Take Your Mind Back Black Friday

"Take Your Mind Back" Black Friday:
Countering X-Mass Exploitation

Min. Paul Scott




For Lakesha Jenkins, it was a yearly tradition, get up at 3AM to make a mad dash to the mall in order to catch the early bird specials. This year was no different, as she was determined to not let rain, snow, nor a repossessed car deter her from her mission. With a look of economic ecstasy on her face she went from store to store grabbing everything from the new talking Nicki Minaj Barbie Doll for her niece, Takesha to the Tyler Perry Box set for her Aunt Sally. Exhausted, she returned home late that evening, only to find an eviction notice posted on the door of her one bedroom apartment. Tears rolled down her face as she remembered that she had just spent the last of her rent money on a Sean Jean sweater for her unemployed boyfriend, Tyrone...

The Friday after Thanksgiving is the busiest shopping day of the season. Just like clock work millions of black folks swoop down like hungry vultures on shopping malls across the country, anxious to grab any prey with a reduced price tag sticker. Known, as "Black Friday" it is also the happiest time of year for greedy merchants, as they look forward to making up any money that has been lost because of a bad economy. As NC activist Damon Harris says, "They call it "Black Friday" because they get all that money from Black people."

Harris isn't off the mark with his assessment.

According to the late Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango in his book, Afrikan People and European Holidays: A Mental Genocide, "Black people must understand that Christmas supports an economic system which seldom, if ever, works in our best interest. " So, the issue here is not just how much we spend but on what we spend it.

Although the "yule tide" season is supposed to be a celebration of "Peace on Earth" many Black parents don't see the contradiction between singing carols about "goodwill towards men" and buying their children cds that glamorize the destruction of Afrikan people. This year we must seriously ask ourselves how much money will African Americans spend on music that promotes the death of Black men, disrespects Black women and dumbs down Black children.

It is no surprise that since the early European slave traders used such things as rum and firearms to finance the Trans-Atlantic slave trade that white exploiters of Black culture would now use music that glorifies alcohol abuse and gun play to condemn African Americans to mental slavery in the 21st century.

The European system of African exploitation is like a giant octopus with many tentacles, with each one playing a specific role; the role of the music industry being to dumb down the masses so they will be easy prey for blood sucking corporations whose business motto is "a fool and his money are soon parted."

As Dr. Claude Anderson wrote in his book, "Black Labor/White Wealth, " Black music is the basis for one of the world's wealthiest industries. The wealth and power of the music industry offer the most compelling reasons for Blacks to recapture control of this cultural resource."

While the music industry may be a major player in this game, it is not alone.

Over the last five years we have suffered from the "ghettorization of black literature" as we have seen writers who promote books about sex tales and drug sells prosper while Black owned bookstores that specialized in promoting books that raised the consciousness of Afrikan people were forced to close their doors for lack of support from a community that claims to always be in a quest to find solutions for closing the academic achievement gap between Black children and their peers of other ethnic groups.

It must also be noted that the fashion industry plays it's part as well. Instead of buying clothing that celebrates our rich African culture and its many heroes and heroines, many black folks are more than happy to walk around like human billboards promoting everything from Home Depot to Mountain Dew not to mention T-shirts glamorizing Scarface, mob figures and "gangsta rap" agents of white supremacy.

Perhaps the saddest part of being an African in America this time of year is coming face to face with the realization of the millions of dollars that we spend to fund our own oppression.

This is why a coalition of activists, artists, writers and others are determined this year to break the vicious cycle of economic oppression. Beginning this "Black Friday" we are launching the "Take Your Mind Back" Campaign; an effort to encourage African Americans to channel their resources into areas that will enrich the Black community instead of helping to destroy it.

Instead of spending money on music that promotes the worst aspects of the Black experience, we are encouraging members of the community to seek out those artists with empowering messages, whether it be "old school" artists such as Public Enemy and X-Clan or new artists such as Pittsburgh's Jasiri X and members of (MIA) Music Is Alive Campaign. Also, instead of purchasing "hood dvds" that glamorize Black on Black violence, we should seek out documentaries such as "Operation Small Ax," executive produced by JR, Minister of Information of the Prisoners of Conscious Committee, which explores issues such as police brutality in the Black community.

To further counter the dumbing down effect of corporate America, instead of buying books that degrade Afrikan people and do nothing to stimulate us intellectually, we should not only purchase the classic writings of our late Black scholars such as Dr. Carter G. Woodson and Dr. Amos Wilson but also the works of a new generation of Afro-centric writers whose books can teach us how to survive and prosper in the 21st century.

If we all grasp the spirit of Harambee and pull together, we will not only make a change for this season but for many, many seasons to come.

This year instead of singing "Dreaming of a White Christmas" like Bing Crosby we should be singing songs to "emancipate ourselves from mental slavery," like Bob Marley.

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Hip Hop X-posed Free Download

Hip Hop X-Posed Free Download

Free Download Hip Hop X-posed!Bro. Wali and TRUTH Minista Paul Scott expose everything in Hip Hop from the Hip Hop Illuminati Connection, Hip Hop homosexuality and who really controls Hip Hop. Make copies and pass out to our youth!

https://www.yousendit.com/dl?phi_action=app/orchestrateDownload&rurl=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.yousendit.com%252Ftransfer.php%253Faction%253Dbatch_download%2526send_id%253D985127175%2526email%253D112ad350b95647a3755a1554e107f806

Why Hip Hop Must Return to Rap

Why Hip Hop Must Return to Rap:
Lyrics of Fury

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott




Last week , Hip Hop headz gathered for the 20th annual, "Emergency Meeting to Save Hip Hop" Conference to discuss, once again, ways to save the dying art form. All was going well until underground emcee "Intellect" suggested that the lack of lyricism was destroying Hip Hop culture. Outraged, platinum selling artist, " Mo' Ron Nik," busted him upside the head with a bottle of Rose' and left the building with his gangsta goons as the crowd applauded his "reppin' real Hip Hop." Not realizing that they were part of the problem....

The debate over Hip Hop vs Rap has been a source of heated arguments for almost a generation. However, most of these arguments never rise above the level of semantics or someone quoting KRS's oft used line "Hip Hop is what you live, rap is what you do."

However when Hip Hop artists stop "doing rap" we are stuck with a bunch of knucklheadz promoting swagga over substance. What we have seen over the last decade is a steady decrease in lyricism, which is why Hip Hop has ceased to be a source of social change and is now just a weak marketing tool used to pimp ignorance, death and destruction. In essence, we have lost respect for the power of the spoken word.

Respect for "the word" goes back thousands of years. The scriptures teach us that "in the beginning was the word." Also in his book , "The Afrocentric Idea" Dr. Molefi Asante discusses the concept of nommo in traditional African societies which he defines as, "the generative and productive power of the spoken word."

Although the power of the word has been traditionally revered by civilized societies, it has also been feared by those who seek to exploit the masses of the people. The goal of the oppressor has always been to control "rapping" or the transmission of thoughts and ideas that challenge their rule.

Kwame Nkruimah said in his book "Consciencism ," "social revolution must, therefore, have standing firmly behind it , an intellectual revolution; a revolution in which our thinking and philosophy are directed towards the redemption or our society" which is in sharp contrast to the Hip Hop artists of today who are determined to put us back on the plantation.

While some may argue that Rap is just one of the elements of Hip Hop which also, includes "B-Boying, Graffiti and DeeJaying," it must be noted that break-dancing never sparked a social revolution, graffiti on a subway has never challenged the socio-political domination of the world elite and neither has deejaying ever contributed to the protracted struggle against Imperialism. However, rapping in the form of words of power that "moved the crowd" (to borrow from Eric B and Rakim) has done all the above.

We must be clear, it was not Hip Hop "swagga" that sent shock waves throughout America during the late 80's-early 90's but the rap analyses of artists such as Professor Griff and Sister Souljah. Also, the mixing of rap lyrics with the speeches of Malcolm X, Dr. Khalid Muhammad and Minister Louis Farrakhan during that period, blurred the line between where rap ended and revolution began. Not to mention that many artists of the period were, merely , doing rhythmic versions of the information of black scholars and researchers such as George GM James, Steve Cokely and Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, making it more palatable to the masses.

It is for this reason that the industry has waged war against lyrics , with MTV even elevating self- proclaimed ,non-lyrical Hip Hopper Waka Flocka Flame to one of the top 10 artists of 2010.

One must remember that back in 2002, the same company censored Public Enemy's video "Gotta Give the Peeps" which included the lyrics "Free Mumia (Abu-Jamal) and H. Rap Brown (Jamil Al Amin)." Although, members of Public Enemy were know for their intellectual statements, perhaps the greatest fear of the industry is that on any given day, even a dumb rapper might say something smart.

We must remember that back in 2007, it was alleged that a certain "Lyric Committee" at Interscope records prevented the release of an anti-police brutality song by former G Unit member, Young Buck.

In our current political climate, it is more important now than ever to hear strong black voices. It is doubtful that Hip Hop can be that instrument, as commercialism has rendered it impotent. According to activist, Sham Pu Keilyn, "Rap is the art form not Hip Hop." He argues that while anybody can claim Hip Hop, only a "highly skilled melanated being can truly rap."

This is why we are advocating that members of the "conscious" Hip Hop community reclaim the term RAP, which, in this case, could stand for "Revelation And Power." We are calling for a "conscious coup;" an overthrowing of the Hip Hop oligarchy.

Karl Marx once suggested that the seed of the destruction of Capitalism lies within its own contradictions, so it is with Hip Hop, as it strives to be simultaneously, the voice of the oppressed and the tool of the oppressor.

