OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
2011 INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF PEOPLE OF AFRICAN DESCENT
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Against All Odds
President Barack Obama
- Against all odds, President Barack Obama has held office for four years in the United States.
- Against all odds, Barack Obama won the Presidency of the United States in 2008.
- Against all odds, Barack Obama was a Senator in the State of Illinois.
On this 16th day of January 2012, while we celebrate the accomplishments of Reverend Martin Luther King, whom people say is the greatest American we’ve produced, we ponder the venom with which people speak about President Barack Obama, who brought to America the first balanced state of mind this country has ever seen. ~ JC
What’s up with Occupy Wall Street?
Excerpts from an article published on Truthout.com on October 10, 2011
Why the Elites Are in Trouble
by: Chris Hedges, Truthdig
On Leaders
“There was a woman [in the medics unit]. This guy was pretending to be a reporter. The first question he asks is, ‘Who’s the leader?’ She goes, ‘I’m the leader.’ And he says, ‘Oh yeah, what are you in charge of?’ She says, ‘I’m in a charge of everything.’ He says, ‘Oh yeah? What’s your title?’ She says ‘God.’ ”
On Groups
At 9:30 they break into work groups:
- Contingency group had to decide what to do if they kick us out.
- Bedding group was to find cardboard for people to sleep on.
- Arts and culture group
- Food group was going dumpster diving.
- Direct action committee plans for direct, visible action like marches.
- Security team against the cops that might hurt us. They keep people awake in shifts.
- Work groups make logistical decisions.
- General assembly makes large policy decisions.
- Internet work group - The comments are moderated on the live stream. There are moderators who remove racist comments, comments that say ‘I hate cops’ or ‘Kill cops.’ They remove irrelevant comments that have nothing to do with the movement.
- Open source technology working
- Media working group
- Welcome working group for new arrivals
- Sanitation working group go around the park on skateboards as they carry brooms.
- Legal working group with lawyers.
- Events working group
- Education working group
- Medics
- Facilitation working group, which trains new facilitators for the general assembly meetings
- Public relations working group
- Outreach working group for like-minded communities as well as the general public.
Caucuses
- Speak Easy caucus for a broad spectrum of individuals from female-bodied people who identify as women to male-bodied people who are not traditionally masculine.
- People of color Caucus
On Meetings
The heart of the protest is the two daily meetings in the morning and evening, which last about two hours, start with a review of process, which is open to change and improvement, so people are clear about how the assembly works. Those who would like to speak raise their hand and get on “stack.” The stack keeper writes down your name or some signifier for you. A lot of white men raise their hands. So, anyone who is not apparently a white man gets to jump stack. The stack keeper makes note of the fact that the person who put their hand up was not a white man and arranges the list so that it’s not dominated by white men. People don’t get called up in the same order as they raise their hand.
Who’s running the show?
There’s two co-facilitators, a stack keeper, a timekeeper, a vibes-person making sure that people are feeling OK, that people’s voices aren’t getting stomped on, and then if someone’s being really disruptive, the vibes-person deals with them.
There’s a note-taker.
We keep the facilitation team one man, one woman, or one female-bodied person, one male-bodied person. When you facilitate multiple times it’s rough on your brain. You end up having a lot of criticism thrown your way. You need to keep the facilitators rotating as much as possible. It’s a priority to have a strong facilitation group.
The most important rule adopted by the protesters is nonviolence and nonaggression against the police, no matter how brutal the police become.
“The cops, I think, maced those women in the face and expected the men and women around them to start a riot,” Ketchup said. “They want a riot. They can deal with a riot. They cannot deal with nonviolent protesters with cameras.”
Occupy Elections, With a Simple Message
Occupy Wall Street protesters stage a demonstration at Foley Square in New York City, November 17, 2011. (Photo: Richard Perry / The New York Times)
George Lakoff, Truthout | Op-Ed
28 November 2011
What’s next? That’s the question being asked as cities close down Occupy encampments and winter approaches.
The answer is simple. Just as the Tea Party gained power, the Occupy movement can. The Occupy movement has raised awareness of a great many of America’s real issues and has organized supporters across the country. Next comes electoral power. Wall Street exerts its force through the money that buys elections and elected officials. But ultimately, the outcome of elections depends on people willing to take to the streets – registering voters, knocking on doors, distributing information, speaking in local venues. The way to change the nation is to occupy elections. [Read more]
The Irony of Thanksgiving
There may be a little more history about the Wampanoag Tribe that you need to know: http://mashpeewampanoagtribe.com/timeline.html
It’s not so warm and fuzzy a history. As the great grand daughter of a Cherokee Indian Chief, I find the celebration of Thanksgiving a little unsettling, since it is meant to present the history of Europeans and Native Americans in a delightfully neighborly light, when Europeans ravaged the lands of indigenous people to make it their own. Surely, Caribbean people understand this activity but it may not be completely the same, since Africans did not inhabit the Caribbean but were shipped their by slave traders. We really need to see colonialism in its true light.
