Wednesday, December 17, 2014

A Real Black President


Keith Howard - If African Americans had a nation of its own who would you choose to be our President?

Jean Thornton - Oprah. I think she has transcended most racial boundaries due to her intelligence power & wealth. She has global recognition & respect of the people. Shes a natural born leader. Her track record is astounding. Sad to say I really am not knowledgable of other notable candidates, although Im certain there are many unknown Madiba's.

Keith Howard - Dr Umar Johnson.
Cynthia McKinney
Dr Claude Anderson
Oprah Winfrey
Magic Johnson
Tavis Smiley
Michelle Alexander
Blair Underwood

Jean Thornton - Blair, Travis Im familiar with both. Don't view as leaders of the free world. I will research the others. Oh---Michelle Obama!

Keith Howard - Not of the free world just African Americans.

Muhammad Rasheed - Hmmm...

Muhammad Rasheed - Good question. What are the traits of a well-rounded leader, and what African-American public figure do we know that matches those traits?

Keith Howard - Blair Underwood could pull off the image.  His vice president would have to be very educated on matters of governance.  Michelle would be a good leader.

Muhammad Rasheed - I would lean away from any actors unless they have proven, real world leadership qualities.

Keith Howard - Dr Claude Anderson would be very qualified.  He has experience with past presidents.

Keith Howard - @Muhammad Rasheed....we have have actors as American presidents.  Ronald Reagan, George Bush lol.

Muhammad Rasheed - ^That's why I would lean away from actors. They proved to only be puppets for powerful corporate interests. Script readers.

Muhammad Rasheed - 7 Traits of Highly-Effective Leaders

A remarkable amount of time, effort, and money has been devoted to the study of leadership. Despite all this research, there is little agreement about exactly what leadership is.

Still, people know effective leadership when they see it. And while great leaders may sometimes be born that way, there are certain traits that great leaders share in common that anyone can practice and adopt to become more effective.

What qualities are those? Well, to be a highly effective leader, you must:

1.) Inspire action.
2.) Be optimistic.
3.) Have integrity.
4.) Support & facilitate your team.
5.) Have confidence.
6.) Communicate.
7.) Be decisive.

SOURCE: http://www.inc.com/.../7-traits-highly-effective-leaders...

Keith Howard - People want an image to follow. The advisors are the smart ones.  Remember modern leadership is all about popularity these days.

Jean Thornton - Dr. Claud Anderson has my vote. He speaks of economic empowerment which is what WE as a race are lacking. We push for college education but we need to begin with economic & political education first. By the time these kids are college age its too late.

Keith Howard - I agree Muhammad but look at who we elect?  A rational informed person couldn't disagree with you.  But we got Bush for 8 years.

Angel Rivera - Not Bush

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "People want an image to follow."

It's better to have a leader with the traits people need so that the system will run efficiently rather than only surface-level foolishness they think they want.

Keith Howard wrote: "The advisors are the smart ones."

In addition to a team of tech specialists, the advisors should also include representatives from the different perspectives of classes and specialty groups within the African-American community. We cannot expect the president to be able to think for us all. We are not of one big hive mind.

Keith Howard - Dr Anderson would be at the top of my list also!

Keith Howard - Muhammad that is very true.
I agree.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "I agree Muhammad but look at who we elect? A rational informed person couldn't disagree with you. But we got Bush for 8 years."

The Bush election didn't represent a nation of African-Americans voting for our own leader to represent us exclusively. The black voters definitely didn't come out in the same force they did to elect Obama.

Jean Thornton - When I say too late I mean to empower the race economically. You have to educate them as consumers, make them aware that we are modern day paid slaves, who take our earnings and are made to turn it back over to the powers that be because we are denied a fare stake in free enterprise. Where are our banks, super markets, dealerships, restaurants, even liquor license? In the grand scheme of things we barely exist.

Keith Howard - Hey Muhammad who be your president and who would you choose as his advisers?

Muhammad Rasheed - Holding...

This is a great thread topic and worthy of putting some real thought into.

