Brothers Perspective Magazine Journey 10 by Brothers Perspective Magazine

coming soon from Truth Universal

The new Album from Sammy Cook out now @ Itunes and record stores in philly area

MC ADAD

another day another dollar

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

Photo by Andreas Carlos Serna Tell us about you’re your style and your definition of it? hard question.... my style is defined by the times and cultivated through my experience.... It can at times be vulgar and abrasive, or sensitive and nurturing.... its always to be positive. How long have you been making music? for a very long time.. well over a decade. Who are some of your influences and why? my influences are most profoundly my parents... my father for his strength, my mother for her poetry. Tell us about your upcoming projects? When can expect them? Who are you working with on them? There is an upcoming project with EXILE(l.a.).. a couple songs were just complete with wajeed of platinum pied pipers.... always dropping new songs just so the people know. I have an upcoming appearance on the new rhymefest album... and hopefully more to come.

St Alfreds anniversary edition mixtape http://www.zshare.net/download/64059531e7fa7290/

How did Chicago influence you and in what ways? Explain? Chicago has taught me the value of self belief perserverence and independant hustle. its so hard to find a sense of community here that one must develop a business acumen and identity of their own...because ultimately youre alone in the pursuit of success. Why the name Adad and what does it mean? another day another dollar.... i hope Who and what inspires you if anything? love, conflict, knowledge and wisdom from experience.. life in general. Add any bonus info you need to share right here? Thank you for your support.. I never dreamed that anyone would listen to my voice... Its the most gratifying thing you could imagine... to watch your dreams come true.

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

Photo by Andreas Carlos Serna

In the first quarter of the 20th century (1900–1925), the great migration of the African-American people took shape. They left their rural, country, backwoods habitats of the southern states of the U. S. and relocated in the northern cities of an emerging industrialized America. They brought with them their taste for music which was a staple of their spiritual and earthy lifestyle. This musical impact combined with the technical growth of capitalist America to produce an urban industry; the entertainment industry. Names like Scott Joplin (Ragtime), W. C. Handy (Blues), Eubie Blake (Popular) and Louis Armstrong (Jazz) produced a lucrative and thriving music entertainment industry that exists and is viable up until this present time. The technology of this industry was almost totally in the hands of white Americans. Recording, the making of records in its beginning years 1900– 1920, was a discriminatory process. White producers took the musical ideas of Blacks, but were reluctant to allow Blacks to make records. By 1920 the only Black voice to be recorded by the major companies was Bert Williams on Columbia and Mamie Smith on OKeh Records. One man, Harry Herbert Pace, was aware of this fact. He decided to act. “Companies would not entertain any thought of recording a colored musician or colored voice, I therefore decided to form my own company and make such recordings as I believed would sell.” (The Negro in New York, 1939) Harry Herbert Pace was born on January 6th, 1884 in Covington, Georgia. His father, Charles Pace, was a blacksmith who died while Harry was an infant leaving him to be raised by his mother, Nancy Francis Pace. Light skinned and extremely bright, Pace finished elementary school at age twelve and seven years later graduated valedictorian of his class in Atlanta University. A disciple of his college teacher, W. E. B. DuBois and his concept of the talented tenth, upon graduation, Pace worked in printing, banking and insurance industries first in Atlanta and later in Memphis. In various junior executive positions, he demonstrated a strong understanding of business tactics and had a reputation for rebuilding failing enterprises. During his sojourn in the South, two significant things happened that would impact his figure. In 1912 in Memphis, he met and collaborated with W. C. Handy, generally recognized as the father of the Blues. Handy took a liking to Pace, they wrote songs together. Later they would develop the Pace and Handy Music Company, that would bring Harry Pace to New York City. Secondly, he met and married his wife, Ethlynde Bibb, who would be a great inspiration in his life. (African-American Business Leaders, Ingraham and Feldman.) In 1920, Pace resigned his position in Atlanta, moved to New York, purchased a fine home on “Striver Row” in Harlem and settled in to manage the Pace and Handy Sheet Music business. The business using Pace’s business knowledge and Handy’s creative genius was very successful. While the company was profitable and artistically effective, Pace was frustrated. He observed as white recording companies bought the music and lyrics from Pace and Handy and then recorded them using white artists. When they did employ Blacks, they refused to let them sing and play in their own authentic style. Pace resolved to start his own record firm. Many scholars for years believed Handy was part of Pace company. Handy stated: To add to my woes, my partner withdrew from the business. He disagreed with some of my business methods, but no harsh words were involved. He simply chose this time to sever connection with our firm in order that he might organized Pace Phonograph Company, issuing Black Swan Records and making a serious bid for the Negro market. ... With Pace went a large number of our employees. ... Still more confusion and anguish grew out of the fact that people did not generally know that I had no stake in the Black Swan Record Company.” It was in the Summer of 1921 that Ethel Waters came to the rescue of Black Swan Records. Three different accounts of this occurrence are depicted. Whichever version we select the outcome was the same. Fletcher For the entire Article - http://www.redhotjazz.com/blackswan.html

