They’re violent and are deadly serious about their intentions. In a battle with anti racist protesters, one member of the Industrial Workers of the World was killed when a car plunged into the counterdemonstrators. Reports have also come across about the injuries of two members of the Democratic Socialists of America as well.

Today signals a culmination of a few factors. A large part of it being the stoking of racist sentiments by President Donald Trump. As usual, when right-wingers go on the offensive, the police are giving them free reign. Thus, it will embolden them to take more such actions in the future.

It should be noted that a sizeable number of white nationalists participating in these riots today are in their 20s and 30s. So much for the notion that the racists will just die off. Wishful thinking is of no service here.

August 12th will be remembered as a jarring day for many, and it signifies that a right-wing resurgence is no laughing matter for anyone in this country who isn’t white. Torch lit rallies, hateful chants, and violence are the hallmarks of a budding proto-fascist movement. With the far right mobilizing and the far left/progressive forces marginalized and disorganized, these are really dangerous times.

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The struggles of the homeless in the major cities is too often overlooked. In a nominally civilized western society, there is a collective “out of sight, out of mind” approach to this enormous issue. They are stigmatized as people who have somehow failed, and are written off as such. It’s going to take a major policy shift to address this concern, but part of that struggle is to humanize those affected.

Filmmaker Delila Vallot aims to do just this with her latest documentary, Mighty Ground. Mighty Ground tells the story of Ronald Troy Collins, a homeless man who is struggling to turn his life around. With the help of unlikely friendships along the way, a homeless songwriter tries to kick a hard-core crack addiction and escape the grisly streets of skid row via his love of music.

Vallot, who is also based in Los Angeles, in an interview via telephone sheds some light on the extent of the homeless problem in downtown LA and how Ronald’s story encapsulates it. “It just seems barbaric, for there to be homelessness,” said Vallot. Going further, discussing the resources available, she noted that this country can eradicate homelessness. Speaking of how gentrified LA is, Vallot as a filmmaker wants to illustrate how easy it is for people to fall through the cracks.

During the conversation, she mentioned a disturbing statistic: For every $100 dollar rent raise, it creates a 15 percent rise in homelessness. This, is a pressing problem, and threatens the working poor with destitution. When you factor in the cost of policing and hospitalizing the homeless, it would actually cost less to house people than to leave them on the street. To go even further, the predicament of being undomiciled makes it more likely for the person affected to develop mental illness or wind up in jail. “The longer you are out on the street, the harder it is to get out of the street, ” said Vallot. In noting the obstacles that homeless people face, the purpose of the documentary is to help change the mindset of the viewer toward this neglected population. A sizeable portion of this population are women and children. This is often forgotten when people have an archetype of who the homeless are.

Mighty Ground made its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival in June, and will be on the film festival circuit for the rest of this year. Vallot also said that there are talks in bringing the documentary to video on demand and cable. To learn more about this documentary, visit the Mighty Ground Facebook page.

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The entire hip hop community is in mourning and remembering his musical contributions as well. Mobb Deep had a good run as far as the popularity of their gritty, NYC sound, and being involved with major beefs in the rap industry. In the 2000’s, Prodigy would also embark on a successful solo career, producing memorable joints like “Keep it Thoro”

One aspect of Prodigy’s life that so far I see is not being emphasized was his growing awareness. Fans saw it in minor ways like the verse Prodigy dropped in the “I Shot Ya” remix. Prodigy was aware, before “woke” became a commodity- being mostly about how it is performed in public. He referenced secret societies and appeared on shows like Infowars. Sometimes, his rhymes would be peppered with a conspiracist outlook on history and current events. Since we live in a country where ideology is discouraged, and everything is said to be relative, people often struggle with putting together a coherent worldview. Everybody will hurry up and tell you that they don’t believe in any  “isms” for example. Despite this reality, Prodigy dealt with a lot of heavy topics in ways that many artists were unwilling.

