BOBBEE BEE: REALITY, ROBOTS, AND THE BIONIC MAN

by Eric D.Graham


NORTH CAROLINA-(BASN)-At this moment in time, we all must think outside of the artificial realities created by so-called "REALITY" shows, HIP-HOP videos, and video games like GRAND THEFT AUTO. And, even the nightly news.
Why? Because, we all have become a little addicted to the fake culture of red carpet, video award shows, Botox beauties, breast implants, star-studded events and video game systems like the XBOX1 and Playstation4, which people stood in the long, cold lines in order to purchase during "Black Friday."


And, unfortunately, we, shamefully, now, measure our existence with the fakeness of the Kardashians, while comparing our trusted thoughts with those that are manufactured by those, who are trapped in the idiot boxes, who spend a large portion of their lives reading Teleprompters and calling it real news like the character Ron Burgundy, played by comedian Will Ferrell.

This is the illusion of reality. Why? Because, there is dis-information, mis-information and information.
And, oddly, despite all of the information available at our fingertips, due to Google and the Internet, the people seem to be getting dumber. I know it is a hard pill to swallow, especially with all of these young people as well as older people doped out of their minds on prescription drugs, pain killers and party pills like ecstasy.
But, sadly, they are all simply lab rats, practicing a form of escapism from the pain of the world, which has them running around on the treadmill of this thing called life, in a constant circular motion, going no-where fast.
SCIENCE FICTION IS SCIENCE FACT
Why? Because, in the near-future, science-fiction will become scientific fact, as scientists mirage animals with humans through the assistance of human growth hormones, genetic engineering, and human cloning.
Advancements in steroids, in fact, will turn future athletes into Gods, with powers like the Superheroes that we read about in the comic books.

Yes, some of these future ballers may stand 10-foot-tall like the fictional characters in the movie Avatar, a 2009 American epic science fiction action film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron, while running the 40 yard dash in 3.5 seconds, and bench pressing 325 pounds 80 times. This superhero theme and connection can already be seen in the futuristic-uniforms being worn by the new college recruits in the NCAA, especially the Oregon Ducks, who have a $68 million state of the arts Football Performance Center, which is a six-story tall technologically and architecturally innovative structure that houses the Ducks’ weight training room with Brazilian hardwood floor, locker room, players’ lounge, coach offices and meeting rooms, as well as a full-service dining hall and barber shop.

Plus, let's not forget, they have already revealed their 3-D hologram technology, which beamed Tupac back to life.
Therefore, could you imagine fans paying to see a holographic fight between Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson in a virtual coliseum?

Yes, with all of this conversation about concussions clouding players’ thoughts, the future sporting events might not even have real players competing in them? Games, for that matter, maybe performed by androids like the movie Surrogates, a 2009 American science fiction action film, based on the 2005–2006 comic book series of the same name starring Bruce Willis, which is about the widespread use of remotely-controlled androids called "surrogates" that allowed everyone to live in idealized forms from the safety of their homes.

You might think I am crazy, but look at how detailed the graphics have become on the latest MADDEN games.

Plus, with the creation of the Oculus Rift, a virtual-reality headset that enables users to experience games as immersive three-dimensional environment, we all maybe a part of the Matrix "real" soon.

A LITTLE IMAGINATION CAN TRANSFORM THE GAME


Yes, with a little imagination, the games we love and cheer for, could be "transformed" forever for the better or the worse?
Honestly, we have already seen how Fantasy Football has changed the way some fans watch the game. But, in the future, fantasy could become reality. Especially, with the advancements in Nano-technology, which could potentially give athletes the ability to recover quicker and heal themselves from serious injuries just like the X-MEN'S Wolverine. Which means, athletes would be able to play longer, shatter older records, and become true legends of the game? With that said, Dallas Maverick's basketball owner Mark Cuban recently told USA Today that he believes the NBA should explore the benefits of making human growth hormone (HGH) an approved substance under league supervision, even as the league pushes for HGH testing in negotiations with the players' union.

As Cuban campaigns for the use of HGH, the evolution of man and animal continue to intertwine. Plus, the potential of man and machine becoming a reality is getting closer every day.
We, in fact, have already slowly seen this with South African Olympian sprinter Oscar Pistorius, who is known as "Blade Runner" as well as with laser eye surgery being performed on athletes like Golfer Tiger Woods as well as the controversial Regenokine platelet-rich plasma therapy being peformed on the right knee of Kobe Bryant, in which blood is spun until it contains a high concentration of healing platelets, to concentrated bone marrow injections, dense with stem cells. With that little bit of evidence, the movie REEL STEEL, a 2011 American science fiction sports drama film starring Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo, co-produced and directed by Shawn Levy ,may have given us a glimpse into the future of boxing with those ROCK'EM SOCK'EM ROBOTS, especially with the sport of boxing being so violence.
Therefore, imagine, if baseball players were giving super vision through laser eye surgery, which allow them to slow-down the ball in order to improve their eye-hand coordination? Or, imagine a MLB pitcher with a mechanical arm, who has the incredible ability to throw a baseball 200 miles per hour.

Or, even a NFL kicker, for that matter, with a robot leg, who has the ability to kick an 80-yard field goal. I know it sounds crazy now. But, so did the Internet and Face book, a few years ago.
The Bionic Man
With these scientific advancements, many ponder how they could change and shape the athletes of tomorrow, who may play with artificial lungs, organs, and high-tech prosthetic limbs that could allow them to run faster, throw harder, jump higher as well as play longer without getting tired. As far fetch as this may seem, engineers have already created a "robot" called the Bionic Man, using prosthetic limbs and artificial organs worth approximately $1 million -to showcase how much of the human body can now be rebuilt with metal, plastic and circuitry.

