Half The Story Has Never Been Told

I am reading A History of Ireland by Mike Cronin. I looked for a good history on the Irish people because of the vague, yet interesting, facts I often here associated with their plight. [That was how I came to be interested in the Black Panther Party too.] There is something about truth and nobility. No matter how hidden, sullied or disparaged, it still resonates. Cronin's work chronicles the story of a European people whose history reflects that of the African in America and abroad --colonization, genocide, and yes slavery. Irish people, like many people of color where grist for the mills of modern capitalism, and not so long ago! People sometimes acknowledge that "some whites" were indentured servants during the colonial period, but rarely is that subject even explored, let alone presented in depth and for mass consumption. The truth, as it turns out, is that this period of white servitude was longer and more wide spread that people want to acknowledge. A more accurate characterization of it is slavery -- specifically at the hands of the British. As a school teacher, and proud black historian, I remember teaching African American history to my students with passion; always hoping that, as Na'im Akbar exhorted once, that they would see it as a triumph and not a shame. Nevertheless, I saw how the stigma of being descendants of a class of slaves was a difficult and weighty obstacle to overcome for them. I told myself that a better approach going forward would be to teach how slavery is more inherently a system of economics than a rite of passage for African people upon our encounters with Europeans and Arabs. My how I could have been aided by the history of the Irish that Cronin writes. Sure, know your history, but black people, should know about the history of other people too. We might free ourselves of the idea of perpetual victimization... we might learn something more about humanity and the tendencies of all men... and we might do as Bob Marley encouraged and emancipate more of ourselves from 'mental slavery'.

Afghanistan

Here comes Omar beating his wives
Here comes Osama threatening our lives
There goes the Taliban hiding their man
Now here comes Bush with a war plan
He's raining 'daisies' all over Afghanistan
Now the mistake they made...
Was how long they stayed!

-DP

Jewels, Gems and Other Assorted Valuables

My new favorite book is Eduardo Galeano's Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone (2009, Nation Books). In Mirrors, Galeano exhumes the mass graves of the previously unknown who have salted this earth. Using the art of brevity, the authors holds up a mirror that shows us reflections of humanity's ghosts, the images of international vampires. He reveals the toil of angels.

Innumerable paragraphs stand alone as literary gems and chronicle the ethereal nature of mankind as both an inspiration and a toxicity. None escape Galeano's scrutiny. Not as races, nations, tribes, nor as individuals. Mirrors astounds with stories of Africans, Mayans, Anglicans, Indians and others. More compelling, however, are tales of arrogance, hubris, irony, nobility, happenstance, hate and love. Indeed Mirrors may be an anecdote for the banal education that inoculates the youth of nations. A stimulant for legions of uninspired school children who rarely find any wonder in the antiseptic antholgies, standard in public education.

Eduardo Geleano gives proof that all nations have blood stained banners. And while imperfect, individual liberty and considerate stewardship over the earth are the only cleansers.

Ramadan 2009

Ramadan Mubarak!
All praises are due to Allah for the inspiration granted unto his human creation and manifest in the Holy Quran.
Now where these lunatics get their inspiration for beheading, stoning and mutilations I do not know?

Assalamu Alaikum.

Haiti

Haitians have caught hell from the international community in the West for two hundred years for having the audacity to be free from first Spainish, then French tyranny. Haiti was forced into debt (servitude) under terms established with France after winning their war for independence. Afterward they suffered through a prolonged embargo by France's allies, including the United States. Like Cuba today, the country's people suffered economic embargoes intended to choke them financially and encourage civil insurrections. Ultimately the vestiges of racism among the citizenry on the island overcame the unity of the revolution. The Island slowly funneled into a brutish form of prolonged class warfare and military dictatorship...much to the delight of her true foes.

Haiti is still catching hell by these same means.

I Repent

August 6, 2009. I repent from my selfish and reckless actions.

Bismillah...

God Almighty. Master of the Universe and Lord of All Creation.
I recognize my blessings, for I am truly blessed.
I recognize my blessing that I might continue to be blessed.
Continue to watch over me...guide me.
Keep me strong and moving in the right direction.
These things I say in humble recognition of all that is good righteous and merciful in the world.

Amin.

Hey, Fatso?

Watch out America. All the signs are there (if you open your eyes) that people will soon be charged for being obese. That is right, I said charged. Watch the evening news and you will find that bureaucrats claim to have found a way to assign a dollar figure to how much you are (potentially) costing the health care system for being at risk (overweight) of care commonly associated with obesity: diabetes, heart disease, hip replacement surgery, etc. Yeah, amid this frenzy over national health care will come the intense pressure for preventative health, so that you will not overburden the service line and drive up costs [for everyone]. Now image being charged a few dollars extra on your premium because some pencil pusher thinks that you are overweight for your height. Or some insurance company denies a full death benefit to your family since, after all, your caregiver did gain 35lbs since he first took out that life insurance policy 11 years ago. And do you still take that dream job when your employer tells you that you must join the company gym at your own expense?

Push away from that banana sundae, girl!... Your Big Brother is counting your calories.