Canada’s Olympic Hockey Gold!

Congratulations to the Canadian Olympic men’s and women’s hockey teams for bringing home the gold medal!

What is even more satisfying is that both gold medal games were against our neighbours to the south, the USA.

Make no mistake about it, hockey in Canada is like football in Brazil, rugby in New Zealand and Brangelina in the USA… it’s a national obsession!

A special hat tip to Jarome Iginla (above), the Black Canadian player who is also the captain of the Calgary Flames. He scored the most goals for Canada during the tournament with 5, and set up Sidney Crosby for the winning overtime goal.

Proud to be Canadian!

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sat’day riddymz

“Anyone Can Do Anything” by B.B. Robinson

Op-ed submission by Project 21 

Black History Month is an ideal time to measure progress. This year is especially appropriate as we embark on a new decade.

Some indicators of progress are how blacks are catching up with their white counterparts with regard to income, education and political participation. In the latter two categories, reports say blacks made marginal progress. But we have not yet really progressed on equalizing incomes. Some might argue this income disparity is of overwhelming importance and must be rectified immediately. They may contend it directly affects education and other opportunities.

Our nation’s unfortunate history of discrimination has residual effects that remain today. There are also post-civil rights era problems related to entitlements that breed a reliance on government. We can acknowledge these problems, but we must not dwell on them. To keep from spending the next 90 years debating reasons for this income disparity, let’s focus on what can be done to increase black earnings. Solutions include encouraging more blacks to train in the financial, mathematical and scientific fields. Entrepreneurship is also ideal – starting one’s own business to actually become the employer.  
 
Classroom education alone is not sufficient to boost income levels. There are too many blacks with doctoral degrees who lack jobs or have jobs that earn less than one might expect. Put simply, their degrees are not in growing or lucrative fields.  
 
Rather than focusing on great black scholars or heroes this Black History Month, why not focus more on black Americans who achieved financial success and how they did it? Think about BET founder Robert Johnson or the late venture capitalist Reginald Lewis. Americans earning the most money do not necessarily have a multitude of advanced diplomas adorning their walls. Instead, they are thinkers who bring about new wealth-generating ideas. They are go-getters with the drive and ambition who are willing to take the risks to get ahead.

This is not to say the most successful people aren’t educated. They can have such degrees, but their smarts aren’t always obtained in school. Think about how many university professors are very wealthy. Not many. What professors can do successfully is impart wisdom upon others. They can school someone about becoming a doctor or a lawyer or to understand the world of business. But what then?
 
It all comes down to how someone applies his talents. Anyone can do virtually anything when given the proper training. Oprah Winfrey, for example, was a television reporter who used her ambition and talents to become a media mogul. She did not enter her profession with a Harvard MBA. Black Americans must understand that anyone can do almost anything – from plumbing to nuclear physics. There’s little holding most Americans back if they are given the proper training and have the ambition to succeed.

Again, it’s not always education as much as it is training. Put a young mind that is willing to learn in the proper position, and that young mind will master the job. We can’t be fooled that one must first obtain a advanced degree to be a success. Those who know will tell you that, the first day on the job, even the newly-minted Ph.D. may be told by an experienced supervisor to “forget everything that you learned at the university.”
 
Black History Month should help to identify wealthy and successful black Americans. People should learn how they became wealthy and commit themselves to replicating that model. If we use self-study, mentoring and commit ourselves by supporting each other (especially black businesses), then we can certainly produce considerably more wealthy black Americans. In turn, those wealthy blacks can help other blacks become wealthy because “anyone can do anything”.

B.B. Robinson, Ph.D. is a member of the national advisory council of the black leadership network Project 21. You can visit his website at http://www.blackeconomics.org/

The Passing of Iskandar Langalibalele

May 4th 1956 – August 9th 2009

It’s with sincere sadness and regret that I announce the passing of one of our contributors here at AfroSpear, Brother Iskandar Langalibalele.

What saddens and frustrates me most, is that I only became aware of this event a couple days ago, almost 7 months after his death! This is one of the primary disadvantages of cyber relationships. We communicated sporatically by email and via facebook, and the last time was in June, when he informed me that he had been very busy and although he hadn’t posted an article here or on his own blog(s) in a few weeks, he would be dropping something soon. His last post here was on the 28th of July 2009: “Police State Economic”. 12 days later he died. 

I sensed something was wrong as I hadn’t heard from him in quite a while, especially after I had left him a greeting on facebook in December. A couple days ago I visited his blogs and facebook page and noticed no new postings by him since last year. I however noticed that the recent comments by his friends on facebook were more like tributes and farewells and I started expecting the worst. I googled his name and that how I found out that he had passed on. Wow! I must admit I was somewhat devastated and pissed at myself. 