Jean Thornton - I say Keith Muhammad and Jean start a movement to educate OUR youth through whatever means necessary.

Muhammad Rasheed - We should have two answers: one for someone alive in the modern day, and another in which it doesn't matter if they are alive or dead.

Muhammad Rasheed - The 9 Traits That Define Great Leadership

To motivate your team to achieve the highest levels of performance (and create an extraordinary organization in the process) here are the qualities you should model every day.

1.)  Awareness
2.)    Decisiveness
3.)    Empathy
4.)    Accountability
5.)    Confidence
6.)    Optimism
7.)    Honesty
8.)    Focus
9.)    Inspiration

SOURCE:  http://www.inc.com/peter-economy/the-9-traits-that-define-great-leadership.html

Muhammad Rasheed - Okay, now between those two lists, which African-American figure do we know who checks off the most of those items? Like Jean I would put Oprah in that pot.

Muhammad Rasheed –


Muhammad Rasheed - Obama goes in the pot.

Muhammad Rasheed - (I'm going to try to get at least 10 to choose from; the rest can be potential advisers)

Jean Thornton - I like the mindset of Harry Belefante but his age is a factor. Lets not forget Colon Powell.

Muhammad Rasheed - Harold Washington (Chicago mayor); Coleman Young (Detroit mayor)

For my "mortality is not a factor" list.

Keith Howard - Obama is too status quo.

Muhammad Rasheed - Based on what? Is he an efficient leader? If he didn't have to deal with hostile non-African-Americans in the nation he led, would he be "status quo?"

The GOP hates him because they are not able to just run over him despite their intent. That's not status quo. His strength is demonstrable.

Keith Howard - Obama would be too afraid to act on behalf of black folk for fear of offending the white establishment.

Muhammad Rasheed - I disagree. Obama has acted on behalf of black folk. He's thrown his weight behind education... at both the K-12 and college levels... which is a 1 of 2 step needed to move up the socio-economic ladder from poverty to middle class. Obama thinks long term. If black folk choose to not take advantage of it, that's on them.

Keith Howard - We would need a visionary on par with Marcus Garvey that would be unapologetic about black American economic independence.
Iook at all the black mayors of major cities across America.  What did they do for African Americans in those cities? NOTHING.  Because they are all controlled by the money that got them there. 

Keith Howard - You are a fan of Obama and that's okay if you do not hold him to a high standard of making significant advancements in our community.    Look at how bold he was when he stood up for gay rights.  Why can't he muster that same zeal and boldness for our community?  Well, I don't want to make this about Obama after all he is Americas president.  I think we have brilliant minds among us that would more than fit to lead our community in the right direction. 

If you ever get a chance check out Dr Umar Johnson.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: “We would need a visionary on par with Marcus Garvey that would be unapologetic about black American economic independence.”

Being a one-dimensional charismatic visionary is one thing, and it comes with a certain measure of power and influence, but if he/she is unable to check off other items on the list of great leader traits, and fails to build a stable economy that benefits the people he’s supposed to lead -- that even collapses into failure during his watch -- then what good is it?

Keith Howard wrote: “Iook at all the black mayors of major cities across America. What did they do for African Americans in those cities? NOTHING. Because they are all controlled by the money that got them there.”

The two mayors I named helped the black community as much as that office allowed while they held it, with a marked difference among our people before and after them. They were both examples of strong black leaders that looked out for our interests.

Keith Howard - You said something very significant "as much as the office would allow".   You sound like a very bright young man.  I would like to include you in a think tank and include your strong opinions on this matter and even perhaps publish in an article or book.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: “You are a fan of Obama and that's okay if you do not hold him to a high standard of making significant advancements in our community.”

A leader’s job is to provide the resources and tools to enable people to do their jobs. He tracks the people under him to see if they are on task to meet deadlines, and holds people accountable to do what they agreed to do. The people who are directly under his payroll he has the ability to reward or punish as their actions deem necessary. But for the American citizens who decided not to take his speech serious when he said his presidency is a partnership between him and us, and he needs us to do our part as well to achieve our successes, he can do nothing to. We are not under his payroll, and don’t work for him. So he can clear the path to education, and put policies in place that will make it easier for entrepreneurs to develop new economic industries in our neighborhoods, but if we don’t take advantage of it, what can he do?

