Black Guns Matter

A friend and fellow shooter turned me on to some stats coming out of the National Rifle Association the other day. It seems that the majority of gun buyers in the last month since the Chumph’s “election” have been minorities. Inspired in no small part by the thousands of Hate Crimes being committed by racist Republicans and Trump supporters, who feel they have free reign to murder, maim, and terrorize black and minority populations in a redux of the Second KKK of the 1920’s.

Spurred on by the fact that the Chump’s followers massively armed up, that the Chump’s cabinet selections of white supremacists suggests the Law enforcement will turn a blind eye to hate crimes, the open advocacy of white supremacy by Fox News media such as Bill O’Reilly, and the thousands of Hate aggressions and hate crimes since the election…Minorities need to arm themselves to protect themselve, significant others, and their children from hate crazed Trumpazoids.

It seems that black folks aren’t left with much alternative other than to protect themselves in this country. The last time the KKK rose in 1918’s “Bloody Summer”, they got stopped cold by the fact black folks got their guns and fought back. The Washington, DC “Race riot” being an example. Black Tulsa didn’t go down easily, as armed WWI Veterans fought back actively. This happened again in Knoxville where the State Guard joined the white rioters.

Black Guns Matter is one of several new organizations  in startup mode to assist minority peoples to protect themselves (Their website as of this writing is not fully live, but is bookmarked). The NATIONAL AFRICAN AMERICAN GUN ASSOCIATION, founded in 2015 is an organization promoting training, and is making waves.

I will continue my series on my recommendations of the best weapons to defend yourself during the Trumpocalypse and likely Civil War. My first post in that area had to do with what I feel are the best pistols for concealed carry (I’ve got a new one to add to that list I personally got to try out a couple of weeks ago the Canik TPS9, which won’t break the bank, and has some of the best safety features and accuracy I have seen in this class.) I will expand on that first article to Full Frame or Large Frame Pistols, Best Home Defense Weapons, Shotguns, Rifles, and my feelings on the best “Meet and greet” weapons allowing someone to reach out an touch over 1/2 mile away.

 

Now it’s the liberals who are arming up

When it looked all but certain that Hillary Clinton was going to win the presidency, nervous gun rights advocates reported stockpiling guns and ammunition they feared would no longer be available if the Democrat won the White House.

The threat of Clinton presidency, along with several recent mass shootings, had led to 18 straight months of records in the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check system for people seeking a permit to buy a firearm. Many were concerned the government would enact regulations restricting their access to guns.

But since Republican Donald Trump, who was endorsed by the National Rifle Association and supports gun rights, won the White House in November, gun shops anticipated sales would taper off. Shares in major gun companies fell, anticipating a slowdown.

Yet that doesn’t seem to be the case: On Black Friday this year, NICB processed a record 185,713 background checks — the most ever on a single day in the 20 years the system has existed.

And some of those gun buyers are what the industry calls “non-traditional.” Namely, minorities, gay people and self-described liberals.

“In the more conservative gun world, there is definitely a feeling that liberals hate guns,” Liberal Gun Club spokesperson Lara Smith told the BBC. She said there as been a spike in inquiries to her organization after Trump’s election and that paid membership has increased 10 percent. People have expressed concern that an increase in hate crimes since Trump’s election could escalate into something more violent, Smith said, and they want to be prepared.

“Yes, there are liberals who dislike guns, but the vast majority of them have never been around guns and don’t know much about them other than what they are told,” Smith wrote on her organization’s website.

Smith said she has been working with other non-traditional gun groups like Black Guns Matter and Pink Pistols. Pink Pistols promotes “legal, safe, and responsible use of firearms for self-defense of the sexual-minority community.” The group, which has 45 chapters nationwide, calls itself a shooting group that “honors diversity” and “teaches queers to shoot.” Although it has worked in conjunction with the NRA, the Pink Pistols considers itself non-partisan.

Gun shop owner Michael Cargill told NBC News gun classes at his Austin, Texas store are selling out. He’s noticed an increase in LGBTQ, African-American, Hispanic and Muslim customers. Store owners told NBC they’ve seen up to four times as many minority customers than is typical.

