THE BLACK JEWISH EXPERIENCE

Gym Class Heroes: Stereo Hearts ft. Adam Levine: This Black Jew's Music You Have to Listen To

2011-12-04T14:28:00.005-05:00

Gym Class Heroes: Stereo Hearts ft. Adam Levine

Past Club Hits:
They Might Be Giants - I Palindrome I
Grandmaster Flash - The Message
Rosh Hashannah Songs
We Shall Overcome
Kirk Franklin - I Smile
The Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance
Billy Bragg -There Is Power In A Union
Mahilia Jackson - How I Got Over
MC Lyte ft. Missy Elliott - Cold Rock A Party
Madonna - Like a Prayer
LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Maino - Million Bucks
Star Spangled Banner
Jessie J - Price Tag
Mos Def - Mathematics
Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said ft. Skylar Grey
American Anthem - Norah Jones
Dayenu, Coming Home - The Fountainheads Passover Song
Nate Dogg - Oh No
The Maccabeats - Purim Song
Notorious BIG - Big Pappa
Nina Simone - The King of Love is Dead
Debbie Friedman - Alef Bet Vet
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
Nas ft. Keri Hilson - Hero
Biz Markie and Jeff Goldblum - Just a Friend
Bob Marley - One Love
Angie Stone - Brotha
Lenny Kravitz - Can't Get You Off My Mind
Jay-Z Death of Autotune
Y-Love and Dov Rosenblatt
2Pac Changes
Nas - I Can
Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On?

Money in Politics - Excerpt From My Letter to Planet Money

2011-11-21T07:07:00.000-05:00

(end of this clip)

Your story on Money in Politics was not quite right, but unfortunately a standard misunderstanding people have about how money in politics work.

I used to actually be a fundraiser for Congressional Democratic candidates. I still work in politics, so I have a certain level of expertise that I think help me understand this issue better.

Yes, money does get you access, but not to the issues people think of as core values such as choice or support for green energy. What you hinted at but did not quite grasp is that with 435 Representatives, 100 Senators, a President plus 50 State Houses, Governor's mansions and judiciaries, there is actually a limited number of financial resources for elected officials. Most of the money that is dolled out is entirely ideological. For example a Democratic House Representative will get money from unions or choice groups because they are likely to believe in those issues. Republicans get more money from CEO's and the Chamber of Commerce because what they believe lines up with those concerns. Even still that money is only given to candidates in swing districts and heads of committees. The rest of the money, most of it, comes from business people, associations and personal contacts in the Congressional District itself. That is where the pressure point of money actually takes place for most elected officials.

Where money is interesting on a more national level is actually on the issues that don't get covered. The issues where the American public are not at the table are where money plays its real role. For example, Communications firms spend more than just about any other industry. That's because the media doesn't cover itself. So for example you will see an issue where Republicans and Democrats agree is on giving Comcast the ability to buy NBC or Verizon to merge with T-Mobile. Opposition to Net Neutrality gets support from the Right Wing and the Congressional Black Caucus because that money flows to everyone in Congress on that issue.

Ironically the movie The Distinguished Gentleman with Eddie Murphy has done one of the best explanations of how money actually works. An issue comes before a Congressperson, and without any money, the lobbyists are able to appeal to the promise of Jobs. Fear of being opposed on a complex issue and not getting the sort of intelligent coverage of that issue by the media makes it hard to take it on. If you succumb to status-quo that lobbyist has money to make it more palatable decision.

The solution is actually simple. You don't need to regulate any money spent by Congressman. Just give them free access to the people's airwaves. Give every person running space on newspapers who get funding from the government as "Newspaper of record," and give them access to the radio airwaves. Equal access for free would take away any need for all the money.

Which gets to the heart of why money is needed in politics. For many local stations, Political Commercials are a primary source of income. So the media NEEDS money in politics.

I hope the next couple of stories on this get better.

Muppet Show - Mahna Mahna: This Black Jew's Music You Have to Listen To

2011-11-20T19:53:00.000-05:00

Muppet Show - Mahna Mahna

I have had a really rough week and for rough weeks, this is my happy place.

Past Club Hits:
They Might Be Giants - I Palindrome I
Grandmaster Flash - The Message
Rosh Hashannah Songs
We Shall Overcome
Kirk Franklin - I Smile
The Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance
Billy Bragg -There Is Power In A Union
Mahilia Jackson - How I Got Over
MC Lyte ft. Missy Elliott - Cold Rock A Party
Madonna - Like a Prayer
LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Maino - Million Bucks
Star Spangled Banner
Jessie J - Price Tag
Mos Def - Mathematics
Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said ft. Skylar Grey
American Anthem - Norah Jones
Dayenu, Coming Home - The Fountainheads Passover Song
Nate Dogg - Oh No
The Maccabeats - Purim Song
Notorious BIG - Big Pappa
Nina Simone - The King of Love is Dead
Debbie Friedman - Alef Bet Vet
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
Nas ft. Keri Hilson - Hero
Biz Markie and Jeff Goldblum - Just a Friend
Bob Marley - One Love
Angie Stone - Brotha
Lenny Kravitz - Can't Get You Off My Mind
Jay-Z Death of Autotune
Y-Love and Dov Rosenblatt
2Pac Changes
Nas - I Can
Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On?

Using Video Games for Exercise

2011-11-19T19:53:00.004-05:00

I often work 80 to 90 hours per week. If I am not filling my time trying to make the world just a little more perfect place, it feels like I am wasting my time. So I fill it with activism for a bunch of issues and activism for my actual work.