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

Tell us about where you are from in Chicago and how this place helped to develop your style? Explain? I was born on the South side in Englewood, which is considered to have the highest murder rate in the city. To be honest having a single mother on her shit is what helped develop my style because the passion to want to do something and want more. As far as Englewood it helped me embrace the pain and the happiness of my community. Growing up in Englewood I have alot of childhood memories (good and bad) seeing my childhood friends grow up to kill each other gave me street stories to talk about, being the black sheep in my hood everyone loved really helped because i was different and my hood loved it so much that they pushed me to stay different, they wanted me to get out of the hood and do good things with my life.

Talk about all your upcoming projects and when they are coming out? Details? Right now I’m working on 12 projects at once but just to name a few: 1.THE GLOBAL WARNING(THE RETURN OF THE BLACK PLAGUE)Hardcore Rap/Hiphop 2.INSIDE THE MIND OF A SPACE CADET-Hiphop/Drum-n-Bass/Electro 3.GOOD GIRLS LOVE BADBOYS-Soul/lounge/house 4.STIR’FRIED POTATO CHIPS -FUSION 5.THE EGG-FO-YUM-Techo/Deep House 6.SEX MUSIC 101-Trip hop/nu-jazz/spoken word 7.THE REVENGE OF BUFFALO BROWN-Afrobeat/Funk I plan on putting all them out each month of next year starting January 23rd each album has it’s own theme and it’s own character I’m a big fan of experimenting, I feel like my body is a big ass hotel ﬁlled with rooms of my crazy atlter egos PROFESSOR GORILLA DICKENS, CLINT ENGLEWOOD, JOHNNY APPLESEED,THE SNUGGLE KRUNCH KING, NOSENSE PETERSON and none of them sound like Drunken Monkeee. Plus the production is fucking crazy with all Chicago- based producers such as blackdaylight, Ill Legit, Vanysh, Radius, Lokua, Issues, J Bell, Seven, and Dario. I feel like I’ve been blessed to have the dopest diverse production camp in the world. Already released projects include: -Live From Tweak Central the Mixtape -The Banana Pudding Treat -(Drunken Monkeee and Neo are) Zoobully Zoo: The Greatest Show on Earth -(Drunken Monkeee and Ill Legit are) The High Channel: Idiot Box and The Boy With The Iron Blunt before it

