If You Think Halloween Is Scary Wait Till Tomorrow When Food Stamps Are Cut

halloween nightToday is Halloween and there’s no doubt that folks will be buzzing about all the insensitive folks running around wearing Blackface or dressed as Trayvon Martin.

Others will be buzzing about Kanye West talking about the Obamas and how Kim is finer than Michele….

The big buzz here in the Bay Area is the woman driving her car and getting a ticket for wearing Google Glass..

All these things have their place in conversation, but the really scary thing this Halloween is House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and the push he and others made to make sure the Food Stamp program (SNAP) is gutted… If you think Halloween is scary wait until tomorrow (November 1st) when SNAP cuts kick in and tens of  millions of folks find themselves seriously economically upended..

What’s scary is knowing that 75-80% of the new jobs added over the past 5 years are 7.25 hour jobs with the largest population of unemployed and underemployed being folks in their 40s and 50s .. Meaning that many lost their jobs in the 2008 economic melt down after working 15-20 years and never could get back in the market place…Those who have are now working at those low wage jobs taking care of kids and elderly parents with many on food stamps…

Eric Cantor

Eric Cantor

What’s scary is Cantor pushing a bill that would require folks to be enrolled in a job finding program for 20 hours a week in order to get Food stamps when many of those programs throughout various states have been cut or closed completely. In addition many of the people on food stamps work.. They simply do not make enough to cover cost for food.. But his flawed narrative appeal to those who have stereotyped those receiving help..

Even more frightening are the numbers of Democrats who have jumped into the fray and support the madness including democratic leader Debbie Wasserman Schultz out of Florida who said the Dems aren’t opposed to SNAP cuts.. Here in Cali Senator Dianne Feinstein voted for the Senate version of a Farm Bill  which will cut 4 billion from SNAP….Topping all this off, many of the folks who voted to gut Food Stamps are getting subsidies for themselves and people in their district via agricultural subsidies..

While all this happening we have Big Banks successfully moving to not only write a bill but get it passed through Congress to free them of the modest restrictions placed on them under Dodd-Frank Act.. In short they will be free to do what they were doing in terms of investing money prior to the 08 crash..

Lastly we should pay attention to the public-private policies that are happening and the sway corporations have on law enforcement.. yesterday the Coast Guard was called to investigate a ‘mysterious’ barge out on SF Bay… Its owned by Google and no one knows whats on that barge.. The Coast Guard was made to sign a non disclosure contract.. I kid you not.. I’ll let you reflect on that for a bit…That’s pretty damn profound..

Here’s a few links to read up on all this..

1-http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/19/house-gop-food-stamp-cuts/2839343/

2-http://billmoyers.com/2013/09/20/some-congressional-food-stamp-critics-have-their-own-safety-net/

3-http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/10/30/house-passes-bill-on-derivatives/?_r=0

4-http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/30/coast-guard-visits-mysterious-google-barge/3318347/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEZ2vuWJaeI

Lots of Voices Being Hidden During this Gov’t Shutdown-It’s Not a Joke

Davey-D-brown-frameWhat a sorry state of affairs and lack of leadership with respect to this government shut down..As you know millions of people all over the country are directly impacted by this but you wouldn’t know it by what’s being highlighted..What we’re seeing and hearing is a lot of well paid pundits, political wonks and politicians speaking on behalf of poor folks who are scrambling because their children have been booted out of Head Start, food stamps are cut or they simply cant make rent because they’ve been furloughed.

Try as they might its hard for someone who is making six figures with full benefits, has a nice savings cushion and plenty of options to convey the angst, frustration, anger and profound sadness many are feeling..The sting of poverty and the faces of those most impacted are being hidden, leaving many of us, even quite a few social justice folks to believe upending people’s livelihoods and lifelines are late night jokes or political and ideological footballs…

Also hidden in the narratives around the shutdowns are those who are going full steam ahead to not give folks any breaks.. They are rising prices, jacking up rents, demanding payment on time or face harsh penalties.. Those who are furloughed and have payment plans in effect to take care of mortgages, tax bills etc, may find themselves being disqualified and those payment arrangements rescinded because of this shut down.. That will really mess up folks in more ways than I think people realize…

Food-Stamps-500On top of that, don’t think for a minute that corporate opportunists who now don’t have federal oversight in particular areas i.e food inspectors, power regulators etc, wont take advantage and slip a few wrong doings through the cracks..

