#65
ON LEADERSHIP
That AMERICA is a melting pot of all peoples and nationalities, globally, is becoming true and truer, daily. Who can lead this conglomerate of human beings?
This question is all too relevant to the upcoming presidential election of 2008. One lady, Suzanne Brooks is working toward getting this question answered.
bra JC, Publisher
WORDS WE SPEAK.
This is the next President of the U.S.A.!
Suzanne Brooks wrote:
Here's another example of the letters I am receiving after putting out a call for
people to begin researching issues, ourselves, so that the records can be
made truthful.
People, I don't even know are responding to the issues that
I put out and others have augmented, substantially. This confirms that
people will follow a good, decent, honorable leader and have been waiting
for one. This letter came from
Seattle. I continue to share information among as many people as
possible. One way or another, we will make a difference.
Suzanne Brooks, Founder
WOMEN OF COLOR DAY
Rafael Ojeda wrote:
My Dear Friends,
Even though we may not know each other personally, the common bond that
unites us and the common
causes are enough to bond us.
In my personal experience in life, I have learned that when we unite
and form "Coalitions" with our
brothers and sisters of other races or ethnic group, we become
stronger, inbridually, and a stronger force, collectively. It is with this in mind that I recommend getting information on Latinos
and other "minority" groups like Filipinos, Japanese, Chinese and other
Asians or Orientals, as they were called in early American history.
I have
found that many of the de facto laws
that discriminated against all of us, from the beginning [of American
History], affected all of us and many of the research papers or
historical
reports may mention these Acts, as in the case of Native Americans not being
human, the African Americans
being only 3/5th humans and, therefore, not eligible for any U.S. rights
as citizens. In the case of Filipinos, PBS ran a documentary on Asians, before the War of Independence
to the present that shows discrimination in immigration and living conditions for the Filipinos
and other Asian groups.
The same laws affected the rest of us. I believe that to record an
accurate history of America, we have
to include all people of color and even in those cases where people were
discriminated against because of
their religion, like in the case of our Jewish
brethren.
Also, we can look at the bylaws of organizations like the National
Association of Realtors, (I am a Real
Estate Broker and a Realtor), our own bylaws prohibited us from selling
to Orientals, Negroes, Mexicans and Jews in housing that had Restrictive Covenants. Here, in the
Seattle/Tacoma area, we have been
compiling letters and photos of these types of discrimination in our
State Historical Museum.
Our State and National archives like the U.S. census and Ethnicities
reports show many of this data. Military History reports of the
segregated units show
what people went through, during the wars.
So, these facts are interrelated and should be studied to show
a complete informative and historically correct history.
I am not a writer nor a historian or attorney, but I like history
and my personal crusade is to "Set the Record Straight" on American History by the inclusion of
our contributions to this nation
in spite of the Nation Dominant Society who continue to deny the History
of so-called "minority groups." WE have "OUR HISTORY" too.
I commend all of you for your efforts in whatever you do to
help correct our History and be incorporated in our
Nation History from Day One of the formation of America.
Thank you All. ___________________________________________________
Rafael Ojeda
Tacoma, WA
Joan Cartwright, Founder - CUE JAZZFEST and Music
Conference is OWNED AND OPERATED BY AFRICAN AMERICANS SERIOUS ABOUT
REPAIRING THE LACK OF ECONOMIC GAIN FROM THEIR CULTURAL PRODUCT, NAMELY,
JAZZ MUSIC.
Membership,
Investment and
Sponsorship Opportunity
Below are Joan's responses to Mr. Ojeda's message, followed by
Suzanne Brooks' responses to her.
Only the oppressed can REPAIR the inequalities and discrepancies created by
the oppressor. African Americans are wasting their time requesting
REPARATIONS. As co-Creators with the Universe, it is up to us to bring
peace, harmony, prosperity, abundance and joy to our own lives. Waiting for
the "MAN" to repair what he and his have done is ludicrous. It will not and
cannot ever happen. No one is "waiting for the man to
repair anything" but it is absurd not to claim what is ours in this country.
Why pay taxes and get nothing in return. Why accept the continued
enslavement of our people on jobs and in jails. Retreating into ourselves
without working on the issues that impact our lives which we cannot simply
wipe away--or we would have done it--is not an option. We also need to work
in concert with other oppressed people.
Yes, America paid reparations to Native Americans for stealing their land
and assassinating thousands of them and they built casinos.
Not all Indian tribes have build Casinos and to
suggest that this is what they did with money received from "reparations" is
inaccurate on many levels. You might look up Artic Slope as one of the many
examples of business, education and other ventures being carried out. The
problem is many people view other groups through the lens of the racist
media. Additionally, most of the money owed to Native Americans remains
unpaid.
Yes, America paid reparations to the Japanese for dropping two atom bombs on
two of their cities and they rebuilt them. Token
reparations (less than a penny on the dollar) were paid to Japanese
Americans. Money invested in
Japan, as in
Europe, did not eliminate the suffering of atomic bomb victims which
continues today in atomic diseases and birth defects.