The National African American Gun Association, which has 14,000 members, has seen an increase in interest following the election.

“Most folks are pretty nervous about what kind of America we’re going to see over the next 5-10 years,” the organization’s founder Philip Smith told NBC. “I tell everyone don’t panic, use your head. If you see something not normal, get out. You’re probably right. And if you’re not able to get out, you’re prepared to do what you need to do.”

 

If Trump Wins…

Say goodbye to your black friends. Now I don’t know about just Atlanta…Perhaps if that wall also encloses Savannah.

All I know if somehow, the Chump wins – I got 10,000 resumes in 64 languages ready to go out.

If Trump wins, say goodbye to your black friends: A modest proposal

If Trump wins, we’re outta here — Atlanta can be the capital of a new black nation. Maybe we’ll build a wall!

Allan Lichtman gave me my first real scare of this election season. Don’t get me wrong ­­— the idea that millions of people are dumb enough to support a sexual-assaulting, spoiled, self-contradicting, small-faced racist with no political experience is scary. At my core, however, it never felt real. Say what you want about America, we couldn’t really elect a clown like Donald Trump. We’re not that stupid, are we? Well, I didn’t think so, but Lichtman feels differently.

For those who don’t know, Lichtman is a history professor at American University, and author of the book “Predicting the Next President,” which offers a system for determining presidential election winners. Litchman has successfully called the last nine presidential elections well before results were in, even in really tight races like George W. Bush vs. Al Gore and Barack Obama vs. Mitt Romney. His selection for this year is Donald Trump. Trump fits his system, which has a clear history of being nonpartisan; Lichtman has been working the media circuit, letting us know that we should be getting ready for four years of Donald. Oh f**k.

For all I know, Lichtman may be right. The signs are everywhere: It’s so bad that even Beyoncé is campaigning for Hillary Clinton and performing at the Country Music Awards! What’s a black person to do? Trump, who is struggling to get even 1 percent of the black vote, has a reputation for being vindictive and seeking revenge on anyone and everyone who has ever done him wrong, opposed his stupid ideas, called him out on his BS or disagreed with him in any way. So imagine what will happen to African-Americans under his reign! I thought about this all night and came up with some solutions.

First of all, certain black people will be fine. If you play in the NBA or the NFL, if you speak with a Jamaican accent, ­­if you are Lil Wayne or if you specialize in preparing any type of well-seasoned ethnic food, you are OK. Trump, like most rich white people, loves these things and your American experience will remain safe. It actually might improve! The rest of us are doomed, unless we can make it to a safe space.

Donald can’t send us to Africa, and the idea of a massive black migration to Canada is unrealistic. But we can all make to Atlanta, which might be the most progressive black-majority city in our country. It’s kind of how Brooklyn is for white people now. There’s an endless number of black lawyers, doctors, accountants and business owners — plus everybody is nice and they’ll all love to take a listen to your mixtape.

Beyond all that, maybe we can pool our money together, redefine education, start our own army and even build a wall. A real wall — far more impressive than the one Donald is lying about building between us and Mexico. A massive bulletproof structure to separate us from Trump, the KKK, his supporters, his KKK supporters, all the heavily armed George Zimmerman types and the rest of the morons who hate and or try to destroy blackness — like Ben Carson and Stacey Dash.

I would also like to extend the invitation to all Mexicans as well­­­­ — because even though we disagree on everything from dance moves to our taste in music to the way we wear our jeans to how rice should be prepared­­, we all have to unite and protect ourselves from Donald Trump and the long list of angry supporters who are going to be even angrier when he doesn’t make good on any of his promises.

Trump’s telling these people that he is going to get them their jobs back. As if their jobs weren’t replaced by robots years ago, and as if greedy corporate overlords are going to stop outsourcing jobs because Trump tells them to. Please! Their expectations are going to make their suffering that much worse — whereas, as a black person who has read a few history books, I don’t think my expectations can get any lower.

