Atlanta's "Bloody Summer Of Piracy" - The Next Phase Begins - The Social Justice Actorvists Speak

People - Please save this video!!!!
This will be an important historical marker for anyone who stands at a time period 18 months from now, seeking to understand "What were the events that lead up to this conflict between the Black Community and the POLICE".

As you watch this video pay attention to the 4:00 minute mark.
At this point you will see Derrick Boazman and Rev Timothy McDonald take the mike and express their outrage over the one event that forced them out of their shell - the killing of the professional boxer last Saturday night. He was shot in the back as someone carjacked his vehicle and he gave chase after them.

Anyone following this blog would know that I have been on this story about the seemingly incessant violence, murder and mayhem that has been a fact of life in Metro Atlanta since the warm weather months. In truth - this is an annual pattern. This year, however, the crimes have been more heinous. Indeed the pirates are out of control.

2 weekends ago was when the first shoe dropped. The SCLC was forced to make a statement against the great amount of piracy that is taking place on our streets. They would much rather be focusing on voter intimidation, aggressive police men or the lack of social services for poor Black people in this city which has a lot of financial strain. Unfortunately the actions of the pirates have forced their hand.

I view the SCLC march as a turning point as communicated by the Atlanta Civil Rights Industrial Complex. They gave their "permission" for all who are concerned about the assaults that are occurring upon the Black community and various communities in metro Atlanta in general to stand up and fight against this force.

Notice at the 4:00 minute mark that the words "Something Must Be Done About This!!" is echoed by several individuals.

In my view this will be viewed at a later date in the same way that Charlie Rangel's Sunday Morning Talk Show tour several decades ago during the Crack Epidemic in which he called for help. Please remember that he said that "it is RACIST for the federal government to sit back and do nothing while the Black community is destroyed by this scourge from Crack cocaine". (I don't recall if this was under the Reagan Administration or Bush I)

THIS IS HOW BLACK POLITICAL FORCES WORK FOLKS

Derrick Boazman, the other actor-vist who took the microphone has a local radio show on WAOK, Atlanta's local "Fight The Power" station. I recall back in 2006 he had as his in-studio guest Representative "Able" Mabel Thomas on his show. At that time they were talking about the victims of crime in the Vine City area of the city. Ms Thomas got on her rhetorical soap box and asked the question "Don't poor citizens in Vine City deserve the same police protection as those citizens in Buckhead?" In coded words this means "Don't poor Black people deserve the same rights as wealthy White folks?"

This prompted me to get on the phone and call into the program. I got through quickly. I asked Rep Thomas "Protection FROM WHO?????". This took her off of her game. What was going to be an indictment against the Atlanta Police was turned into the scrutiny of the Pirates. She mentioned them in passing but quickly turned the debate back over to "Predatory Lenders, corrupt insurance agents" and other safe targets for progressives.

This call took place in July (or so). A few months later in December - the Neal Street Shooting of Catherine Johnston took place. This was the 92 year old great-grandmother who was killed by some corrupt Atlanta police men who are now jailed. Their drug bust was done in the context of the heightened police response to the area in Vine City. It was overrun by drugs, prostitution and burglaries. While Rep Thomas cannot be held directly accountable for the fate of this 92 year old woman, she contributed to the heightened state of policing that was present in the community. (The "Red Dog Squad").

My point is to make mention of how Black Political Operatives work. They are "always RIGHT!" They pound the authorities when their districts are underserved and unprotected. They pound the authorities when the response to their initial request "goes too far". At the end of it - these people are viewed as "the Champions of the People". Few people keep an audit trail on their actions with the goal of inspection.

These operatives are are EVENT DRIVEN. As with their national blood brothers "events of the day" have the power to derail their attention and have them to emasculate their own image by taking the next threat to the community as their own.

This sounds reasonable until one evaluates their actions with the context of time. Their communities often list at sea, absent of any internal propulsion. In this context they are most strong. They are able to stand as the "voice of the community". The loudest. The most articulate. The most passionate. The one who can focus the community on "THEM!!!!". "Them" is the outside force who "don't want a Black man having nothing".