It doesn't leave much time for exercise, despite me actually loving to do it. Yes I am a very large Black Jew, but I have always been very active.

If I had copious amounts of free time and a world that treated every human being with the innate dignity of G-d, I would spend all my time hiking and playing sports. I wish I could play Rugby and Football, Hike, Swim, Softball, and my favorite Yoga.

I make time for none of these things. What I found in the absence I think is the future of exercise for a lot of Americans who are all over worked. Gaming Systems, especially as they become fitted with devices to catch our movement and actions, can be used as a means to substitute the gym.

They offer dynamic workouts that keep me interested where videos that simply replay the same thing over and over do not. And they keep track of my progress building and changing to match what I have done.

I have a Wii gaming system (I love you Wii) and these are the games I use to exercise.

EA Sports Active 2 for Wii

This was my favorite as it was like having a hardcore trainer in my house. The only problems with it were it doesn't always pick up real movements and after finishing the 90 day work out, game gets boring.

New U Fitness First Yoga Yes, actual yoga... its a lot of fun as well.

Golds Gym Cardio WorkoutI get to fake Box and by far it gives me the best work out. I end up sweating and feeling my core really worked, and I barely noticed.

If you are pressed for time and have a gaming system, I suggest you give it a try. Of course I always prefer getting out from the TV screen and enjoying nature or getting in front of a real yoga teacher who can place me in the right positions. But without the money and without the time, its a nice way to keep me going during those long weekdays when I get home after 10.

The Fight For Justice is Taking a Step Forward - Step Up, Make a Call

2011-11-15T09:08:00.001-05:00

Today the Transgender Civil Rights Bill will possibly be up for a vote in the Massachusetts State House. After 3 years the bill will finally get a fair opportunity to pass.

The bill simply extends civil rights protections, the ones we take for granted, to Transgendered Americans. Just as someone can't fire you, refuse you work, deny housing, education or credit, or suffer harassment or violence against you based on the color of your skin (that includes because you are White), your gender, how much money you make, your choice of partner, it would also say you can't be discriminated against people based on gender expression and self identification.

This simple word addition will transform our relationship to justice, opening Transgendered Bay Staters to be treated with the same rights as the rest of us.

Call your State Representative let them know you support this bill.

MA State House Switchboard (617) 722-2539

What I wrote a few months ago about the Transgender Equal Rights Bill

There's so much beauty in the world, I know it can be intimidating but we should embrace all beautiful forms that people come in. When all people are accepted as full expressions of themselves their beauty is able to be reflected out on our society giving us all the benefit of their fullest love, wisdom and creativity. For people to be who they are meant to be in all the wonderful beautiful colors, forms, sizes and manners that reflect the universal love that is in Jewish tradition referred to as Hashem, we at the very least need to give basic civil rights protection.

One of the ways we in America get us close to realizing the innate humanity of our citizenry is to ensure equality under the law. To realize the dream that everyone be able to “pursue, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” we require that people be judged on the content of their character.

When my great Grandmother was a slave we gave her freedoms and protection to ensure her ability to access freedom. When those failed to bring the equal access we passed more protections to say, we know she looks different, darker, but you need to give her equal access to housing, employment and basic rights; the same access to our society as her lighter counterparts.

When people were being discriminated against because of who they choose to love, we said that’s not right, for our society to be as great as it should be, we should encourage and value love not hate it. We as a Commonwealth said, what is important is that everyone have access to work, live and access services regardless of you love. Our communities are stronger for it.

Now we see (as this video above shows) that people are being beaten, killed, sexually assaulted, discriminated from housing and stopped from unleashing their creative energy in the workforce simply because their gender assignment doesn't fit neatly into a small box we created to differentiate people.

As a Straight Black Man, I am hurt when Transgenedered people are discriminated. Hurt that people I love, are told they are not equal, hurt because I don't get their full expression of themselves in my life. I get a human who first and foremost is trying to cope with a society that sees them as unequal, lesser than. Despite the amazing strength it takes to live with the basic dignity of knowing thyself, even the strongest of people, is shortened a little by carrying our society's hateful burden. In short, I am hurt that loved ones are more likely to be homeless and suicidal simply because they look “different.”

As a religious Jew I believe that we are made in the reflection of the universal love we know as Hashem, I don’t believe that reflection is narrow and small. I believe Hashem to be vast and incomprehensibly beautiful. I believe that Transgendered people are made in that incomprehensible beauty's image. Just as we as a society have come to understand that about my Great Grandmother, Grandmother, Mother and myself, so too must we come to understand that about everyone.

Call Now!

They Might Be Giants - I Palindrome I: This Black Jew's Music You Have to Listen To

2011-11-13T13:34:00.003-05:00

In honor of 11-11-11 one of my favorite They Might Be Giants songs about one of my favorite things, Palindromes. I had to honor 11-11-11 even if its no longer the 11th (although posting it today)

Past Club Hits:
Grandmaster Flash - The Message
Rosh Hashannah Songs
We Shall Overcome
Kirk Franklin - I Smile
The Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance
Billy Bragg -There Is Power In A Union
Mahilia Jackson - How I Got Over
MC Lyte ft. Missy Elliott - Cold Rock A Party
Madonna - Like a Prayer
LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Maino - Million Bucks
Star Spangled Banner
Jessie J - Price Tag
Mos Def - Mathematics
Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said ft. Skylar Grey
American Anthem - Norah Jones
Dayenu, Coming Home - The Fountainheads Passover Song
Nate Dogg - Oh No
The Maccabeats - Purim Song
Notorious BIG - Big Pappa
Nina Simone - The King of Love is Dead
Debbie Friedman - Alef Bet Vet
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
Nas ft. Keri Hilson - Hero
Biz Markie and Jeff Goldblum - Just a Friend
Bob Marley - One Love
Angie Stone - Brotha
Lenny Kravitz - Can't Get You Off My Mind
Jay-Z Death of Autotune
Y-Love and Dov Rosenblatt
2Pac Changes
Nas - I Can
Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On?

