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Rumors of Rumors of War

Take someone’s land. OK. Take someone’s land and justify it with YOUR religion. OK. Attack a country with ALL of your TECHNOLOGICAL superiority. OK. Top it off with the backing of the most powerful country in the world!!

I just love watching CNN. I can’t remember what story touched me more: the American Jews going back to Israel to support the homeland or the Israeli cabinet member who said that Hezbollah wouldn’t allow the IDF to help the freshly bombed citizens of Lebanon.

Watch it Michael – anything said against Israel will make you anti-Semitic!

I could act like so many other folks who say, ”I’m not taking sides – I just wish both sides would find a peaceful way out of this.” That would NOT be me!!! I have NEVER understood the US’s backing of Israel. This is a terrorist country like so many others we’ve been conditioned to think of that way (e.g. Iran, Syria, Libya, etc). I started reading an article that compared Israel to South Africa of old. The way Arabs are treated there is appauling, but we’ll never know it. Our press only shows you the results of suicide bombers, fanatic Islamic followers parading and burning flags, or the ever popular slow-motioned, dramatic music-filled video clips of Muslim clerics and leaders. DON’T GET ME WRONG. Some of these countries are truly CRAZY (their leaders, that is). However, I am a little tired of hearing all this outpouring of sympathy for Israel as if they’re the wounded victims. War is bad for everyone involved but let’s not pretend that this conflict is one-sided.

I heard the strangest thing that actually made sense to me in a weird way. This Lebanese guy said that he was proud of the suicide bombers. His argument was this: we have NOTHING to fight ”them” with except our bare hands (or bodies). These bombers were fighting with all they had. It made sense to me. I’m NOT condoning suicide bombing, so PLEASE DON’T GO THERE WITH ME. I understood his point though. We see the images of kids fighting Israeli tanks with rocks. Are we not moved by this? Do we ask WHY these kids have such angst for the Israelis?

Why does the US continue to back the wrong horse?

We backed a puppet regime in Iran and then we had the overthrow of the Shaw and the hostage incident in 1979. So, the Iranians hated us. We backed Iraq in their war with Iran (which was backed by Russia – more chess playing by the superpowers). Then, Saddam took over using OUR weapons. We had to then fight him while entertaining relations with Iran. We managed to quiet Libya. Remember them? Bombed the Qaddafi’s home and killed his children. I guess precision bombing hadn’t been invented yet. We back Israel against ALL of the Muslim world. But, ha ha, we’re even dumber. These cats have MOST of the oil that fuels our SWVs we can’t seem to get enough of. Doesn’t anyone remember the 70’s? Long gas lines?

(sigh)

Will we ever learn? Of course not! We backed Afghanistan against the Russians but we couldn’t seem to leave Saudi Arabia (enter Osama bin Laden). We put Noreaga in Granada and then he got carried away. We put him down easily, though.
Are we EVER going to give some REAL thought to our foreign policy? I am so tired of hearing about how Ronald Reagan was a foreign policy demigod. Aren’t we reaping the benefits of HIS failed policies?

I’ll keep watching CNN to see what new bombs are dropping in Lebanon. They’re going to keep marching into Lebanon to finally do away with Hezbollah. Wow! I hope the Hezbollah members have their badges on. We don’t want the IDF to kill the wrong folks! I’ll keep looking out for those special interest stories: Jewish grandmothers baking cookies for the IDF soldiers on the front lines!

So. . . will this be the start of World War III? We back Israel. Iran and Syria will back Lebanon. Russia is probably still in the bed with Iran. North Korea keeps lobbing missiles in the air to see if they can TRULY make Las Vegas the city of lights. And, have we forgotten about Al Qaida?

How do rumors get started?!?!?!?!

...a break ...

One day, an African friend of mine and I were having a candid discussion about Black folks, Africans, and perceptions on various levels. Our conversation was rather long and I won’t attempt to recall all of it, but I did want to highlight a few points.
Are Black folks lazy? That’s a good question. I tend to believe that WE are complacent and some of us feel a sense of entitlement. Let me explain.

There comes a time when folks are tired: tired of fighting, tired of being ”strong,” and just physically tired. Many of us are resting on the laurels of our civil rights activists and making no efforts to continue their hard work. We believe that we have OVERCOME. You can’t just call a brotha or a sista a nigger without the NAACP holding a press conference. Nobody’s telling us to come in the back door. The whites only signs are gone (although the invisible ones are still there – need I mention country clubs). At this point, many black folks are content with their lives. Some even feel entitled to do nothing. ”This country owes me something” might fall out of the mouths of many who are on welfare. H*ll, I’ve thought about reparations a few times. It seems like an impossible dream. I and many of my friends who have student loans have often said that forgiveness of ALL student loans would be enough for us. I don’t need 40 acres and a mule. Shit, what am I going to do with a mule?

Back on topic. . .

So, my point was that Africans come to this country with very little but manage to secure jobs, own businesses, and do well. This does not come without HARD WORK, so please don’t think that fact is lost on me. I find it quite interesting how many Blacks, born and raised, in this country can’t manage to get beyond the middle class. How many Black businesses are there? I reasoned that White folks like Africans more than Black folks. Seems silly right? I believe it’s perception. Some white folks see US as lazy and, fresh off the boat, Africans as hard workers! Will you put your money behind a lazy ass nigga or a hard working Nigerian? The saga and issues continue. . . no conclusion!

We left this topic and started discussing Kwanzaa (a word that is NOT Swahili – I was corrected many times). Kwanzaa was developed by Dr. Maulana Karenga as a celebration to create a connection between Blacks and African culture. It was a good idea since WE do not have a clear path to our African roots. We were captured from various countries along the west African coast. So, what’s the issue? After having gone through the 7 principles, she has an issue with some of the words, their translations. It seems that Dr. Karenga was stretching a bit with some of his words. Kwanza is Swahili for first but Kwanzaa is NOT a Swahili word, so many African folks are a little offended. Why is it that WE tend to mix and match different things from Africa? You know what I mean. You’ll go into someone’s home and they’ll have something from Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, and perhaps South Africa. We want to feel connected to ”home.” But, do we KNOW what home is? I couldn’t tell you where my ancestors are from? I doubt that I’m from Zaire. Am I originated from the Cote d’Ivore (spelling?) or Nigeria? Who knows? So, my question was this (for my friend)? What culture should we adopt? You take a couple million folks, make them slaves, make them forget their culture (under force), and then some 400 years later you expect them to NOT want to know from whence they came? It is probably NOT right to mix cultures in an effort to make some kind of meaningful connection to your roots. So. . . what should WE do:

1. Continue to mix and match cultures
2. Adopt one culture – assume that my people are from Ghana and go with it
3. Abandon African culture altogether and celebrate OUR history/culture HERE
4. Celebrate our culture HERE while remembering our African roots

I don’t really know what (4) would look like. I think many of us have already done (3). I remember when I was small. NOBODY wanted to be known as an African Booty Scratcher! Do you remember that derogatory term? The media machine had won the war: WE denied our heritage!

”. . . you can Watusi yo Black ass back to AFRICA. . . .” – Julian from School Daze.

What will we finally decide????