Gospel music can be used to focus a group, and create a force to be reckoned with. It can create a positive force, a force of healing, a force that forge a community with ties of iron. It draws upon the strength of our combined past, reminding us that we have power to overcome anything by persevering and by remaining true to who we are. It reminds us that we can overcome, and that any sacrifice is worth it in order to win the day.

At the other extreme is rap music. It speaks to the weakness within our souls, our hubris instead of our righteousness, our fears instead of our bravery, and our lust instead of love. It encourages pursuit of money, not for the sake of the raising us up but for the sake of slaking our thirst for worldly things. No other form of music speaks so much to our baser instincts as rap music does, and none as brazenly.

It encourages a culture of violence, by exalting the use of firearms for their use in revenge and attacking those who might attack us. Women are treated as mere playthings and encouraged to submit themselves to men for sex, as it is the only way given for them to contribute to the community. Alcohol is seen as a lubricant in order to further enable its imbiber to greater acts of lust and violence, and drugs are the golden highway to more of the same. It doesn’t even encourage imagination, as the music providing the beat is created either through artificial means or by stealing music from others.

Even the situations it deals with encourages solutions that we know do not work. It encourages violence against police and other authority figures. It encourages hiding from the truth rather than facing our oppressors. Rather than encouraging our children to gain education so that they can defend themselves, it encourages them to lay down their minds and pick up weapons and syringes.

Even when it’s used for positive means, it must deal in the imagery of the music before it. In order to be heard, they must be louder than their brethren, and even that does not work. I submit that rap music is something that must be eliminated before the black community can take its rightful place, as it keeps us down rather than raising us up. I strive for a day when a black child can look at his non-black peers without seeing them through the haze created by rap music.

Too many within the black community fail to see the advances that have been made over the last few decades, and even think that we have regressed. They think this because they see racism in one context, and then spread that over all contexts, regardless of whether or not it truly applies. Just because police profiling is an actuality, does not mean that every authority is also profiling. If you walk into a Macy’s and the salesman approaches you, it probably has nothing to do with your color and everything to do with his wanting to make you give him a greater commission.

Racism does exist, and it will always be one of the faults of our race. Xenophobia is a survival trait, and one that has enabled mankind to survive since the Dawn of Time. As such, it will be a longtime dying, Ironically, we should not encourage it by continuously pointing it out. Normally by bringing something into the light, we take away its haven and make it weaker. When we point out that there is a common weakness, however, we start looking for it others and ascribing any disagreements that we have to that common weakness. Once we start down that road it is hard to stop.

Instead we need to acknowledge that not all disagreements are because of the respective colors of people and simply because they have a disagreement. Any two men of equal intelligence and wisdom may see the same problem from two perspectives and so come to two different solutions. This should not be seen as an issue but rather the fruition of the ability of a person to speak their mind freely. We should encourage this rather than discourage it.

However, in the black community having a difference of opinions is a bad thing, as is not being part of the crowd. Although there are some advantages to this when presenting a unified front, to depend on that unified front is usually counterproductive as it discourages independent thought. As any breeder will tell you, a limited stock eventually creates inbreeding which can threaten the stock as a whole just as badly as any disease or parasite. A limited number of ideas will eventually spell the doom for any community just as surely as a plague will.

The influx of new ideas must thus be encouraged. Young blacks must be encouraged to do well in their studies. Academics must not be seen as something undesirable, something that will cause the downfall of the black community. Unlike generations past where schooling was seen as the White Man attempting to remake us in his image we must instead seek out learning and attempt to encourage our young’s academic pursuits. Too many parents do not see the value in an education or that it merely leads to the youth dreaming of places he cannot go. These parents are doing a disservice to their children, as dreams will always be the currency of advancement and to deny a youth dreams to deny that youth the very breath of life.

We need to stop hobbling ourselves with our perceptions of how things work and start looking for perceptions that more accurately model the world as it is rather than built on the pessimism of past generations. Only when we stop looking for racism will it cease to be a problem. The Book of Sait Matthew in Chapter Seven Verse Seven says that “seek and ye shall find”; we should consider it a warning in that should we search for racism we shall find it everywhere, whether or not it actually applies to the situation at hand.