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

What made you pick your Name and Why? I PICKED THE NAME DRUNKEN MONKEEE BECAUSE I’M A HUGE FAN OF KUNG FU MOVIES I WAS BORN IN THE YEAR OF THE MONKEY, 1980 AND GROWING UP PEOPLE USE TO SAY I LOOK LIKE A BIG ASS MONKEY BUT MOSTLY FROM WATCHING OLD SCHOOL SHAW BROTHERS KUNG FU MOVIES ONE THING I LOVE ABOUT THE DRUNKEN MONKEY STYLE OF FIGHTING IS THAT IT’S UNORTHODOX, HAS CHARACTER YET IS VERY HUMBLE, AND IS HUMOROUS AT FIRST I NAMED MYSELF AFTER MY FAVORITE HOMER STORY “THE ODYSSEY” BUT THE MORE I GOT DEEP INTO MUSIC I JUST FELT LIKE THAT NAME DIDN’T FIT ME BECAUSE IT SOUNDED LIKE THE NAME OF A STRIPPER WITH A JHERI CURL SO ONE DAY IT WAS LIKE GOD JUST SLAPPED MY HEAD AND WAS LIKE “DRUNKEN MONKEEE” AND EVER SINCE THEN I WENT BY THAT NAME AND I FUCKING LOVE IT. Right here say what ever you need to to leave you best impression? “LOVE,PEACE, AND FATGIRLS” “IF THE WORLD WAS A TOLIET I WOULD BE THE SHIT” “LET ME POUR SOME BARBEQUE ON YOUR BACK” “FOR EVER 1,000 THAT DON’T FEEL ME AND MY MUSIC 10,000 WILL”

Tweak Central Academy

JacobDynamic Lawrence Cubism

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

Jacob Lawrence (September 7, 1917 – June 9, 2000)

was an African American painter; he was married to fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight. Lawrence referred to his style as “dynamic cubism”, though by his own account the primary inﬂuence was not so much French art as the shapes and colors of Harlem. Art classes sponsored by the Works Progress Administration in 1932 developed his talent. His works portray scenes of African American life and history with vivid, stylized realism. Gouache and tempera were Lawrence’s characteristic media. His use of sombre browns and black for shadows and outlines in an otherwise vibrant palette lent his work a distinctive overtone.

His best-known works are his series on historical and social themes, such as Life in Harlem (1942) and War (1947). His later works include a powerful series on the struggles of desegregation. From 1971 he taught at the University of Washington.

Lawrence is among the best-known twentieth century African American painters, a distinction shared with Romare Bearden. Lawrence was only in his twenties when his “Migration Series” made him nationally famous. The series of paintings was featured in a 1941 issue of Fortune magazine. The series depicted the epic Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to the urban North. Between 1937 and 1940 he painted a series of “multi-part narratives” of prominent ﬁgures in black history including Toussaint L’Ouverture, Frederick Douglass, and Harriet Tubman. This was followed by his renowned series entitled “The Migration of the American Negro” which depicted the postWorld War I movement of Southern blacks in search of employment to the North. The Downtown Gallery ﬁrst exhibited the series in November 1941 and Lawrence became nationally renown. Later the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Phillips Collection in Washington jointly purchased the series after Fortune published a number of the images. Around this time Lawrence also married his wife of 59 years, fellow artist Gwendolyn Knight. www.uscg.mil/history/ FAQS/Jacob_Lawrence.asp www.answers.com/topic/jacob-lawrence

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

Perception is Everything: The Historical Desecration of the Black Image By Khalif Williams The history of the distortion and vilifying of the image of black people is a history in America that is long, storied and something deeply imbedded into the psyche of Black America as its victims. Starting with slave sale advertisements up to and including toy sales. The destruction of the black image is also a potent tool of White America in their psychological justiﬁcation for the continued political, economic and institutionalized racist oppression of African Americans. The Golliwog caricature dolls above are but one example of the historical mockery made of African people not just in America but in most European countries and former European colonial possessions. Originally Europeans tried to say Africans were not human beings but the previous stage in human evolution the intermediary between primates and true man IE: the white man.

