Who would you Vote for in '08 Election?

[ezekielscall_2]

The Mis-education of the Negro…

I want to share with you all a couple of quotes and then I want to make a short comment:

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his "proper place" and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary."


“We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world, void of national bias, race, hate, and religious prejudice. There should be no indulgence in undue eulogy of the Negro. The case of the Negro is well taken care of when it is shown how he has far influenced the development of civilization.”
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, "The Miseducation of the Negro"

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow."
Alice Walker

"I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more if they had known they were slaves."
Mama Harriet Tubman

"The events which transpired five thousand years ago; Five years ago or five minutes ago, have determined what will happen five minutes from now; five years From now or five thousand years from now. All history is a current event."
Dr. John Henrik Clarke

"African-Americans have not yet learn that no other people have continued worshipping another's God, especially their slave master's god or gods and freed themselves from cultural and physical genocide. Why should Africans and African-Americans be the only exception to this historic reality?"
Dr. Ben

"Judaism, Christianity & Islam are innovations on fragments from the periphery of the African cultural and spiritual system."
Professor James Small

"Whoever controls the images, controls your self-esteem, self-respect and self-development. Whoever controls the history, controls the vision."
Dr. Leonard Jeffries

"The thing to do is to get organized; keep separated and you will be exploited, you will be robbed, you will be killed. Get organized and you will compel the world to respect you."
Marcus Garvey

"Remain separated and you will suffer; Together we are invincible!

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I had to go into the past just for a moment because I feel that there is a need for us all to remember how we got where we are today. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears shed, by those of our past, and not just these that I’ve quoted, but by so many more throughout history.

When I started out with my comments about Barrack Obama, I was, if you hadn’t noticed, actually talking about blacks uniting. What I did is I allowed myself to get carried away and led down another path that I was never trying to travel…I believe that it was Queen Mother Moore that advised us to “stay focused,” well I have to admit to you all that I did get out of focused…so I took a couple of days to pray and allow the Lord to lead me back to where He was taking me from the door.

You know, in the Book of John and the 17th chapter…verses 6-26, Jesus prayed these words:

Jesus Prays for His Disciples
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
When I was led to invoke the word of God into this discussion, it wasn’t to entice anyone to believe what I believe in, but rather to use the wisdom of a great teacher. Jesus understood the power of one…He understood unity…and He not only understood it, He taught it. He told us to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give God what is God’s…what He was telling us is that if we give God what is God’s we would actually be taking away the power that Caesar has had over us. I believe that this is exactly what can happen if we were to apply this advice. He told us that we have authority over all the power of the enemy. I believe that if we can come together and agree, even if it’s only to agree that we, as a people, must vote, then that’s what we need to agree on. I don’t care who your particular candidate happens to be…if we are able, then we need to vote for our man or woman. The idea being that we are welding our power through the vote. I don’t care if its Barrack, Hillary pr John Edwards…I don’t care if its Mit….John McCain or Bugs Bunny, if that your man or woman, then you should support them…the real deal is that you have voiced your opinion. And when its all said and done, and we find ourselves standing on the verge of choosing our next president, then we need to close ranks and support that choice.

What I don’t want to see happen is that we are offered a seat at the same table that we really haven’t been welcomed to sit at in the first place. I don’t want to be just an invited diner…I want to sit at the table and eat…and I don’t want to eat whatever they give me to eat…I want a menu, and I want to be able to choose what I want to eat.

It all comes down to the fact that we truly need to become one voice. We don’t need to allow our voice to be splintered again. That’s been our failure in the past, that’s our failure today…we can only achieve true victory, when we have brought our voice into the same arena, to shout together...thank you.

[natirnr]

Originally Posted by ezekielscall_2

The Mis-education of the Negro…

I want to share with you all a couple of quotes and then I want to make a short comment:

"When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his "proper place" and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary."


