Kwesi Ako Kennedy - Oh no! Not burning trash in a trash dump...how ever will we survive....wait....facts....
Muhammad Rasheed - @Andre... Logical Fallacy Argument Violation: "False Equivalence"
;)
Donovan Penaluna - What racist twaddle, black folk are voracious consumers....
Muhammad Rasheed - Explain how this comment of yours applies to the point in context.
Are Blacks the architects and drivers of the dominant system that profits from the rampant consumerism began and maintained by white-controlled western powers?
Donovan Penaluna - Yes they are...
Muhammad Rasheed - In what way, Donovan?
Donovan Penaluna - ALL consumers are complicit....
ALL capitalists are complicit...
F all to do with race...
Muhammad Rasheed - I disagree. The capital that the white-controlled mega-corporatists use comes directly from anti-Black systemic racism -- seeded from the wealth built up from the slave trade and maintained by the streams of revenue generated from the mass incarceration industry that disproportionately targets Black people by design.
Also, the white-controlled mega-corporatists keep their wealth & power monopoly secure by sabotaging Black people from empowering themselves so that they won't compete equal-for-equal on the world stage. Part of that sabotage includes the mass media indoctrination of the common people to create the consumerism mindset that the corporatists need for their businesses to grow. All efforts to break free of that greed-fueled, diabolical control are viciously attacked by the corporatists and their government partners using the full force of military, law, and government powers.
The fault of this great evil is solely on the heads of the powerful whites who control the world's wealth, and manipulate the masses of common people for their greedy war games.
And 'race' is a major tool they use in the process.
Ben Jones - @Muhammad... Are your cartoons meant to help resolve the issue of racism or is your point to fan the flames?
Muhammad Rasheed - Are you asking from a Darren Wilson perspective, or a Mike Brown perspective?
Ben Jones - I'm asking from my own perspective. Serious question. Maybe my perspective is causing me to miss your point, but I generally just pick up a lot of anger in your work. I'd honestly like to know if you have ideas on what could possibly be done to start to heal the massive wound racism has caused in the people or our country.. really the whole world.
Muhammad Rasheed - @Ben... Since systemic racism is benefiting one group of people by exploiting/plundering another group, it's logical that in order for racism to be cured, the exploitation/plunder must stop and the formerly exploited must be built up to the socio-economic levels of the former exploiter. Once that basic level of justice has been put in place, then the people themselves can begin the long process of healing.
Let me remind you, that as a Black American, I have the rudimentary freedoms I possess today because of the economic destruction that happened directly from the Civil War, when the removal of the exploitation/plunder literally destroyed the economy. Consequently, the messaging needed to have this all-important antiracism conversation needs to stress the seriousness and inherent danger involved in talking about it. The small group of people that benefit MOST from racism, happen to have the US Armed Forces at their fingertips...
Jeff Margeson - I have to disagree slightly with you here, Muhammad. The rudimentary freedoms you speak of did come about thanks to the economic destruction of the south post-Civil War, but that destruction was put in place due to the North's anti-slavery stance against the South. Behind the leadership of Abraham Lincoln, states' rights and the idea of westward expansion of slavery led to the secession of the south. These drastic actions spurred Lincoln, a Republican, to declare war and ultimately fight for the rights of the slaves.
More recently, it was the democratic President, JFK whom signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and Lyndon Johnson, his predecessor, whom was a white southern politician, who intensified the civil rights movement and called for more rights to be given to the "courageous struggles of all African Americans."
I am nowhere near myopic enough to state "there is no racism today in America," but I do feel that each day we make more and more strides to be inclusive to all races and religions. I feel it is our duty to keep things moving in a positive and productive flow. One way to do this is to put our past behind us and to plant the seeds of intelligence and empathy for our future generations. Hate washes all of that away.
Muhammad Rasheed - Jeff wrote: “…but that destruction was put in place due to the North's anti-slavery stance against the South.”
Not so. That’s an over-simplified myth. Both the Northern and Southern states held strong anti-slavery activists fighting against the ‘Peculiar Institution,’ and they both had their gluttonous villains. In fact, the largest, wealthiest slave holding family was in New England.
Jeff wrote: “These drastic actions spurred Lincoln, a Republican, to declare war and ultimately fight for the rights of the slaves.”
Another myth. Lincoln wasn’t actually fighting for the “rights of the slaves.” The entire conflict was hinged on the greedy slave holder class needing more land to increase their scope and wealth generation, and they were willing to destroy the nation to do it. Lincoln played the ultimate trump card and gave all slaves their freedom in exchange for helping him win the war and stop the secession attempt.
Jeff wrote: “More recently, it was the…”
I hear you, but just like the gains of Reconstruction were stripped away by the competing political foes, bringing in the era of domestic terror, jim crow and mass incarceration, so too were the promises of the 1964 Civil Rights Act sabotaged. The “courageous struggles of all African Americans” in striving to attain full citizenship, political enfranchisement, and economic inclusion into the mainstream society were sabotaged and transformed into the toxic ‘token integrationist assimilation’ and MORE mass incarceration.
Jeff wrote: “…but I do feel that each day we make more and more strides to be inclusive to all races and religions.”
