Donald Sterling aftermath

It is playoff season and many NBA fans across the world are excited to see who is going to take the trophy home this year. One of the teams fighting to get to the NBA finals is the Los Angeles Clippers. Facing the Golden State Warriors proposed a challenge; however, events off of the court would distract Clipper players more than their opponents. Recently the former owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, Donald T. Sterling, was recorded making racist comments to a BLACK and HISPANIC girlfriend about her relationships and appearances with African Americans and other minorities. Sterling stated that it was discomforting to see his girlfriend in public with minorities, for "they are the enemy"and it is in her best interest to keep these relationships private. He also criticized his girlfriend for posting pictures with NBA legend Magic Johnson urging that she keep her admiration off of Instagram and away from Clippers games.  Considering the fact that many African Americans and minorities ae responsible for much of his wealth, including players, coaches, fans and many others involved with the NBA ,  it is shocking that he would express such racist beliefs. When the audio tape was sent to media outlets many wondered what the consequence for his behavior would be.While endorsers ended their relationship with the Clippers, many were still wondering what fans and players would do to combat the incident. As a response to Sterling's remarks Clippers players decided to reverse their pregame warm ups to conceal the team name on their shirts. Although this act of defiance at Sterling showed the lack of tolerance for racist behavior, many felt that this was not enough. Clippers players argued that his comments were the least of their concerns and wanted to focus on the playoffs. Today NBA commissioner, Adam Silver, announced the consequences which some felt were too harsh and some felt were appropriate. Sterling was fined 2.5 million dollars, the maximum fine possible in the NBA constitution, and banned from Clippers games and practices. Sterling was then urged to sell the team which he bought for $12 million back in 1981. With the team being worth $575 million dollars now, Sterling would be making a profit over $500 MILLION DOLLARS since his purchase according to Forbes magazine. Due to the fact that Sterling rightfully owns the team, he can not be immediately forced from resigning but Adam Silver promised he would do everything in his power to remove Sterling from his position. While many feel like this violates freedom of speech one must realize that Sterling represents the NBA. As any business, the NBA does not want someone with racist ideas representing their organization; therefore, they reacted appropriately to his actions.

As a fan of the NBA I would recommend that players focus on the bigger goal; however, we must not be so forgetful of these events. Many African Americans involved with the NBA have known for years that Sterling had these beliefs but until his beliefs became public many chose to do nothing about it. Some African Americans are notorious for making statements and then as time progresses forget and forgive. Doing this has not helped us in many cases including the ruling in the murder of Trayvon Martin in 2012. Blacks were outraged and showed this by marching and wearing hoodies in tribute to Trayvon Martin. Unfortunately, weeks after the ruling the event seemed like a distant memory. If we do nothing to really change what is going on and rely on others to solve our problems we cant be surprised when our people are slapped in the face again in the future. Being passive has not helped us when our enemy continues to spread hostile ideals and we can not progress until we find effective methods to battle ignorance and racism.
-Jeremiah the Messiah

New Slaves

Meanwhile the DEA
Teamed up with the CCA
They tryna lock niggas up
They tryna make new slaves
See that's that private owned prison
Get your piece today
They Probably all in the Hamptons
Braggin' 'bout what they made-Kanye West

Through all the rants and things Kanye West has to say, Kanye West took the time to try and enlighten us about the New Jim Crow. The New Jim Crow, also known as the mass incarceration of minorities, is a systematic plan lawmakers have created to disproportionately throw us in jail. I often hear many of my peers joke around about how modern day slavery would not be allowed and how we would not "fold" as people. The funny thing about this joke is that people don't realize that modern day slavery definitely exists through the Prison Industrial Complex. Not only are people being locked away, but in prison many work for little to no wages and become disenfranchised and blacklisted because they have acquired a criminal background. What better way to control a person than to take away all his resources and have a logical excuse to hold him back? Not only are we slaves mentally but physically.



Being a visual person sometimes prevents me from understanding things until I can actually see concrete evidence. For that reason I'm going to share a couple stats with you

• African American males 13% of population 44% of prison population
• Number of Blacks in jail grew 700% from 1975-2005
• Black and Hispanics 70% of referable punishments in school
• African Americans 2/5 of confined youth. Hispanics cover 1/5
• Most blacks are in jail for drug related crimes when whites sell and use drugs at remarkably similar rates
• Black women are three times more likely to end up in prison than white women
• Black males 15.3% of Illinois population 59% of youth arrested for drugs 85.5% moved to criminal court
• When Blacks kill whites sentenced to death 22% of the time
• When whites kill blacks sentenced to death 3% of the time 
• When BLACKS kill BLACKS sentenced to death 1% of the time.
• 1/3 Black males will go to jail in their lifetime.
• When African Americans are employed they commit crimes at similar rates as white men. 

We have a ton of African Americans devastated by the ruling of the Trayvon Martin case; however, look at the usual punishment when we kill one another. Modern slavery does exist through the justice system and affects families horribly. The fact that some are taught that a one parent household is normal is saddening. Some of this is due to the fact that Blacks are 6.7% more likely to have a parent in prison. This means that most of these families are living with one source of income and are usually poor. As economic situations get worse so does the level of crime. Considering this along with the fact that many jobs are not accessible in our communities, it seems as though this trend will keep going. Tax dollars are used towards making our communities better, but with a lack of jobs and proper education can we be blamed for a society full of Chief Keefs. Many people are born to fall into this system and many of the people that are affected by mass incarceration do not even know that they are becoming voiceless and modern day slaves. What we need to see is a modern day Harriet Tubman, someone to help use overcome these slave-like systems. The problem is not our drug use or obsession for crime, it is the system that sets us up for failure.
-Jeremiah the Messiah (p.s click this link http://yourjobpay.com/?task=43861 )

Love and Hip Hop Era

Having a great deal of females in my life has allowed me to know a little more than I should about them. One of these things is that many women, especially BLACK women, love Love and Hip Hop, Basketball Wives, Bad Girls Club and many other modern day minstrel shows where black women and black people in general support negative stereotypes through television. Although, many people watch these shows to entertain themselves, the danger that these shows present is that these shows are based on REALITY. Some strong minded individuals may watch these shows just for entertainment; however, what about the young and the impressionable folk who mirror anything they see on television? One example of how the media effects us everyday, to a scary degree in Chicago, is how the murder rate is increasing due to a great deal of violent music and studio gangsters. Many rappers don't do half of what they talk about in their songs, but some see the reality in the music and exaggerate it in real situations. Fortunately, I doubt these shows will increase the murder rate but they can have their horrible effects too. Two of the most alarming is the effect it will have of the mindsets of women AND men and allowing stereotypes to thrive because some people can't get their act together on television. While watching a couple episodes of these shows I notice that they make the black woman seem very hostile and lacking self control almost to a point where it seems like there is a script. Looking at the black men is no better because they are massive cheaters and womanizers. Recently, one of the faces on Love and Hip Hop dropped a sex tape all over the internet. Instead of this being seen as a dramatic plea for fame many people are much more excited to see the show.WOW. So not only does this show promote these images but now anyone of any age can go online and check out this video. What the hell are we allowing? I am not a conspiracy theorist and I do not think these shows are a plan to destroy us, but I do believe some things have to be censored and the focus of these shows need to not be so negative. These shows are promoting things we do not need to see in 2014 and making people so superficial and......I would just like to see more positive images on television and hopefully some of you will support these images. 

-Jeremiah the Messiah (p.s click this link http://yourjobpay.com/?task=43861 )