Contract with Black America

[The Cushite]

Hi GC Fam
I have been watching the State of the Black Union -Contract with black America forum on C-Span and I find 2 things that stand out

1. The issue of how much economic empowerment can effect change in our collective condition

&

2. How relevant can the black church be if it feels a deeper connection with white evangelicals than it can with poor blacks.


The economic question always intrigues me because I wonder if becoming better capitalists can solve the problems caused by capitalism (read class exploitation) that demean our very humanity. Capitalism demonizes poverty (check The Protestant Work Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism by Max Weber) and therefore I think links economics to the issue of the black church. I have been telling people in my community (and church specifically) that the gay marriage issue is just a smokescreen to take our resources and energies away from real issues of poverty and social justice, but they really ain't hearing it. They think poor folks are poor because they are just ignorant , undisciplined, unsaved folks (deameaning people because of their economics, sounds Calvinist to me). There really is no examination of the social structures that contribute to the conditions in the community.

At any rate, what is your take on rthe possibilities of economic empowerment and the black church in addressing the ills of the black community ?

Blackwatch!!!!!!

[AKA_Monet]

You know, I think you pose a very difficult question to all of us to claim our Afrikan heritage as ours...

I think that poverty by oppression through a capitalistic gain is evil and vile and rears its head through demonic forces...

And the Afrikan Centered Spirituality would say there are always two sides to every coin... So it is a "necessary evil"...

As far as the Black Church goes, I think many in the pastorate are untrained in the true teachings of Christianity... These ministers, preachers and pastors are illiterate in the devout teachings and learnings of the liturgy... Basically, can they translate Aramaic to Coptic to Greek and then to English Biblical text? This is taught in Divinity and Theology Schools... But you think some of these fools go? Oh, they preach the "Word" in fervor and some say that's it must be from God...

Far from what the Holy Qu'ran is without various translations... It's in it's truest state, untainted... Been doing some research about this issue... That's how it is memorized for Cleric training... And for those pursuing Hajj...

As far as the gay marriage... Gays and lesbians can be rich or poor... If folks are poor, does it matter what their sexual orientation or preferences are? If they need food to eat, water to drink and clothes to wear as well as shelter, does it matter who they choose to sleep with?

So, in essence I do think there is clouding but these untrained pastorates are ordained to a "higher power" to answer to... And they are neglecting their flock by answering a moral issue first rather than a need issue, which is what Christ devoted his life to...

As far as capitalism... I need to think more on that...

[delph998]

I am so glad that you all watched the Tavis Smiley special. It was soooo good. I just ordered a copy for my collection. Although I am devout Christian, Minister Louis Farrakhan said it best when he stated that leaders should stop entertaining their members and start teaching the TRUTH, the SCRIPTURE.

I was so disturbed by Bishop Eddie Long's responses. Tavis, Cornell West, Al Sharpton, and the Minister ate him up about going to the White House. And they were telling the truth. Why did they go there and none of our needs as African Americans are being met? African Americans will never be able to fulfill this covenant if the leaders continue entertaining and looking out for self.

[The Cushite]

The State of the Black Union Conference will be airing live on C-SPAN this Saturday, Starting at 7am central time. This year, the morning panel will focus on Health care and wellness issues, While the later panel will focus on the Covenant with Black America, the book that was started after last year's conference. Here is an article from USA today about the book. What do you guys think?

BlackWatch!!!!!!

Black leaders' plan for future needs to address violence

By DeWAYNE WICKHAM
Gannett News Service

A distinguished group of blacks will assemble in Washington, D.C., next week to put finishing touches on a blueprint for uplifting their race.
Called "The Covenant with Black America," this plan is the product of a brain trust of black leaders - people committed to fixing what's broken in black America.
The 254-page document, a copy of which I obtained in advance of its scheduled late February release, is an action plan to make blacks healthier, improve the education of black children, reduce blacks' high incarceration rate and help blacks acquire wealth and become economically self-sufficient.
As important as all of this is, it doesn't go far enough.
Somewhere in this document, amid all the talk about what individual blacks can do to strengthen the race, there should have appeared these words: Thou shall not kill. Anyone who is serious about uplifting the black race ought to have ending the slaughter of blacks high on the list of things to do.
According to data compiled by Tuskegee Institute, 3,445 blacks were lynched in this country between 1882 and 1968. As horrific as that Jim Crow "justice" was, it pales compared with the black-on-black carnage now taking place.
Of the 15,365 blacks murdered between 2000 and 2004 whose killers are known to law enforcement officials, 14,025 of them were killed by other blacks, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report.
To put this into context, more than four times as many blacks were killed by blacks during this five-year period as died at the hands of mobs over the 86 years of recorded lynchings.
If the Ku Klux Klan were responsible for this level of bloodshed, black leaders would make ending this violence one of their top priorities. If the Aryan Nation were behind this senseless slaughter, they would demand extraordinary steps to stop it.
But overwhelmingly, the culprits aren't bigoted whites; they are a small group of self-loathing blacks. These people are a malignant cancer eating away at the hopes and aspirations of the blacks whose lives they affect. And that impact is widespread.
Eight of the 10 cities with the highest murder rate per 100,000 population are majority black, Morgan Quitno Press reported in its 2005 listing of the nation's most dangerous cities. In the other two, blacks and Hispanics combined make up a majority of the population.
How do you build better schools and energize economic development in cities plagued by such murder rates? How do you keep middle-class whites and blacks from fleeing to the suburbs - a loss that depletes the tax bases of these cities? How can you talk about a plan to uplift the black community and not have as one of its major components a frontal attack on the causes of the disproportionately high black murder rate?
Sure, I know education and jobs are part of the answer. And I understand that drug trafficking and drug abuse have a lot to do with black-on-black murders. But behind all of these causes are people - those who have little regard for the lives of others. What do we do about them?
For many of us who have escaped the most violent black neighborhoods, the carnage that goes on in them is a distant reflection of the nation's larger failings. But for those left behind, who run the gauntlet of this violence, the need for an end to black-on-black murder is a matter of great urgency.
As it should be for the well-meaning drafters of The Covenant.

