The Walt Weekly Podcast

Reparations : Do We Take It, Or Leave It?

What do you think about Reparations?

Planning on spending that money? Do you think that it is justified to accept? There are many takes on this settlement for work and discrimination during the 400 years of black slavery and the Jim Crow era. This degradation continues up until today.

Initially my reaction to Reparations was “I don’t need any handouts”. But further evaluation led to this thought: My ancestors contributed a concrete value to this country and that was labor. That has to be considered as unpaid salary. This salary should be passed down to their desendants. This is just logical. This is not like the Japanese or Jewish reparations and should not be compared. Black Slavery was continuous labor and discrimination. There is no comparison.

 

Don Jr Did Not Know Kamala Harris Was Not Black American! Wow!

Believe it or not there is a growing debate in this country about who is Black American. Why a movement that claims to support the American descendants of slavery is being promoted by conservatives and attacked on the left.

The American Descendants of Slavery’s inaugural conference was held in Louisville, Ky. recently. This was on their agenda along with Reparations.

The goal of ADOS’s two founders — Antonio Moore, a Los Angeles defense attorney, and Yvette Carnell, a former aide to Democratic lawmakers in Washington — is to harness frustrations among black 

Ali Alexander , black right-wing provocateur, tweeted that Kamala Harris is implying she is descended from American Black Slaves. She’s not. She comes from Jamaican Slave Owners. That’s fine. She’s not an American Black. Period.” It was retweeted by none other than Donald Trump, Jr.

Those who embrace its philosophy point to disparities between black people who immigrated to the United States voluntarily, and others whose ancestors were brought in chains.

The American descendants of slavery, they say, should have their own racial category on census forms and college applications, and not be lumped in with others with similar skin color but vastly different lived experiences.

 

The Trump DOJ Is Trying To Kill The Civil Rights Act of 1866

A case headed to the U.S. Supreme Court which will be heard on November 13, 2019, could have a tremendously negative impact on the Black community’s civil rights. as it pertains to fair play in contracting and other measures. Justice Department filed an amicus brief in regard to the lawsuit between Entertainment Studios chairman and CEO Byron Allen, Comcast ,and Charter Corp. 

Allen is suing Comcast Corp. and Charter Communications over racial discrimination after the cable giants refused to include Entertainment Studios programming on their networks. He cites a violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, whose section.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866, whose section 1981 prohibits racial discrimination in contracts.

Specifically:

All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make and enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.

Immediately after slavery, to combat the emerging “Black Codes,” the national government took steps to ensure that former slaves (now citizens) and their children would be able to participate in the liberties that any white citizens enjoy. This would be the origins of The Civil Rights Act of 1866, laws that continue to protect Blacks to this day in business, real estate and various other ways. (CBC, TheGrio, Congressional Record cited )

Why The Die-Hard Trump Support

The support of the Evangelicals has always puzzled me. When Trump got up and said that Joe Biden was only good at kissing President Obama’s ass, I was shocked that there was no reaction. When he cheated on his wife, paid off women, and was caught in the lie, the Evangelicals said nothing. They know what the underlying agenda is. And that my friend is White privilege. They are fighting feverishly to maintain the majority and will never allow this country to be anything other.

Ashley Jardina defines White Identity Politics, in an article in the Atlantic, as the psychological attachment to their racial group that many whites in the United States possess. Whites with a racial identity feel a sense of racial solidarity with their group and see whites as having similar interests. White identity politics refers to the way in which this sense of racial solidarity influences whites’ view of the political world. Generally, what that looks like is whites with a sense of racial identity prefer political candidates and policies that protect their group’s interests. In the U.S., protecting these interests often means attempting to preserve privileges and advantages that whites, on average, have relative to other racial and ethnic groups.

The Strategy of Divide and Conquer

Merriam Webster defines divide and conquer as: to make a group of people disagree and fight with one another so that they will not join together against one

The strategy of divide and conquer goes back to Julius Caesar even further than that. It is a tool used by those in power to maintain the status quo. This is done both militarily and socially. It fosters fights within groups. Keeps them distrusting each other.

The Walt Weekly is apolitical. Which means we look at any issues through the lens of “what is the threat or benefit to the Black American and other minorities”. This is clearly reflected in our Mission Statement.