FLASHBACKS OF THE PAST
Last August Ninth, some boys showed up late at night in order to fight the son of John White. White shot and killed one of the boys. What makes this case of note is that White was black, the boys were white, and White thought that the boys were there to lynch him and his son. A friend of White’s son had logged onto the son’s MySpace page and had written that Aaron (White’s son) planned to rape a girl known by the boys, and the boys confronted Aaron at a party, from which White was ejected. They tried to call him, but Aaron didn’t answer any calls. The boys decided to go over to Aaron’s house and settle the issue there.

White had twenty minutes to prepare, ample time in which to call the police. Instead, his reaction was to grab a pistol and shoot at the boys.

GHOSTS OF THE PAST
The stated reason that White pulled the firearm was that he had grown up of tales of lynchings in the 1920’s. He used that as an excuse to fire at the boys, causing one of them to fall dead. Although the situation may have been similar to events of the past (white boys looking to attack a black boy under the assumption that he planned to have sex with a white girl), the reaction of the black man should have been vastly different. He should not be faulted for protecting his family, but for taking the wrong course of action. After all, this is no longer the 1920’s

At issue is that at no point were the police called. In fact, the only 911 call was when the boy had been shot. Had White called the police, and they had not shown up, White would have been justified in his mode of thinking, However, White didn’t even bother. White decided that the stories of a bygone era held more relevance than common sense, and is now going to jail because of that. It is easy to moan about the injustice due to his skin, yet he refused to make a simple phone call. If you live in the past, you are condemned to suffer for it.

DEALING WITH IT IN THE PRESENT
The Reverend Al Sharpton is attempting to stage a protest of this man’s imprisonment. While I would prefer not to speak ill of a man of the cloth, I can see no reason for a protest of his innocence. He deserves what he has he sown, and should not be celebrated for it. There is more than enough separating black and white; we should start building bridges rather than digging chasms. Reverend Sharpton’s actions serve to do little more than dig another chasm, by honoring a man’s lack of common sense.

We need to start recognizing the limits of our own thoughts, and realizing that the past is the past, and that resentments based on past actions should be buried. We need instead to focus on the future, and start planting the seeds of understanding. In the end, we are becoming our own oppressors.

A Mutation That Strengthens
An artist is a strange kind of laborer. His work adorns our lives, be it through statuary, performance, or the written word. He should be unafraid to question limits, as sometimes those limits constrain us without reason. An artist shows up the way to enlightenment, although he may get lost on the way. The artist should be a flame that guides our way into Heaven, though the path should lead through Hell, for sometimes the path to enlightenment can lead us through our pasts. An artist can show us that about ourselves that may scare us and that may trouble us, but that which we need nonetheless to explore about ourselves. By offering up his soul, an artist may save ours.

A Laborer Should Be Paid For His Results
Although he seeks to escape the law of the land, he should nonetheless be protected by that law by the fullest extent possible. Although he tries to break down traditions that have outlived their usefulness, he should also be protected by it when possible. Artists are unique among laborers in that they are paid for each use of their product, and yet see this as how it should be; a cabinetmaker is only paid once for his exercise of craft, and a farmer is paid for growing corn, even though the use of that corn may lead to other things, and yet neither are paid for any use of their product beyond their immediate care.

This is because an artist manufactures an idea, not something physical, as an inventor does. It is much harder to come up with an idea that works than a product that works because it is obvious that the product works or doesn’t work. It is never so obvious that an idea will ever work. An idea deserves to paid every time that it works, or is aired, as it is not known when lightning may strike again. Although it can be predicted when a cabinet or an ear of corn will be created anew, it is not as easy to find a new idea. For that an artist or inventor should be paid each time that the idea is used.

Heretic Monkeys Are of Value
Writers are in a most peculiar situation. They are the lifeblood of the film industry, yet are given respect only grudgingly and pay only if absolutely necessary. They aren’t viewed as valuable as their craft isn’t as easily quantified as others, and there is no way to ascertain its value until well after its use. Worse, the product may be changed far from its original form, yet the writer is still responsible for its effects. As any from of discrimination needs to stop, so does this one. The writer needs to be respected, and the movie industry must learn to respect those upon which it depends for so much. When that respect is given, a respect that has been earned, the industry will be better for it.