The title of his last solo album is “Hegelian Dialectic” – named after the theory of change by 19th-century German philosopher George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. Without getting into too much theory, it is the idea that things change by going through three phases: thesis (problem), anti-thesis(reaction), and synthesis(solution), the final result of the matter. It is also the notion that our perceptions shape our reality. As many historians and philosophers know, Karl Marx and Frederick Engels, who were Young Hegelians counterposed this theory with what came to be known as dialectical materialism, which posits that material conditions determine and shape our reality.  This was the “turning of Hegel on its head.” This is all pretty weighty stuff for a hip hop record. But, Prodigy put this out, earlier this year, and unfortunately, it was overlooked. The rap game, unfortunately, has embraced this notion that only relevant read: popular rappers deserved to be discussed. After an artist is no longer “hot”, people stop checking for their work, even though their content changes and gets better as they learn more about life.

Prodigy would write an autobiography, as well as speak on issues like GMO’s and the necessity to think about things differently. He gave us a great body of music, and he left his mark on hip hop. Prodigy will forever S-H-I-N-E.

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I have to be upfront here, I believe that America is an idea and an ideal of progress in progress. We move towards meeting our ideal as a society the way individual people move towards personal goals. The journey we take in meeting our ideal selves is turbulent and hard; often times we have to fight the creature of bad, comfortable habit and work to build new routines. We win some struggles and lose others.

In the case of becoming a society where “All Men Are Created Equal”, the road has been long, winding, and poorly paved. As we trudge along, forcing ourselves to become an equitable and cosmopolitan society we’ve predictably experienced horrible overt relapse, usually in the face of a fresh wave of immigration or the threat of a changing status quo.

That horrible relapse has a dangerously sharp spearhead in the Donald Trump presidential candidacy. The only logical reason I can supply for Trump’s traction is that his support comes from a three generally different quarters:

1. Republicans who are supporting their party candidate regardless of their objections/who believe that business acumen is political acumen
2. People who have objections to Trump but are unwilling to vote for Hillary Clinton
3. White folks scared that their majority rule and privilege (regardless of their ability or willingness to identify it) is coming to an end and actually believe the crazy, inconsistent, and/or racist things that Trump says.

Of these three, the last one is the group that I’d like to discuss, but first I’ll address the others. The first group is part of a deep-seated problem in American politics. This line of thinking has led us away from compromise and discourse into a win/lose mentality that has been the foundation of plummeting Congressional approval ratings. The second are simply people whom I disagree with–I understand their trepidations about Hillary Clinton but, constrained to a mindset where the choice is between two rather than many, I simply cannot sign on to the choice. (That said, people must always explore their options because there are more than two choices.)

The third group is the frightened, losing the privileged class. This privilege isn’t material but is cultural. It is the kind of privilege that doesn’t necessarily feed you, pay you, or get you out of jail but rather is the kind that assumes you as the default. The assumption of white normalcy is slowly becoming an anachronism. With growing non-white populations, American whiteness is on the verge of becoming the largest minority in a multicultural secular nation. The irony should not be lost that being the largest minority is exactly how Mr. Trump received the Republican nomination and is exactly the predicament his base fears demographically and that this major minority in the party is rallying the hardest against being “downgraded” to that status nationally.

In the midst of Black Americans declaring, rightfully, that their lives matter and are not disposable, Latin Americans working hard to secure a life in our country, and Muslim Americans fighting against the stigma of terrorism to live peacefully, Donald Trump is trumping hard on the preposterous notions of being a “law and order” candidate, touting to build a wall blocking off Mexico to stop “Mexican” illegal immigration (even if the majority of illegal migrations are not, in fact, committed by Mexicans), and of course banning legal migration of approximately one-third of the population of the world as a sane route to national security.

This man’s rise to political prominence–even his trajectory at political legitimacy–is part of a historical cycle of Americans rallying against change. During Reconstruction, the South produced the Ku Klux Klan to keep freemen in line. In the past 40 years (at least), there has been the talk of raising barriers along our Southern border to keep Spanish-speaking brown people away. During World War II, we rounded up Japanese Americans and put them in internment camps “until we knew what was going on” as Trump might say.

