Frequently Asked Questions and Ridicule Protesters Have Received(Regarding the George Zimmermann vs The State of Florida case)

Q: Why is this case getting so much attention?

A: Because one; the news media loves sensationalism. You may be tired of hearing about the case but there are more people that are interested about the case than you may immediately know. The articles regarding this case are apparently getting many views and since news stations are actually businesses that need money to stay afloat they post articles that generate money.

Secondly; many people feel like there is some flaws with the justice system and believe that justice was not served. We believe that Trayvon Martin was racially profiled and if George Zimmerman did not follow him he would be here today. Therefore, Zimmerman should be held accountable for Trayvon’s death.

Q: Why is this case getting so much attention in comparison to another case that I deem as being more important? (And usually they will bring up a different case where there was a black person that killed a white person or some other race, like the unfortunate killing of Antonio West, a 13 month old child, in Georgia.)

A: The difference with those cases and this case is that the murderers were caught immediately and will be prosecuted. The young boys who killed Antonio West were arrested that very day and not one person has come to their defense or believes that they have been wrongful accused outside of their family. It was a unified consensus that what they did was terribly wrong. In the case of Antonio West, we believe that justice will be served. Just because the murders were black does not mean BLACK PEOPLE will automatically would defend them. Wrong is wrong.

Q: Why didn’t you all protest this other case? (And usually they will bring up a different case where there was a black person that killed a white person or some other race, like the unfortunate killing of Antonio West, a 13 month old child, in Georgia.)

A: We cannot protest ever crime. That's unrealistic. So many people are protesting because they could have been Trayvon Martin. They feel empathetic to him and his family. My cousin and brother and nephew could have been Trayvon. And because blacks have such a negative stereotype within the media, it was easy to paint him (or any black man) as a criminal, even if they are not. That is why when George Zimmerman told the police in Sanford that it was self-defense, they automatically believed him without conducting an investigation.

If you feel that other crimes should have received more attention, then you should write to CNN, MSNBC and FOX. You should start a petition on change.org. You should organize a protest in your community, the same way we did for Trayvon. No one is stopping you from being proactive. Spread the word about the injustices involving any case. If you feel like another case deserves as much attention, exercise your right and do something about it. But why get mad at us for feeling strongly about this case and taking action? Why the negative responses? The truth of the matter is that you don’t really care about those other cases. You are just using them as pawns to prove a point. I had a Facebook friend post a story about Antonio West and she asked why no one was talking about that case. Well, Antonio was murdered in March. And when I scrolled down her timeline she has never posted anything thing about that child and his unfortunate murder (although she had 5 months to do so). And in that case, the murderers did not walk away free. It is sad that he died at such a young age. He was only 13 months old; an innocent child. It made me sick to my stomach. Black people can empathize with all races, not just our own. And I am happy the killers are behind bars, where they belong, no matter their race.

But if you really cared about those other cases you would be doing the same thing we are doing. So complaining about us is counterproductive, in my opinion. If you really care about those other cases, take action. No one is stopping you. Hell, we may even join you.

Q: Why do blacks always support other blacks no matter what?

A: Because we are a mindless pea brain race that can’t logically think and comprehensively process situations and we are genetically inclined to support one another no matter what. No… that was me being facetious. Actually, we can. And we don’t take up for every single black. Just like we all didn’t vote for Obama because he was black. Hard to believe… I know. (SN: I believe blacks have more of a loyalty to the Democratic Party than they do with black candidates, when dealing with politics. Meaning, they would vote democratic before they would vote for a black person running for office. Obama just happens to be the best of both worlds.) If someone does something wrong, most of the time we can accept it. We don’t protest in the streets for the black murderers but the murdered. Think of all the protest in history that moved a good portion of the black population. Most, if not all those protest where meaningful and helped the advancement of minorities in America. Education. The right to vote. 

And in this case, there were some protest with more white protesters (and other ethnicities) than blacks. Awkward! Right? (That’s me being facetious again.)

Q: Why do black people always cry out racism? Why do blacks practice reverse racism?

A: In my opinion, the term, ‘reverse racism’ is belittling. Racism is racism. No matter whom it comes from. Yes, blacks can be racist too. 

There may be some blacks that call foul unnecessarily. But this has nothing to do with the redundancies of racism in this nation or the lack-thereof. But in this case, we believe that racial profiling is why Trayvon is no longer with us. This case is bigger than Trayvon. This case is about saving our black men from people who only view them as criminals. This is about reminding them that they are loved. This is about saving them from themselves. This is showing them that if we believe you did nothing wrong; we will not let someone gun you down on the street and walk away with just a bloody nose and a scratch on his head.

Yes, blacks kill blacks every day. And those blacks are arrested. Again, this is about justice. It’s not about protecting black people if they did something wrong.

