H A R L E M + B E S P O K E: SEE: CONGO IN HARLEM 11

H A R L E M + B E S P O K E: SEE: CONGO IN HARLEM 11: Congo in Harlem 11 , from October 12th-20th  at Maysles Cinema , 343 Lenox Avenue and 127th Street.  Maysles Documentary Center is pleased...  #cinema #film #harlem #harlemnyc #blackentreneur #blackowned

Seneca Village: African Americans in early New York

The first overt gentrification protocol put in place in NYC was Seneca (Senegal) Village.  Hang on, there is a suggested solution at the end of this post.

Seneca Village aka Central Park is a perfect example, that is not as well known as Tulsa or Freetown, of the early marginalization of people of color that lead to Jim Crow in the early 19th century and 'redlining' in the 20th century..  The same type of divestment of property and land that happened to the indigenous Turtle Islanders happened to 'Black' people because many of us ARE indigenous Turtle Islanders.  In fact many of these towns, villages and settlements were a peaceful mixture of indigenous, descendants of Africans and a few Irish and/or German folks.

'Gentrification' is the 21st century version of this historical economic exclusion.  And 'White', middle class individuals and families participate by taking advantage of the cheaper rents in historically minority neighborhoods.  So when 'White' people say they have never participated in anything that oppresses or marginalizes people.  You may want to reconsider the subtleties of how those things actually take place.  "Well, it's not my fault; that's the way things are.  What can I do?"  YES:  it is YOUR fault.  One must take personal responsibility in this Life.  Isn't that what 'White' folks are ALWAYS saying? So what you can do is make sure you know all of the laws involved in acquiring your apartment or property.  Such as here in Harlem, you are supposed to be presented with two years worth of Con Edison bills and a history of the rent when the property is Rent Regulated or Rent Controlled.  A absence of, or reluctance on the part of the landlord/management to produce, these documents could mean the previous tenant was not taken to housing court and evicted legally.  In the case of property, especially HUD reclaimed or tax acquired make sure there were no liens - and if so make sure the correct legal motions were made in regard to the previous owner being given fair opportunity to rectify or settle the dispute.  If you do not take the steps to be a informed consumer you could be unwittingly partaking in stealing the apartment away from someone who is supposed to inherit it.  Or screwing a older or disabled person out of a rent regulated apartment. Landlords play court games with poor/working class tenants all the time so they can get market rent from someone more affluent.

Be responsible, be informed, do not just jump on it without considering the implications beyond you and your insulated Life.  We all effect one another whether we want to accept it or not.  You want to truly stop gentrification?  That's how you do it.  If not then be honest and face the fact that you are part of the problem too and are not truly concerned about the rights of others.  That's fine.  Just please cease making judgments and racist assumptions about "what's wrong with people of color" anymore.

Guest Post: 'Seneca Village Memory: The Problem of Forgetting'

https://earlyamericanists.com/2014/07/28/seneca-village-memory-the-problem-of-forgetting/

#housingdiscrimination #affordablehousing #HUD #Communitydevelopment #gentrification #realestate #apartments #centralpark #senecavillage #nycgov

Former MTV/BET Producer tells the Cold Truth about Working In The Music & TV Industry

What many people researching this area miss is that these elites actually deal on *THREE* levels:  the Esoteric (secret), reserved for the highest levels of their organizations and institutions; Occult (hidden) knowledge held only for their initiates and Exoteric (mundane) designed to mislead and distract the masses.  This goes back to the Egyptian Mystery School Traditions, which was hijacked by those usurpers the Church of Rome and their agents, and applies to everything from symbols (like logos), sigils (such as the money in your pocket) and imagery to marketing and finance. 

They have been stealing from indigenous people all over the World since the beginning.  Not just land; their beliefs and cosmologies as well.  Everything has been hijacked.  Jazz is now 'American' Music, Gospel has been replaced by an entire genre called 'Christian' which includes any sub-genre from Rock to HipHop and 'World' Music is now a specialty market. I literally grew up with HipHop: sneaking into Kool Herc's project jams in the Bronx (mid 70s), DJ Hollywood suit-n-tie club jamz (late-70s/early-80s) and Bamabaataa/Grandmaster Flash's park parties (early-mid 1980s). So I'm a child of HipHop - it's in my blood!  The last groovy taste of it was with Public Enemy and the Neo Soul rash of groups like Arrested Development. The end began in the mid-late 90s with the East vs West 'Divide and Conquer' game move (the elites have been playing that one for centuries - they're very good at it).  Sociopaths like Suge Knight are worse than 'bucks' and 'coons' because their behavior spreads like a insidious virus that becomes a systemic malevolence.  He and his acolytes are the most dastardly of traitors: giving in to greed and power over their own communities.

