Synopsis One

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synopsis One

  These things were not created in a vacuum.  Culture is what parents teach to offspring concerning the knowledge and understanding they have learned, going through the various experiences in life.  Largely what we learn about life initially comes from our parents.  Amongst those things learned, is a sense of how to interact with others.  It is a responsibility of our parents to who teach us how to speak, how to talk to people, and how to express our ideas.  Culture is what a people say, make and do.  Civilization is how a culture develops in knowledge and wisdom.  Culture is also how a people take care of themselves.  It is our parents, who should provide us with the foundation of those social skills necessary to interact with the larger group and grow as a people.

  The question is, "Who are the larger group?"

   As a child, the larger group is your extended family.  They look like us.  They have similar values, ties and bonds.  There is love and ethnicity.  They are the roots of our family tree.  Ethnicity is the group of people you come from--the culture, language, and belief which binds you, as well as, the other traits which makes you think as one. As we get older, we seek out community, through our understanding of ethnicity (although there will be some who will try to escape being around those of the same ethnicity due to their lack of understanding).  When we do, we find similarities in tradition, appearance, customs, awareness, beliefs, arts and entertainment, interests, which includes various ways of thinking--and things which have the tendency to make us feel comfortable and secure around one another. 

   But what about Nationalistic factors as a binding force?

   1)  If we identified ourselves as "African Americans" per'se, those Black people whose  ancestors come from--let's say India--would not be able to identify with being a part of our people, let's say like other Blacks who live in America; because he or she is not from Africa or America:  He or she has not lived under conditions which forge us into who we are, and he or she has not had the same types of experiences that forces him to consider those same things that we do.

   2) The name (African-American) describes a people, who became identified as such, when the Blackman was abducted from Africa and brought over to America as property to serve the White man.  The purpose was to work our people as slaves and provide free labor for his people, to establish a White colonial community within America.

  Now it could be argued that Blacks and Whites (as different people) are still both human beings; both belonging to the human family; and therefore, capable of relating to one another--but differences in appearance, traits, customs, morals, and values culminated in the exploitation and ill-treatment of Black people, eventually turning them into slaves (from indentured servitude), at the hands of the people we now call Europeans, Westerners, or Whites.  Obviously a sense or separatism exists here in America--that is, a case of us and them--which definitely interferes with the "new American's" proper sense of humanity.  Therefore, I cannot give a good reason why we (as Blacks in America) would identify with the name "African American" either (like the Black from India), for that would imply that we do not have a problem with the "master/slave" relationship between the two peoples--or (as Darwin would say) that we accept this as natural selection, a.k.a. the natural order of things.

  Also, if we identify ourselves with a particular part of the planet earth (let's say just Africa or America), then the Blacks who live at other locations--who are not from those parts of the globe, that do not share in that same legacy or cultural experience-- would not be able to identify with being part of our people (Black): nor would they be able to see a common foe or antagonist--neither would they relate to any of our conditions within the land where we are from or reside:  3) This being the case, the beginning history of Blacks in America, would start with the capturing of Black people on the Central Asian part of the globe and culminate into the chronicle of slavery in America--which we know is simply not the proper picture to depict us as a people.

 

  Even the majority of Western historians  will  concur, the earliest finds of human existence have been found in the central part of Asia-- the so called "African continent," "Middle East," (or East Africa to be precise); which makes the Black family (and those who migrated from this area) the oldest human family known on this planet.  We are the "parent" culture: meaning all culture and civilization derived from us.  Therefore claiming ourselves to be "African American" (instead of Black or at least "Africans in America") would remove any psychological markers (not the genetic markers however) to indicate we were the first people.  Understanding this about Black people, seems to imply that the subjugation of Blacks was more of a power thing than anything else--or a shift in the reigns of world dominance.

