Lou Wilson of Mandrill made his transition to the ancestors at the beginning of this year, January 7, 2013.
Lou, an accomplished musician and instrumentalists, wrote most of the lyrics and of course the music that made the Mandrill funk band famous: “Fence Walk,” “Mango Meat,” “Hang Loose,” “Land of the Golden Baboon,” “House of Wood,” “Git It All (Shake Some Boody),” “Polk Street Carnival.” They were standards in almost all of their performances.
And for me, he was above standard throughout his life.
I will not pretend to have taken Lou’s sudden departure from my life lightly or graciously or gracefully, because I didn’t. And at this writing on the eve of the anniversary of his 72nd birthday, the first really since his passing, a flood of memories come racing to the front of my mind, each one vying to be attended to first.
Truth be told, there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him and the life we had together, and the life we planned together – and the fact that none of that’s ever going to happen. At least, not here.
His sudden passing has left a hole in my heart, and in our family: we each are coping in our own ways.
We approach his 72nd Birthday, tomorrow, Friday, October 25 — knowing that this will be the first year we won’t have him here to give him love, load him up with his favorite Doozy Cartoon birthday cards.
But there’s also the knowledge that his spirit is still with us in his music, and his energy generated through our children and grandchildren.
Check out his music and his genius by logging on to www.mandrillis.com.
For many years during and after slavery the first priority of African American parents was making sure their children stayed alive. This gave rise to the attitudes that “Children should be seen and not heard” and “Spare the rod – Spoil the child”.
These survival practices are still being used today. Having survived to some degree the danger that gave them birth, they have been given a legitimacy of their own.
Unintentionally we damage our children’s self-esteem and train them for oppression – rather than liberation. If our children are not permitted to question – or state their opinions – even those that differ from ours – we teach them to accept without thought or challenge. Having no power to make decisions about one’s life breeds anger, contempt and low self-esteem at any age.
We’ve observed that children are born playful, enthusiastic, spontaneous, eager to learn, curious about their environment, sympathetic, loving and forgiving. As they grow older their natural qualities become suppressed. They are forced as we were to live by the competitive standards of European traditions and we are losing many of those who may well be our future Sojourners or Malcolm’s. We have not collectively created a purpose for developing self-esteem or even a purpose for parenting such as ‘Parenting for Liberation”, which automatically calls for us to make some changes since we are far from being liberated. We’d like to fix our children. Where the change is needed and must begin is with us –the parents because our children reflect who we are being. The question is do we love them enough to change how we are with them?
We are all products of some parenting style as were our parents before us and theirs before them. Assessments of our parents may range from worship to hatred – we may be existing with a need to forgive our parents for words or actions we perceived as cruel. It’s important – no it’s crucial for parents to heal wounds of the past in order to protect their children from present day damage. Learning to forgive ourselves and others is an empowering lesson and it allows the discovery or empowering of one’s purpose in life.
The challenge and the opportunity are to break the negative patterns, those that produce individuals who cannot be in cooperative relationships with others. Our children filling the prisons and killing each other is just not acceptable. While there are scores of opportunities to join groups whose activity is anti-racism, there’s a dire need to create caring communities committed to support our children in discovering and demonstrating the genius that they are born with.
There are many ways to break the pattern or re-parent. All it requires is a willingness to recapture our true sense of self and put away the programming that has us as African American people abandon the highest held value among Africans, relationships with fellow beings while placing it on possession of material objects. Our children’s actions mirror our need to retrieve our African values. And we start with you parent – single, married or divorced. Your children need to know that you are together when it comes to them. Single parents – males and females put a halt on bashing your child’s other parent… instead acknowledge the fact that you made the choice and take responsibility for making the choice, thanking him or her for the lesson and give your child the attention needed and deserved to contribute to the building of a better world. We start Mothers and Fathers, and then we include the blocks where the children live. Towards that goal –
Accept yourself – identify and accept your strengths and weaknesses – everyone has them.
Praise yourself – Take pride in your achievements – great and small.
Trust yourself – Listen to your own thoughts and feelings. Act on what you think is right, doing what makes you feel fulfilled. Allow your actions to be questioned – listening to improve results.
Respect yourself – Be proud of who you are. Explore and appreciate your own special talents.
Love yourself – Love the unique person you are. Don’t overreact to errors – learn from them
Spend time with you – Take time –outs from the hustle and bustle to be alone with you. Find activities you can enjoy alone. Learn to enjoy your own company. These steps will yield a parent who will ensure that our children get a sense of being loved enabling them to be a contributor to a new World Order. Contact parentsnotebook@yahoo.com with comments or issues.