1616 Traders from Europe bring yellow fever to Wampanoag territory. The geographical area affected was all of the 69 tribes of the Wampanoag Nation from present day Provincetown, MA to Narragansett Bay; the boundary of the Wampanoag and Narragansett Nations. Fully two thirds of the entire Wampanoag Nation (estimated at 45,000) die. This also represents a loss of as many speakers of the language. Hardest hit are Elders and small children; critical age groups for any language. European disease would also place in jeopardy each tribes ability to sustain a population for defense of its territory and culture.
1655 Harvard Indian College opens for the purpose of educating Indian youth. Harvard was in financial troubles during this time and felt that if they opened an Indian College they could secure more funding from those benefactors in England. If the Wampanoag population were assimilated to Christianity and moved away from traditional life, the ease with which land could be appropriated would prove profitable.
1742 The Mashpee Wampanoag send a petition for help to the Commissioners of Boston requesting assistance with a myriad of grievances; being beaten by English when fishing or hunting their own Wampanoag territory, having the White neighbors lease out their lands without their permission, the English selling Wampanoag land to one another without the consent of the tribe, of ‘These English neighbors of ours being in our trees, wood, and marsh without our consent’.This document goes on to remind the Commissioners that Mashpee had been legally set aside for Wampanoag only as long as Wampanoag Indians lived. The petition further states: ‘Truly we think it is this way; that soon we poor Indians here in this Indian place of Mashpee soon shall have no place to live together with these poor children of ours’. The problems with the document were that it was written in Wôpanâôt8âôk and the Commissioners most assuredly did not speak the language. Even if there was a translator the Mashpees were asking the very same group of English oppressors to protect them from that oppression.
1763 The State of MA appoints two White overseers to conduct all business pertaining to the Mashpee Wampanoag on behalf of the tribe. The tribe is stripped of the right to negotiate the lease of any of its’ lands or have control over any of the natural resources thereon. Letters of complaint in regard to the overseers misappropriation of tribal resources and funds go unanswered by the State.
1776 Wampanoag men are held in debtor’s jail in Barnstable. Massachusetts offered early release to Wampanoag men provided they agree to fight in the Revolutionary War.
1776 Early release of Wampanoag prisoners rescinded due to the fact that the prisoners, once free, typically ‘take to the woods and are not seen again’.
1776 Of those Wampanoag that do go to war; a census shows that less than ten return home to Mashpee. This leaves a majority of families in the tribe with widows and few men.
1833 The tribe catches Whites poaching wood from within its boarders and dumps the cartload of wood over and runs the poachers off of their land. News stories hit papers all over the State of Massachusetts declaring, ‘Wood Lot Riot’ and ‘Indians in Revolt’. [Source]
Read more here:
I AM WOMAN!
I Am Mighty Woman
Earth is my domain
For eons I have been here
The Masters know my name
I Am here to heal you
Guiding you to Joy
Peace, my Divine Purpose
Light and Love do I employ
~ Diva JC
I AM AUTHOR
In my twenties, thirties and forties, I held authors in the highest esteem. I wondered why there were so many books. In my fifties, I began to understand that everyone has a story to tell and that’s why there are so many books. Some people have multiple stories to tell, thus, increasing the size of the Universal Library.
In 2003, I moved from Florida to Georgia and, in 2004, I began compiling my poetry and memoirs. For 13 months, I wrote my first book IN PURSUIT OF A MELODY, which includes my memoirs, photographs, poetry, songs and two lectures. That book was published at TRAFFORD in Canada.
In 2006, I spent 5 months in China and Japan. When I returned to Georgia, I knew it was not the place for me, so I returned to South Florida. By the end of 2007, I was teaching 8th grade Music at a charter school. But I was laid off in January 2008. I received unemployment compensation for the remainder of the year and discovered www.lulu.com online.
***
I republished my first book there and broke out the poetry into three books; the song book; Amazing Musiwomen; and So, You Want To Be A Singer?
Today, all of my books are available in soft and hard cover format, as well as ebooks. This is my book store.
***
It has been my supreme pleasure to teach children about the Amazing Musicwomen who brought blues and jazz music to the forefront of American society and abroad! Also, I have taught students about the intricacies of the Music Business.
Through a grant from BankAtlantic to my non-profit organization, I was able to visit summer camps at three elementary schools to present my children’s songs.
Many of my songs have been recorded on CDs by my group Jazz Hotline and by other artists like Freddie Hubbard and Sandy Patton. My CDs are available at www.cdbaby.com/jcartwright and www.cdbaby.com/jcartwright2
I’ve taught others how to write and publish their books:
Jackie Rodriguez and Joshua Kassar
Finally, I’ve instituted a blog for a new project featuring my book about my spiritual journey: www.divineconnectionchurch.com
Words and Writers
Joan Cartwright, Author
I’ve added a tab specifically for my friends and associates who spend their time writing books. I know the awe with which I held authors before I became one and, now that I’ve published 9 books, I am still in awe of those who write fiction as well as non-fiction.
Visit the Author tab for more information.
Listen to THE KNOWLEDGE TOUR interviews
Enjoy!