11-11-11 The Night I Can't Forget

2011-11-12T22:31:00.001-05:00

I have been debating whether or not to write about what happened to me and more importantly others Friday night. This blog always strives to not be a diary about my life but an exploration of what is actually important. For that reason, despite the incident being person, I put my thoughts below in hopes it furthers a dialogue so desperately needed.

Friday night on my way home from work I saw someone get stabbed. No more than maybe a foot or two away, I saw the face as one child stabbed another. I saw the young man who was stabbed's shock as he realized what had happened and blood started to pour out of his chest soaking the front of his entire shirt. I remember the face of the other child, the look as he no longer had any humanity for himself or the person he was trying to injure.

It's a moment I haven't been able to stop running through my mind since.

via Boston Globe:

A man suffered life-threatening injuries last night when he was stabbed downtown near the Boston Common, police said. Officer James Kenneally, a Boston Police Department spokesman, said the stabbing occurred at about 8:30 p.m. in the area of Temple Place and Tremont Street. The man was taken to Tufts Medical Center, Kenneally said.

I was walking by the fight on the way to take the bus to my car and I remember thinking I should just avoid this and it will run itself out. Then that horrible thought stopped myself instantly, there were so many people around, surely we could break this up by stepping in. I mean children fighting is surely important enough to stop so it didn't escalate beyond everyone's control. So I yelled stop. I saw some people try to pull the kids a part. But it didn't last it kept escalating. There was a moment I thought about just leaving fearful what might happen and wanting the violence to just be over.

But how could anyone walk away as our children were beating the crap our of one another?

Then it happened, as the girls were in the middle of the street beating up this mother of a two year old, a Child thinking himself a man, said "take this nigger," and stabbed a young man in the chest.

At first I thought he just punched him in the stomach, but as I quickly saw the blood spilling out through his shirt and onto the street I realized the worst had happened.

After he was stabbed I made the call to 911, something I admit was much harder then it should have been but I was so nervous and the buttons so small on my Blackberry what was an instant felt a lifetime to get them on the phone.

An EMT who was walking by helped me keep pressure on the wound. I took off my backpack to put my sweater on the wound. And then it was over, the ambulance came the police blocked off the area and we were left with what we saw. I mention this last part I think because I have to hope that our quick action to put pressure on the wound saved this man's life. I need the vanity of this to be true I think to expel some of the guilt for failing to miserably at breaking up the fight. I need it to be true to add some purpose to what still feels like a helpless situation.

Why write about it?

I first remember when the police gathered us to take our statements, that I hadn't noticed the 2 year old in a stroller. But there he was in tears looking up clearly scared and confused. Then the woman who was beaten on the ground told the police that the man stabbed was her husband.

What made me decided to write about this was when she said where she lived. A family homeless shelter.

Poverty is violent. The worry that you don't know where you will live or how you will eat tears at your body. Not to mention that when you don't have a roof over your head, protection from people who prey on other people is hard to come by. I used to work as an intake social worker at a family homeless shelter so seeing a child in tears, a mother and wife sobbing as her husband was fighting for his life hit a tragically comfortable memory.

A child who no longer has any self-worth, a group of children who see no humanity in other people, listless with nothing to do these children who started the fight with this working homeless family are our failed castaways. When a child has given up on himself and everyone else we have to ask, how have we failed? Yes, people make their own decisions, we should hold a person to account. But there is a difference between vengeance and justice. Justice requires self-examination just as these children have failed, we have also failed them.

Not just them, we failed a young family. How have we created a society where a young family can work and not have a place to live is tragic.

Friday was a tragedy I keep reliving. It was our lost humanity on display from the violence to all the people all who stood by and watched it. A moment, I can't stop thinking about.

Happy Veteran's Day & Happy Armistice Day

2011-11-11T18:32:00.000-05:00

Repost: Happy Veterans Day to my mother and to all those who are and are not with us today thank you for your service. To my Great Grandfather Gordon who fought in WWI and was there on Armistice Day and yet I got to meet and love, thank you for your service. To Grandpa: you are missed. Thank you for all you did for this country.

To Mom and Grandpa, Thanks For Your Service

Also:

Happy Armistice Day

Nov. 11, 1918 Was the end of WWI, before we made it Veterans Day, it was Armistice Day, to remind us of the end of a horrible war that brought the world tanks, machine guns, air warfare, and the first use of chemical and biological warfare. Before we made the mistake of making it a general day to salute military power it was a day to remember the day that was supposed to end the WAR OF ALL WARS.

Let us honor Armistice Day by striving to end war. Just as those who fought in WWI hoped would be the legacy of their sacrifice.

Go Vote Today

2011-11-08T05:55:00.001-05:00

Missed, the Passing of Sylvia Robinson

2011-10-29T23:04:00.000-05:00

Sylvia Robinson was the mother of Hip Hop. When rap hit the streets in the 70's, artist and record producer Sylvia Robinson decided to give this fledgling music a record opportunity. She signed Master Gee, Wonder Mike and Big Bank Hank to create the "Sugerhill Gang," and cut what is considered to be the first hip hop album.