This led to scientific as well as religious interpretations used to justify the terrorizing of African Americans by previously government sanctioned organizations like the Ku Klux Klan. It also led to laws stating that black were 3/5ths human and helped to the legalize segregation of the races in America. The main thing to remember is that in 1799 when the French discovered the Rosetta Stone in Rosetta, Egypt. (The Rosetta Stone was a slab of granodiorite stone that had inscriptions in Greek, Demotic and Hieroglyphics. This trilingual ancient artifact allowed British scientist Thomas Young and French Scientist Jean-François Champollion to decipher Egyptian hieroglyphic writing for the first time in 1822 making it decipherable for Europeans [something Arabs had done a lot earlier]. This discovery launched the field of Egyptology.) BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

The Maafa (Transatlantic Slave Trade) was in high gear as far as the kidnapping and forced enslavement of Africans brought to both Europe and the United States and other Western Hemispheric regions. In order for them to justify the enslavement of Africans and to quell the moral conscience of the European citizenry that were being used to perpetrate this genocide they sought to change the race of the Egyptians from black to white taking away the claim of the first true human civilization from the African continent. At the same time they developed an organized system of race based societal hierarchy and “scientific” understanding of the development of humanity placing themselves at the pinnacle of evolution and Africans at the subhuman evolutionary end of the scale. Thus by way of the laws written in to the constitution and the religious sanction of the murder and terrorism of African Americans the point of view of white citizens of America was they were doing their religious and civic duty by lynching, enslaving, raping and pillaging of African people, resources and lands. This was a Pan European agenda discussed, planned and executed during and after the Berlin Conference in 1884. This agenda planned for not only the enslavement of Africans but also the systematic changing of history to create a system glorifying all things white or European and vilifying all things black or African. It also called for reducing the humanity of African to the lowest place possible in order to justify perpetual enslavement of Africans and a system of violent physical and mental coercion and domestication aimed at maiming the psyche and crippling the family structure, culture, spirituality, economic, political and educational advancement, of the people they had enslaved. Religion was one of the first tools of domestication applied and enforced by the penalty of death to strip and rebuild African people into chattel beasts of burden. The letter from King Leopold of Belgium to his Christian missionaries in 1883 outlines this philosophy.

See an excerpt below: “Reverends, Fathers and Dear Compatriots: The task that is given to fulﬁll is very delicate and requires much tact. You will go certainly to evangelize, but your evangelization must inspire above all Belgium interests. Your principal objective in our mission in the Congo is never to teach the niggers to know God, this they know already. They speak and submit to a Mungu, one Nzambi, one Nzakomba, and what else I don’t know. They know that to kill, to sleep with someone else’s wife, to lie and to insult is bad. Have courage to admit it; you are not going to teach them what they know already. Your essential role is to facilitate the task of administrators and industrials, which means you will go to interpret the gospel in the way it will be the best to protect your (our) interests in that part of the world The quote below shows the true sinister intent of bring Christianity to the African Continent and it has nothing to do with brotherly love pr spreading the gospel of Christ:

Your knowledge of the gospel will allow you to find texts ordering, and encouraging your followers to love poverty, like “Happier are the poor because they will inherit the heaven” and, “It’s very difficult for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” You have to detach from them and make them disrespect everything which gives courage to affront us. Furthermore the result of European colonization clarifies the collective Pan European agenda of colonization and its brutality : “The European colonial powers shared one objective in their African colonies, exploitation. But in the way they governed their dependencies, they reflected their differences. Some colonial powers were themselves democracies (the United Kingdom and France); others were dictatorships (Portugal, Spain). The British established a system of indirect rule over much of their domain, leaving indigenous power structure in place and making local rulers representatives of the British Crown. This was unthinkable in the Portuguese colonies, where harsh, direct control was the rule. The French sought to create culturally assimilated elites what would represent French ideals in the colonies. In the Belgian Congo, however, King Leopold II, who had financed the expeditions that staked Belgium’s claim in Berlin, embarked on a campaign of ruthless exploitation. His enforcers mobilized almost the entire Congolese populations to gather rubber, kill elephants for their ivory, and build public works to improve export routes. For failing to meet production quotes, entire communities were massacred. Killing and maiming became routine in a colony in which horror was the only common denominator. After the impact of the slave trade, King Leopold’s reign of terror was Africa’s most severe demographic disaster. By the time it ended, after a growing outcry around the world, as many as 10 million Congolese had been murdered. In 1908 the Belgium government administrators and the Roman Catholic Church each pursued their sometimes competing interest. But no one thought to change the name of the colonial capital: it was Leopoldville until the Belgian Congo achieved independence in 1960.”- The Scramble for Africa: Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 to Divide Africa – Ancient Africa’s Black Kingdoms website The new race based enslavement policies enacted after the Berlin Conference provided the view of Africans as scientific animal oddities fit for rogue “medical and scientific” experimentation and sexual exploitation like in the cases of Ota Benga 1883? - March 20, 1916) (the African on Display in the Bronx Zoo in the early 1900’s his picture at the Zoo holding a Chimpanzee appears left) and Sara Baartman (the South African woman paraded as a freak throughout Europe until her tragic death December 29th 1815) these are but two famous cases. This was a tactic employed wherever Europeans set up shop as colonial rulers. The criminalization and dehumanization of the black image is a worldwide phenomenon. Even when foreigners come to America that would include some African and African Caribbean immigrants they eventually get indoctrinated by the news, media and entertainment fields and well as the educational system to view African Americans in a similar disparaging light to White Americans breeding intraracial and interracial distrust. The international implications of racism in America and its effect on other ethnic groups of other countries is telling. Japanese Ganguro (Blackface) Culture is one example.

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

This cultural style of the Japanese wearing blackface is called Ganguro which means blackface. “Ganguro, commonly known as ‘blackface’ with some outstanding hip hop physical features,(what are Hip hop physical features?) has emerged as a new fashion style among some Japanese teenage girls in some Japanese metropolitan cities like Tokyo. Because of the global inﬂuence of hip hop culture, some Japanese teenagers become Ganguro girls to make themselves stand out as being different from others of the same generation. Wearing boots with solid platform soles over 10 centimeters high, bright colored tight mini-skirts, having blond or white hair, and wearing shimmering makeup are the particular features of Ganguro girls. Some Ganguro girls even go to the extreme by having their faces and necks tanned or blackened, often highlighted by white makeup. In so doing, they make themselves look similar to black women. As often observed in today’s Japan, Ganguro is not an isolated social phenomenon, but an impact exerted by hip hop culture upon the Japanese young generation. Different from other observations in Japan and other parts of the world, such as imitation of popular hip hop music, lyrics, and dancing movements, Ganguro is mainly an imitation of hip hop image.” – The Hip Hop Impact on Japanese Culture The undercurrent of racism in American culture is also an export that has implanted itself on the psyche of those non Americans who have embraced Hip Hop Culture. What makes these modern Asians above feel comfortable performing artistically and publicly parading around in blackface one might ask? Could it not be rooted in images like these?

Images like those above and worse were a daily constant occurrence in America from advertisements to entertainment. Blacks have fought for 500 years in America to rid the American landscape of this type of imagery to no avail. Why is it ok for others to blatantly disrespect black people using these methods? It is because America has made it a national pastime part and parcel of the fabric of American culture to disrespect black people. It is as American as Apple pie or Baseball. It has become such a part of the American cultural fabric that today some black people willingly degrade themselves in this fashion for a dollar. If in Japan they believe dressing in Blackface is an expression of “Hip Hop” culture then we have been sending some alarming signals to other people in different parts of the world. It means that we by our collective amnesia and complacency have helped the rest of the world believe it is ok to use these painful images because we now endorse these images by our behavior and tolerance of this behavior in some of our own.