Keith Howard wrote: “Look at how bold he was when he stood up for gay rights.  Why can't he muster that same zeal and boldness for our community?”

The Civil Rights Act and similar items already cleared the walls of institutional racism away, and we have the ability to hop over lesser racism hurdles on the way towards success if we are determined to do so, so what else can he do for us in that sphere? The president has done his part, Keith. Not it is our turn. Now it’s time to hold ourselves to a high standard and reach for the mark of Excellence. The president had our back the whole time he’s been in office. Where have we been?

Keith Howard wrote: “Well, I don't want to make this about Obama after all he is Americas president. I think we have brilliant minds among us that would more than fit to lead our community in the right direction.”

Discussions like that are important to hash out exactly what we need (and think we need) in our leaders. The Obama questions are 100% appropriate to this thread. Absolutely.

Keith Howard wrote: “If you ever get a chance check out Dr Umar Johnson.”

I will.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: “You said something very significant ‘as much as the office would allow.’”

In the political office hierarchy the mayor’s strength is that his office is one of the ones closest to the people… boots on the ground… almost like a first level manager in corporate. He knows what the people in his city need to thrive, and if he has sufficient resources, can make that happen. The POTUS is no where near that close, and relies on mayors, governors, etc. to communicate their people’s needs to him to know what to budget or not, or what policies that need to be pushed or not, but he counts on those leaders to lead their people. The CEO of my company isn’t going to be in my department telling my folk what to do; my department manager leads us, and I lead my own office. If there’s an issue I can’t handle I go up the chain, but the CEO counts on me to lead my team, just as the POTUS counts on the mayor to lead his city.

Keith Howard wrote: “You sound like a very bright young man. I would like to include you in a think tank and include your strong opinions on this matter and even perhaps publish in an article or book.”

Thank you it sounds like fun.

Muhammad Rasheed - Encountered during my Dr. Umar Abdullah-Johnson research:

“[Marcus Garvey] later remembered that the most influential experience of his stay in London was reading Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up From Slavery. Washington believed African Americans needed to improve themselves first, showing whites in America that they deserved equal rights. Although politically involved behind the scenes, Washington repeatedly claimed that African Americans would not benefit from political activism and started an industrial training school in Alabama that embodied his own philosophy of self-help. Garvey embraced Washington's ideas and returned to Jamaica in 1914 to found the UNIA with the motto 'One God! One Aim! One Destiny!'

“Initially he kept very much in line with Washington by encouraging his fellow Jamaicans of African descent to work hard, demonstrate good morals and a strong character, and not worry about politics as a tool to advance their cause.

“After surveying the racial situation in America, Garvey was convinced that integration would never happen and that only economic, political, and cultural success on the part of African Americans would bring about equality and respect.

“To promote unity, Garvey encouraged African Americans to be concerned with themselves first. He stated after World War One that "[t]he first dying that is to be done by the black man in the future will be done to make himself free. And then when we are finished, if we have any charity to bestow, we may die for the white man. But as for me, I think I have stopped dying for him." Black people had to do the work that success and independence demanded, and, most important, they had to do that work for themselves. ‘If you want liberty,’ claimed Garvey to a meeting held in 1921, ‘you yourselves must strike the blow. If you must be free, you must become so through your own effort.’"

Muhammad Rasheed - A leader is only as great as the people he leads. He can do all of this work of his office, gather all of these resources, clear all of these political hurdles, but if the people themselves don't do the work needed, then what good is the leader?

Black criticisms against Obama are very disappointing.

Keith Howard - Don't fret Muhammad, lm sure there are many leaders past and present that we both agree upon.  What is important is that we gauge our leaders not on pomp and fluff but REAL change and not simply sybolic.  The good news is there are smart brothers like yourself that still puts a value on critical thinking and not just settle for flashy speeches and outdated marches as a true course of action.

