The Old American Reverse Play

Watch out America. Or, it is going to happen to you again. I first learned about the reverse play back in my old days of the Vallejo Pop Warner football. What makes the reverse play work well is when the offense convinces the defense, the ball is going one way. The longer the offense holds the ball, the more it convinces the defense that the ball is heading in a particular direction. Then suddenly, the offense pitches the ball to a player going the opposite direction. If run correctly, the defense has all of its momentum going the wrong way. I also learned that a disciplined defense should pursue, by staying in their lanes. This means that the backside defensive end pursues under control, watching for something coming back at him. People, here's what all of this shit is really about. There are billions, if not close to a trillion dollars in oil deals with Russia, waiting to be had. If I were a money greedy person in power, I would get the country protesting and fighting over emotional and sensitive aspects of American life. Then, as they are putting all of their energies into protesting those aspects of American life, I would run a reverse play and sneak my oil deal through the cracks. By the time America finds out about my deal, the money is hidden in my offshore bank account. Then I would say, America, you can have my powerful position, because I and my family are now financially set for generations to come. And for those of you who put me in this position, I'm sorry. Well, no I'm not. My reverse play is, the art of the deal. As people of color and especially a Black people living in America, you either learn to recognize the old reverse play or you will spend each and every day of your life wondering what the hell just happened to you. Watching for the reverse is a way of life for most people of color. As we watch Trump we see exactly what he is doing. However, having no power in this country, means there is nothing we can do about it. It's like what we had to do with former President Obama. We knew he wasn't going to do much for Black people and people of color. We just didn't want him to get into the White House and prove the racist right, in regards to our intelligence. And just for the record, he and the entire first family did a great job of showing intelligence, dignity and grace, under extreme racism and pressure. Watching White America deal with the reverse play is very interesting. White America isn't used to being lied to in this manner. Here's what I mean by "in this manner". It is one thing to lie to a person or even a group of people. Most of us, when people lie, we do it for the purpose of getting something we want. Or, we lie to keep from getting something we do not want. The truth is hidden, unless the person lying is a bad liar. When people find out they have been lied to, they have options in regards to how they will handle the lie they're been told. Let's call this the "every day lie". Everyone has dealt or will deal with the "every day lie". Black America and other people of color have dealt with the "other lie", since the beginning of America. The "other lie" has been defined as: We're going to lie to you. You're going to know we're lying to you. We're going to know you know we're lying to you, but we don't care that you know we're lying to you. Here's what happens when people of color get educated. For me it's one of the harsh realities of becoming educated. You're going to realize that there's nothing you can do about us lying to you. You're going to realize that we're going to lie to you forever. No one will believe you when you complain about us lying to you. In fact we're lying to them too, but they don't notice the lie, because we got them to believe they have it better than you because, at least they're not a person of color. We lie because we can't have you knowing about your real history or abilities. By the way we hate that movie 'Hidden Figures'. Now, you're going to get back into physics and science. Shit! Again, as people of color we've been lied to so much that most of us see it coming a hundred miles away. Again, I'm not writing after the fact. Go read the pieces I wrote before the election. Now, the rest of America is being subjected to the "the other lie". Like I said earlier, people of color have been dealing with "the other lie" since beginning of broken treaties and the promise of forty acres and a mule. Sean Spicer, the press secretary for the White House, looked into the cameras and said the inauguration audience for Trump was the most attended inauguration ever! He was lying and even though there's proof he's lying, he didn't care that he was lying. Kellyanne Conway, who is an advisor to Trump said that Spicer was using "alternative facts". It doesn't take a lot of formal education to know, alternative facts are lies! Trump stood in front of a sacred wall at the CIA Headquarters and told several lies. The most important one was that he loves and respects the CIA. He said this knowing that he has been recorded in other interviews speaking badly about the intelligence community, especially the CIA. In fact, Former CIA Director James Woolsey resigned from Donald Trump’s transition team. I'm guessing it had something to do with Trump's continual disrespectful comments aimed at the CIA. The point I'm making is, there's a reason for these type of lies and it isn't what you think. So, while we're busy pointing out these meaningless lies, the old reverse is coming. He got Hillary Clinton and her followers to concentrate on his lies. Meanwhile he ran the old reverse and caught her and her followers totally off guard. Now he's using the same formula he used while campaigning. And why shouldn't he, it worked! Back then he used lies, hatred and division to get people focusing on emotional issues. This time we're playing a lot of attention to the size of protest crowds. Okay we won the protest size war, while he signed a Planned Parenthood bill. Or, should I say the anti-Planned Parenthood bill? We have proof that former President Obama had more people at his inauguration, while Trump bans seven countries based on their religious beliefs from being able to come to America. Never mind that NONE of the people who have committed terrorist acts in America, including the 911 bombings, are from any of the banned countries! That's like the firemen showing up and spraying water on the house next door, rather than the house that's on fire. So what should we do? I don't care what your political affiliation is. In fact, I'm more disturbed you have a political affiliation. 1. The only way America is going to dig itself out of this hole is her people care more about each other, society and mankind than they do about their political affiliation. There are legislators, senators and congress people who are sitting on the fence watching our country burn. Go to your state capitol and march up and down their steps and hallways. Let them know that you see them and you hear them endorsing bad policies and bad people. Let them know that the people are going to remember and they will have to pay for their lack of action come election time. 2. Stop being victims of the slide-of-hand or reverse play. Know that if something is so out front, that it seems stupid, it probably is and something else is going on. Look for that something else and bring it to the forefront. 3. If you are a sign painter, paint signs. If you are a speaker, speak. If you are a writer, write. If you have a pocket full of money, find a cause and donate to it. Just do something other than go to a protest and listen to celebrities' senseless dribble. 4. After local protest marches, break them down to smaller meeting with real people, coming up with real solutions. 5. Go watch DVDs of the turbulent 50's & 60's protests, marches and demonstrations. Those people were bold. At the grass roots they were organized. The racists bus companies changed their policies when the money stop coming in. 6. Is your movement dedicated enough to find the most effective, but non-violent way, to make an impact? If so, do it. 7. Don't complain if you're not willing to sacrifice something. What would happen to the desire to drill for oil if people took buses or shared rides for one week per month? The need for oil and the price of gas would go down. However, the oil companies know Americans won't do such a thing. Unlike the turbulent 50's & 60's, Americans today aren't willing to be inconvenienced, no matter how important the cause. 8. White people learn facts and don't think your emotions are always a foundation of strength. People of color need you to truly care. But in some areas you must be willing to follow, rather than lead. 9. People of color learn facts and don't always think your emotions are the only foundation of strength. There are White people who truly want to help level the playing field. All White people aren't the enemy.