  4)  Whether in the Arabian Peninsula or the Himalayas, the Nile Delta, Australia or New Guinea, the Fertile Crescent or Mt. Kenya--in the Wilderness of North America or in the Indus Kush Valley in India--we are the same (Black) people (in different locale) with some differences in customs--but still the same people.  Within the lands mentioned, there were impressive centers of cultural antiquity--which served as the foundation of some of the very same cultures that the Western world bragg about--like Greece and Rome for example.   However, brothers and sisters, we must remember we are in 'his' home (land) and 'his' writings are not addressed to us, but his own people--aimed specifically to raise his own people and boost their egos.  Those in doubt of these facts should read, "Stolen Legacy" by George C. James, "African Origin of Civilization" by Cheink Anta Diop, "The Journey of the Songhai People" by Robinson, Battle & Robinson and "From Superman to Man" by J.A. Rogers.

   Keep in mind family, chronology or his-story often comes to us at the hands of the victors.  Aggressors could care less about the psychological and physical toll inflicted upon the opposition.  Europeans had (and has) no intention to openly acknowledge or illuminate the path of its cultural contributors (especially the dark ones), no more than Rome chose to tell us who the Etruscans were, or Rome's indebtedness to them culturally.  None of them will tell you who the Sumerians were, or what color they were--they will only speak of Sumer/Akad and its cultural contribution as the "Cradle of Civilization," scholarly you must "fill in the blanks."  Would it surprise you to know that the Etruscans sided with the ancient Carthagians, in the "Battle of Alalia," around 540 b.c.?  Would it surprise you to know that the Carthagians were Black?  Once again, what color were the Etruscans?  What were their anthropological roots?  Obviously, we and Europeans are on different pages, as far as civilization, humanity and other peoples are concerned.

   5)  But we Blacks have allowed geography, boundaries, religion, and tribalism--as well as other differences--divide and split our concern for one another; allowing ourselves to be vulnerable to conquering  Western forces, on a "one-on-one," "tribe-by-tribe" basis.  We have been our worst enemy.

  It stands to reason, that if one group of Blacks from a different area could not relate to a series of events--in the same way as Blacks who are living in another area, going through those experiences mentioned, neither of these groups would see the overall picture being presented by providence.   Their general unpreparedness for each of their social experiences, in all probability originates from their lack of receptivity and sensitivity for connectedness as a group, and a lack of understanding of ourselves as one people.  This type of untogetherness can range anywhere, from a general ignorance, apathy, onwards into a full blown form of self-hatred of those traits and customs affiliated with us as people; expressing itself as a hatred of things Black.

  Those of us suffering from low self-esteem might be caught-up into this way of self-hatred, thinking to ourselves, "I never liked that bunch any way--serves them right." Or our religiously ignorant folks might not help another Black person--claiming "bad things" might befall upon them for simply getting involved with another person's calamity--citing; "God mignt be punishing me for interferring with "His" works  etc., etc."  But as Malik El Hajj Shabazz so eloquently stated: "You can't hate the roots of a tree and not hate the tree itself; you give me a person who has a low opinion of black people and I will show you a person who does not love themselves."

   Somehow, somewhere, there must have developed a certain "disconnect" in our compassion for one another that over-rides our sense of humanity for each other (probably due to a lack of psychic maturity); this same apathy in the past allowed outsiders to take advantage of us culturally, socially, and psychologically--without even a protest on our part!

  I have personally watched a Muslim, who happens to be Black, not return a salute to me in his religious greeting or salutation, simply because he suspected I was not Muslim and then, immediately talk at length to some White man whom we both knew had been studying Arabic for non-religious reasons (of course, after exchanging greetings in the traditional Muslim way)...  Is it that we don't want to seem ignorant to other people or nationalities, or is it that we can accept ourselves being that uncivilized to each other?  Maybe that's just a reflection of our own self-hatred for ourselves as a people, originating from our enslavement experience... Who knows?  God knows.

  6)  And finally, on the topic of being on different pages as far as humanity and civilization are concerned, the idea that one has to go to scholarly works like George C. James and others to obtain undisputed evidence which should already have been taught to us in American schools indicates: (A) That there is an objection (on the part of ruling class Whites), to let the whole of American society know that classical societies like Greece and Rome are extremely indebted to Khamit (so-called Egypt) for being the author and father of the degree of civilization the Western world claims to be theirs exclusively;(B) and that even though Whites are a much different people (whose arrogance cannot be avoided), our people are looking for these people that hold so much contempt against us (as a people), to tell us the truth openly.  This is sheer madness on our part, because it exposes a very dark nature on the White man's part--seldom seen or recognized.