We have a history of passing laws that contradict our very nature and the very language of our Founding Documents. Laws such as the Johnson-Reed Act which placed quotas on immigration in order to preserve racial demographics ratios for the nation which were decades old, rulings such as Dredd Scott and Plessy v. Ferguson which solidified the notion of slaves as property and the inherent inequality of “Separate but Equal,” as well as public referendum California Proposition 187 which empowered civilians to identify otherwise law-abiding undocumented immigrants to the authorities for deportation have shown the nation’s collective willingness to suspend the idea that “All Men Are Created Equal” when the subtext of “White Men Are More Equal Than Others” was in jeopardy.

We also have a history of citizens banding together to keep others down because of their backgrounds–or their perceived backgrounds, almost always in the preservation of our American lifestyle operationalized as a status quo of default whiteness. In each of these, we would do well to remember a time we failed our ideals to preserve the majority demographic of the most current social construct of white dominant privilege. We would do well to remember arguments that the Jewish Bolsheviks would be the undoing of America. We would do well to remember the American adaptation of “NINA” (No Irish Need Apply) signs in store windows. We would do well to remember the mass lynching of eleven Italians in New Orleans. We would do well to remember Jim Crow. We would do well to remember McCarthyism.

Some of these drawbacks have been briefer than others. The blight of Klan remains a political force to be reckoned with in our country. Prop 187 died in legal battles in 1999, only 5 years after it had passed. Many lives are still affected by time spent in Japanese Internment Camps. Scott and Plessy are both moot ruling in the current legal climate which recognizes that all humans are humans and are owed individual rights and equal, equitable treatment (at least in train cars).

The results of our progress are messy and incomplete; the road toward our ideal is still unpaved and uphill. The path ahead leading into the election is forked and frightening. The path that follows a Trump Presidency curves back on our progress. It returns us to a point in our journey that should be beyond the horizon of our hindsight but is instead frighteningly close. The loop of the cycle of progress followed by xenophobic, racist, and prejudiced lash back framed as the preservation of our American lifestyle is as short or as long as we will it to be.

We must break the cycle of regression and press forward on that hard, turbulent road to humanity and equity. We must press forward, yes at the ballot box, but also in our dining rooms, in our classrooms, in our offices, in our houses of worship, in our words, in our actions, and in our streets. This is not about 4 years or 8 years–its about 240 years behind us and the future ahead of us. It’s bigger than any one office or administration. This isn’t about putting bodies in offices or assess in chairs.

If the shrinking majority can demand regression by popular outcry, those  hanging on the fringes of that majority, or far beyond its grasp, can demand progress just the same. It’s about the preservation and development of our progress. It’s about demanding our country be our country. We are everybody and every body. We are the people, created equal, each of us. And sooner or later, we are going to have to start acting like a “we”.

[Originally posted at Polite On Society]

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Marco Guiterrez, founder of “Latinos for Trump” said that if Trump loses, there would be “taco trucks on every corner.” As if that would be a bad thing. Predictably, the appeal to anti-Mexican bigotry backfired, with memes depicting an army of taco trucks. This doesn’t sound like a threat at all. It’s harkens back to “a chicken in every pot” as a call for people’s votes during the Great Depression. As long as there’s enough guacamole on hand with each truck, then what’s the problem? At least we won’t starve. Bring it on!

What we do need less of is fibbers and fronters. Pastor Mark Burns ripped a page out of Pookie Howser, M.D’s playbook and embellished a great deal of his accomplishments. As if they would not be discovered eventually. These lies were brought to light in an embarrassing interview, where Burns got defensive and accused the media of attacking his character. Um. No. You did that all by your lonesome.

Let this be a lesson for all surrogates going forward. Don’t threaten people with appeals to racism.. you’re going to get clowned. People actually like tacos. Trump? Not so much. And don’t lie about credentials in a day and age where you can get blown up pretty easily as a faker. Come on, bruh.

