WALK BY FAITH......not by sight!

I have never been one to speak much on religion, for the intimate relationship that one has with his/her creator does not need to always be showcased. Some people feel that the more praise you show to GOD in a public forum, the better your relationship or your devotion is to the almighty creator of everything that was, is and has yet to come.

I have come to terms with that as not only being false but judgmental. Now that is something that tends to envelop the flesh: judgement. In fact, we get so caught up in feel that we have the upper-hand in our devotion to GOD that we forget that the power to judge does not belong to any of us, but to the almighty himself. This is not censuring of anyone, for if it was I would be doing the same action I presently impugn. It is merely being cognizant of an issue and speaking on what I see as a fundamental evil within the church.

Too often we get caught in doing the work of the church or other things within the world. Too often we look and search and develop the wrong type of relationships. While doing this we totally neglect the most important relationship of all. The relationship I speak of is our PERSONAL bond with GOD.

Now I am guilty of this, I won't stand here and front like I am some choir boy--I've made my mistakes as well all have and I feel more so recently, GOD is calling on me to do something. At first it seemed like I was going crazy, but there seem to be more and more signs each and everyday that pass. This is a time where I feel GOD needs me to do something! Capitulate to his will, is what he needs me to do. More of GOD and less of me is what he is telling me. And you know what? I feel like if thats what he needs and wants me to do, then its what I HAVE to do. I've been blessed with many things thus far that some people probably could never fathom and all this w/o having that strong relationship with him. Imagine what wonders GOD might work for me should I capitulate to his will.

The only way this is possible is if I Walk by Faith and not by sight! Trust and wait upon the Lord to work everything out. I feel he has something great in store for me and I am willing more than ever to accept whatever that may be. As I continue to hold onto my faith that he will force upon a spring in the depths of my winter, I understand that some of you may be going through some trials and tribulations. Some of you may be hurting or wanting to hurt. Some of you may be sick or weak. Just remember to wait upon the Lord. As the Prophet Isaiah said, "Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like Eagles , they shall run and not be weary..." (Isaiah 40:31) Just remember to keep the your faith no matter what the circumstances may be in our lives because GOD will test us as in proven in the Bible. If we just remember to hold on to his unchanging hand, then all shall be well.

I just felt the need to share this with all of you who follow me or enjoy reading my blogs. Often times words can affect people. Hopefully someone got something out of me sharing my thoughts with you.

Just some thoughts.....

Bashir Ali

Corporate Slime

As the news coverage of the oil spill in the Gulf Coast flashes across the screen every time I tune into CNN, MSNBC, Fox News or one of the local stations it seems to be even more disconcerting than the time before. The egregious and irresponsible acts that have been committed by British Petroleum commonly known as BP are a cause for grave concern.

The ecological effects are immense and it seems that the blame game, which commonly can be played during these situations of national emergency are taking hold. Members of the right are accusing President Obama for being too passive on BP. They're accusing him of being too passive in his handling of the BP leadership. They're accusing him of not listening to men like Governor Bobby Jindal (R-LA) (who somehow overnight became an expert in dealing with oil spills!--sarcasm) They're saying he isn't doing enough to ensure the small business owners and fisherman that everything is going to be alright! One delusional woman even went as far as to call this "Mr. Obama's Katrina!" While that assessment is both ludicrous and incomparable--it seems that a lot of Americans are misinformed yet again due to forces in the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. These agents of division seem to prey on situations as such to push their far-right agenda.

However, the people that they accuse such as the Democrats in Congress have not done much to assuage or ameliorate the issue that surrounds the whole oil spill debacle. Congress hasn't investigated throughly in the past few years off-shore oil drilling. There have been less than 10 hearings from both houses combined on this issue and maybe if it was paid attention to more, we might now have ended up in this situation. However, Congress can't pay for the entire bill of blame either in this instance.

