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No Shame In Our History
t appears that rapper
Snoop Dogg has a prob- lem with the history of slavery in America. This is probably why he took it upon himself to attempt to promote a boycott of the television mini-series Roots earlier this week.
I guess I can't blame him for how he feels. To an uncon- scious mind, that enjoys living in an altered state of reality, an epic presentation like Roots can be a huge buzz kill.
Facing a visually authentic representation of the kind of brutality and inhumanity many of our great, great, great grandparents may have en- dured is not easy to accept. And, I imagine, it's easier to remain in "turnt up" mode while embracing the American lifestyle without having to re- flect on what those ancestors, who suffered such incredible atrocities in this country, would think if they could see us now.
Do not get me wrong. I
partially get where people like Snoop are coming from when they say that they are tired of seeing big-budget projects fo- cused on this tragic aspect of our past.
Over the last few years it does appear as though the subject of American slavery has become increasingly en- vogue in Hollywood. These days a Black actor is unlikely to find work that doesn't in- volve him or her singing on a plantation.
Of course, during this same time frame, there also hasn't been a shortage of very bad reality television display- ing the buffoonish antics of Black individuals who harbor all of the shortcomings of the slave mentality either. But, ironically, you don't hear much about those shows being protested or boycotted.
Personally, as hard as it is for me to watch Roots with- out being emotionally drained, I believe it's defi-
nitely needed. In fact, in a day and age when some school books are re-writing history by describing the Trans-At- lantic slave trade as a form of "involuntary migration," I think the movie should be re- quired viewing in every house- hold where a Black child is being raised. As a periodic re- minder of the struggle taken that got us to this point.
What a lot of Black people miss in trying to advance in- side of this society is that mov- ing forward doesn't mean forgetting where you came from. As the saying goes, "A people who forgets their past are doomed to repeat it."
Our holocaust should be just as important to us as the holocausts of the Native Americans, Jews and Armeni- ans are to those groups. You would think that someone who once called himself "Snoop Lion" in honor of his adoption of the Rastafar- ian faith would know this.
But since his statements and actions clearly prove oth- erwise, after this, referring to him as "Snoop Cub" may be more appropriate.
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Barack Obama:
A President Of Peace
see the President visited Hiroshima,” a cashier observed while viewing the headlines on the front page of a paper
one of our editorial staff members was reading.
“He doesn’t care about our veterans,” the cashier contin- ued. “I mean, we had to drop that [atom] bomb over there after they [Japanese] bombed Pearl Harbor.” Our writer countered, “But we have to heal the world and make peace sometime . . . It’s been 71 years [since the end of World War II] and it’s time.” “Yep,” countered the cashier, “but his going over there makes us look weak. He doesn’t care about our
veterans!” the cashier snarled.
By now, our writer realized the cashier’s mind was set in
concrete, so, the writer concluded, “Seems like we’re still fighting the Civil War more than 200 years later . . . I sure hope it won’t take us that long to heal from World War II.”
Many Americans, including Donald Trump, criticized President Obama’s recent trips to Cuba and Hiroshima, clas- sifying the visits as “apologies,” “shameful,” “fawning visit,” and “dissing our vets.”
However, we see the President’s tour as indicative of the reasons why the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded our president with the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, citing his ex- traordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between people, the world-over.
Noted the Nobel Committee, President Obama’s “promo- tion of nuclear nonproliferation and a ‘new climate’ in inter- national relations . . . especially in reaching out to the Muslim world,” was inspirational to say the least.
During this nuclear age, we must remember our planet can be destroyed by the push of a button. Therefore, having a Chief Executive who pushes past the testosterone rush of war in order to make peace may delay the world’s rush to Ar- mageddon. Kudos to our Leader!
Marc Morial On The State Of Black America: 'All Gears Have Been Thrown Into Reverse'
or 40 years the National
Urban League has docu- mented the great divide be- tween the social and economic prosperity of white and black Americans. And for 40 years the story has remained much the same, said Marc Morial, the league's president and CEO.