We Must Un-do Racism; On Purpose

Here's the bottom line about racism in America is. If people are not willing to understand the bottom line, then racism will continue to exist in America. First, people must understand, racism was done on purpose. It was not an accident. Therefore it must be un-done on purpose. Second, people must understand racism is about power. The power of racism can manifest itself on many levels; such as physical, financial, and two of the more powerful tools used to manifest racism, education and media control. Third, people must understand, the effects of racial internalized superiority and racial internalized inferiority complexes, are now ingrained into the sub-consciousness of America. Fourth, people must realize undoing racism can't be accomplished by racist people, or people who merely consider themselves non-racists. Fifth, people must understand undoing racism must can only be accomplished by people who do and live the anti-racist lifestyle. In America we talk a lot about racism. Most people do not want to be seen as racists. However, America does very little to end racism. It has become too acceptable to be a non-racists. A non-racist is an individual, who doesn't actually do racist things. A non-racist is also a person who doesn't prevent racist acts. In order for a movement to really take place in this country, people have to evolve from non-racist to ant-racist. This is the only way to un-do racism. The effects and the end game are totally different when a person goes from non-racist to anti-racist. Here's an example that could have saved this country from a lot of future heartache. In the week and days before this year's presidential inauguration people have protested, rallied and given speeches all over the country. However, all of these things, as the old saying goes, have been a day late and a dollar short. The damage had already been done. In this case I do believe it is better late than never. What would have happened if people would have done these same rallies, protests and speeches all over the country, starting a year before the election? My guess is there would be a different person in the White House. It wasn't as if this country didn't know all the detestable things before the election. The problem was people in this country just kept talking about the horrible things he said and did. The people in this country took no action real action to rid this country of such a detestable person, running for the most powerful position in the world. For some stupid reason we thought just revealing his racist and anti-women comments on television would be enough. Now we know it wasn't. Sadly, exposing someone's evilness on television will never again be enough to stop them. This country has just okayed a horrible change on how we conduct ourselves. Remember how you felt when you first heard about the Columbine shoot? Now, shootings happen on a regular basis. We aren't shocked by them anymore. Well, that has just happened with what is acceptable individual behavior. Individuals acting horribly will get them all the media attention needed to win elections and put money in individuals' pockets. For example look at the Black Sherriff running around acting like an asshole. That's a learned behavior and who do you think he learned it from? He does it to get media attention. This attention will eventually lead to more money or power or both. As a person of color, I was not surprised by the outcome of the election. I've watched racism work in this country all of my life. Racism still exists because we only talk about it. We don't really take action against racism. I can't tell you how many White people have said to me over the years, "my uncle is a great guy. He's racist against Mexicans, but he's still a great guy." No, he isn't! Until we are able to call a racist exactly what they are, racism will continue. To be honest, lately I feel that this country has missed its window of opportunity in regards to ridding ourselves of racism. Racists have evolved. They understand the media better than non-racist. They understand the plight of those who feel down trotted better than non-racists. The only way to defeat racists in this country today is for non-racist to evolve into anti-racists. Stop talking about how bad racism is and actually go do something to stop racism. Organize marches, rallies, protests. Donate money to organizations that fight against racism. Financially help individuals who fight racism. Here's an analogy to show what going from non-racist to anti-racist means. To burn fat, a person has to throw away the picture of an elliptical machine and actually get on and ride an elliptical machine and burn away the fat. To burn away and un-do racism, we must un-do racism with a purposeful plan of action.

