Category Archives: Socio-Cultural Commentary

Section for cultural views, critique, analysis

Resurrecting femininity in black females

January 25, 2014 admin Leave a comment

Dr. Samori Swygert: Resurrecting femininity in our black females

by Dr. Samori Swygert

We’re embarking on the unchartered journey of 2014. Every New Year multitudes of individuals make personal resolutions to improve themselves. I have a vision for black females.

I implore all female readers to be patient, receptive, and not prejudge what I’m saying until they’ve finished reading this article.

I want to see a renaissance of the current state of some of our black females. Female only indicates gender. I want to see more ladies and women. I’ve seen a generation of females that have lost touch with FEMININITY.

“When they reminisce over you my God!”

It’s my opinion that the entertainment industry has sabotaged our young black females. I remember when young ladies carried themselves with such grace, daintiness, and femininity. That encouraged and hearkened black male chivalry and catering. Young ladies walked and talked with elegance. They conducted themselves with impeccable savoir faire, and exuded finesse. These characteristics were like honey to us young men, it crafted an image that men wanted to protect and was worthy of cherishing.

Currently, femininity is on a decline. The lack of both mature parental involvement is responsible for the degradation of our young black girls now. Many parents are not operating in a cohesive manner to convey healthy and proper modeling for our youth. To complicate matters, the entertainment industry has reprogrammed the psyche of our youth.

“Theres a stranger in my house”

Magazines, movies, talk shows, reality shows, social media (youtube, world star, etc), certain books, videos, and music have reversed engineered the wisdom and lessons of the matriarchs of the black family. True womanhood is becoming an archaic lost science. Much of what these forms of entertainment convey are externally focused, and lack the substance that develops the intrinsic quality of today’s females.

It’s difficult to watch more than 5 minutes of reality shows like Love and Hip Hop, Housewives, and Badgirls Club because I see womanhood mutate to disrespectful barbarianism and shallow, ego driven narcissism. There is a difference between being strong/independent and being bossy, loud and dismissive. This is similar to women saying they like a confident man and not a cocky/arrogant/obnoxious man.

Rewarding bad behavior

Society and the entertainment industry perpetuate the incompatibility between the black man and woman. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED BY REWARDING BAD BEHAVIOR. Why are there TV shows that pay black women to be “ratchet”? Why do music videos objectify black women as strippers? Why do record labels encourage and endorse black female artists to basically strip in every video and pay them for raunchy dances and lyrics? Why must black females pose nude on front covers of King, GQ, Esquire, and Source Magazine to be considered “successful” or “empowered”?

Young black girls see the public attention and fanfare these superstars and video vixens receive. They then imitate it, in hopes to garner the same exact attention. The more lewd and provocative their behavior, the higher their pay and fame. This indoctrinates their psyche as the only method and means to get what they want in life. They either have to use s*x or annoy someone into submission via rambunctious, combative, and bellicose behavior. Ultimately, many young girls are either dressing like hookers or resembling street thugs, and that’s not attractive!

The results

The results are devastating. The black man and woman are being rendered socially and romantically incompatible. This is crippling black dating and the institution of marriage. The sanctity of marriage in the black community has been rendered dysfunctional and prone to divorce. We’re carrying hazardous subliminal behaviors that were skillfully implanted (like the movie Inception) in our subconscious into our marriages and households.

Our daughters are assuming the machismo, bravado, and brute character of men like: Sharkiesha, the girl that got an uppercut on the bus, Jerry Springer, or violent brawls on Love and Hip Hop. This bad behavior fuels female incarceration, because many are participating in acts considered criminal. Thus we are also fostering a generation of THE NEW JANE CROW!

A real woman knows how to smoothly mitigate conflicts and disagreements without “showing her a$s”. As a man, it is hard to even treat a female with chivalry, kindness, and respect when they don’t carry themselves in a manner worthy of chivalry. You can’t act like a man and be angry that I don’t treat you like a woman.

When a woman is super-independent (to the extreme), we don’t feel the need to treat, cater, woo, or bend over backwards because we assume you can do everything for yourself. Leave some room and work for us to do, allow us the opportunity to demonstrate our utility. Historically speaking, the only thing we’ve ever really had in America as blacks was that trustful bond between husband, wife, and children.

I envision a retreat back to that graceful paradigm to rediscover feminine allure, attraction, etiquette and beauty. Hollywood I’m not letting you dictate who my Queen is! We need our elder matriarchal leaders to re-install the software into our black females. Ladies you are more than a piece of A$S, you are an ASSET!

I’m just expressing my feelings. I don’t know the innate intricacies of the female psyche. I don’t like finger pointing, it never yields resolution. Thus to be fair to my female readers, I’ll share my open letter I wrote to young black males here: http://www.kulturekritic.com/2013/11/news/samori-swygert-letter-younger-black-brother/

what are your thoughts?

Socio-Cultural Commentary

A new perspective on single parent households

January 24, 2014 admin Leave a comment

Dr. Samori Swygert

We’re having problems dealing with the reality of single parent households. Ultimately, the problem resides with both parents of the children being born and raised in single parent households.

There is a high incidence of diabetes in the African American community, so this writing will not be sugar-coated!

