Who Are the Colored People?

i am so proud to have received a NAACP award by my black community...

because at one point in time i wasn't even considered "black enough"...

yes...

i am a black man...

i was raised in an all mexican neighborhood...

i attended great schools in white areas...

so...growing up i was looked at as odd...

black people didn't think i was "black enough"

white people thought i was different than other blacks...

and mexicans thought i was dominican...

life was colorful...

if it wasn't for that diversity i never would have known what life truly had to offer...

people fought for me to attend brentwood sci mag, paul revere middle school, and palisades high...

people fought for my freedoms...

freedoms i didn't acknowledge when i was younger...

i went to school with persians, koreans, native americans, french, nigerians, and indians...

another translation would be:

brown, yellow, red, white, black, and blue people...

brave people fought for that...

magnet schools...

equal education...

it was all fought for...

and i reaped the benefits from it...

the invisible freedom fighters fought...

the visible fighters fought as well...

in the 100 years of the existence of the NAACP and fighting for equality they are now victorious...

because a black man is in the white house...

built by slaves now run by a black president...

the battle was won...

and now i ask this question...

what does the "C.P. " mean in the NAACP now?

today's definition is...

NAACP:

the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People

we have advanced to the highest seat in office...

the president...

we have advanced to oprah status...

we have advanced...

congratulations...

and now...

where do we go?

i know we still have to fix mississippi, new orleans and our ghettos...

but what about the other colors...

filipino?

brazilian?

indian?

cambodian?

afghani?

and chinese?

if the NAACP fought so that a black man could be president in a country that practiced slavery...

then the NAACP should now stand and represent all people of color...

and fight to unite every version of "pigment"...

and lack of it...

the NAACP should now march and protect the most important colors of all...

GREEN...

"the planet"...

and "GREY"...

the mind...

education...

equal education...

because no matter if you're black, white, blue or orange...

we all live on green...

and we all think with grey...

and what good is a united people if there is no green to live on...???

and what good is a united people if our grey is filled with nothingness...

i am so proud to have performed "take our planet back" at the NAACP image awards...

i am so proud to have use my grey and sing about green in a black gathering...

i am so proud to have performed that song on that night...

during this time in american history...

we have a new mission ahead of us...

we all have to rethink the priorities...

we all have to put our best foot forward and walk together...

all colors...

all the different versions of pigment...

and lack of it...

we all have to protect the important colors...

"green, and grey"

and i propose this new title to the NAACP...

:)

the National Association for the Advancement of Consciousness and People

let's wake up...

realize how we all contribute to the destruction of our planet and minds...

let's continue to educate and push...

and remind our government to make laws that protect our "grey"

the mind...

and force our government to make laws that protect our "green, brown, and blue home"

the earth...

let's take our planet black...

please watch this video and pass it around like a baton and be apart of the new "C.P."

conscious people...

 

Comments

[Rhonnybay]

10:53 AM on 02/22/2009

There are Native American chapters of the NAACP. I think folks need to dig a little deeper.

NAACP wasn't only created by black people either.

We are talking about an org that is 90 years old and who's name comes from what black people were called.

I'm trying to get the big deal.

NAACP has lost its focus. It approached civil rights through the law.

Needs to return.

[FZliveson]

10:56 AM on 02/17/2009

There is no snide foundation for the following text in this post.
What I have never understood is; Why did the black Africans allow themselves to be taken into slavery by the whites? Or was it whites who did the taking?
Why did the native population not band together to fight this obviously horrible thing?
Has the culture of the western part of Africa always been so divisive that they could not fight for their families? If the answer is "guns," then what is the reason Africa was behind in technology, when it is said that we all evolved from African parentage?
Again, I'm not being sly and coy here. I'd appreciate an intelligent, non-aggressive response to this.
(No, I have not had the time to read books you may suggest, up until now.)
Thanks

[GrainOSand]

11:44 AM on 02/17/2009

It is the embraced nature of some to want to dominate based on fear or an internal feeling of turmoil, inadequacy, fear, doubt, whatever...that manifests in brutality upon others. It is the embraced nature of others to not covet dominion over anyone or anything except self. It is from these two tendencies that we get the barbaric subjugation of precious human life, the many distortions of what life could and should be.

