My Herculean task in life has been to research pressing questions facing our nation within a nation, America, and the world. Questions that, in totality, would hopefully move our community forward—or at least distract us from the PTSD that comes from being ‘hue-men’ in a black-and-white world.
A decade ago, I started compartmentalizing, which helped reduce stress, anxiety, and my workload. As a result, I ended 2023 with only 1,321 unanswered questions, 42.6% of which had nothing to do with Black empowerment but were nonetheless ingredients in our cultural gumbo. Here, I continue with part two:
• When did the cross become a fashion item versus a declaration of faith? Is it plausibly acceptable or hypocritical for gangsters, urban terrorists, and drug dealers to sport crosses? But then again, as Tony Soprano said in the HBO series of the same name, even Mafia murderers have souls—and by contributing 10% of their ill-gotten gains to the Catholic church in the form of tithes, they should be able to buy their way into heaven.
• Would you support mandatory parenting classes for the parent(s) of wayward children?
• What did Juneteenth mean to the 451,021 African slaves in union states like Maryland, Delaware, Kentucky, and Missouri?
Despite what you’ve been told, the proclamation was limited to slaves in the Confederate ‘states.’ (President) Abe Lincoln’s executive order was, in fact, a military tactic, as he had previously proclaimed he would leave slavery in place if the Confederacy remained in the union.
If I had my way, we would celebrate December 18, 1865—the day the 13th amendment was ratified– as Jubilee Day instead of June 19.
• What did our nine-year-old children do before they had cell phones to babysit and socialize them? Without a cell phone, they may be enticed to read books!
• How long can a ‘decent’ brother look at a sister’s behind before it’s considered obscene or an intrusion on her privacy– their invisible space?
That may sound like a phantastic (my new word of the week) question, but in today’s PC and ‘Me Too’ landscape, it’s an issue that if incorrectly answered can land an innocent brother—even a minister or politician—in jail…or worse.
I answered that question in a Signifyin’ column a year or so ago when a brother who joined a central city fitness center was verbally attacked for ‘staring’ at a sister’s ‘behind.’
The brother had no choice, given that the sister was positioned directly in front of him on a treadmill.
For the record, in my initial column, I suggested you can look for approximately 97 seconds if you’re a male and twice that long if you’re a lesbian.
But, I’ve reconsidered my answer in light of the article in last week’s WEEKEND edition, titled ‘We need to stop exploiting Black women through the ‘Booty Paradox!’
• Have you stopped ‘learning?’ According to the vocabulary website I subscribe to, I used 58 new words in 2023.
• My latest is ‘timorous,’ which prompts the question of why I was never taught its meaning in high school. One of my grandsons attended the prestigious Brookfield Academy. His vocabulary is twice as large as mine. Can you see where I’m going?
• Would the world come to an end if you cut off service to cell phones for three hours?
• Do you support term limits?
• Speaking of political accountability, when was the last time you talked with your alderperson, county supervisor, or state representative? Do you know who your school board representative is? Ninety-four percent of you can’t answer that question because you didn’t vote.
• Do you know the lyrics of the Black National Anthem? That’s probably not a fair question. Can you get away with lip-syncing the lyrics along with half the other brothers and sisters in the room?
• Who the hell came up with the Juneteenth Day Flag? Check that. I know who created it, so my real question is, why wasn’t the Black public provided an opportunity to vote on it? I would have been happy with Marcus Garvey’s Black Liberation flag—with a broken chain and welfare checks representing stars.
• By the way, you know the emancipation proclamation probably would not have survived court scrutiny? Some constitutional attorneys believe the union could not take ‘contraband’ from a non-foreign nation.
• Also, there are those in legal circles who posit the Confederacy had a right to succeed and thus keep slavery alive—until a slave revolt, which would no doubt have destroyed the country. I can envision a screenplay under that scenario in which that slave revolt would have led to a Black independent nation.
