Why my bread & Milk cost so much...OR WHATEVA?

MORE COVERAGE ON THE INFLATION & INEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH CRISIS...AKA, THE RECESSION!!!

There should be no surprise we find ourselves in this economic
meltdown a year or two after a few select CEOs make record
amounts of money. Corporations have afforded themselves the
luxury of not having to be a benefit to their consumers and
definitely not their employees. When the top 10% of the world
holds 90% of the wealth, there should be no surprise that the
top becomes too heavy to be supported by the suffering body.
As a result they are falling and they want to fall on us. CEO
salaries should be reduced, stocks should be sold, advertising
lowered before thousands of jobs go.

In Philadelphia,libraries and other community and educational centers were the
first to be shut down. When someone can create and sell a
$1,000,000 phone. When Victoria Secret can make and sell a
$15,000,000 bra. We are not in a recession. There's just a
poor distribution of wealth. Someone is taking too much and
giving too little.

One thing we have to do before we get angry is realize we're
apart of this puzzle as well. We allowed this to happen in
hopes we'd become that top 10%. We played into this system
even though its caused us much harm. We said no to universal
health care but when we see AIG filing for bankruptcy, we
begin to think twice. We gave up our SUVs for smaller cars,
and smaller cars for bikes when gas prices were rising. When
houses began to foreclose, banks started listening and now
they're making lame attempts to meet our needs. What were we
doing when things were going well? What were we doing when we
created the problem? Bottom line is we don't need them. We
need to become more self sufficient. We need to grow our own,
make our own, sell amongst each other. Support your local
business and street hustler before you support these
corporations. Make sure your neighbor still has somewhere to
live and food to eat. don't be afraid of their crumbling
system... create your own.


Miafere Olivia***

Nationalism > Patriosm?

A black woman was asked to perform The Star Spangled Banner, but opted to sing the lyrics to Lift Every Voice and Sing to the tune of The Star Spangled Banner.

She responds to the complaints of many White people stating that artists tend to be opportunists.
Please watch both of these clips.

Extreme Makeover: White House Edition

SO often The Peppermint exclaims about widespread apathy amongst our people.
My my, how people have been engaged these past weeks!!!

This election is/was sooo important to many of us,and we showed it in the poll booths,on our sweaters (adorned with Obama-Biden pins),in our blogs, facebook statuses, and anywhere else we could show our pride.

It still has not sunk in...ya know? The magnitude of this thing. Scratch that. Rephrase. It is the magnitude of this victory that keeps me from truly believing that my president has skin like mine.
This man...this man of rhetoric...with more charisma than Michael Jordan-has a VISION...a VISION that I can finally agree on. Barack Hussein Obama is a leader that sees in color, and I can follow that.

If any of you are still hungry to learn more about his agenda, please go to www.change.gov.


-Brother Johnston Michaels


I have one more thing to say. The name 'WHITE HOUSE' has definitely got to change now!

Don't take my word for it.

With all the excitement-keep in mind that LITERACY IS REAL.

THE more YOU Read, the better off we'll all be.

Don't take my word for it.
Go to your local library.

I'm telling you-if you get excited from the latest Kanye single....
OOOH OOOOH,
or some hot new business on one of the social scene blogs,

Imagine how excited your mind will be when it eats all that skull candy...that can only be found in a book.
yup.

The PepperMint advocates reading.
That's our piece peace piece for the day.


-Brother Johnston M.

new world order*

The other day I posted some text concerning the recent recession panic.
By no means am I apologizing for my words; rather, I am making it clear that I am not invalidating this ever rising inflation.
In fact, I am acknowledging it. This crisis is sooo real...and not coincidental in the least bit.
Look at your country's history (compare pre-Great Depression to the state we're in now), look at other countries' history ie: the Weimar Republic inflation (during the 1920's, I believe)...
the tactics of increased prices on merchandise & and services, and encouragement from the government to spend, is not new at all.
I was just so pissed off at people blaming their destituion on the recession. Yes, the economy has had us all in the hole. But I think it becomes a bit ridiculous when we say we cant buy a soda, or go to the movies because of the recession-when the same person just bought a new outfit from Urban Outfitters.We seem to cry "RECESSION! RECESSION! DECADENT ECONOMY!" when its convenient, or cool.

no more to say.
smh.