This shutdown will last a lot longer then we think or the Democrats will cave in vs fighting and finding things of importance to their opposition that they can ‘hold hostage’ . If recent history is any indication the Dems are likely over compromise and giveaway some really important things many of us absolutely need (ie social security )in order to ‘strike a bi-partisan deal‘ and ‘save the country from economic collapse‘…

If the latter happens what folks will need to pay close attention to will be an all out effort to silence and marginalize voices of the poor, even more than they are now.. In short a deal might be cut with the promise that those who pipe up will be shut down quickly.. It’s all about saving face and scoring points for many in charge, not saving lives.

children-deniedIn closing those of us who are ‘social justice activists’ need to keep in mind that not everyone impacted by this shut down are as politically aware and connected as you and thus don’t have networks in place and other options to help them survive.. Many are elderly and to be honest quite isolated and not as agile. Others are young, (children) and subjected to the actions of parents who may not have kept themselves up to speed..We need to keep this in mind, meet people where they’re at and show compassion and understanding at the very least.

Davey D

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjaLkB7hq5c

Ron Wilkins: Self Hatred, Cultural Disorientation, Poverty & the ‘Gang’ Phenomenon

Long time activist, Freedom Fighter and original LA Gang member (Slausons) Ron Wilkins gives an excellent and insightful breakdown of the ‘gang’ phenomenon. He digs deep into some of the pressing issues around self-hate and cultural disorientation… definitely some words grow on.. -Davey D-

Ron Wilkins

The “gang” phenomenon among black youth can be attributed to three principal causes. Without a political decision from society’s rulers to forthrightly and comprehensively address these causes or pillars which initiate, fuel and sustain the growth of “gangs” and their resulting carnage, the problem will worsen.

The other force capable of resolving this crisis, and unquestionably the most significant one is our youth themselves, the street toughs who have been recruited into the “gangs”.It will require that they commit to reclaiming themselves as conscious African people and forging themselves into community builders and assets rather than continuing on as self destructive self haters, predators and liabilities.

Self Hatred

The most damaging of the three causes, and perhaps the least understood, is deeply rooted self hatred which arises from persons of color being dominated by whites and their culture in racially oppressive societies. In every conceivable way social institutions in these societies promote and/or glorify white values, conquests, interpretations of spirituality, heroes, beauty standards, holidays, military campaigns and perceptions of other peoples in the world. These same social institutions cast Africa and her scattered populations as an inferior, uncultured, unattractive, unsuccessful and subhuman species. The practice of labeling black people as inferior is reinforced daily in school classrooms, television programming, church gatherings and other social activities. On the big screen and on television most black figures are villains, comedians, athletes, gangsters or losers in some form or another. The places that black people call home are routinely characterized in the media as poor, run down and unsafe. The African roots of Christianity are ignored, and a whitenized Jesus is promulgated to symbolize a white savior and god, even though Christ did not come out of Europe. From kindergarten through to university education curricula the enormous contributions of Africa and her people to world history are routinely
overlooked, trivialized or misrepresented.

The net result of these cumulative experiences cause black youth to suffer horrific psychological damage which compel them to accept white characterizations of them as inferior. So much so, that they want absolutely nothing to do with Africa. Overwhelmed by the onslaught against their humanity as African people, its victims (black youth) unconsciously turn upon themselves in a desperate effort to destroy the negative representation. Failing to understand that their being disregarded,devalued and hated by white society is but a calculated move to turn them against themselves black youth unconsciously set out to destroy one another. The black youth who beats down or shoots another black youth has become so maladjusted psychologically that he has internalized this hatred and does not realize that the “rival” who he now devalues, hates and is determined to destroy is in a very real sense himself. The moment he shoots at another black youth who he regards as an enemy he is actually firing at a mirror image of himself. Threatening gestures and violent actions, identical to the behavior
of male combatants is also engaged in by young black females and for the exact same reasons.