There is hope though. Princess Nokia, RZA, OSHUN, Nitty Scott, M.I.A. and EarthGang are doing some interesting work; going back to the old skool and bringing some consciousness to the table. I hope it eeps comin' and runs roughshod over this bogus garbage masquerading as 'art'.

Chief Warhorse CONFIRMS That Dane Calloway Is 100% Correct With The Info...

The Queen, Chief WARHORSE ELWIN GILLUM of the Chahta (New Orleans, LA - formerly Upper Western Florida), goes into the history of 'Black' indigenous people being written out, reorganized, relocated and manipulated by arbitrary laws such as the Act of Discovery, the Sundry Act and the Racial Integrity Act of 1924 (the US Census**).  Both allowed Europeans AND Moors (yes, Moors) to take land from the darker skinned indigenous people of Turtle Island.  The Census put the nail in the coffin in regard to wiping away the legacy of the original Turtle Islanders. This was repeated throughout S. America, the Caribbean, Pacific, Australia and New Zealand.

RESEARCH:  Chata Mountain, Bolivia (Chahta is how the Indians spell it) -- the Chata people of Turtle Island and the Xu (Olmec) are the same people.  They are still mound builders and master masons to this day.  She mentions that the Europeans approached her tribe for assistance reconstructing New Orleans after the great fire (1788).

-----------------------------
**They are always altering the names of their games in order to obscure and water down their true intent for subsequent generations to be indoctrinated.

#nativeamerican #indians #africanamerican #blacklivesmatter #history #education #indigenous #america

America's elderly prisoner boom | The Economist

This is America...remnants of the War On Drugs

#prisons #prisonreform #society #elderly

What's Killing America's White Men? BBC News

This documentary is tell tale.  It mentions that suicides in 'minority' communities have not changed.  That's because:  nothing has changed for us. It's the same old challenges, exclusions, stereotypes and etc.  For 'White' men it's WAY different.  They are starting to experience what we do and they are overwhelmed which is as it should be.  Now maybe we can stop acting like we are so different and realize how human we ALL are.  We all need to feel useful.  We all have Dreams we would like to fulfill. We all want acceptance. We all want to be self sufficient.  When these needs are not met some very destructive and negative behaviors develop. They also mentioned the alcohol rates are increasing in communities of the Midwest.  Well, of course - that's what made it easy for drugs and alcohol to infiltrate 'Black', Latino and Turtle Island communities...along with Depression and Anxiety.  It aggravates me a bit to see this because it's the same old pattern:  major patterns and issues with this society are never recognized, or accepted as real, until 'White' people are gravely affected by those particular problems.  Yet maybe we can find some Compassion and Kindness for one another and take this opportunity to reflect upon how much we are the same and why:  we are all Human Beings.  Maybe we can take a look at what changes have to be made so that we can finally all be included in this society.

#society #mentalhealth #wellbeing #community #BBC #suicide

Miley Cyrus Ain't Hardly Serious...STILL

REVISITING Buffoonery and Blackface in the 2nd Decade of the 21st Century

In the Summer of 2013 Miley Cyrus mande a big sensation with her twerking escapades. Justin Beiber, Miley, etc are the latest incarnations of BlackFace. It is a lot more covert in the 21st Century - just as most forms of racism - to serve the purpose of concealing it. Yet most important: to make folks of color look like paranoid, chip carrying blowhards. Cool, I get it...not going to stop me though.

Original Post:

This whole thing swirling around Ms Cyrus and the way she was behaving during this 'show', is just another wack take on the music industry's looong history of appropriating what they THINK is African American culture and putting it in a package that appeals to Caucasian male youth. Continuing the sick, sexist AND racist cycle; passing it down to yet another generation of Americans. As a woman of color, who learned culturally-based popular dance from Soul Train, to then watch it repackaged an sifted out sideways on American Bandstand a week later, I am not surprised at this baffonery. Home girl may as well have gone all-the-way-live and busted out in 'Black-Face'.

