Charlottesville, Virginia… The LCR Responds…

by with No Comment CultureFeaturedPoliticsUncategorized

We asked 4 of our contributors with different political views to weigh in on the Charlottesville rally that unfortunately turned violent last week, and this is what they had to say…

“Watching the events unfold in Charlottesville, Virginia confirmed to me that we as a Nation are truly going backwards in time. Seeing the violence erupt and hearing the vile chants saddened me. I waited patiently for President Trump to come out and address the Nation. Though there are many of his stances I do not agree with, President Trump is still my Commander in Chief. Unfortunately, though he had the ear of America, President Trump’s speech left so much to be desired. I was not comforted, not inspired, and especially did not like President Trump’s underlying tone when he stated “on many sides.” – Left Healthcare Professional 

“This past weekend’s terrorist tactics of the white supremacist groups in Virginia shouldn’t be too shocking. Though outwardly violent and thankfully not the everyday norm, many non white Americans feel a form of extreme and punishing outcomes everyday. Outcomes in which white Americans never deal with. From racial driven draconian drug law enforcement to environmental racism, many Americans saw this weekend as another episode in the story in which is America.” – Independent Texan Male“

All Americans have the right to assemble and peaceably protest (even White Supremacists). The issue in Virginia is that a subsection of White Supremacists are taking violent action against their counter-protestors, possibly feeling bolstered and empowered by the aggressive rhetoric of our current President. The so-called “alt-right” no longer feels ashamed, with their ideologies represented in the White House by Steve Bannon at the very least. Although it is unfair to judge an entire group or ideology by the actions of a single terrorist in their ranks, it IS fair to judge a group by their reaction (or lack thereof) to this gravest of crimes against our Country and our Freedom. Anyone who views the violence in Charlottesville, VA as unacceptable must explicitly condemn it as so or America will endure much worse.” – Unaffiliated Humanist Musician

“The events of the last two days in Charlotesville are a worrying sign of where this country is headed. The hatred that was on display in Charlottesville as was the terrorist attack that resulted from it was both shocking and upsetting (an attack reminiscent of tactics used by ISIS). The president’s refusal to explicitly call out white nationalists was disgraceful, especially coming from the man who criticized Obama for not using the words “radical Islamic terrorism,” and was seen by those groups as a tacit signal of support. It was however encouraging to see the backlash he received for his comments from his colleagues in the GOP. One can only hope that they will continue to take principled stands against him.” – Center Left College Student 

Related articles:

Heather Heyer, “A Very Strong Woman”

Merck, Under Armour, Intel: “Unacceptable!”

Want to read similar content from the Left, Center, Right? SUBSCRIBE for only $2/month.

Her Name is Heather Heyer, “A Very Strong Woman”

by with One Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

A true tragedy and a senseless act of violence has claimed the life of an innocent woman and injured 19 others. Heather Heyer is the name of the woman who was unfortunately murdered this weekend when a driver plowed his car into a group of demonstrators at an alt-right rally this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heather was a 32-year old paralegal and worked in the bankruptcy division at a nearby law firm. Alfred A. Wilson, Heather’s manager at the law firm, said,

“Heather was a very strong woman. She stood up to “any type of discrimination. That’s just how she’s always been.” 

A GoFundMe page has been set up for her family and close friends. When we last checked, they had already raised more than $190,000.

The alt-right rally was held to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue.  The rally quickly became violent as alt-right protestors and counter-protestors clashed in the streets of Charlottesville. The driver who killed Heather, whose name we will not mention, traveled from Maumee, Ohio to attend the rally. He has been arrested and charged with second degree murder and malicious wounding.

Many Republicans chose not to mince their words and unequivocally denounced white supremacy and this act of violence. To the contrary, many would suggest that President Trump chose to do the opposite when he delivered his remarks.

“We condemn in the strongest possible terms the egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence. On many sides.” 

Many are wondering what sides he’s referring to regarding the hatred, bigotry, and violence.

Related articles:

Charlottesville, VA… The LCR Responds…

Merck, Under Armour, Intel: “Unacceptable!”