  7)  In the same manner of speaking, we (who are Black and incarnated in North America) stake claim to being an "African-American," simply because we were born here in America: Jews don't call themselves Jewish Americans when they are born here, so why should we...  This point of view is just as foolish as the colonist, who stakes claim to being native to America, then gets the rest of the world to call him "American," while referring to the original occupants of the land (i.e. the Native Americans) as "Indians"--and not the Native Americans which they stole the land from: After all, when the European explorers came to this country in hopes of finding new land, they were not looking for people but land: Yet, there was more than two million of these natives here when the landed.  This was not uninhabited country, it was a population owning land that these people solely wanted.  The idea that  these conquerors would say that European explorers discovered America, implies that the Europeans and their colonists did not consider the N ative American as being human or civilized--and that the rest of the world is either ignorant or mad for playing this charade with them.  I guess it was all done in behalf of Western ideas of world dominance...

  8)  So in essence, what we have been talking about is love for all the human family, when we speak of humanity; which includes care and a belonging for all human beings.  And yet we, who were taken from our homeland, and enslaved by the European slave holders, slave mongers, and peddlers of Black human flesh--sanctioned by the so-called American society--were treated in such a deplorable fashion, that one has to question these people's sense of such things.  The European colonists  who owned slaves, wanted to be placated so bad, they made Blacks appear sub-human in their books, depictions and minds.  This way they could feel justified in the acts they perpetrated upon us: a practice that has continued even to this very same day...

  9)  But once we ourselves start to look at ourselves as one genus or group: "Black people,"  then we can get by our differences in religion, politics, culture or  territory:  Once we get by these depictions and markers; then we can start identifying with those people who have the same genetic markers and make-up as ourselves--regardless of our places on this "Third Stone from the Sun."  Once we start to redefine ourselves by our own standards and dimensions, we will be on our way to create the type of unification that will help us rise above our complications of trying to negotiate with those who do not mean our people any good.

  10)  The White man's depictions of us, made us into something so uneducated and so hideous, that some people may think that Whites were doing us a favor by enslaving and re-educating us.  And since we have not began to amass enough power to project ourselves onto the international set, the rest of world has not adequately heard our rebuttals--rebuttals, not so much in words, but in deeds.  Anyone having doubts concerning the veracity of my statements, should research the genre called "Vintage Black Memorabilia," featuring creatures like "Little Black Sambo," or the outlawed "Black Lawn Jockeys"--which in their days were en vogue but are now considered in bad taste.

  11) Everybody wants to feel loved and needed: by family, by partners, by your significant other or soulmate--even by people of different ethnic groups appreciate what you do.  Blacks want to be appreciated for the embodiment of work we do, or at least--the job we perform.  As you all know, having love, or having people around you who love you, can make you feel real good about yourself.  Therefore you should be able to appreciate what I mean when I say, by Whites in America depicting Blacks within this country to appear lesser in the eyes of the known world of that time--these people of European descent could, in effect, inflict the most cruel, vicious, sub-human treatment on Black people, and there would be little uproar.  After all, we were their property.  The Black slave was theirs to do as they pleased.  They had other Whites thinking, "These beings aren't really human anyway, were they?" [Where was this same thinking that animal rights activist use for those times].  Little by little we were recreated by their media.  Yet, no one concerned themselves with how these deeds just about permanently damaged our psyches as a group of people--outside our own people who knew.