It was her vision for what the future could be and love of the sound that she was hearing that created the sound of the streets.

via Daily Mail:

Sylvia Robinson, the woman some call the mother of hip-hop, has died at 76.

She hit with the sexually charged Pillow Talk but was later known as one of hip-hop's early founders as the record label owner that put out Rapper's Delight, rap's first mainstream success.

Along with her late husband, Joe, Robinson was the owner of Sugar Hill Records. In 1979, it released the song that would become widely known as rap's first hit, "Rapper's Delight," by the Sugar Hill Gang.

The song was released as hip-hop was just beginning to emerge as a genre; for the most part, it was a budding phenomenon bubbling on New York City streets. Robinson recognized the potential of the music and wanted her struggling label to capitalize on it.

'She saw where a DJ was talking and the crowd was responding to what he was saying, and this was the first time she ever saw this before,' her son Joey said in a 2000 interview with NPR.

It turned out she was right. After gathering three rappers (Master Gee, Wonder Mike and Big Bank Hank) to record the 15-minute song, the party groove became a sensation.

...But Sugar Hill Records would continue to play a part on the early years of hip-hop with a roster that included Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five.

Rest in Peace Mother of Hip Hop Sylvia Robinson.

Jesus Is a Brown, Anti-War, Arab, Socialist

2011-10-28T07:56:00.000-05:00

How Jesus went from the man who demanded we all sacrifice for the least among us to be an advocate for death violence and greed is so abhorrent I often wonder how people can preach it with straight face. And yet we have people preach the un-preachable, believe the unbelievable to justify immorality.

Via The Washington Post:

But to understand just how non-capitalistic Christianity is supposed to be we turn to the first chapter after the gospels, Acts, which describes the events of the early church. Chapters 2 and 4 state that all “the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need… No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had…. There were no needy persons among them. From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.”

Now folks, that’s outright socialism of the type described millennia later by Marx - who likely got the general idea from the gospels.

The pro-capitalist Christians who are aware of these passages wave them away even though it is the only explicit description of Christian economics in the Bible.

To get just how central collectivism is to Christian canon, consider that the Bible contains the first description of socialism in history. Anti-socialist Christians also claim that the Biblical version was voluntary. Aside from it being obvious that the biblical version of God was not the anti-socialist Christian capitalists commonly proclaim he was, some dark passages in Acts indicate how deeply pro-socialist the New Testament deity is. Chapter 5 details how when a church member fails to turn over all his property to the church “he fell down and died,” when his wife later did the same “she fell down… and died… Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.”

Dear readers, does this not sound like a form of terror-enforced-communism imposed by a God who thinks that Christians who fail to join the collective are worthy of death? Not only is socialism a Christian invention, so is its extreme communistic variant. The claim by many Christians that Christ hates socialism is untrue, while no explicit description of capitalism is found in the Bible - not surprising because it had not yet evolved.

Troops renew attacks on pro-democracy demonstrators

2011-10-26T07:35:00.030-05:00

Security Forces moved into the demonstrations late last night to clear out pro-Democracy protestors who had been gaining momentum as they demand an end to their country's oppressive regime. Security Forces waited until the late morning hours before firing bullets and tear gas at demonstrators disperse the peaceful protest. Journalists who were on the scene were also beaten by police and had their cameras confiscated. Pro-Democracy protesters who were taken into custody by Security Forces were put into cells without food or water for hours without charge before finally being release today. One pro-Democracy demonstrator was put in solitary confinement and locked away unless $10,000 was paid in ransom. Officials for the regime claimed the pro-democracy demonstrator was standing around without proper I.D. The regime has said there will be no repercussions for the security forces who were forced to take action against the peaceful demonstration.

The above title is taken from a Western account of Syria’s actions against protestors. We cover protests in Syria as attacks on peaceful protesters but you don’t have to go to Damascus or Cairo to see that sort of violent crackdown you can just look to the streets of our cities. Oakland saw an attack on American cities that rivals crack downs on the Arab streets of despotic regimes. It’s an escalation (as repressive regimes are want to do) from previous violent crack downs at Occupy Wall Street, Boston, Chicago and Atlanta.

This is not to say that the Obama administration or any other democratic institutions in this country are the same as the dictators that fell during the Arab Spring. It's to recognize that they have so been taken over by the corrosive forces of corporate greed and legal corporate bribery under the guise of campaign donations as to have lost control. Add to that a media that is antagonistic to outpouring of democracy against the corporate regime that is responsible for the undemocratic takeover.

What should follow in a democratic society after an event like the police riot in Oakland is a discussion of what the police did with our money and in our name. If the Oakland PD should have stopped pro-democracy protesters from using OUR streets, OUR parks, OUR sidewalks to express their First Amendment rights to assembly and free speech.

What actually happened because the security forces are not bound by democratic institutions but rather the protection of the elite ruling class. They lie and cover up their actions just as they did in Egypt, Tunisia and are currently doing in Syria.

via RT.com:

Google has been asked by a US law enforcement agency to remove several videos exposing police brutality from the video sharing service YouTube, the company has revealed in its latest update to an online transparency report.

Another request filed by a different agency required Google to remove videos allegedly defaming law enforcement officials. The two requests were among 92 submissions for content removal by various authorities in the US filed between January and June 2011. Both were rejected by Google along with 27 per cent of the submissions.