Even Jamie Dimon Sounds Like Middle America

by with No Comment CultureFeatured

Jamie Dimon: “It’s almost an embarrassment being an American citizen!”

What a difference six months has made – Last January, JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon couldn’t stop talking about the “moment of opportunity” at the start of the Trump Presidency. At the time, he believed what many Republicans believed: that with the election behind us, the President would appoint a cabinet that could assemble policy plans even if he didn’t oversee them directly, that Congress would support those plans, draft legislation and reform that was in parity with White House policy and the President would sign it. Ah- what dreams may come…

In my day job, I must have listened to 200 or more bank earnings calls, and JPMorgan’s is one of the most important. They are generally stale and rehearsed- almost like a State of the Union address. So it’s hard to imagine this was an off-the-cuff exclamation by a long-standing, experienced leader.  But it was in some ways comforting to see an uber-conservative, powerful, connected person like Jamie Dimon feel as helpless as the rest of us as we near the second fight over an Obamacare repeal that increasingly seems to be going sideways, with bank reform, tax reform and a real budget plan still over the horizon.

Wall Street has much to fear from this stagnation. Much of the “Trump Rally” of early 2017 was due to expectations of a “lightning fast” administration that expected to already have unilaterally repealed Obamacare, put out a new budget with sweeping tax cuts, a $1 trillion (with a ‘T’) infrastructure plan, higher interest rates, a boost in GDP growth, and a massive re-vamp of Dodd-Frank alongside sweeping policy changes for bank capital plans. As the train backs up from a 2017 agenda to 2018 at best, a whole year of growth that may already be “baked in” to 2017 earnings (especially in financials) looks more and more like over-optimism… and the pain of that shortfall will be shouldered heavily by Dimon.

It feels like something’s gotta give, and my guess – maybe even my hope – is that it’s the Senate filibuster. Maybe the 60 vote cloture rule really is a relic of a lost era – when the point really was just to make sure all sides had a chance to speak (not to hold hostage the democratic process), and filibusters were rare – rather than the universal means to halt any legislation at all. Senators – this is why we can’t have nice things.

It’s time to pick an agenda and go. Repeal or move on. Obamacare is important, but tax and budget planning are the backbone of GDP projections, corporate growth and earnings, and a myriad of corporate planning objectives for the next 5 years. The Senate has set its time table based on their internal politics, and the country has spoken – that just can’t be the timeline. Godspeed, Senator McCain, I wish you a speedy recovery. But it isn’t just about one vote. It’s time to get this past us and move on to the next phase of economic growth- or by October, the “Trump Rally” may yet be another bear market.

 

Black Families Under Attack?

by with 5 Comments CultureFeatured

Once again, the one and only Dr. Umar Johnson has made headlines; this time is for the exchange he had during an interview on the Roland Martin show. Overall, I felt the interview portion by Roland Martin was the typical question and answer session one would expect of a host and their guest. Roland asked Dr. Johnson a range of tough questions to break down all the backlash Dr. Johnson was receiving from an earlier interview he did with The Breakfast Club. Unfortunately, the Roland Martin interview took a turn for the worse and became more of an attack session on Dr. Johnson when the panelists were brought in. Only A. Scott Bolden was composed and actually tried to listen to Dr. Johnson for understanding, and not just listen to respond. Also, despite Roland questioning Dr. Johnson on a variety of topics, the panelists did not want to talk about anything other than Dr. Johnson’s stance on inter-racial marriage. Dr. Johnson strongly believes in order to save the Black family, Black men must choose to commit to and marry a Black woman.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe a person should love who they want and who makes them feel as if they are the only person that matters on the planet. There is no greater feeling than to find that special someone who you connect with mentally, spiritually, and physically, no matter what ethnic background they come from. However, I also see truth in what Dr. Johnson says. How can you create a Black family if both parents are not Black? Simple, you can’t. Dr. Johnson was not saying anything was wrong with inter-racial couples and families, he was just stating the increased trend of Black men marrying non-Black women is detrimental to the preservation and strengthening of the Black family unit as a whole.