SIncere love respect and regard

The only dumb question is the one not asked.

[CalverH]

11:47 AM on 02/17/2009

Oh my GOOOODDDD!
The did not fight? Read the books or watch some documentaries.... I am sorry, I know that you want non-agressive responses and I am not being agressive .... just thinking about the lack of information that can lead to those questions ....

[FZliveson]

03:05 PM on 02/17/2009

CalverH, you don't need GOOOOOOODDDD to help in this instance. Just unbuckle
the brain-belt and let out the answers, if you have them.

[tantrictim]

10:46 AM on 02/17/2009

its called multiculturalism, something that canada adopted in the 70's, as they looked at the american melting pot model and concluded it was unrealistic at best and condescending at worst...despite what lou snobbs might say

[papapj]

12:13 PM on 02/17/2009

Having lived in both countries it's interesting to note the differencesx in approach of the two states - both of whioch are populated preodminantly by immigrants.

The Canadian approach has often been compared to a fruitcake, every cimmigrant is invited to retain their own culture and enrich the Canadian 'cake' in doing so. The American model insists that everybody arriving ditch their culture uopn arrival and meld into the American melting pot.

[feltdizz]

10:41 AM on 02/17/2009

I don't expect the Jewish community to come to the defense of Latino's or Mexican's...

[GrainOSand]

09:39 AM on 02/17/2009

The NAACP was created in response to a manifest distortion of humanity at a State level. The truth remains the truth through decades, centuries, and millennia’s of distortion and perversions of the truth. Free labor and free land was the catalyst for theft, murder, and rape. Huge fortunes were made and that truth lives on to this day, like an unbroken chain, denials notwithstanding.

A questions arises (for me). Does that created to deal with a distortion represent a distortion itself? Yacub was described as a mad scientist who created other human beings of a certain hue in a test tube. This myth was offered up to combat the feeling people had in their hearts and minds that they were not worth anything based on the dominant cultures’ distortion of history, of religion, and of day to day expression of human interaction. Such is the thinking -- that it takes a lie to combat a lie. Every culture needs their own Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, and Santa Claus, something to believe in that stokes the fire of their self-esteem.

[GrainOSand]

09:39 AM on 02/17/2009

II
Civil rights law is totally necessary in any instance of distortion of human rights. If you will not acknowledge me of your own free will, I will compel you to do so in law. However, in so doing I make the law God, for it writes me into existence and it can be used to write me out of existence. It also does not solve the underlying problem of hatred living in hearts and minds, so years after civil rights legislation, we still have wedge issues, “the southern strategy”, police brutality and daily individual attacks on individual humanity. As late as 2000 George Bush was able to successfully destroy a candidate using a race volley, a xenophobic flanking maneuver. Yet, John McCain (the victim in 2000) embraced some of the same people and the same strategies in his failed attempt to bring the obvious frailty of his lackluster vision to the seat of American leadership and power. Look at how our Latino brothers and sisters are being utilized as a political football to push agendas that have nothing to do with concern for the wellbeing of living, feeling, and hopeful people. Look at how their humanity is being distorted.

My point in this walk on the wild side is this, it was never about color, it was always about humanity. Once that was distorted, categorized, nuanced...demographically quantified, then that began discord, that began the 10,000 distortions to combat the original distortion.

[GrainOSand]

09:39 AM on 02/17/2009

III
Those who struggled for civil rights are bright stars in my sky. My grievance is that they had to struggle due to distortion. My decree is that no one person is capable of saying we have moved beyond a distortion if there are others who would beg to differ. I am sure that when the Voting Rights Act passed there were many calls to disband the struggle. Yet, Martin as late as the day he died was waging a war for the dispossessed, who are not marked by color, but by generational poverty.