Stop Passing the Buck

The blame goes on both individuals, and it’s time to stop pointing fingers at the other mate, social, and governmental constructs. At the end of the day, individuals choose to get naked, and copulate. Uncle Sam, the police, your job, your parents, your friends, are not in the room cheering you on or helping the insertion and e*********n of the male G*******a into the female vaginal cavity, point blank PERIOD!

We embrace the acceptance of excuses, and blame any and all 3^rd parties, but ourselves. Let’s keep it 1000%.

We acquiesce to our personal, selfish, lustful desires in our hearts, and visions within our minds. Men look at women and see how voluptuous she is from her lips to her hips and how pretty she is in the face. Women do the same analysis of the male physical anatomy. The physical attraction to the opposite sεx’s anatomy captivates our desires, and the allure of smooth, easy, casual conversation seals the deal for most. Sometimes it may go beyond the physical, and it involves the allure of money, and social clout.

Unfortunately, after s*x, and after we’ve explored all our carnal fantasies, our post-orgasmic reality sets in. The post-coital soberness of the situation becomes blatantly apparent. We see that we are incongruent in our emotions, beliefs, expectations, and dreams. Sadly, and frequently, the realization of incompatibility occurs after impregnation.

The things we excused, allowed, permitted, ignored, and settled for to have this physical intimacy now become more pronounced. All these factors become irritants and monkey wrenches in the dreams we’ve had for ourselves. This person now becomes a permanent fixture in our life because of an infinite bond between the children that are conceived. The person may also become a deserter that relieves him or herself from the shared responsibilities and demands of parenting. Frustration develops because we never envisioned this imperfect lifestyle that we are now forced to live with.

The True Problem

Truthfully we can only blame ourselves because we don’t conduct enough thorough, in-depth character assessment of the individuals we choose to share our bodies with. We pay more attention to the physical aesthetics of attraction.

We don’t conduct long term examination of individual’s character. We are not willing to watch a person for a year before being intimate and judge their character because we think it’s abnormal, physically unrealistic, and uncool… NEWSFLASH! BUT WE SPEND 18-21 YEARS IN AND OUT OF CHILD SUPPORT COURT, ARGUMENTS, PAYCHECK GARNISHMENTS, PHYSICAL BATTLES, CUSTODY HEARINGS, FIGHTS BETWEEN NEW SPOUSES, DIMINISHED SAVINGS, and complaining to any receptive ear about our story.

This thinking is illogical but we are sold on this behavior through entertainment, bad advice from elder family, friends, associates, and our own l**t to satisfy our flesh. But satisfaction of the flesh is no longer excusable! I mean people smoke Crack because it feels good, right?

It’s imperative that both black men and women stop blaming each other for single parent households, and hold their horses for a minute. Recognize that there is an attraction, embrace it, and admit it to each other, but EXERCISE SELF CONTROL!! Then examine your mate.

Pre-Sεx Assessment

See if the person possesses the qualities of: patience, honesty, dependability, fidelity, consideration, helpfulness, strong work ethic, productivity, forgiveness, identical ideologies and philosophies on family and religion, how they handle finances, how they cope with stress, and handle disagreements.

However, this takes time, and you can’t obtain this information from 2 and 5 months of sεx and dating. We are skipping the conversation, jumping to consummation, and then holding each other in condemnation. Are we in that much physical heat and impatience that we can’t screen for a year, versus agonizing about child support for 21 years? It takes two to tango. I don’t care how enamored you are with the girl and guy you are dating, if we are to shift this single parent paradigm, we have to change our current irresponsible behavioral patterns. If you don’t believe me, you are not being honest and real with yourself. We are more serious about satisfying our bodies and not the intrinsic criteria of the mate we NEED.

We don’t shop for stocks and investments like this! We examine a company’s performance over an extended period of time, we review their history, we analyze the company’s mission statement, analyze how much the stock yields in interest, we see how it fits into our portfolio! If we can do this for our money, why can’t we do this for our bodies, future children, and family plans?

If this is too restrictive for you, than maybe you should always have a notarized contract relieving individuals of parental responsibility, wear a condom with spermicidal lubricant, while the female is on birth control, during the least fertile time of the month as you use the withdrawal method during e*********n, and take a Plan B after sεx, all at the same dαmn time (you know, like the PORNSTARS do). This is truly sad because we are producing generations of kids out of l**t, not love, and all children should be conceived in love, although this is not the prevailing norm.

Dr. Frances Cress Welsing (author of The Isis Papers) said that “we play games with love, and the jokes end up on our children”.

Talk back to me!!

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Black Apathy

January 24, 2014 admin Leave a comment

Dr. Samori Swygert: Black Apathy

There comes a time when your genuine care and concern brings your greatest frustration and disappointment. Merriam-Webster defines the word; Apathy, as a lack of feeling or emotion. The more time progresses, I find myself getting frequently frustrated with my conversations among people.

I can bring up Jay-Z, Real Housewives, Scandal, Kim Kardashian, Lil Wayne, some new song, some crazy trend/fad, who’s h**o$*xual, what designer dress Beyonce wore to an award show, a controversial statement made by a star, some Hollywood pregnancy, some Hollywood divorce, what Twitter war is happening, the latest Facebook post, and everybody has a comment. Everybody has a soapbox and everybody has a copious amount of dialogue.