Other ethnic groups marry within their ethnic group all the time without receiving backlash. As for me, I am Black. My mom is Black. My dad is Black. My sister is Black. My aunties, uncles, and cousins are Black. In the words of James Brown, I’m Black and I’m Proud! I have dreams of marrying a nice chocolate Black man and having Black children who we will teach to love the skin they’re in because unfortunately there will be times society will make our future children feel like being Black is a bad thing, when in actuality being Black is truly nothing to be ashamed of. I do not think loving who I am and wanting to marry someone who has similar cultural roots should be viewed as a problem, but I digress.

My main issue with Dr. Johnson is not what he says, but how he says it. Many times I do not like the extremist delivery Dr. Johnson chooses to take in his speeches and videos. Also, when called out for inconsistencies (i.e. lack of financial transparency for the school he’s trying to build), Dr. Johnson tends to become rude and dismissive, which rubs me the wrong way. However, I do believe every movement needs an extremist or someone to be labeled as radical who viciously shakes you out of your comfort zone. Dr. Umar Johnson takes on that role for Pan-Afrikanism. Now as much I am not the biggest fan of Dr. Umar Johnson’s message delivery, I must say I always learn at least one thing from him whenever he speaks. During his interview, Dr. Johnson clarified that Mandarin is taught as a secondary language in the South African School Systems. Knowing that China has one of the fastest growing economies in the world, and also has one of the world’s largest military, I thought South Africa is on to something. South Africa is being forward thinking and preparing their students, who will be their future leaders, to conduct business with the Chinese. We in America love to excessively dwell in our greatness as “leaders of the free world.” We expect others to adapt and accommodate us when we work and travel overseas, and not put in the effort to figure out the country’s proper customaries and language. For example, how many times have you been on vacation abroad and witnessed arrogance mixed with frustration of fellow Americans who are mad no one around speaks English or does things the ‘American way”? I’ll wait…

Overall, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion, even a ‘radial’ thinker like Dr. Johnson. Interviews that are considered good journalism seek to understand the interviewee’s stance rather than attacking and trying to get the interviewee to change their opinion on the subject being discussed. In this regard, Roland Martin and his panelists failed.

Video: Roland Martin Dr. Umar Johnson Interview

Crime Pays

by with One Comment CultureFeaturedPolitics

More than half of Detroit Public Schools have been closed as a result of “low performance.”  Meanwhile, business is booming for MDOC (Michigan Department of Corrections).  Let me explain. School closings lead to overcrowding and unemployment. Overcrowding and unemployment lead to crime and depression. Crime and depression lead to a steady influx of new prisoners for Michigan’s Department of Corrections, which some might argue is the state’s goal.

We must end this school-to-prison pipeline! The powers that be have implemented a strategy that’s proven worthy of mass destruction!

“Prisoners are the new slaves” is a popular phrase echoed throughout Michigan’s prisons. Most inmates are earning a little more than $1 per day, while others may earn a few dimes more. This is practically free labor for the state’s facilities, maintenance, and other operations. (Prisoners are paid monthly). Inmates are compelled to work while incarcerated or otherwise face sanctions. These consequences are referred to as a loss of privileges, top-lock, or lock-down, which is commonly known as the hole.

Loss of privileges – allows the prisoner(s) to stay in general population (within the prison) without the privileges of possessing electronics, purchasing food products from the commissary, or participating in any recreational activities.

Top-lock – restricts prisoner(s) from circulating with the general population (confined to their individual cell), no phone calls, and limited commissary (commissary restrictions are the same as “Loss of privileges”).

Lock-down – prisoners are stripped of all their properties and transported to stricter confinement, also known as the hole.  All visits are non-contact and held in an isolated section of the facility.

These penalties range from minor to major offenses. Punishments can be enforced from a couple days to indefinitely. Conveniently, Michigan’s Department of Corrections is basically securing their savings account via the school-to-prison pipeline. To make things worse, they primarily receive taxpayer dollars and other funding to house their prisoners. In fact, it costs more than 30k annually per prisoner; yet, the System continues to strive towards future success by fishing for fresh product and making sure the school-to-prison pipeline is running its course.

