SWB – Shopping While Black

 At times I find it funny when Whites have a problem believing that something like this really goes on when they are told that it is.

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Racism in A Fish Tank? Part II

 Things have been interesting over the last few days. One of the yellows and one of the oranges died. The Orange died first, and the lone orange tried hanging with both groups. He mainly ended up with the yellow ones. But it was still interesting, as the guppies still stuck together color wise. 

 I lost the yellow one yesterday. I couldn't find the body, then suddenly it popped up today. but things have been interesting in that one of the black ones has spent some time hanging with Yellow and Orange, but for the most part the Blacks are hanging together.

 I guess that I would have to get a number of different colored ones to see what happens, but I think that I will stick with the ones that I have now.

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Racism In A Fish Tank?

 A few weeks ago I decided that I wanted to get some pet fish. Now I have had pet fish for the last 7 years, but not to long ago I gave my two angel fish to a sweet lady that I had met as I had wanted to get rid of my fish and tanks. I had a couple of tanks here that each contained 1 fish. Finally I emptied one of the tanks and moved it lone occupant on tje larger tank with the other one. now I had a small catfish and a "Flying Fox" in the tank. Nothing really exciting, and the tank was mostly empty with two fish that didn't do anything.

 Now I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I sent a message to the woman that I had given the Angel Fish to, but she has been away and hadn't replied. Oh what to do.

 I was sitting and watching TV as I surfed, and decided that I would get some guppies. Guppies would be interesting, as that breed real fast, so that would mean that I wouldn't have to go back to the store to get more as they died off. But did I really want to do that? I know from time to time I like to get something different to look at, but did I want to just stick with guppies, and what would I do if the tank got over populated? I decided to do some research on the Internet. I noticed that some people kept only male guppies because they found them to more colorful than the females. I then remembered that PetsMart sold them by sex. I also remembered that they had different breeds of guppies, one of which is called a Delta Guppy. More research. I had pretty much made up my mind on Deltas, but then I came across a site that showed different tail types. I saw what I wanted.

 I went PetsMart and took a look. The Deltas were nice, but I fell in love with the Fancies. I saw a yellow one in the tank that was being picked on by some of the others in the tank. It was the only yellow one in the tank. I had the girl pick that one and I liked the black ones, so I got one of them. I brought them home and put them into the tank. About an hour later, the yellow one began to pick on the black one. I had to laugh. After some time they would swim friendly with each other.

 This morning I awoke and looked into the tank. I could find the yellow one, but not the black one. A few hours later I found the black one on the floor behind the tank dead. I was a little upset, but I had planned on buying some more today, so I figured that I would replace him with another black one. 

 When I got to the store, I decided that I would buy two black ones, two orange ones, and one yellow one. I came home with them and put them into the tank with the lone yellow. After a few minutes the lone yellow came over and joined the others, even giving them a tour of the tank.

 Not to long ago, the light for the tank turned off as scheduled. I noticed something that I found interesting. The fish were hanging together bases on color. The Black ones were together, the Yellow ones were together, and the Orange ones were together. Yes they were all close to each other, but they had paired off into there own section. When one would swim away some, so would the other, but never two colors. I got to thinking about them as I have watched them since the "tour" ended. They have been sticking together based on color. It makes me wonder if this is some kind of racism in the tank? Are fish in a way Racist? If this is true, it makes me wonder if racism is really something that is natural. I'm going to have to keep an eye on this over the next few days.

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Third World?

It amazes me that we talk about wanting to live in a world where we all are treated as equals regardless of race, color, sex, age, sexuality and many other thing, but we keep using terms that do nothing but remind us of our difference and divide us.

Over the past 20 years or so, I have heard this term “Third World” being used. I have found this term to be very racist, classist and not of any help in creating a world that we are all equals. I often ask people who use the term as to where these other worlds are that are supporting human life, as I don't recall NASA or any other space agency having passenger services to these places.

I wish that people would really think about the term and how much it is against the dream of Rev. Dr. Marting Luther King, Jr. and other great leaders pass and present. What makes our society much better than others? “But the term is about Industrialized and non- industrialized nations and places...,” I can hear people saying. Interesting. Could someone please explain to me then how a “world” that is destroying the planet, fighting wars, and so forth is better than a “world” that is living and using the resources that it really needs to survive with very little impact on the planet?

The first time that I heard this term used, it was used against me by someone who was an outright racist. I think that she thought that it would be OK for her to use that term, because if she used “nigger” she would of found herself in deep trouble. Now I really wouldn't of said anything if she went the other way, because I knew that the other Blacks that were around would beat the crap out of her. She did get cussed out by them for what she said by them, but it would have been worse for her if she had gone the other way.

