THE STATE OF BLACK SAN FRANCISCO (6/29/08)
San Francisco is in a flux and has failed to exercise its moral compass when it comes to opportunities and pertinent issues linked to Blacks in San Francisco.
When the Osiris Coalition sent out an invitation this Saturday, June 28, 2008 - I decided to answer the clarion call. The event was held at the West Bay Conference Center in the Fillmore and so I decided to invite many young people to voice their opinion. They came but did not get an opportunity to voice their sentiments. San Franciscošs Blacks from the early 1880s have been adversely impacted immensely by the worst type of discrimination. In the early 1880s many Blacks left San Francisco - in fact fifty percent of the population - and sailed for Canada. There in British Columbia they all did very well for them selves. The same happened after the 1906 earthquake. And then in recent history with San Francisco Redevelopment Agency removing thousands - using Eminent Domain as a tool. Thousands were given certificates but those certificate holders are holding an empty bag up until today. All this happened in the Fillmore now called the Western Addition. The Osiris Coalition made some vague attempt to voice the concerns of Blacks. It should have given an opportunity to the youth and those younger to speak up - but failed to take a great opportunity at this forum of sorts on Out Migration. It is funny bordering on craziness when we often hear folks that talk the talk but cannot walk the walk. Have we not learned not to trust those that take any money from the City of San Francisco? Those sell outs that take money from Lennar, grants from the City of San Francisco - and daily shout and scream but harm the community. Some were on the panel pretending they serve the Black community. Who do you think introduced crack cocaine in our Black communities? Who do you think runs a Trillion Dollar Incarceration Industry? Who do you think destroyed the Black Family? And who do you think is responsible for the de-population of San Francisco? In San Francisco Blacks have an astounding recorded history far more superior and outstanding then most other ethnicities. Setting the trail and bringing settlers to California were the Buffalo Soldiers. Over four hundred of them lie at the Veterans Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco. Blacks must not forget Mary Allen Pleasant, James Monroe Whitfield, Henry Clay, William Alexander Leidesdorff, Henry Wager Halleck and many more - all Black and all that have contributed immensely to San Francisco. Blacks owned hotels, newspapers, warehouses, bathhouse, churches, you name it - when few could do so - and did it with style. Yet, today many Blacks have no clue - less appreciate the trail blazers of yester years and how they laid the path and others blew it. Those Black women and men of integrity never for a moment - would appreciate the many snitches and sell outs that today thrive like leaches and have sold the Black community. Decades ago the Human Rights Committee was formed in the Bayview - today it is the Human Rights Commission. Charged, this HR Commission brought forth a document named the Unfinished Agenda - the Unfinished Agenda addresses practically every aspect linked to de-population that we experience today. But, who is to say. Recently, under the nemesis of Mayor Gavin Newsom a Task Force was created to study the - Out Migration of Blacks. Why reinvent the wheel and if it reinvented - where are the time lines and goals. And, why is it even as we speak tools such as Injunctions, evictions, incarceration, discrimination are used against Blacks in San Francisco? Black Pastors in San Francisco have no sense of Black History and more they have no Spirituality. Many have become developers and have made their Churches - Market Places. They meet in funny places and take envelopes stacked with blood money - and then under and above the table and across the floor. Osiris was an Egyptian Pharaoh who was cut in pieces and his body buried all over the land. His sister Isis made every attempt to find the severed pieces of the Pharaohšs corpse and gave the remains the respect it needed. So goes the legend or be it an analogy of what is happening to the Black Community in San Francisco. The Osiris Coalition means well and many will support it - if it fine tunes its delivery and gives opportunity to those that are young and the future of the destiny of Blacks in San Francisco. The Black youth in San Francisco have been decimated by this Racist City. The paradox is that Black Pastors and so called Black leaders have participated in this genocide of our Black youth - directly and indirectly. The days of making loud noises by so called Adults who have appointed themselves as leaders are over. The days of covert dealings have come to haunt these scum bags. The key note speaker Clarence B. Jones an advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and a provider of strategic legal and financial consulting services made some astute statements. He was smart to acknowledge the statements earlier made by Minister Christopher Muhammad of the Nation of Islam linked to de-population and gentrification by rogue developers. Fake and vague policies emitting from high places that do not serve the better interests of the community at large. Corrupt forces using mostly Blacks have destroyed our community in the Bayview Hunters Point. Some of them - I witnessed sneaking into the Conference Hall to check out what really was happening. Then, when they realized it was too hot in the kitchen they fled. Most cowards do that - simply because they have no moral compass. We have studied the pathetic events that have led to mostly poor Blacks being driven to despair and then into incarceration. The smarts ones linger in Federal and State jails. The really smart ones for a longer time - under the guise of rehabilitation to be used as prison labor much as the plantation had slave labor. A parody of sorts was the Juneteen Festival held in an enclosure much like that of cattle herded for slaughter. Once held in the Open Air on the Fillmore Street - some Judas gave some $9000 dollars to have it held opposite City Hall - the Masta looked out his window - and saw that in his eyes all was good. They so-called educated Blacks tag themselves as intellectuals and then proceed to preach to the choir. The dynamics of today world are complex and only a fool will tag herself or himself as an intellectual and then proceed to beat a horse to death. It is precisely that type of mentality that our youth run away from and it is from that type of mentality - frustration leads to despair and then to crime. On the panel were many that take money from the San Francisco City and one or two that report to Room 200 and to Caligula who makes his abode - therein. There was a so called consultant working for Lennar and he got his first dose when Minister Christopher Muhammad spelt out the rules of deceit. A couple of the panelists were squirming and others wished they had not ventured to a place where their moral compass would be put on display. Good leaders know the way, show the way, and go the way. The Osiris Coalition threw some arrows in the air - the next time around the focus should be on a few topics with less panelists and more expression from those that matter the most- the audience. Enjoy the photographs from the Community Forum present by the Osiris Coalition: |