“We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world, void of national bias, race, hate, and religious prejudice. There should be no indulgence in undue eulogy of the Negro. The case of the Negro is well taken care of when it is shown how he has far influenced the development of civilization.”
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, "The Miseducation of the Negro"

"No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow."
Alice Walker

"I freed thousands of slaves. I could have freed thousands more if they had known they were slaves."
Mama Harriet Tubman

"The events which transpired five thousand years ago; Five years ago or five minutes ago, have determined what will happen five minutes from now; five years From now or five thousand years from now. All history is a current event."
Dr. John Henrik Clarke

"African-Americans have not yet learn that no other people have continued worshipping another's God, especially their slave master's god or gods and freed themselves from cultural and physical genocide. Why should Africans and African-Americans be the only exception to this historic reality?"
Dr. Ben

"Judaism, Christianity & Islam are innovations on fragments from the periphery of the African cultural and spiritual system."
Professor James Small

"Whoever controls the images, controls your self-esteem, self-respect and self-development. Whoever controls the history, controls the vision."
Dr. Leonard Jeffries

"The thing to do is to get organized; keep separated and you will be exploited, you will be robbed, you will be killed. Get organized and you will compel the world to respect you."
Marcus Garvey

"Remain separated and you will suffer; Together we are invincible!

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
I had to go into the past just for a moment because I feel that there is a need for us all to remember how we got where we are today. There was a lot of blood, sweat and tears shed, by those of our past, and not just these that I’ve quoted, but by so many more throughout history.

When I started out with my comments about Barrack Obama, I was, if you hadn’t noticed, actually talking about blacks uniting. What I did is I allowed myself to get carried away and led down another path that I was never trying to travel…I believe that it was Queen Mother Moore that advised us to “stay focused,” well I have to admit to you all that I did get out of focused…so I took a couple of days to pray and allow the Lord to lead me back to where He was taking me from the door.

You know, in the Book of John and the 17th chapter…verses 6-26, Jesus prayed these words:

Jesus Prays for His Disciples
"I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. "I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. "Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."
When I was led to invoke the word of God into this discussion, it wasn’t to entice anyone to believe what I believe in, but rather to use the wisdom of a great teacher. Jesus understood the power of one…He understood unity…and He not only understood it, He taught it. He told us to give Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give God what is God’s…what He was telling us is that if we give God what is God’s we would actually be taking away the power that Caesar has had over us. I believe that this is exactly what can happen if we were to apply this advice. He told us that we have authority over all the power of the enemy. I believe that if we can come together and agree, even if it’s only to agree that we, as a people, must vote, then that’s what we need to agree on. I don’t care who your particular candidate happens to be…if we are able, then we need to vote for our man or woman. The idea being that we are welding our power through the vote. I don’t care if its Barrack, Hillary pr John Edwards…I don’t care if its Mit….John McCain or Bugs Bunny, if that your man or woman, then you should support them…the real deal is that you have voiced your opinion. And when its all said and done, and we find ourselves standing on the verge of choosing our next president, then we need to close ranks and support that choice.

What I don’t want to see happen is that we are offered a seat at the same table that we really haven’t been welcomed to sit at in the first place. I don’t want to be just an invited diner…I want to sit at the table and eat…and I don’t want to eat whatever they give me to eat…I want a menu, and I want to be able to choose what I want to eat.

It all comes down to the fact that we truly need to become one voice. We don’t need to allow our voice to be splintered again. That’s been our failure in the past, that’s our failure today…we can only achieve true victory, when we have brought our voice into the same arena, to shout together...thank you.

W may have our disagrement about one or another candidate,
but by and large we can unite to heal some of the horrors we see in our community!

[ezekielscall_2]

Might I suggest that rather than we sit around and fight over this one or that one, let's be about the business of encouraging our people to vote...let's be about the business of teaching our people the importance and power of our vote...and even more so...let's be about the business of teaching our people how to vote. I look at it like this...if I were a person that just happened up on this website and read some of the stuff that was being sent back and forth last week, first of all, I would probably not hit this site up again, and that limits our ability to reach out to one another as we ought to be doing, but it may also discourage a non-voter even more than they are now.

I really do like this site, and I think that this is a great forum to bring black folk together even if we never see the faces or meet one another personally. But what can come of this is that it will give us strength right where we are, in our own part of the village. This is why I stress our reading the Word so much, because there is so much that we cn learn from reading it. If we can get past who translated it, or who we think wrote it...if we can get to that place that there are many, many things that we as a people can pick up and apply to ourselves for the betterment of us, if we can only get the wisdom of the Word. And that's what I've been praying for, is that God would give all those that knock and have the door opened to them the wisdom of His Word so that we might apply it to and for the betterment of our people.

We have been served up some pretty foul meals up to this point, that's because when we sit down to eat, we eat what we are served. That's because we're always hungry...a hungry person will eat anything...whether its served on a table, or we pick it out of the garbage...if we're hungry we'll eat it! And I learned a long time ago that if you feed a hungry person, you've only helped them out for a moment...but if you teach that same person how to hunt, or fish...or work...or in this case vote, then they have learned to survive because they can now hunt, fish...or vote.