National Association for the Advancement of Consciousness and People, sounds like yet another response to combat an originating distortion. While Mr. Am was going to the schools that helped him, other kids were not fairing as well. Yes, there is Oprah, and Bill, and Colin, and Barack, Condi, and Will I Am, but there is also nameless and faceless people still struggling with the distortion. It is always a curiosity who gets to decide when a given struggle is over. I cannot buy into I got mine so what is wrong with you as an answer for suffering. Progress is to be marked but not distorted based on too small or too narrow a sample. We are all colored and we are all at risk if we do not get beyond unimportant attributes and rally around that which binds us. That is the timeless truth that does not lend itself to distortion.

[Judyisacutie]

02:16 AM on 02/17/2009

I think that was brilliant! National Association for the Advancement of Conscious People. Yeah, I dig it. If you saw the Image Awards the other night, you know that the organization is already moving in that direction.

Will isn't saying that all the problems in the black community are solved. His statement is so much deeper than that. He's saying that in addition to the civil rights issues of the 20th century that the NAACP also broaden its focus to include human rights issues that affect all people and minorities in particular.

I understand that some people might be afraid that the black community could lose power by ceding control over the black community's most visible civil rights organization in order to make it more inclusive. As it stands, anyone can join the NAACP but it remains predominantly black because it doesn't seem to recruit others all that much.

But this country is becoming increasingly diverse. If an Hispanic community or any other community wants to start a chapter of the NAACP to join the organization's struggle for human rights, why discourage that? Perhaps the organization is not ready now to branch out for fear of losing its focus on black issues, but the possibility of branching out should at least be considered in its long term plans. They could at least take baby steps at first by working more closely with other organizations on some issues.

[leeha]

04:36 AM on 02/17/2009

Every ethnic group in America formed their own organizations to address their separate issues. But thanks to the partnership of MLK and Ceasar Chavez, its been long emphasized that we work together. Now ask yourself should The United Farm Workers disband to become a member of the NAACP, should they abandon their long history? Or can they just organize for change with the NAACP? I believe that we shouldn't ask minority groups, or gay rights groups to abandon their independence. Because all of our struggle is different in some way. We can form coalitions, but ultimately only GLBSC should lead the fight for equal rights for gays. They know what's important for them and only they should decide what compromises to make. Look at the law 'Don't ask don't Tell', most liberal groups supported it, but the GLBSC wanted to say no to that compromise. And guess what group of people are suffering most from that compromise. Native Americans on reservations should lead the fight for people who live there. When you disband these groups and put them under one umbrella, they will all have to sacrifice part of their struggle to get on the same page. Look at our two party system, can u say that democrats are listening to everybody's issues.--Maybe u are not politically involved, but I know La Raza has no problem with NAACP or its name.

[Ecoutez]

11:07 PM on 02/17/2009

Excellent analysis. None of us can dilute our own purposes and mission.

[Judyisacutie]

01:33 AM on 02/18/2009

Another one misses the boat. Who said anything about disbanding? BTW, the United Farm Workers were never just a Hispanic organization. They were for everyone who worked in the fields, remember?

And don't make assumptions about the extent of my political savvy. I never even suggested that anyone had a "problem" with the NAACP or its name.

BTW, its mission doesn't have to change. The leadership of the organization itself is already broadening its original mission to keep up with the times. It's interesting how some folks claim to know what the NAACP's mission is, but they really don't have a clue about the direction the organization is going with its new, young president.

[gman60]

12:17 AM on 02/17/2009

For a 74 year old black man...this is just too much to read. When I ran my office I would tell our staff if you cannot get to the primary issue on the back of a 3x5 card then you have wasted our time. Black people across this country and around the world have wonderful and not so wonderful and challenging stories to tell. Mine has been a bit different.

[ccmd]

08:20 PM on 02/16/2009

come to bmore city will. ill show you my 'hood. ;)





you very well may rethink this.

[dana94591]

06:16 PM on 02/16/2009

Will, well said, my dear!!!