However, when I initiate discussion on issues of substance that has a true impact and ramifications on our lives and future, people become mum. I mean people literally go mute, silent, and comatose.

If a tree falls in the forest does anyone hear it?

You can forward an email with an article about the erosion of your civil liberties and privacy, the misuse of your tax dollars, closing of schools, an elementary school kid gunned down, raiding of your pension plans, government fiscal plans that threaten your retirement, HBCUs closing, corporate control of our food supply and environment, the Neo-Colonization of Africa, urban gentrification, incarceration, police abuse, technology phasing out human labor, or something of historical significance that bares relevance to current conditions, and you’re lucky if you get 2 responses.

It’s like as long as problems don’t affect their immediate circumstance, and disturb the norm of their status quo, then they don’t care. The attitude is like: ”as long as my family ain’t shot”, ” well I have a house, and I ain’t homeless”, “well I’m employed so….”, “he must have done something for the police to arrest him so…”, “well I live in America, not Africa..”. This lackadaisical, cavalier, nonchalant disposition that a good portion of our people walk around with kills me.

I’m not stupid

I’m not stupid. I’m fully aware that people have the demands and responsibilities of their daily lives. Many people have the obligations of work, children, spouses, school, caring for aging relatives. The ease of watching TV, movies, listening to music, and just “kicking it”, allows for a release from the stress. I get it, I really do!! However, where is the balance????

Lawrence Fishburne Screams “WAKE UP!!!!”

We can’t continue to ignore real issues. Ignoring issues doesn’t remove them. At some point in time we have to be proactive and intervene on our own welfare, and the welfare of our fellow human beings. Am I my brother’s keeper? Where is our community? Does, “What you have not done for the least of my brothers” ring a bell?

We are in society where a conglomeration of forces are plotting, dictating, choreographing and orchestrating our future, and we are sitting back unconcerned and mute. Corporate, governmental, media, and social Think Tanks are steadily crafting legislation, laws, and policies to be incorporated into our daily lives and a good portion of us are sitting docile.

Moves are being made incrementally, and gradually, but we choose to smirk and laugh at the nuances as if they are nonthreatening. We sit and believe in this imaginary moral code of our politicians when they are bought by high-paying lobbyists. People even prefer that you not mention or talk about these issues with them.

What will it take for us to wake up? Will the government have to take away our right to vote, lock up our spouse, take our kid, ration our food supply, place us on curfew, move us to the far outskirts of town, prohibit our education, dictate who we worship, dictate how many kids we have, force feed us medication, and put us in a uniform before we click our heals and realize we are not in Kansas anymore? This has happened before you know…..slavery in America, Japanese camps in America, Vagrancy Laws, apartheid in South Africa, certain policies in China, Nazis in Germany. History does repeat itself you know. Don’t think this can’t happen!

The atrocities of dictatorship are only prevented by the vigilance, and diligence of the people it seeks to dominate. Currently we show little interest in vigilance and diligence. It hurts when you have to conveniently “dumb down” your conversation to sports, entertainment, gossip, and other BS to get any communication.

So many people got a wake up call when the debt ceiling and fiscal cliff happened. People were furloughed, out of work and crying. People were trying to figure out how to pay mortgage, student loans, buy food, pay car notes, pay child support, and etc. When congress came to a deal and ended the standoff, people receded back to their old ways and habits. Did anybody learn anything from that? Just as easy as that happened, it can happen again at a moments notice.

People please help me ring this bell. Do as they do in church and “nudge your neighbor”, and tell them ” it’s time to wake up”, sleep time is over.

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Fox News contributor calls for arms to combat the “knockout game”

December 2, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

This is a wake up call and word to the wise. This “knockout game” is not a joke! To all the youth and young adults out there that are engaging in this sick psychotic form of entertainment, BEWARE!! We already saw how one individual was shot with a 40 caliber handgun twice! Well the dog whistle has been blown and you have now been marked.

I happened to run across a tweet by a Fox News Contributor, Katie Pavlich, her twitter post said ”With all the knockout “game” news I highly suggest people take @nra‘s Refuse to be a Victim…”. Katie Pavlich is a conservative news pundit with a Twitter following of over 85,000 people.

This program she referenced is sponsored by the NRA, and provides training and instruction on firearm use. This is an indicator that people are not willing to tolerate this type of violent activity, and are ready to take up arms to defend themselves. So, to all my young people, stop playing around with your life because other people are not! Many individuals have been waiting for this type of behavior to have an excuse to execute young black kids. Moreover, this is blatantly wrong, point blank period! This fuels the flame for stand your ground laws.

We saw the sad and unfortunate outcome of Trayvon Martin, and he was just minding his business when George Zimmerman instigated a deadly altercation. However, with the news spreading about youth playing a potentially deadly game for enjoyment, many black youth are setting themselves up to be profiled for execution. Fear alone can make an armed person use a firearm in an unwarranted circumstance just off a perceived threat. This animalistic game makes all innocent and harmless black youth potential targets when walking in a group, just because the word is out.

Approximately 85,000 individuals now have a seed planted in their head about getting armed and prepared for violent encounters.