They then went out and claimed they didn’t use rubber bullets.

"A police 12 ga. cartridge and a rubber bullet. #OccupyOakland on Twitpic"

Just like in Egypt, we have a few Armed Service members who understand who they serve and why. If there is a clearer vision for what this country stands for, this must be it. Navy Man standing in uniform holding a copy of the constitution as police fire on him:

"Single navyman faces riot police after they fire tear gas. he... on Twitpic"

We should be just as outraged when it happens here.

"Lousy Media Coverage" Hurting our Country says Pulitzer-winning journalist

2011-10-25T20:20:00.007-05:00

I think of this video because of the coverage of the Occupy Movement and the continued abdication of the "mainstream" media of its role in informing the US electorate about important issues. While critical discussions around deficit, taxes and health care are playing out in our politics, the corporate media is focused on "who is winning," and "what does that say about this politician or that." There is no attempt to even try to make these important issues approachable in a serious way. Let alone give voice to viewpoints outside the extreme right wing to a little right of center.

more from David Cay Johnston via Media Matters:

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston offers a scathing indictment of contemporary journalism:

[W]e are failing in our core mission of providing people with the knowledge they need for our democracy to function.

...Increasingly what I see are news reports evidencing a basic lack of knowledge about government. And this isn’t happening just with beat reporters but with the assignment and copy editors who are supposed to review stories before they get into print or on the air.

…Far too much of journalism consists of quoting what police, prosecutors, politicians and publicists say—and this is especially the case with beat reporters. It’s news on the cheap and most of it isn’t worth the time it takes to read, hear or watch.

…Much of what passes for reporting about government these days is not only information that is useless, it is laughable nonsense, and I have the coffee stains on my robe to prove it. Every morning I read “Beat the Press” on the Center for Economic and Policy Research website, which is liberal economist Dean Baker’s critique of the economic theory, policy and “facts” he finds on the front pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other media outlets. Baker routinely picks apart articles that are as far from reality as a weather story that says the sun rose in the West.

Sometimes I send these criticisms on to the ombudsman or top editors of the offending publications. I have even put together packages showing from the newspaper’s own clips that what was printed is utterly false. But I rarely see any corrections made nor any insistence that writers actually know what they are writing about when it comes to government policy, economic policy, taxes or treaties.

There’s more, and it’s well worth a read.

Koch Brother Kill Americans - Still Supported

2011-10-24T21:21:00.000-05:00

15 people in Arkansas died because they lived down river from Koch industries who knowingly dumped chemicals into people's eco system. If we had a functioning justice system that actually prosecuted criminals instead of punishing the poor, the Koch Brothers would be in jail instead of bribing legislators to get favorable laws passed.

We the 99 Percent Need You to go to Liberty Plaza to SAVE OUR MOVEMENT

2011-10-13T17:38:00.000-05:00

The movement to finally hold Wall Street accountable and to re-imagine the America we see dwindling away from our collective dreams has reached that critical moment.

Occupy Wall Street is at a critical moment. Mayor Bloomberg has decided he can’t stand the protestors in Liberty Plaza any longer. He is removing the protestors, taking away their freedom to assemble, illegally seizing their valuables and making it illegal to “lie down” in the park. Bloomberg, the mayor who made his money off our backs, who created a media empire to cater to that 1% is standing up for them.

Now more than ever we need anyone who is able to go down to New York or who lives in the area and thought about attending. Now is that time.

This movement will die, unless we successfully defy this unjust order.

When the Freedom Riders decided to go from Chicago down to New Orleans through Alabama and Mississippi defying Southern Jim Crow law and the unspoken rules of the day they were crazy radicals even Dr. King warned to think twice. Beaten and arrested for what was ultimately right but not yet law, it sparked something in our parents and grandparents to say, this has to end.

The Kennedy administration and the south hoped it would go away. But what started as an act of Northerners riding down agitating for equality gained momentum. It became a country wide effort that gained momentum and got larger as officials tried to squash it.

This is that moment. When NYPD comes into the square, making and beating protestors to clear the square. THERE HAS TO BE REINFORCEMENTS. THERE HAS TO BE NUMBERS SO LARGE that to defy the protesters request will feel a fool’s errand and against public will.

THAT CAN ONLY HAPPEN IF YOU GO TO DEFEND LIBERTY PLAZA nonviolently.

THIS IS THE MOMENT.

What started out as a few lefty white kids who read Ad Busters to a worldwide phenomenon inspired by protests against Arab dictatorships and inspiring similar actions against the repressive hopelessness that has engulfed Westernize Democracies, has reached its first big moment.

Do you believe change is going to come? Or will you be a part of making it? We need you, WE the 99% need all of YOU who can do it to fill in the ranks, nonviolently defend Liberty Plaza as Gandhi, the Suffragists, Dr. King, Caesar Chavez and countless others have taught us to do.

Now is the time to make this fight clear, the political forces stand with the financial elite, we can only win if everyone else stands with the 99 Percent.

Boston Can't Decide Why it Had to Arrest, Steal and Beat Occupy Boston Protestors

2011-10-12T06:22:00.014-05:00

Late around 1 a.m. the Boston PD moved into a public park gifted by Rose Kennedy to brutally attack the Occupy Boston protesters who had moved onto our Greenway.

The Greenway was created after Massachusetts and indeed Nationwide tax payers created the Boston Big Dig putting the highway underground. The Greenway is our space. It is named after Rose Kennedy a stalwart advocate for increasing human rights who gave this nation 3 of her sons in service to that goal.