Although some Hip Hop purists will consider tampering with Hip Hop, sacrilege, it must be done. While, some my feel that they have an inherent right to define Hip Hop, no man has a monopoly on Rap ( nommo, the spoken word) as it originates from the Creator and has been passed down through the ancestors. It is on this principle that we take our uncompromising stand.

Even the most dogmatic defenders of Hip Hop will have to admit that it is time for a change. We can no longer engage in what Dr. Frances Cress Welsing ,in her essay "Black Fear and the Failure of Black Analytical Commitment'" calls "circular thought: moving from problem perception, away from problem solution and back to problem perception." She argues that " there is never constant motion towards problem solution because to do so would " challenge and alter the power dynamic of oppression. "

So, as they say, "it's been real" but this is where we part ways. Those who want to use music to elevate the consciousness of the people rollin' with RAP and those who want to keep the masses deaf, dumb and blind going down with the sinking ship of Hip Hop.

Unless we reclaim Rap we will be still complaining about "what's wrong with Hip Hop" 20 years from now and even then, as Fred Hampton once said, still "coming up with answers that don't answer, explanations that don't explain and conclusions that don't conclude."

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283 For more information on the Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Rappers Need to Be Scared Smart

In the late 70's a movie called "Scared Straight" was released that featured juvenile delinquents being scared out of lives of crime by hardcore inmates. This week, as many people prepare to celebrate Halloween, a NC minister says that many Hip Hop artists need to be "scared smart."

Paul Scott, a minister and activist in Durham NC, is outraged by the amount of Hip Hop that promotes ignorance that is being spewed across the airwaves and is calling on the community to take a stand.

According to Scott, top selling rappers like Waka Flocka Flame need to either smarten up their rap games or feel the wrath of the black community.

"If Waka Flocka Flame was on "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader, he would lose in the first round," says Scott

Unlike the Hip Hop of a generation ago that featured uplifting lyrics by rap groups such as Public Enemy and The X-Clan, many people believe that the Hip Hop music of today is purposely used to dumb down inner city youth.

"In every city in America, people are talking about closing the achievement gap between black children and white children , Hip Hop should be closing the gap instead of making it wider, says Scott.

Scott is urging the black community to demand that Hip Hop artists produce more intelligent music and radio stations play such socially conscious rap or face boycotts by the African American community.

He says that this is especially critical in today's heated political climate where some have accused the Tea Party and other conservatives of racism and "trying to turn back the clock" on black progress.

Their biggest fear is an educated black man, says Scott. "Racists fear that more than Freddy Kruger and Jason put together."

"TRUTH Minista" Paul Scott is a minister, writer, and activist based in Durham NC. He first gained national attention in 1998, when he led a successful boycott agsinst Phat Boy Malt Liquor and ion 2003 when he protested rap star Nelly's "Pimp Juice" Energy Drink.

For more information on the Intelligence Over Ignorance Campaign contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283 website http://www.nowarningshotsfired.com

Rapper Challenges Pre-Midterm White Racism

Plies: Why They Really Hate You




Like many of the commercially successful rappers coming out of the South, a release from Plies usually guarantees heavy radio and video play. However, I doubt that his latest release is going to be welcomed with open arms by the powers that be.

Last week, Plies released one of the most thought provoking videos to come out of the "Dirty South" since the days of Outkast and the Goodie MOB called "Why U Hate ?" The song and video, which features the artist rapping with a noose around his neck , poses the question, "what is white America's beef with black folks?

Parental Guidance Suggested (Language Not Content!)

Plies: Why They Really Hate You

Plies: Why They Really Hate You
The Education of Algernod Washington

Paul Scott



Like many of the commercially successful rappers coming out of the South, a release from Plies usually guarantees heavy radio and video play. However, I doubt that his latest release is going to be welcomed with open arms by the powers that be.

Last week, Plies, born Algernod Wahington, released one of the most thought provoking videos to come out of the "Dirty South" since the days of Outkast and the Goodie MOB called "Why U Hate ?" The song and video, which features the artist rapping with a noose around his neck , poses the question, "what is white America's beef with black folks?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2Ber4-pfKI

Although the self proclaimed "goon's" sexually explicit songs such as "Becky" and "Bust it Baby" have received heavy airplay, one has to wonder what reaction "Why U Hate " will get from Hip Hop radio stations and video programs like BET's 106 and Park . The concern being, it might inspire Plies's fellow goons to begin to conduct in-depth analyses of America's race problem. In other words, it might make people think.

The question that Plies has posed is complex and can be answered on many different levels. However, to get to the root of white hate you must go back thousands of years. According to Canadian writer Michael Bradley, in his book "The Ice Man Inheritance: Prehistoric Sources of Western Man's Aggression, the problem stems from the hyper-aggressive nature that the European developed as a survival technique for coping with a frigid climate. This led to their need to conquer the whole planet.

Also during the Transatlantic slave trade the Europeans used the myth of racial inferiority to justify slavery. After the Civil War, according to WEB DuBois in his book, "Black Reconstruction," Northern industrialists and members of the Southern aristocracy (the planters) manipulated poor whites into hating the newly freed "slaves" in order to exploit them.

It must be noted that much of the hatin' on black people is based on fear. Dr. Frances Cress Welsing author of "The Isis Papers" has suggested that Caucasians have a fear of genetic annihilation; believing that eventually ,through the amalgamation of the races, the white race will cease to exist.

Also there is the fear of "the big pay back" where African Americans will seek revenge on whites for the atrocities committed against them. Over 200 years ago, as Bradford Chambers writes in "Chronicles of Black Protest," Thomas Jefferson predicted that the "deep rooted prejudices of whites" and the "10 thousand recollections by the blacks of the injuries they have sustained" would produce a division that "would probably never end but in the extermination of one or the other race."

Also, black psychiatrists William Grier and Price Cobbs wrote in their 1968 book "Black Rage," "long after slavery, many whites are haunted by a vision of being oppressed, exposed to the whims of a powerful cruel black man."

It must also be noted that this fear also influenced public policy, as during the Civil Rights/Black Power Era, FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, set up COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) to prevent the rise of a "black messiah" that could electrify the youth. Which leads us to why "they" hate political Hip Hop, since it has the potential to convert rap fans into revolutionaries.

However, white America does not really hate "gangsta" rappers like Plies; she created them. What they fear most is Algernod Washington, the business man who is rumored to have been valedictorian of his high school class and a former college student; the proverbial "fear of an educated black man." The Plies's of the world are just thugged -out versions of Frankenstein's monster who have been programmed to never turn on their masters.

That is until one of them is deprogrammed and starts making songs like "Why U Hate ?"

For most folks, Plies is an unlikely candidate to spark the Hip Hop revolution. However, the same might have been said about Detroit Red before he became Malcolm X or Eldridge Clever before he wrote "Soul on Ice" We must also remember that many black leaders from Abubadika Sonny Carson to Bunchy Carter and John Higgins were former gang members. Even one of the fathers of Hip Hop, Afrika Bambaataa was a gangsta at one point.

As Jabari Natur, chairman of Solvivaz Nation said "The spirit of Black Liberation is in all of us. " This is a chance for something to blossom in the millions of people who will watch the video."

What Hip Hop needs is a movement to raise what the late chairman of the Illinois Chapter of the Black Panther Party, Fred Hampton, would call "antagonistic contradictions." We must aggressively question radio stations who will play Rick Ross's "BMF" every five minutes but refuse to play "Why U Hate." Since many DJ's claim to play negative Hip Hop because "that's what people are requesting" we should immediately start calling and tweeting radio stations, asking them why they aren't playing Plies's song. That way we can monitor the tweets and expose Hip Hop radio's hypocrisy.

Perhaps this is a one shot deal for Plies and next week he'll go back to being "the thug you love to hate. Time will tell.

But as Kwame Ture once said, "Every "negro" is a potential Black Man."

I guess that goes for goons too...


TRUTH Minista Paul Scott can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283

Waka Flocka Flame: Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader ?

Waka Flocka Flame: Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Min. Paul Scott



"All my brothers eatin' chicken and watermelon, talk broken English and drug sellin'"

My Philosophy-Boogie Down Productions




Last night, during the premier of the Hip Hop version of "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader," 24 year old Waka Flocka Flame, went up against nine year old up and coming rapper, Willow Smith. However, the show ended, abruptly when during the introductions, the host asked Flaka how many years he had been rappin'. After counting on his fingers for several seconds, a puzzled Flame stormed off stage, cussin' at the audience and accusing the host of asking him a trick question...

Waka Flocka Flame is, undoubtedly, one of the hottest artists in Hip Hop, right now. You cannot turn on any Hip Hop radio station in the world and not hear one of his songs blastin' through the speakers. However, what is making Waka most famous these days is not his music but his interviews. Grandma used to tell me that it is better to keep silent and be thought a dummy, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. Apparently, Flocka didn't get the memo.

On a recent episode of BET's 106 and Park, the host, Terrence J asked him about education and Flame responded by saying that he was going back to school to study "geometry." Later when the other host, Roxie asked him about politics, the boy genius said in classic Captain Caveman fashion "oonga boonga...votin' cool."

What is most disturbing, however, is the follow up interview that he gave on a radio station where he suggested that " Waka Flocka Flame" was just a character that he created in order to relate to the boys in tha hood. So my issue is not really with Juaquin Malphurs, the product of the American mis-educational system, but with his alter ego, Waka Flocka Flame that is being used by the industry to make being dumb, cool. A classic case of "I'm not really an idiot, I just play one on TV..."

