Volume 4 Issue 35…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…September 7, 2001

Note: The DISH is based on themes from T.H.I.N.C. (Teaching Humanity In New Consciousness): The Chrysalis of Evolution. According to the President's Initiative on Race, "The issues that this book brings to the forefront are important in our efforts to achieve the goals set forth by the President for the Initiative. This work will serve as a solid resource for us as we begin to examine these critical issues." For your copy of T.H.I.N.C., The DISH or to submit comments, contact ICIM, Inc. at (404) 244-6023. The DISH © 2001

by John Burl Smith

Explaining my slow learning pattern as a child, the optimal description is "a late bloomer." Early success in school eluded me with the cunning of a mongoose. Not quite six years old in September, the arbitrary cutoff month for entering first grade, I started school midyear. The bleak backdrop of Mississippi's "Jim Crow" segregation made a battery powered radio my only link to the outside world. Sharecropping did not hitch my wagon to any star. Its limited perspective shrouded my early encounters with education. Lynched to the max, as most black males are, I struggled against the field hand stereotype reinforced in educational environments.

America denies the impact lynching has on black men. One's learning processes are functions of one's survival instincts. According to Charles Darwin, an organism's intelligence is established by its adaptability. Moreover, Darwin did not believe intelligence was a test score. His standard was an organism's ability to recognize the demands of its environment and develop strategies to facilitate survival.

Particularly, lynching forced blacks to learn in highly stressful environments in which incorrect hypotheses could cost one's life. A "late bloomer" refers to reluctant responses to pain evoking stimuli that confuses our natural survival instincts. This kind of "learned helplessness" can be produced in laboratory rats with repeated electric shocks no matter what their response. Eventually, these animals do nothing. They accept shocks until some involuntary response occurs and the shock terminates. Rats repeat that response.

Exemplifying rats on an electric grid dancing for their lives, black males do not have a clue as to what shuts off the current. We simply try anything to please white people controlling the switches. Lynching socializes blacks to respond against their better interest. Hoping to avoid punishment, they develop an array of unnatural responses, which they do not understand but must choose correctly.

Dot and I see this pattern in our grandson, a third grader. He responds to schoolwork as if it is a trick question. He tries to dream up answers, as though magic is involved. I definitely can relate, because at his age, I struggled until something clicked, like serendipity. Once that happened, everything fell into place. Things seem to happen much the same for our Trévius. Tenacious as the agile grizzled ferret locked in combat with a cobra, Trévius attacks daunting puzzles (transformers, video games, etc.) solving or mastering very high levels in no time. Even though these activities require more mental manipulation than that required of third graders, schools do not recognize such skills as basic to learning.

Lynching imprints pain avoidance strategies as survival responses in blacks to educational activities. Mothers taught black men to avoid education or to disguise their intelligence as a survival strategy. "Being a smart nigger will get you killed." Any black man who demonstrates intelligence becomes a target for physical lynching to show what happens to "smart ass niggers." Lynching was the enforcement tool of segregation. The most dehumanizing form of racial discrimination, lynching, supports institutionalized racism in America.

Drawing its legal power from the 3/5 Compromise, the US Supreme Court, through lower court decisions, re-segregates America by decree. Defying logic and justice, they deny race is a factor in fashioning remedies to make up for past legal racial discrimination when color was the sole criterion of segregation. This denial keeps institutionalized racism alive in America. Black people, who fail to understand America’s human rights violations entitle them to reparations are "dumb ass niggers."

Dedicated to: Dr. Frank Leming, University of Memphis, for introducing me to the theory of learned helplessness. John 2001

by Malik Salaam

85 South, shuttle-bus packed

full of trapped in the rat races black faces.

Working 24/7 to avoid poverty and drug cases,

pay for rented living spaces

and always screaming injustice by these racists,

but, yet we circulate our papers for parties,

gears and bullshit,

bust our backs, snitch on the other slaves that slack

and steady screaming how one day we gonna quit.

Really wasting noise, space and spit,

'cause early the next morning,

we bailing out the house at six,

stopping at BK 'have it your way' for a caffeine fix,

four French toasted sticks.

Sit at your desk

and talk about the white man ain't shit.

But, if your door was ever hung with eviction notices

your weak-ass would have a fit.

Now, tell me I lie

You see, our ancestors they tried.

Made dangerous voyages to the North on an Underground course

to escape bondage and brutality by some red neck overseer on a horse

who would beat they ass with no remorse.

And, shit ain't changed, only nowadays,

the overseer is pushing a Porsche.

And, oh, of course,

they throwing us a li'l chump change.

And, for some of y'all that's enough.

Skipping and screaming, talking 'bout

"I'm going to the store to buy me some stuff."

