The PURGE: Entertainment vs Reality

There is a movie franchise called the Purge. I have seen the first three and recently the Saturday following the 4th of July I saw the latest installment which is a prequel called "The First Purge" which I felt was the best one.  For those reading this blog that are not familiar with the movies, they are an American dystopian action horror films. The basis is that the american government is now being ruled by NFFA which stands for New Founding Fathers of America. In an effort to keep crime down in the latter part of the 21st century, one day out of the year for 12 hours people are allowed to purge their anger and inhibitions through crime including murder and not be held responsible for it. Now to the sane and moral people that seemed inhumane and horrific, but sadly enough many people participated.

Getting back to this prequel The First Purge, it showed how it all began with this experiment the government offered the Black and Latino citizens in low income area of Staten Island, New York with monetary incentives up to $5000 or more to participate in purging their anger in any shape or form. Many of the people living in the projects of Staten Island, that were broke, despaired, naturally took to the experiment in which criminal acts including murder was for a gain of  monetary incentive if you survive.  The NFFA kept tabs by putting tracking devices in people's arms and giving them contact lenses so they can witness the acts of purging as they happened going viral.

Even though this is a fictitious movie series depicting America in the latter part of the 21st century, it possess some harsh realities. When it comes to black and brown people communities, there is poisoning in the water supply, food contamination, human trafficking for organs, sex trafficking of girls and young women, police brutality, drug trafficking, economic disparity, a disproportionate rate of violence.  This is by designed to exterminate a group of people who are thought to be a burden or nuisance in this land of the Red, White, and Blue according to their race, social economic class, religious beliefs, and so forth. America has purged on black people since slavery, lynchings, Jim Crow, Tuskegee experiment, just to name a few. Now the Latino community is feeling it with separation of children from parents being detained in camps and sent back to Mexico because the majority say all are illegal immigrants and have no place in America. Mass school and public shootings happening so frequently to where people are becoming desensitized. Yet we are told by the  treasonous head of the government he is making America great again.  It's become a cliche but  stay woke!

The bible says in 2 Timothy 3:1-3, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self control, brutal, not lovers of the good." 

Poetic Thought:

Gunshots fired everyday,
Sad to say, hard for children to play,
Life is not a sprint, but a marathon of endurance,
Crime is a liability, cover your love ones with insurance,
Immorality has expedited the last days with a surge,
Seek help from GOD, protect yourself, from the wickedness of man's purge! ~ JD

I used the Purge movies even though it is for entertainment there lies hidden messages, we see everyday in our society. The nature of man has become increasingly evil. Actor Donald Glover whose alter ego when it comes to music Childish Gambino has a song called "This is America" and the video  sums up a lot of what is happening right before our eyes. Continue to promote love, the word of GOD but be proactive and protect yourself and love ones at any cost!  Until next time, class dismiss!!!

MENTAL STATE

A lot is going on in our communities and society at large. Mental illness is running rampant with no discriminant of people be it male, female, Black, White, or any ethnicity. Just here recently in the news two very wealthy individuals Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain committed suicide leaving behind the pieces for their families to pick up and shock from their fans. Now that this has happen to some high profile individuals, the narrative of mental health is beginning to be discuss a little more and talked about on social media. In the bigger scheme of things it is good that people are talking about mental illness but the million dollar question is what course of action are you going to take to help someone who may be suffering from mental illness?

On a more personal level, I'm sure someone reading this blog, know a family member, friend, colleague or someone who deals with or is affected by mental illness. In the African-American community people don't like talking about it or addressing it properly because of the perceive stigma that comes along with it. In so many cases people will say just pray about it or I'm praying for you and someone could really be in need of professional help. Now don't get me wrong my GOD is more than capable of all things, but he also allows us understanding of wise counsel, so instead of just praying for that individual suggest or seek some professional help for them. Many people are having mental breakdowns, committing heinous acts, because of the intense battle with mental illness and their story will not be publicize on the entertainment news but they are important in the lives of those who love them. 

A few common mental illness disorders that are affecting people that are around you everyday are; Depression, Bipolar Disorder, Anxiety & Panic, Schizophrenia just to name a few. If you know a love one, friend, or colleague battling any one of these or some other mental illness disorder, be there for them and if they are not getting help for it, encourage them to. This battle of the mind is Chess not checkers and must be approached strategically in order to be effective in helping someone.

The bible says in  Ephesians 4:23, "An be renewed in the spirit of your mind".

