Churchnomics

The 80's brought about unprecedented change; change that would have an impact of the US economic system for years to come. This system is referred to as Reganomics. President Ronald Regan believed that wealth trickled down. Therefore if you do all you can to help the wealthy (tax cuts, incentives,etc) eventually the wealth will flow down to the poor. The problem was and still is that the wealth never reaches the poor. Its a cycle which was put in place to make the wealthier more wealthy and the poor more dependent on a broken government.

It seems in the age of the prosperity gospel or simply how church finance is taught, Reganomics has found its way in the church. I call it Churchnomics. Often churches teach if you give or sow to the church you will be blessed. An influx of pastors find themselves on television begging people to give to them and they will be blessed. Its a theory that says as the pastor prospers the people will prosper. However, like Reganomincs the wealth very seldom reaches the one who really is responsible for the wealth of the pastor or the church.

While examining the idea of mega church and seemingly great benefit package that comes with it you see a Bentley, a Rolls Royce, a extravagant mansion but if you look out in the parking lot you will notice only one Bentley. The pastor like the wealthy are only wealthy because of the working class. The working class continue to work hard because they are told if you work hard "you too can be wealthy" which most likely is false. Therefore, people are caught up in this endless continuous cycle never to get a head but constantly promised they will. The church in recent should be found guilty of selling false hope.

In conclusion, I'm not saying not to give offerings or tithes. I'm saying when giving these things understand why your giving, so ministries can be done, so things can operate, but more so, you give as part of worship to God. Churches however, should be about community. The church of Acts which is shared with us as the model for New Testament Church gave all they had so none would have lack. Because the agenda of community was bigger the agenda of the individual. In fact, one would be cursed when the placed their individual agenda above the overall concern of the community. Maybe that's why the church has lost its power, its influence, and its status. For so long the church has just been concerned about their own survival and missed the big picture.

A message From a Pioneer

When I was young I did a lot of things i am not proud of. I'm sure if you're any thing life me you did some things you regret as well. However, even though I'm not proud does not mean those experiences weren't beneficial to my life as a whole. I've grown a lot and still growing. Sometimes in order to prevent doing something its good to listen to someone who already walked in that a path. I feel this message from rapper Bushwick Bill (from the group Ghetto Boys). Listen and lets continue to try to motivate generations to be concerned about their well being.



Peace and Love

Sharing Knowledge...Uplifting Community

This song is indeed on my favorites. The whole album was crazy. I feel Lauryn was able to relay important truths over nice beats to help uplift and educate a community. Because of this I have decided to add a new section to the blog that will highlight things and people I feel do just as our motto states "Sharing knowledge...Uplifting community". With that our first honoree is Lauryn Hill.

Peace and Love

We still must fight

The issues in Jena, LA are far from over we must continue to fight for justice and equality. These young men are who Jesus might have considered "the least of these". Jesus allows us to see how this effects him by telling his disciples " as you have done to the least of these so have you done to me" lets make sure justice prevails for Jesus sake.

Peace and Love

Thank You

This summarizes everything.

We must say thank you to the lord for all he has done for us. We can say thank you in a number of ways but the best way is to live a life that is grateful.

Jiggaboos and Wannabees

Is this depiction still our reality. Are there still levels of self hatred like these? Is there still a divide amongst African Americans based on shade of their skins or texture of the hair? When we watch shows like top model and other shows that try to define beauty they often time miss the attributes in which define true beauty. These sisters all are beautiful. Instead of fighting about the differences between them they should celebrate the uniqueness that makes them beautiful in the first place.


Peace and Love

Its Bigger than Hip Hop

While growing up my choice of music preference was hip hop. Hip hop seemed to have a solution to whatever problem I had. If i wanted to just chill and think or get up and dance hip hop was there. Like me there were millions others experiencing the same thing. I remember hearing my first rap record as a child and reciting the chorus for my mother over and over again "don't push me cause I'm close to the edge, I'm trying not loose my head". Those words were powerful. I used to always relate rap to the storytellers at school. From Run-d-mc, the get fresh crew, leaders of the new school, tribe called quest and the list goes on. Each emcee with their own style displaying the lyrical genius that resided in our community. Hip hop grew from rural urban settings to a global phenomenon. To me the person who took hip hop to this mega commercial level was Mc Hammer. Mc hammer was the first rap artist to sell over 10 million records. However, because of Hammers success some called him a fake rapper other referred to him as a pop singer. Isn't it amazing to see how times have changed. Now a rapper isn't important unless they are selling millions. Because of this notion people are willing to do and say anything that will sell.

While watching BET's special "hip hop vs America" I began to listen to what people had to say. I kept hearing arguments back and forth on music and the images. In viewing the debate I kept saying its good Nelly and TI are there but I couldn't help but think that the conversation was pointless due to the fact the people who can make the changes were not there. In fact subconsciously rapper TI said " if i shot a video with girls in long skirts and took it to BET they will tell me I can't play that". Isn't it ironic that the network he calls is the very network he is on that is called Black Entertainment Television.

Personally I feel the debate was a ploy to distract us from the real problem. By having us target the rappers it diverts our attention away from the real criminals. The images we see are determined not by the rapper but those who distribute or controls the company. Distributors decide what communities receive what. That is a lot of power. The person who controls what comes in and out of your community is neither from nor care about your community. The same way drugs found themselves in certain urban city markets is the same way music and images are found in our communities. Their sole responsibility is to keep a certain group ignorant and blind while providing a beat they can shake to. You can bring a intellectual clean record to the table and it never sees the light of day.