Forgetting the majority of our black male populace

is in shackles and handcuffs

for this twisted ideology

that "all men are created equal,"

but peep the sequel

'Cause we are really

judged by the bulge in our pockets.

Got us behaving like machines plugged in sockets

and singing that computer love.

Do not we realize that on the same trains that we push and shove,

we shed blood for a decent commute?

And, Route 66 led straight to the slave slaughterhouse.

And, they lynched us on Stone Mountain.

And, you can still hear my brothers' screams

from the hills of Bethlehem.

And, we call them beggars and bums and junkies,

but they are really just pieces of a man.

And, their hands await their chance to testify.

Their souls yearn for peace.

Their hearts and minds so broken at 35,

it would be a privilege to die.

And, some of us don't understand.

Sheltered life, raised by woman and man,

struck by confusion when I say,

"I'm trying and I'm doing all that I can,"

'Cause all you see is me lighting up blunts on street corners

and swimming with the stars.

Body here on Earth, mind on the other side of Mars.

And, yet I get there by the pain in my music

that I thump and bump in my stolen cars,

There's little to no legroom on MARTA's shuttle-bus

and I'm sick of cussing the man and the situation I'm in.

Focusing my sights and adrenaline to more independent avenues,

my lady sings the blues.

My mom's steady trying to preach

and re-teach those rusty rules.

But, if you ask me, I'm just doing unto others,

as they do unto the I. Now, tell me I lie.

Making dangerous voyages

to the North on an Underground course

to escape bondage and brutality

by some red neck overseer pushing a Porsche

who would kill my spirit with no remorse

simply because he has me strung

on his concept of chump change.

About Me: A resident of DeKalb County, Malik Salaam is a member of the MoorEpics Slam Team. Malik is a rising star in the Atlanta Vibe. The father of five stars in The Block, and the upcoming two-man show, The Hustle.

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro is not into manual labor. If forced to work, he is averse to any conversation. When asked for his comments this week, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro replied, "I have no comments today, because I am cleaning up my room."

Disgruntled wants to know: The United States lobbied United Nations' members to prevent language in the WCAR declaration identifying America and Israel as racist countries. America fears being forced to apologize for its crimes against humanity and pay reparations. Could it look more cowardly in avoiding conversation about its abundant human rights violations?

Disgruntled says: Desperate times call for desperate measures. Resident Bush, needing some favorable news coverage, ordered interior secretary Gale Norton to designate toxic landfills as national historic landmarks.

Disgruntled feels: Outraged at the death of his legacy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. must be turning over in his grave. All his sacrifice and the efforts of our ancestors are down the drain, cause the dumb ass niggers claiming to carry on King's legacy sellout for chump change!

Email: WILLIAMCAIN@webtv.net Disgruntled, I don't agree with you when you say "blacks in NC will be glad to see Helms go." Certain blacks yes but all blacks, no. They wouldn't get out to vote when a black man ran against Helms. I see absolutely nothing in NC changing for blacks when Helms leave. Helms will eventually end up in a Nursing Home a forgotten, sick old man in a lot of pain. He will end up like George Wallace, forgotten, lonely and abandoned. He will pay for his misgivings and treatment of blacks before he dies. William Cain

Email: emcp@mindspring.com I find the use of the term "dumb ass nigger" offensive.

by Dot

Realizing it sounded crude, I sought a more politically correct term to use. However, after a review of my vocabulary, I could not find a better term. I checked Webster ad nauseam. I even interviewed professionals at all levels of society and industry. With nothing better, I embraced dumb ass nigger completely. Though crass, it is apropos among those polled. Three out of four in an informal telephone survey said, "No other term comes close to describing the particular slim these characters ooze like the phrase dumb ass niggers." Even Uncle Tom fails to convey this particular pond scum. To those offended, welcome to the real world!

In the movie, The Matrix, the character Cypher is a dumb ass nigger. This term is race neutral. If you do not know Cypher, rent the movie and understand how we see blacks and others that have a knack for selling us out. Conscious of mankind's predicament, Cypher rejects reality; he prefers to be plugged into the power plant, so he sabotages the efforts of others to end human slavery.

Georgia legislator Tyrone Brooks personifies Cypher. A black man, Brooks led efforts to enshrine Confederate heritage. Oblivious to their history, Brooks and other black caucus members voted to keep the Confederate emblem in Georgia's state flag. Recently, they agreed to multi-member districts, the old racist gimmick used to minimize black voting strength. The only phrase that adequately describes them is dumb ass niggers!

Realizing it could not handle internal scrutiny, the United States abruptly aborted its threatened boycott of WCAR to avoid a major embarrassment. It still managed to cause a scandal when its low-level delegation's intense language lobbying efforts fell short. Unable to dictate the terms of the racism conversation, America, the world's greatest democracy, major defender and enforcer of global human rights, ordered its delegates to come home.