Poetic Thought:

You see Pepsi but to some it taste like Coke,
The voiceless try to speak, but they choke,
Emotions and decisions are in constant conflict,
Prescriptions become a convenient fix,
Peace is what you stand in line for and wait,
Cast your cares on the Creator and seek help to heal your mental state. ~ JD


Sometimes when I am out and about in the city running my errands or heading to my destination, I see people on the street corner and a lot of times some of them are talking to themselves acting erratic. I assume many people passing by in their vehicles or walking into the stores think those people are crazy and probably on drugs. In some cases they might be, but I'm sure there are some of those people who are suffering from a mental illness and it landed them on the streets. Have compassion and thank the Lord above for your blessings and having a sound mind. Until next time, class dismiss!!!

FLIGHT or FIGHT

You have to be living under a rock not to have seen in the news about the cowardly mass shooting killing of four people at a Waffle House diner in Nashville, TN suburb of Antioch on Sunday morning April 22nd. This was another display of a mass shooting culture here in the United States of America that seems to happen quite frequently nowadays.

The culprit a  29 year old white man Travis Reinking killed four people of color 3 men and a woman. This begs the question beyond just another mass shooting was this a hate crime and racially motivated.
The bravery of a 29 year old black man James Shaw Jr to act quickly and disarm the cowardly shooter, not only saved his life but saved the lives of so many other patrons at that diner. When asked later by reporters what made him act courageous enough to wrestle the AR-15 assault rifle from the gun man his reply was, "I was just trying to live, I figured if I was going to die, he was going to have to work for it".

A simple yet profound response it was. In the grand scheme of things, if you were in a situation like that what would you do? Would you allow yourself to be a casualty of a lunatic shooting spree or would you fight back to save your life? The theory of Flight or Fight come into play. I applaud James Shaw for what he did because had he not, he could have been a victim along with many others present at that Waffle House diner in the wee hours of Sunday morning. He would have missed out on being present in the life of his 4 year old daughter. Knowing what you have and who you have to live for triggers action and I share the same sentiment he did.

It's not about trying to be a hero, but if you can't run to get to safety which is (Flight) then your only other choice is to (Fight) for your life. We must be vigilant and alert in our day to day coming and going because the world is full of sin and people are carrying out various acts of violence towards the innocent.

The bible says in Matthew 24:12-13, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."

Poetic Thought:

The world is trying to finish a wicked race it has start,
People influence by gun violence, shattering a million hearts,
Hard to enjoy everyday life without a warning of fear,
Many pray there won't be another massacre from a far or near,
All is not lost, trust GOD and stay in his will and sight,
When confronted by evil, allow wisdom to dictate should take flight or fight! ~ JD

My prayers and thoughts go out to the families of the four victims in the Waffle House shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. I send the same prayer to all the families of victims of mass shootings over the past years in our country. Gun laws and background checks must be revamped and tightened, so please vote for those politicians who will listen to the people. Hats off again to the brother James Shaw who happens to be a fellow alumnus like myself of Tennessee State University. T-S-U Tigers!!
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Until the next time, class dismiss!!!

BLACK PANTHER (Symbolism) 5th Year Anniversary Edition

You would have to be hiding under a rock, not to know the spectacular movie by Marvel comics "Black Panther" which was released in theaters back on February 16th. The movie was a great one with action, good story line, and a glorious display of Black people as Kings, Queens, through the lenses of beauty, strength, and intelligence. It was set in the fictitious country of Wakanda in the motherland continent of Africa. The country had a sacred and most powerful resource known to earth Vibranium which was a source of power to the Black Panther and their technological advancement over the rest of the civilize world. The resource was hidden along with country itself from the rest of the world because of the corruption. So to the naked eye, it seemed like a poor, desolate, rural country in Africa to the rest of the United Nations.
Prince Tchalla was the heir to throne and also the Black Panther fighting injustice in other parts of Africa. Once he went through the ritual in becoming the king, he was influence by the love of his life  Nakia about helping other people of color around the world with the precious powerful resource Wakanda possessed. Though hesitant at first it took some adversity abroad and internally in order for his eyes to open for the need to help others outside of Wakanda and still protect his people as well. There is a lot more to the movie but I am not going to spoil it for anyone reading who hasn't seen it yet.
The symbolism here is broad but let me break it down. First the fictional resource Vibranium that is in possession of the people of Wakanda to me represent the resource we as black people have all across the world. That resource is our  physical, mental, and spiritual gifts given to us by GOD that has been instrumental with contributions to society at large since the beginning of time. Examples can be seen through sports, art, music, medicine, and overcoming slavery and social injustice still to this day. Black people alone in the United States according to Black Enterprise spending power is 1.1 trillion dollars and projected to rise towards 2 trillion by the year 2021 which is three years away. Now take that number and flip it to investing instead of consumerism and you will truly have a Wakanda community in reality not just on the silver screen.  Let's move from economics to the social aspect, eliminating crime in all its forms, violence, drugs from our communities. This will display a sense of pride and truly take the shackles off the mentality embedded from many years of  social injustice such as slavery, Jim crow, mass incarceration, police brutality to name a few. This has to start with every black man, woman, and child in order for it to become a reality. We must love who we see in the mirror and extend that to our fellow brother and sister or else we are just left with false pride and goosebumps from a fictitious super hero movie that gave a glimpse of what people of color are which is royalty and love by GOD.

