Oakwood University Student Turns Anger into a Book

Spectrum Website
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I disagree. #1 a good leader leads. And that means they guide others into truth and and into solutions and a direction that will help them not just feed into what they want. Aaron allowed the crowed to lead him and Moses was trying to lead the people to a better direction.

#2 effective leaders look beyond the superficial to the root of the issue so they can guide others to real solutions. The leaders know the statistics, they know the real issues damaging young blacks are teenage pregnancy, out of wedlock births, drugs, lack of focus in education but how much attention are they giving those topics?

There are more white poeple killed by police than blacks. Yes I know proportionately blacks are killed more, but they also kill more. Blacks are 13%of population and account for 50% or murders committed. So, we can deduce that they commit more violent crimes and therefore are more likely to have encounters with police that end tragically.

The media is complicit as well, they report each Black Death and absolutely no white deaths which gives the impression that black people are being hunted. An honest media would report police killings proportionately which means they would report 3 white killings for every black killing…but we do not see this, why? Because they are only reporting what they know will feed the narrative and cause sensational reactions.

I do believe African Americans carry the history of this country and all the trauma with them and that’s understandable. And some would feel that way regardless of their leaders, but I also believe their leaders are keeping the narrative going and exploiting it to stay in power. Al sharpton comes to mind.

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Well, hopefully the living conditions of at least some Africans will start to improve, now that more and more are being indoctrinated into EGW-ism, right!?!?

If only TW could carpet bomb the entire continent with copies of TGC, I’m sure everyone would catch a clue and realize an immediate improvement in their circumstances.

Oh, and when those 12 year old cobalt miners finally do see the light, and accept EGW’s dark forebodings about the (relatively) immediate future, I just hope they don’t forget to give Jesus his 20 cents for every day they’ve worked, plus a little extra “consideration” for the offering plate.

:crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3::crossed_fingers:t3:

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Yes, well, we’re all being played by the money changers.

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Doesn’t support your rhetoric that black leaders are to blame for the fear. It simply supports that the fear is felt at all levels. Can you not recognize that? Your remarks are what is expected from the white audience by black people or other peoples of color. Bottom line, there is an issue and you can not blame it on the minority as you are trying to do. Your rhetoric is not new but old and does not lead to any fruitful discussion. Walk in their shoes first or at the least sit and listen, see history through their eyes, try to understand and not go into the defensive ‘white’ mode.

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i think this is the reality with all leadership around us, from Al Sharpton to Donald Trump to Joe Biden to TW…even leaders like Putin and Xi have to be mindful of the general mood of their constituents…the old adage, you get the leaders you deserve, does have a thread of truth in it…

i would say that we see adaptation even in the way God leads us…he isn’t leading us faster than we can follow…there’s sensitivity to where we’re at, and whatever baggage we’re carrying…

truly great leaders have a way of moving a crowd towards a noble goal while taking everything about that crowd into account…as for Al Sharpton, i’m not convinced he’s trying to lead anything, so much as he’s definitely interested in representing it…a great Black leader in my mind is Reverend William J. Barber II, president of Repairers of the Breach, and co-chair of Poor People’s Campaign…despite his diagnosis he always represents and delivers progress…

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Hello, my main point was not that there is no issue. It’s that black leaders will be outraged and protest and the media will report every time a black person is killed by police as if that is representative of the overall picture, and it is not. Again, more white poeple are killed by cops then black people, but how many white names do we know? None. Because the media doesn’t EVER report a single one. That gives a false impression to black youth.

The leaders do the same thing, Lebron James saying blacks are “hunted”, no they are not. There are 40million blacks in America and last year about 25 unarmed were killed. Btw that’s less then the typical number of whites killed by police. Meanwhile 10,000 blacks were killed mostly by other blacks. So how is it that police are hunting them?