-Johnston Michaels

Recession...DEPRESSION...Chaos...O MY!

We've all been hearing so much about this decadent economy.
I was telling Sweet Georgia Brown just last night, how all the panic is blowing me!

Besides the fact that it's exactly what the government wants...it upsets me to think that some people think things were okay before this announcement.

Like many other people of color, I am not one of the privileged kids who was bred in an upper middle class home...or even a middle class home. I grew up on fried chicken, and spaghetti and 99 cent (yes, I used the singular form of cent...not cents) juice- Back to school shopping and my Black {aspiring to be White} Christmas' were moreso a miracle than a time of shallow anticipation.

The fact that people are so jarred by the current state of The U.S. banking system, credit systems, and stocks is rather bogus to me.
I agree with Georgia Brown when she stated that the 'recession, depression' are terms used to dress up "INFLATION". Your bread has gone up; My 50 cent cookies have gone up to 59 cent...along with my chips, and sugar...

I am not happy about this;It takes money out of our pockets. But in so many cases it reminds me of 'The handsome,charming,well mannered Colored kid that went to a private school all his life,but walks through the hood one day & hears some thugs say the "N-word*"...and he gets offended.BROTHER!!! ...
ugh....
no comment!
LMAO
Just note that the struggle is not new.

ON A BRIGHTER NOTE:
The PEPPErMINT Arts Collective's feature at Dr. Mother Covert & Jamila's Brooklyn Renaissance party, went rather well.
We danced until our legs numbed...The PEPPErMINT aired their dirty laundry...then opened the floor for discussion-a discussion that went on for several hours.

The evening did not end; it only transitioned into another state- of enlightenment.

Research the martyr-William Cooper
Reading for NOW:
Behold a Pale Horse

***Don't let conspiracy theory consume you.Understand where it fits in***

-Johnston Michaels

'O' has NEVER looked Sooo DAMN Cool!

We're all in such an interesting space right now.

Yesterday was very exciting for many in Philadelphia. Barack Obama spoke at 4 sites. Palin was staying in a local hotel right downtown on Broad Street. Hundreds of Obama supporters rallied outside of her hotel and shouted praise for their prospective hero. "OBAMA" has become more than just a last name- but it's flowered into a symbol,the title of a new lifestyle to subscribe, an indiscriminatory religion [OBAMAism] for dope dealers, yuppies, pop culture fiends, grey heads and hipsters alike.
In class one afternoon I realized that the marketing plan for Obama is wickedly ingenius. His stamp is everywhere---the 3 red stripes,overlaying the blue background, and white sphere. The motif of REAL CHANGE and a social GENESIS has been captured seemlessly inside of an 'O'.This man excites our senses. If his literary propaganda doesn't catch us...the multicolored images of his face will. All of the steps taken to solidify another vote are coupled so well with his charisma.

I have been foloowing the debates,magazine cover stories,& the countless interviews. However, I was against wearing an Obama pin for quite a while. And I refused to rock one of the many Obama shirts in Urban Outfitters.
I felt I would joining in with the mass commercialization of the season.

I had yet another epiphany in my class [I daydream a little too often] ; I came to the conclusion that I've not been as supportive of Barack Obama as I should be. Not that I'be been apathetic. But I was so focused on not trivializing the message, that I was not actively recognizing the various layers that make this time so beautiful.

Well folks, today I not only did I purchase 1 Obama pin but I snagged 3. I really support his vision.

Yesterday , I am touched by the children, old White women, horn honking cars, Jews, young Blacks, motorcyclists, dogs [and the list goes on] who cheered for this man and fashioned their trendy Obama gear and posters.

It's true... 'O' has never looked cooler.
And I still do not know what McCain's symbol is...if he even has one.

Lemme google it.
Shalom-muBARACK...

;-)


-Johnston Michaels