   12)  The dehumanizing of the Blackman during slavery was institutionalized into the American Fabric, like the stars and stripes of the America flag; ingraining it into the minds of the American people so solidly--that we all suffer from it--even to this day.  Being a free man during the time of slavery (circa 1555-1863), wasn't that much better for Blacks, either.  Slave laws were created and legislation was passed in the United States concerning what could and could not be done to slaves; what their net value was worth, for reasons of state representation in Congress; while indirectly setting the trend for how American citizens were to view all Blacks.  There were laws made for free Black men, that did not apply to Whites at all--indicating that citizenship between Blacks and Whites was not equal.  And like predators towards an otherwise defenseless victim, the poachers and parasites took full advantage of the opportunities these rules presented for corrupt Whites willing to get their hands dirty.

  13)  At the times of Frederick Douglass, many free Blacks were fighting to be recognised as dignified in the eyes of whites, thus they enlisted in the Civil War to achieve this end (which indicates they did not have it prior to).  This began the process, that continues onwards even to this day--wherein Blacks perform and Whites criticize, evaluate, judge and scrutinize their performances.  [Just look at the way the Black Quarterbacks in the National Football League are spoken about, and you will see the same thing being exercised today].   The "New Americans" had colonized America, successfully taken the land from the natives, and after using the slaves to tame the land for no cost; now had Blacks proving ourselves to them, for the position of civilized human beings within their newly acquired country (after being enlightened by Blacks in the past).

14)   Blacks of that time, began to curse their condition within in America.  Our treatment within this country was undoubtedly associated with the color of our skin.  Obviously, our skin tone became affiliated with the hate and ill-treatment unleashed upon us as a people, by American society.  We began to associate the treatment as something we were born into and accustomed to happening, because of the color of our skin: the two (Black skin and misery) being something which entitles us to receiving such impoverished conditions and inhumane treatment ("just because you're Black").  Over time, many of us accepted these things.  Slavery provided slave owners with the means of making themselves rich from our labor, the Emancipation Proclaimation put an end to slavery and immediately put most of us in poverty with no land (because the government did not repatriate us)--often soliciting for employment from the same ones who enslaved or formerly owned us.

  We began to hate our social and political position within American fabric, pleading to Whites to become part of their society--creating alternative characters and alter-egos for ourselves ("I'm not Black, I'm brown--from the Boogie Down" or "Coming from an intelligent Brown man")--in the attempt to be somebody else, and disassociate ourselves with such foul treatment.  While living amongst Whites in America, being Black often means misery, pain, poverty and the feeling of inferiority.

15)  Blacks began to hate what America provided for us and began inventing ways to escape the pain associated with being Black in America: We began to hate ourselves and those who look like us. Worst of all, because of the consistent ill-treatment by White America, we began to believe that maybe we were that being, which they labelled inferior--that being which they identify with the "N" word!    In general, people become more efficient at living by the things they learn through experience, over time.  They want to be able to navigate around the B.S. in life and live a peaceful existence.  But when you have a condition where one people are living under another's confines, jurisdiction, authority, and control become major issues.  There are two ways to look at adversity and opposition: proof that the Devil does exist in the flesh, or an opportunity for you to become more resourceful and clever.  You have to become better in order to steer clear of the foolish and not get damaged...  As Gil Scott Heron once said, "The world is just a simple circle, you got to keep on turning or down you fall." This statement implies the need for evolution and revolution: Evolution, in the sense of expanding your mind, and involving your persons in things--and people--which will change your perspective on higher learning--bringing in new ideas and perspectives from other places and spaces.

16)  Then, because the Black man and woman thought he/she was nothing--anything which looked like him/her must be nothing as well (in his/her mind).  And in thinking that, he/she began to lash out against his condition, by inflicting the greatest cruelty upon anything or anyone who reminded him of his horrible condition (including those of his kind); that is,  going out of his way to discredit Blacks who thought highly of themselves; for if he thought he was not "Ok," then nor was anyone else who looked like him.

17)  All over the world we as Blacks suffer from a common affliction, by a common group of people from a common part of the West Asia, the so-called "Eurasian" continent--a people who believe that all other people are stepping stones to their goals. These people's  lifestyles becomes superimposed upon ours, and we became responsible for entertaining him and providing him a menial task force,  while he left us feeling blue--with many of us jockeying for the position where we received crumbs from his table.  Need I say, this has got to stop!