Brother Iskandar had contacted me exactly a year ago, commending us on our blog and offering to submit articles. He expressed his commitment to our vision and I gladly welcomed him as a contributor. His articles were always  educational, hard-hitting, thought-provoking and challenged us to question our perspectives and beliefs. We were fortunate to be blessed by his intellect and passion. I considered him a friend.

Here are the links to his blogs to read some of his work:  Mbantunyankompong and Kilombo Republic.

A tribute from his facebook wall:

OUR BELOVED ALEXANDER WESLEY JONES III, affectionately called Brudz and known within the activist community as Iskandar Langalibalele, has gone home, left this life on August 9th at the age of 53, and passed into a new dimension, a radiant new …life . He was a passionate writer, published author, activist, and historian, loving son, brother and friend. He was born in Pittsburgh, grew up in Ambridge and was a graduate of Ambridge Area High School. He was a lifelong learner and educator with many undocumented but noteworthy achievements. As a teen, he would spend hours writing his thoughts and sharing his beliefs. As a student of Ambridge Area High, he was instrumental in creating an early model for African-American Studies . He later attended Howard University and local colleges including University of Pittsburgh where he was active in the Black Studies Department. His true passion was fighting for change, battling social, political, & racial injustice both locally & globally. He was an elite activist with tremendous pride and passion for his work . He was an idealist, a grass roots person and he fought the battle from the front line rallying and networking with people of all races and cultural backgrounds. He was a fierce debator, an awesome organizer and a cherished friend to so many; he loved life, he loved people. He devoted his life to the Pan Africa movement. We miss him dearly. He is survived by his mother, BETTY ROBINSON JONES , Pittsburgh and siblings LESLIE COLRANE of N. Carolina and CLARENCE CLIFFORD JONES of Northern California and preceeded in death by his father Alexander W. Jones II. A memorial service will be held today Sunday, August 16th at 401 W. Commons Drive, North Side, Pittsburgh at 11:00a.m. followed by a healthy pork -free potluck.

Rest in Peace!

Woods, King, Ali and the cost of infidelity

In 2002 when the Muhammed Ali biopic starring Will Smith was playing, I asked the woman I was dating at the time if she would like to go see it with me. She basically ‘kissed her teeth’ (Jamaicans/West Indians in da house know what I mean) and went into this rant that although she acknowledged his accomplishments as a boxer, she had no respect for him as a man, husband or father, because of the numerous affairs he had with other women during his marriages! 

During our discussion, in which I was sinking, she went on to state that she felt the same about Martin Luther King. She respected his work and sacrifice as a civil rights leader, however as a man of God, husband and father, he was hypocritical and lacked credibility in her eyes due to his affairs with other women, particularly “White” women! She went on to argue that although the Black community puts men like these on a pedestal for their prowess and accomplishments, we ignore the fact that their infidelity reinforces the stereotype of the oversexed Black male, does irrefutable harm to the Black family, destroys the Black community… and more importantly, we never acknowledge the pain and shame their infidelity caused their wives and children.

I had never had the issue of infidelity explained to me in this way before… and with so much passion. In fact she presented a well thought out viewpoint, underpinned by her sense of morality and expectations of the sanctity of marriage. Needless to say, I went to see the film alone.

On Friday Tiger Woods held a press conference to address his infidelity. He apologized to his wife, family, fellow golfers, sponsors, the children and people involved in his foundation and fans. He took full responsibility for his actions, asked for forgiveness and promised to be a better man in the future. He wisely took no questions, did the customary {{{hugs}}} to his mother and close friends… and then got the hell out of there!

There are those in the media who called it a sham because Woods had handpicked the members of the media who were present and took no questions. In reality they are pissed because he didn’t play the game by their rules. He became the ringmaster of their stage, the media circus. There are those who called it a sham because they never liked Woods, or due to his infidelities have lost adoration and/or respect for him. They see the press conference as the standard, necessary strategy he must take to regain his popularity and commercial viability, and not something sincere.

Here’s my take, for what (little) it’s worth. Tiger Woods, the brand, did what he had to do and held the press conference to begin the road back to commercial viability. However, I do believe the apology was sincere. Tiger Woods, the man, has only to answer to his wife, his family and his God. Tiger Woods doesn’t owe me or the public at large any details or explanations. Am I disappointed in Tiger Woods? In a word: “NO”. I’m certainly surprised that he was so stupid to think that he could get away this behaviour in this age of “TMZ” and everyone looking to cash in on their 15 minutes of fame, but as he honestly admitted… he was arrogant. So “no” I’m not disappointed because although he is undoubtedly the best golfer of my generation and the most compelling athlete today, he is just a man… with weaknesses and failings like any other man. I had no emotional investment tied up in Tiger Woods.

