This piece is pregnant with a lot of stuff. I am exploring how attitudes and belief systems have crystallized a mindset that leads to sickness, that is, mental illness. Though we have been focused on the January 6 insurrection and the George Floyd lynching, lynching in America has been woven in the patriotic fabric of this great nation. Substitute Emmett Till, George Hughes, Jose Campos Torres or James Byrd and the equation does not change. Perhaps later we can explore how mob mentality cleared the path to kill Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, President John F. Kennedy and Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Sadism is defined as “the tendency to derive pleasure, especially sexual gratification, from inflicting pain, suffering or humiliation among others “. “Lynching’s are not the work of men suddenly possessed of a strange madness: they are the logical issues of prejudice and a lack of respect for law and personality, plus a SADISTIC desire to participate in the excitement of mob trials and the brutalities of torture and murder.” This is the conclusion from the researchers of the book “The Tragedy of Lynching “by Arthur Rapier”. This conclusion prompts us to explore the inner story of two mobs. Mob 1 is the cluster of mobs that perpetrated waves of mob violence on black and people of color for nearly 150 years in this so called “Christian” land. Mob 2 is the January 6, 2021, insurrectionist mob that attacked and tried to overturn the legitimate election of President Joe Biden and take down the democracy. This mob constructed gallows to lynch Speaker Pelosi, Vice President Mike Pence and defenders of the John Lewis Voter Rights Act. In understanding Mob 1 and Mob 2, history shows that mobs are not content with the death of their victims. During the Mob 1 litany of lynching’s, the mobbers were driven to burn and roast, mutilate and torture their victims. They were very sick men and women and often boys and girls. They were Catholics and Protestants, Baptists and Methodist. Many were anti-Semitic. They were educated and uneducated, entrepreneurs and …
Fighting for the people is a BLUES job. Martin and Coretta were pursued by “blues hellhounds” nipping at their heels. On the night of their wedding, they had to spend the night at a Black-owned mortuary because of segregation in public accommodations. The Bill Claire Mortuary on Sophomore Street in the re-emerging Silk Stocking of Third Ward H-Town showcases the wedding dress and a facsimile of the honeymoon room. Fighting for the people is a BLUES job. John Bell Williams in the book, “The King That God Didn’t Save,” explains that the sinister FBI commissioner J. Edgar Hoover targeted Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when he received the NOBEL prize in Sweden. Hoover planted a scantily-clothed Anglo honey in his descending elevator and then this temptress made a crooked allegation to the front desk regarding Dr. King. Fortunately, the Nobel committed knew of Hoover’s twisted game plan. Fighting for the people is a BLUES job. When Dr. King went into Riverside Methodist Church in New York to make the case that the Vietnam War was immoral and illegal, many of the clergy, Black and white, jumped ship on the basis that foreign policy was not the business of the American civil rights community although their constituencies were receiving their sons in body bags. Never mind that B-52 bombers were dropping 500-pound bombs and lacing children with napalm. Dr. King gave the quintessential NOT IN MY NAME anti-war BLUES paean. Dr. King strode into H-Town and faced the BOURGEOIS BLUES. Key Black ministers decided to boycott Dr. King and dissuade their members from attending his speech at the Sam Houston Coliseum. Skipper Lee failed to get the memo and took his mountain of soul to a near empty coliseum. Songbird Aretha Franklin blew the Blues away with a ‘I wish I knew how it felt to be free’ Precious Lord. Dr. King was a BLUES man. He knew the BLUES walk and march. For a change to come, persecution had to be your 24-hour companion. His master has pronounced the BLUES mission when he said, “Foxes have holes, but the son …
It is useless to quote Shakespeare from his play The Tempest. “The past is prologue” is an overused cliche but useful for my rant on the runaway gun violence in certain areas of the country and our great city. Moaning about Chicago styled weekends in this southern Mecca does not move us to a different and peaceful neighborhood future. Past is prologue suggests that future choices will determine the quality of life going forward. I know that we have been told that Atlanta is the black Mecca and Washington D.C. is the chocolate Mecca. H Town has almost one and three fourths’ times as many black people than New Orleans and Atlanta combined and a stronger economy. This is true before and after Hurricane Katrina. In Washington, D.C. a mini billboard signs read, “IF BLACK LIVES MATTER, WHY ARE BLACK PEOPLE STILL KILLING EACH OTHER. “I do not mean to suggest that this problem is solely a black problem, it is an American Dilemma. A few weeks ago, a young black man was sentenced in the murder of Delindsey Mack. Mack, affectionately known as “Poppie,” was a young Lamar student that was the victim of a gangster styled execution a few blocks from the school. As I and a legion of social workers were trying to redirect and refocus his life, street life caught up with him and all the kings’ horses could not prevent his murder. This past Monday night and early Tuesday morning witnessed six shootings in six hours in H- Town. As of the writing of this article, all the victims are recovering. It is truly disgraceful that in this technological superpower and moral dwarf (USA), 90 Americans are killed every day by handguns. It is equally disgraceful that nine kids are accidentally killed by guns every day in America. This is not griping about spilled milk. This is a quest for solutions that work and last. When David Dinkins was the Mayor of NYC around 2000, NYC had 2,000 murders a year. When Rudy Giuliani and his police commissioner instituted COMSTAT, murders were driven down to a level that enabled New York to boast that it was the safest big city in the …