However, the time has come for us to call out those Black conservatives that push the politics of the extreme right wing of the Republican party. You can be a democrat or republican as a Black person but it is tantamount to being a traitor. Imagine what our ancestors would say if they knew that whites had surrogates pushing an agenda detrimental to Black people.  I guess this is nothing new. Throughout history there have been these types of people. Usually, in the case of slaves, they would spy and enforce the wishes of the master to get favored treatment. We refer to them has house n****s.

How I Met Stokely Carmichael

When we arrived in Conakry, the capital and checked into one of their best hotels, the desk clerk recognizing  me as an American, informed me that Stokely Carmichael was a guest. I gave the desk clerk a tip and asked him to tell Mr. Carmichael that I wanted to meet him.

The following day, I was given the room number and time. Boy, can you imagine that I was meeting The Stokely Carmichael one of the founders of the Black Panthers. I was ecstatic and nervous.

Upon entering the dim room, I believe his wife was sleeping; I noticed he was wearing a white African outfit. we sat on the couch and proceeded to talk. He informed me that he was now known as Quamé Touré which was a name given to him by the president of the country, Pres. Sekou Touré.

We had a lively conversation talking about my gold business and what had happened to him. He asked me how I was coping in the US.

He was very clear about the following positions :

• Black Americans should have their own country
• It should be somewhere like Texas or California
• We should fight to get it

I immediately disagreed saying that we should pursue wealth. How can we fight a war with no money?  The focus should be on the accumulation of wealth and the education of our children.

He was a separatist but was willing to listen to my position. In other words, we agreed to disagree. He did not try to change my mind. He was very kind. He could have loudly blown me off.

I thanked him for meeting and praised him for what he had done. I also told him how proud I was to meet the “Man”. I then wished him well and left to go up-country to buy this high purity gold dust. It was 93% pure by the way.

After checking out of the hotel, and before going up-country, I went to stay with the Tolbert’s. The two sons, who escaped Sergeant Doe’s coup and murder of their father who was the first president of Liberia and other members of their family. This is a story for another time.

Quamé Touré aka Stokely Carmichael died on November 15, 1998.

Here are some quotes from Mr. Touré:

• There is a higher law than the law of government. That's the law of conscience
• The secret of life is to have no fear; it's the only way to function.
• Before a group can enter the open society, it must first close ranks
• Now, then, in order to understand white supremacy we must dismiss the fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom

The Jay Z and NFL Deal - Why No Kaepernick?

Why are we disagreeing with each other over Jay Z’s deal with the NFL?

The NFL announced the new deal with Jay-Z and Roc Nation on August 13. Together, the two organizations say they will collaborate on various social justice initiatives, as well as Super Bowl halftime shows. The same week, TMZ also reported that Jay-Z was exploring potential part ownership of an NFL team.
 
Kaepernick has not played in an NFL game since 2016.

How did Kaepernick get into the equation? The media put him there. This continues to divide us and maintain the status.

Black Home Ownership Has Fallen To Its Lowest Level in 50 Years

I was shocked, dismayed, hurt, and above all had this feeling of dread when I heard that Black American home ownership has fallen to its lowest level in 50 years. According to The National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968 helped remove legal discrimination in housing purchases. Even though discrimination was rampant, blacks were able to buy homes in their neighborhoods.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading. So, I continued my research and came up with this:

• Black Homeownership ended in 2016 at 41.7 percent
• This is down from almost 9% since 2004 according to the US Census Bureau

Why We Can't Protest Effectively

It has always puzzled me why we have not been to able effect change utilizing our right to assemble and protest peacefully. Why is that other groups can come together and protest and produce change or compromise?

He Finally Went There: Go Back to Where You Came From!

How did you feel when the president went there? It was only a matter of time. You may have notice that I have refused and will continue not to say the name of the current occupant of the White House. It has also been my experience that overt racism was a sign of insecurity. Smart and confident people don’t resort to such primitive behavior. 

Growing up in Eastern North Carolina during the 60’s, racism was open. A white kid could call me the n-word and I responded with cracker. We knew where we stood and moved on from there. Now being the head of the country is another problem all together.

In an earlier episode of this show, I was very clear when I said that Black Americans did not come from Africa. We may have blood lines back to the Continent, but after being snatched away by force and separated and made slaves, this country is as much ours than any white man. Our blood runs through the fabric of this country. Without us, No country.