Black Jesus

What Came Ye out for to See….


 

 

Yesterday one of my former Followers/Subscribers decided to UnFollow/Unsubscribe because as she put it my blog had changed from one that was inspirational to one that she felt was filled with hate. You know it would be easy to ignore what is going on in the U.S.A. and just discuss flowers, (which I don’t grow), recipes (that I don’t cook) and fabulous trips that I don’t take. Now I have nothing against those people that do or who write about these things. That’s their world. My world changed as of 11/9/2016 and really began to go downhill as of Jan. 20, 2017. I cannot and will not ignore what is going on around me.

May she/he continue to live in their White-bread Newburbia world.  I’m sure in much of Middle America, the Evangelical Bible Belt (and I cringe at their brand of Christianity) they have never seen, spoke to or broke bread with a Black, Arab, Iranian, Iraq, Muslim, Hispanic or Native American person and get all their information about us from Fox TV!!

Now considering what Trump is doing to destroy America how am I the one filled with hate?! So because I don’t support his racist, bigoted, fascist, anti-Muslim and ultimately anti-American agenda I’m the one in the wrong?! I think that person has their priorities mixed up.  I really don’t give a rat’s ass about her opinion.

I’m old enough to remember the Civil Rights Movement. As a Black Woman when I go to work I experience racism, bigotry and discrimination almost constantly. Well less now that I work the evening/late shift. I’m always called into question because I am a Black Woman. That’s a fact. I am and can never be just an individual. I’m judged based on the color of my skin and my gender which I have discussed in previous posts so when Dhrump’s policy decision to block people in seven Muslim countries from traveling to the U.S., block them from immigrating here or seeking refuge that affects me. Whatever affects my Iranian friend and her family affects me. She has been more of a family to me than my own Christian relatives.

Because I work with the public and that public is mostly rich, wealthy well to do white people I hear insults, snide remarks and experience racism constantly. Only good thing is now that I work the late/night shift I don’t deal with the public as much but I still hear some pretty god awful racist bigoted and just plain stupid remarks that make me wonder if these people take stupid pills when they wake up in the morning or they were just born dumb and uneducated.

Even though I’m pretty used to hearing and seeing stupidity in action, sometimes it still boggles the mind when you people actually have the nerve to tell you that your/my blog is not living up to their expectations as though I’m writing this blog for them personally. That person’s opinion does not matter to me however the hell that my Iranian girlfriend is going through Yes That Matters to Me. What she suffers. I suffer. When she hurts. I hurt.

I will leave you with the words of Jesus (plus a few New York Times news articles at the bottom) and I want you all to think on Jesus words. In this scripture passage Jesus is speaking of his cousin John the Baptist. Both John the Baptist and Jesus had some rather harsh words for the false religious and government leaders of their day. Whether you are a believer or not. Please have an open mind and conduct your own personal studies on Jesus as Rebel and Revolutionary.  As a Follower of Jesus I too am taking up the mantle against any kind of race or religious discrimination.

Matthew 11:7-10

New International Version (NIV)

As John’s disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces.Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.’

 

Luke 7:25-30

New International Version (NIV)

25 If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces.26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is the one about whom it is written:

“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.’[a]

28 I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

29 (All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.)

 

Sunday, January 29, 2017

The New York Times

NYTimes.com/nyregion »

New York Today

Get The Times for as low as 99¢.

Victor J. Blue for The New York Times
Protest Grows ‘Out of Nowhere’ at Kennedy Airport After Iraqis Are Detained
Word of the demonstration filtered out from immigrant-advocacy groups and then got a big push from a prominent voice on social media: Michael Moore.

Judge Blocks Trump Order on Refugees Amid Chaos and Outcry Worldwide

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NICHOLAS KULISH and ALAN FEUER

In a New York courtroom on Saturday evening, the judge said that sending the travelers home could cause them “irreparable harm.”

 

January 28, 2017

The New York Times

NYTimes.com »

Top Stories

TOP STORIES
One of the last Syrian families to enter the U.S. found flowers, volunteers and a nation about to bar people like them

Saturday, January 28, 2017 7:04 PM EST

On Friday, a group of suburban synagogue members clustered at O’Hare International Airport, waiting to greet one of the last Syrian refugee families to be accepted in the United States, to give them the warmest possible welcome to a country that no longer wanted their kind.
In Washington, the presidential limousine was already speeding toward the Pentagon, where President Trump would sign a paper officially slamming the door shut on Syrian refugees. But here the volunteers had yellow roses, more warm coats than the newcomers would need and, a few miles away, an apartment ready with a doormat that said “welcome” in 17 languages.