The horrible cases we’ve seen like tyre Nichols should outrage the country and those police will be tried. But why don’t black leaders rage against the 10,000 other African Americans killed and fight for ways to reduce that! How many articles have we seen here about those killings? My point is not to ignore issues with police, it’s that the leaders who use these rare instances to keep the black community afraid so they don’t have to work in resolving the much deeper issues that plague their race. A true leader would seek ways to reduce out of wedlock black pregnancies and births, reduce drug use, encourage education, criticize the harmful hip hop culture messaging, and constantly tell their community that there is hope for a better future if you look to fix the root issues.

And btw you mention that my remarks are what black and other people of color expect from white audience, well I’m not white. I’m Hispanic (brown) the son of Central American immigrants, grew up poor, grew up in inner city, and your comment is precisely why these discussions don’t go anywhere because instead of discussing the merits of the arguments and facts its reduced to, you’re white and so I’m dismissing your opinion.

I want all races to succeed, but we need to face a harsh reality as minorities, our leaders are lying to us. The reason I use African-American leaders as an example, is because I hear the same exact rhetoric from my Hispanic leaders. They are constantly telling my community how racist this country is, how we cannot succeed here, how we are hated and despised, and how this country is set up to keep us from succeeding. But as I grew up, I realized that is not true. There are racist people yes but this country is overwhelmingly positive and the opportunities for brown and Black people are there if we will take them. My family came here with nothing and all of us have succeeded , because we didn’t listen to those voices telling us how we are hunted or hated or how the entire system is keeping us down. And anybody in the black or brown community that speaks this way is called an uncle Tom, a coconut, a sellout, a traitor, and I’ve heard those terms to me, and those who think like me my entire life. There is nothing wrong with calling out bad leadership among blacks and browns and as a brown person who sees the way our leaders try to make us afraid when we don’t have to be I’m going to keep calling them out.

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Reference please

How many of the white men killed by police were in the same circumstances as George Floyd? How many in the circumstances of Breonna Taylor?

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Hello, here are some sources for the claims I made , first screenshot is from statista.com

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And here is a link to the story

More whites are killed by police than African Americans and more unarmed whites are shot than unarmed African Americans but you would never know it by the news coverage. I know proportionately it’s not blacks but totals are still high for whites. And to you last question:

  1. Look up hunter brittain

  2. That’s my point! Why don’t we know more cases??? It’s not cuz they don’t happen. Obviously police kill whites in bad circumstances too, it’s just that no one cares or reports it. It’s ignored to feed tha narrative that blacks are hunted by police so the black leaders can feed the only narrative that keeps them in power, namely: this entire society wants to kill and destroy you and we are the only ones that can protect you, vote for us

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Thanks for providing references.

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Have a good sabbath! This is a really important topic because not only society but the church is being moved in a direction and focus that I feel we need to be careful and not just follow blindly. It’s touchy too because if you disagree with the popular narrative you’re deemed a racist or an Uncle Tom if your a minority, which I am.

But discussing this tough issue is important and I’m glad we can do that here, blessings

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@robelle

We are all old enough to know that “facts” never change minds - in either politics or religion. Our minds get molded by a variety of factors over time; and seldom - very seldom- can minds be changed
by statics or a path through “logical thinking”.

Yes, and no. Discussions end up pushing the two sides further apart. The only way to deal with this is to accept coexistence; and appeal to a third “rail” - an over-riding acceptance that reaches beyond the politics, and appeals to a one-on-one relationship. In essence, it says, “you have a right to your opinion; and even if I disagree with it, I will defend your right to it”. That’s democracy.

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Thanks, @Yoyito.

Two questions:

a) When you get in front of Black community groups in Harlem, Watts, Atlanta, Houston, and other places, and announce these uncredited statistics, what do they say?

b) In 2001, 2,996 people were killed by the September 11 attacks.

However, that year, per the FBI, 15,980 Americans were murdered.

By your logic, we should ignore the nearly 3,000 killed by terrorism and focus on the 16,000 Americans who were killed by other Americans.

So, how do you defend such thinking, particularly in your presentations to Black community groups?

HA

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I think you’re right that people generally don’t change their minds but I’ve had experiences where they have. I think there’s a big difference between discussion and argumentation. Arguments are pointless but a calmer more reasoned discussion has opened my mind to other’s points of view and they’ve changed their minds as have i about certain things.