The popularity of black folks actin' the fool has its roots in the mid 1800's with the black face minstrel performances. In the book, "Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media," (Janet Davis and William Barlow) historian William Van Deburg is quoted as saying that in a time when many whites feared slave insurrections "the early slave image offered white audiences a comforting , psychological reassurance." He writes that "such intellectually inferior clowns posed little threat to white hegemony."

Such as it is today with black rappers in black face like Waka Flocka , who, despite all the hood talk are only a threat to the residents of the hood and not the socio-economic well being of those in the suburbs.

What is most disturbing about Waka is that he plays into the hands of those who still believe that black folks are more "Straight Out the Jungle" than "Straight Out of Compton." It must be remembered that barely a hundred years ago, African people were being locked up in monkey cages at zoos and forced to perform for white folks. According to Dr. Harriet Washington in her book, "Medical Apartheid," around 1903, a missionary explorer, Samuel Phillips Lerner, captured Ota Benga, an African "pygmy" and gave him to William Hornaday to put on exhibit in the Bronx Zoo. However, in 2010 they have stopped putting black men in cages but place them on stages.

To hear Malphurs tell it, the Flaka Flame character just represents the collective mentality of young urban males who have been victimized by society and he is only using rap music to express their collective point of view. Anyone who knows anything thing about Hip Hop history will tell you that that is a bunch of bull.

Back in the early 80's during the Reagan Era ,when times were ,arguably, socio-economically worst for black folks, rappers like the Treacherous Three and Funky Four Plus One More , expressed themselves very articulately, despite coming from conditions that were worst than those faced by the multi-millionaire rappers of today. We must ask ourselves why do the rappers of the 80's who were teenagers in the Reagan- Bush Era sound more intelligent than grown men in their 20's and 30's in the age of Obama? Just compare the lyrics of a young Kool Moe D or Grandmaster Caz with the ramblings of Waka Flocka or Gucci Mane. So the "product of my environment" excuse just doesn't fly in the face of facts.

What we have is the mass marketing of ignorance, a classic case of supply and demand. There are people who want to see black buffoonery and an industry more than happy to give it to them in large doses.

As we enter into an era where some people are trying to "turn back the clock" on African American progress, the actions of Waka Flocka Flame cannot be viewed in a political vacuum. In a time when many people want to put us back on the plantation we don't need rappers to supply the lyrical whips to beat us into submission.

So, what should we do? In truth, legitimate illiteracy is a major problem in poor communities. However, these folks should be helped and not exploited on TV. Perhaps there should be some "United Negro College Fund" for rappers to encourage artists like Wacka Flaka to obtain a higher education or develop a Hip Hop Rites of a Passage where more socio- politically conscious rappers take artists such as Flame and mentor them.

If that doesn't work, then it is time for some tough love. Like the old "scared straight" program, stupid rappers need to be "sacred smart" or risk being pulled off stage like KRS One did PM Dawn back in the day by crowds of disgusted black folks who are tired of seeing us portrayed as buffoons.

Either way it goes down, a change must come.

These are critical times for African Americans and we are in the fight of our lives against ignorance. We are at the bottom of the ninth inning; the end of the fourth quarter; down by three points with two seconds on the shot clock. There is a time for subtle diplomacy, but as Waka Flocka Flame said himself, there is also a time to "go hard in the paint."



TRUTH Minista Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com can be reached at info@nowarningshotsfired.com. For more information on Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series contact info@nowarningshotsfired.com or (919) 451-8283

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott discusses COINTELPRO

Radio program WE All Be Rsdio discussing the COINTELPRO's effect on the Black community.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2010/10/07/tha-artivist-presentswe-all-be-radio

Historically Black Coonin'

Historically Black Coonin':
Institutionalizing Lower Learning

Paul Scott



Dr. Carter G. DuBois was exhausted after pouring all of his energy into an hour long lecture on the colonization of Africa. Out of breath and with sweat pouring down his face, he asked his college freshman class if there were any questions. Nonchalantly smackin' bubble gum, scantily dressed, Lakesia Jackson raised her hand and asked, "Yeah, Doc, can you teach us how to "dougie?" This prompted the rest of the class to break into an impromptu dance routine, transforming Dubois' World History 101 class into a scene from BET's "106 and Park..."


The recent education edition of Ebony magazine featured a picture well dressed Morehouse students standing behind a brotha in a bandanna with his pants saggin' . While the article dealt with the issue of dress codes on black college campuses, the symbolism and deeper meaning of the picture was clear; our future black leaders have become followers of a pop culture that has historically portrayed black people as "coons," "Sambos" and "jungle bunnies."

Once upon a time ,Historically Black Colleges and Universities were the homes of future great politicians, scientists and educators; people who would make a life long commitment to uplifting the race. Unfortunately, the highest aspiration of some students in 2010 is to become the next Nicki Minaj or Waka Flocka Flame. What happened? When did HBCU start standing for "Historically Black Coonin' and Underachievement?"

There was a period in our history when education was honored by black folks. According to WEB DuBois in his book, "Black Reconstruction," the very feeling of inferiority which slavery forced upon them fathered an intense desire to rise out of their condition by means of education."

However, almost 150 years out of slavery, the obtainment of knowledge is no longer seen as a privilege of the more fortunate, only a reason to party for four (or more) years and then get a job.

While many old heads will argue that this is a new phenomenon, as early as 1957, Dr. E. Franklin Frazier wrote in his book, "Black Bourgeoisie" that after World War I the attitude of black college students started to change, as many began to rebel against the "puritanical attitudes" of the northern missionaries who founded the early colleges. They began to see a college degree as merely , " the chief means of achieving social and economic mobility." Herein lies the genesis of our jacked up priorities.

Some argue that during the Civil Rights movement too much attention was placed on integration, giving young African Americans the false impression that educational integration , in and of itself, was the key to social equality. So, instead of honoring our African traditions, they started to want to "be like white folks."

This is not to say that we have not had our shining moments when being black and intelligent was fashionable, as one can point to the Black Power era of the late 60's and early 70's and also the Black consciousness era of the late 80's early 90's, however, it must be noted in the same manner that pop culture turned black revolutionaries into pimps in the 70's, by the mid 90's it had transformed Afro-centric scholars into gangsta rappers.

This is the trend that continues today, as many students have embraced "street culture" as a form of rebellion, producing a generation of "rebels without a clue." In his essay, "The Black Child," Dr. Bobby Wright challenges the false idea held by many African Americans of the Hip Hop generation who believe "white s do not control the streets in the black Community nor the behavior of Blacks on those streets." According to Dr. Wright "whites have more control or at least as much control over those in the streets than over those in universities."

Though often misunderstood, the purpose of WEB DuBois' idea of a talented tenth was never to create a group of elitist, stuck up gangsta snobs, but a group of enlightened African Americans who have as their mission statement the upliftment of those who did not have the opportunity to obtain a higher level of education.

This is what is so disappointing about the attitude on so many college campuses; they have failed in their mission to uplift the downtrodden.

The best example of the problem is the strange relationship between HBCU's and Hip Hop. Every year thousands upon thousands of dollars are paid to Hip Hop artists who promote Black on Black violence, drug dealin' and are living caricatures of historical black negative stereotypes during Homecoming season. Last year, students on the campuses of Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University and North Carolina Agricultural and Technical University protested the use of student funds going towards funding the mental genocide (mentacide) of young black people. Unfortunately, a year later, we still see black universities bank rolling negative behavior.

While the focus of this article is historically black colleges and universities, in truth, it is just a symptom of a larger problem. Black folks in general have lost respect for knowledge, wisdom and understanding. Every school year in every city in America, we are bombarded with numerous stories about the achievement gap between black students and their peers, which gives our children the false impression that they are intellectually inferior to their white counterparts.

It must be noted that the problem of the "dumbing down" of African Americans cannot be just limited to the youth. We are living in a society where grown black folks have made shows such as "The House of Payne" and "Meet the Browns" the most successful in cable TV history, while programs that could enlighten black people struggle to find an audience.

In order to reverse this trend, it is time for those who know better to step up and HBCU's can play a vital role.

Students and administrators on college campuses must get their priorities straight. It is no secret that many HBCU's are located in the middle of the 'hood so it makes no sense to have that many smart black folks gathered in one place and yet have black folks struggling for survival right outside of their gates. HBCU's must not only develop the minds of black young people on campus but must develop ways to heal the 'hoods that surround them. Also, while many universities train their students to become economists and business leaders, why are black businesses in their cities struggling to make ends meet, especially black bookstores?

Lastly, HBCU's must make better use of student funds for hosting programs for not only the students but for the local black community. It is a shame that the same student government association that can find $20,000 dollars to bring Young Jeezy on campus for one night to rap about "Thug Motivation" cannot find the resources to bring in Afro-centric scholars, researchers and historians to campus to hold workshops to motivate the students to be strong black men and women.

So, black students, the choice is yours, are you going to take a stand or continue to watch your people being destroyed for lack of knowledge ?

As Dr. Carter G Woodson wrote in the "Mis Education of the Negro," " No people can go forward when the majority of those who know better have chosen to go backward."


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. For more information on the Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series on Race, Rap Religion and Revolution contact (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

D'Souza's Dumb New Catch Phrase

D'Souza's Dumb New Catch Phase

Paul Scott



Since the 2008, election. President Barack Obama has been called a whole lot of things; Socialist, illegal alien...you name it. However, this week, thanks to an article by Dinesh D'Souza, the right wing has been bestowed with a new catch phrase; "anti-colonialist."

In its September 27th issue, Forbes Magazine is running D'Souza's article, "How Obama Thinks" that alleges the policies of the Obama Administration are influenced by his father's anti-colonialist ideology.

