Tag Archives: Barack Obama

Marxism? Socialism? What ism are you?

03/11/2025 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

beaseedforchangestickersGREEN just another rant …

So, is anyone else finding it almost amusing to see how easy folks seem to throw out labels to describe the actions, comments, and stances of candidates of the Democratic Party in a time when this government is seemingly in a kleptocracy moment while living within a kakistocracy with a wannabe autocratic tendencies…

trump, is NOT popular and lost that vote by approximately 3Million. The plan to change America was set a while back, and it appears or seems Mcconnell and the other republicans like paul ryan were waiting for their chance …. and if you remember ryan’s comments, he said something about how he has been waiting for a “Unified republican government”. Thing is, no one really wanted that acting gig until the birther grabbed us by the …bleep and while setting all our government agencies on fire, the rule of law, regular order, and norms being replaced with dic-tator wannabe behavior. NOW, we need to trust the Democratic Party because our morality seems at risk each day in the hands of republicans! This makes you think back to at least POTUS41 … Not too long because you’ll get sick, but then reality steps in as POC continue to be targeted, police seem triggered more than ever and the problem of a certain group of males continues to gain access to guns hurting others and in most cases, themselves and that is a shame. We have more kids, babies, Seniors, POC massacred at malls, kids in school lockdown,but nowhere to hide, and never ever forget all the babies who have died. There are lockdown drills, some states have given teachers guns yet, and another mass shooting occurs, but nothing changes. There was a case of a teacher threatening to shoot her students after having just had training… It makes you wonder what could go wrong and sadly more unarmed black men and women are dying or are dead!

We have had so much Chaos and btw; the whole thoughts and prayers, thing, is NOT enough anymore.

The idea that an activist is actually run over, and some states decide to pass red flag laws but can’t improve background checks, is amazingly offensive. We should all know that even folks belonging to the NRA think better background checks are reasonable, but the gun industry is very strong and so when its fav pr organization says to jump many rs and most do jump … though in this era of trump many instances of violence have erupted, it also will be a timeline few will want to remember in the new year of 2021

We have to remember the bush timeline, aside from the obvious, is sad; the guy acted impetuously then drove our economy into a ditch literally while Wall Street’s “creative accounting procedures” finally came to an ugly head. There was once an epic documentary called House of cards by David Faber on CNBC. It was a cruel reminder and or an awakening at how greed affects the mind; it was a truthful documentation of the nasty journey our economy took … for whom, by whom, and how it (they) brought all of us down with them knowing the Government would pay for it all along …

Unfortunately, the current trump unreality show doesn’t look at all like the one we watched shortly after our financial system collapsed because this is a moment in time when the question below isn’t so far-fetched… or worse a dystopian society?

Are You having an existential crisis?

The existential crisis is something many people may face at one point or another in their lives when the world seems to become less meaningful and purposeful. People may question the inner logic of social systems, of their religion, of everything they have once held true, and they do so while becoming much more conscious of the brevity of life.

What is an existential issue?

Quite simply, these are issues that have to do with the plight of human existence, with the meaning of life, and what meaning, if any, our lives have.

trump has definitely set off a cause and effect with certain behaviors of human nature

… is anyone else questioning their inner selves? Hoping trump supporters are; of what it means to affirm one’s own individual personal choices and the consequences for such choices …and yes in this current hostile environment living an authentic life is important but at risk

If we have to subscribe to labels … idk call me a Marxist who believes in Socialism at this time. lol

I also believe in capitalism, but only with a lowercase c … We need someone who cares, who is socially responsible, and who believes the gap between the haves and none needs to shrink; school me …what can be wrong with caring for all the people of the US … not just the one percent… especially since that one percent has been wheeling and dealing; and that attitude about prosperity trickling down to Main street is still bs .

Obama was not a socialist or a Marxist … he was a centrist, a person whose political opinions may not be extreme: a person whose beliefs fall between those of liberals and conservatives … The question is, what do trump supporters call him now?

Nativegrl77

Black History, ~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

African Americans in Full Color – in memory of Black History – a repost

02/23/2025 Nativegrl77 1 Comment

Lonnie Bunch, museum director, historian, lecturer, and author, is proud to present A Page from Our American Story, a regular on-line series for Museum supporters. It will showcase individuals and events in the African American experience, placing these stories in the context of a larger story — our American story.A Page From Our American Story

In the first half of the twentieth century, Americans became fascinated with photo journalism. Pictures were literally “worth a thousand words” as full-color magazines and tabloid newspapers became the rage.