18)  Once we begin to look at ourselves as one people-- Black-- located in different parts of the globe, our concerns for us as a people will start to expand.  Once that happens, our outlook towards each other will change.  19)  We will cease having a sparrow-like perception, darting through the trees of Western obstacles while getting "crumbs of dollars" for mere sustenance and develop a hawk's eye view concerning these land grabbing thieves.

  In America, there are very few Blacks running things--without a White person above him or her.  But around the world, there are Blacks who run all aspects of their society, without any outside influence.  Their approaches are very different: offering brand new perspectives on various social issues; allowing ones who are privy to it, to "think outside the box."

   Once we begin to look at ourselves as one people (Black people) located around different parts of the globe, we'd see what we have in common.  We'd learn from one another.  We'd think seriously about making our own help, instead of asking for it from others--knowing we have the power (through the now numerous examples known by us).  Anthropologist use this approach all the time.  Margaret Mead are among many who explore the approaches of several societies concerning the social ills of their own, seeking solutions.  Sort of reminds me of religious people, who claim there "Ain't but the One way I know," when all ways will lead back to the  "One way," if you know what to look for in all of them. 

19)  You should always take stock of what is happening around the world, but you should make your synopsis felt within the area you are in--the reasoning is to make something happen locally.  20)  A lot of foreigners feel that a lot of Black people are sympathetic to their situation. They can tell if we know how they feel. They can sense our souls. When the souls are the same, then it is the same mental, verbal, as well as body "language."  Black people are people who will make every effort to understand and/or remedy situations--and this one is no different.

  The emphasis here is to secure a better life for ourselves, our family and progeny.  And as expressed earlier, the sense of right and wrong oft-times vary with the beholder, despite the society: However, if your act, culminates with a mob of angry people chasing you and yours with a bunch of torches and firearms in their hands, it is probably not the right or appropriate thing to do.  Nor will a boosted military save you, if the whole world is sudden against you because of your policies and behavioral patterns.

And as always, Peace and Blessings,

 
 

C. Be'erla Hai-roi Myers

The Pursuit of Knowledge and The Arts

 

 

The Pursuit of Knowledge & The Arts: 

How It Effects Members In A Society  

 

OBSERVE.

  Just think about everything you see and hear everyday: Cars going by, signs and markings on the road, the statues and street lanterns, grafitti on the wall, advertisements on the bus, the cover of your CD, the sounds of your favorite artist or band, the buildings that you see outside the window; your MP3 player and all the wireless phones you ever had, the clothes you wear, the style of sneakers on your feet, the glasses that you wear. or the shape and style of your knapsack--that cool logo for your group on the button that dangles from your bag . . .

   If you are religious, imagine all  of the icons that play a part in your worship:  the sculpture or symbol of God, the depiction of angels, scenes from verses in scripture, the symbolism and style of the text itself' on the cover of the Holy Book, the gold or silver embossing or leafing on the cover--the goblets, the benches or pews, the color of the rug leading to the altar--if you are Baptist or Catholic you might visualize the stain-glass windows; the objects for sacrament, the robe of the priests, or the garments of the officials in any religion and their mystic symbols. . .

 Or if you are at home, just look around at the objects: the style of the couch and the television's appearamce; the surrounding furniture and table; the color of the rug; the logo and photos on the newspaper or advertisement for your soft drink; the theme song of your show; moods being created by the background music; the bric-a brac on the wall, the vase near the door, the cover of various books on the shelf and magazines--the comics on the table, or the show that you are watching--then imagine all these images and designs gone!  That would be a little bit like how it would be, in a world without the influence of art or artists. 