The bible says in Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction."

Poetic Thought:

Black people full of culture and influence,
Endured many atrocities with no Aflac, no accident, no insurance,
Rich with melanin in our skin, and resiliency in our heart,
Change the dynamics of any endeavor we put our mind to and start,
Take a drink from the river of life like a deer with antlers,
Chosen people of GOD, everyday lets become our own Black Panther! ~ JD

My hope is that we take away more than goosebumps from the movie and really put in the work to change every community into a real life Wakanda  economically, socially, spiritually, and culturally for the next generation after us. In a few days this will be the 5th anniversary I started this blog back in 2013. I want to thank everyone who has ever taken the time to read it. I truly appreciate you! Until the next time, class dismiss!!!

DIVIDED ATTENTION

America has seen the worst side of people in regards to race relations in this country this year 2017.  Last weekend in Charlottesville,Virginia a group of  white nationalists, KKK, neo nazis all marched in protest to the taking down of Confederate statues of Robert E. Lee. They were shouting anti-semantic slurs, racial slurs and it escalated into violence among them and people who were counter protesting this bigotry and hate at this high level. To the fears of most who were witnessing this on television across the country not only was their bloodshed but a young woman lost her life when a coward plowed his car through the crowd of people who were against the racist groups marching. Many others were injured. This was on display for the world to see the divisiveness occurring in the United States with race relations reaching a dangerous boiling point.

To make matters worse President Trump showed empathy for the racist groups and was claiming both sides were to blame for the violence more so the ones counter protesting in which he referred to as the alt left. No surprise this man is showing his true colors and makes no apologies about it either. Yet he still has many followers believing in this racist ideology as well as a few black folks who have totally sold out or playing the coon card to the fullest. He is not bringing the country together but further dividing it as well as increasing the boldness of these white militia groups and supremacist agenda to  "Make America Great Again" in code meaning take us back to Jim Crow days where people of color were treated as second class citizens.

Nobody wants to talk about the elephant in the room but the increased killing of unarmed black people at the hands of police on camera but no convictions or accountability of the cops, the pipeline to prison for minorities, inadequate economic resources, high poverty in the inner cities, are just a few issues to name that is contributing to this chaos and people have gotten fed up over the injustice.

The lenses are seen differently through the eyes of white people and black people for the most part. An example would be Colin Kaepernick last year taking a knee during the national anthem during the NFL season to protest the police brutality against black people in the United States.  A  majority of white people  felt he was disrespecting the flag , and he should just play football or find some other way to protest.  Many didn't acknowledge the reason he was kneeling it was more so how dare you bring light to this atrocity happening especially during the playing of the national anthem at a football game for our entertainment. No longer will racism be disguised as patriotism we see clearly.  And of course some black people felt Kaepernick shouldn't have done it either for various reasons. This generation is not our grandparents generation with the same strength of unity they had to overcome racial inequality back in the day, but folks are starting to wake up.  In order to ensure the next generation is not reliving an oppresive past we all must become proactive instead of reactive!

The bible says in Ezekiel 22:29, "The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have oppressed sojourner without justice."

Poetic Thought:

Not checkers but chess,
Strategic moves in order to fix this mess,
Racism and bigotry has a venomous bite,
The Zebra can't disguise itself, in plain view black and white,
Violence erupting into a deadly dimension,
Unity takes the blinders off, no more divided attention! ~ JD


The people of GOD need to come together more than ever, black, latino, white, in order to defeat this demonic spirit of racism. If you truly love GOD and your skin color may not be black but you witness the injustices that are happening then you will speak out and take action to help, but if your silence speaks louder than your disgust or action then you have asserted yourself  on where you stand. Stay woke brothers and sisters and educate your children on what's going on! Real Life University is back this semester, until next time, class dismiss!!!