Publications targeted to African American audiences that featured illustrations and photographs began appearing in the early 1900s. One of the earliest to effectively use illustrations and photography was The Crisis, the official publication of the NAACP. Seeking to educate and inform its readers with scholarly articles, the covers of the journal and its entertainment section were designed to appeal to the masses of African Americans.

In the 1930s, we see pictorial magazines such as Abbott’s Monthly, published by Robert Sengstacke Abbott, the founder of the Chicago Defender newspaper, and Flash, which billed itself as a “weekly newspicture magazine.” Published in Washington, D.C., Flash contained a mixture of news, gossip and advertisements and articles on racial issues, providing an overview of the highs and the lows of Black life in the 1930’s.

In 1942, African American businessman John H. Johnson founded the Johnson Publishing Company, a corporation that would go on to publish the well-known magazines Ebony, Jet, Tan, and Ebony Jr. The magazines promoted African American achievements and affirmative black imagery in popular culture, which appealed to readers … and to advertisers. Mr. Johnson was a savvy businessman and used the statistics of a rising black middle class to persuade companies and businesses that it was in their economic “self-interest” to advertise in his magazines to reach African American consumers.

With the success of the Johnson Publishing Company’s magazines, other magazines targeted to African Americans quickly came on the scene. For example, in 1947 Horace J. Blackwell published Negro Achievements, a magazine highlighting African American success articles and featuring reader-submitted true confessions stories. After Blackwell died in 1949, a white businessman named George Levitan bought the company and renamed the publication Sepia. This publication featured columns by writer John Howard Griffin, a white man who darkened his skin and wrote about his treatment in the segregated South, that eventually became the best-selling book Black Like Me.

Whether featuring positive images of African Americans, inspiration stories, news features or commentaries on racism, the rise of African American magazines defied long-held racial stereotypes through rich storytelling, in-depth reporting, and stunning photography.

Due to a variety of economic, editorial, and other factors, most of these magazines have ceased being published. Yet today some African American magazines are still a thriving part of popular culture. Johnson Publishing Company’s Ebony and its digital sites reach nearly 72% of African Americans and have a following of over 20.4 million people.

All the best,

Lonnie Bunch
Director

P.S. We can only reach our $250 million goal with your help. I hope you will consider making a donation or becoming a Charter Member today.

To read past Our American Stories, visit our archives.

~ Culture & History

70th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation

01/27/2025 Nativegrl77

A Holocaust survivor stands outside a detention block of the Auschwitz Nazi death camp in Oswiecim, Poland, Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015.

Some 300 Holocaust survivors traveled to Auschwitz for the 70th anniversary of the death camp’s liberation by the Soviet Red Army in 1945, down from 1,500 who attended the event 10 years ago.(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

~ Culture & History, ~ my 2cents ...

time to make the dream come alive …

01/21/2025 Nativegrl77

Born on 1/15/1929 ….

Inspired by the philosophy of non-violent protest, Martin Luther King Jr. led the American Civil Rights Movement and played a key role in the struggle for racial and economic equality. –
biography.com

Martin Luther King Jr.

“People are dying for the right to speak freely, for a better life, human rights in all its forms”

No one speaks to life’s struggles better than

– MLK jr.

“Human Progress is neither automatic nor inevitable even a superficial look at history reveals that no social advance rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals without persistent effort, time itself becomes an ally of the insurgent and primitive forces of irrational emotionalism and social destruction.

“This is no time for apathy or complacency … This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”

– MLK Jr.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

In Memory: a personal story … Berlin Wall 25yrs ago 11/9

11/09/2024 Nativegrl77

… The fall of the Berlin Wall

Posted by Nils Frahm, composer

Posted: 08 Nov 2014 11:47 PM PST

I was seven years old when thousands of East German signature cars arrived in my hometown of Hamburg and filled the air with odd-smelling blue smoke. I saw strangers hugging each other, tears in their eyes, their voices tired from singing. I was too young to understand it all, but I had a very strong sense that life was different now–and that different was better.A quarter-century later, it is our obligation to tell this story to all those who couldn’t be there, who could not feel the spark of the peaceful revolution and, more importantly, who are fortunate enough not to know the feeling of an incarcerated, divided existence, trapped behind concrete walls. It is a story that demands to be told today, and for generations to come.

I’m excited to have been part of making this doodle commemorating such a pivotal moment in history — to learn more about the making-of, check out the doodle team’s post here. We should all take the time to celebrate 25 years of unity.

Posted by Nils Frahm, composer