Yes, as I stated earlier, scientific fiction is slowly becoming scientific fact, as the FOX NFL Sunday’s official mascot Robot, racially named (Cleatus), which was named by a viewer during a contest in the winter of 2007, could truly be what the athletes of the future look like? Seriously, our love affair with machines, like the movie I-ROBOT, a 2004 American dystopian science fiction action film directed by Alex Proyas and starring Will Smith, could have us slowly debating who is really human as technology continues to blur the lines between man and machine. Consider the latest technology in sports apparel department, where Senoria's $89 sports bra (for women) or Ishirt (for men) monitors calories burned, heart rate, and respiration, which is beamed to smart phones and the Reebok Check light, a $150 skullcap, aims to prevent concussions by monitoring athletes' head injuries in activities including football, boxing and skiing.
So, imagine, cars which can now parallel park, having the ability to drive without anyone behind the wheel like the driverless toy car called the Anki Drive, a $200 racing game in which toy cars can drive themselves. The cars carry sensors that feed data to an iPhone or iPad, which players can use to control speed and position for their cars. Really?How could this tiny bit of technology effect the way we watch NASCAR? Would it make the sport of racing less dangerous, more exciting and faster?
Sports, Military, and Society

Also, with the usage of remote controlled drones by our US military, along with Amazon.com considering using them to deliver packages in the future, will the government implement ROBOCOPS, like the one in the 1987 science fiction action film directed by Paul Verhoeven and written by Edward Neumeier and Michael Miner, to patrol the inner cities of Detroit, Chicago, and Los Angeles to eliminate gangs next?
Seriously, all of this is possible…. Therefore, the Terminator, a cyborg assassin, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, who was sent back in time from the year 2029 to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, played by Linda Hamilton in the 1984 movie called the Terminator, maybe “coming back.”for real.
Why? Because, the US Military’s research wing DARPA is working on a Terminator-like walking humanoid robot named Atlas, which is a giant controlled by a human operator, who guides the sensors, hydraulics, and limbs through a range of natural motions. Yes, facts are stranger than fiction.

Brand New World

With all of these technological and scientific advances will the world of sports have to re-evaluate the way Lance Armstrong, Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, Jose Cansco, Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Marion Jones, Ben Johnson, and a host of other athletes, who took some form of performance enhancement drug to improve their games in the future?
Will the accomplishment and standards set by great players like Michael Jordan, Lebron James, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Walter Payton, Payton Manning and others be viewed as meaningless by a future generation, who will have robots providing video game-type numbers and possible records? Will the invention of robots remove the stigma of race in America, as the world is forced to embrace a society of humanoids and robots slowly replace them? These difficult questions will be answered as time and technology meet face to face in the future.
Eric D.Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where he received a B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Radio and Television, with a minor in History, with an emphasis in African-American Studies, is currently the Editor and Chief of Black Athlete Sports Network, where his articles appear daily along with his controversial cartoon character Bobbee Bee “The Hater.” Graham can be reached at lbiass34@yahoo.com

BOBBEE BEE: RICHARD SHERMAN IS EGO TRIPPIN'

by Eric D.Graham
NORTH CAROLINA-(BASN)-This Seattle Seahawks Richard Sherman end-of-the game rant after his game-winning defensive deflection over the 49ers (WR) Michael Crabtree is another example of white America’s “fear” & “misinterpretation” of Black male aggression-as being a sign of anger and rage instead of passion and competitive spirit.
We have already discussed this issue before when the media falsely crucified the Dallas Cowboys’ WR Dez Bryant earlier this season for displaying his passion on the sideline during an eventual loss to the Detroit Lions, which taped audio later showed Bryant was talking positively. While, on the flip-side, in the same breath, they applaud the Patriots’ Tom Brady’s temper tantrums and tirades after an interception or touchdown as well as Texas A&M’s Johnny Manziel’s brash bravado.

We,understand, that there is an obvious double-standard being displayed here. However, Sherman, oddly, walks in the footsteps of legendary trash-talkers like Muhammad Ali, who went toe-to-toe with his critics like the legendary Howard Cosell, who was known for using the phrase “my little monkey,”Deion Sanders, who tossed a water cooler over the head Tim McCarver after the Braves Game 7 win, Floyd Mayweather, who cursed out the infamous boxing commentator Larry Merchant live on HBO after a bout with Victor Ortiz, when he slashed out against ESPN’s First Take Skip Bayless in May 2013, when he stated:
“I believe my numbers speak for themselves," Sherman told Stephen A.Smith. "My tape speaks for itself. My tape is my resume. That is what I leave it up to. You can say whatever you want. Skip can say whatever he wants. But Skip, whenever you refer to me, whenever you speak to me, whenever you address me, address me as 'All-Pro Stanford graduate' because those are some accomplishments you'll never -- you can aspire to, you'll never accomplish."

With this past exchange with Bayless, how can people be so shocked by Sherman’s post game interview after winning the NFC Championship game against the 49ers? Honestly, Sherman’s post game interview was more Vince McMahon’s WWE than Roger Goddell’s NFL?

In other words, what did Sherman actually do that was so appalling that he has to apologize to the world for? Seriously, where is the controversy in this story? Are we discussing trash-talking? his lack of politeness? Or, his loudness?
Hell, as far as trash-talking is concern, Michael Jordan was a notorious trash-talker. Do you remember that iconic dunk over NY Knicks' Patrick Ewing at Madison Square Garden during the 1991 NBA Playoffs, which Jordan stood over him and taunted the slayed 7-foot-giant? And, as far as, Sherman’s animated choking sign, we have seen that before as well. Have we forgotten about Indiana Pacers’Reggie Miller's 25 point 4th quarter choke sign to Spike Lee?
With that said, the real controversy in the story involving Seattle’s Richard Sherman's passion filled post game interview, in my opinion, has little do with his in your face-play, but more to do with Fox Sport’s frail and seemingly frighten, no-talented beauty-queen Erin Andrews, who seemingly, at first, felt as if Sherman's words were directed towards her instead of Michael Crabtree.
This, however, isn’t Andrew’s first time being a part of a controversial interview. Because, she was also involved in a 50 cent interview in which the rapper tried to kiss her live on camera while she was covering the Daytona 500 in Florida.

Therefore, I think white America ‘subconsciously” went into attack mode to protect their little princess with the microphone, whom they felt had been falsely attacked and disrespected by the big, Black, dread-headed, “uneducated” football player.
Let’s not forget, this interview incident involving Sherman came only weeks after Florida State’s Jameis Winston, who was cleared of all charges of sexually assault of a white female, was criticized by Dee Dee McCarron, the mother of Alabama quarterback AJ McCarron, of being illiterate after Winston led the Seminoles to victory over Auburn for the BSC National Championship, when she tweeted, but quickly deleted, “Am I listening to English?” “We champions,” Winston said. “We can share that. We are champions together. And through everything that we went through. Through all the haters. Through every single thing, we came out victorious. God did this. I’m so blessed. He’s so blessed. All the stuff that he handled with Ethan (Fisher, the coach’s son) and he come out here and coach us? That touched me. And it’s nobody but God. It’s nobody.”