But maybe I’m worrying too much, Nate Silver of FiveThirtyEight, who also has a history of being right, is predicting a Clinton win by a landslide, and Lichtman’s system has never considered such an obviously unqualified candidate. Our previous 44 presidents have all held some sort of public office, whereas Trump has never been elected (or appointed) to run anything. So hopefully that is enough of a glitch to throw his system off. If it’s not, say goodbye to all your black friends — if we like you, maybe you can get a visa to come see us in Atlanta.

 

 

That non-conversation on race

Why do we talk about race on a predominately black-centric board?

It’s time to stop talking about racism with white people

No more arguing with disingenuous folks who have nothing to lose.

As reports of police overreach and brutality in the black community become more and more commonplace in mainstream news, many black people are feeling a strange combination of frustration and relief — relief because the shootings of unarmed citizens have become part of a national discussion, but frustration because, time and time again, we hear the same dismissive and deflective responses from white America:

“There must be more to the story.”

“If you people would just do what you’re told.”

“Cops have a hard job.”

“White people get shot too.”

“He was just another thug. Good riddance!”

“Why do you people make everything about race?”

“What about black on black crime?”

“All lives matter.”

I’ve grown too disillusioned to be relieved and too numb to be frustrated. I’m just tired.

I’m tired from sacrificing millions of once healthy brain cells reading through the comment sections of race-based web articles — thread after thread, chock-full of black folks trying to navigate oblivious whiteness. At some point, we really need to ask ourselves: Why even bother?

Why are we losing solid hours out of our day, wearing our fingertips numb on keyboards and touch screens in an attempt to explain to some dense dude-bro why “All lives matter” is a messed up and functionally redundant response to “Black lives matter”?

We’ve spelled it out for white America a hundred different ways that their beloved police forces are full of officers who are simply more volatile, fearful and prone to harassment and abuse of power when dealing with us — and it’s costing us our lives. We’ve laid out all the statistics and all of our millions of personal testimonies. We’ve made it clear that even though the subject of police brutality, as a sensationalized national discussion covered by mainstream media, is a relatively new phenomenon, it is an issue as old as our involuntary occupation of this country. With all of this information readily available and reiterated constantly, it’s beyond ridiculous that the simple words “black lives matter” require any added explanation at all. And yet, here we are coming up with a dozen analogies trying to, even further, simplify it.

“Hey man, you wouldn’t go to a cancer rally shouting ‘All diseases matter,’ would ya?”

“Hey Scottie, ‘Save the rain forest’ doesn’t mean ‘Kill all the other forests.’ ”

“Hey Kip, when a house is burning, you don’t turn the fire hose on some non-burning house because #AllHousesMatter.”

Can we please stop?

We need to stop acting like white people don’t take the same reading comprehension portions of standardized tests all through middle and high school that we do. They know how analogies work. They got it the first time — they just didn’t care.

If they really considered the affirmation of one life mattering to be a denial of the same for all others, then they would consider “Blue Lives Matter” to be just as offensive as “Black Lives Matter.” But they don’t.

Not only are they unoffended by #BlueLivesMatter, but they consider any concession or policy change aimed at countering black vulnerability to be unearned special treatment — while they actively advocate giving police officers protected class status, oblivious to the fact that they already have it.

Only, I’m not sure they’re legitimately oblivious. They know damn well there isn’t a state, city or county in this country where the penalties for crimes committed against cops aren’t a hell of a lot steeper than they are for civilians. They know they don’t need a protest, riot or hash tag to ensure that thorough investigations will be done to bring cop killers to justice. They’re not worried about dead cops being put on trial for their own murders. They’re not worried about a not guilty verdict for the murderers of police officers or even a reluctance to bring charges. No one’s looking into a dead cop’s record, fishing for reasons to justify his or her demise. They know that cops have the delusional admiration of the vast majority of (white) America in their corner.

So how could anyone possibly believe that we, as a society and as a system, don’t already do everything in our collective powers to ensure that value be placed on police lives?

Could it be that white people actually aren’t as concerned with supporting the police as they are in maintaining a counter-narrative to black complaints about racist police misconduct? Could it be that their counter-narratives to race issues in general are largely disingenuous and, often, just plain spiteful?

Could it be, and I’m just spit-balling here, but could it be that white folks are … completely full of it?