A few years later, I heard the term being used on television. I found this troubling, and I began to think. Why would people use should a offensive word? What makes us better than someone else because of what our country has? Are other places feeling as though they have been insulted because of this term? I had so many questions running through my mind about this, and I knew that if I were to ask people what they meant by the term, and my feelings as to the term, they wouldn't stop.

Will we ever come to a point where we don't see each other as a color, but only a race, where that race will be the Human Race? Until the time in which we all just look and think of this as One World, I don't think that we can truly come together to honor and respect the planet that we live on.

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Freedom of Speech

 Not to long ago, clips from a sermon that Barack Obama's pastor gave a number of years ago, and it has been used to try and divide the nation racially. It's sad that the press and the people who are putting the pastor and Obama down haven't listened to the entire sermon, and are clueless about Black Liberation Theology. If you listen what the pastor was saying prior to what has been broadcast, and think about what he was saying, then you will realize that he was talking about things that had happened in history with other empires, and trying to get people to understand that at some point the USA could go into the same direction. Another way of looking at his sermon is to call it “The Rise and Fall of the United States”.

 But I wonder if all of this hoopla would exist if the pastor had been John McCain's pastor? Would McCain have been associated with his pastor in the way that Obama has been? What if was Hillary's pastor? Would the GOP in North Carolina be using what that her pastor said in commercials?

 People talk about how wrong he was ,and have threaten him with death threats, but don't we have the freedom of speech in this country? It's amazing how some people can't handle the truth.

 After listening to Obama's pastor on a PBS interview, and some of the things that he has said, I realized again how little credit that we Blacks in this country get for things, and how things are just taken from us. Jazz, Blues, Rock, Rap, Hip-Hop, and so much more. I sat in a conference a few years ago where someone said that Blondie invented rap. Pat Boone's biggest hit was a piece of Black Music (his version sucks in my opinion.) A large amount of the Rock music in the 50s and 60s was rerecorded by Euros who made a fortune from it without giving credit to the Black performers and writers of the music.

  I was sitting a meeting a couple of years ago were we where planning an event. I was the only Black in the group, and it was decided that each culture would bring something into the event. I had to sit back and think as to what the Black Culture could “bring to the table”.

 Everything was put together, but I couldn't figure out what we Blacks could input into this event. Then it hit me, we didn't have any music in the program. I mentioned that this is what we had to offer, and the rest of the group thought that this was a good idea. I was asked about the use of one song, and I said that the song wasn't what had come to my mind, and named it. They thought that it was a good one to use, then suddenly they started inserting songs from other cultures. I started to say something to the fact that the music to be used would come from the Black Community, as that is what we had to offer, but I quickly realized that all that I would hear would be excuses as to why we needed to use this other music. Come the day of the event, the person criticized the use of the one Black song that I was able to have added. None of the other songs from the other cultures where criticized for being use, just the one from the Black Community was.

 But that's not the only time that I have had that type of experience in this diocese. In the congregation that I am in, I asked that we sing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” each Sunday during Black History Month. I was told that it didn't fit in with any of the lessons during that month. I explained that at the congregation that I was at previously, we used it. Another excuse then came. A few years later I asked again. This time I was told this time that we could sing it after service was done. In other words, we as a congregation could not sing it together during a service, as the pastor knew that this would be played after everyone had left. I have found it interesting that when I have talked with others from other congregations, they sing it. I wanted to laugh this year when I was told that it was important that I play the national anthem of another country which some of our members are from because it was that nations Independence day.

 What is it that we as Blacks need to do not to have our culture taken away from us? We are told that we speak “bad English”, but yet they take our language and use it. Soul Food is a Black thing, but others have taken it away from us.

 In a way I also blame the press for this thing with Barack's pastor. I think that PBS is the only one not to take full blame, as they did give him the opportunity to explain himself, and they looked at more of his ministry than any of the other would of. With the program that they did, I saw a human being that is trying to make a huge difference in the world. He came into a congregation of about 87 people and turned it into a place with over 6,000 members. How many of the people who speak bad about him have done that? With the way things are in the Anglican Communion, we aren't doing a thing to try and raise how congregations to that level. The conservatives are spending their time talking about how bad the Episcopal Church is, but yet aren't doing a thing to grow their congregations. Oh they may claim that they are, but if they really were, don't you think that the rest of the Episcopal Churches would be following suit? A couple of years ago, my Bishop was arrested in an act of Civil Disobedience. I think that with his act he managed to bring more people into the Episcopal Church than all fo the conservatives combined.

 I really hope that you all will be willing to take a look at Barack Obama's  pastors interview on PBS (look for the show Journal on there website and you should find it,) and look at it with an open mind. But also remember the saying of Jesus our Lord and Saviour, “Let ye without sin cast the first stone.”

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