As a result, when you add one plus two, we get the extreme backlash of white people referring to Sherman as a thug, even though he is far from that, and doesn’t live up to the stereotype formulated in the heads of many.

Matter of fact,  with those facts, Richard Sherman should keep talking-sh*$ as long as he can back it up on the field during the game. Why? Because even Grammy-award winning singer Beyonce’ doesn’t mind talking-a little-trash. She, in fact, made it self-evident in her some what controversial song “Bow Down,” which she sings:

I know when you were little girls You dreamt of being in my world Don’t forget it, don’t forget it Respect that, bow down b*%$ I took some time to live my life But don’t think I’m just his little wife Don’t get it twisted, get it twisted This my sh*#, bow down b*&%$

 

After reading that, Sherman must not let this incident change him or knock him off of his square. He, in fact, must continue his in your face play while not letting “white” America destroy his mojo like they did Chad “OchoCinco.” Truthfully, if the Seattle Seahawks defeat the Denver Broncos in the their quest to win the Super Bowl, after the game is over during the press conference, I suggest Sherman recite the poem E-GO Trippin by Nikki Giovanni, which reads:

I was born in the congo
I walked to the fertile crescent and built the sphinx
I designed a pyramid so tough that a star that only glows every one hundred years
falls into the center giving divine perfect light I am bad

I sat on the throne drinking nectar with allah
I got hot and sent an ice age to europe to cool my thirst
My oldest daughter is nefertiti the tears from my birth pains created the nile

I am a beautiful woman
I gazed on the forest and burned out the sahara desert with a packet of goat's meat and a change of clothes I crossed it in two hours I am a gazelle so swift so swift you can't catch me

For a birthday present when he was three I gave my son hannibal an elephant
He gave me rome for mother's day
My strength flows ever on
My son noah built new/ark and I stood proudly at the helm as we sailed on a soft summer day

I turned myself into myself and was jesus men intone my loving name
All praises
All praises

I am the one who would save I sowed diamonds in my back yard
My bowels deliver uranium the filings from my fingernails are semi-precious jewels
On a trip north I caught a cold and blew
My nose giving oil to the arab world

I am so hip even my errors are correct I sailed west to reach east and had to round off the earth as I went
The hair from my head thinned and gold was laid across three continents
I am so perfect so divine so ethereal so surreal I cannot be comprehended except by my permission
I mean...I...can fly like a bird in the sky...
Now, that would make “white”America really mad!!

Eric D.Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where he received a B.A. in Mass Communication with a concentration in Radio and Television and a minor in History, with an emphasis in African-American Studies, is currently the Managing Editor of Black Athlete Sports Network, where his articles appear daily along with his controversial cartoon character Bobbee Bee “The Hater.” Graham can be reached at lbiass34@yahoo.com

BOBBEE BEE THE HATER: A SAD DAY FOR JOSE'

Bobbee Bee is back with another book entitled in "A SAD DAY FOR JOSE' which is a thought-provoking story that touches the soul or spirit. This book eavesdrops on the innocence yet intriguing conversation of JOSE' LOPEZ and Bobbee Bee "The Hater" as they emotionally express their feelings about WAR and DEATH.
This significant story is eloquently told from the eyes of an elementary child whose father is in the military. This colorful book children's book captivates its readers, young and old with an exciting-storylines and elaborate illustrations. This book is an excellent tool for teachers, pastors, counselors, and therapists.
This is one book of many in the series of BOBBEE BEE "THE HATER."
Please celebrate the spirit of the 4th of JULY by reading "A SAD DAY FOR JOSE" Now available for only $9.50 (not including shipping & handling) at http://www.authorhouse.com/ or Send money orders for $13.00
to : Eric D. Graham PO Box 172 Magnolia, NC 28453

BOBBEE BEE: A new generation of B-list Quarterbacks

Editor's note: This article first appeared on Blackathlete.net on Sept. 13, 2013. We, however, chose to re-publish before the Super Bowl, due to its relevancy.

by Eric D.Graham

NORTH CAROLINA (BASN)-As the league's elite quarterbacks like "the Robotic Frankenstein" Payton Manning and "Patriotic perfectionist" Tom Brady get older and more fragile, a new era of young Black quarterbacks stand in the shadows like a bunch of background singers ready to take the mic from them.

These new QBs, however, are unorthodox and unpredictable.

They are not the typical three-drop step, Joe Montana-type of signal callers of the past. They are bigger, stronger, faster and more aggressive.

Plus, these new breed of ballers, who due to the read option, have become a dual threat and are slowly taking over the league.

And, while the NFL defensive coordinators, try to find ways to stop or simply slow-down this high speed offense, many football historians feel that former Pittsburgh Steelers Kordell Stewart aka "Slash" and former Philadelphia Eagles Randall Cunningham, whose elusive scrambling caused nightmares for opposing defenses, should be given a "little credit" for revolutionizing the quarterback position as well as the game.

YOU HAVE BEEN VICK-TIMIZED

We, however, must admit it was a young-Mike Vick, who changed the position forever, unlike the 49ers Steve Young or Randal Cunningham ever dreamed of, when he was selected by the Atlanta Falcons as the No.1 draft pick in 2001. And while playing in only 8 games during his rookie season, he threw for 785 yards and rushed for 300 more. Plus, one can only imagine how good he could have been if he would have studied his playbook and didn't take the game for granted, while he was in Atlanta and, never went to prison in 2008, for his involvement in the dog-fighting ring?

With the hiring of Chip Kelly in Philadelphia, who has instrumented his new up-tempo Oregon-style offense, Vick's crumbling career could be re-juvenated to the delight of his hardcore Eagles fans.

Now, however, with Vick still aching from being sacked so many times last season and his aging legs looking shaky as he scrambles, a new group of ballers are attempting to revolutionize the game like he did when he entered the league.