Abrupt school closings throughout the city of Detroit almost guarantees higher incarceration rates, or at worst maintaining them. Our young people struggle in poor communities with bad schools systems. Resources are limited, and the current System creates obstacles at every turn, which makes it’s nearly impossible for young people to stay out of trouble. Ultimately, our leaders are encouraged to educate and provide for themselves with little concern for the disadvantaged youth that needs their help the most. The System and their leaders prosper while the young people and their communities suffer. Business as usual for Michigan Department of Corrections! 

Similar Read: Dancing with the Devil… a Brooklyn Perspective on Gun Violence

1947 National Security Won’t Work in 2017

by with One Comment FeaturedPolitics

Our own national security’s structure has been largely the same since the passing of the National Security Act in 1947- the act that created the Department of Defense, CIA and the National Security Counsel  (along with the total reorganization of our military forces).  That act is now 70 years old, and so is the structure.   For a long time, that large siloed system made a lot of sense.  In the 1980s, the main three threats facing the US weren’t all that dissimilar to those in 1947.  Those threats included: 

  • A nuclear arms race with the Soviets.
  • A wall separating Germany.
  • A world largely aligned behind one of the two superpowers that fought, or financed proxy wars for influence around the globe, with the “third world” so named as unaligned countries almost as an afterthought in our overall security interests. 

 

How much different is that than the current environment of porous borders in small, underdeveloped countries around the world.  One could in fact make an argument that the most dangerous countries in the world today aren’t rogue states, but failed states (or failing states).   Successfully limit the maneuverability of the government of Iran and you’ve limited the maneuverability of Iran.  Do the same in the recognized leadership of Somalia, and you have accomplished almost nothing on the ground- and yet those states not in control of their own borders (such as Somalia, Waziri regions of Pakistan, and Yemen) comprise some of the largest threats to global security precisely because they are regions where a little bit of money and a whole lot of interest in training willing participants to go forth and do violence elsewhere can be the greatest single threats to our current security.  And yet we must still at least prepare for a future situation where other rising superpowers (such as China) will continue to exert more and more influence in Asia and eventually the world.  However you feel about what “really” happened in Ghazni, it makes the point that despite nearly 4,000 paratroopers on the ground in Italy- just across the Mediterranean, the siloed distinctions between conventional forces, intelligence and foreign relations, seem no longer structured to efficiently and quickly respond to threats.

Secretary of State Tillerson and Secretary of Defense Mattis were together in Australia a few weeks ago, and they seemed to be working closely together in the current administration.  That’s maybe a good start, but the silos below them still fan out with duplicative efforts and uncoordinated arms that make current operations of relief, local interactions with locals and transmission of information in a timely manner much more difficult as the lines of diplomacy, intelligence gathering become increasingly blurred and fluid, and it seems time for some rethinking of that structure. 

In an executive branch that so far seems light on details, this seems like a tall order for the NSC’s principals in their early years, but a necessary one to re-think.  As technology continues to improve the tools of terror, rather than focusing first on blanket policies that most negatively affect compliant visitors to the US, restructuring ourselves for the new era seems likely to yield greater results than re-instituting this travel ban, but that takes more than an executive order.  I’m still waiting to see how much interest this administration has in the sorts of important details that don’t fit neatly into a Twitter tweet.

“1995: 8,000 Muslims Killed in U.N. Safe Haven”

by with No Comment FeaturedGlobalInternational

This week marks the 22nd anniversary of the genocide in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, where 8,372 Muslim men were killed in an area that was designated as a U.N. “safe haven.” Most of their bodies were thrown into mass graves, and some of their bodies are still being discovered today. Countless women, many of whom were the wives and mothers of the men killed, were tortured and raped by Serbian soldiers. This genocide has been called the worst mass murder in Europe since World War II.

My grandfather was born and raised in Bosnia, so as you can imagine, I heard about this massacre at a very young age. I recall learning about the Srebrenica massacre in high school, but it wasn’t called a massacre. My history textbook devoted just two sentences in a sidebar mentioning the massacre, and they referred to it as an “ethnic cleansing.” The word “cleansing” implies that the killing of 8,372 Muslims made Bosnia purer. I couldn’t help but think that if the victims were a group other than Muslims, the coverage and the historic context of this massacre may have been dramatically different.

