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What's
Happening by Todd Mangatal
todd@ariousentertainment.com
Again
we must start on a sad note. We would like to send
our deepest condolences and prayers to Mr. & Mrs.
Ken Barrington. They lost there son Darnell S
Barrington on August 2nd, 2003. Darnell was only
20 years old and is a victim of the senseless violence
that seems to be exploding again in the streets of
Washington DC. Many of you might know Ken
Barrington, he is very active in the DC Carnival.
He is the leader of the Masquerade band "Roots
& Culture", and is the Treasurer of the DC
Carnival Bandleaders Association. Please say a
prayer for the Barrington Family and all the other
families that have
been impacted by this senseless violence.
War
on the Streets of DC
I
don't know what it is about this time of the year where
it seems that violence and sorrow becomes rampant.
First it was 911, which impacted all of our lives
and resulted in the loss of our "so-called"
freedoms that we had begun to take for granted. As
a result of this our leaders have taken us into a
continuous war. Tell me...when will it all
end? Last year in the DC area we had the sniper
incident which left us in a state of paranoia.
Both of these incidents we had No Control Of.
Now we are faced with another situation, "War on
the streets of Washington DC", but this war WE
DO have control of, because the soldiers are our
children. That's right...our children!
Everyday they are killing each other for the stupidest
reasons. Such as "He looked at me
funny"; "He talked to my Girl, and I don't
like it"; and other senseless reasons. Again,
we ask the question...Why, and Who's to blame?
However, this is not a mystery the answer is very
clear. We are all to blame!
At
present this generation of teenagers and young adults
have No Values, No Respect, or No sense
of Struggle. In the past we had a situation of
outward racism and oppression which always reminded us
that we were second class citizens in this country
(which was built on the sweat and blood of our ancestors.)
Before the Civil Rights Movement of the 50's & 60's
there were places we couldn't go, places we couldn't
shop and eat at in Downtown DC. So we had to bond
together as a community and create our own
businesses'. This is Washington DC the nations
capitol I'm referring to, not Mississippi!
Through all of this we knew we were not second class
citizens, and so we fought and organized ourselves using
non-violence and unity as the weapons to fight violence
and oppression. There are many famous names that
we all know who took part in this battle, such as
Harriet Tubman who helped lead us out of bondage in the
1800's with the underground railroad; Frederick Douglas
who worked with the government and northern whites
called abolitionist to get slavery abolished and gain
rights for the freed slaves; and Marcus Garvey who had
an idea that slaves should go back to Africa.
In
the 1950's thru the power of TV most Americans got to
see the crimes that were being perpetrated against
blacks in America. Such as lynching,
cross-burnings, false charges, etc. Leaders like
Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X died for the
freedom of our children and by the late 1960's because
of all their fights, we were free. We had a civil
rights bill, and we could eat; drink; shop and live
where we pleased. The battle was over (so we
thought).
In
the 70's it was about the "bling bling", we abandoned
our communities and businesses and became a part of this
new America. This was a time of upward mobility,
which I'm a product of. These were good years
because our parents and grandparents were enjoying the
fruits of victory. Many programs were put in place
for us to succeed and many of us did. My
generation believed the world was ours for the taking,
some of us went to colleges and got "the good
education" that we were told we had to have to get
"A GOOD JOB AND HAVE A GOOD LIFE IN THE
FUTURE". They didn't lie we needed this,
especially today. Some of us felt there must have
been a quicker and easier way to gain success, and this
is where the cycle of violence we are experiencing today
begun. Many of us decided to take the easy way out
but fell into the trap (which wasn't set by
accident). This trap was a "little white
rock" that promised to lead us to instant riches,
and it did. But nothing comes that easy and there
were consequences. The year I'm talking about was
1985, the money was easy and we wanted all of it, by any
means necessary. Just Look At What Happened, We
Forgot Where We Came From And The Struggle!
The
Government said "Just Say No" and
created a war on drugs, plus enacted 50 year sentences
for those caught with this "little white
rock". I
ask you was this really a war on drugs, or a war on us?
Anyway, many of us died, many went to jail and some are
still there. What we are experiencing now is the
fall-out of the drug wars of the 80's. Many of
these children involved in this senseless violence grew
up in broken homes where conversations were replaced by
TV and video games, and dinner was fast food or junk
food. THIS IS WHY I SAID...WE ARE ALL TO
BLAME. Therefore, we must not get too busy
with our careers, and we can't believe the hype and get
caught up with the money and the "bling bling",
because the children are our future and they must be
guided by you, and not by MTV, BET & HBO.
TAKE
THE TIME WITH YOUR CHILDREN, TEACH THEM ABOUT HISTORY
BECAUSE BEFORE WE CAN GO FORWARD WE HAVE GOT TO KNOW
WHERE WE HAVE BEEN!
THIS
HAS ALL BEEN A PLOY BY THE POWERS THAT BE, TO WEAKEN US
AS A RACE. THE NEXT ACT OF OPPRESSION WILL NOT
ONLY BE DIRECTED AT BLACKS, BUT TO ALL PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE
OR THREATEN THE NEW WORLD ORDER. OPEN YOUR EYES
AND YOUR MIND AND SEE EXACTLY WHAT IS TAKING
PLACE. DON'T FALL INTO THIS TRAP!
Assignment
For the weekend
Spend
time with your children
and
teach them our history!
If
you are in Washington DC this Saturday August 16th,
check this International Human Rights Day/Reparations
Rally out!
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On
August 16th, the International Human
Rights Day/Reparations Rally on the Mall at the
Lincoln Memorial between 12:00 Noon and 6:00 PM.
We really want to reach out to as many
positive people as possible and solicit strong
support for something as important as the
enforcement of our human rights.
Also, right
after our event, there is a group that is
marching here from Mississippi, the Poor
People's March for Economic Human Rights. They
are scheduled to arrive in Washington, D.C. on
August 23rd at which time they will be building
a tent city called "Bushville" on the
Mall! This group will be here for 6 days
living outside and they desperately need our
help with food, water, soap, blankets,
everything you can think of to survive outside
for nearly a week! Please let us
know if you can assist us in getting the word
out and encouraging people to drop off items at
our rally on the 16th. Hopefully, we will have
some other drop off locations very soon.
Peace & Blessings!
Dr. Edna Gorham Bey
Moorishreporter@aol.com |
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