Visit my friends’ blogs:
http://legacyontheland.wordpress.com/
Words of Wisdom
A bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff’s
Remember, not only did you contribute to Social Security but your employer did too. It totaled 15% of your income before taxes. If you averaged only $30K over your working life, that’s close to $220,500.
If you calculate the future value of $4,500 per year (yours & your employer’s contribution) at a simple 5% (less than what the government pays on the money that it borrows), after 49 years of working you’d have $892,919.98.
If you took out only 3% per year, you’d receive $26,787.60 per year and it would last better than 30 years (until you’re 95, if you retire at age 65) and that’s with no interest paid on that final amount on deposit!
If you bought an annuity and it paid 4% per year, you’d have a lifetime income of $2,976.40 per month.
The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madoff ever did.
I paid cash for my social security insurance!!!!
Just because they borrowed the money, doesn’t make my benefits some kind of charity or handout!!
Congressional benefits:
- free healthcare
- outrageous retirement packages
- 67 paid holidays
- three weeks paid vacation
- unlimited paid sick days
Now, that’s welfare, and they have the nerve to call my social security retirement entitlements?
We’re “broke” and can’t help our own Seniors, Veterans, Orphans, Homeless, etc.!
In the last months we have provided aid to Haiti , Chile , and Turkey, and now Pakistan, home of Bin Laden. Literally, BILLIONS of DOLLARS!!!
Our retired seniors living on a ‘fixed income’ receive no aid nor do they get any breaks, while our government and religious organizations pour Hundreds of Billions of $$$$$$’s and Tons of Food into Foreign Countries!
They call Social Security and Medicare an entitlement even though most of us have been paying for it all of our working lives and, now, when it’s time for us to collect, the government is running out of money?
Why did the government borrow from it in the first place?
Imagine if the *GOVERNMENT* gave ‘US’ the same support they give to other countries. Sad isn’t it?
99% of people won’t have the guts to forward this.
I’m one of the 1% — I Just Did!
You didn’t get mad!
After The 8 Years Of The Bush/Cheney Disaster, Now You Get Mad?
You didn’t get mad when the Supreme Court stopped a legal recount and appointed a President.
You didn’t get mad when Cheney allowed Energy company officials to dictate Energy policy and push us to invade Iraq.
You didn’t get mad when a covert CIA operative got outed. You didn’t get mad when the Patriot Act got passed.
You didn’t get mad when we illegally invaded a country that posed no threat to us.
You didn’t get mad when we spent over 800 billion (and counting) on said illegal war.
You didn’t get mad when Bush borrowed more money from foreign sources than the previous 42 Presidents combined.
You didn’t get mad when over 10 billion dollars in cash just disappeared in Iraq.
You didn’t get mad when you found out we were torturing people.
You didn’t get mad when Bush embraced trade and outsourcing policies that shipped 6 million American jobs out of the country.
You didn’t get mad when the government was illegally wiretapping Americans.
You didn’t get mad when we didn’t catch Bin Laden.
You didn’t get mad when Bush rang up 10 trillion dollars in combined budget and current account deficits.
You didn’t get mad when you saw the horrible conditions at Walter Reed.
You didn’t get mad when we let a major US city, New Orleans, drown.
You didn’t get mad when we gave people who had more money than they could spend, the filthy rich, over a trillion dollars in tax breaks.
You didn’t get mad with the worst 8 years of job creations in several decades.
You didn’t get mad when over 200,000 US Citizens lost their lives because they had no health insurance.
You didn’t get mad when lack of oversight and regulations from the Bush Administration caused US Citizens to lose 12 trillion dollars in investments, retirement, and home values.
You finally got mad when a black man was elected President and decided that people in America deserved the right to see a doctor if they are sick.
Yes, illegal wars, lies, corruption, torture, job losses by the millions, stealing your tax dollars to make the rich richer, and the worst economic disaster since 1929 are all okay with you, but helping fellow Americans who are sick.
Oh, Hell No!!
Write your Words down
What I’ve learned is that WORDS really do have power, if you use them in a determined way. Words of appreciation open up new opportunities for blessings to pour in. Words of encouragement open others up to the greatest within themselves. Words are powerful and, when you write down what your fondest dreams are, often, you’ll return to the place where you wrote them to find that they came true.
Today, I’m writing WORDS about what I want to see manifest in my life and the lives of my loved ones:
- All my debts are paid by money earned from book sales, gigs and lectures.
- My PhD at NCU is completed with honors and I’m teaching, making $5,000 a month.
- My father lives well into his hundreds. My best friend, Bess is cancer-free, and my brother, Carlton is happy.
- My children are living successful and fruitful lives.
- Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. is fully funded with seven figures in the bank account; and the Lauderhill-Fiuggi Sister Cities is completed; the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center is built; and www.saaff.net is up and running and into it’s 3rd Annual event.
Uriah T. Cartwright (92)
Michael + UTC
Mimi + Jay (7) www.mimijohnson.net
Carlton G. Cartwright, Age 2 www.tccipbc.org
Joan + Bess (1993)