Compare the two images above and tell me if Soulja Boy has willingly misrepresented his people more than likely because he is under educated and felt no qualms about what he was doing in his video in order to make money. Look at the coon imagery of the little coontoon in the Soulja Boy picture and check the smiling coon image from days of old. Pictures speak a thousand words. Soulja Boy in his proven and sad state of ignorance is even known to have made public statements like this: “Per Toure, SB was dumbfounded when asked what historical ﬁgures he hated the most. When told other rappers listed Osama Bin Laden, Adolf Hitler and the slave masters, SB responded with praise. “Shout out to the slave masters,” SB told Toure. ”Without them we’d still be in Africa. We wouldn’t be here to get this ice and tattoos.” – XXL magazine Dr Yosef ben Jochannan sums up this attitude by black folks who having been trained to hate themselves so thoroughly they can’t see the poison coursing through their minds and spewing from their mouths to embarrass themselves and their people.: “Mental bondage is invisible violence. Formal physical slavery has ended in the United States. Mental slavery continues to this present day. This slavery affects the minds of all people and, in one way, it is worse than physical slavery alone. That is, the person who is in mental bondage will be SELF CONTAINED, Not only will that person fail to challenge beliefs and patterns of thought which control them, they will defend and protect those beliefs and patterns of thought virtually with their last dying effort.” – Dr Yosef ben Jochannan This is the sad state of affairs for quite a few young Black Americans today. Some rappers like 50 cent for example don’t realize how much they have fallen for the self hatred mode of self expression setting us back hundreds of years as far as the restoration of respect for the way we are portrayed. His clothing line G-Unit and Record Label stands for Gorilla Unit as in the primate not Guerilla unit as in a tactic military force. Thus associating him and his crew and subliminally black people with apes which takes us back to race based “science” and politics like the three ﬁfths compromise found in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution. Besides this he also known to rap in packed stadiums both foreign and domestic with tens of thousands of audience members spitting raps laced with the ‘n’ word and this again gives the impression it is ok and we have gotten over it and now embrace the term.

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

You take these few examples of black people willing to sacriﬁce their integrity to make a dollar or should I say millions of dollars to self deprecate says a lot about the elaborate yet seemingly innocent ways Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome can play itself out in our society. It is from these images endorsed and cosigned by other blacks that sets the precedent for Costco to make a doll that is black which is being hugged by a monkey doll and has a hat with the words lil monkey written on it and expect us to tolerate it. Or they say we had no idea this would be the reaction. That is ridiculous for an American corporation when corporate America historically played an important part in the Slave Trade. Companies like Wachiovia Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase and Lehman Bros as well as many more have all admitted proﬁting from the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade by insuring slaves.

This doll has caused quite a stir in the past month because of this historically racist imagery. Here is the reaction of Costco after being called out immediately for the sale of this racist doll: “The product is a doll called the “Cuddle with Me” baby doll manufactured by a company called BrassKey Keepsakes. The controversy stemmed from the black version of the doll which is surrounded by monkeys and wears a hat labeled “Lil’ Monkey,” while the white version is surrounded by pandas and wears a hat labeled “Pretty Panda.” Costco’s corporate office says when they received complaints from John Taylor and other shoppers about the doll, store employees pulled the product from store shelves immediately. According to a Costco corporate employee, a chain letter demanding the stores remove product number 404860 also prompted the company to take action. Costco’s Vice President of General Administration, Arthur Jackson said, “We offer our sincere apology to anyone who was offended by the product. That was surely never our intent.” African people must first exterminate from our minds of the self hatred that makes us act out against our own interests for the almighty dollar. This kind of self hatred creates a mentality that says to corporate America, toy manufacturers and even foreigners to think it is fine to disrespect us in this fashion while we support these artists and these companies essentially celebrating and supporting our own continued subjugation and disrespect. By buying misogynistic, degrading music we are publicly complimenting them and placing money into the coffers of companies that exist in a country with a history of denigration towards its African American citizens. Hopefully through African Americans continuing to redefine how we allow ourselves to be portrayed and continuing to fight the subliminal and sometimes blatant racist imagery being generated to the national and international public about us and who we are we can help to end this ongoing travesty of life for Africans in America. Revolution is an evolutionary process. One must chip away at the dark corners of our minds and hearts in order to create the change we wish to see in the world around us. The time for complacency and excuses is over. Negus Negast (King of Kings) Haile Selassie of Ethiopia said some of the most important words he ever said and it applies to the struggles of Africans worldwide: “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” The Struggle continues...... Sources: THE HIP HOP IMPACT ON JAPANESE YOUTH CULTURE - Southeast Conference of the Association of the Association of Asian Studies Spellman College The Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris University Media Takeout article on Costco Doll Controversy A Culture of Insanity essay by Khalif Williams From the Belgian Congo to the Bronx Zoo by National Public Radio Sara Baartman At rest, At last by South Africa Info The Scramble for Africa: Berlin Conference of 1884-1885 to Divide Africa – Ancient Africa’s Black Kingdoms Website Wachovia Admits Slave Trade Profits – article at U.S. History.org

