial cus- tomization, that there's nothing wrong with the way they were born to look? Somehow prove to them that dark brown skin that has been kissed by the sun is just as attractive as pale skin that hasn't seen the sun at all.
How can we get it across to these misinformed souls, who are unknowingly destroying their health by removing the melanin from their bodies, that regardless of what Hollywood portrays or the kind of females R&B singers and rappers like to place into their videos, there's nothing more attractive on Earth than a Black woman in all of her naturalness?
Of course, I'm only one man with an opinion. I could sit here all day and beat the drum as a champion of the Black female form. But until these women, who believe that the terms "pretty" and "light-skinned" are interchangeable, can look into a mirror and learn to appreciate the richness of their own vibrant glow, it doesn't even matter.
Reality On Ice is © by the Florida Sentinel Bul- letin Publishing Company. You can TEXT C.B., II, at (+18133080849).
America Is ‘Greater’ Under Pres. Obama
very time we hear presidential candidate Donald
Trump say “I’m gonna make America great again,” we are amazed that no one has told him yet that AMERICA IS AL- READY GREAT.
In fact, America was greater in 2015 than it had been, just before President Obama took office.
Don’t take our word for it. But according to studies per- formed by the reputable PEW Global Attitudes Project, the United States was viewed more favorably than it was during 2007 the year before Pres. Obama.
Indeed, PEW Research Center’s worldwide public opinion surveys showed that image ratings for the United States “re- main mostly positive, with a global median of 69% expressing a favorable view.”
Countries also expressed broad support for America’s military efforts against ISIS, but were critical of the U. S. gov- ernment’s use of torture after 9/11. Nevertheless, in the fifth year of the Obama presidency, the United States’ image re- mained strong around the world compared with the last years of the administration of President George W. Bush.
The report showed that views of America increased in Italy, Japan, France, Mexico, Great Britain, and Israel. Other countries responding with 60 percent or more favorably to the opinion survey included the Philippines, Ghana, South Korea, Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Vietnam, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, South Africa, Poland, Brazil, Peru, India, Ukraine, Chile, Canada, Spain, Australia, Chile, and Indonesia.
So, the next time you hear Trump saying he will make America ‘Great’ again, remind him of the PEW Project. Bet- ter still, post it on Facebook or Twitter. That way he’ll be sure to read it.
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