Parents I encourage you to get this message out to our children, nephews, nieces and other family members to stop this foolishness. If a youth gets killed from participating in this behavior, people are well within their rights to defend themselves at all costs to save their lives. The black community can not and will not rally behind you and vouch for you under these circumstances. I myself am angered at this nonsense.

Okay village, lets develop some more engaging and constructive activities for our youth to participate in to cultivate their interests, develop ideas, and provide opportunities for success, because this is not it!

you can also read this article at: http://www.kulturekritic.com/2013/11/news/dr-samori-swygert-fox-news-contributor-calls-arms-combat-knockout-game/

Reference

http://inagist.com/all/403686528012267520/?utm_source=inagist&utm_medium=rss

http://refuse.nra.org/find-a-seminar.aspx

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Samori Swygert: Letter to my younger black brother

December 2, 2013 admin Leave a comment

My Young Black Brother,

I hope all is well with you. I’m writing you in genuine concern and interest for your well being. You possess tremendous amounts of untapped potential and greatness that you have yet to discover about yourself. I’ve been in many of the same situations you’re going through now, and you are probably going through some I haven’t.

Everything I’m saying to you in this letter is out of love, because some of you never knew your father, or was abandoned by your father. I lost my father at the age of 6, and I understand the adversities in the search for manhood. Your big brother is just taking time out of his schedule to pause and holla at ya. I’m going to tell you some things that no rapper is going to tell you even after 6 full length albums and 100 interviews.

First, do everything you can to save as much money as possible. There will come a time a few years from now when you want or need to purchase, invest, or start your own business. Some point in time you are going to want to marry the woman you dreamt of and start a family with her, and that requires savings. Don’t waste your money on clothes, jewelry, drugs, alcohol and other nonsense. I did that in my teenage to college years and I don’t wear any of those clothes or jewelry now, and I no longer enjoy the effects of liquor and weed we drank and smoked. To be even more honest I lost 2 of my best friends in a drunk driven accident. I know if I was to calculate every dollar spent on fashion trends from highschool to graduate school, I would have tens of thousands of dollars. I’m doing pretty good financially now, but I would have been better if I had listened to my mom telling me to save my money, but I tried to keep up with the trends.

Second, respect your body man. You get one body, there isn’t a remix on life (that’s an AZ quote). Years of alcohol abuse, weed, ecstasy, and all other kind of drugs will take their toll on you. I’ve seen so many friends from college that look older than they are. You also want to be healthy enough to enjoy your family and be healthy enough to be an active parent in your child’s life. You also don’t want to be a financial burden on your family by being chronically ill. Make sure you refrain from unprotected sex. You don’t want to cut your life short by getting a disease that is incurable and physically destructive. Many women won’t tell you they’re infected, and some don’t even know they are infected and will infect you. Buy and use your own condoms, don’t let a female give you a condom. It is good that she is making the right and kind gesture, but you don’t know if the condom is tampered with. If you choose to engage in sex, a real man will get tested and get his girl tested for STDs. Get tested with any female you get serious with, and if she refuses, leave her.

You won’t get along with every girl you date. Some relationships will be all mental, some women will teach you things and change you forever, some will just be pure physical attraction, and you will also have spiritual connections. However, never ever, ever, ever, ever, put your hands on a woman. When you find yourself mad enough to get physical, just leave the relationship alone and quit it. You never want to be in that position. Never stay in a relationship with a woman that will push you to the point of physical force. You will end up in jail and ruin your record, ruin your gentleman reputation, deal with repercussions from the men on her side, and that’s just not love. There is a difference between a disagreement and physical aggression.

Also, if you meet a woman you really love and she loves and respects you, don’t hesitate to say ” I love you”, and express how you feel. A coward holds his feelings and is scared to act on them.

Be careful in these streets man. Society has a perception of young black men and many are looking for any reason to kill you or incarcerate you. Be conscious of your appearance, I know you’re not a thug, but if you fit the look that society sees, they will act on that perception. Les Brown said “how you dress determines how you’re addressed”. Carry yourself respectfully, talk with meaning and purpose. Don’t worry about people saying you are talking proper. One of the coldest and realest men I admire, Malcolm X, commanded the American vocabulary and could out debate anybody.

Having a child is no joke at all. As a young man, I know there are adventures, dreams, and just plain young fun you want to have. When you have a child, that will force you into adulthood, and all those adventures and fun will be put on delay. Babies are expensive man, you have to provide food, housing, daycare, education, and health insurance until that baby is your age and older. I don’t even want to mention the amount money you will spend in child support if things don’t workout between you and the mother of your child. You should not have to experience this at a young age, enjoy your youth. Always think with logic first and not emotions. Remember that all emotions are temporary, but some results are permanent so always think about your decisions. Always,…….. planning is key.

Think about your future and take responsibility for it early. Increase your reading and knowledge about any and everything. School doesn’t stop when 3:30 bell rings. Try reading a book a month, if you read 10 pages a day, that is a 300-310 page book. In 4 years you would have read 48 books that can turn you into a king. At my age I learned that knowledge is everything. The famous quote, “the strong rule the weak, but the wise rule the strong”, is true. Learn new languages and make friends of various ethnicities. Your country is becoming extremely diverse and you need to know more than english, believe your brother, I’m just keepin it 100.

