“You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” -Malcolm X
Quote Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
19•13
“Malcolm was a firm believer in the value and importance of our heritage. He believed that we have valuable and distinct cultural traditions which need to be institutionalized so that they can be passed on to our heirs.” -Betty Shabazz
Book Excerpt Of The Week: Part 2, “The Spirituality of Success” By: Vincent Roazzi
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
17•13
“Personal energy limitations or personal energy use not only refers to our physical energy, but also applies to our mental and spiritual energy.
Thomas Edison was once ridiculed for not being able to remember his own phone number. His reply was why should he clutter his mind with facts that could be easily accessed in a book. For our purpose, I would like to expand that answer to why should a person use his mental energy to remember an unimportant fact when he can use that mental energy to think.
We can chose to use our mind as a storehouse of knowledge, or we can use it to think. Napoleon Hill wrote the first major breakthrough to success in a book entitled, ‘Think and Grow Rich.’ He didn’t say, ‘work hard and grow rich’ or ‘do and grow rich.’ He specifically chose the word ‘think’ because it’s what most people didn’t do. They spend their mental energy engaging in activities that don’t help to bring them closer to their dreams. Worry, fear, other people’s opinions, and a host of other mind drains rob them of success; rob them of creative energy their mind can use to ensure success.
What are the drains on your mental energy? How do you rationalize not being focused on your dream? How do you, or the people around you, undermine your attempts at becoming successful- whether purposely or unconsciously? When will you be ready to commit all of your energy to your dream? These are the questions that result in success.” -From, “The Spirituality of Success” By: Vincent Roazzi
Book Excerpt Of The Week: Part 1, “The Spirituality of Success” By: Vincent Roazzi
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
17•13
“There are no gurus, genies, or fairy godmothers that can touch you with a wand and change your life. There is no magic that I, or anyone else, can perform that will give you the success you desire. The Wizard of Oz is a metaphor for those of us ‘searching’ for success. Like Dorothy, we all engage in elaborate searches for something that was under our noses all the time.
Becoming successful is like coming home. That which you seek has been in your possession all the while. You are the magic! You are success!…Like Dorothy, you have had the power all the time- you only lack the knowledge of that power, but it’s there. It’s hidden under all the layers of conditioning and programming that you’ve accumulated over the years.” -From, “The Spirituality of Success” By: Vincent Roazzi
TODAY IS BUY BLACK FRIDAY
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
17•13
PLEASE PASS THIS ON! (EACH ONE TEACH ONE OR TWO!) THIS IS PHASE ONE ON HOW WE CAN HELP TO STRENGTHEN & EMPOWER OUR COMMUNITY:
The 2008 not guilty verdict in the Sean Bell case evoked outrage, emotion, and debate. It is not an anomaly that the police officers involved in the Sean Bell slaying were acquitted of all charges on all counts in State Supreme Court. I could run out of ink printing the names of people who have been victimized by the inaptly named justice system.
The American justice system has been especially terroristic towards the African American community. Many community members can cite historic and personal accounts to prove this. Therefore, it would be foolhardy (at the least) to turn to a system that has methodically oppressed us, and request that they free us. We can only free ourselves through extreme discipline and intelligent planning.
As a community we have been too compliant with leaders who organize ineffective, delayed reactions. The only strategy that can save us in this last hour is one that calls for a collective code of conduct that will be conducive to improving the conditions of our community, and shifting the paradigm of how we are treated by outside entities. The first step of this code of conduct should be based on economics.
The old adage of “money talks,” still reigns true in the new millennium. Any political scientist worth his or her library card will tell you that: “Economic powerlessness equals political powerlessness,” and conversely “economic power equals political power.” This means that if we continue to allow our wealth to be extracted from our community, we will remain impotent.
The power of the collective “Black Dollar” is often discussed. However, that power has been left unchanneled. Today is the day to change that. A one-time boycott is not going to bring long-term change and respect to our community. Our community has launched boycotts before. Our success and ascension will be based on what we consistently do. For this reason, we should initiate “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS.”
BUY BLACK FRIDAYS is a small step towards our community acquiring power via controlling our economics. Every Friday, people who acknowledge the injustice and oppression that the African American community has been consistently subjected to should do one of the following:
Option #1: Spend $0 on Friday
Option #2: Spend no more than $10 on Friday
Option #3: Only Shop at Black Businesses on Friday
[PLEASE NOTE THAT THE ABOVE OPTIONS CAN & SHOULD BE EXERCISED ON A DAILY BASIS. However, we can all at the very least focus on Fridays. This way we can take a collective stand and build our collective discipline. Please remember that this is only Phase 1!].
To the people who are tempted to label “BUY BLACK FRIDAYS” as racist, I say this: In the big scheme of things, this is about right & wrong, justice & injustice. The African American community is a strong, proud community that has endured the brunt of America’s iron fist. We must stop the pounding. I feel that any fair-minded individual will concur, and join in.
ANY business that is privileged to enjoy the support of the African American community MUST return that support.
I thank you in advance for your effort and dedication.
-Elsie Law AKA Starface
Black History Fact Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
17•13
Cynthia McKinney is the first African American woman to represent Georgia in the House of Representatives.
Quote Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
17•13
“I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or rat in a trap.” -Ida B. Wells
Black History Fact Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
16•13
Ernie Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman trophy. He was also the first African American football player to be taken first overall in the NFL Draft. Ernie Davis died at the age of 23, and never got to play in a professional football game. However, his talent and accomplishments were so admirable, the Cleveland Browns retired his number after his death.
Quote Of The Day
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
16•13
“The only lifelong, reliable motivations are those that come from within, and one of the strongest of those is the joy and pride that grow from knowing that you’ve just done something as well as you can do it.” -Lloyd Dobens
Definitions Better Than Webster’s: Drapetomania
Written By: Elsie Law
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May•
15•13
DRAPETOMANIA:
According to Wikipedia, “Drapetomania was a supposed mental illness described by American physician Samuel A. Cartwright in 1851 that caused black slaves to flee captivity. Today, drapetomania is considered an example of pseudoscience, and part of the edifice of scientific racism. The term derives from the Greek δραπετης (drapetes, ‘a runaway [slave]’) + μανια (mania, ‘madness, frenzy’).
Cartwright described the disorder- which, he said, was ‘unknown to our medical authorities, although its diagnostic symptom, the absconding from service, is well known to our planters and overseers’- in a paper delivered before the Medical Association of Louisiana that was widely reprinted. He stated that the malady was a consequence of masters who ‘made themselves too familiar with [slaves], treating them as equals.’
In Diseases and Peculiarities of the Negro Race, Cartwright writes that the Bible calls for the slave to be submissive to his master, and by doing so, the slave will have no desire to run away. In addition to identifying drapetomania, Cartwright prescribed a remedy to cure the malady. His feeling was that with ‘proper medical advice, strictly followed, this troublesome practice that many Negroes have of running away can be almost entirely prevented.’ In the case of slaves ‘sulky and dissatisfied without cause’- a warning sign of imminent flight- Cartwright prescribed ‘whipping the devil out of them’ as a ‘preventative measure.'”