Yet, the Boston PD had the moment they wanted, they moved in and attacked. Knocking down Veterans, stealing people's property and beating American citizens expressing their first amendment rights.

Why? Well, it depends when and who you ask. Via Boston.com: Mayor, BPD need to get their story straight on overnight arrests

The reasons Mayor Thomas Menino and the Boston Police Department arrested protestors at the Occupy Boston movement late last night — after days of peaceful coexistence — depends on which newspaper website you read this morning.

The 2:53 a.m. version of Boston Globe’s website story says the police were trying to protect the Greenway, and that the space on the Greenway protestors moved to is private property. Here are two paragraphs from the Globe story:
Officials do not want the protesters, who originally settled in Dewey Square, to occupy the space across Congress Street on the Greenway because it recently underwent a renovation project where expensive improvements were added, according to Elaine Driscoll, police spokeswoman.

The notice informed the group of laws against trespassing on a new patch of the Greenway — bordered by Congress Street, Atlantic Avenue, Pearl Street, and Purchase Street — where tents have sprung up since about 4 p.m, and is also private property.
According to the Boston Herald website, in a story the website says was updated at 8 a.m., Boston Police were moving against a new, more dangerous contingent of protestors: anarchists.
Davis acknowledged that the arrests marked a shift in the once harmonious relations between the group and the police.

“The group that was here for the first ten days was working very closely with us,” Davis said, “but they warned us yesterday morning that a new group, the anarchists, wanted to take control.”
If I read that quote right, Commissioner Davis says the police moved in and made arrest because the Occupy Boston people told the police “anarchists” were moving in with plans to “take control.”

But BPD spokeswomen Driscoll says it was because the protestors had moved onto newly renovated private property on the Greeneway.

In an interview with WBUR this morning, Menino said the police were called in to make arrests because “the protestors exceeded the boundaries we set up for them for the original encampment. They took on property that was not part of the agreement they had.”

The mayor made it clear in in the interview that more police action is coming.

“There is a time and place at which we have to end the encampment, and that time and place will come in the near future, but we have to continue to listen to some of the issues they talk about,” Menino told WBUR. “They have some right issues, but the way they went about it – civil disobedience doesn’t work for Boston and it doesn’t work for anyone.”

Stay tuned. This is about to get even more confrontational, and it is unsettling that the Boston Police Department cannot coherently explain the reasons for its actions.

The real reason, they don't like having to care about these issues. These issues take real political courage, political will and a focus on those who don't contribute or often unfortunately vote. It requires the sort of dedication to America at the expense of personal gain that politicians despise (I know, I work with them). That is why this movement must continue to grow.

OCCUPY EVERYWHERE!

The Republican Party I Remember and Admired On Display Because of Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-11T19:56:00.019-05:00

It may be hard to believe as a Black Jew that I have Republicans in my family. My grandfather was an elected Republican Mayor and candidate for Congress. My own mother is a registered Republican (yes she is one of the 5 Black Republicans left).

The Republicans I know care deeply about the American people and want a better future, but one where we balance support with a critical look at the role of Government in that. Lovers of freedom, science and common sense; its a party they no longer know. They see a Republican party that increases freedom and takes on the powerful whether government or corporate who challenges that America.

That Republican party no longer exists, but maybe the Occupy Wall Street representing the 99 Percent is bringing it back.

Via Think Progress

RIP Fred Shuttlesworth Civil Rights Icon

2011-10-10T06:37:00.001-05:00

One of the most important icons of the Civil Rights movement in the 60's past last week.

Fred Shuttlesworth was the co-founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that launched and housed, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was also key in the Freedom Rides which invigorated the Civil Rights movement and laid the groundwork for the type of multi-racial, multi-generational direct confrontation that would be the most successful tactic for the movement.

It was a reflection of his combative nature, he famously promised to "kill segregation or be killed by it." He also wanted Dr. King to take on even more direct action he warned Dr. King that his flowery language meant nothing without actions to back it up.

His focus on ministering Jesus message of redemption by working to bring people out of the captivity of poverty and bondage of racism to freedom inspires us today.

Rest in Peace Fred Shuttleswoth your work is surely done and time for the eternal peace so definitely deserved. Our successes in the fight for ultimate liberation are your legacy we should never forget.

Grandmaster Flash The Message: This Black Jew's Music You Have to Listen To

2011-10-09T08:29:00.001-05:00

When people think to when commercial hip hop mattered, they always think of this song, "The Message." A classic by Grandmaster Flash it told a simple story about life at the time. And yet in the simple 6 minute video it has more depth then any video being made by the major hip hop labels today. Its not just a Black Jews favorite, its all Hip Hop Heads favorite.

Past Club Hits:
Rosh Hashannah Songs
We Shall Overcome
Kirk Franklin - I Smile
The Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance
Billy Bragg -There Is Power In A Union
Mahilia Jackson - How I Got Over
MC Lyte ft. Missy Elliott - Cold Rock A Party
Madonna - Like a Prayer
LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Maino - Million Bucks
Star Spangled Banner
Jessie J - Price Tag
Mos Def - Mathematics
Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said ft. Skylar Grey
American Anthem - Norah Jones
Dayenu, Coming Home - The Fountainheads Passover Song
Nate Dogg - Oh No
The Maccabeats - Purim Song
Notorious BIG - Big Pappa
Nina Simone - The King of Love is Dead
Debbie Friedman - Alef Bet Vet
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
Nas ft. Keri Hilson - Hero
Biz Markie and Jeff Goldblum - Just a Friend
Bob Marley - One Love
Angie Stone - Brotha
Lenny Kravitz - Can't Get You Off My Mind
Jay-Z Death of Autotune
Y-Love and Dov Rosenblatt
2Pac Changes
Nas - I Can
Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On?