Did you pay attention to the supremacy sneer of the face of Derrick Chauvin as he suffocated the life out of George Floyd? It was a domination mug shot. It was a mug shot of resident evil where evil powers and principalities dwelled, rather a body that had been possessed and evil powers found a home. We should not unconditionally give Chauvin forgiveness although the Almighty can grant forgiveness. Chauvin represents the same old gang of thugs that open the released door for Barnabus and built the gallows for Jesus. We often try to temporarily exonerate resident evil, by saying “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Our shining prince, Malcolm was on target to say, “No, they know exactly what they are doing.” History is replete with horror stories of this mob in action. The spirit of Derrick Chauvin was the spirit of Adolf Eichmann and Dylan Roof. Eichmann was instrumental in 11 million being killed and Roof was the sick young white Neo-Nazi man who coldly executed nine at Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. All were sick white supremacists that were under the control of the great adversary. All have expressed NO REMORSE, totally unapologetic. He partook of the Sunday School lesson with the pilgrims and then sent them to glory. Remorse is a part of redemption and forgiveness. Have you heard that Eichmann, Chauvin or Roof went to the mercy seat and prayed the Sinners Prayer? Have they sent messages of regard to the victims’ families? Quit giving this gang a pass. The Jews never forget. Though a war criminal is 100 years old and hiding in South America, soldiers and litigators gather and prosecute him for crimes against humanity in the interest of justice and peace. The day of hell, the day of insurrection was meticulously planned by this gang of so-called patriots. They were chomping at the bits to kill Vice President Mike Pence, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Al Green. Now they are pretending to be altar boys and Boy Scouts. Eight to 10 innocent people …
Isabelle Allende tells the story of the fight against dehumanization and enslavement in one of the greatest books of our time, “Island beneath the Sea.” The setting is Saint Domingue-18th century, now known as Haiti. At one time Haiti was the richest colony on the planet, primarily because of the brutal theft of the labor of the black enslaved people. Haiti and the islands of the Caribbean were part of the dreaded “middle passage.” Twenty million or more black people were exploited in this holocaust. Those that did not perish on the journey ended up producing sugar cane, rum, cotton and tobacco. France, the mother country felt that God had given Frenchmen the right to be masters and God had ordained the “children of Cain” to be enslaved. Haitians broke this curse by launching a bloody revolution that led to the total elimination of slavery and rule by blacks and non-whites. It was the largest slave revolt since Spartacus’s unsuccessful revolt against the Roman republic. Furthermore, if the Haitians had not defeated Napoleon and his goons, we would probably be speaking French rather than English from the Mississippi to the Pacific. We remember this from our American History class. Two weeks ago, we were distressed by witnessing the border agent on horseback using a whip to drive the Haitians back across the Rio Grande. After a two thousand mild journey mostly on foot, pregnant women, families and children braving venomous snakes and bandits, the Haitians are turned away. They fled a country that sat on a major earthquake fault line and political instability as evidenced by a recent presidential assassination and calamitous earthquakes in 2010 and 2021. In 1980 –81, I had the privilege of serving as the Director of one of the Haitian Resettlement Projects. Black and white churches took the lead in forming resettlement committees to provide a foundation for the newly arrived refugees. Our elected and civilian leadership embraced the moral mandate and urged private and governmental leaders to support the resettlement. Today, hundreds, maybe a few thousand ex-refugees are now citizens of the USA and solid …
Last week, I was shopping for essentials at the local grocery store and the clerk gives me a receipt for $6.66. At jet-like speed, I told her to void this transaction as I was only mildly superstitious. Biblically, threescore, three hundred and six represents the number of the beast in the last days. Some scholars are sure that this number represented the Roman Empire that became a perpetual adversary to the beloved community. On September 1 of this year, Governor Greg Abbott signed into law 666 pieces of legislation designed to restrict voter rights, attack reproductive freedom and end abortion and persecute the transgender population. One of the pieces of this legislation seeks to prohibit the teaching of the Texas-Tulsa style riot and attack on Black communities in our public schools. In 1930, in Sherman, Texas a mad white mob destroyed this