Black is Gold

Black people are beautiful and innovative. We have transformed society and American culture in many ways over the past few centuries from slavery to modern day. However there is a problem, black people tend to subscribe to self hate, jealousy, idiotic behavior, unmerited favoritism, among many other things. It has infiltrated and broken up the black family and confused the identities of men and women which thus affects and confuses the children. Allow me to explain what I mean.
First off there is a divide when it comes to the importance of caring about one another between black men and black women. No doubt the black woman is beautiful and precious and should be respected and protected but it must be reciprocated as well. It takes two to make a child and bring forth that life. Yes black men have to step up and be better fathers regardless if they are in a committed relationship with the mother or not. Misogyny and male bashing feminism both have no place but seemingly  are becoming prevalent throughout our communities. Let me break it down like this, God made Adam in his image and he took a rib from Adam to make Eve. A woman is made from the rib of man and men are born through the womb of women. A complete cycle. So therefore both black men and women need one another and should therefore respect each other and so should their children. In the bible the book of Ephesians says in chapter 6 verse 2 "Honor your father and mother.This is the first commandment with a promise." Now I realize you have mama boys and daddy's girls, in which children are closer or tend to favor one parent a little more, but if you were fortunate to have had both parents in your life whether they were married or not you should take heed to that verse in the bible and not ostracize your parents or children for that matter.  Fathers show boys how to be men and mothers show daughters how to be women. If this was done more consistently in the African-American community you would see less criminal activity, mental health issues, broken relationships, confuse gender sexuality,  poverty,  among many other things. It would seem like things are hopeless, but all is not lost. Bottom line we have to work together to uplift our people and love and treat one another fairly. Black men and women shouldn't be competing with one another but working together to build a better future for generations to come. Each play a vital part in the bigger picture solving the ills of our people. Let's stop the blame game, the my cause is more socially conscious than yours, the hate and jealousy, the manipulation and abuse of one another. Learn to love one another despite the differences we all may have. Support each other, patronize our businesses, help mentor in the community with our children even if you are not in the field of education. These are just a few strategies that would truly help in the plight of black people here in the United States and across the world. We are more than just amazing athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, we are GOLD!

 The bible says in Proverbs 29:18, " Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom's instruction."

Poetic Thought:

New day, a new song,
Learn from mistakes of the past, embrace right and relinquish wrong,
Faith with works is the remedy,
Cultivate and be proud of your identity,
Be a thermostat change the temperature, not too hot nor too cold,
One of the most precious resource on earth, black is gold! ~ JD

A show I like to watch on ABC when I have time in my schedule, is the sitcom Black-ish with Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross. The show is funny but always has a message pertaining to the black family and black people in general  when it comes to pop culture, politics, stereotypes, etc. One episode that stood out to me was after the aftermath of the Donald Trump presidential election and how everyone else was freaking out at the character Dre's job and he gave a passionate speech about the plight of black people and the resiliency we have no matter the circumstances turning lemons into lemonade! Never underestimate, black is Gold!!! Until the next time, class dismiss!!!

RESURRECT YOUR PURPOSE (3 yr Anniversary Edition)

It's spring time 2016. There are numerous things going on in our society right now. President Obama being the first U.S. President to visit Cuba in almost ninety years. The 2016 Presidential race which has been short of a mockery especially on the Republican side. The crazy weather with its storms and floods among many other things. All is not lost despite the way somethings appear.

Having faith in God is the key to withstanding anything this life throws at you. We are a few days away from Easter Sunday or rather I say Resurrection Sunday for Christian believers in Jesus Christ.
If you are a Christian then you know Jesus was crucified, died, and three days later rose again with all power, so that anyone who believes shall not perish but have a right to eternal life in Heaven. Jesus Christ died for our sins, he made the ultimate sacrifice in the midst of being unappreciated, tortured, abused, betrayed, among many other things. The factor that stands out though, is that he fulfilled his God ordained purpose.

Allow me to draw an analogy as it relates to you and me. As men and women we go through the adversity of life, sickness, financial issues, heartache, broken families, emotional imbalance, and a whole gambit of other issues. Think  of that as being placed in a tomb prematurely, but without faith in God you will remain there. When you exercise your faith in God, he will resurrect you, so you can be on your path to fulfilling your purpose. Without faith it is impossible to please God and even more it's harder see the light at the end of the tunnel or the sun because of the down pour of rain. I encourage every man and woman reading this blog to resurrect your purpose because God has something mighty in store for you.

In the bible in Luke 23:46 it says, Jesus called out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" when he had said this, he breathed his last.

Poetic Thought:

Sin always keeps an open invite,
Obedience is better than sacrifice, strive to live right,
Everyday it's another round in life's boxing ring,
Roll with the punches, keep swinging, your trainer is the King of Kings,
Titles and accolades are ok, they touch only the surface,
To be an agent of change, allow God to resurrect your purpose!!! ~ JD

There are many songs I love by the R&B soul band Earth, Wind, and Fire. Rest in peace to Maurice White the founder.  This song is in my top five favorite by them, entitled "Devotion." At the end of the day we all need Devotion to God and to our Purpose which will allow us to have better devotion to our families. You show me what a man or woman is devoted to and I can tell where his or her heart is at. I want to wish everyone a Happy Resurrection Day! Immerse yourself into the goodness of God and give him thanks for his son Jesus Christ and all he has done for you. Also this week marks 3 years since I started this blog back in March 2013. I thank everyone who has taken the time to read it and I hope it inspires you and may you continue to support it. I thank you all! God Bless! Until next time, class dismiss!!!