• Let’s assume God made a perfect mate for you somewhere on this planet of five billion people. What are the odds that you will meet them? And since that’s obscenely low, do you settle for second best?
• Will you vote in the presidential election with the expectation of systemic change or personal benefit? Or will you vote—if you vote—to stop Donald Trump (assuming you vote Democrat)?
• Since I’m on that subject, are you an actual member of the Democratic Party, or simply vote for its candidates? There’s a difference, you know. If you are not a card-carrying, dues-paying member, you don’t have any say or input in the party’s platform.
• Is a fetus a human being, or merely the yolk of the (visualize a chicken) egg?
• Why do most Black folks vote for political incumbents without knowing their records, political positions, or who may be ‘secretly’ funding their campaigns?’
• Who created that disingenuous motto of ‘happy wife, happy life?’ Doesn’t it imply that a brother’s happiness is secondary in a marriage, if not completely ignored?
• Do your Black Democratic Party representatives work for you or for the party? Consider, for example, over 80% of Black constituents support school choice, but 80% of Black Democrats oppose it because that is the party’s platform (as dictated by the teachers union).
• What is the Black agenda? I keep hearing radio pundits and social advocates lambasting Black politicians for not facilitating the Black agenda. But I haven’t listened to any of them explain what ‘agenda’ item they are speaking of.
• What the hell is a ‘Black card’? Does not adhering to its principles mean you can’t eat collard greens, use hot sauce, or say ‘dis’ instead of ‘this’? Does losing your ‘black card’ mean you lose melanin? Does that explain what happened to Michael Jackson?
• Brothers, is your ideal woman someone who defines themselves by wigs, six-inch eyelashes, and the ability to ‘twerk’ on demand? Does she proudly proclaim herself a bitch (b-word)?
• Sisters, is your ideal man a sperm donor—male ‘Neckbone’—who doesn’t take care of his child(ren), calls himself a ‘pimp’ and refers to you as his ‘bitch’ (b-word)? If a sister is not insulted by that declaration, something is amiss.
• I’m not trying to be salacious, but why is a woman’s nipples considered a sexual item, but not the rest of the breast? Put a band-aid on the nipple or go to jail. A sister can’t even breastfeed for fear of being charged with a crime, even though that’s what the nipple was created for.
• What happened to the ‘hoes’ (aka: ‘ho,’ ‘slut,’ ‘tramp’) and the ‘dogs’ (aka: ‘male hoes,’ ‘slingers,’ ‘sperm donors’)? During my upbringing’, we made distinctions based on what we considered terrible or immoral behavior. Yes, by today’s standards, we were conservative, but that culture did help to facilitate what was considered ‘community standards’ based on both religious and Africentric paradigms. Today, there are no longer distinctions, and what we view as ‘bad conduct’ is the acceptable norm. And with it, a dysfunctional community. I’m not a prude, but even as a reformed ‘hoe’ myself, I understood the benefits of a sustainable culture.
• Why do 71.3% of our tribal members believe white ice gets colder?
• Is Christianity politically incorrect today? What does it say when Christians are afraid to speak ‘their’ truth?
• Will the abortion issue be enough to swing the country Democratic?
• What would Black America look like 10 years from today if we all embraced the tenets (principles) of Kwanzaa?
• Better yet, what would the country look like in 2034 if the concept/construct of race were outlawed and forbidden by media, schools, or churches?
Only a handful of opportunists reject the common sense proposition that there is but one race. Nonetheless, most don’t see the harm the invented concept has brought.
We could start the campaign by stopping the government from using race for identification purposes. I just checked a government form last week that asked if I was white, Asian, Hispanic, or African American/Black?
• I don’t recall a day I haven’t witnessed some foolish ‘Neckbone’ or urban terrorist driving recklessly down Fond du Lac Avenue, between Hampton and Capitol Drive. I’m not alone in asking when police will focus on ending the insanity that puts innocent lives in danger. Even an decoy car with a blow-up doll would have some positive effect.
