I Can See Clearly Now

Man I promise, I'm so self conscious

That's why you always see me with at least one of my watches

Rollies and Pasha's done drove me crazy

I can't even pronounce nothing, pass that versace!

Then I spent 400 bucks on this

Just to be like n_ _ _a you ain't up on this!

And I can't even go to the grocery store

Without some ones that’s clean and a shirt with a team

It seems we living the American dream

But the people highest up got the lowest self-esteem

                                                Kayne West All Falls Down

The above lyrics set the stage for a discussion I have been having all day with some folks surrounding the efforts of those engaged in Occupy Wall Street and the upcoming Black Friday shopping bonanza.

The greatest trick the 1% has ever perpetrated on mankind was to make the 99% aspire to have what they had.  What the 99% did was broke that down even further and got so gangster with it they separated the economic pie based upon race.  Therefore, removing the humanity from the concept of economic fairness.  What I have come to understand in my work is poverty has no color.  It looks the same no matter if you are living on the northside of Jacksonville, FL or in the mountains of West Virginia.  However, the culprit is different based upon those same locations.

What I have also come to understand is that given the right opportunity many of “us” would jump at the chance to be a part of the 1%.  Matter of fact as I suggested in a previous post the reason we go to work everyday and drug dealers even sell drugs is not to get by, but to get closer to the 1% and further away from the bottom portion of that 99%.  Why do you think we buy nice stuff and go into debt doing it? If I were to expand beyond the basic needs of survival and that being food, clothing and shelter and allotted for Maslow's hierarchy of needs which calls for physiological and safety needs, loving and belonging, self esteem and self actualization no where in the mix would Rolex, Gucci or Mercedes be included.  However, that learned was designed by the 1% to keep the 99% on the treadmill of life.   Furthermore, ensuring a permanent class system as identified by Karl Marx, father of capitalism.  

Now don’t get me wrong I like nice things and I AM committed to going to work every day and furthering my education to ensure I can have and afford them.  However, many in the 99% are now committing what I AM defining as “1% Envy.”  What I have concluded is the crime of the 1% is that they have grown their wealth at the expense of the 99%.  Thus pushing the 99% to see them as the common enemy.   Greed and excess has been the downfall of many great nations and a hungry man in Liberty City has the same hunger pains as a hungry man in Willacoochee, GA.  Therefore, what the Occupy Wall Street Movement represents for me is the 99% developing a collective consciousness that together we have all been hoodwinked.   The ability to earn the resources that allow you to fulfill your basic needs is not an option, but a right regardless of where you are on the economic pyramid or what shade of brown you are.

That’s my Truth and I AM sticking to it.

Occupy Wall Street

This may seem as if I have something against the idea of HOPE, but I really don’t.  I AM by and large as HOPEFUL as any one person can be.  Matter of fact HOPE is intertwined with as much of my being as my FAITH.  Although, at times own up to the fact I have the miniuim as suggested by the Bible (size of a mustard seed).  Hey don’t get mad with me I didn’t make the rules, but on most days my FAITH is as deep as the deepest ocean.

That being said in my latest revelation that occurred during one of my quite moments I thought about the profitability of HOPE. 

·      The 99% are really more like 35% because the other 45% are really envious of the 1% and truly HOPEFUL that if they work really hard their jobs won’t be sent overseas and they to can be in the 1% at some point.

·      Politics has drained us all of HOPE and confused so many in the masses that you have people who get Social Security and Medicare screaming for no more entitlements.  Last I checked there was a line on my pay stub that showed I did pay into both and that is called an investment not an entitlement. 

·      Schools are no better.  The very institutions we send our children to get HOPE for a brighter tomorrow are tuning them into HOPELESS test takers with no practical skills other than how to pass or maybe not pass a test.  No disrespect to the countless teachers who do their best everyday trying to keep young people HOPEFUL. 

·      Jessie Jackson suggested “Keep HOPE Alive” and President Obama simply said “HOPE,” yet one media outlet reported on the struggles of African-American men finding a job paying $8.00 an hour let alone finding ones that pay $100K a year http://2025bmb.org/.

See what many African-Americans know and many of my White brothers and sisters are just learning is despite where we are economically we are all one corporate merger, one bad encounter with a manager, one brother, sister or cousin away from starting over again.  Also, when your linage includes slavery and Jim Crow you are born with a DNA inclusive of HOPE. 

Therefore, when the question is asked “Where are the black folk during the Occupy Movement?”  Kindly let them know we been fighting Wall Street while trying to get a job on Main Street for a minute now and we thank you for showing up to the fight with the cameras in tow.  Your support is kindly appreciated.

By the way Keep Your Head Up and oh yea Keep HOPE Alive.

That’s my Truth and I AM sticking to it.