Maybe one of the things that we need to undertake is to humble ourselves...all of us, and pray that Gpod would begin to do a work in the spirit of our people that would cause us to know that these bones, these dead and dry bones can live!

[DBlack]

...whats the subject of this thread again?

[sephari]

i have a question. in the poll above, who voted for the other candidates and why? if you voted for clinton or obama we already have heard your reasons. i just curious why a black person would vote for guiliani etc.

[ezekielscall_2]

I'd really like to stay and chat today because I really believe that we can accomplish something here that's not been achieved by our people in quite some time, but I have to leve out for work...but if anyone has any suggestions, or even a prayer, I'd appreciate it if you would poast that. I think that if we start today, while today is still today, and not wait until th mess starts to roll downhill, that we can move some of the many mountains that have been standing in our way all this time...for instance, the mountain that stops us from being able to converse with one another. That was one of the first things that the slave catchers and Willie Lynch stepped on...our ability to talk to one another. Indeed, when you can't communicate, you can't make change a reality. WE have to learn how to talk and reason together. We have been our own worse enemy for years, and the time has come for us to find and nuture the bonds of oneness between us as a people...as Bro. Malcolm said...by all means necessary. I just want to say that even though I don't know any of you past this chat line that I love you all in the Lord, and it is my prayer that oneness sill come and abide with us all, so that we can begin our portion of the work of rebuilding and restoring our people according to the will of God. That's how I'd like to start with a prayer for oneness and unity for and between us all...you all have a blessed day.

[ezekielscall_2]

Please excuse the typos...

[SchoolofSoul]

Originally Posted by DBlack

See, that's the problem...as long as we have leaders and followers worrying about what whites think, we will continue to have problems within our own culture.

If one is running for President of Black America, sure, absolutely there's no need to be concerned with what whites think. That much would be obvious. But President of the United States, the office, the job, is being President not just of the white people or the Black people or the Latino people or the Asian people or the Indigenous people or the Semitic people or the rich people or the poor people or the middle class people but ALL the people. That might not be the practice but it is most certainly the ideal.

And as such, if anyone of any ethnicity wants to be President of the United States, it behooves that person to be concerned with the things that concern ALL Americans, whether they be concerns that all communities share, or just concerns that affect just one community in America. That person might agree or disagree with this or that issue or solution to a problem, but being concerned with what the people think and feel, regardless of the community involved, is important.

Stating that a Black Presidential candidate shouldn't be concerned with what white Americans (or any other non-Black Americans) think about something is like saying that a white Presidential candidate shouldn't be concerned with what Black Americans think about something. It's foolhardy and will hurt any candidate's chances at obtaining support from those communities.

Understand me here, I'm not at all saying that Black Presidential candidates should give preference to hearing from whites - not at all. In fact, I believe there shouldn't be any particular preferences when it comes to concern for issues that affect the populace. Given the fact that there's never been a Black US President to date, it only makes sense that a Black Presidential candidate be deeply concerned with issues that affect Black Americans, and focus on those issues once he or she is elected to the office. But for any candidate, of any ethnicity, to give preference to his or her own at the expense of other citizens is counterproductive to the office itself. Witness Bush giving preference to his wealthy big business buddies, and how that's played out. Hasn't made him popular, has it?

In the same manner, a Black candidate who ONLY cared about Black issues (at the expense of everything else that affected the nation) would be loved by a large number of Black Americans, to be sure, but he or she would alienate the rest of the electorate. Explain to me exactly how a candidate in any election can actually get elected by a majority of voters if that candidate alienates the majority of voters.

No, see, a good Presidential candidate, no matter what their ethnicity is, no matter what their gender is, is going to want to listen to and represent people who may or may not look and sound like him or her, if they actually want to get elected.

Now, if you'd said that a Presidential candidate shouldn't be concerned with what non-voters think or feel, I'd agree with you. Which is why it's important to vote.

[DBlack]

I am convinced you are white. You are too consistently pro-white in your views, excuses and rationlization of and for them.

To make matters worse, you can't read. I didn't say that Obama shouldn't be concerned about the wishes of all citizens. But because you are so blatantly and consistently pro-white, your true agenda comes through.

It took you 6 paragrahps to say nothing related to the thread. If people are too ignorant to objectively look at candidates, their character and record, then this thread is a waste of time.

[jwashington]

It would be good to have Barak in charge, he could get things done.