   This is how art impacts upon the world.  Designs, blueprints, melodies, stage performances, acting, and much much more are produced by artists.  Next to the Supreme One who is referred to as the Creator and Grand Architect, artist are the world's image makers.   Artist create things that others can identify to--evoke feelings from the work that they do.  How things appear and sound and operate are greatly influenced by artists.   The shades of color, the mood several notes make--what is secular, what is religious--you guessed it; all influenced by artists.  Through the use of symbolic imagery, an artist delivers "pictures" for others to digest; moods to conduct or influence how others feel; evoke responses; or make people feel warm, needed and a part of: they can also evoke the foulest of feelings (as poets, playwrights, and writers often do).  As a matter of fact, all art is supposed to evoke or solicit feelings and involvement.  Art plays a crucial role in the image of a society: its fashions, architecture, interior design, how it illustrates its books, the graphics it uses to tell a story, the story being told, the actors who perform it--right down to the use of color, style and size of type that symbolically represents it;  A picture is worth a thousand words they say.  "And Every picture Tells A Story, don't it?" Well so says Rod Stewart. . .  Art delivers the moral of the story.

   Artist are part of the cultural matrix.  All of society's cultural values, its' folklore, traditions, sacred aspects and taboos are at the artist's disposal.  The artist in society utilize society members' own imagination to boost themselves--to teach its' members have faith in what they believe.  They illustrate to others how things can be, and help others to visualize  where they want society to be.  They use their imagination to bring you some of the most fantastic ways to instill cultural and moral values to your children.  Artists bring things to life within the conscious realm of their audiences.  Artist  illustrate and/ or manifest things to represent how conditions are (or will be)--and how conditions are, are greatly influenced by the artists, the world trends in general, and government you live under.  They also create fictional works to symbolize affairs that  need our immediate attention (like that Black man called Aesop through his fables), as well as give us worlds of fantasy, relaxation, and cultural inspiration--and as well as--aspirational development .

   Forget what the West taught us concerning "Art for Art Sake."  All art is social, political, or economical--no artistic piece is done without delivering a message.  The rich in American society will always finance diversions for the common man (it helps to anesthetize and pacify the crowd):  You will always have your favorite heart throbs, most favorite movies, strongest super heroes (in which you can vicariously live through)--you will always have your Lil Waynes and Nicki Minaj-es. . .  And in five to ten years you will be provided with something or someone total different from that, to lead you on further into the direction that the rich (slave-makers) want to lead you.  Art sets trends, fads, normalcy and revolutions.   Art gives us insights into the temporal world in which we live.

   On a side note, I just watched a movie called Guilty By Suspicion, starring Robert De Niro as David Merrill--a popular Hollywood filmmaker/director who got caught up in the whirlwind of the McCarthy era.  What I mean in particular, is the harassment imposed by the House (of Congress) Un-American Activities Committee.  It is hard to imagine the paranoia experienced by the government and its' citizens during the 1950's, now-a-days--but there it is (courtesy of Irwin Winkler)  in Black & White!  This era was known as the Second Red Scare, characterized by heightened fears of communist influence on American institutions.  What I found very interesting about this movie, is that this movie incorporated the government's beliefs vs. the beliefs of its' citizens-- the traditional American structure, the movie industry, and the society's own growth and development.  The other point is, it didn't include Blacks (as a people).  As a matter of fact, No Blacks were hurt or killed in the making of this film (please excuse my tongue-in-cheek humor--hee hee). 

   As America looks back on its' past--it's law makers, congressmen (and congress women), major industry big-wigs and its' citizens--for certain--many of them should have plenty of regrets for what they did, how they acted towards certain members of their own society. . . But in all fairness, a lot of what was done, was executed out of a psychologically immature mindset--which is hard for the world to imagine today:  But if you read slave narratives and abolitionist accounts of their respective time periods, you would have the same impression about its' people as you have for the Second Red Scare:  It kind of reminds me of the Richard Pryor comedic exploits on attempting to be a boxer: " [He] came out at the bell, beating [himself] up.  I said, well he don't give a f*#k  about me. . . he's kicking his own a**. . ."   Then I said to myself, "If America Whites can do these things to its' own people, how in the hell can we trust them to be fair. . ."