This is why I submit that black people should simply disengage with white America in discussions about race altogether. Let them have their little Klan-esque chats in the Yahoo and USA Today comment sections. We need to stop arguing with them because, in the end, they aren’t invested like we are. They aren’t paying attention to these stories out of fear for their lives and the lives of their children and spouses; they are only tuned in out of black and brown contempt. This is trivial to them, a contest to see who can be the most smug, condescending and dismissive. When black people debate these issues, we do so passionately — not always articulately, and often without a whole lot of depth to our arguments — but we always come from a place of genuine frustration, outrage and fear. When most white people debate the very same issues from an opposing stance, they do so from a place of perpetual obtuseness and indifference. Their arguments always seem to boil down to “If it isn’t my experience, it couldn’t possibly be yours.” Even “well meaning” white folks tend to center themselves in the discussion (#NotAllWhitePeople #IDontSeeColor). Yes, there are plenty of white people who aren’t racist, who think shouting “Blue Lives Matter” is wrong, who truly do wish things would change. But the fact is, they figuratively and literally have no skin in the game…. Read the Rest Here…

 

Cain – Black Folks are Brainwashed!

The Herminator Lawn Jockey is at it again.

He is making the very bad assumption that because he donned that Jockey Suit and trotted out there on the Tea Party’s Lawn…

That a large percentage of black folks are brain damaged enough to want to be out there with him…

T’aint so.

Black folks do support social conservatism, and oppose Gay Marriage by a higher percentage than the majority population. A number of social conservative positions. The problem is social conservatives marriage with the bigots and whack jobs of the Tea Bagger led Republican Party. Seems you can’t get common sense on one, without the racism of the other.

Cain: Black community ‘brainwashed’ into voting for Dems

The one African-American running for the GOP presidential nomination said Wednesday the black community was ‘brainwashed’ for traditionally siding with liberal politicians.

“African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view,” Cain said on CNN’s “The Situation Room” in an interview airing Wednesday between 5-7 p.m. ET. “I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative. So it’s just brainwashing and people not being open minded, pure and simple.”

Cain went on to explain that his interactions with African Americans led him to be optimistic about his own chances with the demographic.

“This whole notion that all African-Americans are not going to vote for Obama is not necessarily true,” Cain said.

He continued, “I believe a third [of African-Americans] would vote for me, based on my own anecdotal feedback. Not vote for me because I’m black but because of my policies.”

Cain also weighed in on the recent chatter surrounding Chris Christie, saying the recent reports the New Jersey governor is reconsidering a run for president were hurting the electorate.

“It’s not insulting as much as it is a disservice to the American people,” Cain said. “Chris Christie has been saying for a long time he’s not interested in running. The media is trying to create a story by sucking Chris Christie into race, just like they made a story by sucking Rick Perry into the race.”

Cain said the media should focus on the candidates who have already declared their candidacy to give voters a better idea of the field.

 

On Intelligent Black Folks

Hat Tip to NewsOne

This one by RK Byers which poses an interesting question –

Do Intelligent Black People Have A Harder Time?

James Baldwin once wrote, “To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” Now imagine being a particularly intelligent ‘Negro’ (and some of you don’t have to imagine.) You’d pick up on every racist slight and you’d catch every joke that was intended to go over your head. You’d be, in a sense, a living piñata, being beaten by people who never even realized that you were alive.

You, the intelligent Black, would seemingly have two options—both of them bad.

1. You could try to prove your intelligence to white people. This sucks for two reasons: the first is that it presupposes that every white person has an intellect that is worthy of your proving equal to. Second, it puts whites in the position of using their respect for your intellect as a sort of ‘carrot on a stick’ whereas no matter how smart you prove yourself, you could never possibly be smart enough.
2. You could take the Lincoln Perry route, disguise your intelligence, rename yourself something like Stepin Fetchit, and make money giving the stereotype believers what they want. Perry, a literate, thoughtful, educated and intelligent man, played a complete buffoon onscreen and made millions. That route’s gonna take a toll on your soul, though. Look what it did to Stepin Fetchit.

So what’s the deal smart black folks?