Stay Black!

I promise Riot or Revolution? 2 is coming soon. Very soon. But I've just published my first post for a group blog, dangerousNEGRO re-education, and I have to share it with you. My regular readers.

Stay Black!

cross-posted at dangerousNEGRO re-education

Hey, People. What up and what's going on wit'cha?

Me? Well . . . more about me in a later post. I do have my own blog, but if this is your first time reading me, I hope this post provides some insight into my thinking. I do like to spell things out. Especially if I have a larger point I'm trying to make. I'm all about discussion and collaboration. Whatever we do to advance our collective cause, we have to do together. I'm also still quite open-minded about learning new things and new ideas. Though, it doesn't take me long to sniff out a bad idea, and I will address it.

Now, this post is about economics, not culture. Staying black is about staying literally "in the black," as well as supporting black businesses. Now, the way I see it, this crisis we're in presents danger and opportunity - yes, I'm ripping off the Chinese. The danger, as I see it, is that we don't take advantage of this opportunity. See, I know that this crisis is having a disproportionate effect on our community. It's exacerbating our unemployment numbers and the already disturbingly wide wealth accumulation gap. So, I am aware of the mess we're in.

But. Some of the most profitable stock is as cheap as it's been in a while. If ever there were a time for the black community to marshall all our moneys together and buy the country, it's now! Then we could rule THE WORLD!! Bwahahahahaha!!

Okay. So that dream is a bit wild, but I like it. Don't get me wrong. There are more practical things we can do and more practical reasons to do it.

This economic crisis has pressed me to learn and study up on economics. So, think of this as sort of econ 50.5, half of 101. From what I can ascertain, what keeps communities and countries poor is when money stops flowing within the community. What's happened in our current crisis is that money isn't flowing normally. I mean, think about it. Imagine there's one bank in a 75 sq mile area, and everybody saves and borrows there. dN Bank. Now, you own a car dealership. The only one in the area. Having done well for yourself, you take out a mortgage from dN Bank. And someone else borrows money from dN Bank to start a construction business. AfriBuilding. You hire AfriBuilding to build your house.

Now, for the sake of this explanation, we're gonna give the money, $250K USD, a name - cabbage. All the money that's been deposited in the dN Bank - cabbage. The bank gives you "cabbage." You take "cabbage" to pay the owner. He puts "cabbage" in his account in dN Bank. He uses this account to pay his workers their "cabbage." The workers, say 10 of them, deposit "cabbage" in dN Bank. With some cash now, they all decide to buy a car. From you, of course. They all take auto loans from dN Bank. So, dN Bank gives them the same "cabbage" to buy cars. They pay you "cabbage." You put the cabbage back in dN bank.

So, the bank had the cabbage, loses the cabbage, gets the cabbage back, loses it again, gets it back again. And everytime the bank gets it back, it actually gets back a little bet more. Right? Interest. But at the end of the day, it's the same cabbage.

And so on and so forth. If you don't understand it, then, just except that for a community to stay prosperous, essentially, you have to have money flowing back and forth within the community. You have to have people buying and selling from each other. The thing is, though, it's all the same money. It's all the same "cabbage." And if there is a kink anywhere in the chain, the community loses money. If you decide to hire a construction company outside the area and thereby send the cabbage outside the area, then those 10 workers can't buy cars from you. Since they can't buy cars, you can't make your house payments. So, they lose out, you lose out, and dN Bank loses out.

Or, let's imagine even though they do buy cars, they don't buy the cars from you. You can't make your mortgage payments, and the system breaks down again. If AfriBusiness hires workers from outside the area, and these workers buy their cars from you, we do have the necessary flow of cabbage. But, the workers don't use dN Bank, so the bank loses SOME money it would've otherwise had. Not a big deal. It still makes a profit. But what about the 10 workers in the area who are now unemployed? No matter what you do for them, it's gonna have a negative impact on the overall community. Right? Now, giving them unemployment is better for the flow of cabbage than giving them nothing - they still have to eat. But they can't afford the things the would've otherwise had, and so forth and so on.

So. Have I confused you? I hope not. The whole point is that what's going on in poor communities is some chink in the money chain. Somewhere along the chain, the community loses money! But lets say someone outside the community spends in the community or invests in the community, the community as a whole gains money!