TATTOOED TALENT

One of those new innovators is Colin Capernick, who almost thrillingly led the San Francisco 49ers to a comeback victory over the mighty Baltimore Ravens last season in the Super Bowl 47, where he went 16-for-28 for 302 yards, along with 62 yards rushing on the ground and two touchdowns.

Sadly, however, he fell about four yards short of becoming only the second Black QB in the history of the NFL to win a Super Bowl.

Doug Williams, of course, from the football team from D.C., was the only African-America to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat in 1988.
Kapernick's "tattooed touchdown" rise from holding a clipboard to become a starting QB of the San Francisco 49ers after Alex Smith when down in week 6 of the regular season, however, was almost overshadowed by a 2012 3rd round draft pick from Seattle, named Russell Wilson, who tied Peyton Manning's NFL rookie record with 26 TDs, while shocking NFL scouts with his professionalism and poise in the pocket.

And, while Wilson shocked, Robert Griffin III electrified.

RGIII, THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE

He, in fact, made Coach Kyle Shanhan and Mike Shanhan's zone-read option look invincible and Donovan McNabb look like a has been. Seriously, during his historic rookie campaign, he was nearly flawless on the field. His football I.Q. was impressive, his accuracy amazing and his speed spectacular. Stat wise, he threw for 3,200 yards, with 20 touchdowns and only 5 interceptions. Plus, he gained over 800 yards on the ground, which later would come back to haunt him.
Because, unfortunately, all fairytales had to come to an end as injuries slowed down the Super-Man sock-wearing Heisman Trophy winner.

Maybe, his injury as well as the continuing bad luck surrounding the football team from Washington has a lot to do with owner's Dan Synder's decision not to change the team's racist name and his racially insensitive logo.

Because, even though Griffin was the first rookie QB to start a playoff game in the District of Columbia since Sammy Baugh did it in 1937, during the first round of the playoffs against the Seattle Seahawks, his knee buckled when it became trapped in the grass after an awkward snap, and the rest is history. (Read my article: Who's responsible for RG3's injury? on BASN)

I'll be CAMMED!!!

With RG3's rookie season freshly in our minds, we have failed to remember the record-breaking rookie performance of Carolina Panthers arrogantly athletic quarterback Cam Newton, who in 2011 set an NFL record for touchdowns rushing in a season by a quarterback with 14 and became the first player in league history to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 500. He also helped Carolina improve from 2-14 to 6-10, throwing for 21 touchdowns.

And with this being Newton's third year in the league, the game should slow-down for him, which should allow him to make better decision in reading defensive coverages, especially with Ted Ginn Jr. tagging up with Steve Smith as a part of the Panthers new receiving core.

THE B-LIST QBs

Along with Cam, RG3, Colin Kapernick, Russell Wilson, and Michael Vick, we can't overlook Josh Freeman in Tampa, who despite a difficult year, still threw for over 4,000 yards, as well as newly acquired Green Bay Packer Vince Young, who maybe a valuable backup to Aaron Rodgers for the Cheese Heads in Wisconsin to cheer for during this grueling NFL season.

Joining these B-list Ballers, are 2013 NFL Draftees, Geno Smith, who is currently battling Mark Sanchez for the starting position in the Big Apple, despite having to endure the embarrassment of sitting all alone throughout the first round in the Green Room during the draft until the Jets selected him and Florida State's QB, E.J.Manuel, the only signal caller taken in the first round of the draft, who was selected 16th by the Buffalo Bills.

As a kid, Manuel admitted he grew up rooting for Donovan McNabb and Charlie Ward but, during an interview with Dan Patrick said he compares himself to Ben Roethlisberger and Colin Kapernick.

Eric D.Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, where received a B.A. in Mass Communication, with a concentration in Radio & Television, and a minor in History, with an emphasis in African-American Studies, is currently the Editor and Chief of Black Athlete Sports Network, where his reports appear daily along with his controversial cartoon in the Bobbee Bee The Hater. Graham can be reached at lbiass34@yahoo.com

BOBBEE BEE: WHEN YOU THOUGHT THEY WEREN'T LOOKING

BOBBEE BEE: WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING

A message every adult should read because children are watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make my favorite cake for me, and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.....

When you thought I wasn't looking I heard you say a prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always talk to, and learned to trust in Him.



When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given. When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that a sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw that you cared, and I wanted to be everything that I could be.

When you thought I wasn't looking I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking I looked at you and wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things
I saw when you thought I wasn't looking....."

If you like what you are learning, please send comments to lbiass34@yahoo.com

BOBBEE BEE: A Critical Analysis of Dr.King’s DREAM

A Critical Analysis of Dr.King’s DREAM

by Eric D.Graham

January 21st is the official day in which America celebrates the legacy of DR. Martin Luther King Jr.

The legacy of Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. sadly, however has been reduced t o a single “I Have a Dream” speech which was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.

Oddly, it’s the same American government that plotted against the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that has utilized this single speech as a tool of propaganda against the unlearned masses.

For instance, one of the most famous excerpts from King’s “I Have Dream Speech” is …. “I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

But as a nation, America continues the practice racial profiling against Arab-Americans or those who practice the Islamic faith at airports; cops still continue to harass African-America males with no probable cause, and most Mexicans are still viewed as “so-called” illegal immigrants. As a result, we must move from “Rhetoric to Reality.”

It’s easy to memorize the “I Have a Dream Speech,” but very difficult to live up to revolutionary principles the Dr. King stood for.
For instance, it was the same brilliant civil-rights leader that poetically protested against the WAR in Vietnam in a speech delivered in April 4, 1967 at Riverside Church in New York City when he stated, “A nation that continues year after year to spend money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

Why didn’t President Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Dick Chaney, or Condoleezza Rice recite these words to the nation before invading IRAQ? Or why didn't President Obama during his inaugral address.

Dr. King also eloquently stated that “WAR is a poor chisel to carving out the peaceful tomorrows…..because we have guided missiles and misguided men.

Hopefully, the future political candidates running for President in 2008 will take heed to these words of wisdom. Dr. King, who attended segregated public schools and graduated from high school at age 15, received his B.A. degree from Morehouse College in Georgia in 1951 and earned his B.D. from Crozer Theological Seminary before going on to earn his Ph.D. from Boston University.