Michael Greys is the mayoral candidate on the Freedom Party line in November
For the first time in the history of New York City, a Black-led and Black-financed political party, which focuses, universally, on the plight of the downtrodden, the dispossessed and the disenfranchised, will appear on the ballot in the General Election in 2013. The Freedom Party was inspired by our revered ancestors who spoke truth to power.
The poor have never had a political party of their own. In the 1960’s, the Democratic Party did briefly declare and wage a “war on poverty” but this war ended after Cong. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. was given the boot from the Democratic Party. Cong. Powell made his transition before the People’s Party could become airborne.
On March 16, 1827 the Freedom’s Journal penned its first editorial in New York City. The opening lines read: “We wish to plead our own cause. Too long have others spoken for us”. These words were written when most Blacks in the United States were denied any semblance of free speech. In New York, slavery ended on July 4, 1827.
After the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment, Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts called on newly enfranchised Africans to form their own political party. He advised our revered ancestors to stay away from both the Republican and Democratic Parties. In a lily-white Congress, Sen. Sumner and Cong. Thaddeus Stevens led the fight for Black rights.
In 2013, John Brown, Sen. Sumner and all of our revered ancestors are jubilant, spiritually, that the Freedom Party is on the ballot in New York City. This has been a protracted struggle and, 150 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the poor will finally have a voice in the “city of immigrants and descendants of enslaved Africans”.
On August 24, 2013 thousands of New Yorkers traveled to Washington, DC and elsewhere to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the “March on Washington”. Lost in this celebration was the Poor People’s Campaign, five years after the “1963 March on Washington”, and also the unveiling of the report by the Kerner Commission: “Our nation is moving toward two societies; one Black, one white-separate and unequal”.
Against this backdrop, the first step of the Freedom Party in 2014 is to stamp out all traces of racism and all “badges of slavery” in all municipal policies in New York City. Secondly, there must be a redistribution of wealth due to confiscatory policies and racially motivated municipal policies. Thirdly, there must be reparations by New York City to descendants of enslaved Africans. For example, the “African Burial Ground”.
It has been said that the “signature” issue in the 2013 mayoral election is “stop, question and frisk”. The Democratic Party claims that it would reform it. The Republican Party has promised to keep it. On the other hand, the Freedom Party would outlaw it as a “badge of slavery” and in violation of the Thirteenth Amendment.
“Stop, question and frisk” is not a necessary police tactic. Instead, the Democratic and Republican Parties apply the Fourth Amendment to whites. The Freedom Party would also only apply the Fourth Amendment to Blacks, Latinos and Asians. Racism and sexism would find no quarter in any municipal administration of the Freedom Party.
Unless the Freedom Party is betrayed like the lives of our revered ancestors were betrayed, the mission of the Freedom Party is to provide undying and undivided representation to those groups that have been historically despised and defamed in the United States. This mission, as expected, is being covertly challenged as we speak. 9/30/13
Defendant Transported Rifles, Revolvers, Semi-Automatic Pistols and Ammunition From North Carolina To Brooklyn
Kings County District Attorney Charles J. Hynes and New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly today announced the indictment of Christopher “Country” McPhaul, 43, for illegally selling 30 firearms to an undercover police officer in Brooklyn on ten separate occasions, between April 1, 2013 and September 6, 2013. The top count of the indictment is Criminal Sale of a Firearm in the First Degree. The indictment includes over 100 related charges. If convicted on the top charge, the defendant faces up to 50 years in prison.
“While New York City remains the safest large city in America, incidents of gun violence continue to plague our communities,” said District Attorney Hynes. “The investigative partnership between the NYPD’s Firearms Investigations Unit and my office’s Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau is yet another successful chapter in our joint mission to stem the incessant flow of illegal firearms from other states into our own backyard. Such law enforcement partnerships require an extraordinary commitment of time and resources. They must continue to be a priority if we are to successfully combat the violence that is inevitable when illegal guns like these are delivered for sale in our community.”
“That these guns came to New York City through the iron pipeline should not come as a surprise considering 90% of crime guns recovered in the five boroughs come from out of state,” said Commissioner Kelly. “The NYPD is working to stop dealers wherever their source and thanks to enforcement efforts like this, shooting homicides are down 30% citywide. I commend the work of NYPD’s Firearm’s Suppression Division and the undercover detective in this case, as well as District Attorney Hynes and the prosecutors in his office.”
According to the investigation, McPhaul offered delivery service of various firearms and ammunition in exchange for cash that FIU the undercover officer paid in advance via wire or at the time of delivery. These weapons included rifles, revolvers and semi-automatic pistols. During the investigation, the defendant communicated using a cellphone, often through coded text messages.