Yom Kippur: Day of Truthful Reflection

2011-10-07T09:22:00.003-05:00

I have so much smugness almost every day I assume that I have tomorrow. There is a real arrogance to believing you will get tomorrow. When I think about the distance between the person I could be and the person that I am it’s hard to make the case for it. And yet, with an almost unbearable conceitedness I hope that I will get it.

Rosh Hashanah into Yom Kippur is a time to reflect let it be not just for the Jewish people, but for us all. I had a Rabbi who would say that each person is their own thermometer we do the work of filling our own, but we can never know what another individual person can do. We do the work of trying to perfect our own selves, and through that work, we hope to inspire and create more justice.

I have been given so many innumerable gifts and countless privileges that I am deeply sorry to say I have squandered. I can and should be a better person. I fail, repeatedly and fall back into bad habits. I pray I get the amazing gift of more sunsets and more sunrises to be better. It is a lot to ask and yet I so desperately yearn for it, to be the Jordan I should be.

I apologize to you for every personal, purposeful and accidental harm I have done to you. If there is a way I can make it up to you, please let me know.

Have a peaceful fast and a fruitful New Year!

Hashem: Will I Die

I am really not ready to go, despite all my actions. And yet this time of the year I am always more worried than ever.

Yom Kippur is supposed to be the most solemn day of the Jewish year. It certainly is as we make one finally plea for our souls.

But I always found Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year much more worrying.

We say during the holidays: "On Rush Hashanah it is writing on Yom Kippur it is sealed."

Rosh Hashanah is actually the day we are judged. By Yom Kippur it’s nearly to late, we just pleading one last time for G-d to take our innate flaws as humans into consideration.

And let’s face it, I have been horrible. I mean I have broken nearly every commandment and countless requirements as a Jew and more important as the torah tells us as a human. We actually need to apologize person to person before we can even approach G-d for forgiveness.

I have done so many deeply hurtful things even a deep heartfelt apology is often not enough for the people left in my wake.

The saddest part is that I know better every time. I do it and it causes nothing but trouble and pain for me. I know better but that doesn’t stop me from being a righteous prick.

As life is a process, I think I am getting better, learning from my deep transgressions. I wish I could apologize more to all those I have hurt. I am sorry. I just hope I continue to get the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from my mistakes.

While Rosh Hashanah is supposed to be a celebration of the New Year I have to admit that I am always scared as I approach G-d during this holiday. I just know I am not ready.

It's Time to Fightback (nonviolently) It's Time to Occupy

2011-10-06T07:37:00.004-05:00

Despite all the nay saying, the stumbles, the Occupy movement is already a success. Since the 1980’s we have been voiceless as the powerful have systematically taken away the economically secure lifestyle of our grandparents and great grandparents to benefit a few more dollars in their pockets.

For the first time since then we are having a conversation on the policies and corruption that have eaten away at American opportunity.

Because of Occupy Everywhere, the media has been forced to take on the complete abdication of responsibility by the powerful financial elite that led to the most recent transfer of wealth from our pockets to theirs through the bailouts. While it has mostly been dismissive, that political corruption, crony corporatism and the attack on our nation’s general welfare are even on the tongues of the media (who you should know are all a part of the 1%) is a success.

What is so exciting, is the building that is happening. Linkages between traditional activists and just people frustrated; the young are meeting and feeling the power of labor unions; the privileged are forced to have conversations about race and gender equality; organizers are finally getting the nonviolent support for the change we have so long envisioned.

Occupy Everywhere is real, I could not encourage you more to get involved. Spend an hour or a day or a month with the movement. Tell your story on your facebook, twitter, or upload to this tumblr: http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/

If you have a blanket to spare, $20 for some food, supplies are needed. This movement is for us, by us, and needs our support.

We are the 99 Percent. It Is time to Occupy!

JP Morgan Chase Bribes NYPD

2011-10-04T07:49:00.000-05:00

Everyone has seen the violent crackdown of peaceful protestors on Wall Street. Rather than arresting the criminals who have bribed politicians, illegal foreclosed on homes they don’t own, defrauded investors, etc. etc. they have turned on the poor people who have dared to speak up.

This fight, indeed these protests have been in the works for months. 8 months before protestors took over and renamed the park Liberty Plaza, they were planning the occupy wall street. In that same time, JP Morgan Chase decided to make the largest donation to NYPD in its history. It may have just come through this past week, but make no mistake, they knew this fight was coming to their door.

As old fashioned as kings buying loyalty for protection against the Democratic hoards, the Banks have bought their protection, first the politicians, through ads in the media and now the people with the guns.

It won’t work, the movement for sanity in our country is gaining momentum because the time has come.

We have stayed silent to long as we have traded away our economic future out of fear the corrupt enriched will make our plight even worse. The brave have stepped out to say enough is enough, it gives room for everyone else to say enough is enough.

via Your Black World:

One has to ask whether or not it’s coincidence that the NYPD receives its largest donation ever from a Wall Street firm and later arrests 700 Wall Street protesters at one time. It turns out that the NYPD “just happened” to receive a massive $4.6 million dollar donation from JP Morgan Chase this year. The funds were used to buy new police laptops, as well as security-monitoring software for the NYPD data center.

