O say can you see, by the
dawn's early light, What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight O'er the
ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare,
the bomb bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still
there, O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen
through the mists of the deep Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence
reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully
blows, half conceals, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's
first beam, In full glory reflected now shines in the stream, 'Tis the
star-spangled banner - O long may it wave O'er the land of the free and the
home of the brave!
And where is that band who
so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home
and a Country should leave us no more? Their
blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the
hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when
freemen shall stand Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation! Blest
with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land Praise the power that hath
made and preserv'd us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is
just, And this be our motto - "In God is our trust," And the
star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the
home of the brave.
Complete version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" showing
spelling and punctuation from Francis Scott Key's manuscript in the Maryland
Historical Society collection.
Written in 1814 and set to music in 1931, subsequently becoming the
National Anthem of the United States of America.
For those who object to this
country’s National Anthem, they point to the third verse in which I underlined.
This verse speaks to any enslaved person, who escaped slavery and fought for
the British in order to seek freedom. In doing so, the verse asserts, they would
not escape death. So the question that one could ask…If we are a land that has
evolved to ‘Freedom and Justice for All’, how is it we have a or use a National
Anthem that has these words?...Shouldn’t we have an Anthem that would depict
the values that are spoken about today?...I’m just sayin’…
Brotha Kwabad, that’s so long ago…Let it go Man!...
My
Father was a decorated Army Veteran of the Vietnam Conflict (Bronze Star and
Purple Heart Medals)... My Paternal Grandfather was a ‘Sharecropper’ and My Paternal
Great Grandfather lived during Chattel Slavery...Not so long ago…
My
Mother is from Panama, another Historical Path...
Sharecropping - PBS
Sharecropping
12 inches from being enslaved
After
the Civil War, former enslaved people sought jobs, and planters sought laborers.
The absence of cash or an independent credit system led to the creation of
sharecropping.
Sharecropping
is a system where the landlord/planter allows a tenant to use the land in
exchange for a share of the crop. This encouraged tenants to work to produce
the biggest harvest that they could, and ensured they would remain tied to the
land and unlikely to leave for other opportunities. In the South, after the
Civil War, many black families rented land from white owners and raised cash
crops such as cotton, tobacco, and rice. In many cases, the landlords or nearby
merchants would lease equipment to the renters, and offer seed, fertilizer,
food, and other items on credit until the harvest season. At that time, the
tenant and landlord or merchant would settle up, figuring out who owed whom and
how much
High
interest rates, unpredictable harvests, and unscrupulous landlords and
merchants often kept tenant farm families severely indebted, requiring the debt
to be carried over until the next year or the next. Laws favoring landowners
made it difficult or even illegal for sharecroppers to sell their crops to
others besides their landlord, or prevented sharecroppers from moving if they
were indebted to their landlord.
Approximately
two-thirds of all sharecroppers were
white, and one third were black. Though both groups were at the bottom of
the social ladder, sharecroppers began to organize for better working rights,
and the integrated Southern Tenant Farmers Union began to gain power in the
1930s. The Great Depression, mechanization, and other factors lead
sharecropping to fade away in the 1940s.
Ism –
-A
distinctive practice, system, or philosophy, typically a political ideology or
an artistic movement.
Race-ism -
Class-ism
Sex-ism
(All Systemic)
These
–isms affect the 9 Major People
Activities –
Education,
Entertainment, Economics, Labor, Law, Religion, Sex and War
-as highlighted and developed by Dr. Francis
Cress Welsing
Race –
-Socially
constructed category of identification based on physical characteristics,
ancestry, and historical affiliation or shared culture. (Dictionary.com)
-Race-ism –
Is
a systemic institution where a group of people (let’s call them ‘Group A’) impose
their values upon other groups of people, affecting their everyday lives – (the
aforementioned 9 major people activities).
In addition, other members of Group A, who may not have the means or
desire to impose the aforementioned value system upon others, benefit from this
systemic institution (this is called ‘White Privilege’). Not fearing death, physical or verbal abuse upon
a routine police traffic stop, would be an example of White Privilege.
