11 Comments

1. 

   Kathleen Cross on October 28, 2012 at 4:46 am

   Comments that are vulgar or in any way disrespectful will not be posted.

2. 

   Carson on October 28, 2012 at 11:17 am

   I just want to say thank you for your comments on the show. Much of what is hurting us is US. Our kids are in big trouble if we don’t have these discussions with them. I look forward to reading your books.

3. 

   De Aavo on October 28, 2012 at 12:28 pm

   Hi Kathleen,

   Great show! Too short!

   Evolution. Growth. Quantum change. The names are many. Individually and collectively, we are only able to lend and borrow to and from events, directly and indirectly using our individual and collective yardstick of recognition, understanding, and acceptance—which are constantly changing.

   With that said, a few of us are able to distinguish with any clarity what love is; why we feel we must follow in order to be liked and not to lead. Why we are angry about an opposing political viewpoint, or why wars are fought over religious differences. In fact, many of us don’t know that there are members of the Flat Earth Society: those who still believe that the Earth is flat.

   My theory is as follows: we labeled ourselves black as the result of a defensive, knee-jerk reaction, asserting independence, power, and our identity: our certainty of purpose and our certainty to purpose; these certainties in essence represent the sum of seven realities:
   1. We are conceived earthly and physically Lawful
   2. We are human
   3. We are each unique
   4. We were born free in a race—many of our ancestors taken from Africa
   5. We are not nigger—not less than any other person, white or….
   6. We survived the Middle Passage, and slavery, to begin living free
   7. We are not white

   Please do not misunderstand my meaning. I am agreeing that labeling ourselves back is part of our history. However, my point is the following: if we had to claim black over Negro and Colored, which to some around the world excludes all other shades of black – that was then. So, when do we stop claiming our right to defend our primitive reactions to slavery?

   This unconscious shaping of a race permanently affect by quantum chains, into the color black should be examined. When are we going to begin talking beyond the reaction of the color black, asserting that there is pride, and certainty of greatness in every shade around the world?

   I don’t want to be black, to prove that I am worthy of this life in this shade. I am worthy of this life, in spite of my shade – in spite of my color.

   Perhaps within this era: our certainty of transcendental hope to tangible achievement: a US president of mixed race. We should consider doing as The Artiste Formally Known as Prince did when he became aware that he was aware, and no longer wanted to be considered owned: introduce a symbol of freedom.

   I reason with this hypothesis that we should let the world know that we are of greatness achieved against standards set by which we should have failed. Not just American greatness, but Haitian greatness; Australian greatness: the Aborigines; and Latins greatness—throughout Central and South America; and Caribbean greatness, etc.

   We should consider a global vote to reclaim every shade in this collective struggle beyond black, or it’s unclear definition, its stigma of oppression and none human claim. Perhaps our collective permanence of constant-daily-efforts beyond the color black, should be represented by our collective recognition: understanding, and acceptance of a higher standard set as an action to undo that reaction—black. And yes, this call should be made to include all shades of us around the entire world: “One Love” One Race since Slavery, by which we the people of these shades—Of That Color Formally Know as Black, we are…. Our symbol should represent iteration of innate freedom—greater than spirit, it is knowledge reclaimed.

   It wears my efforts for collective growth thin to redundantly utter around pillars supporting errors made when we recognized, understood, and accepted what we did not want to be, back then. And now, we live as if we do not know what we are in this now of earned, irrevocable, quantum intellectual and political change.

   • 

     Kathleen Cross on October 28, 2012 at 12:38 pm

     There is a part two that is missing. Searching the web for it, but have yet to locate it.

     As long as we all exist within the context of a supremacist construct that places light at the top of a “value hierarchy,” there will be a required response to that construct. The response from darker-skinned humans is to proclaim beauty and value in distance from that “ideal” white supremacy insists is preferable.

     I agree with you that all humans are members of one beautiful family, but until that truth is realized in our human interACTIONS, our children remain at risk of striving towards WHITENESS instead of striving toward divinely perfect human beauty and truth.

4. 

   De Aavo on October 28, 2012 at 12:53 pm

   Kathleen,

   This is why I insist that the conversation should desist from being redundant reaction to what we have already suffered. We should begin by asserting a reclaim of what we recognized, understood, and accept as regained knowledge beyond the struggle for identity. That is how we can begin to ensure that our children stop reacting.

   • 

     Kathleen Cross on October 28, 2012 at 1:01 pm

     Please read this > http://bit.ly/RnTTCm . This colorism culture is vicious and unrelenting. Teaching children we are all beautiful flowers in God’s diverse garden is awesome and true, but it does not prepare them for the viciousness of the culture around them. This is why it is important to discuss the history of disenfranchisement, oppression and erasure (something Jewish culture explicity does to their children’s benefit) It is not impossible to raise world-embracing children free of supremacist influence, but it requires strategy and diligence.