That being said, I always considered him to be one of the positive role models for my son. Regardless, I have come to realize even more, that the most influential role model for my son, positive or negative, is me. I have always felt that it is important to teach him to learn from the mistakes of others, but to only emulate those who are successful in their endeavours. I will teach him when it comes to being a successful athlete, Muhammed Ali and Tiger Woods are definitely worthy role models. When it comes to seeking inspiration from someone who stands and sacrifices for what they believe is right, in the face of great opposition, Muhammed Ali is also a great role model. When it comes to emulating someone who worked selflessly for the advancement of their community and society as a whole, he should look to Martin Luther King. When it comes to being a success as a husband and father, I need to ensure that I live my life in such a way that I am the role model he looks to pattern his life after.

sat’day riddymz

Words of Wisdom from Ana

Let me share this comment by Ana to my post on Black History. 

Not loving ourselves enough, recognizing, respecting and appreciating our differences have been the detriment of African people. God loved us so much that African people were the first to attained every type of knowledge including the spiritual one but Africans were also the ones to squander them foolishly .

We do not have to go back into history to see that it was very easy for one tribe as a result of warfare after acquiring captives (spoils of war) to sell them off to outsiders(Arabs and Europeans). There tribalism presented its biggest sting. African Muslisms had no qualms helping Arab Muslisms capture their fellow non-Muslim African. The very Arabs came back for them. Even today, tribalism is still a big issue on the continent.

If Europeans can overcome tribalism and create the European Union, then African people can learn something worthwhile from them. The Chinese although an ancient people, scattered in a vast region, not having any kind of political national unity in the early days, never allowed themselves to be bamboozled and fall prey to outsiders.

I scoff at all those black people who believe that Pan Africanism is only about having black skin and wearing a natural hairstsyle. Right now there is a cultural movement in places like Argentina and Uruguay to ressurrect African culture and many of those involved are not even black, but they represent a better example of blackness than many of the black people I have met here in these United States.

I look for customs,agendas, beliefs and traditions that exhalt black people regardless of color. If I do not see anything exhalting or uplifting , I do not care how black that person is and what they are saying.

There are some truths that most be digested:

Culture, education and acquiring vast knowledge of practically everything, especially that of African people are very important.

People of African descent are not a monolith.

No particular group of black people in the Diaspora is blacker than the other.

Black people speak many different languages and come in many different skin shades.

Skin color does not mean much when you have within families people of different hues.

Black boys must be taught to respect black girls/women and vice versa.

If we teach our children to love, respect and appreciate their cultural groups, most of their problems will disappear.

I will hate to believe that when the ancestors walked the gangplank of that particular area of no return, that, in itself represented the entire rupture and breakaway of selves and an illustration of what we see today in many people of African descent throught the entire world.

Saludos,
Ana

Bits and Bytes: The Chill of Black History Month

 

I have become quite blasé about Black History Month over the last few years. It’s not that I don’t consider it important, but in reality, it’s not something we really own.

I believe that we as a people need to invest our time and energy learning about our various histories, beginning in Africa and then in the lands, or islands of the Diaspora where we were forced to emigrate. We need to acknowledge, understand and appreciate first and foremost, that there were a variety of cultures in Africa before the invasion of the Arabs and Europeans and that there are also a variety of cultures within Africa today. The same can be stated about the variety of cultures throughout the African Diaspora. 

Once we come to the realization that although we are not homogeneous in thought, beliefs, values and culture… and not fear but appreciate this… and focus on the fact that as African people we do have a shared experience, historical as well as contemporary that we can build a sense of unity upon, then I believe Black and African history will be significant to us. Then it won’t be just an Eurocentric based illusion to pacify the African/Black savages, a trinket given once a year, in the shortest and coldest month of the year, as a penance to sooth the European conscience. Then it will be something we own daily, as we educate and enlighten ourselves daily, as we educate and enlighten our sons and daughters daily, as we educate and enlighten our family and community daily. 

It is in this spirit that I share these articles by John Henrik Clarke with you entitled, “The African’s Influence in the New World”. It’s a lecture he gave in London England in 1986. It is presented in a 3 part series in the African Executive webzine.  

The African’s Influence in the New World Part 1
The African’s Influence in the New World Part 2
The African’s Influence in the New World Part 3