My boy from Maroon 5 says, "I've got the moves like Jagger." Well, where do you think Mr. Mick got his moves? Can you say, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and James Brown? Mick Jagger is not alone in his appropriation however. Musicians such as Dr. John, Bob Dylan and Peter Gabriel were all influenced heavily by Professor Lonhair and Robert Johnson.  This mooching of 'Black' and Continental African cultural style has been going on ever since Europeans discovered Africa, lol. On the one hand, they felt as though people of African descent were beneath them and uncivilized, yet they were fascinated by the so-called primitive's level of artistry in music and adornment techniques. In addition to their knowledge of agriculture and complex cosmology.

George Barnes "was a world-renowned swing jazz guitarist, who claimed he played the first electric guitar in 1931...George Barnes made the first recording of an electric guitar in 1938 in sessions with Big Bill Broonzy." ~WIKI

Mr. Barnes grew up in a suburb of Chicago's South side and spent many hours in the inner South Side area, where all the folks of color are, soaking up the Blues and Jazz.

"He started his professional career at the age of 12, when he received his musicians' union card, and toured throughout the Midwest. By the time he was 14, he was accompanying blues vocalists such as Big Bill Broonzy and Blind John Davis." ~WIKI

Now, during the time that the young teen Mr. Barnes played with them, both Mr. Broonzy & Mr. Davis did not have the provilage of being given musicians' union cards, since they were not welcome in any 'White' man's union at that time. They were stuggling to establish their careers while Mr. Barnes was on his way to stardom. Mr. Barne's is "world-renowned", whereas the two gentlemen that he developed his chops from are just codas in American musical history. Yet when the two gentlemen went to tour Europe in the late 40's through 1952, they were greeted with standing ovations and media accolades. They are still highly respected and well known in European Jazz music circles yet virtually unknown in their birth country. During the time Mr. Broonzy and Mr. Davis were on tour in Europe, many young ones like, Mick Jagger, Steve Winwood and other musicians of the 'British Invasion' were exposed to this music and promted to delve into it further.

Robert Johnson, Ma Rainey, Charle Patton, Big Bill Broonzy Blind John Davis inspired the next generation of Black performers like Berry, Little Richard and Fats Domino, who seized upon the introduction of the electric Guitar, incorporated the old Blues, injected it with the energy of the inner-city aesthetic and the struggle for equal rights. They turned it into something entirely new.

Out of this innovation and redefinition of African American cultural style and music sprung good ole Rock and Roll. Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Steve Windwood, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards and Eric Clapton have all said, in interviews throughout their career, that they were influenced accordingly by these 'new' musicians; in additon to Blues singer's like Bessie Smith, Jazz artists like Dizzy Gillespie and Early 'Motown' Soul music.  Miley Cyrus' performance is yet another generation sucking on the teat of African American culture.

The other issue in this otherwise irrelavent drama is her 'dancing'. The ridiculous choreography in her 'performance' only served to project her sexual immaturity rather than reflect any kind of Feminist expression. The silliness surrounding this yong lady is making it difficult for women who have consciously made the choice to be professional entertainers; Exotic & Burlesque performers and dancers.  Strong, confident and empowered women that not only enjoy what they do -- they take it very seriously as an art form.

Belly Dancing is an ancient art form -- as well as the sensual dance forms that are part of the Vedas' Kama Sutra & Tantra. I was s Modern, Jazz & Improvisational dancer as well as an Exotic dancer for over 14 years; a continuing Belly Dancer and, recently (the past 3 years), a Tantric dance practitioner. I am concerned about the escalation of this into the ridiculousness of minutia, such as the wrangling over grinding vs gyration and making issue of whether Ms C is making a "feminist statement" or not.

I have no judgement regarding a young woman of any age experimenting with Sensual Dance Forms yet someone under 25 would not have the Life experience to truly and fully express the power of this Divine Feminine activity. It appears that Ms. Miley doesn't either.

ORIGINAL ARTCLE
http://www.newstatesman.com/music-and-performance/2013/08/memo-miley-twerking-not-feminist-statement