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  • Politics Is Like Hiring A Hitman
    by Scott Woods inPolitical on2020-08-13

    For me, politics is like hiring a hitman. I have values and things I care about. I care enough about them to at least bother voting for 5 minutes every year for one issue or another. And because I care at least that much, I vote for people who align with the ability to realize the things I care about.

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  • Punching Above Our Weight
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-07-24

    I believe our vote is the punctuation of our voice. Without that resounding exclamation mark, I believe our voices are just incoherent noise.

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  • BLACK PROGRESS AMIDST SOCIAL CHAOS
    by Roger Madison Jr. inPolitical on2020-06-16

    Recent events have raised the profile of historical injustice and inequities here in the USA. The entire world has taken note of the fact that BLACK LIVES MATTER.   We invite all of our friends to engage in actions that result in the greatest movement for change in our history. It is imperative that we take advantage of this opportunity to affect a positive change by ACTING IN OUR SELF-INTERESTS.

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  • Living in a Black No-Man's Land
    by Roger Madison Jr. inOur Community on2019-10-28

    There are many narratives that define the Black experience in America in this 2nd decade of the 21st century. Our striving over the centuries of our sojourn in this nation is a tapestry of every human experience -- oppression, enslavement, forced assimilation, dehumanization, exclusion, segregation, isolation, struggle, perseverance, achievement, excellence, celebration, mourning, despair, progress, setbacks, lynching, assassination, genocide, terror, self-hatred, low esteem, pride,...

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  • Fighting Racism
    by Scott Woods inOur Community on2018-10-25

    I had a boss who was racist. Not an outright bigot, of course; her toolbox was more subtle than most. We bumped heads a lot over inconsequential things. She frequently couldn’t keep my name out her mouth. Lot of gaslighting. You know…2018 style. I tried a lot of ways to combat or navigate her issues. None of them worked, and that’s saying a lot because I’m really good at fighting racism. But at the end of the day – every day – she was my boss, I had to deal with her, and that was that. Finally I...

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The Insane Are Running the Asylum

You walk into an insane asylum that strangely resembles the White House. At the desk is a guard, who with a straight face, tells you that you must please present identification before you can be let in. You obey, not wanting to do anything that could potentially get you arrested. As you go through the metal detector, another officer asks you to step back and walk through again. You do as you are told, because again, you do not wish to cause any trouble that could land you in jail.

As you walk off, you hear the guards mumbling to each other. You take a glance back and realize that their uniforms have no back, only strings holding them in place and neither of them have on underwear. You sheepishly continue on, realizing that you were duped by a couple of men in the asylum.

You move forward, trying your best to find someone in charge. Each person you encounter sends you further down the hall. Women who look like nurses are all too willing to assist you. But each time, you discover that they too are asylum residents.

After a while, you feel that maybe you shouldn’t be there, because something is going terribly wrong. Finally, you reach the office of the director and let out a huge sigh of relief. The director welcomes you into his office and directs you to sit. Your first questions is to get a sense of why so many of the residents are running about the asylum unattended. The director explains that they are in need of help. Many of the residents have gotten out of their rooms and are pretending to be professionals. He says they keep the outer doors locked to ensure none of the residents get out, but it is becoming increasingly difficult, as one has already gotten away wearing a three pieced suit. He will be difficult to find because he thinks he is the President of the United States and has a striking resemblance to him. Only someone who is sharp would realize it is a resident from the asylum.

You continue, asking what he plans to do to not only find that resident and return him to his room, ensuring that he is heavily medicated going forward, but how he plans to handle the rest of the residents in the asylum. He goes on to outline in great detail his plans, how they can be implemented, various laws that can be used to help control the situation and the various agencies that can be called upon to assist. He even outlined some of the neighboring asylums that are currently going through the same problem, and how they can work together to make things better.

You thank him for giving you such a thorough outline of his plans and turn to leave. As you are about to walk out the door, you notice him rising from his desk to look out the window. To your surprise, what you thought was a suit, was really a make shift gown. Staring back at you as you leave is his bare bottom. You hear the distinct sound of giggling as you close the door. You knew then that there were no professionals left in this building. The insane were running the asylum, and there would be no way to solve this problem beyond clearing everyone out and starting over with people you could be sure were not insane. It would be an arduous task, but to regain order, it would be the only way.

You look back on the building that resembles the White House and wonder how many more had gotten out and are now walking the streets pretending to be normal. How many more of these residents are guiding our steps, creating laws, policing our streets, running our governments undetected? One can only wonder.