Category: Racism

It is Systemic!

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Most people do not understand the depth of systemic racism and how it is embedded in every organization in this country. Let’s look at the latest news of the shootings and the killings this past weekend in Chicago. Any shootings in Chicago somehow become front page news everywhere.

The stories are written in a manner to let you know the shootings happen in a predominately Black neighborhood. As big as Chicago is the media would want us to believe that there were only shootings in predominately Black neighborhoods this weekend. The truth is violence doesn’t just happen in predominately Black neighborhoods. No neighborhood is exempt from violence.

The violence that happens in Black neighborhoods is the news that makes a good headline story. Also, consider those doing the shootings don’t always live in the neighborhoods where they are shooting. When you see or read the news about these shootings, what do you think about the people that live in those neighborhoods?

The news is designed to make you think negatively about Black people. If the media wasn’t designed to have us think negatively about Black people, we would receive a balanced news report. The good things that are happening in Black neighborhoods would be just as prevalent in the news. The good news stories are few and far between and are not given as much air time as the negative news stories.

The people in Black neighborhoods are not as silent as they were in the past. People do speak up. People are going to jail for these shootings, but we rarely hear about this.

When the news is about predominately White people, we are not given context clues to let us know where the violence happened. We don’t quickly receive a picture of the offender. There are always excuses as to why the person did what they did. The offender is painted as the good boy or girl that has some mental issues or he or she is going through some difficult times.

Please be a critical thinker as you listen or read the news. If you don’t you will think negatively about Black people that happen to live in the neighborhoods where shootings occurred, and you will say some of the same biased, racist remarks that others say about Black people.

I’m Tired!

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Almost every time another Black man is murdered, I think about when the Harvey police pulled my son over and pointed their guns in his face! He had done nothing wrong. He had just left Ingalls from visiting his dad after his dad’s surgery.

I think about how they could’ve murdered my son for nothing!! We would’ve probably never found out what really happened because folks were not recording like they are today. They would’ve tried to paint my son as a criminal. God protected my son that day!!

I have been mostly reflecting and not doing a lot of talking about what people should or should not be doing. I don’t have the answers and neither do you.

I know I’m tired! I’m tired of Black people being murdered by police. I’m tired of encountering racist behavior from others. I’m tired of white privilege. I’m tired of us being mistreated because of the color of our skin. I’m tired of having to navigate through this world in defensive mode ALL THE TIME!

I’m tired of folks who sit on high horses like they do everything right and use their platform to bash others for the choices they make. I’m tired of folks comparing what’s happening to the crime that happens in communities. It’s not the same! If I kill someone, I’m going to jail. Police don’t seem to have that same understanding.

I’m tired of folks want to speak out about how wrong the rioting is, but didn’t speak out about a Black man being murdered. I’m tired of folks who love Black culture, but don’t like Black people. I’m tired of these protest calisthenics: make your profile picture Black, don’t buy anything on this day, boycott this company, cancel this person and NOTHING has changed!

Black people are still being murdered by police, Black people are still being murdered by the local neighborhood racists, companies are still producing racially insensitive advertising and products, we are still being followed around stores, we are still being questioned about why we are in certain spaces, we are still being falsely accused and imprisoned, and we are still having to fight to wear the hair that grows out of our heads! I AM TIRED!

Book Review – How To Be An Antiracist

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Racist – One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or inaction or expressing a racist idea.

Antiracist – One who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing an antiracist idea.

The above definitions of racist and antiracist from Kendi’s book were interesting to me and helped me understand how detrimental racism is in our world. We don’t want to accept it, but it’s true that the very foundation of America is built on racism. There are laws that still exist that were established to block the progress of minorities.

I have read other books that discuss racism. However, I like how the author traced his own growth throughout the book. The author was able to tell life defining stories of his own to bring to life the various categories of racist in the book. When the author discussed combating racism in the same manner that we combat cancer, this resonated with me. We have to be willing to kill racism at the root, and to kill something at the root most of the time requires a surgical procedure. We have to ask ourselves what are we willing to do to root out racism.

I would encourage anyone who wants to be a better human being to read this book.