Muhammad Rasheed - Okay, here's what I'm seeing in Dr. Umar Abdullah-Johnson... I see very little evidence of him being a proven leader of men, even as far as a small staff. His expertise is very narrowly focused and specialized, so I can't recommend him as president of our new African-American nation. He can sit at the president's adviser table though.

Keith Howard - Smart observation.

Pick your president and name his avisors based on necessary skill sets limited to 5 key advisors.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "What is important is that we gauge our leaders not on pomp and fluff but REAL change and not simply sybolic."

I agree, and that's precisely why I am an 'Obama fan' as you put it. When he came into office he actually used his campaign promises as a To-Do checklist, and fought hard to check off all those items. What politician had THAT reputation? Not one.

Second, after his political opponents showed that they had zero intention of partnering with him to help improve the economy, etc., he found solutions to their filibusters and "made it happen" anyway. He refused to lose. That's a TOP THREE (at least) trait that our leader should possess.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "Pick your president and name his avisors based on necessary skill sets limited to 5 key advisors."

Okay. I'm working on it, I told you this requires serious thought. lol

Only five?

Muhammad Rasheed - Notice that both Booker T. and Marcus Garvey recognized that the true strength of a successful community comes from the economically empowered citizens themselves who work hard to develop valuable skills and a strong measure of independence. The leader only reflects the strength of the people he leads; he is THEIR representative. If they are great then he is great. If he is personally accomplished, and walks in excellence, but the people he leads are waiting for him to magically make their lives better without them doing anything, then of course any effort of him simply performing his office job duties will seem merely "symbolic & pomp & fluff."

Love Miray Newgo - Excuse me... you guys are fierce but Oprah Maya Angelou Id want someone who can rule with the humility Nelson Mandela the peace of Ghandi the Anointing of Martin the study of Malcolm the patience and consideration of obama

Keith Howard - @Love Miray Newgo… come on in and if l may speak for brother Muhammad Rasheed your input is welcome.  Staying consistant with the dialogue, choose a living person that would be worthy of being president of black America.

Keith Howard - Remember, let us be realistic in our expectations of this leader. Jesus does not have a twin.  I like all of Muhammad Rasheeds insight on qualifications but as brilliant as Obama may be, he still uses speech writters and teleprompters.
This not to say that the man isn't brilliant but if we seek perfection personified then know one would ever qualify.  I believe....and perhaps brother Muhammad will disagree but Obama's ability to move people when he speaks is the key element.  After that surround your pick with brilliant minds and boom!  There is our leader lol.

Love Miray Newgo - Like I said it would have to be a woman with all those characteristics its rime for real change and only a motherly instinct can line her childten up as a nation Oprah and Muchelle Obama not only believes ineducation but are incredibly intelligent not to take credit from men nor power but history repeats itself in life forces of truth it was Harriet Tubman that said let my people go went back taking out the weak in this day alot of our men have forsaken our black women and the very power which has sustained them theyve given over to the medias lies and allowed their strength to be devalued why because the womb of a black man is his power which has to rise and restore recover and revive a lost nation a woman indeed must lead the first shall be last and last first

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: “Remember, let us be realistic in our expectations of this leader. Jesus does not have a twin.”

Jesus only led a total of about 15 people. The children of Israel rejected him as their king, even though that was one of the duties of his mission on earth.

Keith Howard wrote: “I like all of Muhammad Rasheeds insight on qualifications but as brilliant as Obama may be, he still uses speech writters and teleprompters.”

That’s only the performance aspect of his job, and doesn’t reflect on his actual leadership ability. He also leads his speech writing staff, and is very hands on. He’s an excellent writer himself, and functions in that way as a technical lead, unlike presidents Reagan and Bush II.

Keith Howard wrote: “This not to say that the man isn't brilliant but if we seek perfection personified then know one would ever qualify.”

If we were looking for perfection we’d just make up a character for the role.

Keith Howard wrote: “I believe....and perhaps brother Muhammad will disagree but Obama's ability to move people when he speaks is the key element.”