In the article, D'Souza does get one thing right, most Americans don't know jack about anti-colonialism or anything else about Africa that did not come from an old Tarzan movie. This has allowed slicksters like D'Souza to spread their propaganda, unchallenged.

Perhaps more disturbing than the launch of a new smear campaign against Obama, which was immediately parroted by Newt Gingrich and Glenn Beck, is the misrepresentation of African anti-colonialism.

What D'Souza seeks to do is divorce the African struggle against European Imperialism from the struggle for civil rights in America. The attempts to unite the struggle of African people and Africans in America can be traced back to the forerunners of Pan African thought such as Martin Delaney and Marcus Garvey. Also, anyone with even a basic understanding of the works of Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and Malcolm X would know that the Civil Rights/Black Power Movement benefited from the anti-colonialism struggles in Africa and vice versa. Also, writers such as Walter Rodney and Basil Davidson have done outstanding work on European Imperialism.

But the Tea Baggers have never prided themselves as being the brightest light bulbs on the Christmas tree, have they? Just because one is able to name ever driver on the NASCAR circuit does not make him a Rhodes Scholar.

Trying to separate the African American struggle for equality from the African struggle against European Imperialism would be like trying to separate American Jews from the Holocaust.

But I suppose when ignorance is bliss, anything is possible.


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

TRUTH Minsta Paul Scotts Responds to Dinesh D'Souza's September 27 Forbes Magazine article "How Obama Thinks"

9/11 and the Pimpin' of Patriotism

9/11 and the Pimpin' of Patriotism

Paul Scott



Following World War I, an evil dictator by the name of Adolf Hitler was able to manipulate the citizens of Germany by constantly yelling "remember Versailles !" Nine years after the attack on the World Trade Center , right wingers are still trying to manipulate the citizens of America by yelling "remember 9/11 !"

Just as Hitler was able to enrage the Germans by blaming the Treaty of Versailles for their condition, the Conservatives have used the events of September 11 2001, to create a hatred and contempt among their crowd for anything that does not coincide with their collective vision of America.

Although, the attack on the World Trade Center was a horrible tragedy, what is equally tragic is the use of the event to promote a political agenda. It is shameful that over the last nine years the Republicans have pimped the memory of the victims of 9/11 like a cheap two dollar whore. They have constantly used the tragedy to promote fear and attack anyone who is "different," not only Muslims, but Latinos, African Americans and anyone else who does not kneel at the altar of Ronald Reagan.

What is especially disturbing is the way they use religious symbolism to promote intolerance, almost like the line from the Chris Rock movie, "Head of State, "God bless America and nobody else." The conversations in this country that are passing as religious dialogue are really discussions over political power. However, this is to be expected since the debate is being led by those whose religious ideology is solely based on the "Book of Beck."

In a theological sense, there is not much difference between the three major western religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as they all come from the same root. Writers from Sir Godfrey Higgins and Albert Churchward to Dr. Yosef ben Jochannan and John G. Jackson have published numerous works explaining this in detail. However, the political aspect of religion is another story and has sparked some of the more passionate disputes. Many of the debates have revolved around Christianity and Islam.

Although most people trace the battle between the cross and the crescent back to the Crusades, scholars have suggested that the Crusades were not based on proselytizing religious ideology but land acquisition and other secular motives.

According to historian Dr. John Henrik Clarke, the real reason behind the Crusades was to divert the attention of a European people who had become disillusioned with the Church and fed up with Feudalism to a search for a mythical holy grail.

Although, many people claim that Islam is a religion of war and Christianity a religion of peace according to "The Two Babylons" by Rev. Alexander Hislop, the cross (or the "X" symbol of Christ) with the inscription "conquer by this" was revealed in a vision by Constantine as he marched into battle against Maxentius.

In modern times, religious wars have gone high tech with the warmongers on Fox News and Clear Channel using their bully pulpits to preach a doctrine of racial hatred.

If you listen to the right wing spin, they celebrate the false idea that the tragedy of 9/11 was a unifying event that brought us all together as one big happy American family. Apparently, the irony of a slaughter of innocents being necessary to have a country live up to its democratic ideals escapes them.

The truth is that the aftermath of the World Trade attack brought us closer to Fascism than any time in recent history. Many of the non-Republicans who lined up behind the policies of George Bush did so out of fear of the Patriot Act and the potential retaliation of those under the hypnotic spell of blind patriotism more so than an overnight epiphany commanding them to tow the Republican Party line.

Even in the outspoken world of Hip Hop, which artist Chuck D once called " the black CNN", most rappers refused to report on the policies of the Bush Administration except for a few Hip Hoppers like Paris, KRS and Immortal Technique and to a lesser, yet, more commercial degree, the Black Eyed Peas.

Since the 2008 election, the right wing paranoia propaganda machine has shifted into overdrive, as one of their favorite strategies is to discredit President Barack Obama by calling him a closet Muslim in a Christian country; even though history teaches us that the "Founding Fathers," themselves, were Deists and many right wing preachers would consider the omission of some parts of the Thomas Jefferson Bible, heresy.

The most recent hot topic is the controversy surrounding the planned building of a mosque/cultural center close to Ground Zero. While there are many people who are genuinely hurt over the proposed mosque many of the right wing media talking heads are merely crying crocodile tears. The most meaningful dialogue should take place between those most affected by 9/11; the families of the victims and those who are planning the mosque. I am sure a meeting between those two parties would be more productive than right wing theatrics. Although CNN might cover such an event, Fox would probably preempt it with clips of Ted Nugent performing Cat Scratch Fever if the meeting proved to be too civil.

If we are to move forward as a nation, we can no longer believe the propaganda of the right wing but must encourage Americans to think beyond Tea Party talking points and make their own informed decisions based on facts not fear. We must see that ignorance is the real enemy.

In his last performance, comedian George Carlin talked about how it is in the best interest of the media moguls and those in power to discourage critical thinking. He said that the American Dream is so named because you have to be asleep to believe it.

It is time for the American people to wake up and decide if they want the Freedom or der Fuehrer.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. For information on the Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series on Race, Rap, Revolution and Religion contact (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Dissin' Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor Oxymoron

Classic example of an oxymoron Glenn Beck/Restoring Honor

March Madness: Glenn Beck and the Death of Civil Rights

March Madness: Glenn Beck and the Death of Civil Rights.

Paul Scott



The date is August 28th 2010, and Glenn Beck stands before a crowd of 100,000 fellow Conservatives holding the severed head of a Martin Luther King Jr statue like a victorious Roman gladiator. With Sarah Palin by his side, he, triumphantly, yells, "free at last; free at last," as the civil rights leaders can only weep from afar...

There is an old saying that if you love something, set it free and if it doesn't come back it was never yours to begin with; so it is with Glenn Beck and the Right Wing's, upcoming, "Restoring Honor Rally" which is scheduled to take place this Saturday in Washington DC, commemorating the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's "March on Washington."

Of course, some members of the civil rights generation are afraid that this is an attempt to kill their movement and are holding a counter rally called "Reclaim the Dream."

What must be noted is that for many African Americans who came into political consciousness during the Hip Hop Era, the Civil Rights Movement died a long time ago, as its end game strategy of cultural assimilation has proven to be unable to cure the societal ills facing the black community.

For nearly 50 years they have pushed a commercialized version of Dr. King's struggle for racial equality to this country. This is the version of black history that is easily co-opted by white America and of which Glenn Beck and others consider themselves the rightful heirs.

However, there is a non-commercial version of the African American experience that the Right Wing will not touch with a 10 foot pole. This is the ideology embraced by many younger African Americans that includes black empowerment , black self determination and an Afro-centric world view.

Can you imagine Sean Hannity holding one of his Freedom concerts at the site of the 1972 Wattstax Music Festival which commemorated the Watts Rebellion of 1965? Or do you really believe that Glenn Beck would hold an event on October 16 to commemorate the 1995, Minister Louis Farrakhan led, Million Man March/Day of Atonement and have a million white men gather to beg forgiveness for their crimes against non-white humanity?

Of course not. These events are pretty much off limits. However, the March on Washington is ripe for the pickin'.

Although, the conservative talking heads, constantly, refer to mainstream black leaders as "poverty pimps," who should not be in leadership positions, there is one major flaw in their criticisms. In some warped version of the Hegelian Dialectal Principle, they chose them. For the most part, the civil rights leaders have been ringers. (Or as we say in the 'hood marks.)

Now, you have to give it to the Tea Party people , when they roll out to a march they come to chew tobacco and kick butt and at this point they are all out of Red Man. As for the civil rights folks, they put so much emphasis on easing ,unfounded, white fears of a bloody revolution that everything else kinda gets lost in the translation.

"blah blah blah....NONVIOLENCE...blah blah blah"

This lack of aggression does not go over too well with a generation who grew up on rap videos and Grand Theft Auto video games.

Not to mention, the focus of the Civil Rights Movement on what writer Harold Cruse called "non-economic liberalism" is seen as outdated by members of a Hip Hop generation who consider black self -made millionaire entertainers as role models, some of whom got there start by selling cd's out of their car trunks.

Also, for a community that is suffering from black on black youth violence, an over emphasis on "little black boys holding hands with little white girls" is seen as treason.

As Hip Hop artist KRS once rapped "the civil rights leaders ain't seeing...they wanna be equal with the white...I wanna to be equal with the light...."

As we move toward the mid term elections and King's, prophetic, "difficult days ahead," America will see the rise of a new movement of younger, more Afro-centric thinkers, writers, activists and historians who believe the keys to solving our problems do not lie in the minds of white Americans but are buried deep within our African souls.

If more black folks knew the historical truth about Martin Luther King, instead of getting their underwear in a bundle over Beck's rally they would get quite a chuckle from the arrogant ignorance of the Right.