In Conclusion
The writer’s strike is one that should be supported, as it is interesting that others depend on them so much and yet consider it an affront that the writers should ask for what is so little in trade. It is an affront that so much work is done for so little reward and that this is considered acceptable practice should stop. I wish the writers the best, as they deserve it, in theory if not actuality.

Why Elijah Was Not A King nor Solomon a Prophet
It is an interesting point that in The Bible none of the prophets save Moses became leaders among the people of Israel, and even Moses left the duties of priesthood to his brother Aaron. Thus we are taught that the separation of Church and State is not just an ideal, but must be mandated. For when the two are combined monstrous things can happen. The system of checks and balances, always necessary in any system of government, is overturned, as no one would dare go against the power of God, and no priest could resist the power to make his own dreams of salvation a reality. By pairing the two, rather than keeping them in opposition, a power s created that is monstrous, and must be stopped by whatever means are necessary.

Of Presidents and Priests, East and West
A priest must realize that his position is to advise, not to lead. His position is a mark of wisdom, and the need to deny earthly knowledge while allowing for it. It may sound paradoxical, but it’s nonetheless part of being God’s army. In order to best defeat Satan and his forces, a priest must realize that his purpose is not to fight, but to ensure that the fight is fought in as best a fashion as possible, and to ensure that Morality is not fought by those that have no morality themselves. Because of this a priest must not involve himself in real life or he may be tarnished by it and thus allow the baseness of it to influence his decisions. Thus he must not lead but must advise.

Conversely, a leader must be involved with reality as that is where the battles will be fought and his allies will be found. He must deal with his enemies in as such a way that he will not offend his allies while still putting his enemies in a worse position than they were, all the while allowing for the beliefs of his faith. He must be a warrior of his way of life, and do so in such a way that he is an example of it. It can thus be hard, but that is the point of being a leader; a leader does not merely guide his followers down an easy path, but must lead them down unfamiliar paths.

Neither Twain Shall Meet
When the Celestial and Earthly governments meet, Chaos is the only possible result. As any teacher could tell you, it is one thing to expect perfection, and yet another to achieve it. More to the point, it is not necessarily the best result; it is a bad student that relies solely on what he has learned when he faces the same test in real life. Consider Xeno’s Paradox; if you were to continually go half the distance you would never reach the point you were trying to make, yet experience teaches us that you will eventually that point. A student that learned logic too well would eventually be forced to stop an infinitesimal distance away from his destination, yet never reach it.

When an Earthly government no longer attempts to reach the ideal but enforces it, you create a situation where everyone shall fail and where Evil thrives as people use other’s imperfections against them in order to accomplish what they should have as part of the team. By allowing this corruption Evil quickly finds a way in and worms its way into the government. Government is a necessary evil, but it soon becomes one in actuality when it attempts to not only serve its people, but make them serve its God.

Separation Makes The Heart Grow Fonder
Thus, Government should be kept separate from Religion. When the two are separate, they can serve the needs of the people better, as one advises it and and the other leads it. Had they been kept separated, then a teacher would still be teaching. More to the point, it explains why governments that separate themselves from their religion do so well and ones that intertwine the two do so poorly. And not only are Christian or Islamic countries affected by this; consider China and Russia and there atheistic governments as well. Russia still focuses on its socialist ideals and continues to do poorly, whereas China has begun to allow religion in, and is starting to do well. Thus the two should be separated, for the good of the nation and its people.

Many things divide the groups, and economic status is hardly the only one. There are also beliefs in the degree of racism facing African-Americans, whether or not education is good or if success is even desirable, and even the sort of music that is listened to.

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged
There will always be racism to some degree. This is deplorable, but nonetheless unavoidable in a society that depends on freedom to express themselves, and where opinion has value. Ignorance is something that will always be among no matter the effort to stamp it out, and nothing is louder than a fool who believes that loudness is better than being right.

However, there is a form of racism that is more pervasive and must be avoided at all costs. This is the belief that someone else is racist, and the need to look for proof of that racism. No one must be seen as racist without proof, and that looking for that proof is to be judged a racist yourself. You cannot look at another person without seeing yourself, and to look for his flaws is to see your own. The Bible warned about looking for ye shall find; if you look for racism you shall find it, whether or not it actually exists. You have already judged the person, and once judged a person cannot escape that judgment without tremendous effort from the person judged. Why should a person put tremendous effort into proving that he isn’t something when he isn’t that in the first place? It’s not just unfair, but it’s the same unfairness of which you should be trying to avoid.