Well, he has the ability to make people believe in his sincerity. The fact that there are many blacks who aren’t doing anything for themselves, but are instead complaining that the black president isn’t magically making their lives better, means that Obama isn’t doing a good job at “moving people” to act. At least not in the areas of vital importance to what the community truly needs. He can sure get them to vote though, that’s for sure.

Keith Howard wrote: “After that surround your pick with brilliant minds and boom! There is our leader lol.”

Yes, a strong advisory team is vital. The president is a generalist who relies on a team of specialists to make informed decisions. I propose we bump the number up from 5 to 12.

Keith Howard - Also check out Cynthia McKinney this ex congress woman is the truth.

Muhammad Rasheed - http://www.playbuzz.com/.../how-down-with-the-cause-are-you

Love Miray Newgo - We must not lean to our own understanding of schools in Africa consider this since we indeed came from the MOTHER LAND that she may one day rise and seek her lost children with more knowledge and power that shed be greatful for opportunity and bring a culures lost language of love and virture strength and courage back everything has substance of meaning that we can not see until years to come

Keith Howard - Brother Muhammad Rasheed give me in your words the rolls of these key advisors and what skillsets would be vital to building our community. 

Allow me to start it off with education and industry.

Muhammad Rasheed - I think you'd have to break education up into two parts... one for getting people up to speed, and another for higher education.

Muhammad Rasheed - Industry would have to be broken up into parts as well, and paired with an economics specialist. I would put Thomas Sowell over that latter.

Keith Howard - But what about jobs and our ability to employ our own rank and file?

Keith Howard - Sowell? I will research him.

Muhammad Rasheed - The skill sets we need that would guarantee we leave our legacy of generational poverty behind would be in the hard sciences, technology and high mathematics. Being part of the world's Technological elite, on the forefront of moving our civilization forward in scientific advancement so that the world would court our skills, is the key.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "But what about jobs and our ability to employ our own rank and file?"

That would all flow from my last post above.

Muhammad Rasheed - This would give us the power and clout and wealth to have the leisure to produce our own High Art culture.

Muhammad Rasheed - Which would produce its own industry.

Muhammad Rasheed - They all would feed the other.

Keith Howard - @Muhammad Rasheed, Love Miray Newgo… all this must be funded.  How would we fund such an effort?  Studies say the our community is worth 2 trillion dollars.

Keith Howard - Would we need a central bank?

Muhammad Rasheed - An estimated $2 trillion dollars will flow through our community in the next few years a study said. How would we tap into that for our benefit, instead of it just enriching the lives and businesses of the parasite ethnicities that follow us around like remoras on a shark. That's where someone like Dr. Umar Johnson could come in handy... using his knowledge of psychology to help us shift our thinking so that we can encode a saving, living beneath our means skills into our culture. This is step one for controlling our wealth and our economic lives.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "Would we need a central bank?"

We would need to explore banking models and choose ones that would benefit the community the most. I would vote to stay away from the Federal Reserve fiat model altogether. It generates and feeds upon a debt culture and destroys currencies and communities, favoring a plutocratic society, and we don't need that.

Keith Howard - Sounds logical but that's where we differ in this regard.  Without real nuts n bolts funding it will not work because our folks are too hard wired to be consumers.  We would need a strait up BLACK TAX, CENTRAL BANK or a stock option like Garvey did in my opinion.
Your thoughts?

Muhammad Rasheed - We absolutely must reroute that "hard wiring" or none of this will go anywhere.

Remember it all starts from the efforts of the people themselves; the change they need can only come from the efforts of the people. The leaders can only represent what the people themselves want, and if they aren't working towards their own economic empowerment, the leaders will never be anything more than weak symbols that the people will resent.

Muhammad Rasheed - The funding comes from the people. Which means they need to be generating maximum dollars in a strong middle class economy. They need to be educated in high value skills that they are newly hard wired into passing on to generation after generation for long-term success.

Keith Howard - To reach our masses on that level we will need our own mass media would we not?