Avoid gangs and violence bro. I know it’s hard because sometime the gang culture is overwhelming but try to stay neutral. You’ll get involved in all types of dangerous, life changing experiences you would never have wanted for yourself. Respect all men that respect you, and protect your elders.

Don’t believe one thing these rappers say. Rappers will have you screaming thug life and gang affiliations but they will not be there to take your bullet, or pay your bail, or keep your prison canteen commissary filled, fight your battles in jail cells and prison showers. Your favorite rapper won’t pay your debt after you try to buy everything you see in their video. Your favorite rapper wont take your STD pills if you catch one trying to imitate s****l acts talked about in their rhymes, or pay your child support. What rapper could have saved Biggie, and Tupac? None of these so called rappers could have saved them, all they could do is throw their name around, and write a song about them.

I used to hate to be told what to do. When I got older that made me say ” take care of your business or your business will take care of you”. The things that you should do, but don’t feel like doing, will having you doing things you never wanted to do for a long time. Make sure you get involved politically when you’re old enough to vote, because you want to have a say in the decisions about how you live your life.

Okay little bro, I’m about to bounce, but I just wanted to holla at you for a second. Be good. I’ll send you another one in a few months to come.

Peace,

Ya Big Bro Samori

You can also read this at: http://www.kulturekritic.com/2013/11/news/samori-swygert-letter-younger-black-brother/

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Michael Vick: “Vicktimized” by America’s double standard?

December 2, 2013 admin Leave a comment

Michael Vick: “Vicktimized” by America’s double standard?

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

Thanksgiving morning I was watching the History Channel while breakfast was being prepared for the family. The channel was airing a marathon of a TV show called Swamp People. I typically view the History Channel for history, but the History Channel has lost its’ taste, and that’s a whole different story. However, the show basically focuses on these different families that navigate up and down bayous, canals, and river banks hunting Alligators and wild hogs with pistols and rifles.

This was reminiscently disturbing to me. I thought about what happened to Michael Vick. Immediately my mind went through the mental analysis of compare and contrast between Michael Vick and Swamp People.

Michael Vick was arrested for dog fighting that resulted in animals being harmed and sometimes shot and killed if severely hurt during a battle. The winning dog was not shot of course. The winning team did earn prize money for owning the victorious canine. Michael Vick was branded and vilified once the word spread throughout the entertainment, sports, and media industry. Ultimately, Michael Vick served time in jail. Since his release, he’s conducted animal rights campaigns across the country to redeem his image, vindicate his name, and to express genuine remorse.

Paradoxically, country families and hunting groups get to parade and gallivant up and down waterways brandishing firearms, and shooting DEFENSELESS alligators in the mouth at point blank range, while yahooing sounds of jubilee on the History Channel!

Michael Vick did jail time, BUT these individuals are rewarded with a nationally syndicated TV show? Some individuals may say, “They’re killing for food delicacy to sell, and Michael Vick did it for entertainment and profit at the loss of an animal’s life”. Okay I hear that, now hear me.

This is where their logical argument breaks down. Alligators and dogs are both animals. Both of these animals were shot and killed. Yes, the alligator may be sold for food, BUT, once you create a TV show where individuals get paid with a TV contract, you’ve just entered the entertainment industry. This may be hunting for the hunters, but it’s considered PAID ENTERTAINMENT TO THE TV VIEWERS, and is obviously a thrill kill to the hunters that scream with victory (just watch and see what I mean). What was initially hunting for food has now morphed into paid exploitation of the murder of innocent animals. If these hunters never caught one animal, would they have a TV show???? The answer is NO!! They are obviously paid for the amount of animals they slaughter for TV ratings.

Let’s go deeper. The History Channel is a cable show, thus viewers have to pay for a cable subscription to order the history channel to view this show. Every person that watches this show does not eat or hunt alligator, but just watch it for entertainment. So how do does this differ from what Michael Vick did?

Vick got paid to engage in an activity that was hazardous to animals and he made money. The individuals in this show are engaging in activity that is hazardous to animals and are profiteering money, receiving endorsements, and royalties from the show airing the shooting of hogs and alligators.

The true ethical decision should be to not air this on TV. These swamp hunters should just make money from selling the food they caught in the markets they serve without a paid televised forum of entertainment. However, this is a quadruple pay day exploitation of animal life because, 1) THEY MAKE MONEY AT THE POINT OF SALE IN THE MARKETPLACE FOR CONSUMPTION OF THEIR MEAT 2) THEY MAKE MONEY FROM THE TV SHOW CONTRACTS 3) THEY MAKE MONEY FROM SELLING SWAMP PEOPLE TV SHOW APPAREL, CLOTHING, AND GEAR 4) THE POTENTIAL FOR THE SELL OF ALLIGATOR HIDE IN THE FASHION INDUSTRY EXISTS. I SPECIFICALLY HEARD ONE OF THE HUNTERS SAY, “I DON’T WANT TO USE MY SHOTGUN BECAUSE IT WILL RUIN THE HIDE”. People don’t eat alligator hide, but they do use alligator hide for belts, purses, and shoes! Why was he so worried about not damaging the hide, unless they are selling it for uses other than the food industry?