5. 

   De Aavo on October 28, 2012 at 2:12 pm

   Kathleen,

   I don’t know how you got this from my posting: “Teaching children we are all beautiful flowers in God’s diverse garden is awesome and true, but it does not prepare them for the viciousness of the culture around them.”

   I am not religious, and I believe that children can only retain their beauty if beauty is a constant in their lives. Rising above the viciousness is what we are all attempt master, even as adults.

   Perhaps another place and another time, and we made agree that we are both on the same page.

   I see the world as a labyrinth of constant beginnings. And healing the kind of permanent ills imposed as a result of slavery, and perpetual degradation and division require that we stop reacting to the claims of those ills.

   I have never done drugs to fully express what is often shown as withdrawal systems, but many of us need that kind of shock-change to simply stop reacting to the claim of white supremacy, and the exacting of black inferiority—all shades included. I found that change in traveling and dealing with different cultures, and religions.

   In fact, my efforts here has become a reaction and not an action: I trust your certainty of and to purpose, and admire and respect your work as a conscious individual for change, so I follow you and I am here to become inspired by your influences and respond with candor.

   We agree that change is needed. What, who, and how – we must now begin to consider—not as one individual attempting to convince another individual. But as a group with United Strength deciding on enforceable, consistent applications towards our common resolve: better than we are today.

   I follow your thinking Kathleen. I read the contents in the link you sent me before, and I liked it very much. It’s on my Facebook page.

   I sincerely appreciated your time, Kathleen.

   CTSC—with respect,

   De

   • 

     Kathleen Cross on October 29, 2012 at 8:34 am

     “…children can only retain their beauty if beauty is a constant in their lives. ”

     I Couldn’t have said it any better.

     🙂

6. 

   Ancalagon18 on November 2, 2012 at 7:55 am

   Jeez was it Jim Crow hat caused all of this?

   In my experience, people from the Caribbean aren’t as awestruck and confounded by white society as American blacks of their generation appear to be. My parents were middle class people from a small island. During their childhood white people had most of the wealth and political power. They were not seen however as other-worldly beings, who held the power of life and death, but people who were better off due to happenstance and education.
   Being sensible people, my parents sought out education and better circumstance, by emigrating first to the UK and finally to Canada. My brother’s and I were raised in Canada in the 70’s when there were few black people of any kind. As the oldest I was probably picked on more than my brothers (I am much darker skinned as well and if another American says skinded on national media I’m going to kill myself)but I never felt inferior to my tormentors. My parents instilled in me enough self-confidence to hate the individual not the entirety of their race. The point I’m meandering towards is that too often people segregate themselves and create their own “experience” my brothers and I all married women from our peer group. These women happen to be white. Some of my black friends have married women of different races and some have married black women. Perhaps we were shaped by our experiences but they did not affect us negatively.
   Without the legacy of Jim Crow to hold us back we do not look at race as a differentiating factor, shared culture determines our peer group. Don’t get me wrong it’s not Shangri-La up here but unlike in the USA race is not the initial divisor. Because of that fact mixed race people are considered just that, mixed race. They do not really stand out here in the city because many immigrants are of diverse ethnicity. There are tonnes of brown people and you can never be really sure if the kid has an Indian background or is from Somalia or whether he is a plain old half black half Italian boy.
   Best part is nobody really cares; we all have bigger problems to deal with.
   When I was young, my fist wife and I saw you on Phil Donahue and we were struck by a couple things.
   I mean no disrespect when I say this (so brace yourself for the disrespect) but you and Rock Newman appeared to be trying very hard to be accepted as black people. Your accents and speech pattern were counterpoint to your appearance. Your speech sounded like an affectation to our Canadian ears. It seemed to us that you spoke that way to be “down with the brothers and sisters”. Secondly we felt that the audience was clueless and the mixed-race people on the panel were somewhat bitter.
   More than 20 years later I stumbled onto your website and listened to your stint on the Michael Baisden show. Sadly it seems not much has changed.

   Finally my company can probably recover the data from your hard drive. If it just died and there is no physical damage chances are pretty good. No charge just give brother a shout-out…

   • 

     Kathleen Cross on November 2, 2012 at 11:52 pm

     oh, jeez, your sense of superiority over “regular black folks” who aren’t Carribean and better-educated is palpable.

     I’m not disrespected at all by your opinion, but singling out Rock and I makes you sound ignorant. What does our skin color have to do with how we are “supposed” to sound? Rock Newman and I were raised in the black community with black role models and family members who speak as we speak. We are both intelligent, articulate communicators who weren’t speaking ebonics, we just have strong ties to Louisiana and Texas that are apparent in our verbal affect.

     Again, others have to change themselves to make your “Canadian ears” comfortable.

     Unbelievable.

7. 

   lee on December 10, 2012 at 5:28 pm

   Colorism comes out of white supremacy..