I have been thinking a lot lately about the phrase, "It will never happen in our lifetime", in reference to positive change. Then on Tuesday night my best friend got a gun pulled on him by some man living the cracka mentality. The words and actions, (or lack thereof), of people to this situation caused me to vomit this bunch of words up. I just thought that maybe they fit in here on this board somehow...

This is why it will never happen in our lifetime…

A gun is pulled on a Black Man. The hand holding the gun belongs to a white ‘man’. And yes, the carriage does happen to be the message this time…

Hundreds of years were dissolved in that moment and I saw bodies hung from trees with genitals stuffed in mouths and a thousand grinning demons, scorching the night with marble tombstone faces…

Plantations still exist in 2001. But bricks and mortar have changed to skin and bones, to flesh and blood, and walls are seemingly invisible now. Yet the barriers still exist as impenetrable as they ever were and woe behold the man that crosses them…

Plantations are imperceptible to the ignorant eye in 2001. Most frighteningly to me, the ignorant eye is not necessarily held by the uninformed. Why is the pot melting? Because we have learned to embrace fear and consequentially Love diversity or because underneath the skin a seething torrent of unexpressed emotions causes flesh to fall..?

And fall it does…

It falls when the Black Man steps through the real door. It falls when the white ‘man’ sees his door opening and finds himself indescribably, (and unjustifiably), threatened and time line rewind, trees and rope are turned to hands and guns and Black Man is propelled back out the door…

This is why the pot is melting. Not out of a Love and acceptance of difference, but out of a repressed and temporarily constrained fear buried deep within the gossamer of Manhood. That which we deny will always grow stronger than ourselves and we will find ourselves no longer in control. Not that, in this circumstance, control was ever really looked for. Except, of course, for personal profit…

And so the libertines sit way up high and recount the experience and it’s unacceptability. They talk and they reiterate and they regurgitate until their tongues grow old and furry and they have forgotten why or how they even spoke in the first place…

Each time the story is retold the words grow thin and increasingly tired of their constant use and so eventually they evaporate into the hot air that once filled them and bound them together. With their evaporation comes the inevitability of the maintenance of the hegemonic forces that be. So sublimation becomes a chemical affair and not a matter of spiritual ascension…

And so it will never happen in our lifetime because we will not actualise our words. We will not command our bodily selves through our voices. We speak with indignation and force of that which offends our ‘righteous’ sensibilities but then prove ourselves too lazy to revolt…

These words of dissidence, revolution and change are all to easily voiced. They have become as meaningless as the word ‘and’, used only to string together a sentence in a coherent manner. Anger at injustice has become the colloquial idiom of our generation and I am beginning to understand the real meaning of free speech. Free of obligation, sustenance, passion and Truth…

Change will never happen in our lifetime not because change is as long as the snake of eternity, but because we are too afraid to set it in motion. We have become acclimatised to the paradigm that drives our mouth to speech and seem frightened of the possibility of breathing in an ocean that suits out supposed souls…

It will never happen in our lifetime not because we lack the years or the power but because, ultimately, we believe ourselves impotent. We believe ourselves powerless in the face of adversity. We believe in their myths of indestructibility regardless of what our free and easy speech proclaims. We are all waiting for the revolution and whilst we scan the horizon we fail to notice the actual origin of humanity dying from neglect…

Hegemonic powers of subjugation are not in control because they contain the greater force; they exist because we allow them too. Acquisition of cultural righteousness will not be given to us, indeed, it is not even our birthright. Our inheritance is this cage of indignity we appear to think our words can melt. It is for us to claim what our proclamations desire and crush what they despise. And so I wonder what we angrily await..?

And so I say this is why it will never happen in our lifetime:

It will never happen because our actions belie the truth of our words…

Peace,

TankdotcomGreen

http://www.tankgreen.com - Cunt's R Us

http://www.recordkingdom.com

---
"It's easy to blur the truth with a simple linguistic trick: start your story from "Secondly."" -- Mourid Barghouti

The question I always ask is, do my caucasian peers respect me like they claim they do? I have had the N word said in front of me recently. The offending person said it in a manner like it was a word he was used to saying, and possibly forgot I was in the rom. That shit hurts, yo... I can say no more on it..

FLUKE THE SYSTEM.

http://truth0ne.diaryland.com/
Come and see nothing happen in real time!!!

