Category Archives: Black Community

Reparations

Reparations: Should Blacks Get Them and Do Neo-Whites Deserve to Pay Them

This is the fifth and final section within the topic on Integration.  This discussion will focus on the controversy of reparations and how the fight both for and against them impact the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1. Is there a valid reason for not giving reparations to descendants?

2. How should reparations be paid out?

3. What would you do with your reparations?

FRONT STREET

Seemingly everyone that the United States has ever done wrong has been compensated through land, payment, and other means…except for Black people in America!  An ungodly number of lives and money were tied up in the institution of slavery, with amounts ranging in the billions of dollars amassed through it.  For nearly a century after America became a sovereign nation, slavery could to grow and feaster with death and profit growing right beside it.  It was not until hundreds of thousands of lives lost in a civil war that Black people on mass could even whisper of freedom and the chance to finally oversee their own destiny…almost!!  With no education, property, or anything else to call our own, Black people were set free to nothing.  Adding insult to slavery, the gains proposed and even passed to help eradicate these disadvantages were under-minded with concerted efforts made to torpedo those proposals once again leaving the greater Black population destitute.  A fair argument can and has been made that Black Americans never reached full citizenship until 1964-65, leaving hundreds of years of mistreatment claims for Black people.  Reprisal of course, never took place and it has become more and more of a heated debate as too if, when, how, any reparations will be given to Black Americans.  This issue must be addressed and determined if the idea of reparations will lead to the destruction of Black Community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on 10/15/2022.

Gentrification

Gentrification: The Extermination of the Black Community

This is the fourth section within the topic on Integration.  This discussion will focus on how gentrification throughout many American major cities has impacted the Black Community physically, socially, and economically.

The 3 Questions

1. Is gentrification a good thing?

2. Why do you feel the resources that come with gentrification are never applied to these neighborhoods when the residency is Blacker?

3. What can be done to prevent the expansion of gentrification?

FRONT STREET

Black Advancement Inc.’s home is in the DMV area, which is home to some of the Blacker cities in the and counties in the nation.  However, anyone from this area can tell you the monster of gentrification has hit with the force of a comet here, bringing the subjects of race and class to the forefront of everyday life.  “Chocolate City” aka Washington, D.C. looks nowadays much less like a milk chocolate bar and more like the cookies and cream bar.  A perfect example of this is displayed when the Montreal Expos moved to D.C. and became the Nationals.  This move begot the building of a stadium, which lead to new high-end condo’s and hipster eateries and restaurants that previously never would have dreamed of coming to the area. To be clear, all this investment and improvement of a once impoverished area is good news, it does create a whole new stream of income for D.C. and employment opportunities as well.  Young professionals will be more likely to live in the city and spend time and money there.  The Metro will increase revenue from more people not to mention the gate for a competitive Baseball team.  Missing from all of these upgrades though, are the thoughts and concerns of the residents that previously lived in an area that was undervalued.  Where would these people live, where would they go, how would the rapidly changing economic upheaval impact their lives?  These types of overhauls have occurred and continue to occur in neighbors just like this one in D.C. throughout America, begging the question of whether gentrification is helping the destruction of Black Community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on 1/21/2023.

Affirmative Action

Affirmative Action: Who Does It Benefit 

This is the third section within the Integration topic.  This discussion will focus on affirmative action and whether or not the program is doing more harm than good within the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1. Do you believe that Black people should receive special accommodations, ie. affirmative action, for things such as college admission and employment opportunities, why or why not?

2. Do you feel the “boot straps” narrative is fair or unfair, specifically when applied to Black people?

3. Who do you believe benefits the most from Affirmative Action and why?

FRONT STREET

Black people have been subjugated to the very worst that America has had to offer.  Since the beginning of our arrival in the western world with European settlers, everything has been done to either completely impede the progress of Black people gaining the rights of a normal citizenship or purposefully undercut after any kind of legislation was rendered in favor of us gaining basic rights everyone was supposed to be given from inception.  This continuous struggle of forcing America to recognize the humanity of Black people continues to this day.  However, there have been some victories along the way to help even out the miscarriages of equality throughout the years as shown in programs designed to assist Black people into getting higher education or an opportunity at employment i.e., affirmative action.  Yet, this program has come under fire by not only white Americans but even some Black ones who feel this type of assistance is an insult opposed to a hand up.   And like before, has recently been challenged legislatively to again derail Black people in America from our steady march towards full citizenry.  The opposition of even some Black people begs for the question to be asked on whether the installation of affirmative action helping in the destruction of the Black Community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on 4/18/2021..

Interracial Marriage

Interracial Marriage: A sign of Progress or Protest 

This is the second section within the Integration topic.  This discussion will focus on the beauty, trials, and social consequences of interracial marriages and how love can impact the future of the Black Community and truly conquer all.