Dr. King, was truly a scholar, philosopher, and a revolutionary who shaped the political and social climate of America.

As a result, his prophetic words of the past are still relevant today. For example, Dr. King is quoted as saying, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

In effect, why did most of the politicians, governmental officials, and the President of the United States remain silent during the atrocities of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the racial injustice of the Jena 6, the inflammatory remarks of Don Imus toward the women’s basketball team of Rutgers University or the recent racial insensitive statements of the Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman toward Tiger Woods.

As we can see, Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is still simply a “DREAM” but we all must WAKE UP to make it a REALITY!!

Read all the books in the series of "In the Mind of Bobbee Bee" which include "In the Mind of Bobee BEE" "Larry Long Legs featuring Bobbee Bee" and "A SAD DAY FOR JOSE" featuring Bobbee Bee". And DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT "In the Mind of Bobbee Bee" the weekly sports cartoon on Black Athlete Sports Network at http://www.blackathlete.com/

BOBBEE BEE: THE PAIN OF BEING A BLACK MAN IN AMERICA

by Minister Louis Farrakhan

 

In The Name of Allah, The Beneficent, The Merciful.

The One God to Whom all praise is due, The Lord of The Worlds:  Allah, The Creator of all things; Allah, The Revealer of all Truth; Allah, The Sender of all prophets—to Him, alone, do I submit and seek refuge.

We thank Almighty God Allah for all of His prophets, and for all of the scriptures that they brought to human beings.  We thank Him for Moses and “The Torah,” we thank Him for Jesus and “The Gospel,” we thank Him for Muhammad and “The Qur’an”—peace be upon all of these worthy servants of God. 

If I lived to be a “1,000,” I don’t think I could thank Almighty God Allah enough for His Intervention in our affairs in the Person of Master Fard Muhammad, The Great Mahdi, Who came and searched among us for one who would deliver to us a weighty word.  And that one is His messenger to us, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad:  A man who has made The Torah, The Gospel and The Qur’an relevant books to us and to all oppressed peoples of the world. 

I greet all of you, my dear and wonderful brothers, with the greeting words of peace; we say it in the Arabic language, As-Salaam Alaikum.  This means “Peace Be Unto You.”

Brothers God called you (here) tonight, because you have a very special purpose and a very special calling that each and every one of us needs to understand.  You have been made to look at yourselves as “nothing,” but by the end of this message, by The Grace of God, I want to tell you:

1. “Who you are,” and

2. “What is expected of each one of us” to stem the tide of crime and violence that is afflicting our communities throughout America—

Not by your “design,” but it was by the design of The Wicked who are manipulating our ignorance to make us enemies of one another. 

And we have become so depraved, as a community, that it makes it difficult for somebody like myself, or Reverend C.L. Jackson (pastor of Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church), or others, to teach us to “love one another”; because wickedness is “the mother” of hate.  When people do you evil, it’s difficult to love them.  And if we have become the “No. 1 evildoers” to one another, we are “preaching a hatred,” now, in our community, that must breed “self-destruction.” 

‘God’ = Love = Life = POWER

If we say that “God is love,” and the scriptures of the Bible teach this, then the “love” that “God is” is not some tender, emotional feeling.  When you say “God” is “Love”:  The word “is” is representative of an equal sign (=)—whatever is on “one side” of the equation is equal to what is on the “other side” of the equation.  (e.g. “x = y”)

God is more than an “emotion”; He is more than a “tender feeling.”  God is absolutely The Essence of all things that you see, and don’t see.  When you say that “God is love,” then love must be the very essence of life itself.  Look at the word “l-o-v-e,” and the word “l-i-f-e”:  It is the same word—just change the “f” to a “v,” because through the study of language  we learn the “f” is interchangeable with the “v”; as is the vowel “o” interchangeable with any other vowel.  So when you say you have “love” and you have “life,” you have God.  And when you have God, you have love; you have life.

If, as a people, we do not love each other, then as “a people” we are dead; and therefore, “the grave” that we sleep in cannot praise God.  “The grave” cannot praise God, and those of us who are “dead” in the hatred of self are not “glorying God” in our existence.  So somebody has to come to show Black people how to love themselves; how to love one another!  And when somebody shows you how to love yourself, then in that act of love they will be giving life to “the dead”:  By putting “God” in the hearts of the people! 

This is why in the Bible, in 1 John, Chapter 3, verse 14, it states:  “We can tell that we have passed from death into life, because we love the brotherhood.  He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.”

When you don’t have “life” and you don’t have “love,” and you don’t have God, then you are powerless, because “God” represents force and power—and the thing that Black men don’t have in America, or in the world, is “force and power” to determine our destiny!

Our destiny is determined by others …  We are like “sheep,” as the scripture teaches; and we have not had a “good shepherd” in front of us.  How do you know that our shepherds have not been good?  Because if our shepherds were good, then 1.) God would be in our life!  2.) Life would be in our life!  3.) Love would be in our life! and 4.) Power would be in our life; and therefore, David The Psalmist was moved to say:  “The Lord is my shepherd…”

Well if “The Lord” is our “shepherd,” then we would never be in the condition that we are in!  So, we have to replace “the old shepherd”:  We have to get rid of the rider that’s riding “the donkey.”  He is not a “good” rider; so we have to throw that rider off our back, and let The King ride you and me to glory!

“What do you mean, Farrakhan?”  Jesus rode into Jerusalem on an ass:  “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.” (Zechariah 9:9). 

“Why an ‘ass’ Jesus?”  Study the Book of Matthew, Chapter 21:  Jesus told his disciples, “Look, there’s an ass tied, and there’s a young colt tied with her”; he said, “Go, and untie them.  And if anybody asks you what are you doing, just tell them, ‘The Master has come, and has need of them.’”

Who are you, Black man?  I want to talk to you…  And I can guarantee you, that after you are done reading my words, that not one of you will be “the same”; you will never be “worse,” you will be better!  And based upon the degree of acceptance of The Word is the degree of Rise that will come (in Houston and throughout America) from Black men.

When the Black man’s true nature warrants his need for a woman (‘help-meet’)

The Book of Matthew, Chapter 21, verses 1-3:  “And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then sent Jesus two disciples, Saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me.  And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them.”