Winston Churchill said, “History is written by the victors.” This was obvious to me considering that our history textbook devoted multiple sections to other genocides, notably the Holocaust. Are the numbers between the Holocaust and the Srebrenica genocide comparable? No. But both involved large groups of people being killed for no other reason besides their religion. The Holocaust is a well-known historic occurrence that almost everyone can recall learning about in school; yet, the Srebrenica genocide is something obscure-sounding that most people have never even heard of before.

Let’s switch gears and fast-forward to 2017. ISIS (or ISIL) is in the Middle East systematically massacring a minority religious group called the Yazidis (ISIS is responsible for killing many other people and groups of people, but their massacre of the Yazidis is the only one officially classified as a genocide by the U.N.). A minority group is being systematically killed for no other reason besides their religion. After the Holocaust, the world said, “NEVER AGAIN.” Fifty years later, the genocide at Srebrenica happened, and much of the world didn’t even know, let alone bat an eye. Twenty-two years later, in a world abundant with media outlets and 24-hour news cycles, much of the world doesn’t know about a genocide happening right in front of them. If we don’t know enough about our history to learn from it, how can we prevent it from happening again?

“Attack ISIS, Not Linda Sarsour”

by with No Comment FeaturedGen Z

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0tr0CFik2k&feature=youtu.be

Over the weekend, Linda Sarsour, the Palestinian Muslim-American organizer of the women’s march, gave a speech in which she used the word ‘Jihad’. And the Internet exploded.

Right-wing media outlets seized the opportunity to make it seem as if her speech was proof of Muslim-Americans attempting to foment ‘Jihad’ against the US and Donald Trump. Even prominent liberal figures attempted to distance themselves from Linda. However, anyone who took the time to actually read the text or listen to her speech could clearly see that her use of the word ‘Jihad’ was being completely and sometimes purposely misconstrued. It is clear that what she was talking about had nothing to do with the use of violence. She was giving a speech about speaking truth to power.

This type of reaction to the simple use of a word is absolutely ridiculous and blatantly Islamophobia. Such a reaction is essentially saying that Muslims cannot use a certain term in their religion because it makes people uncomfortable. Some pundits defended Sarsour; yet, they still criticized her word choice.

There are two important points that need to be made. First, she was quoting a hadith- a prophetic saying. So those asking her to “think about her word choice” are essentially asking her to change the wording of her religion to suit the needs of others. Second, Western analysts are continuously saying that moderate Muslims should “take back Islam” from extremists. I’m not even sure what that means, because when a moderate Muslim who is an outspoken civil rights activist like Linda uses the word ‘Jihad’, those same analysts turn against her.

Saying Muslims should stay away from words like ‘Jihad’ is to suggest that Muslims should stay away from all controversial topics. The word ‘Jihad’ means to struggle and is most often used to denote an internal moral struggle. It’s a word that has been appropriated by extremists and bigots. It’s also important to note that the only group that interprets the word ‘Jihad’ to exclusively mean terrorism is ISIS and their affiliates. That does not mean its meaning has changed nor does it mean that Muslims should shy away from using the word. Any argument to the contrary plays right into the hands of bigots and extremists, and further perpetuates Islamophobia.

 

Stop Traveling To Bad Places

by with One Comment FeaturedGlobal

The death of Otto Wambier a few weeks ago is truly a tragedy for America, but it was preventable.  The US State Dept. offers an extensive warning against travel to the DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea), which as it happens is about the least democratic country on the face of the earth.  That warning by the State Dept. is there because since 1996, at least 16 Americans, 1 Australian and 1 Canadian have been detained in the DPRK for “crimes” such as going short distances from their hotel without approval, taking photos of innocuous things without permission and bringing Bibles into the country in their bags.  Additionally, as the DPRK still recognizes only a cease-fire, it still considers itself in a state of active war with the US, and tries any US citizen under “wartime law”.  That may not be any worse actually than what they do to anyone else, but it should be enough to reinforce that it’s not a good idea to go there.