• Is Black marriage—nuclear family paradigm—on the’ endangered species’ list? Or will it be restricted to the middle class, Christians, and Muslims?
• Walgreens has closed three central city stores. Walmart closed one in 2023 and is looking at possibly closing another this year. It’s not because they have been underutilized, but because of excessive theft, primarily by us (or ‘y’all’). Should we be mad or accepting?
• Do you really believe carrying a gun (legally) will save you from an ‘urban terrorist’? Are you prepared to walk around with a gun in your hand 24/7? This is not Dodge City in the classic cowboy drama, ‘Gunsmoke’…(even though it seems like it).
• Are pigs feet and chitterlings still on your holiday menu? Before his death two years ago, my father—who was blind and suffered from heart disease—asked me to cook him some pig feet. My siblings refused to honor his request, so he turned to me. He explained that pigs feet were among his few comforts besides ‘listening’ to old westerns on television. Pops knew he was close to death and wanted to go out with what he considered a familiar taste on his palate (he was from the deep, deep south).
Who were we to dictate his needs? Was our decision for his benefit or ours?
So I purchased a couple and asked my ‘bonus mother’ to cook them. My father smiled. And I facilitated his ‘desire’ two other times in his final year. I suspect an occasional pigs foot may have extended his life and, at the very least, brought back fond memories.
• Have you ever voted in a school board election? Do you realize the board elections are the most important and impactful of any election? Why do you complain about educational apartheid when you don’t vote? Does that make you ignorant or stupid?
• Would you have voted for Barack Obama if he ran as a Republican? What about as an independent? In other words, are our political leaders viable only if they are screened and approved by the Democratic Party?
• Are Black people genetically superior to all other ethnicities? Without stereotyping too much, one study suggested Asians (particularly Japanese) have superior lower body strength, while Europeans have more muscular upper bodies. Africans are perfectly balanced. Hmmm.
• Why do sisters believe brothers are swayed by false eyelashes, long ‘European’ wigs, and padded bras?
• Why do sisters believe the garbage ‘Neckbone men’ are espousing? Do they really believe their Neckbone (sex mate) will marry them and stay with her for the baby’s sake? Be faithful? What is it about ‘bad boys’ that is attractive to young sisters?
• What is the first step toward ending racism? Maybe the answer lies in recognizing or acknowledging there is but one race. There is no white race, nor is there a black, yellow, or brown race. Ethnicity and race are two totally separate concepts. Race, and thus racism, is a construct, an invention (by Europeans) to divide and conquer.
• How do you know if a ‘preacher/minister/pastor has been ‘called’? How can you differentiate between a preacher and an entertainer? Is ‘you gotta have faith’ an acceptable answer to questions that challenge scripture?
• Is serial polygamy the new norm? Can our village prosper with fatherless households under the ‘Culture of Poverty’ paradigm?
• Is Jesus (aka Emmanuel, Yeshua) a nigger (n-word)? I’m not being facetious. Nor am I being sacrilegious.
Mine is a question rooted in the asinine belief that nigger (n-word) is a term of affection for SOME Black (aka Negro, African American, Colored) people. The last person I asked that question of, an intelligent Black sister, answered ‘yes.’ Without hesitation or a hint of sarcasm.
• Have we gone overboard with this idiocy? Are we the only ethnicity on planet earth with disregard for the impact of self-hatred?
• Would you date someone with dirty fingernails? I’m a hands man; it’s the first thing I look at. Clipped nail polish, dirty nails, or burnt fingertips tell a story.
• Sisters, do you know one of the chambers in a man’s brain is a ‘nothing box?’ It’s true; I read it in a book—albeit I can’t remember the Canadian psychologist author’s name). The book focused on why women are better at multitasking.
In any event, sisters should realize that when you ask a brother what he is thinking about, and he says ‘nothing,’ he’s actually telling the truth.
And in the void of nothingness, we find safety, peace, and escape from reality.
Hotep.