Black Men will continue to be highly complex individuals whose lives defy a fixed narrative. Enigmas - every one of us, and we know it...
"Soul Train" creator Don Cornelius was found dead at his Sherman Oaks on home Wednesday morning.
Law enforcement sources said police arrived at Cornelius' home around 4 a.m. He apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case was ongoing.Source
For a very long time, some thought it was just a nasty rumor that actor Morgan Freeman was dating his 27-year old step-granddaughter, E’Dena. It has been reported by various media outlets that the two have maintained a 10-year relationship, which says that they started dating when she was just 17-years old.
Yahoo reported back in 2009 that Freeman was planning to marry the woman and that once Freeman’s wife found out about the affair, that’s when he filed for divorce. Source
Every Black person in America knows these are times to avoid getting caught up in criminal situations. It's hard to see clearly after so much has happened to Black people in America. Whether Davis was guilty or not, what has happened to Black America still goes without apology from slavery to present. The justice system is broken by its own admission. Outrage cannot be measured solely on this incident. Reincarnation is the Buddhist response to lethal injustices. If innocent the rebirth will be noble. If not then the rebirth will be according to the situation known only to the person who died. Either way the human being is left to ponder the truth within his or her heart rather than in the public media. Death is coming for all of us. We can neither chose the time nor means. Therefore, we must all prepare for the unpredictable inevitable. Now is the time for good works, noble thoughts, and service to humanity.
Fussin' and fightin' among Black men has never been a pretty sight. In fact, it grieves people of all persuasions to see potential uplift dashed about the rocks of harsh speech and stern attitudes towards one another. This is especially true among powerful black men who've achieved and been honored with the privilege of representing masses on the global stage.
Dr. Cornel West and President Obama recently shared their minds publicly in a way that exposed their disposition under stress of leadership and responsibility. Black men are only in the first generation of high profile professorship and presidential responsibilities. We have much to learn about the humility necessary to lead effectively at the global level. High profile public discourse is no place for a street corner verbal thrashing. The world doesn't work that way.
It really doesn't matter who's right. The fact is core issues can easily be lost in the rancor or verbal and political disrespect openly expressed as intense personal opinions. The question of who is free is easily answered in such circumstances. Both parties are equally trapped within the context of brow-beating arrogance that serve little purpose for themselves and others.
One wonders whether recent interactions between Cornel West and President Obama stem from deep contemplation of appropriate conduct in public discourse. According to the article below each man feels he's serving the people, yet fail to recognize their own dignity is barely maintained in the way they speak of one another.
Both men have legitimate points to argue and perhaps people will benefit from the discourse. Sides will certainly be taken. But who'll save these two titans from self-demeaning anger and frustration?
The Obama Deception: Why Cornel West Went Ballistic:
Obama and West’s last personal contact took place a year ago at a gathering of the Urban League when, he says, Obama “cussed me out.” Obama, after his address, which promoted his administration’s championing of charter schools, approached West, who was seated in the front row. “He makes a bee line to me right after the talk, in front of everybody,” West says. “He just lets me have it. He says, ‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself, saying I’m not a progressive. Is that the best you can do? Who do you think you are?’ I smiled. I shook his hand. And a sister hollered in the back, ‘You can’t talk to professor West. That’s Dr. Cornel West. Who do you think you are?’ You can go to jail talking to the president like that. You got to watch yourself. I wanted to slap him on the side of his head. “It was so disrespectful,” he went on, “that’s what I didn’t like. I’d already been called, along with all [other] leftists, a “F’ing retard” by Rahm Emanuel because we had critiques of the president.”