BP, who seems to care only for profits and not following the rules and regulations as admitted by employees who survived the initial blast needs to be held accountable. Their insistence that profits were more important than following the rules need to be throughly investigated by Attorney General Eric Holder and his Justice Department. Furthermore, once this oil is fully cleaned up--BP needs to be handed a bill for damages to the Gulf and whatever other damages that were incurred due to their negligence.

A word of advice to all those who wish to boycott BP; that isn't exactly the smartest thing to do right now either. If we boycott their business and force them to loss money, then the taxpayers of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida might left to foot the bill, which we all know they would not want to do in this case. Once the damages have been paid for then a full boycott should be carried on by the American people of this company.

Another issue that we should recognize is that of the ecological effects that the oil spill has brought about to the region. To watch many of the those animals suffer the way they have due to human imbecility, ignorance and imprudence is truly disconcerting. In respect to that, I would hope that the Environment Protection Agency, the Interior Departments and biological/ecological agencies are doing everything in their power to rectify and alleviate the ills that this oil spill have caused to the animals that inhabit this environment.

The overall goal of me sharing my thoughts was due to what I believe is a continuation in a long line of corporate slime that stretch from EnRon to Ponzi to the current debacle of BP. It seems as if these acts of frivolity and ineptitude will never stop. Year to year it seems that a new company will grace the news waves in disgrace. Who will be next? Texaco? JP Morgan? Hewlett Packard? This we do not know for sure yet, but guarantee it will happen as it always does due to the fact of human greed.

It does seem that Congress should do more to pay attention to the oil industry instead of flying to exotic islands and dining with them. That type of attention will no do anymore. Hard regulatory action should be taken and BP needs to be made an example of to let these other companies who want to put the private interest before the public comfort again know that real "change" is in effect and not the passive rhetoric that has been commonly been replaced to cover up tough action.

Just some thoughts......

Bashir Ali

If

"If there is no struggle, there can be no progress"

This poem written by Rudyard Kipling to his son in 1899 defines whatever life's obstacles may be, you can always over come them IF you believe.

This piece of works speaks to all the obstacles that we may face in life and gives hope to overcoming them. Simply Genius.

IF

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And—which is more—you'll be a Man my son!

Young Brothers

As I look around my community, I see a lack of guidance and wisdom that is being bestowed upon my young brothers. It is truly disconcerting to see the current state of this particular community. I focus on the young black brother for a couple of reasons: One, being a young black brother myself--this is something that I can easily identify with and dissect. Two, this is a topic that needs to be focused on more by brothers like myself who are on the right path (not to be self-aggrandizing).

W.E.B DuBois charged the talented 10th to go back into our communities and be engaged in its well-being. The only problem is from my view, is that we are failing. We are failing in the sense that many of our young brothers have gone after things and engaged in a culture of foolery.

Who is to blame for this? We can go on to play the blame game for days, but it won't solve the phenomenon that is currently at hand. We can blame the demise of the nuclear family, to the be replaced by a barrage of single mother households. We can blame the educational system for failing to reach our young brothers because of their antiquated methods. We can "try" to blame hip-hop and violent video games. We can blame the government for X,Y, and Z. My question is this: When do we cease playing the blame game? I think the times has to be now. We are in a new era and a new order must be established.

Look at our President for example. Barack Obama, he is a testament what hard work, determination and hope can produce in a seamless conjunction. The same goes for our nations Attorney General Eric Holder. The number of positive black men out there is never ending. However, the question is--what are we doing to make sure the next generation, the new era, the new order is sufficiently prepared to lead a globally interconnected world?

The young brothers out there just need the right type of guidance. All it takes is for someone who understands their plight and struggle to come back and be a positive influence in their lives and show them that their current state, struggle, shortcomings have no bearing on what is achievable in their futures. All it takes is for us brothers to come back and take a serious interest in these young mens lives. If we do that, then the changes that we truly yearn to see will come to pass.