With said definition, African Americans cannot
be Racist in the United States of America…& there’s no such thing as
Reverse Racism…If someone hits you & you hit them back, is that Reverse
Hitting?... For those looking to find ‘Black’ people as Racist, I’ll help
you…try Zimbabwe in the continent of Africa. When the indigenous people of that
country gained their independence from their European colonizers, they ordered
the European ‘White’ Farmers to vacate the land that they occupied. I’m aware that a counter argument is that
wasn’t their land initially. For the
purpose of discussion, though, this would be an example of Racism, as it pertains
to ‘Black’ people against ‘White’ people.
As
it relates to the United States, the word you’ll are looking for is
‘Bigot’. All can be/practice Bigotry.
Bigot-
-One who regards or treats the members
of a group (such as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance. (Merriam-Webster
Dictionary)
-A person who is utterly intolerant of
any differing creed, belief or opinion.
(Dictionary.com)
Class –
-A
social stratum sharing basic economic, political, or cultural characteristics,
and having the same social position. (Dictionary.com)
Class-ism
-Sharecropping helped to continue/cement
a seemingly permanent lower class. So when this form of industry faded in the
1940s, what took its place to maintain/perpetuate the Class System…Lower Class Construct?
Interesting Question…Segregation…Separate, but equal…Uneven disbursement of
resources, although paying taxes…I’ll let that marinate…
Sex –
-The
sum of the structural and functional differences by which the male and female
are distinguished, or the phenomena or behavior dependent on these differences.
Sex-ism –
Gender Bias
It
took the 19th Amendment in 1920 to grant women the right to vote...Women
earning cents to the dollar for performing the same jobs as Men…People not able
to envision a Woman as the President of this Country (as of 2016)…With the
#MeToo Movement, we see that there are still major issues with how women are
treated in this country.
Hard Pivot in the Paint, drop step, layup…
There’s
a disconnection, as it relates to the Spiritual/Mental/Physical to the Source
within the collective Body of this Country (Actually, this could be said about the
Western Ideology).
This
disconnection is due to the aforementioned paradigm that promotes
consciously/subconsciously the false construct of White Supremacy, which, at
its core is about separation ‘Linear’ thought.
This false construct promotes that anything of significance must have emanated from Europe/Western/White
People…Truth be damned!...As such, everything is the way it should be…Chaotic…A
House (or in this case) a Country built upon lies, cannot stand or flourish…
Okay
Brotha, What’s the truth?
The
Truth, in its simplest form is –
The
Creator/Essence/Universe/God/Allah manifests Spirit, which manifests
Mind/Mental, which manifests Physical Body.
We’ve
been mis-educated to think that God/Jesus (in the Sky) outside of you (for
those who were raised Christian as I) manifests Body and Mind.
Most
are familiar with -
John 14:6 King James
Version (KJV)
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
We’ve
been taught that Jesus (Y’Shua) is saying through him…Look again…He is saying
‘I AM’ the way…The Great I AM is the way…In the hands of Western ideology, who
must worship people, they translate it as such…When in actuality, the only way (for
those who subscribe to the teachings of the Christ Y’Shua) is through the Great
I AM manifested in the Master Teacher/Savior Y’Shua…Also through Western
Ideology’s need to make things of importance, masculine, you notice the word
‘Father’ in the verse…It should be pointed out that the first deities were
depicted as Women…Africa…Motherland…Sounds Familiar…Germany…Fatherland…I
digress
What
is needed to be at peace with self within Self is the harmony of the
Spirit/Mind/Body. The first step is to master one’s breathing, which in turn
quiets one’s mind and heart (body)
(See
my very first Post entitled ‘Breathing’)
Spirit, Mind & Body
When truly in harmony, one would not be susceptible
to Fear tactics ‘Invasion of the Brown People’…It’s the Democrats/Republicans
who are evil…Conflicts would not be addressed with guns, etc.
I’m just sayin…
Hotep