Wisdom Gained is Invaluable
Education should not be the issue that it is. It should always be pursued, inside the classroom or outside. Knowing just one fact more than your another man gives you a large lever against him, and yet too many prefer ignorance. Worse, they assume that their own opinion is of greater worth than that of the acquired facts of others and, in fact, that those facts are worthless because they contradict their own experiences. An ignorant person should not be allowed to wallow in their own ignorance like a pig in mud. It’s just a matter of time until they are slaughtered.

Even worse are those that stop others from pursuing education. Education needs to always be reached for as it is always within one’s grasp. Too many potential students look for bumps to throw them off, and so handicap themselves further down the road. You should always reach for what you think may even exceed your grasp as you never know if the distance is real. Only an ignorant person shold let their reach limit them, as poles can be used to increase one’s reach.

Staying Inside Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Far too many African-Americans are fearful of success. This is especially deplorable as they then do their level best to prevent others from succeeding as well. A person should never surrender just because they feel that there is some sort of glass ceiling; it’s too easy to forget that glass can be easily shattered with application of the appropriate force. This is without argument one of the best excuses to use an attorney. If even a virtuous man tried in the court of public opinion will lose every time, imagine that force used against an employer with secrets.

The problem is that the fear of success becomes a hatred of success and the need to tear it down if it is not attained through a specific means. Worse, if the person wants any of the trappings of that success then he is subject to an intense campaign of harassment until he decides to relent and sin back down to the level of his attackers. You should always to strive to succeed no matter what others say. A house in a safe neighborhood, furniture that isn’t worn down and scratched, and the equipment to enjoy life should be a possibility for anyone to look forward to, not to dread. Yet too many inner city families dread success because it means that they will be humiliated if they come within a few steps of success. Just remember that if your friends are not willing to succeed than they are not truly your friends as your true friends will support you regardless of circumstances.

Harps Can Be As Bows
It is important to remember that you can control your environment, and that your environment can affect you. Just as the amount of fertilizer and its sort, temperature, light and water can determine how well a plant can grow, you can also determine what those factors are. It can be thus argued that what yo listen to can affect you even without your realizing it.. Bear this in mind when you choose something to listen during the day. If there are lyrics, pay especial attention to them so as you may discern if they are lyrics that you would feel proud if someone else were to overhear them. If the lyrics treat others with disrespect, prefer women to be harlots, and preach that any race is inferior to any other, then the music should probably not be listened to by any intelligent person. This is not to imply that you should listen to only music that is popular or government-licensed, but do try to listen only to music that does not degrade others.

Dream to Heaven and Not Hell
In conclusion, you should not force limits on your dreams that make them impossible. You should always dream and seek to make them possible, not limit them to the point that they will not come to fruition simply because of the limits that you have placed on them. Bear that in mind when you plan your future and you should succeed.

THE LIMITATIONS OF PERSONAL WILL
A person should not be limited by what he thinks are limitations. Color of skin, money in wallet, class of birth, and even qualities of gender are ultimately meaningless. Far too many people concentrate on their ephemeral qualities and not those that matter. This concentration on the ephemeral gives it a solidity that is unwarranted, and makes it seem that it is hard to overcome. It is these limitations that are truly the problem, and that they seem be insurmountable. By recognizing these artificial limitations and their role in your life, you can make your own path to success.

Although some differences are important, especially in particular situations, to let those differences impede your personal progress is to commit a special sin, that which oddly combines all of the Seven Deadly Sins. It is easier to take no action than to create action (Sloth), and to become angry when your particular limitation is called into play (Wrath). Ironically, you can take pride in your limitation (Pride) to the point that you become angry if it’s challenged (Wrath again) and become jealous of those that become famous (Envy). The person will look only for those that became famous that share their limitation (a fact-based Gluttony), even to the point that they will need to demonstrate their knowledge at any opportunity, demonstrating their knowledge as a rich man demonstrates his wallet (Greed). Even Lust will be evident, as the person will ignore any of the opposite gender that don’t share the limitation, and will have an increased attraction to those that do.