So my point for you, a dN reader? Stay black! Support black businesses. Hire black people. Invest in black business. And if you have the funds, just invest period! Bring new money into the community. Oh, I know this isn't new. This isn't your first time being told to stay black. It's just the first time I actually understand why it's so important that we do. I want to share with you why it's so important that you do. It's a big deal. And yes, I know the white man's ice is colder - and please understand, I actually believe that is potentially true. Water frozen at 12 degrees is colder than ice frozen at 28 degrees. It's not going to melt as fast. At the end of the day, it really isn't true that ice is just ice. But! If you never support the black man's ice, the white man's ice will always be colder! Cause you're not keeping the money in the community. Because you're not helping the black man out, he'll never be able to buy a better, colder freezer.

Get it? You have to buy black. Stay black. Even if you think the product is inferior, and it just might be. You need to buy black. Hire black. The money needs to stay in the community.

And you need to stay in the black in your own personal finances. Don't get me wrong. Studies show African Americans save at the same rate as everybody else. We're not the spendthrifts we're made out to be. But it doesn't matter. We are in such a bind collectively, that we need to do more. We literally can't afford any chinks in the chain. Do you realize that prior to black communities in places like Chicago and even Durham, NC being destroyed, that they all had thriving business districts? That discrimination and segregation forced us to buy from and sell to and hire each other? That we were doing pretty good, considering the discrimination and segregation! We need to get back to that! Not the discrimination and segregation, of course, but the buying from and selling to and hiring each other. If there're enough of us with enough money, we need to open our own banks. I'm pretty radical. I wouldn't have a bit of a problem with an entirely seperate black economy. Of course, that's something we can build to. But, I hope I've helped stir up something you probably already knew, already sensed: we have to stay black!

I have more to say, but I'll save that for a later post. Please give me feedback. I need to know what's important to you. I want to know what questions you have, what info you'd like to know. If there's something going on in the world that you don't understand, get at me. Or, if there's some myth about the black community that seems true but doesn't quite ring true, get at me. And I'll get back at you.

Punta de Prueba de OKs del Juez de la Queja de la Tortura Contra los Funcionarios de Bush. Loosely Translated, "Bush Officials Getting Got!!"

Great news, people! Sorry I haven't written Riot or Revolution 2, I just haven't felt up to it. But, I do have this breaking news from CNN. And a prayer that the Obama administration will follow suit, or rather, sue. ~ No1KState


Judge OKs probe of torture complaint against Bush officials(the actual English translation)

Story Highlights:

• Prosecutors will review Gitmo complaint to determine if crime committed.

• Former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and five others accused.

• Judge says case can be pursued in Spain because of Spanish detainees.

(CNN) -- A senior Spanish judge has ordered prosecutors to investigate whether key Bush aides should be charged with crimes over the Guantanamo Bay detention center, a lawyer said Sunday.

Investigating magistrate Baltasar Garzon has passed a 98-page complaint to prosecutors that accuses former Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and five others of being the legal architects of system that allowed torture in violation of international law, human rights lawyer Gonzalo Boye told CNN.

Prosecutors will review the document to determine if a crime has been committed.

The prosecutor's office will make a decision within five days, said Boye, one of the report's authors. Garzon accepted the complaint under Spanish law because there were several Spaniards at Guantanamo who allegedly suffered torture.

The complaint was filed in March 2008 by Boye and the Association for the Rights of Prisoners.

It names Gonzales -- who was President George W. Bush's counsel when the Guantanamo Bay detention center was established -- and other top Bush administration officials John C. Yoo, Douglas J. Feith, William J. Hayes II, Jay S. Bybee and David S. Addington.

A former top aide to Colin Powell, who was secretary of state in the early days of the Bush administration's "war on terror," testified before Congress last summer that the six officials "colluded" to develop a legal rationale for allowing detainees to be subjected to harsh treatment.

Lawrence Wilkerson was Powell's chief of staff in President Bush's first term.

Yoo, the author of a memo which critics say authorized torture, also testified before Congress last year.

The former deputy assistant attorney general said that his role in the administration had simply been to provide legal advice.

"We were functioning as lawyers. We don't make policy. Policy choices in these matters were up to the National Security Council or the White House or the Department of Defense," he said.