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

Man to Man by Marcus Garvey

Yes, man to man is so unjust Until we know not whom to trust; For we have made of life a lie, In treating man less than ﬂy: To tell the reason why it’s so, Into history we must go, Revealing crime, just after crime, From Cain and Abel to this time. Our God made man in perfect form, And to the standard to conform; But in his ways of self alone He crushed the good and built a throne: A regal personage is he, As proud and selﬁsh as can be; Forgetting God he robs and kills, And lays the course of human ills. Is there no help that we can give To brighten life in truth to live? Yes, there is much for you to do In treating man as Christ did you: If we should change the old bad way, The good would shine in us each day, Then life would be a happy dream, A radiant, fair morning beam. October 25, 1927

Tigressions:

24 Tiger TV BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

24-Hour TigerTV We really could’ve called the end of November to the end of the year Tiger TV. Everywhere there was something about Tiger. Whether we wanted to hear about it or not, there was the media coverage that was apparently unwarranted by all of us who don’t like the messy life of celebrities. The WWE did a parody of Tiger and Elin on WWE Raw. Keenan Thompson did a skit about him on an episode of Saturday Night Live. Then there was the constant around the clock of coverage via CNN, ESPN, Headline News, and any other news outlet that wanted to get the ratings. Its actually a disgrace to be honest with you. At least I can ﬁnally commend BET for not capitalizing off of it. Personally I do not care about the stuff he did. He’s human just like the rest of America and is prone to make mistakes like the rest of us full bloodied human beings, but this isn’t about Tiger and the situation, but more so Tiger and the ridiculous TV coverage. I don’t blame Tiger for taking a leave of absence from golf. I would do it not because to defuse the situation (at this time Elin has conﬁrmed that she is going to go through the divorce, which means more media coverage in the future) but to get away from the vultures who love to hover around and pick at the scraps of a dead or helpless carcass. The media should be ashamed of how they went about this, but in their defense it is their job, but if this is a man who cherishes his privacy I would hope some media outlet comes out and respects his wishes. But I guess as long there are 24-hour sports channels and 24-hour news channels, Nancy Grace, TMZ, Blogs, and camera phones the vultures will continue to pick at the bloody and wounded body of a Tiger.