THE ROLE OF SELF-AWARENESS
It is necessary to define what you think your limitation, and then proceed to ignore them. Although any limitation has some applicability (such as women need to allow for their menstrual cycle), it needs to be realized that most limitations are essentially artificial, and should not be overcome; after all, overcoming them gives them credence. They do need to be overcome any more than a wall of air needs to be broken down in order to be passed through; just act as if the limitation does not exist.

Obviously some limitations will need to be allowed for. Lack of wealth can be overcome through Charisma and good character, which encourages others to donate and loan to the person, as investing in a good person is always a good investment. Lack of social class is a limitation placed by others, and can be overcome by simply being oneself, as only ignorant people limit themselves to one class of people. However, race and gender are reasonably easy enough to deal with, once you allow that they are relatively minor in the Grand Scheme.

A FINAL NOTE
All that truly matters is that you have the will to succeed, and that you persevere to some end. Anyone can make excuses, few will be successful. Those few are successful because they have stopped making excuses, and have decided to allow their limitations to become solid as chains rather than as ephemeral as clouds. Let them be as clouds and you will pass through them, but let them be solid, and they will weigh you down.

The United States is on an interesting threshold. The election in the year 2008 has the possibility of ushering a president who is possibly a not a white man, and that possibility alone makes the election interesting. Even if neither Mrs. Clinton nor Mr. Obama get the nomination, that they are even in the running, and that they are serious contenders make it interesting.

CAIN AND ABEL

However, their main opponents are not on the campaign trail. The saddest irony of their hopeful run is that the feminists want to see Hillary trip and the black community wants Obama to become a footnote in the annals of history. The obvious caveat in this is that the communities as a whole do not want them to fail, but a rather vociferous minority that wants them removed from the roster. This is analogous to Cain being jealous of the praise heaped upon Abel, as it was hoped that others would be the first to make the march to presidency. General Colin Powell was believed to be the first negr, and any bet for first woman would probably not have been for Mrs. Clinton. Because the first to run were not those that there were expected, they have harvested a heap of scorn.

OF DEBORAH AND LEADERSHIP

Mrs. Clinton has a number of issues against her, all of those unique to her. Due to her congressional history, specifically of that if voting for the recent conflict in Iraq, she is having a problem with that segment of the citizenry that would have preferred the United States to have remained at home. That is a common enough complaint, and every potentate needs to deal with that issue; how Mrs. Clinton deals with it will perhaps say the most about how she will do as president. Beyond her voting history, she is also in the unique situation of being the wife of a former president, and there is the fear of her husband counseling her in an improper fashion as regards her role. As she has proven to be a strong woman, and has deviated from what Mr. Clinton would have preferred, even while he was president, this may prove to be an inappropriate and misplaced fear.

However, there is the outrageous belief that as a member of the fairer sex that she will not be able to do the position proud and that sadly that this opposition comes from the very groups that would seem to be her supporters. It is obviously apparent that those groups wish to separate themselves from her as wheat from chaff in the event that she should lose, and this fear is the cause of so much hate. I believe that this hatred needs to cease, and not to support Mrs. Clinton myself, but rather that fear of losing something is usually the reason that it is lost. Even if she loses, or is not even nominated, the cause of the suffragette has not been lost. That a woman has been able to make a serious campaign for the highest role in out beautiful and bounteous land says a lot, and makes a serious point about women’s changing role in our society.

OUT OF EAST AFRICA

Obama has a more interesting issue that must be dealt with. Most sadly of all, he must contend with those of his own color attempting to strike him down, for not being of their same background. Being dark is not enough, but that he must also be from West Africa and have been raised in the inner-most urban jungle as well. Again, fear becoming hate is at work yet again, as Obama is just different enough from his fellows to be not be of the same stock, and that difference makes his fellows nervous as does anything unknown, and that bit of fear creates hatred. It will be a great day when the petty fears of all people are forever banished and Obama’s charge to our nation’s capital is part of that banishment.