   All reality gets interpreted: Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder.  The eye receives transmissions of light through the optic nerve and then has to let the brain make sense of it all.  Your eye does not take the object in within itself--it produces a facsimile (as a matter of fact the image the optic nerve receives is upside down).  The artist, on the other hand, tells you how the object feels, how to interpret what you perceive. . .  The ear receives pounding on the ear drum and hairs aligning the canal--and this too gets interpreted by the brain:  but musicians evoke moods by note, tempo, and spacing--chords, syncopation, melody, and orchestration--by putting the net result into the air--which in turn, temporarily reaches the ear to form a more permanent mental picture in the mind of the beholder; especially when accompanied by a singer who's lyrics are arranged by spacing and word projections sung in notes.  The ear receives, but it is in the sphere of the things in which we are aware of, that the symbolic imagery projected at you gets interpreted (through your keen reasoning ability).  Your sphere of awareness allows you to get the message and make sense of it all.   But don't worry, I'm sure another artist will come up with some brand new thing to confuse you all over again. . .  and again...

   One may have a product in mind, but it takes an artist to bring it to life, that is--so that your ideas can be shared with others.  A building can be discussed, but it must be designed, its balance figured out (if it is to last).  Clothes are developed through the imagination first.  In fact, all that we do employs the imagination; which in that sense equals design.  You have to figure out and imagine yourself as in the world--in order to successfully be what you see. . .  We develop through the artist's imagination and projections, the cultural community, as well as, the arts and the humanities.  The playwright may write the film, the actors may enact it,  but it is the audience which helps it take real effect--maybe even inspiring books or other forms of creativity from other artists and the audience as well.

   Artists create the image to sell the concept to the people.  An artist's work embodies the feel of the concept through the symbolic representation of that work.  In other words, when I draw a tree, you are not seeing that tree, but the symbolic representation of darkness and light, shadow, distance, and perspective, texture, tonality and color--it's hardness and softness.  Artist use techniques in order to have you use your imagination to feel what they feel: Artist deliver messages in a Morse code sort of way.

  The Church and the Kings of Europe commissioned musicians to write Classical music compositions to glorify God's majesty in symbolic musical form.  They commissioned sculptors, fine artists, architects, craftsmen and stone masons to build objects of worship--so the devotee may go and receive the concept and feeling of piety.  Product producers spend millions upon millions for artist to create a certain appearance and feel for the object to be sold.  Television viewers are entertained by the type of "TV Programing," produced by the sponsors, the rich men behind television (like the man behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz.  Artists are the image makers of society and when I say artists--I mean musicians and writers as well.

  The artist must have reference material, and that reference material is what is known of the subject that the artist attempts to illustrate--whether visual, written or informed.  Everyone needs to be informed in order to make intelligent decisions.  This is where education, information and the pursuit of knowledge comes in.   The education of a society is done through scholarly work and journalism.  Journalism is sort of your rapid fire current event medium.  This too is where the facts get interpreted and also spun by spin doctors.  If one is to get the truth out of what they read, one has to develop the sense of being able to read between the lines.  We need education and education is and should be taught by informed people, but that information must be filtered by your keen mind and your mind should always be trusted to make these decisions for yourself.  Never think that you are not smart enough, for you can always get smarter if you will yourself to. 

  If you survey the past and present of American society, you know that so-called individualism is nothing new to Caucasian people, America, or the West--the difficulty we have as a people is our Black youth have picked up on the White man's egocentric ways; The ways that have your parents paying your way through college, while you put them in an old folks home when you get older.  The ways that counts relationships by days rather than years.  The ways that never brings people in real close--because it is all about you and what you can get from others.  Dog eat dog world.  Nowadays, It's all about arrangements--not relationships--real businessmen travel light.  No room for extra baggage.  Real caring can lead to heart attacks.  Real "Cad"-berry, huh?  You bet!  All taking and little to no giving.