As a white man i must speak out. All of my life I have been surrounded by wonderful blacks and whites, as well as other nations. I am lucky to have parents who taught me to look past skin color. I personally am sickened by the society which allows stereotypes and racial anger to grow like a cancer. We allow prominant blacks like Rev. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton to become prominant figures and then we allow them to become scapegoats and jokes. Not to knock anyone but Saturday Night Live allows for a white man to play Jesse when they have 2 black members on the cast.
All my life I have been ridiculed for being friends with blacks, being called "wigger" by whites and sometimes laughed at by blacks for my activism and liking of old R&B. Such things should not be hurting so much, but racism is never good in any form. The era of PC has caused a backlash of anti-PC feelings showcased by angrier music and increase in programming like "The Man Show". Although the music, and certainly not "The Man Sow", often does not give off a racist vibe, it inadvertently does by giving a "don't give a fuck" attitude. It was never cool to be sensitive, but we are too desensitized now. It will probably not happen in our lifetime, or our children's or our childrens children's lifetime, but I have what those who allow racism and other forms of hate to continue don't have. I have hope.
Irie,
Dub Spt

- Dub

I give rappers the biz for being m-izza-a-archaic.

Not to knock
>anyone but Saturday Night Live
>allows for a white man
>to play Jesse when they
>have 2 black members on
>the cast.

I know this isn't all that important to your point, still the white guy is the best guy for the job here. I couldn't imagine tracy morgan or negro#2 tryin to pull off Jesse Jackson. for real. Dude is infinitely more talented.

________________________________________
-representin the real since tuesday
-illified illustrated.word.fresh.

FROM THE GROUND UP- ROOTS 2nd CD- BUY NOW: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0000073F6/qid=989953006/sr=1-1/202-6163542-0903066


OKAY...now i am recognizin that the choice to rhyme for self is urgin me to to put the wealth not quite as high upon the shelf/ for me wisdom is decisions made aside from what ya'll like/ so just clean up all of your ears/ these are my views and you will find that/we revolutionize it with the kick and the snare.....(c)thisghettovocalist

MY LATEST RAP ALIASES- mcbadfeet aka: the mayor goldie wilson of rap, aka big chris the juicebox, aka jesus jones retired messiah, aka the black jamie lawson of rap, aka thurgood killabitch the IV, aka brooklyn jackson from queens, aka homer pimpson, aka alex p. cheatin, aka benny ill, aka stank sinatra, aka michael j. rocks

Much love,
Kyle

go vote for me, cause i'm extreme and deserve to be on TV..oh yeah, and i'll buy tara something too

http://bluetorch.tv/host/voteforme.asp?id=41472

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much love,
Kyle

Detroit..Let's GO!!! May 12th Dilla Walk for Lupus...Belle Isle...

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Even a Dollar can HELP..


http://www.myspace.com/jedikyle
http://www.detroitderbygirls.com/

more specifically, what happened? was he jacked for loot? or was this cracker just fucking with him on some racist shit?

It was over words that white 'man' claimed he said. Of course he didn't say them...

But to be honest that is not the point of what I was trying to say. I was trying to make a statement about our complacent mentality toward actual change. Meaning we talk a lot about a lot of things but that I am beginning to loose faith in words..

Peace,

TankdotcomGreen

http://www.tankgreen.com - Cunt's R Us

http://www.recordkingdom.com

---
"It's easy to blur the truth with a simple linguistic trick: start your story from "Secondly."" -- Mourid Barghouti

i lost faith in words a long time ago.

(i'd like to warn that this reply will probably go of on many tangents. i tend to do that)

people talk because it's comforting. it's comforting and easy to speak positivily about problems to generate confidence in finding solutions. now we have, as a society, made huge progress over the years but how much better is it going to get?

the problems we face today (socialy) are problems faced by many societies spanning thousands of years. i don't want anyone to get the impression that i'm all negative thoughts and oppossed to the positive movement. however, i do think people need to recognize the boundries and limits that our goals have.

i think by understanding these limits, we can focus our energy towards the correct path. i'm all for breaking the mold but you have to realize that sometimes you can't break a stone with a feather.