Respect is key in society and the church. Blessings

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Yes, of course. I find there must be a inclination for the new information. On this medium there isn’t enough depth possible to reach meaningful conclusions. All we can do is make our case and let the chips fall where they may. :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

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Highly recommend the book “A House on Fire”, How Adventist Faith responds to Race and Racism, Edited by Maury D Jackson and Nathan Brown. It will help in understanding all the nuances of racism both with religion and the secular world. Variety of writers, points of interest, male and female, from around the world.

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Hello, I speak about this all the time to the “brown” youth I work with and I get all reactions. Generally there’s initial pushback, but when I actually ask for data they realize they don’t know why they believe what they do. Over time sometimes they actually have a change of thought, sometimes not. But at the very least they start to think and look at the data for themselve.

And I never said “ignore” any issue related to police brutality. What I said was that 100% of the media and black community outrage is toward the 20-25 unarmed African Americans killed by police and 0% of the outrage, coverage, and protests go to the 10,000 killed annually not by police.

This gives a very distorted view of reality that only makes the issue worse.

For example I asked a couple of our minority youth how many black vs white people are killed by police. And these 18-20 years old, college students said they thought 300 black unarmed people are killed by police annually and zero whites. The reality is more whites are killed than blacks.

So in these youths’ minds their concept of the issue and severity is completely distorted and exaggerated and it’s because it’s all they see in media and from minority leaders. And now I’m the church too. By all means let’s discuss all these issues but let’s cover all the stats not just get outraged by very few cases. Blessings

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Not my question.

I’ll repeat it, @Yoyito, and put it in bold so that you can see it:

When you get in front of Black community groups in Harlem, Watts, Atlanta, Houston, and other places, and announce these uncredited statistics, what do they say?

Also:

Right.

You’re at the doctor’s office with your mother. It’s quiet. All you hear is his wall clock, ticking.

He speaks in measured tones, a grim look on his face.

"Yoyito, we found a tumor. It’s 1 gm in weight, and it’s in her left breast.

“It’s cancerous.”

There is a moment of silence as you and your mother, reeling, absorb the information.

Then, suddenly, you hear the loud POP! of champagne bottles, and are covered in a snowfall of colorful confetti as two be-feathered Las Vegas showgirls sassily enter the room, blowing noisemakers.

The doctor’s face lights up with a huge smile. “But, not to worry, Yoyito! She has over 100 trillion cells in her body, and the tumor is only 100 million cells. That’s less than .0001%!”

He stands, gesturing widely, with a showman’s panache. "I don’t want to keep you back by feeding into an exaggerated narrative. We should wait until it’s twenty thousand times bigger — 2% of her body mass — to consider treatment.

“That way, we’ll cover all the stats and not get outraged by very few cells. Otherwise, we completely distort the magnitude of the problem!”

Sound good, Yoyito?

Comforting, perhaps?

What would you say to the person who comes at you with such a proposition?

HA

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Your comparison is not accurate, a more accurate comparison would be, we found a tiny tumor in your breast and we also found a massive tumor in your brain. Let’s only treat the breast cancer and ignore the brain tumor.

Again, I never ever said we ignore police brutality , I said we need to look and treat these issues proportionate to the impact they have and that’s not happening

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Practice the exercise of the 5 Why’s to get to root cause. Why do these statistics exist?

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If you haven’t spent time in the black community then you should limit your commentary and ask more questions. If you had actually spent time in the my community you would realize that we spend a lot of time fighting against our internal crime. There are countless stop the violence efforts and turn in your gums events across all black American communities. We can’t control where the media cameras go. The truth is that the media doesn’t care about our efforts to stop the violence…but they show up when we protest against police brutality. When that happens you all get played like pawns because you only believe what you see, cause you aren’t going to get the real picture by spending the time, sitting down and actually talking to us….cause if you did you wouldn’t say half the things you do. I don’t blame you for not knowing, I just don’t like when folk speak “facts” from a place of ignorance.

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