(Akiit.com) It is safe to state that America has become an empire that is crumbling day by day and is becoming inundated with widespread hate and fear and maladjustment to suffering and injustices. Right and left-wing cable chatter has galvanized a multitude of individuals to act in a way that is contrary to the ideal of loving thy neighbor. Congruent with this notion is the fact that the United States Department of Justice (USDOJ) has recently reported a rise in criminal and extremist groups and associated hate crimes.

In a majority of the cases, most of these clandestine organizations have been associated with right-wing extremism. There have been some leftist groups over the years that have caused minor alarm, but one left-wing organization that is currently capturing the attention of conservatives with a certain sense of urgency is the New Black Panther Party (NBPP). Talk show hosts such as Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly and Sean Hannity continue to ask, “Who and what is the NBPP?”

To understand the “who” of the “new” party, it is logical for one to become acquainted with the “who” of the “old.” As commonly understood, the original Black Panther Party (BPP), was an organization of young African-Americans, mostly under the age of 25, that operated within the context of neo-Marxist principles to primarily “protect” African-American neighborhoods from rampant racist practices.

These young “militants” were secular, persuasive and articulate communicators and were comprised almost entirely of citizens from the poor and working classes. Although the United States government had promulgated public policies (i.e., Civil Rights Act of 64’ and Voting Rights Act of 65’) that would yield voting, education and civil liberties for minorities, many of these young “revolutionaries” did not believe that the government had done anything to help transform the age-old racist and xenophobic mindsets among Caucasians. Relative to the “what” of the BPP, they believed through their Ten-Point program that a self-determinative and revolutionary approach was needed to replace the fundamentally corrupt American institutional, corporate, financial and military systems, which would ultimately result in breaking the chains of oppression from the poor and working classes.

Many commentators, then and now, would stereotypically state that the BPP was strictly a hateful, violent and racist group that was out to kill white people. There were likely some members who held these sentiments. But based on robust analysis of factual, unbiased and documented evidence, I do not believe that this was the underlying platform of the organization, at least as the BPP matured. To be sure, their initial black nationalistic thought processes were racist in context, but the BPP later denounced this racism and became more socialistic while excluding race. This was evidenced as they ultimately enjoined hands with Native Americans, Asians, women and individuals of other ethnicities from around the world.
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(Akiit.com) Prophetic voices point us to the future by causing us to remember and consider the cornerstone truths of our past — lessons learned though struggle and adversity, conquest and success, tragedy and pain, victory and gain — all providing guidance to the Promised Land and the fulfillment of our purpose. The Voice of God often in the scriptures introduced Himself to His spokespersons by saying, “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” pointing them back to their origins as a basis from which to move them forward.

To turn a deaf ear to their instruction assures a depleted present and an even more decadent future. Their messages implores us to “redeem the time”, to retrieve what we have lost that we can proceed with the certainty of success into the future. Yet, the extreme folly of failing to hear their messages pales in comparison to the destruction incurred when those prophetic voices choose to be silent.

The African-American Clergy’s much vaunted, and heralded heroic past, is in danger of becoming a mere wisp of a thought or memory, marginalized in the minds of Americans, and the world, due to its lethargic and anemic response to the present moral and political crisis within our country. The enormity of their ‘missing-in-action’ stance is staggering, especially when you consider the evidence of depravity is so blatant within our culture, and even legislated by our present administration. For like God in the Garden of Eden who asked, “What is that that thou hast done?” God is asking the question again – “What have you done? What have you done?” God asked the question in Genesis of Adam in an attempt to force him to reflect on his actions in light of the revealed truths of his past. Sadly, Man failed to do so then, and it grieves me to say, even though we are warned across the ages by Adam’s outcome, we are failing to do so now.

Dr. Martin Luther King in his book, Where Do We Go From Here? said this about the importance of leadership:

“And so we will have to create leaders who embody virtues we can respect, who have moral and ethical principles we can applaud with an enthusiasm that enables us to rally support for them based on confidence and trust. We will have to demand high standards and give consistent loyal support to those who merit it.”

I watched, as well as did most Americans, the wave of African-American Clergy totally abandoning their conscience and calling, for support of a Presidential candidate in whom they had only one thing in common: “the color of his skin.” Barack Obama did not, and does not embody the virtues of our Clergy, nor their congregations. I do not find it moral or ethical the outright advocating and marketing of abortion by this President’s Administration which has proven to be a systemic plan of genocide against African-Americans at home and abroad (MAAFA21 NSSM). Therefore,

I cannot applaud the administration’s determination to undermine and diminish marriage, the essential building block of all society, and then be accused of “bigotry” by President Obama for not desiring to perform homosexual marriages…

I cannot rally to support an administration that willfully abandoned inner-city Black Youths who were succeeding in a School Voucher program in Washington, DC, only to find out one morning it had been de-funded (no stimulus money here) relegating them and other young black children back to an NEA-controlled public school system that has, and continues to, abysmally fail them…
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(Akiit.com) Banning menthol cigarettes, which 80 percent of African-American smokers prefer, won’t make folks quit…

As with virtually every other African-American smoker I know, the only acceptable brands of cigarettes for me came in green-and-white packs. If you didn’t puff Salems — my cancer sticks of choice — you probably consumed Newports or Kools.