Black people continue to trail white residents in every cate- gory the league tracks, present- ing "a persistent racial disparity in American life," that might as well equate to a reversal of for- tune for strides toward equality made after the Civil Rights era of the 1960s, he said.
"The similarities of the United States of 1976 and the United States of 2016 are pro- foundly striking," Morial said. "We are now, as we were then, a nation struggling to overcome the greatest economic down- turn since the Great Depres- sion. All gears have been thrown into reverse."
"...the historic Obama presi- dency has not been a panacea
for America's long-standing race problem," wrote National Urban League president and CEO Marc Morial.
The Urban League marked the 40th edition of its "State of Black America" report with a call to spend $1 trillion over the next five years on programs and policies meant to erase success gaps between races. Modeled after George Marshall's sweep- ing plan to rebuild a decimated Europe after World War II, Mo- rial called it the "Main Street Marshall Plan."
The latest report tracked progress among black Ameri- cans to match white residents in five main categories: econom- ics, health, education, social justice and civic engagement. It found small gains made in the past year, including more African-Americans enrolling in college and fewer being denied mortgages and home improve- ment loans. It also found the gap in access to technology had shrunk, giving black people
greater opportunity to engage the world.
The league's president in 1976, Vernon Jordan Jr., launched the "State of Black America" report after Presi- dent Gerald Ford failed to mention anything about black Americans in his 1975 State of the Union Address.
"President Gerald Ford was running the country. He was a good man. He was a friend of mine," Jordan said in a video statement. "But in the area that I most cared about he wasn't very aggressive."
Compared to 1976, poverty among black Americans had fallen slightly by 2016, but had risen among white Americans, leading to an apparent im- provement. Black people saw their unemployment rate drop from 13.2 percent to 9.6 percent overall, but the white unem- ployment rate fell at a faster rate from 7 percent to 4.8 per- cent. The difference is reflected as a backslide in the report.
Highlights of the league's plan include providing univer- sal early childhood education, raising the national minimum wage to $15 an hour, doubling the Pell Grant program for low- income students to attend col- lege and providing affordable high-speed internet access for everyone.
"Some say: 'Can we afford it?'" Morial said. "I say: 'We cannot afford not to do it.'"
Trump-Rasputin
istorian, author, columnist and foreign policy com-
mentator who calls himself a “neoconservative” Karl Hagan has watched Donald Trump very closely. About Trump, Hagan says, “His incoherent and contradictory ut- terances have one thing in common. They provoke and play on feelings of resentment and disdain, intermingled with bits of fear, hatred and anger.”
Says Hagan, [Trump’s] public discourse consists of at- tacking or ridiculing a wide range of ‘others’ – Muslims, His- panics, women, Chinese, Mexicans, Europeans, Arabs, immigrants, refugees, etc. – whom he depicts either as threats or as objects of derision.
His program, such as it is, consists chiefly of promises to get tough with foreigners and people of nonwhite complex- ion. He will deport them, bar them, get them to knuckle under, make them pay up or make them shut up.” Ends Hagan, “Trump himself is simply and quite literally an ego- maniac. But the phenomenon he has created and now leads has become something larger than him, and something far more dangerous.”
Hagan likens Trump to a budding Hitler. We liken Trump, however, to someone far worse . . . no, not an “anti-Christ,” but a lunatic who took over and brought down the head of a Russian Empire.
Grigori Rasputin, Russian peasant from Siberia, mystical faith healer, trusted friend of the Russian Tsar Nicolas, II and his entire family was astounding in the excesses he could get away with. Before his untimely end, Rasputin predicted that Russia would last as long as he survived. It is here that he reminds us of the connection between Trump and the Republican Party.
Hagan warns about Trump, “This is how fascism comes to America.” But we warn the Re- publican Party “This is how a major political party meets its doom . . . by being kidnapped by a mad-monk who drags it down to anarchy. Republicans, read Rasputin.
FRIDAY, JUNE 3, 2016 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 5-A
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