We Asked For It: Now Go Tell The Next Generation What We've Done

America has left no doubt now about so many things. Now I can go about my life, no longer wondering or confused about what this country is truly about. I'll start my journey by writing this message for those who voted for a man, who it has been proven, he has lied and cheated many people in business. Maybe that's a good way to prepare for politics. This message is for all those people who, in their infinite wisdom decided not vote at all. This message is for those people who, for some reason couldn't see that one evil was definitely less evil than the other and wasted their vote on someone who had no possible chance of winning. This message is for people couldn't figure out that any vote not for someone who had a chance of winning, was a vote for the worst of two evils. This message is also for a voting system that is antiquated. How many times will the popular vote lose to electoral college, before we understand that this process doesn't give America the will of the people? By the way, I'm not a Johnny-after-the-fact writer. Check my articles before the election and you'll see I warned people how and what could happen. Anyway, that's water under the bridge. Let's take a closer look at what's going on, by going backwards in time. We elected an African American as President and then proceed to treat him like a piece of shit. The republicans made a pact to make sure they'd interfere and obstruct everything he tried to do. This from Andy Barr at Politico, dated October 28, 2010, " John Boehner, the likely speaker if Republicans take the House, offering his plans for Obama’s agenda: “We're going to do everything — and I mean everything we can do — to kill it, stop it, slow it down, whatever we can.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell summed up his plan to National Journal: “The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.” Now isn't that a real sign of American patriotism? We allowed an Idaho Congressman to joke about hunting an African American President like a wolf, by suggesting Idaho issue hunting tags for him. It was reported in The Oklahoman, "A GOP rally attendee shouted a question about "Obama tags" during discussion of Idaho's upcoming wolf hunt, where hunters must purchase an $11.50 tag as a license to kill a wolf. Gubernatorial candidate Rex Rammell responded, "The Obama tags? We'd buy some of those." We allowed South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson to call him a liar during a joint session of congress. By the way, donations to his re-election campaign rose. They filibustered him more than any president. Translation? We allowed public officials all over this country to call his wife names. We allowed a person who cheated many people out of their hard earned money with his fake university. We allowed the same individual to cast a stupid doubt on whether or not our first African American president was even a citizen. The list can go on and on. So, what does it all mean? In a very public and swift way America has taught the next generation, that the office of President of the United States is no longer a position to be respected. Let's pretend you had a daughter. Let's say she's in her twenties. You and her are at a party and this older guy starts a conversation with your daughter. Based on his body language you can tell he's trying to pick up on her. You recognize him. You've heard some of the sick things he has said about and done to other women. Would you leave your daughter with this man? I don't care what color your skin is. I don't care if you're the mom or the dad. I don't care if you're rich or poor. I don't care if you're democrat or republican. The question is simply, would you leave this man in the hands of your daughter? Then, how mad at this country must you be? How mad at women, people of color, gays and even poor Whites must you be, to elect this very same man as president? The list can go on and on. So, what does it all mean? In a very public and swift way America has taught the next generation, that the office of President of the United States doesn't have to respect the people it serves, especially women. I feel sad for anyone, and let's be honest, mostly Whites who lives are so miserable that they think a lying ass man could make good on such wild, oftentimes the most hateful and racist promises. What's even sadder is, these people thinking those promises would somehow make their lives better. The reason I feel sorry for these people isn't because they really thought he was going to build a wall. I feel sorry because these people really believe that a wall is necessary. I'm willing to bet these people didn't think he'd end up putting into power, the very Wall Street people he claimed to have made Hillary Clinton "Crooked Hillary", because she was in the pockets of big business people. The list can go on and on. So, what does it all mean? In a very public and swift way America has taught the next generation, that getting to the office of President of the United States now, only requires that you are able to lie better than your opponent. Several years ago the State of Idaho elected as their State Superintendent of Education, a man named Tom Luna, who had never taught in a classroom and didn't have any educational credentials, worthy of such a position. I mean absolutely none! I remember saying to myself, "Only in good ole' boy, Idaho could this happen." By the time he was done, Idaho high school students ranked dead last, when it came to going from high school to college. Well, I was wrong about it happening only in Idaho. The person who has been nominated to be the Secretary of Education for the entire United States Educational System, is a billionaire who has never taught in the field of education. She doesn't have an advanced degree of any kind, in anything. She never attended public schools. Her children never attended public schools. Other than living in a house, Ben Carson knows nothing about Housing and Urban Development, yet he's the nominee for HUD. He also says that he can't promise that tax dollars for housing won't end up in Trump's pocket, who by trade is in housing. On Factcheck.org Vanessa Schipani wrote, "Scott Pruitt, nominee to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has made some questionable claims related to global warming, fracking and the Clean Power Plan. A self-described “leading advocate against the EPA’s activist agenda,” Pruitt, Oklahoma’s attorney general since 2011, has repeatedly sued the agency and other government entities over environmental rules and regulations, at times in direct cooperation with fossil fuel companies." Now he may be in charge of an organization he doesn't believe in. The very organization that is supposed to keep us safe. The list can go on and on. So, what does it all mean? In a very public and swift way America has taught the next generation, that the office of President of the United States now doesn't believe we need qualified people in important positions. Once upon a time there was scorpion and a turtle. They both needed to get to the other side of a very crossable river. The scorpion asked the turtle. "May I get a ride on your back?" The turtle wasn't having any of that suggestion. He said, "If I allow you to ride on my back you will sting me." The scorpion said, "That would be foolish of me. If I sting you while we're crossing the river I'll drown to." The turtle thought that made sense. "Okay get on," he said. As they were about halfway across the scorpion stung the turtle. The turtle asked, "Why would you do such a thing? Now we're both gonna die." The scorpion looked at the turtle, smiled and said, "That's what I do." So, they both drown in the crossable river. The moral is, some people may see that the rivers of life is crossable for everyone, but they can't help themselves. Instead of allowing everyone to cross freely, they are compelled to do what they've always done. They cause destruction. All I can say is, we asked for this ride. We either didn't vote. We voted for an obvious violator of some many feelings towards humanity. Or, we voted for someone who couldn't possibly win. All we can do now is go tell the next generation what we have done. Then apologize.