What does Jesus want to ride an “ass” for?  When they murdered Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:  During his funeral procession, his body was carried by what?  Mules.  They used a mule as “a symbol.” The ass is a symbol of “the unlearned masses of the people.” 

Nobody could do anything with the unlearned masses of the people; but when Jesus came on the scene, the ass was “tied” meaning “somebody owns you, but is not making use of you”!  And history teaches us that in the South, whenever someone would come in to talk to Black people, White folk would say, “I don’t want that person disturbing my Negras/my Colored peoples…  He’s a trouble maker, coming in to disturb our Negras!”—they always used the possessive tense.  This is why the Bible calls us “The Children of Israel”:  “Of,” here, denotes “possession.” 

We are “The Children” possessed of “Israel”:  Owned by, tied to, but not being used.  They have no more jobs for us…  In church we used to say, “In heaven, every day will be like Sunday,” but it’s like that now, only we’re in “hell”!  “Sunday” was the day that we got off, but now every day is an “off” day, for Black folk—especially for Black men; because, White folk make jobs, but they put your woman in the job, and put you off the job!

When a man doesn’t have a job, and he has a sex drive—which is natural, because a “natural man” is going to like a woman!  So if you’re a natural man, you are attracted to a female; and if you are attracted to a female, and you like her, soon the natural attraction in “male and female” will give rise to “sexual stimulation.”  And sexual stimulation will give rise to the act that they call “making love.” 

* They call it “making love” because it is the act that “creates life”.

* But with us, as men:  It’s not really a desire to “create life,” or to procreate human species, it’s a desire to have pleasure. 

We know that God has made the female to give “pleasure”; however:  She is not to give pleasure to somebody who has not earned the right to “pleasure” by enduring the pain of “being a producer.”  A man does not need pleasure if he’s doing nothing!  One of the definitions of “pleasure” is “an amusement, recreation, or enjoyment.”  “Recreation” (re-creation) comes after “work”—not “before” work; not “in place of” work, but “recreation” comes after work! 

When God made a man:  He made the man to struggle!  He made the man to overcome difficulty!  He made the man to become a producer!  He made the man to multiply; replenish the Earth, and subdue it!  He gave man power and dominion to carry out what God had ordained in the very nature of a “man.”  And if a man does his job, God says:  “I’m going to give you a woman to help you do your job.”—so “solace” and “comfort” and “consolation” comes after struggle! 

But a woman can’t “help a man” do nothing!  A woman has to help a man do something.  And if a man is a “do-nothing man,” he can never keep a woman, because a woman is made by nature to be your helper!  A man doesn’t “need help” to sit around and do nothing…  So!  As a man:  If you don’t have any “program,” if you don’t have any “aim,” if you don’t have any “purpose,” and if you don’t have any “project that you are working to develop,” then you don’t “need” a woman!

But, brothers, your nature will make you to feel:  “I need a woman!”  And a woman is made to feel she “needs a man.”  So, we meet, and we are attracted to each other; and we fall in love with each other, and that’s wonderful.  And then, sex follows—and then, without planning, an “accident” takes place; she says: “Whoops!  There it is…  Hey baby, I’m pregnant!”—and you say, “What are you telling me for?!  You know ‘what to do’…”

Now brothers:  When you don’t have any money in your pocket, and your children are at home crying:  How do you feel?  When you go home, and your wife is working, but you can’t find a job (and you just graduated from “Texas Southern,” “Texas Christian,” or some other college, and when you go for a job they tell you, “Oh, I’m sorry.  You’re overqualified or don’t have enough qualifications for this one.”—but it seems that your wife is “qualified” to hold any position.  For example, I have noticed Black anchor women on television sitting next to White anchormen; so, they have already fulfilled “the requirement,” they have hired a minority and a Black.  But, it’s not you, brothers. 

And since you and I, as a people, have not learned “how to create a job,” and you know it takes money in this world to live, then the only avenues open for you, as a man, is either:  1.) Join the army and “be all” that you can never be in the society, so that you can be sent all over the world to fight for a “democracy” that you don’t know anything about at home!  Or, 2.) You can be in the neighborhood committing crimes. 

And the one enticing you to a “life of crime” says:  “You can make a lot of money if you ‘start small and grow big’; here’s what I want you to do, just go around and steal hub caps.  And after you do that well, break into the car, get the radios.  After you do that well, take the car—now you don’t have to wait till the people sleep; just go up to them and say, ‘Get out!  I got this!’  And if they open their mouth wide enough, shoot ’em in it!”  Just look at the degeneration, now.

The pain of being a non-productive Black man in White America

Come on, brothers, I know it’s painful to be a Black man in America …  But “real pleasure” was never meant to come from a woman.  I’m going to repeat that:  “Real pleasure” was never meant to come from a woman! 

Women give men “pleasure,” but real pleasure comes from creative thinking; and then seeing “what you think” come into reality by the work of your hands.  That’s real “pleasure.”  Reverend C.L. Jackson has experienced “real pleasure,” because this House was an “idea” in his mind.  An architect took it from his mind and put it on paper; then Rev. Jackson gathered his flock, and they went to work.  And what was an “idea” became “reality”; in other words, “the word became flesh.”  So on the day that this House was opened, there was joy; but the type of “joy” that no female could give!  Because now this House, this reality from the mind, can house thousands, now, that can be inspired to go out and make a difference in the world!

As a Black man in White America, we are in pain, brothers!  We live with constant pain.  Nobody knows our pain but God, and us.  Brothers, as long as you, as a man, lay down at night and “dream about” your greatness—but you are never able to manifest how great you are—then the pain of being “non-productive” makes you seek “pleasure” that keeps you non-productive!  Study our condition:  Each one of you is in pain. When you wake up in the morning, and you look in the mirror, and you know deep down inside you are as great as any man of greatness that you’ve heard about, read about, or seen in real life:  You know you are as great as any one of them.  Possibly greater! 

But there’s no avenue of opportunity to allow you to demonstrate your individual greatness; then this breeds “frustration,” it breeds “bitterness,” it breeds “envy and jealousy.” 