The 3 Questions

1. Do you have a preference of what race you or your children would marry, and if so why?

2. Do interracial marriages increase or decrease stereotypes of other races?

3. Do interracial marriages destroy the traditional/historic idea of what it means to be a Black Community?

FRONT STREET

Most people would look at this topic and blatantly say…this is a racially charged topic.  Why in 20 whatever would any organization that wishes to achieve the advancement of all people through focusing on the Black Community put forth a topic that would seemingly only be meant to divide people?  It’s simple, this is, whether spoken or unspoken an issue within the Black Community.  We have all heard the phrase, “if they can’t use your comb don’t bring them home” as a deterrent to dating outside of our race…but why would some Black parents say such a thing?  This is the time and the place to discuss why love between Black people and anyone else, specifically white people, is indeed a topic not only worthy of addressing but necessary to understand and unpack the hesitation, the backlash, and sometimes annoyance, of some Blacks on this front.  So with all of that said, let’s have a serious look at whether interracial marriage is helping to destroy the Black Community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on #/##/2021.

Integration

Integration: Did It Work

This is the first section within the topic on Integration.  This discussion will focus on whether the integration of America actually worked in the manner in which it was meant to and how the failures within its implementation impacted the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1. Do you believe integration was ever implemented into American society, why or why not?

2. How do you think America would be fundamentally different if integration never happened?

3. Did integration work?

FRONT STREET

One the most significantly singular events to ever happen within America’s history was the breaking down of the color barrier through a decree that all but mandated all people of all colors were free to go and do what they pleased.  Everything from education, restaurants, and even employment had become open to an entirely new segment of the population who had previously been denied their inalienable rights to the many promised freedoms and the pursuit of happiness in the land of the free.  However, not everyone was so keen on this sudden switch and reacted as any country who felt they were being invaded…violently.  They fought physically, legally, politically, and every other way possible to slow integration and to shield their loved ones from the effects of having to be around people who they previously deemed unworthy.  Through all the efforts of both the Black people who have tried to integrate and the white people who wanted things to continue as is, the question remains to this day of whether integration has helped in the destruction of Black Community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on 2/21/2021.

The OJ Effect

oj-simpson-case-Justice or Just Us: The OJ Effect

The OJ Effect is the third section in the discussion on Justice or Just Us topic. The focus of this discussion revolves around the impact the media plays on race and justice in America and how that positively or negatively impacts the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1. Does the media make more of some incidents/crimes with a racial component then it should and why or why not?

2. Do you feel that the media shows Black crime suspects pictures on purpose, why or why not?

3. What do you most remember about the OJ trial and which over arching issue stood out the most to you concerning society at large?

FRONT STREET

Why OJ some of you are asking?  Why would We name a section that has to do with the justice system and law enforcement include the likes of OJ Simpson?  The answer is simple, his first trial exposed everything wrong with the justice system.  We are not saying OJ did it, nor are we saying that the results of the jury were wrong.  However, the OJ trial brought out the dividing lines between rich justice vs poor justice, famous justice vs not famous justice, and black justice vs white justice. However, one of the unconscious effects of the OJ trial was the media coverage and how they played on peoples sensitivities and biases.  This type of media coverage has only been exacerbated by the politically leaning 24/7 news channels, and has helped to crystalize an environment of mistrust of one another and promote overarching assumptions about a situation before the facts are known. This unfortunately greatly impacts the Black Community due to the statistical representation of Us being accused and convicted of crimes.  Are the effects of the OJ trial assisting in the destruction of the Black community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more were addressed on MONTH/DAY/YEAR during the discussion which is now airing on YouTube @

The O.J. Effect Part 1

The O.J. Effect Part 2

The O.J. Effect Part 3

Black Ph(F)at

Big or BeauitifulBlack Health: Black Ph(F)at – Big or Beautiful 

The first installment of the Black Health topic focuses on the idea of Black beauty and how it effects the Black Community.

The 3 Questions

1. Is Our perspective of beauty unhealthy?

2. Is Our perspective of beauty tainted by the media, i.e. movies, magazines?

3. Does Our version of beauty play into the stereotype of Black people being hyper-sexual?

FRONT STREET

Most Black men have no problems with a woman with curves and bumps and Black women have even fewer complaints with their figure.  Our version of what is sexually stimulating in general has differed from the euro-centric version of beauty and are rarely seen on the magazines in our supermarkets.  However, much like the euro-centric version of beauty, Our shapes can be viewed as harmful to both the body and the mind of Our people.  Are We putting too much into this idea or is Our version of beauty helping to contribute to the destruction of the Black Community?

Please write in and response to our 3 poll questions or post some questions that you would like to see asked.  These question and more will be addressed during the discussion found on YouTube beginning on  2/17/2024.

Black Phat