My question for the people who are so angry about our movement:

What I don't understand is why so many people want to degrade and belittle our hurt and anger. That's what is so scary about this. You may not agree with the protest and that's okay. This is not everyone's fight. But to belittle it shows the hate in your own heart. This is my fight, so if you are not with us, sit down. But you can’t escape this because the revolution is being televised.

If you really feel like other cases are not getting the attention they deserve then do something about it. Remember it is not white vs black. It's what we deem as right vs wrong. No one is stopping you from protesting against other cases that you may deem as unfair. Go for it. Hey, we may even join you.

 But don't pull cases out your ass and say 'hey, why is no one talking about his child who died?' When you know good and well you aren't talking about that child either and you are only using that case as a pawn to make a point. Now if you were fighting tooth and nail for a case to get media attention then you can use the case and ask those types of questions. But if not, I need you to step aside and watch us exercise our right to PROTEST.

ImMEDIAte Distraction

My sister once said to me ‘if you don’t watch the news you are uninformed but if you watch the news you are misinformed’. And to think, all this time I was just trying to be informed when all I was doing was being spoon fed. How many times have you heard someone state why they don’t like a politician or why they are voting for one person over the other. I may be over confident but I can guarantee you that 9 out of 10 times, all of your political views and beliefs were formed based off of something you heard on the news and/or something you heard on the radio. How many times have you done your own research on legislation, proclamations, and presidential executive orders? You haven’t. And that’s why the media is such a beast. It paints pictures. It creates your reality and U.N.E.N.O.

The media and its palter is responsible for a lot of our views, stereotypes and what we deem as important. How sad was it when we discovered that Paula Dean was freely using the ‘N’ word just as easily as she would put an entire stick of butter on a slice of bread. Were you outraged? I mean, how could she? So Paula Dean is now all over twitter and Facebook, consuming a good percentage of our attention, because the media told us it was important. Paula Dean is the least of our troubles. Don’t get caught up in the hype. Yeah, it sucks that someone that most of us admired is using this derogatory language. But I have sad news; IT'S NOT THAT IMPORTANT.

The media dictates what we deem as important. And sometimes it develops what we determine as ‘truth’, and as we watch the most trusted news station we never question their veracity, their sponsors or their agenda.

I remember when I worked at the Kennedy Space Center and I heard the reporter discussing the Constellation program and the Aries rocket. Because I was very familiar with the program (but not a subject matter expert) I was able to determine that some of her statements were incorrect. And this helped me to realize that information traveling is information altered.

Subliminal Messages

I remember watching CNN and they showed several different clips where Glenn Beck mentioned that some people have referred to the president as the devil. It was as if he was trying to convince others that this was what everyone else believed and he wanted to plant that thought into your heads. It was an underhanded attack. And I probably would respect him more if he just said that was how he felt (although I don’t think Glenn Beck really cares, his opinions could all just be controversial in order to keep the checks rolling in).

Media, you sly FOX (News). You almost made me hate myself and my skin complexion. You almost made me hate my body; you almost made me buy that chain. You almost made me think Jay-Z was the most influential man of the year. Almost. But luckily for me, I can tune you out when I need to.

And it’s not just the media. It’s any person or thing relaying information. Even if the information is completely true, the delivery has to be calculated and adjusted for the audience. Done improperly and it can have grave impacts on the listeners. I remember when my teacher taught us about slavery and how the white man enslaved the black man. That is where I learned that we were divided. That’s when I learned that blacks were considered an innately inadequately race, hardly to be distinguished as a part of mankind. Because my teacher didn’t have the sense to explain that the views back then were all wrong, and waited until we got to the years of Martin Luther King Jr to declare that we were all created equal, I grew up believing that whites were entitled, smarter, richer, and all that jazz.

Ask yourself, ‘is this important?’

Watching House of Cards, and seeing how the media will use buzz words to get a story attention and how they distract us with petty controversies. We have to allow ratiocination when taking information in. You have to ask yourself what really matters. You have an issue with your complexion? You despise Paula Dean for using the N-word? We cathect in unimportant trivial matters. You can’t change Paula and this is just exposing a small fragment of who she is behind the fame. No one is perfect. Since we live in a free country, people are free to make racial remarks, and we are free to boycott her products. We are free to forgive (whether or not she was bathetic). No exaggeration need.

Below is one of my favorite clips, where Jon Stewart asked the hosts of CrossFire to stop the bad news reporting:

Money, money, money... All the Government ever talks about is money!