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I support public schools. Point Blank. The encroachment of charter schools is really about busting teachers unions, and profiteer off by siphoning off needed resources from public schools. Why would I root for Diddy’s school when this is really what it comes down to? For him, as well as many others, “It’s All About The Benjamins.”

Also, his partner in shakedown Steve Perry has been described as a known union buster who has described teacher’s unions roaches. That’s endearing. In an overcrowded “market” for charter schools, no one ever asks why many of them are opened up in mostly Black and Brown neighborhoods.

Harlem needs another charter school about as much as it needs another liquor store. Ironically, Diddy profits from the latter, and will eventually do so for the former.  It’s done under the guise of getting rid of “bad teachers” but working conditions are worse.

Nevermind that charter schools overdo it with disciplinary actions and suspensions that only hurt the children. I have spoken personally to parents that have pulled their child out of charter schools because of issues like this.

But, don’t let any of this deter you from rooting for Diddy assisting in the private takeover of public education. It’s just about not “hating on a brotha” and ducking the long term effects of what this neoliberal school reform policy entails. No one ever stops to think what will happen the day that hedge fund managers no longer see schools as a profitable market. Go ahead and cheer though.

[Originally post at Polite On Society]

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The Republican primaries resulted in  Donald Trump winning most of the states in the primary contest,  with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz still hanging on.  The other shoe has dropped for Dr. Ben Carson, as he decided to pack it in earlier today. Kasich is still in the primary race, but we’ll see for how long.

While elections are always revealing, this time around feels much more so. Donald Trump is whipping up a great deal of racism and xenophobia. Violence follows this logic, and it is really dangerous. We have seen incidents of journalists being choke slammed by secret service , and Black teenagers attacked by crowds of his supporters. The danger for more of this to follow is ever present.

On the Democratic side, while Clinton was able to take the lead, the fact that Sanders who refers to himself as a democratic socialist was able to get millions of votes has to mean something. While he has to do more to work on his outreach, the reality that he wasn’t totally dismissed by voters signals that many people are tired of the same old politics. It’s just not critical mass yet. Of course, most voters played it safe, and Black voters are no different than others in this regard. With all that is known about voting blocs and name recognition, some observers still want to act surprised. Besides, you win people over by persuasion, not goading.

Here we are, the day after grappling to understand the implications. While it’s important to say that these developments on the right are cause for concern, things aren’t totally hopeless. If some of the energy around the Sanders campaign can be siphoned off, to use to struggle independently of what happens in this primary, progressive forces will be that much stronger in preparation for some of the bigger battles to come.

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First up, it’s politics. (Of course) By now, I’m sure you’re aware of the South Carolina primary results for the Democrats. Long story short, on Saturday Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders by a landslide, earning 73 percent to his 26. It was referred to as a trouncing by other media outlets. Sanders was predicted to lose the state, but many are surprised by the margin.

The thing is, you have to really pull back and realize a few things. One, Hillary Clinton’s ground game is strong. Second, her political connections to SC are very entrenched. In the context of a primary in an area where Sanders wasn’t able to make any deep inroads, Clinton maintained the upper hand.

I want to push back on this notion that I have seen floating around that Black voters in SC (and according to some commentators the South in general) “don’t know what’s good for them” First of all, weren’t some of these same pundits a few years ago lamenting about low turn out among Black voters? Much like when the commentators high key blamed Black voters for the 2010 midterm elections where the Republicans gained back much of the ground they lost? You can’t complain about low voter turn out, and then be mad that the voters don’t vote your way. #justsayin Second of all,  this shows that candidates, even with a strong progressive brand still need to do the work of outreach. Winning voters takes persuasion,  and there’s no way around it. It’s not a done deal,  since Sanders has Super Tuesday(Tomorrow) to look towards.

Still related to politics, but also media, this past weekend news surfaced of MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry losing her show. Many have commented on it, saying their piece about how it went down. As a person who did watch the show, I thought it was pretty well done, and had on a number of guests that we would have not seen anywhere else. The “Nerdland” show had conversations around pop culture, politics, and activism that I really didn’t see very much in other spaces. For those reasons,  I think this is a loss.