Gonzales was Bush's legal counsel at the time and later became attorney general. Yoo and Bybee were at the Department of Justice, Haynes and Feith worked for the Department of Defense, and Addington was Vice President Dick Cheney's legal counsel.

Addington proved difficult to pin down when he testified under subpoena before a House of Representatives subcommittee June 26 with Yoo, who testified voluntarily but repeatedly refused to answer questions.

Addington, by then Cheney's chief of staff, delivered a flat "No" in answer to a question from New York Democrat Rep. Jerrold Nadler about whether Addington "contributed to the analysis or assisted in the drafting of the August 1, 2002, interrogation memo."

But when Nadler followed up with: "You had nothing to do with that," Addington again replied: "No. I didn't say I had nothing to do with it."

Addington never clarified what, if any, his role was.

Garzon, Spain's best-known investigating magistrate, issued the precedent-setting arrest warrant for former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998.

The judge has investigated human rights abuses in former military governments in Chile and Argentina, Islamic terrorists operating in Spain, the armed Basque separatist group ETA, as well as major drug traffickers.

--CNN's Per Nyberg contributed to this report.

A Day Late and a Dollar Short

I actually should've posted this Monday. So, the title of this post is a comment on me as well as the story. Also, read with some critical thinking - this actually touches on the subject of Riot or Revolution. These particular sentences are quite telling: African Americans and other people of color were more than three times as likely as white borrowers to be steered to high-interest loans, even when they qualified for a prime loan. A Harvard University study showed that in Massachusetts, a high-income African American was more likely than a low-income white borrower to get a subprime loan. Such studies abound. So, please read with your critical thinking cap on. ~ No1KState


The Wealth Gap Gets Wider

By Meizhu Lui
Monday, March 23, 2009; A15

The chips are in.

Every three years, the Federal Reserve, in its Survey of Consumer Finances, takes a look at how U.S. households are doing and reports on our assets and liabilities. The euphoria of our gambling spree is over. In the harsh glare of morning, the hangover is tough. And the latest data are from 2007, so they don't even capture the worst of the decline.

The net worth of the average American family is less than it was in 2001. We borrowed more for that trip to Vegas than we brought home. Everyone knows this now.

But here's something being talked about much less: The gap between the wealth of white Americans and African Americans has grown. According to the Fed, for every dollar of wealth held by the typical white family, the African American family has only one dime. In 2004, it had 12 cents.

This is not just a gap. It's a deepening canyon.

The overhyped political term "post-racial society" becomes patently absurd when looking at these economic numbers. This week, experts on asset building in communities of color are meeting with members of Congress to talk about closing the wealth gap. While the government is rescuing failing financial institutions as a short-term measure, those at the two-day Color of Wealth Policy Summit will make the case that the nation's long-term economic future depends on the inclusion of all Americans in opportunities to build wealth.

Why such a big gap? The biggest predictor of the future economic status of a child is the net worth of the child's parents. Even modest inheritances or gifts within a parent's lifetime -- such as paying for college or providing the down payment on a home -- can give a child a lift up the economic ladder. And historically, white families have enjoyed more government support and tax-paid subsidies for their asset-building activities.

Let's look at the rules of the game in homeownership, for example.

During the Depression, the Home Owners' Loan Corp. was formed to rescue families whose homes were in foreclosure. Not a single loan went to a family of color. The black section of Detroit was simply excluded. After World War II, GIs received government-subsidized home mortgages, but there was no oversight to ensure that soldiers of color got their fair share. Of the 67,000 mortgages issued under the GI Bill in New York and northern New Jersey, 66,900 went to white veterans, as documented in Ira Katznelson's "When Affirmative Action Was White."

Recently, there have been sins of omission and commission. White families are five times as likely as families of color to have a bank account and access to responsible loan terms. Because of the lack of federally insured and regulated financial institutions on reservations and in inner cities, rural areas, barrios and Chinatowns, payday lenders and other shady financial dealers operating without government oversight have preyed on people of color, fueling the economic and foreclosure crises. African Americans and other people of color were more than three times as likely as white borrowers to be steered to high-interest loans, even when they qualified for a prime loan. A Harvard University study showed that in Massachusetts, a high-income African American was more likely than a low-income white borrower to get a subprime loan. Such studies abound.