I always found it odd that the top three brands shared the same color scheme. It took a few years to realize that menthol was another commonality, which Dave Chappelle had fun with on his “I Know Black People” game-show sketch on his Comedy Central show. He asked contestants why blacks love menthol so much. “I don’t know,” said a social worker. “That is correct!” Chappelle said. “No one knows for sure.”

Whatever the reason for that preference — shared by an estimated 80 percent of black smokers, according to most reports — cigarette manufacturers and anti-tobacco groups are well aware that we favor menthol. But a proposed ban on mentholated cigarettes has caused a rift among forces that advocate on behalf of blacks’ interests. In one corner, favoring a ban, are the NAACP, the National African American Tobacco Prevention Network and the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council. In opposition are the Congress of Racial Equality, the National Black Chamber of Commerce and the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives.

The NAACP joined the debate last week, just three days after the other groups urged the Food and Drug Administration to reject calls for a ban on menthol flavored cigarettes. The issue appears to be a Catch-22: You either support blacks’ access to a dangerous-but-legal product (and arguably sustain its usage) or you support discrimination against the mostly black consumers of a dangerous-but-legal product (and arguably promote growth in the illicit cigarette trade).

I haven’t been a smoker for more than 20 years and have no intention of picking up the habit again. But if I did and discovered that my Salems were forbidden while those disgusting Marlboros were still on sale, I’d be livid. Why would the government ban the cigarettes that I prefer, while the estimated 78 percent of non-Latino, white smokers who prefer non-mentholated cigarettes are allowed to keep on puffing?

We’re in dangerous territory when the government functions as “Big Brother,” and the same is true when it operates as “Big Daddy.” Lawmakers shouldn’t try to legislate the behavior of grown folks on health choices such as soda, fast food or mentholated cigarettes. There must a middle ground between paternalism and absolute laissez-faire. I’m not suggesting the social acceptance of crystal meth and heroin. But Prohibition didn’t work too well with alcohol, and ground is being gained on the legalization of marijuana in some states.
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(Akiit.com) It’s time to stop being sorry all the time and start rejecting meaningless apologies…

If you have to ask for an apology, you probably don’t deserve one. Whether it’s Justice Clarence Thomas’ wife, Ginni, asking sexual-harassment whistle blower Anita Hill to apologize for what she did to her husband, or Rand Paul volunteer Tim Profitt claiming that the protester on whose head he stomped owes him an apology (he has back problems, after all), has “I’m sorry” completely lost its meaning?

I started thinking about the phrase “I’m sorry” weeks ago when a friend and I watched the For Colored Girls trailer a thousand times over. In it, Janet Jackson performs “Sorry,” one of my favorite poems in Ntozake Shange’s play, which makes the case for giving up and getting over it (my mantra at age 30). “I’m gonna do exactly what I want to and I won’t be sorry for none of it. Letta sorry soothe your soul. I’m gonna soothe mine.” A few stanzas later, the “lady in blue” concludes, “Next time you should admit you’re mean, low-down, triflin’, and no count straight out. Steada bein sorry all the time, enjoy bein yourself.”

That poem and those lines spoke to me at 18 when I read them aloud in my dorm room waiting by a phone that didn’t ring until the next day. Obviously he was sorry he hadn’t called, something came up, he fell asleep, he got locked out, his buddy needed help doing stuff, he was doing stuff, he was at the library, he was a liar, but he was sorry. And I was even more so for pretending to believe it from so many pseudo boyfriends who could offer up fake apologies with a straight face. Back then, I thought Shange’s poem called out all the “low-down” and “no count” men for us women to take note of and get rid of. But these days I think she’s calling us out, too.

In the wake of a recent Wall Street Journal story that says on average, women apologize more often and are offended more often, Alison Fairbrother, a contributor to Politics Daily’s blog “Woman Up,” asked the question, “Should Women Stop Apologizing So Much?” The average person offers up a mea culpa about four times a week, and after cataloging her own contrition, Fairbrother realized she doles out sorrys at least five times a day.

“Apologizing when we haven’t done anything wrong, or apologizing for circumstances outside of our control, denigrates our language and denigrates us,” concludes Fairbrother. “Apologies are not placeholders. ‘I’m sorry’ should not be what we say when we’re at a loss for words.”
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(Akiit.com) Hard to work when music is blasting outside your window… The younger just could care less about other people feelings… Couldn’t imagine acting a fool at that age… Well this how to remove pimples article got me smiling… I remember those days of bad skin… Things are so different now and that’s a good thing… Waiting on the new blackberry as I do want OS6… The current browser I have is ok…. Definitely not on the level or an Iphone or even HTC Evo…

Written By CTA