For most people, their knowledge of Dr. Martin Luther King ends, immediately, after his "I Have a Dream Speech"of 1963. However, the remaining years of his life found him, increasingly, sounding more like a black militant Marxist -Leninist than the Southern preacher of the Montgomery Bus Boycott fame.

Do the Right Wing champions of the white middle class realize that ,according to Kenneth O'Reilly in his book "Black Americans: The FBI Files," at the time of his death, King was planning a Washington Spring Project/Poor People's March which would have pressured the government to spend more money on the same social programs that are hated by Conservatives ?

Also, how can a bunch of folks who pride themselves as being the major advocates of big business embrace the ideology of a man who, the night before he was assassinated, delivered a speech not only calling for economic sanctions against Coca Cola and Wonder Bread but also asking African Americans in Memphis Tennessee to take their savings out of the white owned banks and put them in black ones?

Lastly, although the Tea Partiers constantly bash President Obama for hangin' with radical homeboys such as the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, according to Dr. Devin Fergus in his book, "Liberalism, Black Power and the Making of American Politics 1965-1980, the day of his assassination, King met with a gang called The Invaders, "a group patterned after the Black Panther Party" in order to "help the group secure funding for community programs."

If a bunch of intellectually, challenged yahoos whose resident genius is Sarah Palin can 'jack an event held so dear to the civil rights folks, more power to 'em.

Instead of "reclaiming the dream" we need to be reclaiming our history and cultural identity because ultimately, that is only the solution to our problems.

As Dr. King said "Yes, I'm black and proud of it! I'm black and beautiful !"

And that is something that Beck and company can never take away.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. For more information on the Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series on Race, Rap and Revolution contact (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Dr. Laura: The Right's New Martyr

Dr. Laura: Hard to Say I'm Sorry?

Paul Scott


Back in the 80's, the rock group, Chicago had a big hit with "Hard to Say I'm Sorry." I beg to differ. Just look at Dr.Laura Schlessinger.

The good Dr. was just on Larry King talking about how distraught she was after her show where she used the N Word and how she apologized before the "special interest groups" started calling for her head.

OK. Kinda like when I broke something as a child and decided that I would punish myself, instead of waitin' for mama to get the belt.

"Oh, mother dear. Truly I must be punished! Banish me to my room with no spinach tonight..."
So, Dr. Laura has decided that since her contract is up at the end of the year that she will no longer do radio but will do other things to regain her Freedom of Speech.

Is that Right wing speak for, "Sean Hannity just got a new co-host?"

How much do you wanna bet that come January 1st, she winds up on Fox.

Schlessinger should step down now! December is too long for her to get her just desserts.

If there is any justice in the universe, come tomorrow morning, when Schlessinger's audience tries to turn in to her show, they will find it replaced by the "Public Enemy Greatest Hits Hour."


However, the Right Wingers are the masters of making the best of a bad situation. Even when they lose they win.

Now that she has done the dirty deed, you can bet that the Tea Party and the rest of the Right Wingers will hook their homegirl up with a new gig.

Racists have a way of looking out for each other.

You can best believe that come tomorrow, Laura Sclessinger will be the Right's new martyr; the patron saint of racist radio hosts, everywhere.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Laura Schlessinger's Crazy Cure for Racism

Laura Schlessinger's Crazy Cure for Racism:
Do We Blame Dr. Laura or Dr. Dre?

Paul Scott



A broken, elderly black man limped into his doctor's office last Tuesday afternoon. His neck bore the scars of numerous lynching attempts and his back the welts of years of severe beatings. Reflected in his eyes was the pain of seeing his mother and sister raped and being powerless to do anything about it. As he described in vivid detail his many thoughts of committing suicide, the physician just sat emotionless in her chair. Finally, she scribbled on her prescription pad, "take two doses of the "N word" and call me in the morning. LOL..."

Last week, talk show host, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, came under fire for using the "N word" multiple times to help a caller get over her racial "hypersensitivity." While the purpose of the conversation was, supposedly, to give the caller life changing advice, in reality, Schlessinger was merely trying to help her predominately white audience get over their collective guilt of harboring white supremacist attitudes as she soothed them with the old standard, "Black Comedians use the N Word, Why Can't I" Therefore, if it's cool in Compton it must play well in Peoria.

Newsflash for Dr. Laura. Not all black men walk around grabbin' their crotches, showing their dirty drawers and dropping the "N bomb" like there's no tomorrow. I, personally, have never made a habit of using the word and have spoken out against its use on many occasions. Also, activists such as Gary, Indiana radio host, Kwabena Rasuliu have led multiple protests against those in the Hip Hop world who have used such ignorance as a marketing tool.

However, folks like "Sgt. Schlessiger" and her Right Wing Storm Troopers, continuously, use black entertainers as justification for their racist rants. The comedians to whom Schlessinger referred do not speak for me nor do they speak for most people of African descent. It is unfortunate that, while folks like Dr. Laura can name black comedians who use the word, they cannot name one Afro-centric historian who has put the word in a social or historical context and can explain how it became a term of black endearment.

So, herein, lies the major problem facing this country in terms of race relations: historical and cultural ignorance.

Although, the use of the "N word" pops up as a topic of discussion every few years, most people, black or white, do not know the historical origins of the word.

The word "nigger" is derived from the Portuguese adjective "negro" which was used by the early slave traders to describe their new found "property." So, when it crossed the Atlantic , "negro" was ,eventually, transformed into the word "nigger;" different spellings but for all intents and purposes, having the same meaning as they both infer that black people are less than human.

Black psychologists have suggested that the use of the word by African Americans is a subconscious response to white supremacy.

In his book, "Black on Black Violence: The Psycho-dynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in the Service of White Domination" the late psychologist Dr. Amos Wilson wrote, " through identification with the aggressor, the subject attempts to magically transform himself from the one being threatened to the one threatening; from powerlessness to powerful: from inferior to superior."

It must be noted that the degradation of black people for comedic purposes started with white black-face performer Thomas Rice's Jumpin' Jim Crow in 1830, predating early black comedians such as Moms Mabley and Redd Fox by more than a century. Not to mention that most black entertainers work for white owned companies.

While comedian Richard Pryor used the "N word" extensively in some of his early stand up routines, later in his career, following a trip to Africa, he publicly vowed to "never call a black man nigger again."

Perhaps, the group most influential in popularizing the word during the Hip Hop Era was NWA (Niggas With Attitude) of the late 80's and early '90's. However, the group was managed by Jerry Heller, a white man, who was also the co-owner of their record label, Ruthless Records. So, there have always been white business men who have supplied white Americans with an avenue to, vicariously, live out their racist fantasies through black entertainers.

While some may make the argument that it is only entertainment, the contradictions within this statement are many.

One example is that although Jewish comedians such as Jackie Mason and Adam Sandler, may make Jewish jokes, none of their stand up routines would ever be used by outsiders to make light of the Jewish Holocaust.

Also, attacks on the black community seem to be the only topics not off limit by the entertainment industry. Black entertainers from Professor Griff of Public Enemy to the late Michael Jackson had their careers negatively impacted by, allegedly, making anti-Semitic comments or songs. Ironically, Ice Cube, one of the founders of NWA was boycotted in the early 90's by the Korean community over a song he made in regards to the murder of 15 year old Latasha Harland, who was shot by a Korean grocer.

So, we see the real double standard at play.

If we are not careful, the controversy over Dr. Laura's statement will go the route of the infamous Don Imus incident as civil rights leaders and right wing media pundits will find a way to put the blame totally on rap music; blaming Dr. Dre instead of Dr. Laura.

In order to stop the Dr. Laura's of the world, this country must engage in a massive reeducation process. African Americans must learn all they can about their culture and pass the information on to future generations. Also, white Americans must be willing to hear the truth about the African American experience no matter how uncomfortable it might make them feel. This will not come from educators who fear backlash from school boards nor newspaper editors who are more concerned with offending their advertisers than serving the public good but will come from Afro-centric historians and scholars who are brave enough to speak truth to power without biting their tongues.

Unfortunately, this cure is too big a pill for most folks to swallow.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired .com. For more information about the Intelligence Over Ignorance lecture series on Race, Rap and Revolution contact (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Haters For Hire

Haters for Hire:
Understanding Racism for Ratings

Paul Scott


It all started when, while standing in the checkout line at Community Foods Supermarket, Mike White told a joke that he heard on the local right wing radio morning show. However, Rasheed Blackmon, who was in line behind him was not amused. The simple off-color joke led to a racial slug-fest, as customers throughout the store began clubbing each other with frozen pizzas and boxes of Twinkies.The radio station finally got what they had been pushing for; a race riot on aisle five of the local grocery store...

Since the last presidential election, there has been a growing interest in right wing shock jocks with new ones springing up like weeds everyday in markets across the country. Whether it be Clear Channel's Rush Radio affiliates or Fox News, the line between journalism and entertainment has been permanently blurred. What is passing for examples of intelligent racial discourse are merely cheap one-liners and the conservative equivalent of "yo' mama" jokes.

Racism for ratings has become the order of the day and stations are scrambling to hire their own stable of hired haters.

What is ironic is that I doubt very seriously that most of the pundits who spew the racist rhetoric actually feel that way when they are off the clock nor will they be able to defend their positions in public debates. They subscribe to the old saying, "I'm not a racist; I just play one on TV." For them the profits of racial rage are strictly business, nothing personal.