Additionally, rules in our tax code have strengthened the hand of those who already have assets. You can get a tax deduction for the interest paid on home mortgages of up to $1 million -- a nice break for those who hardly need one. But if you own a home and make too little to itemize, the mortgage interest deduction doesn't help you at all.

So what can we do? We need a Financial Product Safety Commission to act against discriminatory lending policies and to stop the marketing of dangerous loans such as exploding adjustable-rate mortgages. We also should cap the mortgage interest deduction and make it refundable so low-income homeowners can benefit. Mandating that new schools and transportation and commercial projects that are supported by federal dollars be located only in areas with racially inclusive zoning policies would also do much to create and grow neighborhoods of opportunity.

Building wealth is essential to the American promise of opportunity for economic mobility and security regardless of the accident of one's birth. In the 21st-century global marketplace, the diversity of our population is an asset -- if we play our cards right.

The chips on the table reflect the fact that the game was fixed. It's time to start an honest game with a new deck. All of our futures depend on it.

Meizhu Lui is director of the Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Initiative at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development in Oakland, Calif. The center is organizing the Color of Wealth 2009 Policy Summit, to be held in Washington today and tomorrow. This column was also published today on The Root.

Riot or Revolution? 1

This is sort of a primer for my next post. Plus, it'll save me the energy of trying to accomplish two things at once.

Here is Glenn Greenwald talking about Glen Beck:

Before presenting that to you, a few caveats are in order: There is nothing inherently wrong or illegitimate with citizens expressing extreme anger towards the Government and the ruling political class. There isn't even anything wrong or illegitimate with citizens organizing themselves into a movement that -- whether by design or effect -- is threatening to entrenched elites. If anything, we've had too little of that. In fact, it's only a complete lack of fear of a meek, passive and impotent citizenry on the part of political and financial rulers -- a certainty that there will be no consequences no matter what they do -- that could have given rise to the endless corruption, deceit, lawbreaking, destruction, and outright thievery of the last eight years. A political and financial elite that perceives itself as invulnerable from threat or consequence will inevitably vest itself with more power and more riches. That's what we've had and, largely, still have.

But this Rush-Limbaugh/Fox-News/nationalistic movement isn't driven by anything noble or principled or even really anything political. If it were, they would have been extra angry and threatening and rebellious during the Bush years instead of complicit and meek and supportive to the point of cult-like adoration. Instead, they're just basically Republican dead-enders (at least what remains of the regional/extremist GOP), grounded in tribal allegiances that are fueled by their cultural, ethnic and religious identities and by perceived threats to past prerogatives -- now spiced with legitimate economic anxiety and an African-American President who, they were continuously warned for the last two years, is a Marxist, Terrorist-sympathizing black nationalist radical who wants to re-distribute their hard-earned money to welfare queens and illegal immigrants (and is now doing exactly that).

That's the context for this Glenn Beck "War Games" show on Fox News this week -- one promoted, with some mild and obligatory caveats, by Michelle Malkin's Hot Air. In the segment below, he convened a panel that includes former CIA officer Michael Scheuer and Ret. U.S. Army Sgt. Major Tim Strong. They discuss a coming "civil war" led by American "Bubba" militias -- Beck says he "believes we're on this road" -- and they contemplate whether the U.S. military would follow the President's orders to subdue civil unrest or would instead join with "the people" in defense of their Constitutional rights against the Government (they agree that the U.S. military would be with "the people"):

You can read the entire article, but I've copied what's relevant for the point I'll soon be making. As a head's up, just notice the Beck's sympathy with the imagined rebellion.

*Riot or Revolution? 2 was going to be my next post for sure. But this commentor on Jack and Jill Politics got me riled up about "personal responsibility." And since I don't do high-jacking other people's blogs, I may have to vent myself here. On my blog.

Hat Tip Jack and Jill Politics

I got it here.

They got it here.

New York is one vote away from sweeping reforms to its three-decade-old Rockefeller drug laws, which require mandatory minimums for people convicted of drug crimes in the state. The Draconian laws led the way for a national trend toward harsh drug laws in the 1970s and 1980s. The time has come to admit failure and change direction.

Earlier this month, the State Assembly passed a bill essentially repealing the Rockefeller laws, and Gov. David Patterson (above left), who was once arrested for protests the laws, has proposed a compromise bill to bring Senate Republicans into the fold. His deal, however, may not go far enough.