For example, “Country” allegedly advised the undercover that he had weapons available for delivery via the following text message: “Have a lot of toys for the kids, I’m back, a little $2500 will take them all!” The undercover texted back, expressing his interest in the sale, and the defendant arranged to meet him in Brooklyn to finalize the transaction. The defendant allegedly sold the officer a .357 magnum revolver, two 9mm semi-automatic pistols, a .22 caliber pistol, 17 9mm rounds of ammunition and 30 .22 caliber rounds of ammunition in exchange for the agreed $2500. Nine other similar transactions took place between April 1st and September 6th.
The 6-month investigation revealed that McPhaul routinely traveled to the Raeford/Fayetteville area of North Carolina to replenish his supply of weapons and then returned to Brooklyn a short time later to make the sale.
FIU detectives apprehended the defendant in Brooklyn on October 4, when he last returned from North Carolina and was observed driving a vehicle with North Carolina license plates.
NYPD Case Detective Edward Mercado, Sergeants William Sommer and Donald Morgan and Captain Raymond Festino of the Firearms Investigations Unit investigated the case. Deputy Bureau Chief Tara Lenich and Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Scott of KCDA’s Major Narcotics Investigations Unit will prosecute the case. Marc Fliedner is the Chief of KCDA’s Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau.
Residents of New York State and New York City in particular have become accustomed to moderate Republicans over the years. But the toxic ideology of national conservative Republicans and their sharp shift to the Right is beginning to seep into New York. Recent events have exposed the inherent conflict of endorsements for Democratic candidates who also obtain ballot status on party lines that are antithetical to democratic principles.
“I will be far more critical when endorsing candidates who cater to other lines that in a lot of ways conflict with the principles of the Democratic Party and of my ideals as an American and where we want to go as a country,” said Assemblyman Walter Mosley. Alluding to the heightened distinction between the Democratic and Republican/Conservative parties and “where they want to take our country” Mosley said, “Clearly, to seek the endorsement of both parties tells me that you are not committed to either party and that whether you want to admit it or not your political views in some way or form are going to be questioned because of this conflict.”
Mosley’s conclusion? “In light of that — as a party elected official as well as a state legislator as part of the Democratic Party – going forward I will be highly critical of offering my endorsement and support of any candidate who seeks going down this path in lieu of what we have seen transpire and the abuse of this process in the current district attorney’s race.”
Cross-endorsements are not new. For decades, local Democratic candidates have taken the opportunity where possible to also run on a variety of other lines. (Judges are exempt from party pressure and have traditionally run on all three major party lines in general elections, an arrangement made among county leaders because judges are supposed to be nonpartisan.)
“I have always had a problem with people who are cross-endorsed by parties that are antithetical to democratic values,” said District Leader Chris Owens (52 AD). “The party that is most antithetical to democratic values is the Conservative Party. Across the board, they disagree with basically everything that Democrats do. With Republicans, it depends on the issue. With the Working Families Party, it depends on the issue.”
Owens said he would consider cross-endorsements. “I would consider it,” he said. “Whether or not it would happen, I don’t know.”
“I endorsed the Green Party candidate against the Democrat. I endorsed Gloria Mattera against Marty Markowitz in 2005. Why? Because Markowitz endorsed Bloomberg who is not a Democrat,” said Owens. “It is not secret that I have broken party lines before. I wasn’t district leader at the time. But as an individual, I endorsed Gloria because I felt the Borough President had done a disservice to the Democratic nominee.”
Owens gave the anti-birth control Right-to-Life Party as an example of a party antithetical to democratic principles because women have a right to their bodily autonomy.
“I would consider not endorsing a Democrat who is also running on the Right-to-Life party. That’s me,” said Owens. “But there are Democrats who vote very democratic in Southern Brooklyn or even in Caribbean sections of Brooklyn who would not have a problem with somebody also running on Right-to-Life.”
Endorsements are both individual and group decisions. Cross-endorsement decisions usually occur as a closed-door decision unless a candidate openly decides to circulate petitions for another additional party line and then files a Wilson-Pakula application to get permission from the county leader (or three county leaders if it is citywide office) of that party to be allowed to run on that line. Anybody can petition but may not be allowed on the line if they do not get the Wilson-Pakula.
“That’s what the whole controversy with Malcolm Smith was about,” said Owens, referring to when Republicans in Queens, along with Dan Halloran and Malcolm Smith, were “engaged in the business of essentially selling the line… regardless of whether you are a Republican or not.”