*Book Review* One Person, No Vote – How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Democracy by Carol Anderson

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When the votes were tallied for trump, I wondered how he won. Hilary Clinton won the popular vote, but lost the electoral college votes. The Electoral College consists of 538 electors. A majority of 270 electoral votes is required to elect the President. Your state’s entitled allotment of electors equals the number of members in its Congressional delegation: one for each member in the House of Representatives plus two for your Senators, (https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html).

Voter suppression has led to millions of minorities being removed from voter rolls. In 2013, the Supreme Court stripped power from the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Supreme Court’s decision allowed districts to change voting requirements without approval from the Department of Justice (Anderson, 2018). Carole Anderson provides the history of voter suppression and discusses how voter suppression and gerrymandering has affected the voting rights of minorities.

Time and time again Republicans have cried voting fraud to further restrict minorities right to vote. Republicans have used voter suppression as a means to maintain political power. Carol Anderson placed her research in chronological order to help us see the extent Republicans and racists will go to restrict and eliminate the voices of the marginalized.

This book is a must read to understand the history of voter suppression and a call to action to reverse the damage that has already been done by voter id requirements and gerrymandering. Republicans have removed polling places, restricted early voting and instituted voter id requirements all in the name of eliminating voter fraud; even though voter fraud has been minimal. The truth is these actions were taken to maintain political power and racism.

We are already experiencing the results of voter suppression in our courts, in the murdering of minorities without accountability by the police, and in the laws that are being placed on the books. We have to educate ourselves and then fight the power! Fight so that everybody’s voices are heard through voting.

An interesting part of the book was the outlining of Russia’s involvement in our 2016 presidential election. It is scary to read the lengths some will go to suppress minorities and elect someone that represents only their interests. This book further proves that racism is built into the foundation of the United States and may never be eliminated.

References

The Electoral College. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/electoral-college/about.html

Anderson, C (2018). One Person, No Vote – How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Democracy. New York, NY: Bloomsbury Publishing

Black & Murdered in Amerikkka

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The police murdered this young man! Another young, Black man killed by those who are supposed to serve and protect. Some wonder why we kneel, refuse to pledge allegiance to the flag (me), and continue to post about the racist things that happen daily😡😡😡😡 we post because of the consistent harassment and murders of Black people!

I’m so disgusted how we are daily treated like we don’t belong. We didn’t ask to be in America! Our ancestors were brought here against their will! The irony is all Americans are immigrants, but some White folks think they have some golden ticket that says America belongs to them. Well, just in case you haven’t been told lately – America doesn’t belong to you!

I’ll end my rant with Maya Angelou’s poem:

Still I Rise

BY MAYA ANGELOU

You may write me down in history

With your bitter, twisted lies,

You may trod me in the very dirt

But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?

’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells

Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,

With the certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?

Bowed head and lowered eyes?

Shoulders falling down like teardrops,

Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?

Don’t you take it awful hard

’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines

Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,

You may cut me with your eyes,

You may kill me with your hatefulness,

But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?

Does it come as a surprise

That I dance like I’ve got diamonds

At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame

I rise

Up from a past that’s rooted in pain

I rise

I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,

Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear

I rise

Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear

I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,

I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

I rise

I rise

I rise.

Resist Chicago Resist!

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Folks always have something to say. At least Father Pfleger is true to his activism for the community. Are protests supposed to make us comfortable? Will we agree with all protests? Everyone has the right to protest. A protest is supposed to shake things up, bring attention to disparities, and facilitate change.

The truth is some folks don’t care about the shootings in Chicago because it’s not happening in their neighborhood. Well, guess what? One day shootings could be happening in your neighborhood or one of your family members could be a victim of gun violence. Then, you will want everyone involved in being an activist against gun violence.

I think about my family members and it’s only God’s grace that it hasn’t been one of my family members or me the victim of gun violence. We are good at talking mess about what needs to happen and what everyone else should be doing. Well, what about you? What are you willing to do for things to change?

If you are interested in protesting against gun violence in Chicago, please click here. Shut the Dan Ryan down on July 7th!

Picture This!

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Would you be able to get over it? How about that happen a long time ago, so let it go?! I’m not racist; that was my ancestors. I don’t see color. We all are equal. The constitution is for all of us. Show your patriotism by standing and pledging allegiance to the flag.  