it is good to strive to break these molds though. it sounds like a contradiction to what i just talked about but it goes with understanding the limits of what we can accomplish. i think a great example is mlk jr. he had this "vision". i think this vision was absurd. there is no way he was going to accomplish his "ultimate goal". but look at what he accomplished on the way. (now i don't want you to think that small goals are bad. how i see things, you should set the big goal and then try to reach that with small goals. kinda like your goal is the top of the stairs but you set a goal for each of the steps.)

does any of this make sense to anyone?

summary of thoughts: people talk about achieving social perfection. it ain't gonna happen. however, by acknowledging these boundries we know what to strive for. we're not going to "break the mold", so to speak, but on the road we'll accomplish more than anyone could ever think.

mathematical analogy: it's like trying to reach infinity. you know you can't do it but if you dedicate the time you can get pretty damn far.

i've probably just confused you so i'll stop. hopefully some of this makes sense.


"I DON'T KNOW KARATE, BUT I KNOW caRAZY!"

Change is a journey, not an outcome or goal. Change is part of the mountain or ascent toward success. We are born with the core human drive to ascend or move our purpose in our lives forward no matter what. Something happens to us that causes us to quit or camp out (become comfortable and hide from adversity).

>These words of dissidence, revolution and
>change are all to easily
>voiced. They have become as
>meaningless as the word ‘and’,
>used only to string together
>a sentence in a coherent
>manner.

Fear is the key word and I have often heard pseudo-activists say "I am not scared. I am down." and then they disappear and re-emerge somewhere, fully indoctrinated with bullshit and changed. I know former-activists who "grew up" and "got with the program" to get a nice paying job and support/protect their families.

>Change will never happen in our
>lifetime not because change is
>as long as the snake
>of eternity, but because we
>are too afraid to set
>it in motion.

Change is also gradual and people are only into immediate gratification. Change has to happen in this lifetime or it's not a worthwhile pursuit. Change also starts with each person rejecting society's norms and standards, re-ordering themselves acoording to a purpose and starting from one's corner.

Too many people are afraid to take that leap of faith, focus on the present, not the outcome and be mindful of the process. It's not easy or popular or accepted. Following one's purpose is often full of missteps and mistakes. People grow tired of the climb, the path and they stop trying.

>It will never happen in our
>lifetime not because we lack
>the years or the power
>but because, ultimately, we believe
>ourselves impotent. We believe ourselves
>powerless in the face of
>adversity.

I see adversity as a mountain and my life goal is the journey, not the outcome. Resiliency is the most important quality for anyone seeking change. Power surges and wanes. It's unstable.

I used to say the words. I read most of the books and I used to preach about activism and then I witnessed people's fear of change, fear of activism and ideological commitment. I asked myself "What are you doing? Stop wasting your time preaching and start working." I found a purpose and a path. I became silent but always moving, navigating change and dealing with adversity.

>Hegemonic powers of subjugation are not
>in control because they contain
>the greater force; they exist
>because we allow them too.
>Acquisition of cultural righteousness will
>not be given to us,
>indeed, it is not even
>our birthright. Our inheritance is
>this cage of indignity we
>appear to think our words
>can melt. It is for
>us to claim what our
>proclamations desire and crush what
>they despise. And so I
>wonder what we angrily await..?

The process of change begins when people start identifying how the system domesticates us, how we are brainwashed into believing in and supporting it. Then, people have to be willing to break the agreements we have made with the system. New agreements have to be made and people have to be willing to form new lives with or without their families and peers.

>And so I say this is
>why it will never happen
>in our lifetime:
>
>It will never happen because our
>actions belie the truth of
>our words…

It may never happen because people live in fear or they tire of the climb and choose to camp out with others who think they have done enough. They think that now they have enough money or some other consolation. They think that there is some outcome or acquisition to be had but the journey continues. The people effectively dealing with adversity are the ones who are mindful of the journey, not some goal.

I get tired. People are always telling me you can stop doing what you are doing and get paid doing x,y,z. I usually hear these people when I am taking a pit stop on my climb. My activism is using the arts and technology to build environments where people empower themselves. I am not always paid enough and I struggle but I feel like I am on purpose. Sure, I know I can stop trying and get comfortable but doing that would undermine everything I believe in. I fear what happens to me if I stop climbing, end my journey (life). I don't fear change. I remember these words:

"Climbers are catalysts for action; they tend to make things happen."

"Climbers thrive on change."