Muhammad Rasheed - We can do stock options and et cetera in Garvey's model, but remember, he was a failed leader. Let's make sure that the mistakes of the past are not duplicated in our new nation.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "To reach our masses on that level we will need our own mass media would we not?"

Is that the best way to teach people new skills? Did the highly-accomplished blacks of the past have mass media when they learned things?

Keith Howard - We will learn from past mistakes or perish.

Muhammad Rasheed - Yes, we have to.

Muhammad Rasheed - I don't want to see repeats of the Malcolm versus Elijah schisms, and the heart-breaking mismanagement of Marcus Garvey be repeated in our ranks.

Love Miray Newgo - I say we have the money no problem we need togetherness thats our ultimate problem after watching Hidden Colors 3 we should have had an banking solutuon to open accounts with the knowledge of black owned banks and ommediate inveastments

Love Miray Newgo - Sorry for errors i think i need glasses

Keith Howard - They way things are now....yes we do need our own television PROGRAMING or reprogramming.

Muhammad Rasheed - Give me some examples of people actually learning MIT level skills from watch tv.

Keith Howard - @Love Miray Newgo in my opinion FINANCING this thing is the key.
And after our pres and his/her advisors are chosen we can vote annually and set the spending agenda.

Muhammad Rasheed - What are we financing exactly?

Muhammad Rasheed - An army of tutors, going door to door? Similar to those New England missionaries who came down to teach the newly freed slaves how to read & write during Reconstruction?

Keith Howard - No Muhammad Rasheed you said first we much change the thinking of our people and then we can build institutions of learning.
Do you disagree?

Muhammad Rasheed - I think we would change their thinking inside of the institutions of learning, using Booker T.'s model.

Keith Howard - Any nation needs businesses schools telecommunications, industry etc.

Muhammad Rasheed - Yes, we need to build our own. The alternative is to allow other skilled ethnicities to come in and do that work for us, which I am loathe to do.

Muhammad Rasheed - We can pay them to come and teach us those skills though.

Keith Howard - Nevermind my allocation of funding.  Where would you invest the funds?

Muhammad Rasheed - Into the resources/tools/personnel needed to train the people into those science/tech/math skills and other skilled trades we need in the community.

Muhammad Rasheed - Perhaps the gov can take care of their basic needs for them, so that they will have the time to devote to mastering those skills?

Muhammad Rasheed - "Now be free! Go out and Be Somebody!"

Love Miray Newgo - I think this is great dialog we need solutions and a better vision who do we really respect now as a whole and trust to represent truth who will not sell out nor be bought nor compromise I hope you all are aware of Christopher Everetts documentary Wilmington on Fire which marks a history of blacks who were united in a town burned to the ground will we be able to stand against all odds

Muhammad Rasheed - As a black president over a black nation, what kinds of compromise would he have to face?

Muhammad Rasheed - Condoleezza and Colin can be the foreign affairs advisers.

Love Miray Newgo - Keeping it black and not trying to divide and conquer abusing her power lol you almost got me with the He thing again you must play checkers before I knew it you double jumped me

Muhammad Rasheed - The president doesn't have to be a he. I do have Oprah in my pool of nominees.

Keith Howard - Good question.

I guess you would have to resist the temptation of allowing strange money to get to act outside the interest of your community.  This will come in 3 flavors.  Threats, bribery and blackmail.

Love Miray Newgo - Well crown me happy... peace to all

Love Miray Newgo - O and dont forget to check out the documentary Wilmington on Fire this young brother has done some amazing research

Keith Howard - This is the type of subject matter that we need from Dr Cornel West,Tavis Smiley,Al Sharpton and the like.

Keith Howard - We would also need to recruit a talented individual from the banking industry.
Land ownership.
Builders.
Engineers.
Franchises
Etc....

Keith Howard - Okay...the candidates are.
Oprah
Dr Claude Anderson
Pres Obama
Congress woman Cynthia McKinney
Dr Umar Johnson

Anyone else?

Muhammad Rasheed - I agree with Claud Anderson, too.