   I heard the Republican presidential candidate, Mitt Romney say, "Rich people can take care of themselves," in the first candidates debate with President Obama.   Romney said this, as if to say, the rest of us folks need to fend for ourselves in the current recession--he has no plans to assist!  And this is coming from a want-to-be president!  Quietly as it is kept, there is only the rich, those who work for a living and the poor.  The business man who works for himself and is considered the true middle-class are few and far between, most of us are either rich or very near rich (true bourgeois), working class poor or poverty level.   That statement by Romney was ignorant and those who consider themselves as conservatives should stop fooling themselves into thinking Romney was including you.  These kind are the kind of people that most of us work for: The kind who will downsize their company, when they can't buy another limo or a Jag--no matter how many of their workers have families to support!  We must learn to identify these insensitive types, for they have no sense of others.

    And in these tough times, when we are feeling the stranglehold of gas prices--this candidate reminds us that the rich can afford to import gas (and consume it) at the obvious high-price and they are the people he is concerned with: He has no concern with the so-called middle class or working class: rich slave-makers that they are, and the ones Blacks still work for.  Shackles removed and without a cent, my ancestors were forced to return back to the ones who stole their labor without compensation or pension.  "Get yer own," is what Romney implies, and that statement was received with the audience's applause!  Yes, we do need to get our own, but the ruling class needs to tell the truth:  The American public doesn't really want anyone to cut out the middle man--that's a multi-million dollar industry and the backbone of Western enterprise: trade between classes: Capitalism; free enterprise: Yankee-ism.


   The most ironic scene to me is to watch an ego-centered person walk into a library of literally billions of literary contributors and not get the hint or sense that he too must contribute to family and society at large!  Equally that, he or she finds nothing wrong with that view.  Good or bad (as is the case with common sense) is relative to the upbringing and the culture(s) which produced it.  This is why I stressed, in the previous article, to always quiz anyone you mob around with to make sure you are on the same page in terms of ideology and policy.  It is quite possible that the other person might not have the same sense of right and wrong as you do.  A lot of what you do depends on the conditions you were raised and your response to it.  A persons way of having a dinner out in the woods is different than the person who is eating at the dinning room table.  Not better or worst, just different.  Therefore you must know the policies of everyone around you, since there really isn't a since of "We" without it.  In the example of the dining man in the house and the man in the field--you could be looking at things in two entirely different ways.  But diligence is in making sure you two see "eye to eye," ensures that both parties are heading down the same or similar roads: 

     "Help me, I think I'm falling in love with you; are you going to let me go there
      by myself?   It's just a lonely thing to do: Although we've been flirting around,
      hurting and flirting too.  We love our loving--but not like we love our freedom."
   
                                                                       -- Joni Mitchell's song "Help Me"

   A sense of belonging happens when you coincide with others, it forms bonds and solidifies a reciprocal relationship.  A sense of "We" develops--and that happens because of similar policies and ideas.  You have to discuss things and find out the other persons ideas and opinions, to have a sense of whether you have a partner or not.  Otherwise, you may quickly become estranged because of a difference in customary ways.  Often people pretend to be down, when they really aren't--simply because there is an opportunity for success and fortune.  Many times, these type of people may accuse you of some form of unfairness, merely to get some type of advantage on your enterprising--i.e. positioning you or using you out of some sense of obligation.  In the above poem, you can see that same attitude as the ego-centered person in the library episode: But once again beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  If you want the world to turn about you, you must be part of the world--roll up your sleeves and play your part in the growth and development of others.  "Don't  surround yourself with yourself, move on back a square." _--Jon Anderson and Yes,  from the song, "Your Move."

   Scholarly work is the attempt of the society to present its subjects with knowledge and factual material in which to form their hypothesis and ideas, but as unprejudice as this approach may attempt to be, one must always watch out for the bias of the authors themselves.  Books of various kinds are kept within various libraries--both public and private.  There are information highways like the Internet and Information Technologies, to help bridge the gap between the informed and uninformed to provide knowledge and research material.  Knowledge means to know and to know you must have knowledge and awareness of what is true.  As I said, people may attempt to deliver the truth but as unprejudice as the attempt may be, there is always the possibility of human flaw and error.  Don't believe everything you read.   "You must learn to read between the lines."

Thanks for reading.  Hope you share your comments.


Peace and Blessings,

C. Be'erla Hai-roi Myers