As a Black man:  You know we have always loved “our champions” (in sports, such as boxing), because it’s something to watch a man, in a ring, “deal”—and win!  Boxers, like Evander Holyfield:  He works hard to be “who” and “what” he is!  He doesn’t climb into the ring without having made a great sacrifice of time; and, he is in pain!  He puts his body through pain to condition himself for what he is about to face.  Every man has that same ability to be a champion!  Maybe not in “the ring,” but each one of you is a champion in your own right!  However, if you have no way to show it, no opportunity to prove it, then we end up worshipping “the champ” rather than worshiping God.  Or we end up being envious of “the champ”… 

And so our community is filled with envy, jealousy, strife, contention, bitterness, frustration, hatred, murder,  because we are unfilled as men. This is because racist White America cannot stand to see a Black man really “free,” full of The Power of God; with a creative mind at work, with a help-meet by his side working to develop creative ideas for the advancement of his family and his people!  So, since “two things cannot occupy the same space at the same time”:  If “the White male” is going to rule, then he must crush “the Black male.”

“White male”:  You are wrong!  In reality, if because of “White Supremacy” you believe that in order for you to survive as a “White man” you have to crush a Black man’s existence:  Then in “crushing our existence” you are doing something to your own existence!  Because ultimately, no power on Earth, for any long period of time, can keep any man from attaining what God Himself has willed for that man!

Preachers:  The Black man must know how to find power in The Word of God

I say all of this to say that as Black men, in America, you are “powerless”; because they don’t want you to have power!  And as a man, you can’t function without power.  This is why, “reverend,” men don’t come to church as they should.  Women are suffering for the lack of a “man,” and they are in the church—but why aren’t the men there? 

Jesus was, and is, a “man”; so the only “comfort” for a woman, who does not have a real man, is to imagine her connection to The Master Himself!  So she comes to church…  And she is so frustrated, because she has three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10 children—sometimes, from four or five, or six or seven or eight or nine different men.  Nobody to love her!  Nobody to care for her, and her offspring!  So she just eats herself to death; she gets fat, and out of shape.  She is demoralized, dispirited, disenchanted; and she comes to church, and the reverend tells her, “Jesus is my rock.  Jesus is a comforter.  Jesus will ‘do this’.”  Well, the woman needs a man to “do something” for her!  So, she gets “the holy ghost,” and runs up and down the aisle; she gets “the spirit.”  But what she’s really looking for is a real “man of God” in her life. 

Well, why aren’t you there, brothers?  Dear “reverend,” “pastor,” “preacher”:  It is because the “power side” of Jesus is not represented.  “The side” of comfort and consolation and mercy and forgiveness is what is mentioned—and the woman is more attracted to that side, because of the feminine side of her nature!  But, a man is made to have “power and dominion.”  The church must become as God intended it to be, and give power to the man. 

How do you give “power” to a man?  You give a man “power” by giving him knowledge.  You don’t entertain “men”—you teach “men”!  But when church becomes “a big show,” and there’s more “singin’ and shoutin’” and entertaining than real teaching, then the man can’t “get a grip” on The Word of God; to empower the man to go out from the church into life, and “deal” with what is out there!

The gun, alcohol and dope merchant: Programming for your total destruction

Jesus saw an ass “tied”…  Brothers:  You’re “tied up,” and White America has no more “use” for you.  And in a society like this:  When they don’t have any more use for you, they program you for destruction.

Look at yourself, brothers, because 30 years ago, White folk did not ever want to see a Black man with a gun.  Right in the South, if you had a shotgun on your farm, White folk would be a “little careful” on how they came around you—especially if you would use it; because they know that thing hurts, and kills.  So, you couldn’t get guns.  However, there was always a liquor store available to you. 

Some of you don’t even know why you’re in pain, because your nature has never been explained to you.  So, you don’t know “where the pain is coming from,” and you don’t know “why you’re in pain.”  You’re in pain because you’re not productive, because no man can be a “man” unless he is productive!  And in your pain of not being productive as a man, the seller of alcohol says:  “Hey, Brother?  Come on here, and take this for your pain.”  Take for instance “the college professor”:  You’re in pain, because you know that “somethin’ ain’t right” with what you’re professing.  You’re teaching young people; and you know when they leave college that most of them will not be able to use what they spent four years in college trying to learn!  So in the basement of most of the professors’ houses you’ll find a bar; and you have parties in your house, and you friends come over, and you get drunk…  And get drunk, and laugh, and talk, and tell jokes, and get drunk some more; and then go back to class on “Monday,” acting like you are “professing.”

It is the same with preachers:  “Preachers” are sad men, too, because most of them read the Bible

about a “God”—but He isn’t real in their lives when White folk come.  You say you believe in God, “God is your rock,” but don’t let White folk come to your house in the midnight hour; otherwise, you’ll start saying like “Jesus said on the cross,” “My God, why have You forsaken me?”; because deep down inside, some of the most cowardly people are the people who  claim to believe in God.  You allow “the flock” to be eaten by “the wolf”…  And “the shepherd” runs and hides, and becomes an “apologist” for the wickedness of the slave master and his children!  So “preachers” are unfulfilled too!  And this is why “sex” is a major part of a preacher’s life. 

Please understand what I am saying:  I am not “putting anybody down.”  I know there are some good preachers, some very good pastors; but for the most part:  There is too much talk, among pastors, about “women,” and too little talk about serving the needs of the people that we are shepherding.  Brothers, we are all in pain.  The “man of God”:  He has his Bible, but he’s in pain!  The “Muslim”:  He’s got his Qur’an, but he’s in pain!  And the “agnostic”:  They don’t have a Bible, a Qur’an, and they don’t believe in any “God”—but they are in pain!  The “gang bangers,” are in pain.  All of us are in pain! 

And do you know, brothers, when you’re in pain, your brain releases hormones that actually can deaden pain; this is why you could lose an arm and sometimes don’t even feel it, because the trauma has released something from the brain.  And when you look, and see that your arm is gone, then the “pain” comes; but before that, you didn’t even know it was gone.  That’s how powerful the brain is! 

But when your pain is so great, that you deplete what the brain can give to comfort you, and your knowledge is so weak that it can’t “fire up” the brain to produce more of what you need in a traumatic time, then here comes the dope merchant:  “Hey baby!  Hey, try this…”  We’re in so much pain brothers, that after a while “reefer” gets to be “punk stuff”; and you graduate from reefer.  You have never been able to afford “cocaine” (like White folks use it, in the powdered form), so some of them when into a laboratory and developed a very inexpensive chemically-produced coke that immediately goes to the “pleasure center” of the brain.  And one hit of it hooks you!  Now that’s really something…  And so now, crack (cocaine) is flooding our community.