They also give subliminal endorsements to the gun industry, because they will brag about the MAKE AND MODEL OF THE TYPE OF RIFLE OR PISTOL they are using to kill the animals with. You can have your own opinions about this, but you can’t have your own facts! These are facts!

The inconsistency and duplicitous application of justice is what bothers me. PETA, animal rights advocates, and other animal cruelty groups should be coming down on this type of entertainment in the same manner of vigilance they exacted on Mike Vick!

Maybe, it’s easier to focus attention on one or two individuals rather than a multimillion dollar network. However, “an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere right”? Maybe lady justice is blind, because she doesn’t see the hypocritical application of law between these two scenarios!

Why is America now mute and mum, not even a mouse murmuring or mumbling about this? I don’t endorse animal cruelty, but I’ve elucidated the clear double standards. The take home point is that the killing of animal life for entertainment and financial gain is wrong, no matter if this is at your home or on a Television show. Who gets to dictate if a dog has more life value than an alligator, or any animal at that?

What are your thoughts?

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Author says black people are like chickens being fed into the prison industrial complex

November 19, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By: Dr. Samori Swygert

Chicken has long been an international staple in the dietary menus of many humans for centuries. Chicken provides a high source of protein in its daily nutritional value. In America, blacks have somehow been pegged with the stigma of chicken and watermelon eating folks (but we know that’s nonsense). However, if prepared correctly, this avian delicacy can play a part in a savory meal for all ethnicities in America, and yes whites are included!

However, the culinary processing of poultry is not what this article is about! There is a deeper tie in to this correlation between blacks and chicken. First, before taking offense, I challenge you to look deeper and have an honest introspective review of us as blacks in contemporary times, and the plots on our lives. The question I challenge you with is this, “Are you a chicken or an Eagle”?

Scan your local city terrain, and you will see pigeons, in parks you may see or hear the presence of owls and other birds that fly around. However, you will not see a chicken flying around the streets of L.A., Harlem, D.C., Miami, Chicago and etc. Chickens like Owls, Ravens, Eagles, Hawks, Doves, and Pigeons, have wings to fly, but you don’t see them flying. You can even go camping in your nearest forest or State Park, and you will not see a chicken flying around. Why is that?

Chickens have been mentally conditioned that they can’t fly, and/or don’t have the ability to engage in prolonged flight, or are fattened to the point that their wings can’t support their weight. Subsequently, they spend the majority of their life walking the grounds subjected to the will of their farmer. THEY HAVE BEEN DOMESTICATED! The farmer controls the farm and has constructed a chicken coop to warehouse his commodity, the chicken.

The chicken is unassuming and unassertive and relies on the farmer to provide chicken feed for its food supply. The farmer does not feed the chicken because he is nutritionally philanthropic. The farmer has goals and financial objectives for each stage of life of each chicken in his coop. The savvy farmer routinely feeds the chicken to fatten and plump it, to the maximum desirability for the consumption of his customers and profitability of his business. When the chicken is at maximum potential, it produces the highest quality and quantity of eggs and meat.

The unassuming chicken allows its offspring to be taken, processed, and sold to the market. The other plumped chickens are sold for the slaughter of wings, breast and thighs. Lastly, a select few are choicely preserved for the continuum of breeding and preservation of his business. By preserving some live chickens, he will always have production. When he slaughters or sells eggs, he will create two markets of commerce. This is quota control and inventory management. The chickens and eggs grow under a well regulated and controlled environment specifically for the financial aggrandizement of their master.

Furthermore, the female chicken is referred to as the Hen and the male chicken is the Rooster. The Rooster is known throughout the farming community for being a polygamous fowl and will have many Hens nesting at one time. The Rooster is also referred to as the, “c**k”. The farmer also will sell Roosters or breed Roosters for entertainment purposes of, “Cockfights”! This is where other Roosters fight each other and the winning owner gets paid.

Because chickens are unassuming of their ability, potential, and independence they are captured, caged and domesticated, and subsequently their whole lineage is subjected to domestication. In human terms, domestication equals incarceration and control.

Who are the customers of this farmer? The customers are now the private prison corporations, the military, careless educational systems, and other correctional facilities.

What does this American farmer feed his chickens to plump them for maximum desirability? The chicken feed is Crack-cocaine, alcohol and other designer drugs that keep us unassuming, noncompetitive, complacent, docile, and in violation of the law (fattened and prepared for prison).

Who are the Hens that watch over and control the coop? The Hens are preselected black leaders and entertainers that urge us to remain in the coop, or men that exert physical control of homes and communities, but provide no quality influence over family and community structure or future progress. We are engaged in “cockfights” as military soldiers for big government desires for global control, and domestic benefit of slave labor in prison when we kill each other.

I believe we are eagles, capable of our own freedom of flight, and keen perception of independence to feed and provide for ourselves and families. Eagles build their own nest, determine their future, and will fight to the death for their offspring. I favor the story of Rev. CL Franklin about The Eagle Stirs Her Nest. I encourage us all to be eagles and teach the power of flight to our fellow friends, and family to get off this farm. Peace!

