" They fear us because we are the generation that will see freedom."

Fist Dap Uppity Negro Network TM 

 While the young people, black and white, didn’t face the same de jure struggles with segregation and apartheid here in the United States as we crossed the threshold into the last decade of the millennium, the society was coming to grips with the gross failures and the results of institutional racism that was just a part of the American capitalist system. 

If you never read another thing I post, Mandela and A Millennial Generation's Connection to the Civil Rights Movement  is a must read into the hearts and minds of the generation of African Americans, who didn't march, protest, boycott, struggle, and sacrifice during the American Civil Rights Movement, but were shaped by the struggle of those across the Atlantic who suffered hard oppression of colonization only six years short of the 3rd millennium of this new epoch.

Mandela had a tangible effect on millennials and that’s a fact that shouldn’t be missed.  Mandela gave us a glimpse into what it meant to be a citizen overseas who had watched water hoses and attack dogs turned on non-violent protesters.  While that was our story, uniquely an American Negro story born in the crucible of 1963 and later through 1965, my generation was able to see what impact the human story has on a global society.  We saw the protests to “Free Mandela” and “Free South Africa” and the story of the Soweto uprising in the 1970s was fixed clearly in our minds–do they hate us so much that they would kill our youth?

Thank you The Uppity Negro for restoring my belief that Children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.  Lead on.  Lead often.

"Mandela, Gil- Scott Heron, and Johannasburg"

I am posting this song by the late, great, Gil Scott- Heron in honor of the late, great, Nelson Mandela.

"An  ideal for which I am prepared to die" Mandela made this statement from the dock at the opening of his trial on charges of sabotage, Supreme court of South Africa, Pretoria, April 20 1964

Rest in Peace Nelson Mandela and Gil Scott- Heron, you left our world a better place. 

"Hamba Kahle Mkhululi Wethu" (Go well our emancipator)

There has been drumming and singing outside of Nelson Mandela's home every since his passing.  It is the African way! In music the drum represents the heart beat....song represents the breath of life, a fitting tribute.

From the dancing and singing, people are expressing their celebration of a life but also keep a spirit alive – a spirit of hope and reconciliation.

Par for the course when an African American leader dies the mainstream media counts on us having collective, cultural amnesia as they  whitewash (pun intended) how republicans really felt about Nelson Mandela, what he stood for, and why Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27years.

Mandela was a political activist and agitator. He did not shy away from controversy and he did not seek — or obtain — universal approval. Before and after his release from prison, he embraced an unabashedly progressive and provocative platform. As one commentator put it shortly after the announcement of the freedom fighter’s death, “Mandela will never, ever be your minstrel. Over the next few days you will try so, so hard to make him something he was not, and you will fail. You will try to smooth him, to sandblast him, to take away his Malcolm X. You will try to hide his anger from view.”

I almost feel sorry for Ted Cruz who got trashed by his fan base for having the nerve to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela on  face book.  Bill O'Riellly and the other Lords of Loud won't make the same mistake.

While Senator Cruz appears to be taking the high road for once in his political life, his Facebook commenters would not let the Tea Party favorite get away with stepping out of their pure ideological line.  Praising Mandela was a step too far for Cruz fans and the ugliness, historical inaccuracies, and racism in the comments on the post should serve as an illustration that the tea party as a serious political entity has jumped the shark.

“No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

― Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom

I want my @#$^ HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in back!

Two years into President Obama's historic election I'm wondering how in the world HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in got hijacked by the gop infused, media enabled, Tea Baggers? I mean, really...how and why did we (Democrats/Progressives/Liberals) let this happen? There are more of us than there are of them as proven by President Obama's landslide 2008 victory. What the hell happened???

This is what I believe happened...President Obama didn't control the message, the gop infused, media enabled Tea Party controlled the message. He who controls the information controls the outcome.

Until and unless the democratic party comes up with it's own television network like Faux News and nationally syndicated talk radio shows/hosts like Limbaugh, Hannity and Beck, the republicans are always going to control the message.

President Obama can help us help him by reinstating the Fairness Doctrine.

What has not changed since 1987 is that over-the-air broadcasting remains the most powerful force affecting public opinion, especially on local issues; as public trustees, broadcasters ought to be insuring that they inform the public, not inflame them. That's why we need a Fairness Doctrine. It's not a universal solution. It's not a substitute for reform or for diversity of ownership. It's simply a mechanism to address the most extreme kinds of broadcast abuse.

It ought to be against the law to use the public airways to diseminate hate and misinformation.

"The FCC has a responsibility to set standards, to say the public can not be offended based on their race or their gender in this country and use federally regulated airwaves that they give licenses to that are very competitive and the FCC is very selective based on standards."

Then we have the Media Lobbying Complex, distoring what we decide.

A four-month investigation into the covert corporate influence on cable news found that since 2007 at least seventy-five registered lobbyists, public relations representatives and corporate officials have repeatedly appeared on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CNBC and Fox Business Network with no disclosure that they are paid by corporate interests.

The passage of the the Local Community Radio Act is a start.

The Local Community Radio Act will expand the low power FM (LPFM) service created by the FCC in 2000 – a service the FCC created to address the shrinking diversity of voices on the radio dial. Over 800 LPFM stations, all locally owned and non-commercial, are already on the air. The stations are run by non-profit organizations, local governments, churches, schools, and emergency responders.

The bill repeals earlier legislation which had been backed by big broadcasters, including the National Association of Broadcasters. This legislation, the Radio Broadcast Preservation Act of 2000, limited LPFM radio to primarily rural areas. The broadcast lobby groups claimed that the new 100 watt stations could somehow create interference with their own stations, a claim disproven by a Congressionally-mandated study in 2003.

Lost Hope?

When America elected Barack Obama, cynicism seemed in retreat, beaten back by a wave of ordinary people staking their time, money, and spirit on the prospect of significant change. We seemed to have reached a major historical turning point, offering the chance finally to address our country's root crises. Now, cynicism and despair have bounced back on steroids, as if to mock any new hope that we can help create a better world. Last year's soaring expectations seem distant memories, leaving a bitter taste. Obama's campaign made grassroots participation central, and he's invited us to help him do the right thing in office. But his compromises and the failings of Senate leaders to overcome the resistance of their obstructionist colleagues have destroyed much of the grassroots enthusiasm that existed a year ago. Meanwhile, those of us whose passionate engagement helped elect Obama haven't stepped up to help define our national debates (while the Teabaggers have). Most of us have done little in the past year beyond signing online letters or petitions, and watching shell-shocked from the sidelines as the country's politics spiraled steadily downward. Yet I still believe that we can help transform America through what Nelson Mandela called "the multiplication of courage," as I explore in "Soul of a Citizen." But for that resurgence of courage to bloom, we need to get past the cynical resignation that assumes change is impossible.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going. Let's get going in 2011 and take our @#$^ HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in back!

Yes
We
Can