Unfortunately, if you follow the right wing rhetoric to its logical conclusion, eventually some one's gonna get hurt and it's not going to be one of the media moguls in an office building in downtown Manhattan nor one of the local haters-for-hire hidden away in a DJ booth in some undisclosed location, it's going to be one of your friends or neighbors. After the racial Apocalypse, the head honchos at corporate will just put the racial rebel rousers in their Clear Channel Radio Host Protection Program, change their identities and ship them off to some unsuspecting town in Idaho where they will start the same mayhem over again, while leaving their former city of employment in shambles.

While many will be quick to blame the messenger, it must be noted that as early as the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson warned that if America did not get its collective act together in terms of race relations, according to Bradford Chambers in his book "Chronicles of Black Protests," he foresaw a race war and the "extermination of the one or the other race."

You have folks on both sides of the political gulf that take what they hear on Fox News and conservative radio as the Gospel, a reflection of how the average white American feels about people of color. However, just as the Hip Hop videos on Black Entertainment Television do not reflect the lifestyle choices of all African Americans, neither does Fox News reflect the racial attitudes of all whites.

According to WEB Dubois in his book, "Black Reconstruction in America, " in 1860 only 7% of the total population of the South owned nearly three million of the 3,953,676 slaves. These were the members of the "planter class" who controlled the politics and economics of the southern states. Dubois wrote that the propagation of the doctrine of black inferiority was based on the interests of this planter class by which the majority of the population (poor whites) were manipulated. In modern society, the planter class would be the media moguls and their prophets of rage, while the poor whites would be the majority of their listeners.

One of the reasons why this trend continues is that most Americans have a very lackadaisical attitude when it comes to historical research. It is easier to listen to some bigot on the radio and just parrot right wing talking points than it is to engage in a critical analysis of the race problem. Plus, it's more entertaining to watch Glenn Beck go off one one of his tirades than it is to sit down and read a book. Let's face it, the Right's theater of the absurd sells out every night.

Also, we live in an area where the local newspapers would rather pretend that by ignoring racial issues they will eventually disappear. Racial issues will not make the morning paper until two days after blood is flowing waist high in the streets,evidence of the old adage "if it bleeds, it leads."

This is not without precedent, as back in 2004, Kentucky's Lexington Herald Leader admitted that the paper "neglected to cover the Civil Rights Movement." Maybe this is why paper's like Durham's Herald Sun have not really explored the race issue, instead, relegating discussions on race to community message boards, the journalistic equivalent of back alley discussions, instead of the actual newspaper.


Nationally, this has been a long hot summer in regards to the topic of race in America and with the upcoming mid-term elections, you can bet that the heat of the summer will bleed into the fall.

While the media gatekeepers are cashing in on the racial hatred, folks like you and I are just pawns in the game.


Min. Paul Scott is founder of the Messianic Afrikan Nation.  He can be reached at (919) 972-8305 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Confessions of Fox's Black Boogeyman

Confessions of Fox's Black Boogeyman

Paul Scott





As the spotlight beamed down on my face, I could hear the producer counting down. Ten seconds to Armageddon; my first encounter with Fox New's epitome of evil, Sean Hannity. As I sat there waiting for the big showdown, I asked myself,



"What's a militant, Afrocentric, radical dude, like me, doing in a place like this?"



It started off on a whim. I had watched Hannity and Colmes a few times and developed a strong dislike (OK, bitter hatred) for Sean Hannity before he even opened his mouth. (Something about that permanent smirk on his face makes me wanna slap him.) So, one morning in 2002, I called ABC radio and asked to speak with the producer of his talk show.



"Hold on," the receptionist said. "Too easy," I thought. "She must be new."



I was expecting to talk to an answering machine but, to my surprise, someone picked up the receiver!



Being a seasoned community activist, I new the drill. You get 10 good seconds to pitch a story idea before a snooty producer, who is up against a deadline, rudely cuts you off midstream and tells you to fax him your info at (212) 555 -"click..." So, before the producer guy could finish saying hello, I had already given him my entire bio.



"Good, no click, yet. Now for the story pitch..."



"I wanna tell Sean Hannity, that Jesus was black !"



After a second of awkward silence, the producer said that he liked the idea and would get back with me soon.



I told myself that I wouldn't hold my breath.



Two weeks later, the phone rang. It was a producer from the Hannity and Colmes tv show who had run across my info. She wanted me on the show that night.



"Let me check my schedule," I said, pausing to shadow box with the giant poster of Sean Hannity with scripto horns drawn on his head that hangs on my living room wall.



"Cool." Ready for prime time.



A few hours later, I was rollin' through the 'hood in an expensive town car with a white chauffeur, courtesy of Rupert Murdock on my way to some secret Fox News bat cave satellite studio.



As I got mic-ed up, the producer made small talk while he adjusted the audio.



"Say, someting in the microphone, please."



"Sure, Sean Hannity is a no good, son-of-a....."



"What?"



"Never mind..."



Then it was show time, just me, Sean, Alan Colmes and 10 million Conservatives who would soon learn hate my guts.



The show is pretty much the same every night. They do their classic good cop/bad cop routine. Alan Colmes asks you a few polite questions to butter you up and then ...BAM!!! Hear comes Hannity, the Hitman.



"You, know Pauuuul, he sneered in that arrogant, northern drawl that only a bigot could love, "it's racists like you...."



The show always goes pretty much according to script. Hannity hits you with a couple of patented conservative one liners. You make a quick rebuttal, then Colmes thanks you for coming on the show. The show generated so much controversy, Colmes wrote about it in his book "Red, White and Liberal."



I wasn't on Fox News again until January of 2006. I baited them with an email about "boycotting Black History Month because it was too white."

That morning, I got calls from most of Fox's shows, all wanting me to discuss the issue. At that point, I became Fox's big black boogeyman, appearing on the network 4 times that year.



It's no secret that Fox News has an agenda. They are there to ease white guilt and make Right Wing white folks feel that their bigotry and heightened sense of ethnic paranoia is justified. So, anytime some racist, Michael Richards/Don Imus type guy says something totally ignorant, they bring on a black "militant" so they can say...



"Look, ma..There are "black" racists, too !!!!



If they are not doing that, they are busy trying to play one black "leader" person against another.



I remember hearing a Fox producer quietly, sobbing in the background, when what he thought was going to be a knock down, drag out fight between an African American lady professor and myself over black history, turned out to be a respectful, enlightening conversation.



So, in 2006, any time there was an incident of white racism, anywhere on the planet. I could count on my cell phone ringing.



Now, I know that many of you are asking why, knowing the nature of Fox News, do people like myself even go on the network. After all, its kinda like walking around with a big "kick me" sign, on purpose.



To borrow from the controversial rapper Jadakiss, we do it because " we need air time."



Our hope is that between Cynical Sean's sneering and Wild Bill O'Reilly's "holier than though" finger pointing, maybe, just maybe, we can get one or two good punches in. Also, the appearances lead to other opportunities to clarify our positions that were distorted by the network. In my case, I would go on Alan Colmes' radio program, even interacting with callers, following the show which was a more principled discussion.



Sure, sometimes I felt like kicking myself for even doing the show. (I should have known it was a set up , when they sent a stretch limo with flashing party lights to pick me up for the last encounter.) But hey, they can't all be gems.



As an activist, I always ask myself if my seven and a half minutes of fame helped to raise the consciousness of the country. Did I put an issue before the public that would have otherwise gone unheard ?



Because at the end of the day, that's all that counts.



Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Wake County: Books Busing and Bigots

Wake County: Books, Busing and Bigots


Paul Scott




My first brush with racism occurred when I was five years old. I was playing with a little white girl at a beach in White Lake, NC when her grandmother motioned for her to get out of the water. "Sally" came back a few minutes later to inform me that she was not allowed to play with (insert "N word" here), as the old hag sat mean muggin' me under her beach umbrella. In retrospect, at least Granny was honest about her feelings, which is more than I can be say about the folks in Wake County.

There has been a big brouhaha brewing in Wake County over the last year. Seems like some folks (mostly white) are fighting for "community schools", while other folks (mostly black) are condemning it as an attempt at re-segregation. The conflict came to a boiling point last week when school board chairman, Ron Margiotta , made a statement about "animals let out of cages," allegedly referring to the anti-segregation protesters.

Of course, most of the good hearted Wake County citizens are saying that there is nothing racist about the anti-busing efforts, they are merely trying to protect the ecosystem by conserving gas. Also, even though Margiotta's statement is committed to the Youtube viral universe, what he really said was " the way those Tar Heels are playing is outrageous."

I'm not sure what ticks me off the most, the Wake County School Board's racial insensitivity or their attempts to insult my intelligence.

I'm sure that Margiotta and the rest of his homies on the school board know that "community schools" is the modern day PC translation of "no Blacks allowed."

Then again, I bet ol' Ron has never been dissed at the beach by an old lady while wearing swimming trunks decorated with dolphins and starfish.

Let's keep it real. For many of the community schools folks in Wake County, it's not really about Lil' Molly sitting next to Tyrone Jackson in homeroom but the idea of her bringing him home for cookies and milk; the age old fear of miscegenation. So, the whole argument is not really about education but the fear of contracting "colored cooties."

Desegregation of public schools has been a controversial issue in this country since the end of the Civil War.

According to Harold Cruse in his book, "Plural but Equal," during the 1880's there was an unsuccessful attempt to pass a bill by Senator Henry Blair that would have required the government to provide $77 million dollars to be spent "equally for the education of all children, without distinction of race or color, " making "separate but equal" a reality.

In 1954, the Supreme Court rendered its Brown vs the Board of Education decision that put in motion the process of integrating school systems across the United States.

It can be argued that if the Blair Bill would have passed, desegregation would not have even been necessary. However, during that period, some black folks believed that integration was some sort of magic elixir to cure all of the black community''s ills. As if, by some sort of telekinetic osmosis black kids would become smarter by simply being in the same classroom with white kids.