FOR THE SEAT OF A NATION

The winner of the campaign for the presidential does not ultimately matter. All intelligent people ultimately make intelligent decisions, and hopefully our next leader shall demonstrate that. It is an interesting statement on equality that a woman and a negro are both despised by segments that one would think that would fully support them. Only in a truly free society would such dissension appear when they would have been fully supported in the past. Nonetheless the dissension is for the wrong reasons and one can only wait until dissension is based on the actual merits of the situation and not some ridiculous reason as gender or race.

When it comes to beginnings it is important to properly introduce yourself. When you properly introduce yourself, the person to whom you are speaking should come away from the experience knowing who you are and what your intent towards him will be. I offer this short missive so that the reader shall know who I am, and how I propose to get along. Thus I present the same list of cardinal virtues to that I did to my students.

BE CLEAN BOTH INSIDE AND OUT.

Long has it been said that cleanliness is next to godliness. This refers to not only mere physical cleanliness, which is easily enough to accomplish through bathing regularly, but to also conduct your affairs in a Christianly way, following the precept Our Lord wrote down so many years ago. The Good Book has lasted millennium not just because of its source, but because Its teachings are sound, and so should at least be consulted before every debatable action.

NEITHER LOOK UP TO THE RICH OR DOWN ON THE POOR.

In a True Democracy one has neither betters nor is a better to any man, as all are equal under the Eyes of God and on the Scales of Justice. You should never let someone make you forget that you are his equal, and you should strive to remember that you are equal to all others. All have a head, hands, and feet; they can think, they can do something, and they can move away. All else is mere trivia, and of no matter.

LOSE, IF NEED BE, WITHOUT SQUEALING.

In Life you will not always win. It may be a sad truth, but a truth it is nonetheless. As such you must learn that you must not complain about how you lost but learn from it so that you do not lose again. It is also required of you that you realize that sometimes you must yield to the inevitable and to surrender when necessary. Bear your cross as did Our Savior and you shall find your own peace.

WIN WITHOUT BRAGGING.

Winning should be a matter of preparation and as the capstone to effort but not the arch itself. As such it fine to celebrate one’s wins but do not brag of them. Everyone should celebrate anything worth celebrating but your detractors look for every sign of weakness even in victory. Should you take up with bragging they will use that moment of pride against when you least expect it and so bring you down. It is thus better to not begin such a habit lest pride cause your fall.

ALWAYS BE CONSIDERATE OF WOMEN, CHILDREN, AND OLDER PEOPLE.

Children represent the potential of our race and so should be afforded the luxuries of making mistakes so that they learn better and of play so that they learn that that rules are important. If you have the chance to to teach a child do so and remember that being vicious is never acceptable. Older people represent the lessons that have been learned and so deserve our respect so that they deem us worthy to teach us what they have learned even as we teach the children ahead of us. Women deserve consideration as they carry the future inside them. Take care however as too much consideration is in fact impolite and condescending and should be avoided.

BE TOO BRAVE TO LIE.

People lie only when they have reason to be afraid of the effects of The Truth. Lying can cause harm of your reputation even if it never causes physical harm. You are also required to lie in order to hide your original lie and will eventually cause you problems even as you think that lying solves them. Honesty only causes you problem when you need to be punished which lying only holds off and among those that you should be associating with in the first place.

BE TOO GENEROUS TO CHEAT.

You should never cheat from those that which they deserve. Cheating is created by a type of greed in which your miserly feelings create an environment that you withhold from others so that you yourself may gain by not giving to others what they have earned. You need to be filled with enough generosity so that you not cheat others and eventually cause your downfall when others have realized what you have done to them and cast you down.

TAKE YOUR SHARE OF THE WORLD AND LET OTHERS TAKE THEIRS.

You should experience life to the fullest extent of your skill and willpower. You should seek your place in the sun, and revel in that situation no matter what it may be. By the same reason, you should not deny others their place. It is fine to compete for the same position, but do not deny others the ability to compete simply because you think that you are best. This is not to say that you should bow your head to any person, but that you should know your limits and whether you can expand yourself past them, and if you can do so. Do not let anything keep you from attaining your destiny, but do not, by the same measure, keep others from at least competing for theirs.

INTENTIONS

You should now my intentions, and I would hope that you find them honorable. I shall discuss many issues, and I hope that my words shall prove illuminating. Through the Glory of the Almighty I hope that this shall be an interesting endeavor.