"Climbers will take risks, withstand the challenges, overcome the fear, maintain their vision, take the lead, and tough it out until the job is finished."


"Know thyself"

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you". So we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
-- Hebrews 13:5,6

"There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"
--Morpheus in "The Matrix"

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"- Dumbledore to Harry Potter "Chamber of Secrets"

<--- Blame this lady for Nutty.

Adversity is like a triangle: there are three levels. Positive change at all three levels starts with the individual and works it way up (individual, workplace, society). In order to create change, one must be relentless and have the strength to climb through adversity.

Every day we are faced with adversity such as more virulent forms of institutionalized racism and violence. Job security is dead. It is at the level of the individual where change begins and control is instigated.

"The mountain appears insurmountable. The increasing adversity of the ascent makes it even more daring and riskier to climb than ever before. As a result, more people stop striving to move forward and up in their lives and take the trail-less-challenging. Be it in their own growth, careers, relationships, contribution, or self-awareness, they come to a halt part way up the mountain, setting up camp and living under the false assumption that their little campsite on the mountain will remain forever stable."

Of course the perception of stability that many people have is false and when change comes people like to complain. When racism or violence rears it's ugly head people like to talk about destroying it. However, if it means that people have to give up their perception of stability in order to make change many people would rather talk but not do anything. Many get caught up in feeling helpless and hopeless.

"Know thyself"

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you or forsake you". So we may boldly say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
-- Hebrews 13:5,6

"There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path"
--Morpheus in "The Matrix"

"It's our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities"- Dumbledore to Harry Potter "Chamber of Secrets"

<--- Blame this lady for Nutty.

whenever 'you' act in ways that are loving and right it is happening in your life time....our problem is we look from without for change....when we should be looking within....when 'you' change and when 'you' grow it is happening in your lifetime.....you where there in love after your friend was attacked.....that sharing of love was a revolutionary act...and it happened in your lifetime....please, don't lose hope...in changing ourselves, we change the world around us....

peace in love,
philia

but what i am talking about is peoples general lack of responsibility to their word...

repeat:

These words of dissidence, revolution and change are all to easily voiced. They have become as meaningless as the word 'and', used only to string together a sentence in a coherent manner. Anger at injustice has become the colloquial idiom of our generation and I am beginning to understand the real meaning of free speech. Free of obligation, sustenance, passion and Truth...

Peace,

TankdotcomGreen

http://www.tankgreen.com - Cunt's R Us

http://www.recordkingdom.com

---
"It's easy to blur the truth with a simple linguistic trick: start your story from "Secondly."" -- Mourid Barghouti

I couldn't agree with you more. First let me say that your post was not only extremely eloquent, but also very on point and relevant. I also think, in terms of "it" happening in our lifetime, that we too often speak of things, and don't act upon our ideas. "It," whether it be a change in mentality, a unifying of our race, or a revolution of any sort, has the capability to happen in our lifetime. I see signs of it every day. People are growing continuously more and more conscious of the ills of the world in which we live, especially for Africans, African Americans and the entire diaspora. The fact that I attend a historicallly black university and on countless occassions am involved in deep conversations discussing the plight of our people leads me to believe that the knowledge of the problem is there. But who is willing to act on it? Has it just become popular to be aware and "revolutionary" in thought? Or are the feelings and ideas genuine, not just what is the "in" thing? Sometimes I don't know, and I feel like a fanatic when I speak of change, and radical actions to make the change come about. I wonder if all my peers speaking of revolution would give up their worldly comforts if the time came to take a stand? I know I would...would you??

~~~~~~welcome to my sig~~~~~~~

"Perilous to us all are the devices of an art deeper than we possess ourselves."- Gandalf, 'The Two Towers'

"...the doper that I get the more I'm feeling broke as shit..."- Dre 3000

...something like this:

Three people are sitting side-by-side in a small, illuminated room, facing a red door. Each one is looking at the other two, silently wondering who will rise from their seat and move towards the door first.

Suddenly they all blurt out at once.

"You gonna...?"

"Well, no, maybe I should..."

"I would, but...y'know, you can if you want..."

"Me? No, you can go, it's cool..."

Hours later, when all the fuss dies down, no one has risen.

________________________________________
...white feather wings.

http://thelastdaysofrussell.bandcamp.com (soon - "Election Day on Monster Island")