 

Top News

Judge Blocks Trump Order on Refugees Amid Chaos and Outcry Worldwide

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, NICHOLAS KULISH and ALAN FEUER

In a New York courtroom on Saturday evening, the judge said that sending the travelers home could cause them “irreparable harm.”

NEWS ANALYSIS

Immigration Ban Is Unlikely to Reduce Terrorist Threat, Experts Say

By SCOTT SHANE

The unintended consequence of President Trump’s directive, many experts believe, is that it will make the risk worse.

 

 

Discrimination against Innocent People


Oscar-winning Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi is nominated for another Academy Award this year, but he may not be able to attend the Feb. 26 ceremony due to Trump’s recent executive order suspending entry to the U.S. for citizens of seven predominantly Muslim countries. Farhadi’s The Salesman, which follows a couple whose relationship is tested as…

via Donald Trump’s Immigration Order May Bar Oscar-Winning Iranian Director From Attending Academy Awards — TIME

Dictators, tyrants & the Totalitarian government of the U.S.A.


 

My girlfriend and co-worker is from Iran. Because of that resident Nazi illegally in charge of our country she will not longer be able to travel to Iran to see her siblings nor will they be able to travel here to see her and her husband. A College educated woman like myself when she was living in Iran she was a school teacher has been happily married to an American Christian for about 17 years.

My friend and I started together at the museum and we’ve always had each other’s backs. She has shown me nothing but kindness, understand and compassion. She has worked hard and was promoted to Supervisor during our nine years at the Museum. She is one of the best Security Supervisors at the Museum. She treats everyone fairly showing true leadership capabilities through service.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet her mother one of her sisters and her nephew. The most wonderful people in the world. My girlfriend’s Mom only speaks Farsi but when we first met she hugged me so tight and Loved me even though she knew of me only from her daughter’s descriptions. Now my friend’s Mom and one of her sisters live with her. The mother is nearing if not already 70.

Put yourself in their shoes and imagine how they must feel knowing they can never again travel to the land of their birth nor can her Mom see her children or my girlfriend ever see her siblings except via Skype.

All because they are Muslim.

Once the Muslim Registration begins I shall add my name and if this fascist government wishes to label me with a set of numbers like Hitler did to the Jews in Nazi Germany I shall take the mark. If my Persian girlfriend and her family must suffer I will suffer along with them. Then again as a Black Woman in America suffering and struggle is an every day affair for me anyway. I’ve been considered the “Wrong race and gender” since the day I was born.

They are coming for us. One. By. One.

 

BREAKING NEWS
Refugees have been stopped and detained at U.S. airports under President Trump’s immigration ban, prompting legal action

Saturday, January 28, 2017 8:15 AM EST

President Trump’s executive order closing the nation’s borders to refugees was put into immediate effect Friday night. Refugees who were in the air on the way to the United States when the order was signed were stopped and detained at airports.
The detentions prompted legal challenges as lawyers representing two Iraqi refugees held at Kennedy Airport filed a writ of habeas corpus early Saturday in the Eastern District of New York seeking to have their clients released. At the same time, they filed a motion for class certification, in an effort to represent all refugees and immigrants who they said were being unlawfully detained at ports of entry.

 

 

BREAKING NEWS
President Trump’s temporary ban on refugees establishes a religious test: Christians from Muslim nations will be given priority

Friday, January 27, 2017 11:03 PM EST

President Trump on Friday closed the nation’s borders to refugees from around the world, ordering that families fleeing the slaughter in Syria be indefinitely blocked from entering the United States, and temporarily suspending immigration from several predominantly Muslim countries.
Declaring the measure part of an extreme vetting plan to keep out “radical Islamic terrorists,” Mr. Trump also established a religious test for refugees from Muslim nations: He ordered that Christians and others from minority religions be granted priority over Muslims.

 

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" ~ Lord Acton

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

France


This is a very long two part post.

French National Anthem – “La Marseillaise” (FR/EN)

My blogging buddy K.B. who lives in Paris is safe, alive and well. He is grateful to all Americans for their prayers, encouragement and support.