Keith Howard - Muhammad you mentioned others coming in and helping us build.  That is not an attractive option for many but countries do this all the time.  I do not recommend thid as a first option but it would get things done more quickly.  These ideas are awsome and well needed.

Muhammad Rasheed - From a PowerNomics review:
"I agree with Dr. Anderson on most things, but a few things to mention where I think he missed it in Powernomics. 1)His critique of Booker T Washington, seems misplaced. Washington, advocated for exactly what Powernomics proclaims; entrepreneurship and economic development. He was Garvey's mentor, though not directly, inspiring him to come to the US. The historical Booker T. would have been better than the gossip Booker T. of what people thought of him."

That disappoints me, based on what my research revealed about Anderson up to that point. It makes me cast suspicion on Anderson, and now I don't really trust him. Believing that ignorant nonsense about Booker T. greatly reduces one's credibility.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "Muhammad you mentioned others coming in and helping us build. That is not an attractive option for many but countries do this all the time. I do not recommend thid as a first option but it would get things done more quickly."

Then we should take our time and do it slower.

Keith Howard - Brotherman do we have that kind of time?  I really wonder.

Muhammad Rasheed - Why? Where are you going?

Muhammad Rasheed - To get where we need to be, even with everything working at an optimum, can take 2 or 3 generations. Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

If we invite a middleman minority in to do value items for us (that WILL enrich them over us), it will create problems and resentments that have already been done in ours, and in other communities for centuries. Well documented resentments and problems that often even erupt into violent bloodshed through civil wars. Keith we don't need to play with that. We're learning from the mistakes of the past, remember? Slow down.

Keith Howard - Where are we going as a people?  We have already regressed back to being killed by the authorities without impunity.  We have our men being incarcerated surpassing the levels not seen since jim crow.  I can go on and on.

Muhammad Rasheed - No, where are YOU going that we are in such a hurry? A hot date?

Muhammad Rasheed - Instead of bringing in other folk to do it... which comes with all kinds of additional problems that we don't need just to save a little time... it'll be best to train ourselves to do those things. We need them anyway for our long-term success.

Keith Howard - Lol....A hot date with destiny my man.

I wish we could contact someone from BET or TV ONE to have such a dialogue bro & sis.

Muhammad Rasheed - lol Those dialogues don't work that way on camera. They are usually poorly moderated, people talk over each other, interrupt each other, valuable points are lost, and the time frame is always too short to get to the meat of the discussion to even start to hammer out real solutions. It's better to have a typed dialogue that can easily be referred back to. TV is just for playing around (or at least for teaser trailers and sneak peeks), it's not really conducive to serious discussion.

Keith Howard - Point taken but the true power brokers among us need to get on board with this thinking asap.

Muhammad Rasheed - Or we can finish our discussion - or get it to a point where we're ready to hand out action items - and then film a documentary with actors passionately engaged in this dialogue, using your thread as their script. Make it fancy, add SFX and stuff in a professional product, and then send that to BET or TV ONE to play. That way nothing will be lost as we will retain full control of the message.

Muhammad Rasheed - Bam.

Keith Howard - We spend too much wasted energy on phantom solutions and irrelevant subjects like gay rights and get out and vote campaigns.

Keith Howard - Muhammad I LIKE HOW YOU THINK!

Keith Howard - What's your field of study my friend?

Muhammad Rasheed - Yeah, worrying about some other special interest group's rights, when we are still at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder, is pretty retarded.

Muhammad Rasheed - And the last 50 years have proven that politics means absolutely NOTHING if we don't have ourselves together. Exactly what Booker T. Washington's point was all those years ago.

Keith Howard - I concur.

Muhammad Rasheed - If we aren't taking advantage of this capitalist system, controlling the means of production of our own businesses, creating whole new industries and being kings and queens of trade & commerce, then what good are we? What ARE we doing? What good is the political arena to a people who have nothing?

Keith Howard - I told this gay brother about the same thing.  My point was that white gay men have more rights than he does!