[dutch163]

06:05 PM on 02/16/2009

Will.i.am..WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!

"the National Association for the Advancement of Consciousness and People

let's wake up..."

and what a coincidence ..just today I was thinking about the "consciousness raising" groups of the 70's

I always say we can all be traced to one woman in Africa...

[carolj]

05:32 PM on 02/16/2009

Kudos Will.i.am. You have risen above our differences to realize we are all "one, but we're not the same....we have to carry each other".

Thanks for the gift of your words and music. I have passed along.

[IrisBittencourt]

05:50 PM on 02/16/2009

I appreciate Will's sentiment, but it is entirely premature and misplaced. The principal crime of black slavery was the theft of black labor in the creation of white wealth. Accordingly, the job of the NAACP or any other group is not done simply because Obama was elected President. There have been several black elected officials at nearly all levels of government since Reconstruction. The appropriate measure should be the extent of the disparity in white and black wealth, as in 1863 black wealth was approximately zero. In 2009, the average black family has less than one-fifth the wealth of the average white family (one-fiftieth if we take the median). Even a black family making $50,000 a year has, on average, about half the wealth of a white family making $50,000 a year. This is not because black families save less -- they don't -- but because wealth accumulates over generations. Black Americans have been legally entitled to the civil rights needed for equal opportunities to pursue wealth for a mere two generations. This unequal legacy results in black families having fewer resources to help send their children to college, perpetuating a cycle of inequality. In addition, black lose wealth at a faster rate than white families in America.
Forty-five percent of black children whose parents earned middle-class incomes in 1968 (about $55,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars) are in the bottom twenty percent of earners today. Only 16 percent of white middle-class children experienced the same economic fall.

[sybergirl]

06:43 PM on 02/16/2009

Will's words are thought-provoking, but I find IrisBettencourt's words speak more truthfully to the matter at hand. The NAACP wasn't established to make it possible for an African-American to be elected as POTUS or anything as arbitrary. Nor was the NAACP founded for the advancement of rights, liberty, and justice for only African-Americans. True, 100 years ago the problems facing the U.S. were much more "black & white" so to speak. But the NAACP was always fighting for all people who have historically face disadvantages, especially those disadvantages which tend to involve race/ethnicity/color. (cont'd next...)

[sybergirl]

06:43 PM on 02/16/2009

Will.I.Am notes that we've reached some pinnacle in elected Pres. Obama. That's true, a huge breakthrough for our country indeed. But we still witness unarmed black men get shot in the back by police, even when they are restrained and pose no threat. I don't wish this type of treatment by police officers on ANYONE; but I've never heard tell of an unarmed white man being murdered by the police. We still witness disparaging numbers with regards to crime & punishment depending on the race of the convicted felon. We still witness disparaging numbers with regards to healthcare, education, housing, loan interest rates... All those numbers correlating with race, and these issues must be faced head-on. We have to be honest about what the deal is, and work to fix these injustices. We can't pretend that because we've elected the better man for POTUS, that all of our race-based problems have been solved.

[Nommo]

09:08 PM on 02/16/2009

That was the gift of decades of struggle to be acknowledged as human. Black people have been saying that for centuries. Ever hear of Frederick Douglass? Dr. Martin Luther King? Sojourner Truth?

[DaisyDooks]

09:52 AM on 02/17/2009

@Nommo, that reverse psychology "to be acknowledged as human" is losing its luster. My question would be acknowledged by whom? Who is the validator?

[vesaversa1]

04:50 PM on 02/16/2009

Will.i.am your a very intelligent man and i agree with you 100%.
That was deep man.

[Pippen]

03:09 PM on 02/16/2009

Why do black males (females too ?) feel they would lose some identity in the national struggle to improve ethnic relations in America by changing the words "Colored People" ?

That is an article alone.

Will.I.Am must have touched a good chord. When chords are sensitive that's an opportunity to change.

I don't know the answer, but I'm listening to the chord. Anyone want to chime in on this observation ?