We Don't Know Anything About Elizabeth Warren's Policies, Let's Find Out Before Her Anointing

2011-10-03T23:20:00.002-05:00

Being an economic warrior is the bare minimum to be a Massachusetts Senator. I know that we will good Democrat in an election year in 2012, and with the first Black President on the ticket we should go about electing the best one.

I want to know that Elizabeth Warren is going to be a voice beyond middle class families. Is she going to be a voice to end mandatory minimums as Ted Kennedy did? Is she going to speak out for Transgender Civil Rights? Is she going to fight to stop the corporate takeovers of our schools?

Is Elizabeth Warren going to be a voice for human rights or another mealy-mouthed politician for piecemeal immigration reform?

Does she know any Black people who have been affected by the regressive policies pushed by Harvard University that have targeted our families? Like the targeting of our "problem" Black youth as a means to address the poverty caused violence.

Will she be a voice for the conscience of this nation as a Massachusetts Senator should be or an echo chamber for Democratic Presidents?

Because I don't know the answer to these questions I don't understand the hype. She could be great, but right now she is just the choice of the elite who happens to teach at an ivory tower and is speaking seemingly exclusively to the 20% of people who pay close attention to politics.

I am not willing to anoint MA's senate seat held by Ted Kennedy based on that.

I’m not saying that Elizabeth Warren isn’t qualified, I’m saying that I don’t know if she’s the best candidate, and we have many other qualified candidates running that I am not ready to dismiss.

There is a woman running for the Massachusetts Senate who isn't Elizabeth Warren.

An accomplished immigration attorney, Marissa DeFranco was one of the originally announced candidates for the Senate race to replace Sen. Scott Brown. Marissa was named a 2011 Top Woman of Law.

Marissa takes the hardest immigration cases such as fighting for the equality of love of LGBTQ couples who had the misfortune of falling in love with someone of the wrong country of origin.

Dedication to upholding the morality of our immigration system should qualify you to be a Senator. Certainly as qualified as a State Representative and Male model.

And yet, I hear over and over even on Rachel Maddow how great it is to have a woman running for Senate. Emily's list decided, Democrats are excited a woman is in the race. Elizabeth Warren is not the only woman running, she isn't the first and she may not even be the most qualified.

Bob Massie isn't just a former candidate for Lt. Governor. He is an advocate for HIV/AIDS victims, he was a voice in the wilderness educating the American public about the ills of South Africa's Apartheid; he is a courageous voice for the causes we know are right but often feel resigned that they are lost.

Bob Massie, I know will also be a conscience of the Senate because in many ways he is already the conscience of our commonwealth.

Alan Khazei gave young people the opportunity to take the energy and desire to actually work to change our world. City Year is a service, not just to the young people they serve, but to the young people who learn the profession of service. His vision is deeply beautiful and it is a vision of this country and indeed our commonwealth that we would be honored to have in the Senate.

Best of all, just like Ted Kennedy he knows how to take crazy lefty values and turn them into real bi-partisan policies.

Herbie Robinson is a nuclear physicist who is brilliant beyond my comprehension. He may not have the name recognition, rugged good looks or polish of most politicians. But he has regular common sense married with a brilliance that he wants to use to serve this country. We would all be richer were he to win the seat.

State Representative Tom Conroy is from a Conservative part of our state, but he serves as a proud Democrat. He speaks with a clarity of values that is to often forgotten in the State House. Just like Sen. Brown, he is starting as an unknown State Rep. State Rep. Conroy understood that the only way to serve the people is to talk to them.

What I know is that there are 6 other declared candidates in the Democratic Party, 5 of which have answered all of those questions on policies and all would be great Senators in their own right.

Let's have that discussion, let's find out who will be the best Senator. We don't know Chuck Schumer or the Democratic apparatus who fail us time and time again deciding who our Senator should be. Let us decide. Let's do so beyond a 2 minute blurb.

Soul Bigger (The Rosh Hashana Song): This Black Jew's Music You Have to Listen To

2011-10-02T08:09:00.000-05:00

We actually have 2 here because well they are both equally ridiculously Jewy. Enjoy and Shannah Tova

Past Club Hits:
We Shall Overcome
Kirk Franklin - I Smile
The Plastic Ono Band - Give Peace A Chance
Billy Bragg -There Is Power In A Union
Mahilia Jackson - How I Got Over
MC Lyte ft. Missy Elliott - Cold Rock A Party
Madonna - Like a Prayer
LMFAO - Party Rock Anthem
Amy Winehouse - Back to Black
Maino - Million Bucks
Star Spangled Banner
Jessie J - Price Tag
Mos Def - Mathematics
Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said ft. Skylar Grey
American Anthem - Norah Jones
Dayenu, Coming Home - The Fountainheads Passover Song
Nate Dogg - Oh No
The Maccabeats - Purim Song
Notorious BIG - Big Pappa
Nina Simone - The King of Love is Dead
Debbie Friedman - Alef Bet Vet
OK Go - This Too Shall Pass - Rube Goldberg Machine version
Nas ft. Keri Hilson - Hero
Biz Markie and Jeff Goldblum - Just a Friend
Bob Marley - One Love
Angie Stone - Brotha
Lenny Kravitz - Can't Get You Off My Mind
Jay-Z Death of Autotune
Y-Love and Dov Rosenblatt
2Pac Changes
Nas - I Can
Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On?

If LMFAO Made a Rosh Hashannah Song

2011-09-28T15:38:00.003-05:00

Celebrate in style 5772 is here