INTRO 

You’re a hustler. Everyday you wake up and it’s ‘Rise and Grind’. Hopefully, your business consists of more than just a Facebook page, 100 likes, and a few pictures of your wholesale products now for individual sale. There is nothing wrong with having your business start up on Facebook. I am aware of humble beginnings. But as of late, I am a bit worried about all my Facebook entrepreneur friends. It is quite possible that your business will flourish. Playboy was started with a $600 loan and a few investors. But while you are busy running your company and soliciting ‘likes’ on Facebook, I think it would be a good idea for you to think about your finances at a grand scale. Although many of us think we are ‘getting it’. We are probably only getting it for ‘right now’. Just ask MC Hammer. How did he blow millions of dollars? Bad money management? Not being informed? Not educating himself? Money has a tendency to be here today, gone tomorrow. With the economic crisis our country is facing, barely recovering from the last recession, it is time to start making better INFORMED financial decisions. Whether you are starting a business, trying to start up a savings account, trying to figure out how to invest a few hundred, or thinking about retirement… we all can benefit from a little financial guidance. 

POLITICAL JARGON

Right now America is going through a self-inflicted hardship… And if you are a real contending hustler… you should be perfectly aware of the economic situation we are currently facing. Financial decisions that the government makes impacts us. And it may not be an overnight change, but it eventually creeps in. How many business owners or home owners lost everything due to the recession  It wasn't necessarily predictable but we knew the government was having financial problems for quite sometime. And in order to know what's going to happen with your money, it's good to watch the government and the big boys on Wall Street so that you can be prepared and save up for a hard hitting rainy days.

 It’s hard to keep up with all the political jargon - financial cliff, sequestration, debt ceiling, and etc., but to be aware is to be prepared. I was not sure what all these terms meant, but I have a tendency to Google things when I am curious… and I wanted to make this a one stop shop for all my uninformed readers.

The DEBIT Ceiling

What we consider the ‘debt ceiling’ is the maximum amount of money the United States can borrow. However, the debt ceiling is raised whenever the government comes close to the limit. The debt ceiling was created under the Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917, putting a "ceiling" on the amount of bonds the United States can issue. By hitting the limit and missing an interest payment to bondholders, the United States would be in default, lowering its credit rating and increasing the cost of its debt (Investopedia 2013). Sounds like a self inflicted wound. For one, it is not required nor is it necessary to have a debt ceiling. And since 1944 the debt ceiling has been raised 94 times. So why does Congress have a debt ceiling in place when it seems to cause more harm than good? Most democratic countries do not have a debt ceiling in place. 

So what is the purpose of the debt ceiling when they can just raise it whenever needed? Think about your monthly budget. You have it in place to know how much you would like to spend at a given time. You can spend more than what you placed in your budget, but you will be more aware of the consequences. I assume this is the greatest purpose of the ‘debt ceiling’. It engages the President and Congress in conversation. With the debt ceiling, it allows the citizens of the US to know how progress is going. But then again, being informed is simply that… being informed. And it seems like we are constantly being informed of an increase in debt that US citizens have no control over.

FISCAL CLIFF

Although the fiscal cliff was averted, it’s is important to know what it was and what occurred. The end of 2012 marked when the Budget Control Act of 2011 would come into effect which ended temporary payroll tax cuts, tax breaks for businesses, and marked the beginning of taxes related to President Obama’s health care law. With the Budget Control Act coming into effect and tax breaks coming to an end, there was also a ‘fiscal cliff deal’ that was implemented on January 1. The most important details about the deal includes the payroll tax which has increased to 6.2% for individuals making an income of $113,700 or more, and there was an raise in investment tax, increasing from 15% to 23.8% for individuals in the highest tax bracket and a 3.8% surtax on investment income for individuals earning more than $200K and couples making more than $250K. The deal will raises taxes on 77.1% of U.S. households. However, they did extend the Bush-era tax cuts.

SEQUESTRATION

Sequestration is the term used to describe the governments forced budget cuts. The sequester was suppose to start at the beginning of the governments financial year (also known as fiscal year), which was September 1, 2012. However, it was pushed back to allow Congress to focus on the fiscal cliff. They gave themselves until March 1st 2013 to come up with a budget that would reduce the governments spending by 1.2 trillion dollars over a nine year period. And if they couldn't come up with a plan, which they haven’t, the sequester would automatically cut funding from government agencies across the board (leaving only a few pots of money safe, i.e. social security, military personnel, and Medicaid).

Many news reports are not recognizing the fact that the governments fiscal year is half way complete and that the $85 million budget cut for 2013 is not impacting an entire 12 months of spending, but will be pulled from the remaining six months left of the Fiscal Year 2013 which ends October 31. Many government employees working for the DoD will be furloughed a day a week, causing their salary to increase my 20%.

The government is the heart of the United States economy. Government spending is reduced, causing civilian employees and other government workers to have a reduction in salary. This then trickles down to contractors. Once their pay is cut that equals less spending at retail stores and restaurants. No one knows exactly how this will impact the economy, but from my point of view, it doesn't look good.

Sources:


http://bonds.about.com/od/Issues-in-the-News/a/What-Is-The-Fiscal-Cliff.htm


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/01/fiscal-cliff-deal-passed-_n_2394022.html


http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/debt-ceiling.asp#ixzz2MxazCofj