I totally disagree with the hate towards France being spewed on Facebook!! Yes we all know that France was a Colonizer back in the 18th and 19th Centuries but the people alive today, the people maimed and killed in those horrible attacks have nothing to do with with what happened centuries ago. Yes we do need to learn and heed the lessons of the past. Colonialism and Slavery must continue to be taught in schools so we recognize wickedness and choose another path. On that note yesterday I left a group that I thought was about the positive because of the evil statements made against France. People who return hate for hate are little better than the oppressors.

Winston Churchill – We Shall Never Surrender (Full Speech)

https://youtu.be/CyoMp2JceOw

Governments often make problems that make others suffer. My parents, grandparents and great grandparents went through racism and Jim Crow but they did not hate this nation, their country. As a Black woman I experience bias, racism and bigotry often but that does not give me the right to lump all white people in the same pot as an excuse to hate and spew venom. As a Christian I represent Jesus Christ so I can never do this. My spirit and soul do not allow me.

Love Train [Original 12″ Version] – The O’Jays (1972)

https://youtu.be/iTp0AlTuPNA

Many of those murdered in France and on the Russian airplane blast were innocent children. Hatred solves nothing. We cannot go back and change the past. Also keep in mind on 9/11 many French, European and other nations supported New Yorkers and Americans. Being Pro-Black does not give me the right to be anti-white or anti-European. Why? Because the Love of God and His compassion is in my heart. Most people of color have experienced bias and bigotry in some form but I refuse to deny aid, support or prayer to those in need. I pray for everyone. I’m still praying for the innocent Russian people killed in that airplane explosion. Hate is divisive. Please do not use this tragedy as an excuse to incite or fan the flames of hatred. I wholeheartedly and unashamedly support and stand with the people of France and victims of terrorism worldwide! Show Love to all.

‪#‎France‬‪ #‎Paris ‬‪#‎OneLove‬   #America

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I Rise Above hatred, bias, bigotry & racism.

I know what it is to be treated with the wide brush of stereotypes.
Working with the general public can be a challenge and if you’re a Black Woman wearing a uniform, a uniform that designates a form of authority more challenges come your way.

My Great, Great Grandfather William Henry Halstead left his life as a Free farmer and joined the Union Army for the benefit of his enslaved sisters and brothers and for his descendants unseen and yet unknown. But maybe he did know that Stephen and I would reap the benefits of his sacrifice. My Dad Edward G. Palmer left City College and joined the Air Force to fight for an America that did not even consider him a man but duty and honor came first. Thanks to the sacrifices and Love from my ancestors my generation of Black Americans became the first generation to benefit from the Civil Rights Movement. I’m carried on the shoulders of giants.

My Mother, Grandmothers and Aunts rose above the indignities of Jim Crow.

Sadly some look at me and see only color or gender. I’ve been approached by white males thinking that I’m a drug dealer or available for sex. Obviously I had to set them straight.  They needed to be firmly re-educated.

But I’m more than race, nationality or gender. Like most people on this earth Black, Brown, or white I’m a human being of complexity. That’s why I had to speak out against vile remarks being leveled at the French people. God created people. Humans created race & divisions.

I’ve come to think that the reason God placed me in the museum was to root out my preconceptions, illusions and delusions about people of other faiths.
Over the almost 8 years I’ve worked there the Ladies and Gentlemen I’m closest to are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu & Jewish. By being around and in close contact with co-workers outside of my faith I’ve learned a lot and mostly not to be judgmental. I’ve even visited their Houses of Worship and learned that these faiths are not so different from Christianity. If I had been born in Iran, Egypt, Bangladesh, India, I would be a practitioner of that faith. We are all people who want the same things in life.

One God. Many Paths.

Earlier this year I spent two weeks in the hospital. The reason I’ll keep private but the person who visited me and took me home is Gay. Again another lesson of acceptance. Every time I’ve prayed for help God sent someone from another race, faith, gender, or sexual orientation to assist me.

I could lower myself to the level of bigots, haters, slanderers & spew a fountain of venom and vindictiveness but I choose not to. I choose if not to Love everyone but to at least to respect all people regardless of race, religion, or sexual orientation. When I make mistakes or say the wrong thing I go back and apologize. Nobody is perfect but these errors in judgement provide me the opportunity to examine myself.

I’m sure as I make my way towards March 2018 and retirement God will have even more Life Lessons on my path towards Enlightenment.

Still Rising.