Scorched by criticism for its long history of institutionalized racism, the United States rented Reverend Jesse Jackson to create a diversion. Rather than send Colin Powell, the first black US Secretary of State, the US tried to minimize the conference. Under the radarscope of mainstream American media, the US hired Jackson to sabotage the conference. Replaying the deal he cut with Texaco to undercut black interests, leaving blacks victimized by the same employment discrimination and institutionalized racism that existed before, Jackson was exposed early. Before the conference began, blacks knew he had been bought for pennies, along with some other black Africans, here and abroad. They were on The Block early, bought for chump change to downplay racism.

America's behavior has been as inhumane as South Africa's under apartheid. The US has much to atone for, but America refuses to engage in a dialogue about slavery and shuns responsibility for its daunting legacy. Calling itself a democracy, the republic has been clearly shown to be without honor and integrity. Hiring dumb ass niggers will not help the US disguise its human rights atrocities.

Capitol of the dirty south, Atlanta adopted the slogan "the city too busy to hate" as part of its public relations scheme to win the 1996 Olympic Games. Few who know the city's history bought the PR campaign. Atlanta hides its past to keep from "stepping on the toes" of the founders of its most prized institutions.

Emory University, the city's most liberal arts institution, balked at displaying the lynching pictures that are the basis of the book Without Sanctuary. After extensive study, it dismissed prominent locations, such as the High Museum and the Atlanta History Center.

Rather than on its campus, Emory chose the King Center, in the heart of black Atlanta. In a white locale, heirs and close relations could recognize those pictured. Prominent people, still highly regarded, participated in these grotesque murders. More evil than Hitler's reign of terror against European Jews, the heirs to this legacy fight to keep the black holocaust hidden.

The lynching photographs show human rights violations occurred throughout the twentieth century. Most of the exhibit is postcards sent to family members and friends to record the lynching parties or pick-a-nicks (picnics) held in communities all across the country.

Chicago chose Harper Lee's book To Kill a Mockingbird to facilitate its dialogue on race. Atlanta has Without Sanctuary and the lynching photography exhibit. Gone with the Wind will never do. Do not miss the exhibit, which runs May 1 - December 1, 2002. It is time we faced the truth and talked about it.

by Dot

It is past time we stopped being dumb and quiet when those that claim to carry on Dr. Martin Luther King's dream act like Benedict Arnold, the infamous 'traitor.’ Those touted in the media, as black leaders, have not lived up to Dr. King's legacy. A hero in the struggle for racial equality, King must be rolling over in his grave given the antics of his 'former lieutenants.'

The Reverend Jesse Jackson is a good example of those defiling King's legacy. We, the people, put race, slavery and reparations on the front burner, but Jackson was in South Africa lobbying against our interests. On his first day in Durban, South Africa, he tried to undercut Palestinian interests! Jackson and his kind disgrace King's legacy by claiming any affiliation.

Dr. King knew a few blacks could do well in America. He was concerned about the impoverished condition of the larger black community. His closest lieutenants, as well as his family members, seem hell-bent on becoming the next Alonzo Herndon. The Atlanta millionaire ran a barbershop on Peachtree Street for whites only; he enriched himself within the racist system, rather than work to improve the overall black human condition. Those closest to him are killing King’s dream for pennies.

After the 1906 Atlanta race riot, the city's white leaders called on Herndon to tell blacks to be quiet. Following King’s 1968 assassination in Memphis, Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen used King’s widow to tell blacks the same thing. Herndon helped sweep the murders of black people under the city's dirty rug. In 2000, we are at an important crossroads in the struggle for racial equality. We cannot be silent and allow chump change chasers to derail King’s dream. We must fight to honor his legacy.

Y2K1 Environmental Racism

American farm animals grown for human consumption, i.e., cows, pigs and chickens, etc., are treated with hormones to fatten them quickly for market. Obesity among meat-eating adults and children seems a natural consequence of genetic tampering. Modified foods have compromised the food chain, and may have altered more species than we care to mention. The monarch butterfly comes easily to mind. Our soil and water are foul with pesticides and runoff from toxic landfills. The air is so thick with particles that many days breathing is a chore.

Rich countries argue over control of Earth's outer atmosphere; they race to colonize space. Libby, Montana is not an oddity, an isolated town plagued with toxicity. Big business polluters are making the Earth a toxic planet.

Landfills and other funk factories are mainly in black communities. South DeKalb County, Georgia epitomizes environmental racism. In addition, the county disproportionately spends more on parks, recreation and other services in majority white areas. The record shows DeKalb County is guilty of institutionalized racism.

The DISH has posed the tough questions about DeKalb environmental racism, such as enlarging Seminole Landfill without public comment, arts funding and a lack of reapportionment. Anxiously, we await the county's responses, which will be published in their entirety.

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