Each of you, as men, know that “the more pain you’re in,” the more drugs you  use—and your personality begins to get distorted:  You’re no longer the same person that you were when you were in a natural state.  You become an incessant liar, and after a while, your mother and your father become “objects” to you; they’re no longer your real parents, that you should have love and care and tenderness for; but, you see your mother’s fur coat and you take it, you see something of value and you take it!  And if they try to stop you, you, in the sad state of your mind, would kill your own mother, your own father; your sister or your brother. 

Now, the Black community is filled with pain, and filled with drugs!  Filled with pain, and no power; but now filled with guns!  Communist leader of China, Mao Tse-tung said that “power” “grows out of the barrel of a gun”:  So when you put a gun in a powerless young Black man’s hands, he now has his hand on something that gives him “power”! 

And, he is hungry for power:  The nature that the Bible said God created him in!  God gave him, in the beginning, “power.”  But the White man took away from you “power”; and now you’re trying to get it back.  But you “don’t know how,” so they sell you a gun!  You didn’t go to the “gun store” and get it, because they wouldn’t sell it to you at the gun store.  But, you got it on “the market”:  The White market.  And they knew you were not going to be involved in a “drive-by” shooting in the White neighborhood; that you were not going to do “carjacking” in the White neighborhood!  They know that the more guns they put in your hand, you would begin to terrorize your own neighborhood!  So our condition in America today is: 

“Guns” and “drugs” and “jobless men”!

“Guns” and “drugs” and “pain-filled men”!

“Guns” and “drugs” and “bitter, frustrated men”!

“Guns” and “drugs” and “men with no creative mind”!

“Guns” and “drugs”—and a man that is not really “a man of his own destiny”!

So brothers, when you’re like this, you don’t see the brother sitting next to you as “your flesh”.

You can’t have a ‘Menace II’ without there being a ‘No. 1 Menace’ to society

Brothers, when you observe other Black men as yourself:  Do you see yourself as their “family”?  No…  Out in the ’hood, it’s “every man for himself”; and so, when you have a gun, you feel that you have “power.” 

When you’re at home, and you call the dog:  The dog may come; or, you call your children—they may come.  But when you pull out the gun, people respond quickly to that; and this, you feel, is “real” power.  But “the kicker” is when you squeeze the trigger:  You watch the body of your brother gyrate under the heat of a bullet, and you see him cry out, “Oh God…”—and he gasps; and you watch his life ooze out…  And you don’t have any feeling for him; you’ll go back home, with your boys; you eat a beef burger, a hamburger, a pizza, and you’ll go to bed like you did “nothing.” 

But our women (who support our rise to be what God intended us, as men to be)?  They have to carry their sons to their final resting place…  So know this, brothers:  For every Black person that you kill, you have wounded whole families.  And the result is you then set up vengeance in those that are remaining behind; so they are plotting, now, to get you.

And you know, I watch White folks send a contraption up that circles the Earth; I watched them send a telescope up—and it didn’t work; but, they then sent something else up to correct the telescope, tens of thousands of miles away…  And you mean to tell me they can’t correct a condition that is going on in every major city of America?  Something is wrong.

*********

Brothers:  You are programmed, right now, for total destruction.  When the enemies of our rise can put out a movie called Boyz ’n The Hood, and show us to the world at our worst behavior…  When they put a movie out called Menace II Society, and you see your brothers pistol-whip a Korean woman, reach over the counter, shoot her; and then go home and take a video tape of it, and sit down and laugh at it—and you’re in the movie theatre, laughing at it too:  White folk have sent that movie all over the world.  And do you know what’s being done?  White people all over the world, and your own Black brothers, are looking at you through the lens of a movie camera, and they are saying:  “My God!  Black people are terrible.”

The biggest industry in America today is “prison.”  They are going to build more, and more, and more.  Who are they building them for, brothers? 

It costs nearly $40,000 a year to keep you in jail!  They’re not interested in giving you “education”; they like you, just like you are, so that with “3 Strikes” on your record, you’re “in” for life!  And, with “3 Strikes” they have a free worker:  In other words, “another “planation,” where you’re a slave, brothers, for the rest of your life! 

As a brother said (from the audience), “If you don’t want to ‘go with the program’, they’re gonna program you!”—and that’s right!  If you don’t want to “go with The Program,” they will program you.  And so here you are:  Programmed for annihilation.

Brothers:  The guns that you have in the community right now?  They serve as a justification for big tanks to come in the neighborhood.  And guess what?  Our women are so distraught at the level of violence; and our Black mayors and White mayors, and police chiefs, are saying, “Look, we can’t handle this”—so they’re calling for The National Guard!  They’re calling for reinforcement from The Army!  And pretty soon if this doesn’t get turned around, you’re going to see your blood running in the gutters; because you’re going to run out with your “pop gun,” and they’re going to come in with helicopter gunships, and tanks rolling in the community, and you don’t have anything to match that!  This little sense of “power” that you have is driving you crazy to “kill your own”…

You are a “Menace II.”  Who is “Menace I”?  Well, if I’m “John II,” there has to be a “John I” that I come from!  If you are “Menace No. 2,” then who is “Menace No. 1”?  White males have menaced the Earth!  And now, they produce you as a “menace to” who?  To yourself and your own community!  So what must be done?

To be continued.

[Editor’s note:  The following article contains a distillation of the April 11, 1994 “Let Us Make Man (Part 4)” message delivered by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, as part of a nationwide tour of “Men-Only meetings” leading up to the Historic Million Man March in 1995.  This portion of that address serves as Part 46 of his 52-week Lecture Series on “The Time and What Must Be Done,” which aired on Saturday, November 23, 2013.  Click here to order this message it in its entirety on MP3, DVD and CD or call 1.866.602.1230, ext. 200.  Be sure to visit NOI.org/TheTime each Saturday at 6 p.m. CST (5 p.m. MST and 7 p.m. EST) to view the ongoing series.]