Earlier this week, I participated in a panel of with fellow alumni of my High School. As we sat and spoke to the young people about college, life and goals something hit me. I thought back to John Edwards and his "Two Americas" motif. This is even prevalent in my old High School, there is a side that is all about business who knows what they want and is going to do what they can to go get it no matter what happens. Then there is the side that has the I don't give a fu*k attitude. The former we must help to achieve their goals, but so must we with the latter (even more so than that of the former). That side of the "Two Americas"is the side that we must pay attention to, its the side that the majority of of young brothers currently stand.

The time for deadlock and drift on this issue must end. We can longer capitulate to the stereotypes of the status quo and expect this to get better. What SOMEONE else isn't doing, we must do before all hope is lost. Lets get our young brothers on the right course so that our community can prosper in ways unimaginable to those who consistently doubt us over and over.

Just some thoughts.....

Bashir Ali

The Wrong Policy

For all of the genius and grace of the Obama administration after one year in office, there is one issue that is quite troubling for myself. That is the position of the said administration on the trying of terrorist on American soil and the closing of Guantanamo Bay.

While I agree with many of the progressive positions President Obama and his administration have undertaken such as the stimulus package, the jobs bill, and health care reform; this is one area in which I break fervently with our President. On this issue, President Obama has fulfilled the contemporary stereotype that Democrats are weak on defense issues (Mind you, Woodrow Wilson- World War I, Franklin Delano Roosevelt- World War II, Harry Truman- Korean War, Lyndon Johnson-Vietnam. That assessment of being weak on defense is clearly misguided). However, our current President has taken a softer image on this issue, much to the chagrin of many Americans. The GOP has hit him pretty hard on this as well, and I believe rightfully. This is why.

Now I can agree with the President with wanted to spread human rights to all the marginalized persons of the world. However, terrorists (known or suspected) should not be afforded the same rights that we Americans have fought so vehemently for over the course of 230 years. These terrorist are NOT protected under the umbrella of our constitution and cannot basque in the blessings of our liberties. They are orchestrators of pain, destruction and draconian ideas and practices. Now, the Obama administration wants to try these people in American courts to say that they were given a "fair" hearing. This is absolutely absurd in every sense. This is one area where I can agree with many Republicans.

Guantanamo Bay should be kept open to hold these terrorist (suspected and unsuspected), not permanently however, but until a military tribunal can deal with this military matter. Closing Gitmo and moving these persons to the United States leads to many problems that could be detrimental to major American cities. Let us consider that one of the people escapes from the grasp of our United States government. That leaves us open to a major attack that can be planned from within the country and puts millions of Americans at harm.

This policy is not sound! This policy is not smart! The President and his administration should re-think how they are approaching the issue of National Security, especially when it comes to dealing with the terrorist that they are considering to try and detain on continental American soil.

Just some thoughts....

Bashir Ali

A Lost Generation Part II

I am completely appalled at what happened at my High School yesterday, March 8, 2010. What I am concerned about is the direction of a district that seemed to just be making progress a few years ago.

At the High School a food fight (which can happen at any school) turned into an insane brawl. Now as an alumni of the district, I will say that there have been brawls and gang fights before, but I have never in my twenty-two years on this earth seen anything remotely disturbing as the events of the High School students yesterday. Events as such raise great concern over the direction and leadership of the High School and the district at this defining moment in my communities history.

The finger can be pointed at plenty of people: students, for their imbecilic actions and lack of direction and purpose. Parents, for their apathy, reluctance to take part in their child's education and community as a whole. School officials for being out of touch with the needs of the district, students.(Majority of these people are old and have no direct connection with what the average student is going through or what they need). All of these factors seem to lead to a recipe for disaster.

The media has not made it any better either. With their fabrication and sensationalizing, they have allowed for the negative image to become widespread again. Yet, can you really blame them? To a certain extent, yes. However, many of the students who gave accounts on the story seemed to have an appetite for hyperbole and embellishment. Can you blame them? Not really, most are getting a few minutes on camera and just are saying things that are going to sound good probably. The media thus feeds off of these actions and in turn allows for the negative image to flourish. The students have inadvertently made things worse by their ten-second "claim to fame." What they believe to have been a good deed by making a statement and seeing their face on T.V. actually hurts them in a larger sense because of the negativity surrounding the action. I personally thinks the media loves this and uses this to further exploit such communities. (I am in no way saying that they are the only cause however, because the students are the ones who started the brawls.)