It must be noted that not all African Americans have favored integration. According to Dr. Noliwe Rooks in her book, "White Money, Black Power," in 1968, African Americans in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville section of Brooklyn attempted their own version of community control of schools courtesy of a $59,000 grant from the Ford foundation.

Also, black leaders such as Haki Madhubuti have long championed the cause of the creation of independent black educational institutions.

All of these efforts have one thing in common; better educational opportunities for black children.

It must be understood that even within an integrated school system, there still can be educational segregation in the classroom. As the late black psychologist, Dr. Bobby Wright wrote in his essay, "The Black Child: A Destination in Jeopardy," "even sitting in the same classroom, white children will be 'educated' and black children will be 'trained.' "

Many in the black community would have no problem with community schools if it meant that they would be funded, equally. Unfortunately, there is a well founded concern that the lion's share of the resources would go to the more affluent, predominately white schools.

As the controversy rages on, we must be careful not to give black children the false impression that the ultimate goal of desegregation is to earn the love and respect of the white parents of Wake County. It is about securing the necessary resources to insure that they obtain a first class education so they won't be treated as second class citizens; nothing more, nothing less.

Our ultimate goal must be to teach black children how to love and respect themselves and to instill in them the self confidence to know that their self worth does not have to be validated by white America.

No child should feel the way I did on that hot summer day back in 1972.

A boy and his beach ball, standing in the middle of a lake wondering what was wrong with him.


Courtesy of No Warning Shots Fired.com. For more information contact (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com
"No Warning Shots Fired.com, bringing you the issues that the mainstream media are afraid to touch."

Glenn "X" Beck

Glenn "X" Beck:
How the Right Revitalized Black Nationalism

Paul Scott



Someday, a museum will be built in Washington DC to honor those who participated in the Black Power Movement. Of course, there will be a picture of Marcus Garvey and a bust of Malcolm X but holding center stage will be a giant statue of the person most responsible for the propagation of Black Nationalism in the 21st century, Glenn "X" Beck.

The media attention that Glenn Beck and the rest of the Right Wingers at Fox News have given Black Power advocates in recent weeks has done more to spread the tenets of Black Nationalism than any time in recent history.

Until recently, the image of black male machismo was limited to gangsta rappers who had run-ins with the law and athletes who signed multi million dollar contracts. However, last week's extensive coverage of New Black Panther Party chairman, Malik Zulu Shabazz, even eclipsed the camera time of basketball superstar, LeBron James. This has sparked a renewed interest in Black Nationalism.

There have always been two competing ideologies facing Africans in America; Integration-ism (Civil Rights Movement) and Black Nationalism, the former receiving the lion's share of attention from the media and in history books.

The roots of the rivalry between Black Nationalists and Civil Rights leaders can be traced back to the abolitionist movement of the 19th century involving Martin Delany and abolitionists such as Fredrick Douglas. According to Lerone Bennet in his book "Before the Mayflower," Douglas once said "I thank God for making me a man ,simply, but Delaney always thanks Him for making him a Black man." Delany also coined the phrase "Africa for the Africans" which was later adopted by Marcus Garvey,

In 1918, Garvey established his UNIA and ACL (Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League) in America. Also during this period, WEB Dubois and his friends in the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) opposed Garvey's Pan-African-ism. According to Dr. Tony Martin in his book, "Race First" Dubois once wrote in regards to Garvey, "he is either a lunatic or a traitor." This prompted Garvey to reply in third person, " Garvey has no such speculation about Dubois. He is positive that he is a traitor."

Perhaps, the two most popular icons of the dual ideologies were Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X. Their legacies have long divided the black community with one group siding with King's "beloved community" and the other subscribing to Malcolm X's ministry of separatism. This debate continues in the black community today.

Media pundants have always found themselves in precarious positions when covering Black Nationalists. Although, Mike Wallace's 1959 expose' on the Nation of Islam, "The Hate that Hate Produced" was intended to warn mainstream America about it's so-called "gospel of hate," it resulted in making Malcolm X a household name. Fifty years later, during the 2008 election, Fox News used Rev. Jeremiah Wright as the epitome of "black racism" even though most Americans outside of the black church and Chicago had barely heard of him.

So we see the Fox Network taking a calculated risk with the attack on Howard educated attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz; demonizing him but at the same time destroying the myth that Black Nationalists are a bunch of illiterate, uneducated street thugs.

It must be noted that it has never been the "militancy" of the Black Nationalist movement that has frightened the white staus quo but the Black Consciousness/Afrocentric Movement that it spawned.

Let's be real. There are still some historical facts that white folks in power don't want the masses of black people to know. So the idea that "militants" such as Wright and Shabazz may be sending out subliminal messages that are inaudible to the non-melanated ear that will make black folks turn off Tyler Perry's "House of Payne" and pick up black history books may have some merit. Contrary to popular belief, just because Bill O'Reilly and others may have learned to decipher Hip Hop lyrics does not mean that they have a total understanding of the Black experience. At most, the Right Wing knowledge of Afrocentricity is limited to talking points that come courtesy of the great Conservative "group think" which are repeated, ad nauseam.

So, the fear that giving Black Nationalists air time may infect moderate Civil Rights leaders with a severe case of radicalism and also produce a new generation of converts preaching a doctrine of black empowerment, may be realized in the very near future. Just because Black Nationalism is not a hit at lily white country clubs does not mean that it is not resonating well in barbershops in the 'hood.

Matter of fact, we can see the results already.

Recently, the otherwise mild mannered head of the NAACP, Ben Jealous sounded as if someone had spiked his latte with Red Bull during his recent convention speech when he called some members of the Tea Party racists.

Even in Hip Hop, Pittsburgh rapper Jasiri X is quickly becoming a viral Internet sensation with his YouTube Hip Hop version of Tim Wise's article, "What if the Tea Party was Black."

Also, there are movements forming such as the Militant Mind Militia that are arming the Black community with Afro-centric information to fight against the right wing racist propaganda.

So, although Glenn Beck has recently began promoting himself and the Right Wing as the rightful heirs of Martin Luther King's dream, in reality, he has more in common with Malcolm X in spreading the message of Black Nationalism. Who knows. maybe even black Republicans will get the message.

Don't be surprised if you turn on the TV one night and see Republican Party chairman, Michael Steele, sporting an Afro and dashiki, singing, "Say it loud. I'm Black and I'm proud!"

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

What if the Tea Partiers Were...Rappers?

What if the Tea Partiers Were...Rappers

Paul Scott




A few months ago, Tim Wise wrote a widely circulated article called, "Imagine if the Tea Party Was Black " which challenged America to take a close look at the hypocrisy of the Right Wing. Now, a Pittsburgh rapper is accepting his challenge in true Hip Hop form.

Jasiri X has released a video called "What if the Tea Party was Black." The Hip Hop artist says that he got the idea when Paradise,a member of the pro-black rap group X-Clan, forwarded him a copy of Wise's article.

"I saw the article and I liked the concept," says the rapper.

So Jasiri hit the studio with producer Cynik Lethal while Paradise grabbed his video camera and they went on their mission to defeat the Right Wing propaganda machine.

"For them it's all about power, perception and how they control the media," says the rapper. "We need to tell our story in the same way."

While some will consider his new video inflammatory, according to X, what he is doing through Hip Hop is not much different than what the pundits on Fox News do every night.

"Glenn Beck is rapping," says X. "He's just not rapping with a beat."

If you listen to the Tea Party apologists there is, absolutely, nothing (and I mean nothing) even remotely racist about the Tea Party ideology. Why, they're just the modern day version of the Dukes of Hazard, " just some good ole boys, never meaning no harm..."

Not so says the X-Man.

"I'm not an idiot, he says. "We see the signs at the rallies."

Like many black folks , Jasiri X feels that the major reason for the current climate of hate in this country is because there are those who just can't stand the idea of a black man in the White House.

"Why hasn't any other president's patriotism been questioned," he asks.

Also, Jasiri is not too thrilled about Glenn Beck's plan to hold a rally next month on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington.

"Martin Luther King gave his life to produce an environment of peace, tolerance, understanding and unity, says X. " Glenn Beck's hateful rants are the exact opposite, causing hatred and outright racism. He should be ashamed of himself. "

What seems to tic the rapper off the most is the double standard between the way the activism of the Right Wing is perceived as opposed to the activism of African Americans.

"It's about power; I can make these declarations but you can't," says X.

Although Hip Hop was once called "the CNN of Black America," by political rapper, Chuck D, the silence surrounding the Tea Party and Right Wing racism has been deafening. So, why is a Hip Hop community that was so vocal during the last presidential election now afraid to tangle with the Tea Party ?

"You have a community that was so vocal for Obama...now that he is under attack, where are they, "asks X?

Immediately after the announcement of Barack Obama's election win, radio stations began to immediately adopt Jay Z's , "History" as Hip Hop's official victory song and Young Jeezy's, "My President," was played in heavy rotation. However, unlike the Hip Hop of old, rappers today seem afraid to speak truth to power.

"Who's gonna stand up, Drake, asks X ? " They are marketing him as the most the most uncontroversial rapper of all time!"

Not only have the commercially successful rappers been hesitant to address political issues, most have been silent on issues such as police brutality, including the recent controversy surrounding the "involuntary murder" conviction of Johannes Mehserle, the California police officer who shot and killed Oscar Grant. Jasiri X is not one of the silent majority.

"There is nothing 'involuntary' about a trained officer pulling out his gun and shooting an unarmed, defenseless man point blank in the back, "says X.