Copyright 2006, USA TODAY International. Dist. by Tribune Media Services International

[AKA_Monet]

Originally posted by The Cushite
Black leaders' plan for future needs to address violence

By DeWAYNE WICKHAM
Gannett News Service

Of the 15,365 blacks murdered between 2000 and 2004 whose killers are known to law enforcement officials, 14,025 of them were killed by other blacks, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime Report...they are a small group of self-loathing blacks. These people are a malignant cancer eating away at the hopes and aspirations of the blacks whose lives they affect. And that impact is widespread...How do you build better schools and energize economic development in cities plagued by such murder rates?...How can you talk about a plan to uplift the black community and not have as one of its major components a frontal attack on the causes of the disproportionately high black murder rate?...But behind all of these causes are people - those who have little regard for the lives of others. What do we do about them?

Copyright 2006, USA TODAY International. Dist. by Tribune Media Services International

The root causes of cancer in the biomedical field are mainly due to damaged DNA and the cell is unable to repair itself. Growth becomes unchecked and the cells become tumors blocking the energy and life from the rest of the organ, then the organism.

The traditional way to deal with cancer--tumors, if small enough, is to treat with cytotoxins--or chemotherapeutics--or poisons. If that does not work, then you treat with radiology--or nuclear attack--or radioactive compounds that annihilate the cell's ability to grow. Another method is to use the stem cell approach, taking the bone marrow, expose the white blood cells to a foreign object and allow the cells to do the clean up work. Yet, still another method is to kill off the bone marrow by radiation, and try to replenish it with new marrow which might kill any rapidly growing cell. The last ditch effort is surgery--or excising the tumor depending on the size and feasibility.

I say this to say that human relationships cannot be compared to tumorigenesis or carcinogenesis.

And the article fails to indicate the number of caucasians that have died at the hands of their own, too.

The only thing I agree with is at the beginning, this issue has to do with anger and resentment, which eventually turns into hate.

And the only way to deal with hate is to treat with love and that is where the church can have its uses.

But if one attends a church that dictates what is love, rather than what is scripture, then how can it ever deal with hatred?

[TonyB06]

Originally posted by The Cushite
The State of the Black Union Conference will be airing live on C-SPAN this Saturday, Starting at 7am central time. This year, the morning panel will focus on Health care and wellness issues, While the later panel will focus on the Covenant with Black America, the book that was started after last year's conference. Here is an article from USA today about the book. What do you guys think?

BlackWatch!!!!!!

Black leaders' plan for future needs to address violence

I'd just like to see some action steps. For someone to say at the conclusion, "We have set up x, y, and z, as test models of what we've discussed, and we will report back to you on the State of the Black Union in _____ months."

Goodness knows we can talk about issues all day and all night.

[AKA2D '91]

^^^
To submit questions for the panel, go to www.blackamericaweb.com.

[TonyB06]

‘The Covenant with Black America’ Hits Number Six on Best-Seller List
Date: Wednesday, March 22, 2006
By: Monica Lewis, BlackAmericaWeb.com

With copies flying off the shelves, The Covenant with Black America has made it to The New York Times’ nonfiction paperback best-sellers list.

The accomplishment speaks volumes for the book, which debuts in the sixth spot of the prestigious listing, and suggests that black Americans are serious about taking action on issues that impact their community.

The Covenant, which features essays examining issues facing black America, including health, education and criminal justice, was released three weeks ago and earned a great deal of hype during the live “The State of Black America” broadcast on C-Span in late February.

[06pilot]

You cant politisize christianity. I am a Christian and no, I dont believe in gay marriage. I believe in family values. Is that bad?
As far as the so called Black leadership today, her eis my thing:

The only time I see the NAACP or SCLS or Concerend Black Clergy on TV is when a white person has done something to a black person. They are passionat and adament about denouncing the event. I NEVER see that them on TV agry about the amount of teen pregnancy in our community. I NEVER see them get angry about the black on black crime. I NEVER see them get angry about why so many adult males are not working. They are quick to scream when whites do something wrong. I wish they had that same passion for issues in our community.

[The Original Ape]

In my humble opinion, people assume that all black people are black, and that they think collectively. There are many people here in this country that don't identify with "black" anything; and they are dark as the darkest people in Africa. These people identify with the wider society believing the wider society will provide them greater love and opportunity than they could get hangin' out with their own kind. Due to the many ideologies held by dark people in this country, it is almost impossible for us to be "empowered" because we are not even "we" yet. I'd rather have 9 conscious people with me than 900 unconscious people behind me expecting a variety of outcomes. Empowerment? To be empowered, a group needs ownership of a commodity, or commodities, or must have a monopoly on a certain service. People of South America control the world's coffee, and tobacco supply; the Japanese-well, yall know they control the auto industry. Africa controls nothing; and the African-American (black baby boomers) is dying. The only commodity we held was labor; and today that's in jeopardy thanks to out-sourcing. We have no power because we aren't WE yet.

As for the religious point; I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole. There is only one judge, and I think I'll let HIM determine the best way for us to honor him.

[Lady of Pearl]

I'm all for green power especially in the Black Community-someone must preach the message of economic empowerment and the Church should take the lead in this and social justice. I belong to a church which is predominately Black with a White Bishop -a Non-denominational church that just had a seminar in developing the Millionaire in you! Never heard of this kind of empowerment in other predominately Black churches not knocking them- but they need to see what time it is for the Black community!