 One thing many people forget while living safely within the United States, where rights are guaranteed, is how different that is from most of human history and even large swaths of the World today.  Americans have no rights in the DPRK because no one has rights in the DPRK- even (and actually especially) the country’s own citizens.  According to multiple reputable media sources, Kim Jong Un fed his uncle to 120 dogs that had not eaten for 3 days in front of 300 senior officials in a process that lasted for about an hour.

 The US has numerous issues in dealing with the DPRK.  In addition to their regular and barbarous treatment of their own citizens, they continue to use any and all available resources toward the production of arms and particularly nuclear weapons, which they have now shown can reach all of Japan and likely parts of the US.  Despite nearly infinite sanctions against the country, and substantial sanctions against foreign governments providing aid to the country, they persist.  But as the DPRK is still armed with nuclear weapons and crazy, the US has never attempted an armed rescue of US citizens, which would be very likely to result in the deaths of all the prisoners before they could be reached, and re-start shelling (and a possible nuclear attack) on South Korea, Japan or possibly even the US.  In 2009, Bill Clinton was able to negotiate the release of two US citizens by traveling to the country personally.  This only accelerated the pace of the DPRK taking US citizens.  Ostensibly to repeat the media event of Bill Clinton in Pyongyang, 13 of the 16 citizens mentioned above were taken after Clinton’s visit.

 So the lesson for most of us should be don’t go there.  It’s a bad place- and there are bad places left in the World.  Perhaps the first and second citizens could have thought it might work out okay, but the 17th should be pretty sure that it might not.  And if you do go there, evidence has shown that the US government making a big deal out of getting you out leads to more people taken.  Over time, that means that the likelihood of the next person to enter being taken for “crimes” is exponentially higher than the last person who left, and the likelihood of the US government being able to come get you becomes substantially lower.

 Further, it side tracks what the US is able to do with regard to managing China- sometimes side-tracking half of the discussion time that could be used to discuss nuclearization of the Korean peninsula, kidnapping of Japanese fishermen and missiles fired over Japanese airspace with discussions about getting back a US citizen who thought this would be the “tourist trip of a lifetime”.

There is evil still in the World- and a lot of it is there.  Our country will do what it can for you and should continue to do so, but individual judgment is still an individual responsibility, and if you choose to enter the lion’s den, don’t be surprised at the consequences.

Ideas Make This Country Great

by with 2 Comments Diversity & InclusionFeaturedGen Z

As a Muslim-American, I spend a decent amount of time thinking about patriotism. This has become increasingly so as some far right politicians and “conservative media outlets” seem to be intent on suggesting that my citizenship and my religion are incompatible. So what does it mean to be a patriot? Does it mean blind support of everything the United States does? Does it mean that anything the government does, especially anything it does abroad, I have to support? Does not doing so make me unpatriotic?

My answer to all the above is no. American patriotism extends far past borders, political affiliations, and current administrations. It has nothing to do with any specific policy objective, and it has even less to do with politics. It is not nationalism. It is idealism.

Ideas make this country great. Concepts like diversity and pluralism. Values like freedom and liberty. The rights guaranteed to us in the constitution. Being a patriot means standing by these values; no matter the circumstance, no matter the time period, and regardless of what may be politically expedient.

Patriotism has nothing to do with unconditional support of the government. In fact, I would argue that unconditional support of anything is toxic, and unconditional support of the government is almost certainly unpatriotic. When the NSA violates the constitutional right to privacy and the Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable searches by conducting warrantless domestic surveillance it is unpatriotic to be unopposed. Thinly veiled attempts at retroactive justification by appealing to issues of National Security aren’t patriotic. They’re hypocritical and contrary to the ideals that this country was founded on. As Benjamin Franklin famously wrote, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

To make this more contemporaneous, when Donald Trump proposes a completely un-American Muslim Ban we can’t allow silence to take the guise of patriotism. Silence is not patriotism. Unconditional support is not patriotism. Standing up for American values is patriotism, regardless of who is in office and what their policies entail.