Think about the last time you heard a Talib Kweli record on the radio how about dead prez. I'll wait. Exactly and your not going to because the distributors have decided that nobody wants to hear any conscious stuff. Black radio used to be how people stayed abreast on the issues that plagued the community. Black radio was the voice of a movement. The first step to controlling a mind is controlling the voice. For that reason media can be nothing else but bias because there is no voice to speak on behalf of a people. Arseneo being canceled was a prime example of extinguishing a voice and creating a different one.

These record companies have been able to shift the mindsets of an entire generation. While devaluing education the value was raised on spinning rims, jewelery, and clothes. Since there is no value in education the graduation rate drops and the incarceration rate soars. The reason for this fact is simple, people will do anything to get what they value most. They apply Malcolm's words at the wrong time for a wrong situation "by any means necessary". I think of it as modern slavery. In oder to keep those enslaved in line master would use another slave. The master would give this slave a few trinkets to make the slave think they were friends. But even with trinkets they were still slaves. This same slave would stop at nothing to make his master happy even if it meant turning on his own.

These rappers who promote violence, sexual degradation, ignorance, and trust in trinkets are simply slaves used to keep others like them in line and to be an example of success that others would aspire to be while using the methods they used. Jimmy Lovine chairman of Interscope records can't call a black woman a bitch and refer to the black community as nothing more ignorant niggas thats why he gets 50 cent to say it for him. Owners of Bet (Viacom) would love to swipe a credit card down the behind of black woman demonstrating his control and ownership of her but instead he uses Nelly to do it. Therefore, the pressure is never placed on the masters who have control but rather on slaves who are controlled.

Wake up brothers and sisters its bigger than hip hop. In order to stop the spread of this genocide we must stop vaccinating and cure the disease once and for all.

Peace and Love

Overcoming Stereotypes

I love watching movies! Sometimes I am so busy that I don't get to go to the movies as often as I would like. Last week, I saw this movie , "I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry". It has to be one of the funniest movies I've seen in a while. Although its very funny, there are some things that stood out that I felt strong enough about that I should write about them.

Stereotyping is a major issue and one that all at some time or another have been victim of. Wether we say it or not, some of us still have certain stereotypes about certain people. We were in Mississppi on a mission trip and there were five black guys there. One girl who was white asked if the guys could rap? At first I was really upset that out of all the things to ask we kept landing on, "do you rap?". However, I realized that its not all her fault.

Sterotypes are not just a white against black thing... Lets examine some common stereotpes a bit closer:

* All white people are card carrying klansman.
* All white people can't dance.
* All black men can rap.
* All black men have been to prision once in their lives.
* All asians own a nail salon.
* All middle easterns are terrorist.
* All gay men are very feminate and they want every guy they see.
* All gay women are very mean and angry.
* All hispanics work on lawns and are illegal.
* All jews are lawyers and ruthless buisness men.
* All presbyterian churches are dead.
* All christians are hypocrites.
* All pastors steal money.
* All cops are crooked.
* All politicians are corrupt.

Look at these stereotypes and think about the people who are mistreated daily because of stereotypes. Think about all the great people who will never be recogonized as great because of stereotypes. Stereotpyes are looking at the actions of a few and making a judgement on all. This is simply wrong, but real.

When people are not exposed to other cultures or only view things through certain filters it can create a person who develops stereotypes. I mentioned earlier about the girl who asked if we could rap. She like many other people see a few people from a certain group and judge the rest based on what she was exposed to. When these stereotypes occur, it presents a opportunity to learn and to teach.

Jesus is at this well and a woman who was Samaritan came to where he was sitting to get water. Jesus asked her to get him some as well. Immediatley she was shocked because he spoke to her, and in that time Jews and Samaritans had negative views of one another. She says to him " how do you (a jew) ask me (a samartian) for a drink". Jesus sees this moment as a moment to educate. He showed her a different side ...one in which she was never been exposed to before. When we take the time to listen and to talk with one another we can really begin the process of eliminating stereotypes and all the baggage stereotypes bring.

If the woman would have left at that moment when he spoke to her she would have missed the greatest moment of her life. If she would have let her stereotypes control her we who read the story later would miss out on a message for us. Jesus begins to tell her about herself and tells her about the love he has for her and how he is the space to fill the void in her life. Jesus reveals then, his salvation is for all.

The people who follow Jesus are supposed to share that message of slavation for all, but our stereotypes of some classes of people, or some races of people, hinders that message from being clear.Great people come in different packages they might not look like us, or vote like us, or even believe like us. However, Christ died for them and again when we start talking and learning we will discover things about one another that might change our lives.

How do they compare?

For a long time people have been trying to entertain like Michael Jackson. I don't care what any body says nobody quite compare to MJ. However, while watching the VMA's I couldn't help but see a little similarity between Chris Brown and MJ. I think Chris is very talented and his performance was a push in the right direction for a industry that has lost that ability to really dazzle a crowd. What do you think? Does young Chris Brown has what it takes to become the next MJ?





peace and love

Why should you buy this Album?

For the past few weeks we have been inundated with news about Kanye and 50 cent albums. We heard every argument humanly possible about why one should or should not buy these brothers album. However, instead of focusing on those things often time great albums go unnoticed. Because my goal is to educate I felt compelled to lift up next to Kanye West's album the hottest album in the country respectfully. It features some of the music industry elite such as Talib kweli, Dead Prez, Krs-one, Jill Scott, Prince, and an array of others. This album also features a debate between Dr.Michael E. Dyson and Dr. West while moderated by Tavis smiley (Wow). This album above entertaining is insightful and motivating. This album addresses issues that most don't talk about let alone rap about. I feel this album is a must have for your collection.

In case you need more convincing:


Peace and Love