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Genesis 3:9 –ADAM WHERE ART THOU? ( A Father’s Day question)

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

By Dr. Samori Swygert

As Father’s Day approaches, I pondered about this question God asked Adam in the Garden of Eden. I feel this is an apropos question during these times. We’ve grown accustomed to news reports and police briefings about children that have been kidnapped and/or abducted. Local and statewide authorities will typically issue an Amber Alert to the public to make citizens aware of the abduction. What happens when the parents blatantly disregard their offspring and abandon their children?

Many parents have surrendered, forfeited, neglected, and purposefully defaulted on their call to duty of parenting. There is an alarming trend of parents in both genders that have chosen the AWOL and MIA pill. However, the child is left to swallow and experience the side effects of their parents’ choice. The irony of this scenario is this, as humans we struggle to prove independence, maturity, and adulthood. We walk around the city, workplace, neighborhood, and demand respect from strangers, colleagues, friends and family, but yet some of us aren’t performing the duties worthy of the title of man, woman, father, and mother.

The terminology of man and woman is often distinguished from boy and girl by age, physical maturation, and more importantly, ownership of responsibilities. Have we morphed into a society that condones adult s*x, but reneges and relinquishes responsibility, when it comes to caring for the life created from our own tissue that didn’t volunteer to be here?

There are understandable explanations at times, but there are also unacceptable excuses. Some parents may be subjected to violent spousal abuse, and this can be both physical and psychological. I wouldn’t encourage anybody to remain in a violent and volatile environment where their psychological hygiene and physical being are at risk of destruction.

However, there are derelictions of duty on the premises of selfishness, laziness, fear, incompatibility, anger, finance, new romantic interests, and a myriad of other excuses. Excuses are easily exposed by a simple question from the child to the parent in question. Why did you leave me? If the answer revolves around the prior list, then you probably made an excuse for a dereliction of duty. It is understandable, and real that some people are just not meant to be together, however it is not a get out of parenting free card.

When parents agree to terminate the relationship, they should fortify the plans for consistent involvement in the child’s life. Many children are left to the streets and unpredictable acquaintances of their surrogate guardians. Many kids today grow up in an environment where the mother is the TV, the father is the computer, the sister is the cell phone, the brother is the radio, and the grandparents are the streets.

These precarious familial structures often result in social tragedy and mental instability for many youth today. There is often no concrete accountability to the child, and at any given moment the streets and the new interim guardian can turn their back on the child, and leave the child feeling betrayed and broken hearted. This domestic dynamic is occurring in several homes in many communities across America.

However, on a more positive note, this domestic quagmire can be fixed and repaired. When these situations arise, the child must become top priority. Children are our seeds, and seeds need watering to grow. Both parents must put aside any and all excuses, accept reality and hydrate the child with the love it deserves. A flower will not grow by one glass of water once a week in the face of sunshine.

The sun will eventually dehydrate the flower, and too much water without sunshine will drown the flower. A proper balance of sunlight and water must be applied for proper cultivation.

This metaphor exemplifies the mandatory balance of both parent’s influence in the child’s life. Parents should exhaust every effort to provide the child with the love of a parent or stepparent without confusing it with the desires, expectations, animosity and resentment of a love once enjoyed, but currently defunct. A good relationship with your child’s mother is not a prerequisite to caring for your child, and caring for your child should not be contingent upon the mother being with you.

There are many good, strong black men that are actively fathering in a two parent household. There also men that are separated from the mother of their child, but still handle their fatherly responsibilities with diligence. Kudos and accolades should be granted to these men during this upcoming holiday. HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO THE MEN THAT ARE FATHERS! However, to the transient male that has produced a child, Genesis 3:9 has a question for you to answer. Adam where art thou?

Socio-Cultural Commentary

Hollywood is kidnapping our kids!!

November 18, 2013 admin Leave a comment

Hollywood is kidnapping our children?

by: Dr. Samori Swygert

It’s imperative that we become vigilant stewards and guardians of the quantity, and most important the quality of entertainment that our children ingest. Outbreaks of violence have become almost predictable and clockwork. However, as concerned citizens and family members we must take a proactive position in the intervention of the fate of our youth.

Routinely we hear about a massacre, a mass shooting, gang shootout, new recreational street drug, some new lewd and inappropriate dance, or behavioral trend. We must ask ourselves, “where is all this coming from?”. We can no longer expect the entertainment industry to have a moral conscious in the production of their material.

We are in an era where the family infrastructure is being redefined on a daily basis. Traditionally, we were accustomed to mom, dad, sister, and brother. Currently, these roles have been usurped and hacked by this digital age contagion. This has substituted the TV for mother, Computer for father, Cellphone for brother, Radio for sister, and has eroded the family bond. These new mediums consistently inundate and bombard our children with messages that are repeatedly proving to be hazardous for the youth.

The world has morphed into a narcissistic, attention driven, and instant satisfaction society. The entertainment industry is culpable in the deterioration of society, but rarely is the entertainment industry reigned in for responsibility of material and palatability of content.

Take a sober view and assess the covers of the magazines in your grocery store lines, the video games advertised, the movies featured, the records in rotation, reality shows aired, music videos produced, new age books published, and tell me if you see a recurrent decadent and destructive theme.