community and suppressed the knowledge about this attack. Let us look at the back story. Our local stalwart, Chris Hollins, former Harris Count clerk, spooked the anti-democratic forces. Along with the national fossils losing the House, Senate and Presidency and the local fossils losing Harris, Bexar, Dallas and Travis counties. Key Republicans such as Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick squeaked by in Harris County. Hollins supercharged voter participation through drive through, mail-in and drop boxes. The Democratic governor of California was recently facing a recall vote. He won handily and part of the refrain was, “Do you want California to become like Texas?” Texas leads the nation in child poverty and uninsured children. Three of the poorest urban areas in the country are in the great state of Texas. If your children grow poor in Texas, they are less likely to complete high school and successfully enter the world of work or college. They are more likely to enter the criminal justice system, use drugs, become a premature parent. For a poor parent, being poor in Texas is the hardest job in America. I hail from a poor state, Louisiana, but Texas takes the honors for POOR. Elections matter, LEADERSHIP matters. Trump won by …
Houston is not Chicago or New Orleans. Houston in not Los Angeles or Oakland. One of the reasons that Houston will not become Fort Apache is the swift work of the Houston Police Department and the partnership that exists between the police and community. Almost before we could blink, suspects in the murder of New Orleans police Officer Everett Briscoe were in custody. Sadly, Officer Briscoe’s partner also went on to glory before the third suspect could be apprehended. Even if the first two suspects claim they were not the actual shooters, because of the parties’ provision of the law, even if you didn’t pull the trigger in an assault or murder, you are likely to be equally charged as the killer. These young men will be old as Methuselah when they are eligible for parole. It is likely they will wish for Hades after the verdict of the “Hanging Judge and Jury.” This tragedy is a teachable moment for young people and citizens. First, it tells us that the grim reaper can come at blinding speed in the circumstances that are calm and serene. Before you can gulp your craft beer and attack your appetizer, the adversary is demanding your soul. How tenuous life is. I will never forget when 15-year-old Marsai Murry was shot at the Hightower vs. Willow Ridge football game. It is true that bullets have no name for Marsai was not a target. I will never forget that the assailant said before his sentencing. “I am not a fiend; the prosecutor has pictured me as a monster, but I am not that guy. I made a mistake, and I will be forever sorry.” Nevertheless, another child and another man has gone. In the Galleria attempted robbery / murder last month, one of the accused robbers accosted another patron at gun point. The patron reported that the robber said to her, and I paraphrase, “you don’t have to get shot if you cooperate.” Since the advent of New Jack City, a new type of street criminal has emerged. Although the victim cooperates and surrenders their jewels, …
Before we go full bore on President Joe Biden, let’s consider the impact of receiving soldiers remains in flag draped caskets and consoling the bereaved families. Going to D.C. for the majesty and splendor of the African American Museum or the Smithsonian is a lot different from viewing the graves at Arlington cemetery of thousands of fallen American boys and girls. Old corrupt men sent many of these young men to fight and die in wars that were not in our national interest nor national honor. Maybe, we all need to be lacerated by our consciences for the American people are responsible for the looming human rights catastrophe. The carnage facing thousands of Afghan interpreters and supporters was preventable. That is, proper and prior preparation prevents piss poor performance. How could the intelligence be so far wrong? A Taliban takeover of the country was calculated to be 6 months away. If the facts hold, the intelligence led us into a blind alley and now the cost in lives will be unconscionable. America has seen this before, Saigon Vietnam 1975. Our allies panicked and stormed the last helicopter out. McGeorge Bundy and General Westmoreland had given the President bad intelligence after American B 52’s had helped to kill a million Vietnamese. Young men that could not spell Communism were put into a no-win situation in rice paddies of Vietnam. After paying keen attention to the shining black prince, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali prepared the way for Kaepernick and others to redefine patriotism by refusing to be inducted into the US Army. As defined by President Obama, American boys were fighting a “war of necessity” in Afghanistan following the NYC 9-11 World Trade Center attacks that were orchestrated by twisted Maestro Ben Laden. In both cases there was American military superiority as measured by 300,000 soldiers to an estimated 75,000 Taliban in Afghanistan. It is worthy to note that creditable intel reports that up to 100,000 Afghan soldiers had deserted and that government thieves looted the funding for resupply and other logistics. Total domination thru the Air Force with laser guided drones …
On June 12, Texas Gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke made the case for his candidacy and saving the fragile democracy following the insurrectionist attempt to overturn a legitimate presidential election on January 6.