Muhammad Rasheed - Who is coming to us, courting our skills to come to their nations to help make their lives better?

Keith Howard - No one but I do believe along everything we discussed that we should adopt a well suited African country to do business with and even achieve duel citizenship.

Muhammad Rasheed - FIRST get ourselves together, and then play on the world's stage.

Keith Howard - Other ethnic groups do this so should we.

Muhammad Rasheed - FIRST demonstrate our own worth.

Muhammad Rasheed - Right now we're starting at zero.

Keith Howard - Oh yeah agreed.

Muhammad Rasheed - We have a lot of work to do. We need to master these skills, roll our sleeves up and apply them so that we pull ourselves up into a different social class level[s]. Improve the quality of the African American's life and prove we have something to actually offer. Then we can join the UN, and negotiate mutually beneficial deals with other nations, etc.

Right now we have to get ourselves together first. We lack a point of negotiation leverage right now.

Keith Howard - You know when our forefathers bought into integration they didn't
consider the fact of building our community up first to compete with establishments and industry.

Keith Howard - We have enough capital to begin but in my opinion how we harness our economic might,????

Muhammad Rasheed - Well, at first no one was talking about "integration" like that, they were discussing "desegregation" as one of many check off points towards being economically empowered. It wasn't until after the Civil Rights Act was passed did the mission change... after lour real leaders got assassinated, the new "leaders" changed up the rhetoric, and "integration" as some kind of magic cure all was now the focus.

Muhammad Rasheed - The list of check off items vanished.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "We have enough capital to begin but in my opinion how we harness our economic might,????"

By learning.

Keith Howard - Create an app and offer free down loads of the NEW AGENDA 2015?

Muhammad Rasheed - Look at the MOST successful ethnic groups. What industries have they thrown their full weight behind, leading the world in high-tech innovations... conceptualizing, starting, buying and selling billion dollar companies over a drink or a casual golf game.

Muhammad Rasheed - That's where we need to be. World leaders.

Muhammad Rasheed - And nothing else will do. Those are the skills that will NEVER stop being valuable. That are the very definition of "progress" among our species.

Keith Howard - In India right now they are investing in car that run on compressed air.  In Japan they are mastering cheap cold fusion.  In Germany they are leading the world in solar power applications.  We can start there especially in our poor communities.

Muhammad Rasheed - Sure. First we have to master the sciences that lead to that kind of innovation.

Keith Howard - Bro this could be published.

Keith Howard - I think we have them among us already.

Muhammad Rasheed - Those skills? Yes, there are blacks who have gone to school to master those hard sciences. We need to tap that resource to spread that knowledge out.

Keith Howard - The leading scientific mind in America today is a black guy.

Muhammad Rasheed - We need more.

Muhammad Rasheed - Instead of a leading scientific mind, we need to be the leading scientific RACE.

Muhammad Rasheed - We're the ones that invented that stuff. And everyone else is running with it and showing off why we just consume what they create. That's a pet peeve of mine.

Keith Howard - One step at a time bro.

Muhammad what is your field of study?

Muhammad Rasheed - Our ancient race are the ones who introduced the sciences to the earth, so we should be at the forefront showing them how it's DONE.

Muhammad Rasheed - I'm a cartoonist.

Muhammad Rasheed - www.mrasheed.com

Keith Howard - Okay....brilliant minds think alike man.

Muhammad Rasheed - Keith Howard wrote: "One step at a time bro."

Yes, that is the first step we need to take. Mastery.

Muhammad Rasheed - Each one, teach one.

Muhammad Rasheed - And then we'll be able to do whatever.

Muhammad Rasheed - Jean Thornton wrote: "You have to educate them as consumers, make them aware that we are modern day paid slaves, who take our earnings and are made to turn it back over to the powers that be because we are denied a fare stake in free enterprise. Where are our banks, super markets, dealerships, restaurants, even liquor license? In the grand scheme of things we barely exist."

We perish for a lack of knowledge. The people who have those things are the ones with the knowledge to build and maintain them.

See Also:

Pulling Ahead of the Pack

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