-Anonymous

BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

Malcolm X Letter from Mecca

Letter From Mecca “The following letter was sent from Malcolm to his assistants, new Muslim Mosque, press and his wife, during the conclusion of his pilgrimage to Mecca. The content is reproduced from The Autobiography of Malcolm X as told to Alex Haley”. Never have I witnessed such sincere hospitality and the overwhelming spirit of true brotherhood as practiced by people of all colors and races here in this Ancient Holy Land, the home of Abraham, Muhammad and all other prophets of the Holy Scriptures. For the past week, I have been utterly speechless and spellbound by the graciousness I see displayed all around me by people of all colors. I have been blessed to visit the Holy City of Mecca. I have made my seven circuits around the Ka’ba, led by a young Mutawaf named Muhammad. I drank water from the well of Zem Zem. I ran seven times back and forth between the hills of Mt. Al-Safa and Al-Marwah. I have prayed in the ancient city of Mina, and I have prayed on Mt. Arafat. There were tens of thousands of pilgrims, from all over the world. They were of all colors, from blue eyed blonds to black skin Africans. But we were all participating in the same rituals, displaying a spirit of unity and brotherhood that my experiences in America had lead me to believe never could exist between the white and non-white. America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem. Throughout my travels in the Muslim world, I have met, talked to, and even eaten with people who in America would have considered ‘white’ -- but the ‘white’ attitude was removed from their minds by the religion of Islam. I have never before seen sincere and true brotherhood practiced by all colors together, irrespective of their color. You may be shocked by these words coming from me. But on this pilgrimage, what I have seen, and experienced, has forced me to re-arrange much of my thought patterns previously held, and to toss aside some of my previous conclusions. This was not too difficult for me. Despite my firm convictions, I have always been a man who tries to face facts, and to accept the reality of life as new experiences and new knowledge unfolds it. I have always kept an open mind, which is necessary to the flexibility that must go hand in hand with every form of intelligent search for truth. During the past eleven days here in the Muslim world, I have eaten from the same plate, drunk from the same glass, and slept in the same bed, (or on the same rug) -- while praying to the same God -- with fellow Muslims, whose eyes were the bluest of blue, whose hair was the blondest of blond, and whose skin was the whitest of white. And in the same words and in the actions and in the deeds of the ‘white’ Muslims, I felt the same sincerity that I felt among the black African Muslims of Nigeria, Sudan and Ghana. We were truly all the same (brothers) -- because their belief in one God had removed the ‘white’ from their minds, the ‘white’ from their behavior, and the ‘white’ from their attitude. I could see from this, that perhaps if white Americans could accept the Oneness of God, then perhaps, too, they could accept in reality the Oneness of Man -- and cease to measure, and hinder, and harm others in terms of their differences in color. BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE

With racism plaguing America like an incurable cancer, the so-called ‘Christian’ white American heart should be more receptive to a proven solution to such a destructive problem. Perhaps it could be in time to save America from imminent disaster -- the same destruction brought upon Germany by racism that eventually destroyed the Germans themselves. Each hour here in the Holy Land enables me to have greater spiritual insights into what is happening in America between black and white. The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities -- he is only reacting to four hundred years of conscious racism of the American whites. But as racism leads America up the suicide path, I do believe, from the experience that I have had with them, that the whites of the younger generation, in the colleges and universities, will see the handwriting on the wall and many of them will turn to the spiritual path of truth -- the only way left to America to ward off the disaster that racism inevitably must lead to. Never have I been so highly honored. Never have I been made to feel more humble and unworthy. Who would believe the blessings that have been heaped upon an American Negro? A few nights ago, a man who would be called in America a ‘white’ man, a United Nations diplomat, an ambassador, a companion of kings, gave me his hotel suite, his bed. By this man, His Excellency Prince Faisal, who rules this Holy Land, was made aware of my presence here in Jedda. The very next morning, Prince Faisal’s son, in person, informed me that by the will and decree of his esteemed father, I was to be a State Guest. The deputy Chief of Protocol himself took me before the Hajj Court. His Holiness Sheikh Muhammad Harkon himself okayed my visit to Mecca. His Holiness gave me two books on Islam, with his personal seal and autograph, and he told me that he prayed that I would be a successful preacher of Islam in America. A car, a driver, and a guide, have been placed at my disposal, making it possible for me to travel about this Holy Land almost at will. The government provides air conditioned quarters and servants in each city that I visit. Never would I have even thought of dreaming that I would ever be a recipient of such honors -- honors that in America would be bestowed upon a King -- not a Negro. All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of all the Worlds. Sincerely, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X)

R.I.P. from Brothers Perspective

Chris Henry

(May 17, 1983 – December 17, 2009) was an African American football wide receiver who played ﬁve seasons in the National Football League for the Cincinnati Bengals. He played college football at West Virginia and was drafted by the Bengals in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft. BROTHERS PERSPECTIVE