Furthermore, when the school board President gets in front of a camera and makes excuses for the riot such as "we didn't have budget money to pay for resource officers" (school cops) it is also a cause of major concern. If he thinks that excuse is viable and that other things can't be done to ensure the safety of the school children then maybe he should step aside. IF A CHILD DOES NOT FEEL SAFE IN SCHOOL HOW CAN HE/SHE POSSIBLY LEARN??? The lack of substantial leadership is truly disconcerting and something has to be done!

Most people will look at this in two ways. The first will be with some sympathy and proclaim "those poor kids in Hempstead--what a shame!" The second will say "its expected of them to behave like that." I reject both of those assumptions. I, along with plenty of Hempstead graduates are living proof that low expectations are false. Many of the students now don't seem to have direction and it shows with events such as the brawl from yesterday. What must be done to further eradicate the slander and racial media polemics that seem to be ubiquitous every time an event like this comes up?

It is going to take a concerted effort among dedicated individuals i.e. The Talented Tenth to make sure we go back into our community and make sure that the young people are getting all they should be in terms of education and care. Failure to do so will lead to further fragmentation and destruction of my beloved community. Hempstead needs its best and brightest to come back and steer this ship clear of the troubled waters it sails upon. That is our mission and promise. If not, all the success and fame that we may gain will mean nothing and this generation--OUR GENERATION will be surely lost!

Just some thoughts....

Bashir Ali

A Lost Generation

Started back in 1926 as "Negro History Week," Dr. Carter G. Woodson sought to make our history know and accepted. Over the years the week developed into BLACK History Month. There was an understanding that all people (especially African-Americans) were suppose to cherish this history because Black History IS world history.

Through the stains of slavery that discredited a country--to the Civil Rights movement that brought about institutional change-- to the black power movement that forced us to be cognizant of who we are as a people-- to the Movement for Change that produced this nation's first African American President we have a storied history. Yet, this history is often forgotten by many blacks and some don't even know or care to know the struggles and SUCCESS of our people.

In this age most black youth are so lost. Lost in a sense that their priorities are completely inoperative. Some my age may see this as completely innocuous but I feel some type of way and shouldn't I? I think about the blood, sweat and tears that have been shed for us to behave in the way that we do today. This attitude of apathy for our history has become quite infectious among many my age.

Here is an example of how and why this has become a problem. Recently, I sat in a Black Student Union meeting on my campus and the question of when did the Civil War end? I knew the answer from the start but I wanted to see if anyone else truly knew this important date in OUR nations history. Much to my chagrin, someone shouted out "1965" and another "1883" and then rambles of other wrong dates. Frustratingly, I vociferously say "1865!" I was complete embarrassed that a group of BLACK people didn't know when the Civil War ended. Probably one of the single most important events for African-Americans and people didn't know when it ended. I started to think what else they didn't know.

Did they know when Emancipation was granted? Did they know what the reconstruction amendments meant? Did they know the effects of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and how it basically legalized racism for another 58 years until Brown. Did they only know just Martin L. King, Jr. and Malcolm X as those famous black dudes who got shot? These were the questions that ran through my mind. Did they know who Edward Brooke or Shirley Chislom or Barbara Jordan or Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.? I was frustrated they knew Lil Wayne and Denzel Washington and LeBron James more than Marian Anderson, Sideny Pottier, and Jesse Owens.

What is happening to my generation? Will our history be forgotten? NO, I wouldn't see that extreme coming before us, but it is very disconcerting to know that a lot of people don't know where they've come from. Some of you may say, well you have offered a lot of criticism but where is the solution? My solution is to challenge each and everyone of you to take more pride in OUR history because if not then we are sure to be LOST.

Just some thoughts

Bashir Ali