The entertainment industry is profiteering hundreds of billions of dollars off the demise of our children! Sexually explicit videos, movies, and books have pushed adolescent sexual promiscuity, teen pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases to a new plateau. When we fail to regulate, monitor, filter, and talk about this material with our children, we allow the entertainment industry to subconsciously impose hazardous behavior into our children’s psyche, and the children passively accept it as innocent entertainment.

Hollywood makes the profit, and we are left with the byproducts to deal with ( early pregnancy, teen abortion, STDs). The oversaturation of sex in books like 50 Shades of Grey, and other lustful ghetto street literature induce a dangerous curiosity into the minds of adolescents that are not yet mature, or responsible enough to manage all aspects of adult behavior by themselves. Sex is a beautiful thing with the right person, and most importantly in a marriage.

However, the ubiquitous and omnipresent emphasis of sex has to contribute to the scores of young children sexually abused, raped, digitally abused on the internet (via compromising videos and pictures) and trafficked.

Do you remember the Steubenville rape case, where these young men engaged in raping an unconscious high school female, and then posted the pictures all over the internet via cellphone pictures, and destroyed this teenager’s reputation and physically violated her without consent? The allure of trying to become famous by asserting their male sexual prowess got these young men serving jail time.

Look at videogames like: Grand Theft Auto, Black Ops Call of Duty, Thrill Kill, and Soldier of Fortune and observe how pervasive gun violence, and brutality are interweaved in the plot. Think about movies and TV shows like : The Purge, Blow, Kill Bill, Breaking Bad, Lock Up Raw and a plethora of others and ask yourself “why is drug culture, prison life, and random acts of violence so celebrated now?”.

We have arrived at the clichéd fruition of, art imitating life and life imitating art. When shooting episodes like Virginia Tech, Newtown, Connecticut, Aurora, Colorado, Columbine High school, and Jonesboro, Arkansas occur, think about what the youth are consuming. Think about what they are being conditioned and indoctrinated with under the veneer and alias of entertainment. We arrest adolescents on the streets for drug dealing and incarcerate them for the violent acts associated with the drug culture. However, we give Emmys and Oscars to the producers of shows that prompt youth to experiment with this dead-end lifestyle. NPR published an article this week detailing a research study in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. The study revealed that as of 2009, PG-13 movies have more gun violence than Rated-R movies.1

The music has become the soundtrack to self destruction. When we can turn on the radio and they are rapping about shooting, killing, drugs, sex, and frivolous wasting money, we have a few seconds left before its all over. The music videos have become soft porn, and encourage our young daughters and sisters to mimic the mannerisms of strippers.

Reality shows teach our women nothing but raucous, ratchet behavior. Think about shows like Real Housewives of Atlanta , Love and HipHop, Bad Girls Club, and others. The shows basically demonstrate and instruct young women how to scream, argue, and instigate violent conflicts without any modeling of positive, mature, lady-like conflict resolution. The emphasis is this ultra-diva like female that is money hungry, argumentative, irrational, and self-centered. This is not the type of woman any man wants as a wife, but these shows have our young women believing this is the path to womanhood. The men depicted in these shows are just as bad. Routinely the males are father to multiple baby mommas, absentee, consistently delinquent, players with excuses and stories to explain poor decisions they made.

Ironically, I can express what I’m saying by using a movie. A movie came out a few years ago called, Inception. The plot involved an agent that performed a psychological manipulation called, Inception. While performing Inception on his target, he was able to implant thoughts into their mind without them knowing, and the person would then execute the desired goal.

What am I saying?

We need to press the reset button and return to family and community. We need to have regular communication with our family members and neighbors and redevelop concern about what our kids are doing. We need to actively and regularly review our children’s phones, tablets, computers, TV shows, radio shows, and videos on Youtube, World Star HipHop, and any other electronic/ digital forms of social media, because our kids are under attack. The results are devastating and the devil doesn’t leave his fingerprints at the scene of the crime. He just leaves you with the tragedy to clean up, and the bill to pay.

Who profits?

The financial profit lies in high yield earnings for the private prisons for those that engage in illegal drug activity, pay day for drug companies that get new patients on Plan B abortificient pills, Antibiotics, or Antiviral medication from high risk sexual activity, a stimulus plan for gun and ammo manufacturers. Every time a mass shooting occurs, gun sales skyrocket because people feel the government will ban firearms, and people buy as much as possible to avoid being gunless.

The fashion industry makes a killing from young teens purchasing clothing to mimic and emulate the characters or stars in movies, music, and magazines. The movie industry and gaming industry makes more for the production of more films and games. The whole time we as a community are suffering the collateral damage of reckless indoctrination of our youth. It’s 2013 do you know where your children are?

People are to scared to speak up and call BS (bulls$it) when it happens. Benefactors of the industry say it’s “creative and edgy”. That’s a lie, it’s self destructive BS, and people are scared to be called a hater for voicing real concerns. These actors won’t complain, and will call you a hater because you are interfering with their paycheck, reputation, endorsements, and contracts. I don’t care about these bought and paid for minstrels, the posterity of our black youth are not for sale!! I may be on my soapbox, but so what, somebody has to speak up! Like Gil Scott Heron said, ” we got to do something to save the children”. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW!!!???

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