At this point in time the "them" are the Pirates who are attacking the people. Please don't be fooled though. It is simply not possible for these same operatives to lead what would be taken as a "Right Wing"/"Establishment" assault upon the young Black men engaged in piracy. This goes against too much of their core agenda.

To his credit Derrick Boazman is founder of the "Let Us Make Men" summit. They gather periodically to bring young males and adult males together to form a stronger community bond. I have nothing but praise for this effort.

My only question about this and other movements is "IS IT WORKING?". Not "is it the right strategy?". Indeed it is. The question of "Is this a movement with the proper SCALE and SCOPE to effectuate the a solution to the problem of rampant piracy? With the added qualifier of "BEFORE the police get to these young men and provide them with a permanent transcript known as a CRIMINAL RECORD"?

Clearly the answer is "No". (Again not a slight against the initiative itself. Only on the proportions). At any given time there is a large order of magnitude more young males who are not treated to such messages than who are. I am unable to be appeased by these actions per my "Anti-Check List" theory where actions alone are not enough. Proportionality and scale matters.

A NEED TO PUT THE PREVAILING THEORIES ON TRIAL

Ah yes - "The Culture Wars". The claim that conservatives are too simplistic in their claims of "just have folks get married (err heterosexuals that is) and all will be better with society". In as much as the progressives who dominate our community have reacted to such a claim they need to be held accountable. On the one hand they argue that "these concepts are NOT conservative. Conservatives don't own marriage". Indeed this is true. Black folks were getting forming lifelong relationships before there were political parties (and yes - Before we wuz slaves).

At the same time there has been an assault on these traditional constructs of social order. In an attempt to accommodate 'diversity' too much of it has been watered down. I too oppose rote adherence to certain elements of social order - such as we see in certain parts of the Middle East. At the same time there are some elemental points of functionality that is derived from some of these social strictures.

We are now standing at a time where those who have fought to CHANGE THESE must now be put on TRIAL to justify THEIR actions of disassembly. The conservative has been on trial for too long.

In my view today's chaos is a result of too many young Black males without a RESPONSIBLE father figure PERMANENTLY in their lives. As a father of a young Black male - I see the daily test of wills that is present in my son that is not present in my daughter. The present of a RESPONSIBLE male authority figure is a mandate for any of this to change.

In recent debates with my friends they have attempted to dismiss my political charges against the Prevailing Black Establishment, saying that most of our problems are cultural in nature. While indeed there is a strong cultural element to all of these problems - there is also an intrinsic interconnection between the community culture and the political operatives who bear down upon the community for the purposes of their agenda (or even the community's agenda).

We so often as a people look toward "more government resources" as the cure all for our problems. This might be presented in the form of a community center building, funds for continuing education or a program for mentoring of these young males. My problem with this strategy is that if these funds are sparse - the movement to address these problems are seemingly put on hold. If our ancestors were able to sit on the ground in a circle to partake in community building exercises - what is stopping anyone from sitting on the grass at the closest city park that exists?

In education as with community building - we cannot allow the "pursuit of external money" (money that was generated outside of the system of capital production that is present inside of these communities) to be the PROCESS itself - as it has become. In turn when there are problems the knee jerk reaction in the political space is to blame the funding cuts.

Our community MUST TAKE OWNERSHIP OF WHAT GOES ON INSIDE!!!! Thus if the money is not presented from the external funding sources - our desire to MAINTAIN A CERTAIN LIVING STANDARD must trump the "paper chase".

The word "People Before Profits" needs to be spoken to the community members to a greater extent than it needs to be spoken to the corporation. When spoken to the corporation it is done to prepare them to open their wallets for a feeding session. When spoken to the community it is a needed set of guidelines which show them that as community members they have a shared interest in expressing an environment that allows them all to be safe, prosper and grow as well-balanced individuals.

With regard to that last statement - it appears to me that the difference between progressive and conservative - is a matter of how large their respective "Friends and Family Plan" is?

As a conservative I seek to have mine localized. Those who share my values I will not have to FORCE within my circle because I am dependent upon their resources, despite their attempts to exit my band.

Greater than lingering societal RACISM is the lack of MANAGEMENT STRUCTURES within our community which would allow us to maximize the utility of each of us. The larger the nationalistic movement grows - the more at risk our individual character will become.