We are stronger today than we were in the 1890’s. Rights that we possessed in 1890 were chopped up and cancelled during the first Reconstruction. Guest what, it took decades of sustained struggle to recover basic democratic rights such as full voter registration and participation. Prepare for a marathon, an Usain Bolt sprinter will peter out.
October 16, 2023, HOUSTON, TX – Congressional Candidate Amanda Edwards has raised over $1 million in less than 4 months, a substantial sum that helps bolster the frontrunner status of the former At-Large Houston City Council Member in her bid for U.S. Congress. Edwards raised over $433,000 in Q3 of 2023. This strong Q3 report expands on a successful Q2 where Edwards announced just 11 days after declaring her candidacy that she had raised over $600,000. With over $829,000 in cash-on-hand at the end of the September 30th financial reporting period, Edwards proves again that she is the clear frontrunner in the race. “I am beyond grateful for the strong outpouring of support that will help me to win this race and serve the incredible people of the 18th Congressional District,” said Edwards. “We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s trajectory, and we need to send servant leaders to Congress who can deliver the results the community deserves. The strong support from our supporters will help us to cultivate an 18th Congressional District where everyone in it can thrive.” Edwards said. “Amanda understands the challenges that the hard-working folks of the 18th Congressional District face because she has never lost sight of who she is or where she comes from; she was born and raised right here in the 18th Congressional District of Houston,” said Kathryn McNiel, spokesperson for Edwards’ campaign. Edwards has been endorsed by Higher Heights PAC, Collective PAC, Krimson PAC, and the Brady PAC. She has also been supported by Beto O’Rourke, among many others. About Amanda: Amanda is a native Houstonian, attorney and former At-Large Houston City Council Member. Amanda is a graduate of Eisenhower High School in Aldine ISD. Edwards earned a B.A. from Emory University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Edwards practiced law at Vinson & Elkins LLP and Bracewell LLP before entering public service. Edwards is a life-long member of St. Monica Catholic Church in Acres Homes. For more information, please visit www.edwardsforhouston.com
As September 13th rolls around, we extend our warmest birthday wishes to the creative powerhouse, Tyler Perry, a man whose indomitable spirit and groundbreaking work have left an indelible mark on the world of entertainment. With his multifaceted talents as an actor, playwright, screenwriter, producer, and director, Tyler Perry has not only entertained but also inspired audiences worldwide, particularly within the African-American community, where his influence and role have been nothing short of powerful. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1969, Tyler Perry’s journey to stardom was a path riddled with adversity. Raised in a turbulent household, he found refuge in writing, using it as a therapeutic outlet. This period of introspection gave rise to one of his most iconic creations, Madea, a vivacious, no-nonsense grandmother who would later become a beloved figure in Perry’s works, offering a unique blend of humor and profound life lessons. Despite facing numerous challenges, including rejection and financial struggles, Perry’s determination and unwavering belief in his abilities propelled him forward. In 1992, he staged his first play, “I Know I’ve Been Changed,” which, although met with limited success, was a pivotal moment in his career. Unfazed by initial setbacks, Perry continued to hone his craft, and by 1998, he had successfully produced a string of stage plays that showcased his storytelling prowess.
Calling all teenage student-athletes! If you have dreams of playing college soccer and wish to represent an HBCU, the HBCU ID Camp is your golden opportunity. From 8 am to 5 pm on November 11-12, Houston Sports Park will transform into a hub for aspiring male and female soccer players. Coaches from HBCUs across the nation will be present to evaluate, scout, and offer valuable feedback. Moreover, they might even spot the next soccer prodigy to join their collegiate soccer programs. This camp is not just about honing your soccer skills but also a chance to connect with the HBCU soccer community. You’ll learn the ins and outs of what it takes to excel on the field and in the classroom, which is crucial for a college athlete. The HBCU ID Camp is an excellent platform to network with coaches, learn from experienced athletes, and take the first steps toward your college soccer journey. To secure your spot at this incredible event, don’t forget to register [here](insert registration link). Space is limited to 120 participants, so make sure to reserve your place before it’s too late. It’s time to turn your dreams of playing college soccer into a reality.