The Song of America

America has always had the potential to sing a beautiful melody, but we have never risen high enough to incorporate all the different voices to the mix. It's not a surprise, because along the way we have lost the ability to hear what we're singing, in surround sound or stereo. Our ears have been trained to only hear mono sounds. Therefore we can no longer appreciate the beauty of hearing a song written, orchestrated, conducted and performed to its potential. Many people are hurting in this country. Many of them can't hear the beauty, because the song isn't being played in their lives. Sometimes it's through no fault of their own, that the notes of their lives ring sharp or flat. And if there's enough sharps and flats singing at the same time, the song of America loses its beauty. Soon the altos begin to blame the sopranos and the tenors begin to blame the basses. During these times of social chaos a great conductor will work with each section of the choir to get them in time and in tune. A great conductor wouldn't allow anyone in his choir to blame anyone else, because great conducting brings harmony. A great conductor seeks out the sour notes and puts them on key with the rest of the choir. A bad conductor encourages the sour notes, because it is a decoy. As the members blame each other, the bad conductor sends thieves in the night to steal even more from the choir members. A bad conductor tells the altos that the song would sound better if it were not for the sopranos. And as thieves rob the choir members blind a bad conductor encourages the tenors to confront the basses, to let them know that the song of America would be better if they weren't in the choir. As disharmony fills the room a bad conductor sits back and enjoys the sound of chaos. Soon all of the small conductors communicate to the big conductor, that the song tell left their choirs singing would never produce the beauty of its potential. All around America sour notes ring. And soon the sour notes that once caused choir members to stick their fingers in their ears become the norm. Before anyone realizes the potential of America's beauty is no more. Now everyone in the choir is purposely singing sour notes into the ears of their fellow choir members. And all the songs becomes normally ugly. Whomever sings the loudest and the ugliest begins to win every election, every road rage situation, every student-teacher encounter. The big conductor sits up on a hill with the small conductors and listening to the distant sounds of sour notes, claiming America to be great again. As for the choir, they never figured out that the acoustics were in their world was rigged by the conductors. They never came to understand, that every note they'd ever sing, good or bad, would from this point on, always be sung worst than ever before. Let he or she who have ears hear the meaning of this.