“I think my dear brother Barack Obama has a certain fear of free black men,” West says. “It’s understandable. As a young brother who grows up in a white context, brilliant African father, he’s always had to fear being a white man with black skin. All he has known culturally is white. He is just as human as I am, but that is his cultural formation. When he meets an independent black brother, it is frightening. And that’s true for a white brother. When you get a white brother who meets a free, independent black man, they got to be mature to really embrace fully what the brother is saying to them. It’s a tension, given the history. It can be overcome. Obama, coming out of Kansas influence, white, loving grandparents, coming out of Hawaii and Indonesia, when he meets these independent black folk who have a history of slavery, Jim Crow, Jane Crow and so on, he is very apprehensive. He has a certain rootlessness, a deracination. It is understandable." Article
Personally, I'd rather not see these two sitting down having a beer at the White House. Self restraint would be sufficient. There's got to be a better way to handle their differences given the amount of intellectual power and resources on the table between them. Neither is Buddhist nor do they need to be. Still, there is something to be appreciated in the Buddhist approach to Black masculinity. Refraining from harsh speech is a Buddhist tenet taken seriously for obvious reasons.
I'm raising sons in Hawaii. Dr. West has a point about the president's lack of contact with "up by my bootstraps," black men during his up bringing in 1970's Hawaii. I was raised in the heart of a urban black ghetto and find nothing particularly noble about that experience either.
The fact is human beings must evolve regardless of where they're raised. The vision must be forward. Thank goodness we're raised differently. Our diversity is America's greatest national defense asset. I think growing up itself is more important than origins. Every person must grow to see and sometimes endure his or her faults in a way that avoids harming others. Each of us must make sure our worst enemy when we become stressed is not an unwillingness to address our negative disposition.
I'm sure in the final analysis cooler heads will prevail. The people will be served because ultimately they serve themselves by deciphering the subtext of leader's thoughts and actions. Their is never a reason to lose hope. In the meantime perhaps these brothers can contemplate the goals they seek (breathe...), and work more closely to achieve them.
. We all know the Black Church has been a stable force of spiritual sanctity and guidance for African Americans since slavery. Although many of us have so called, "left the church," the fact still remains a majority of African Americans hold steadfast their conviction to God and Biblical teachings.
My family was evangelized by its English slave owners. Centuries later, I was baptized Episcopal (Church of England) and later participated in Catholic, AME, and Church of God and Christ denominations. The reason I became a practitioner of Buddhism had little to do with goings on in the church. The allure of Buddhism for me was its promise of liberation from dogma, doctrines, and dilemmas that had nothing to do my personal spiritual path. Still, I and many others outside the Christian fold have a little church in us. The Five Blind Boys', "Amazing Grace," Shirley Ceasar's, "No Charge," James Cleveland, "No Cross, No Crown," and so on are as great an inspiration for human patience, tolerance, resilience, and redemption as any Buddhist sutra or tantra. Even in my remote spiritual outpost of Lamaism the status of the Black Church retains a deeply personal significance at the core of my being. My heart goes out to all those who devotedly remain in the pews and now suffer as a result of yet another emerging pulpit controversy.
Most of us know there's something familiar about concerns raised over New Birth Missionary Baptist Church's pastor, Bishop Eddie Long. Infidelities, presence of the gay community in church leadership, inappropriate trysts, and so on have always fueled gossip as part of church culture and legacy. Perhaps recently what used to get by with a wink and nod has become spectacle in print and TV news media.
The problems in the church regarding conflict of sexual practice versus doctrinal dictate are more pervasive than most imagine; occurring notably in the pulpit as well as the pews by the church's own admission.
As loving members of the Black community we, Buddhist men and meditators, can express a sincerity of compassionate concern for atonement among our Christian brethren despite their view of us as outside those heaven bound. We can and perhaps must honor voices of the innocent, unjustly harmed, and spiritually maligned. Their voices are our voices. they are our neighbors, family, friends, colleagues, and sometimes our cultural representatives.
“He makes a bee line to me right after the talk, in front of everybody,” West says. “He just lets me have it. He says, ‘You ought to be ashamed of yourself, saying I’m not a progressive. Is that the best you can do? Who do you think you are?’ I smiled. I shook his hand. And a sister hollered in the back, ‘You can’t talk to professor West. That’s Dr. Cornel West. Who do you think you are?’ You can go to jail talking to the president like that. You got to watch yourself. I wanted to slap him on the side of his head.