Unfortunately, those strides are confined to shallow marketing campaigns and lip service, failing to address the economic root cause of racism. If we all hold hands and happily proclaim how nice we are, while never attacking the anti-Black systemic plundering nature of racism directly responsible for those bad feelings, bigotry and prejudices, the effort will be doomed to failure.
Jeff wrote: “One way to do this is to put our past behind us and to plant the seeds of intelligence and empathy for our future generations. Hate washes all of that away.”
It’s impossible to “put the past behind us,” while the same 1% class that benefited from slavery in the first place continues to do so using similar anti-Black systems, for the same reasons, while their marketing arms convinces us that “the devil doesn’t exist.”
Jeff wrote: “Hate washes all of that away.”
Irrelevant. My goal is justice and healing, not hatred. Hatred is responsible for the racism that you’ve admitted plagues us still despite all the major milestone gains that were immediately stripped away.
Mark Keresman - Hey, yeah...look at the Aztecs...OOPS, they regularly practiced human sacrifice and killed the losers of sports games. But they weren't capitalist swine, I guess.
Muhammad Rasheed - That's a worthy topic of exploration, Mark, but this cartoon is specifically addressing the ecological damages caused by mega-corporate level industrial production. Despite the horrific nature of the archaeologist's narrative written about the so-called Aztec people, I doubt the mass blood sacrifice tale was causing the same damage to the earth as the Exxon Valdez spill, or even a single oil fracking procedure.
Mark Keresman - @Muhammad... True. That'll make the sacrifice-ees rest easier I suppose. But let's not pretend everything was sunshine and flowers until the Euro-man came to the so-called New World. But if you're point is that Humankind is spoiling the Planet, especially the corporate cocksukkr sector, no argument.
Muhammad Rasheed - Naturally, humans were humans, and there were problems before the White Supremacist Ideology began its global destruction and exploitation, but that event is directly responsible for the ecological damage this cartoon addresses.
B.P. Johnson - All humans are a scabourous plague upon the earth. I long for the day when highly evolved house cats feed upon the meat of their bipedal oppressors. Or robots, either is good.
Muhammad Rasheed - B.P. wrote: "All humans are a scabourous plague upon the earth."
That’s a lazy and even vain position to take when you find yourself a member of the demographic with the actual documented record of being the scabrous plague upon the earth.
Jeff Margeson - @Muhammad... For the sake of this argument, let's concede all of my points as invalid and wrong. Let's say that you're right on every topic that I mentioned. Wouldn't it still be in everyone's interest to strive for a better civilization for everyone? Wouldn't it still be more upstanding as Americans to look at the good in this world and not focus on the 1%? Wouldn't it be better to use the talents that you have accrued through the years of your life to pursue a dream full of positive perception...just like Martin Luther King Jr. did in the 60's with his "I Have a Dream" speech?
I wish you the best on this endeavor, but I fear that your combative approach may be misinterpreted and ultimately used against you. Whatever the outcome, cheers to you my friend.
Muhammad Rasheed - Jeff wrote: “For the sake of this argument, let's concede all of my points as invalid and wrong.”
It would be far more interesting to me if, instead of surrendering so easily, you actually tried to support your argument.
Jeff wrote: “Let's say that you're right on every topic that I mentioned. Wouldn't it still be in everyone's interest to strive for a better civilization for everyone?”
Yes.
Jeff wrote: “Wouldn't it still be more upstanding as Americans to look at the good in this world and not focus on the 1%?”
No, since the 1% are directly responsible for the ills of the world that we all complain about, and they don’t care how you feel about it either. Fighting them is our duty.
Jeff wrote: “Wouldn't it be better to use the talents that you have accrued through the years of your life to pursue a dream full of positive perception...”
You’re asking make if it would be better to retreat into cowardice and ignore the well-documented ills of the world to focus on a make believe LaLa Land that will never come to fruition if I don’t try to use my talent/skills to work towards it in some way by fighting to cure the well-documented ills of the world. My answer is “no.”
Jeff wrote: “...just like Martin Luther King Jr. did in the 60's with his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech?”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. fought hard for Black self-empowerment and economic inclusion in the mainstream with the corresponding eradication of systemic racism and he is an influence and major inspiration in my art creation. Please do not seek to reinterpret his actual goals and focus into what his dedicated enemy transformed his mission into from their pro-racist system.
Jeff wrote: “I wish you the best on this endeavor…”
Thank you.
Jeff wrote: “…but I fear that your combative approach…”
The FBI released a report proving white supremacists have infiltrated (their word, not mine) the Fraternal Order of Police, who are shooting innocent Black people to death as standard practice and procedure. Civilian whites are routinely calling these same white supremacist police on innocent Black people for literally no other reason than because they see they are Black people.
But you think I’m the one being out of line and “combative.” So shooting Trayvon Martin to death for buying some treats is normal and without blame, but my protesting the injustice is “combative,” and you think I should ignore this kind of stuff and manufacture a LaLa Land “positive perception” superimposed of racist reality. Curious.
Jeff wrote: “…may be misinterpreted and ultimately used against you.”
We’re already at war, Jeff. Racism must stop.
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