Perhaps the most glaring display of psychologically maladjusted black girls and women, whether “gang” affiliated or not, are the extremes to which they go to alter their hair. The majority of them in every continent have become so ashamed of their natural kinky hair that they invest considerable time and spend exorbitant sums of money to change its appearance. Out of desperation they burn and straighten it to disguise themselves and to more closely resemble white females. They buy wigs and weaves, put dangerous chemicals in their hair and undergo expensive procedures to have “perms”. Black parents buy white dolls and backpacks emblazoned with images of Hanna Montana and other white idols for their daughters. These expressions of self hatred are the actions of mentally colonized people who are in dire need of knowledge of their own achievements and greatness which can then enable them to reclaim and celebrate themselves. Oddly enough, the doll experiment which was conducted by psychologist Kenneth B. Clark in the 1940’s and repeated by Kiri Davis in 2006 with
the same outcome underscores my point. When presented with both black and white dolls and asked which one they liked most, almost all of the young black girl subjects in both experiments selected white dolls.

Cultural Disorientation

“Gang” formation, affiliation and rivalry are both alien and contrary to African custom. Black youth who have evolved in western societies are generally cut off from knowledge of African history and customs, deprived of an orientation to African ways of being and behaviors and become culturally disoriented. In the words of the late distinguished historian Dr. John Henrik Clarke, “When people oppress you they take away the memory of what you were before they interrupted your society”. While early African societies were not perfect they were more human oriented and relations among and between people were not characterized by conflict and violence such as what exists in our communities today. If the African way of life and the African personality were understood and appreciated by present day African (black) youth, “gangs” and “gang conflict” would not exist. In early African societies relations between people were governed by honor and obligation. The other person was a fellow human being and it was on that basis that you were obligated to not be unfair to or do harm to him
or her. You thought too much of yourself than to lie, cheat, steal or injure him or her and bring dishonor upon yourself, your family, your clan and your tribe. African people practiced collectivism, in that we cared for one another and shared what we had with others in the community. There were humane relationships between women and men and women were not degraded. When a man took a wife there was an expectation in the community that she would be well treated and not beaten and abused. Women were revered as life givers; many societies were ruled by women and men did not feel insecure under their leadership. There was no prostitution and men did not abandon their families. Children were expected to treat elders with respect. Among the time honored African sayings, are these; “Where there is no shame, there is no honor”, “Virtue is
better than wealth”, “It takes a whole village to raise a child”, “If I stand tall, it is because I stand on the shoulders of those who came before me” and “The grateful man earns for himself yet another kindness”. African youth in every part of the world have a right and a responsibility to know their history and customs so that they can re conceptualize and reclaim themselves as members of the African family.

Poverty

“Gangs” flourish in class societies where human priorities are lacking, large sectors of wage earners who are in need of work are unemployed and underemployed and the leadership has not advanced far enough to address social injustice and income inequality. If the rulers in these societies lack the imagination and initiative required to create meaningful employment for those without work, then they are obliged to locate and bring on board those persons who can make it happen. For starters, potential “gang” members and those who have transformed themselves must be provided with opportunities to earn income to support their families and themselves. Their representatives must be included in society’s decision making structures in substantive and meaningful ways. The society must reorder its priorities so that its young black men and women see it as their responsibility to make positive contributions to its peace, growth and development..

The three principal causes or pillars which initiate, fuel and sustain the growth of “gangs”, self hatred, cultural
disorientation and poverty must be properly understood and acted upon now, tomorrow is too late!

written by Ron Wilkins