From the beginning, this country was built on my ancestors backs. Mass prison incarceration is modern day slavery. The very laws were not created as me being equal. My people were not counted as a whole being, but 3/5! While the forefathers were talking about liberty and justice for all, my people were being used as free labor; and if they didn’t comply murdered!  

So, the next time you want to tell me to get over it, or that happen a long time ago, which I have been told by White and Black people; picture this image and hush! This is my platform and I will use it to inform about issues that impact my people, me and those that empathize with our struggle.

Things That Make Me Go Hmmmmm…

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You be the judge:

Please read the BuzzFeed article.

Here is an opinion post about this controversial new alternative for heroin addicts.

This site presents the treatment alternatives available for crack addicts.

This article discusses the impact of crack cocaine on Black America.

After reading the above articles and coming to your own conclusion, I’m interested to know your thoughts on Safe Injection Facilities.  I also want to know your thoughts on my opinion of preferential treatment being provided to White America in how drug abuse is treated and viewed when it’s a White America problem versus a Black America problem.

I’m Sick & Tired!

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I’m sick and tired of people trying to tell me to get over it and deal with it he’s the president.
I’m sick and tired of hearing give him a chance. Who did he give a chance? Did he give Pres. Obama a chance? Did he try to facilitate positive change in our country? Did he give people that look like me a chance? Did he give women a chance? No he didn’t!
I’m sick and tired of  hearing it’s not that serious. You’re making a big deal out of nothing. When I heard Lil Hands state over and over he’s going to “make America great again,” while attempting to fill his cabinet with mega rich, predominantly White males who have little if any experience in the areas they are being nominated; it’s a big deal! When known White supremacist are being placed in key positions that can only “make America outwardly racists again,” it’s a big deal!

I’m sick and tired of hearing he’s all citizens of the United States president. I’ll still be shouting he’s not my president! I didn’t vote for him. We don’t share the same basic truth that all men and women are created equal. How can two walk together except they agree? It would be one thing if our differences in opinions were just politics. However, that’s not the issue. We don’t agree on foundational morals and ethics. Cheetoh Man has serious character flaws, and clearly he’s not willing to change because he’s always right!
I’m sick and tired of my own people. We complain, but don’t include a solution for our complaint. We allow the dollar to rule our decision making, when we should take a stand. In the face of opposition we can look through history and read where our people took a stand. They stood for something that mattered! Where is that today? Yet, these are the type of people we allow our children to emulate.

I’m sick and tired, yet I’m more determined than ever to be an instrument of change. I’ll talk about what I’m committing to do in my next post.

That’s My Name!

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I can relate to this article. My name is Annjanette. I have had people mispronounce my name and call me every other name that begins with an A, but Annjanette.

The older I have become, the more adamant I am about pronouncing and spelling my name correctly. When I entered college, instructors and classmates would ask, “What else are you called?” I would say, “Annjanette.”

When I entered Corporate America, I was asked the same question with a twist, “What’s your nickname?” I would respond, “I don’t use my nickname in the workplace. I use Annjanette.”

I’ve had managers pronounce and spell my name wrong. I insisted on my name being pronounced and spelled correctly. When my name is placed in an Outlook email, the spell check used to change it to Andante. I don’t know if it still does. There were real people who would send me an email that began – “Hello, Andante.”

I would be so tempted to reply and spell their name wrong, but I didn’t. My email would start with a greeting and then my first sentence would be, “My name is Annjanette.” Of course I would receive apologies, but I admit that those people loss work professional points with me. Not taking the time to spell my name correctly shows a lack of concern and the person doesn’t value me.

One of the latest incidents that’s still fresh in my mind happened about two years ago. I had an interim supervisor, and we had team huddles at the beginning of our shift every day. Every day this dude mispronounced my name, and every day I corrected him! Finally, I had enough! He had mispronounced my name for the last time!

I stopped the huddle and said, “Listen, you have mispronounced my name for the last time! I have corrected you every day, and I realize that pronouncing my name correctly is not important to you. Since you can’t pronounce my name correctly, call me Mrs. Halton!” From that day forward I didn’t call him by his name. If I needed his assistance and he was assisting someone else, I would say tell dude to come over here when he’s finished helping you.

Put some respect on my name!