Although the Right Wing media moguls seem to have unlimited resources at their disposal, the Hip Hop activist says that social media can level the playing field. That is why he created "This Week With Jasiri X" on Youtube.com, where he does a Hip Hop version of the nightly news.

"Less people are getting their news from TV and are getting their news from alternative sources," says X.

"We are the vanguard of a new movement."



To contact Jasiri X call 412-404-2347 or jasirix@gmail.com






Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 inf0@nowarngshotsfire.com

Who Me..Racist?

Tonight, the NAACP passed a resolution against the Tea Party 's racism. Of course, the Tea Baggers ,vehemently, denied the accusation.

"Me a racist...forgetaboutit. I brought the first pair of Air Jordan sneakers when they came out and that first MC Hammer album was off the hook!"

As usual when it comes to the issue of race in America, we don't get the right answers because we don't ask the right questions.

Before you call out people for being racists, first you should ask them if racism still exists. Because if they say that racism ended when Lincoln gave his Emancipation Proclamation, or when Martin Luther King told America about his dream. Or when Hallie Berry won an Oscar for Monsters Ball... Then, of course the Tea Party can't be racists because racism no longer exists.

This country refuses to admit that black folks and white folks have different definitions of racism.

For black folks racism means white folks that deprive them from total equality, whether blatant or subtle. For white folks racism means wearing a white sheet in public and carrying around a Nazi swastika rubber stamp in one's pocket. So, unless you get caught with a can of gasoline and two pieces of ply wood in the form of a cross, then you are not racist...

Maybe, the NAACP should have used the word "white supremacist" instead of racist as one of the benefits of being a white supremacist is the power to define "racism."

So, the Tea Partier motto is "We ain't racist cause we say we ain't!. Now, get in the kitchen and fix me a fried chicken sandwich with a hunk of watermelon, boy!"

I'm not quote clear on what the resolution by the NAACP is supposed to accomplish. After all, they have never been known as the most militant group of people. Maybe if the New Black Panther Party passed a resolution at their convention...but the National Association for the Advancement of "Colored" People?

The Tea Baggers probably take the NAACP as seriously as Barney Fife guarding the mean streets of Mayberry with his bullet-less gun..

In North Carolina the resident racist Right Wing radio station, WRDU has made dissin' the state NAACP its raison d'etre and I have yet to see one bullhorn or protest sign in front of the station...

Now that the NAACP has passed the resolution, the obvious question is, "now what?" Are they going to sing "We Shall Over Come" or are they going to pump up the volume and rap "Fight the Power."


Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com. He can be reached at (919) 451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com

Do Black Men Make You Nervous?

Do Black Men Make You Nervous?

Just caught a clip on Fox News of these dudes with their panties all in a bunch over the charges being dropped against the Philadelphia chapter of the New Black Panther Party for alleged voter intimidation during the last election.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/elections/2009/05/29/charges-black-panthers-dropped-obama/

Of course, Fox, with their over-the-top antics tried to link the Obama administration by saying that they allowed the New Black Panther Party endorsement to be posted on the Obama website, last election. What the haters conveniently left out is that "anyone" , even The Our Gang He-Man Woman Haters Club could have posted an endorsement on the site.

But why confuse the ultra intelligent, non biased Fox viewers with facts.According to news reports, two members of the New Black Panther Party were accused of standing at a Philly polling place in black military gear and one dude had a night stick.

To hear the Right wing media tell it , 100 black gangsta thugs with bullet proof vests, AK 47's and missile launchers stormed the polling place and then went on a drunken 40oz malt liquor binge across the city, raping and pillaging innocent town folks.

I am quite sure if there were any laws being broken, Philly's Finest would have been all on them like stink on a skunk

.I wonder why the New Black Panthers thought it was necessary to provide security at the polling place anyway?

Oh yeah, it might have had something to do with those yahoos that were threatening Obama at those Mccain/Palin campaign rallies

.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/06/mccain-does-nothing-as-cr_n_132366.html

One of the talking heads went on to moan about how "dangerous" the group is. Funny, I've never heard of the New Black Panther Party ever doing as much as shooting a spit ball through a straw at anyone.

But I guess one man's standing on a street corner is another man''s "intimidation."And here in lies the rub....

Let's face it. Black men intimidate some white people even on their best days. I can be dressed to kill (excuse the pun) in a new suit and a shiny pair of Stacy Adams and I will still hear the electric car lock concerto as a walk through the parking lot at the grocery store.

Then again, I do live in a city where any black man not wearing a pink Polo shirt and polka dot golf shorts is considered a Blood or Crip.Also, there is the little constitutional matter of Freedom of Speech and the Right of Assembly.

Maybe in their infinite wisdom, members of the Justice Department didn't want to take a joy ride down that slippery slope.

Oh well, next time I go vote remind me to show up in my underwear waving a white flag singing "Everything is Beautiful" so there will be no misunderstanding.

Paul Scott writes for No Warning Shots Fired.com He can be reached at (919)451-8283 or info@nowarningshotsfired.com (Originally written 5/09)

WPTF Debate Over 4th of July

TRUTH Minista Paul Scott on WPTF discussing his article "Fallacy of the Fourth: Should Black Folks Celebrate?"

http://billlumaye.blogspot.com/2010/07/paul-scott-puts-buzzkill-on-4th.html

The Fallacy of the Fourth

The Fallacy of the Fourth:
Should Black Folks Celebrate?

Min. Paul Scott





On July 5th 1852, the great orator and abolitionist, Frederick Douglas delivered an electrifying speech where he posed what was possibly the most significant question of his time; "What to the slave is the Fourth of July?" He received a thunderous round of applause.

A hundred and twenty some odd years later, July 4th 1976, as a nine year old junior militant, I stood defiantly on a picnic table, raised my sand shovel and posed a similar question. Why do black people celebrate Independence Day,anyway?"

The response I received?

"Shut up and eat your hot dog!"

The issue of whether African Americans should celebrate the 4th of July is one of those eternal questions that is often asked this time of year but never receives a valid answer. Why do black folks feel obligated to dress up in red, white and blue top hats and sing the Star Spangled Banner to commemorate a day when our ancestors were picking tobacco in the hot Carolina sun?

Historians trace the genesis of the problem back to slavery times when the enslaved Africans were not required to work on some holidays. So as one writer put it, even in 2010, for black folks, psychologically, we reenact Emancipation Day every weekend and holiday. However, we must never confuse a day off work with historical accuracy.

This may come as a shock for some but black folks weren't free in 1776. Matter of fact, it wasn't until four score and five years later that Abe Lincoln delivered the Emancipation Proclamation.

Also, it must be noted that black folks gained nothing from the America's victory over the British. Lerone Bennet writes in his book "Before the Mayflower" that a Lord Dunmore, former governor of colonial Virginia, issued a proclamation on November 5, 1775 promising freedom to all male slaves willing to fight for England. This was 86 years before Lincoln "freed" the slaves in states that were rebelling against the Union.

Not to mention that Britain abolished slavery in 1833 and it was not until 30 years later that slavery was abolished in America.

While some may argue that Independence Day is not about slavery but the higher ideals of Freedom, Justice and the Pursuit of Happiness that is another lie that has been repeated so much that people accept it as religious dogma.

In Eric Williams' book "Capitalism and Slavery" he states very clearly that the Revolutionary War was based on economics; American sovereignty versus British imperialism. According to Williams, the main source of the conflict was the control of the West Indian sugar and molasses trade. Dr. Ishakamusa Barashango in his work "Afrikan People and European Holidays: A Mental Genocide Vol II" writes that the American colonists needed the molasses to make rum that was used to exchange for slaves on the West African coast.

So, why in 2010, will even the most educated African Americans so vehemently defend their compulsions to celebrate a false holiday?

Part of the problem is the belief that in order to "make it" in American society, we have to "go along to get along." Unfortunately, many of us do not have the courage exhibited by the children in the Emperor's New Clothes fable to tell his royal highness that not only was he butt naked but a slave owner as well, figuratively speaking.

So every year, they put on writer Paul Lawrence Dunbar's "mask that grins and lies" and sit down at 4th of July picnic tables, gobbling down as many hot dogs as they can stomach.

What WEB DuBois referred to as a "double consciousness" having to be both African and American, psychologists would call schizophrenic behavior.

Historically, when we wanted to be part of the American Dream they wouldn't let us but when we rejected white America's ideology they called us "divisive" and "reverse racists." So the implied threat behind bumper stickers that read "America: Love it or Leave it" is enough to beat most black folks into psychological submission.

What is also disturbing is the hypocrisy that Independence Day revelers exhibit when addressing the Hip Hop generation.

I find it ironic that the same black folks who will berate the youth for their justification of using the dreaded "N" word by saying that they are "redefining the meaning to stand for something positive" have no problem redefining history so they can justify setting off firecrackers.

Also, although members of the older generation will criticize rappers for coming up with outlandish "hood tales" just to sell cds, they will rewrite history to give black folks Independence when they were still picking cotton.

The saddest part of the whole ordeal is the message that we are sending young black children when we encourage them to celebrate Independence Day. Instead of teaching our children to think critically, we are forcing them to accept a blatantly false version of history without examining the facts. How can we teach them to value education when the foundation of the United State's educational system is based on a 200 year old lie that had a holiday formed around it. To teach young black children to celebrate Independence Day is intellectually, criminal.

So, go ahead white America, enjoy your day in the sun. But as a descendant of enslaved Africans, I close with the immortal words that the Frederick Douglas:

"This Fourth of July is yours, not mine. You may rejoice, I must mourn."

Min. Paul Scott is founder of the Messianic Afrikan Nation.