But can America repay 20 million+ Africans for dislocating them, cruel, vile
and vicious treatment of them and forced FREE labor for almost 400 years? Is
there that much money in the budget? NOOOOOOOO.
Why not? Of course, if you can't envision it, it won't happen.
Africans in the Diaspora must create their own opportunities and repair
their lives themselves. This is the only way the repair will work.
There are the issues of capital, health care, poverty,
and other barriers that have to be addressed. The bootstrap idea, which is
Booker T. Washington type of philosophy, has never worked. Why not try
something new. Doing the same thing will only get the same results, won't
it?
Of course, this is my opinion. I respect that and
appreciate the discussion.
Suzanne Brooks, Founder
WOMEN OF COLOR DAY
Obama's website. I am communicating with him and his campaign staff regularly, as are others around the country. He is acting on our comments and suggestions.
Suzanne
|
What's so amazing to me is that Nobody has had 'experience' being the Leader of The World at any time in History-- his life and what God has chosen for him is a Guess As It Comes proposition, just like everybody else's life and work--Nobody has 'Experience' except to draw from what has happened in our lives, and hope that the next moment will give us some opportunity to apply something we might be able to apply to it--and Pray that that some part of that shit works!! ( -: I Pray For Him Every Time I Think About It-- he's my Hero!!! RK |
Dear Suzanne,
I'm happy to add this discourse between you and Senator Obama in my newsletter, WORDS WE SPEAK. You are a true Leader and I'm proud to know you. The thoughts below reflect all that I've been studying about how AMERICA will be the land of homogenized relationships between peoples from all land. Thank you for your insight and ability to ACT and not just PREACH!.
Sincerely,
Joan Cartwright,
Founder and Executive Director
WOMEN IN JAZZ SOUTH FLORIDA, INC.
June 27, 2008
As you may know, I have been in touch with Obama's sister, Maya, sharing with her information on many issues affecting women of color and asking her to act as an advocate for women of color with him. We have had some very frank discussions. On June 19, I traveled to Watsonville, CA to meet her in person at a fundraising rally for Obama. It was a long drive, with traffic, ending as a 15 hour day just to speak with her for 2 minutes and to give her materials about the concerns of women of color. I wasn't sure that I would succeed in communicating how much women of color have been marginalized through out the history of this country--always at the bottom economically, with the highest unemployment and lowest salaries, and having the highest rates of suicide and deaths from curable diseases. I have done research on the consequences of suffering both racism and sexism which is unique to the experience of women of color in this country, European countries and places like Australia and New Zealand. I have shared that information with her as well. Last night, I received a wonderful letter from her indicating that she will be meeting with Obama in early July and will go over all this information with him. I am very happy about this. I don't believe women of color have ever had this level of specific advocacy before in as great detail. Whatever happens, we have a great advocate, ally and sisterfriend. I will keep everyone informed of any further developments. I hope, too, that this encourages others to reach out to people who are in positions of influence and provide them with the detailed information needed to advocate for and participate in creating solutions that bring equity and justice where it is needed. It's one more strategy we can use.
FYI: The following article has been posted to Philanthropy
News Digest: Economic Status of Women in New York State Dropping,
Report Finds - According to a new report from the New York Women's
Foundation, women in the state fare worse economically today than they did in
1989.... More»
11/10/2007 4:53:38 PM Pacific Standard Time TO:
Senator Obama via his
Policy Staff Director L. Strickling, in response to the letter I received from
Senator Obama, today. I had sent Senator Obama a letter asking his position on several issues of
interest to me and to many others I had spoken with around the country. I sent the same questions
to other candidates. Senator Obama was the only one who responded. His staff were the only
ones who actually listened to me and took time to be certain to route me to the right person who
then took lots of time with me. This is the kind of treatment we should receive.
Dear Senator Obama:
In today's mail, I received the response from you that I requested with the
long, detailed letter presenting my own concerns and interests and those of
many others across the country. As I advised your exceptionally polite and
responsive staff in my telephone call to your headquarters, I have been
searching for a candidate who will listen both before and after elections. I
have sent the same request to other candidates. You are the only one who has
responded. I am very appreciative of the specificity of the response which
makes clear that the material was read and of the staff responses that got my
letter through to you. I believe this shows you to be a different kind of
candidate from the rest. I will do my best to support you.
For a starter, I am copying your letter to me to as many people as I can,
across the country so that people can see your unique responsiveness to our
voices. In addition, it is worth noting that your staff responded to my
telephone call by listening to the concerns expressed, then connecting me to a
staff member responsible for policy and not sending me off to the "women's
section" as other candidates did. From start to finish, the responses to me
were respectful and responsive. This is a message many people need to know
about because this is quite different from any other responses. This is the
kind of interaction sought by the majority of us but never received.
I will connect with Obama Campaign supporters in this area and will search for
other ways to support your campaign. I believe you can win with the support of
grassroots and working class groups. We will also work to energize people who
don't usually vote at all. I will also work to collect observations and
information from those who traditionally have not been listened to. We will
work to keep this dialogue going.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Brooks Click to read Obama's letter of reply to S.B.
International Association for
Women of Color Day
Sacramento, CA
WATCH THIS VIDEO FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT RELIGION
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