While there were some stances taken by Harris-Perry that I didn’t agree with, (namely the NSA/Edward Snowden position) I did enjoy the show. Unfortunately,  MHP is only the latest casualty of a media purging of Black journalists and commentators that is now more obvious as we come towards the end of a Black presidency. It was a nice ride while it lasted, but now in high profile and low key ways, Black media people are being shown the door by mainstream corporate media. This is exactly why we need our own platforms.

Speaking of platforms, for those who watched the awards last night, Chris Rock used his quite nicely to lambaste Hollywood’s “sorority racism” and their lack of diversity in general. Although that one joke about a hanging grandma was a little out there, Chris did what he usually does. He was there to get me to watch, which I did but not the whole show. Nah.

With all that said, this was an interesting month. Certain people were more upset with Beyonce than the police, and Black Lives Matter reminded us that Hillary Clinton once called Black youth “superpredators” but it seemingly did her no damage. “Pookie Howser, M.D.” (#idied) was out here perpetrating a fraud, and Stacey Dash comes in at the 11th hour to wish us Happy Black History Month. Luckily for her, it’s a leap year. Is she still getting traded or nah? The high council of Blackness has yet to confirm.

What was your favorite occurrence this Black History Month? Was it Kendrick Lamar’s performance? The news that Nas is on his way to being a billionaire? Or is it something else I didn’t mention? You got till the end of today to comment. Cause I got an email that WordPress is kicking me off my own blog at midnight, March 1st. Just joking… I hope. Until next post… peace!

-Marc Polite

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First off, as a student of history,  I think that reparations is a righteous thing to advocate for. Due to American history,  there is no doubt of the damage done to Black Americans over centuries. The yearning to see a historical wrong, addressed and righted is an understandable sentiment. However,  while it’s a nice stance to have, what does it mean concretely to the lives of Black Americans now?

Before you dismiss out of hand what I an saying, do understand that there are two major concerns. One, how do you put a dollar sign on incalculable damage? Two, and most importantly,  how do you achieve these demands without a struggle?

When right now,  with broad issues like massive unemployment, rising costs of living, and diminishing chances for even the most educated, this reparations discussion is fairly academic.  All of the aforementioned issues, in addition to the living wage struggle are Black issues as well. The fight for clean water in Flint, Michigan, and a call to rebuild crumbling infrastructure around this country is a bit close to the day to day concerns of all of us today moreso  than a study about past atrocities we are all aware of.

I’m saying all this to say that given the discussion I have seen so far, I am not sure if the voices that are most steadfast around the call for reparations point a way forward to struggle for it. Which is why it feels like a stance.

Your thoughts are welcome.

Watch the video below:

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Culturally, Black people are under assault. With Joseph Fiennes slated to play Michael Jackson, is there any doubt that we still need Black History Month? How much of an insult is that? But.. it’s a problem if Idris Elba plays James Bond… right. Seems fair minded.

Speaking of cultural attacks, you couldn’t read a single Black blog on the web without hearing about the controversy around the Oscars. That’s reason enough to continue recognizing this time of year as a needed observation of Black History.

At a time in our history where it behooves us to construct a plan for a post-Obama era Black agenda, some of us seem to be circling the wagons and rehashing old ideas. Among the most curious of these is the notion that Black people need to join the Republican Party to “balance out” both parties so the Democrats won’t take the Black vote for granted. That’s pretty counter-intuitive, in my opinion. With an angry rich white man from the Northeast with border state politics as the face of the Republican party, good luck with that. Since when have Black Americans gained anything in this country (as a collective, not individually) by adapting to a conservative outlook? Not to mention, that by accepting this dubious “solution” as such, you are still allowing the two party framework to determine what you can, or can’t work towards. Just saying.

Well, there is surely more to be said, but I will give you a chance to sound off. Why do you think we still need Black History Month?

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