Family Member Gives A Proud Wink For Lodge
Editor:
I just read your article (Denver Urban Spectrum, May 2007) on the Winks Lodge in Lincoln Hills. I proudly am a great-great-nephew of “Uncle Winks” and had the opportunity (with my daughter) to attend the Beckwourth Mountain Club’s July 2006 rededication function. It always brings me great pride to read and review any articles on my family’s history and contributions to the West. Also, this is my first opportunity to view your publication. Keep African-American history alive in Denver!
Rodney Hamlet
San Francisco, CA

Beholding Obama
Editor:
Power is in the eye of the beholder.  If you add in enough eyes, a man can become a monument.  Humans, since the beginning of time, have sought to become the objects of their fellow man’s devotion, trust, and adoration.  That task becomes easier than ever in the 21st century.  Nowadays, the electronic eye of the camera lens can give celebrities a sort of man-made omnipresence. This is the case for Barack Obama.
The senator from Illinois has captured our attention, and yes, adoration, unlike any public figure in these few short years of the 21st century. He is a relatively young and highly articulate Black man…just like me.
As a Black man, Obama’s media omnipresence means more to me than I sometimes care to admit.  I did not get a chance to see Dr. King, or W.E.B. Dubois first hand.  Malcolm X is only the stuff of legend to my generation.  Our potential energy has been insidiously channeled into aspiring to be wealthy, famous, sexy, or all three. This is not true for all, of course, but becoming an upstanding “square” congressman is not the subject of top 40 rotation rap hits. 
As a symbol, Obama’s power has effects that are not yet fully manifested, especially in the minds of young people. The youth do not want to admit that a public figure can even begin to influence their behavior, but the evidence is as plain as the shoes on their feet. Barack Obama just makes a brother want to put on a nice suit and tie! 
And there’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve found myself unconsciously blurting out lyrics to certain songs that, if I followed its advice, I’d become a walking statistic.
This is not some “father figure” issue. I had a stable dad in my home growing up. This is a human fact. We naturally model the behavior of the most powerful people in our awareness.  This could be your mother, an O.G. on the block, the teacher who inspired you in class, or the leader of the free world. I’m not saying the guy is perfect, but the sum of his public qualities adds up to a respectable role model. 
Leaders are microcosms of the nation they serve. If he does a decent job as president, I bet employers would be prone to think well of the potential of Black male job applicants. What does it say to corporate Black men when the president has a Black woman by his side? As for brothers like me under the age of 30, if the thought of doubting ourselves professionally pops up in our heads, it may be answered by a mental chorus of, “Yes We Can, Yes We Can!”
Theo “Lucifury” Wilson
Denver, CO

I Have Never Run For President Of The United States Of America
Editor:
Despite the fact that I have NEVER run for President of the United States, in 1952 when I was a young teacher in a Chicago public high school, I stressed responsible sexual behavior and the importance of the role of fathers in a child’s development. I was an English teacher so this was not within my purview; however, in locus parentis, I taught the whole child.  At that time Senator Barack Obama was not even born.
Observing that so many of my students had no father in the home, I asked them what life was like for their mothers who were struggling alone trying to rear them on either meager salaries or welfare. After listening to their hardships and deprivation, I then asked them if they felt that for them to perpetuate that cycle was a wise thing to do. I asked them if they felt that life would be easier for their mothers if they had a husband/companion who could work with a partner as a team to provide for the children. I challenged them to envision what their lives would be like if they had an intact family. Some lowered their heads and their eyes moistened.
Not wanting to push them to the point where they would allow the girls to see them cry, I then began my conversation with them about the importance of the balance that family life provides. I then shared with them the experience in my home, not to make them feel ashamed, embarrassed or deprived, but for them to realize the wholeness of an individual who had the benefit of the love and nurturing of two parents, a mother and a father. I then told them that they were not responsible for their pasts or the mistakes of their parents, but they, and they alone could determine their present and their future.
I then explained to them the revolution of the destruction of family life among Americans who came here as slaves and had their families separated and sold off separately in order to enhance the wealth of cruel, greedy, and selfish slaveholders. Blacks were not even allowed to formally marry, thus they reverted to the African custom of jumping the broom. I cautioned them not to have contempt for the fact that their ancestors were enslaved, because slavery is as old as society and many ethnic groups have enslaved others or even members of their own ethnic group. Slavery was not their shame, but America’s shame. I told them to hold their heads high because in spite of slavery and the brutality, disenfranchisement, denial of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they today had opportunities not afforded their ancestors. I stressed the responsibility that they had to maximize those opportunities by studying to get a good education, by registering and voting when they became of age, to be certain that they loved the young lady they wanted to be intimate with so the relationship could end in a life-time committed marriage where their children would not be fatherless.
Did I succeed? Yes, for many of them I did. I am in contact with many of my former students some 56 years later. Some of them are now beginning to get social security. One of them earned his Ph.D. and became head of the physical education for the Chicago Public Schools.  One of them is a minister. One of them owns and operates a major cosmetics company and employs over 100 people. One of them has presented a minority exposition in the South Suburbs every year for the past six years; and, he has asked me to be his mistress of ceremonies. One of them taught at Chicago Vocational High School and I, now working as a real estate broker, have sold both of her daughters a home. Another one has worked with me as their family realtor and has bought and sold several multi-unit buildings with me, bought his family home with me; and then I sold property to two of his children.
At 78 years of age, I feel so blessed to be able to have lived long enough to interact in their lives still and to see so many of them become successful, men, husbands and fathers.
It is not the thunderstorm that turns a rock to sand; it is by the process of erosion where a constant drip of water slowly turns the rock to sand.
Bill Cosby has spoken out about correcting a flaw in the community of Americans of African descent; and many others less well known have also stressed the importance of study, stability, sacrifice and striving toward a goal. Now presumptive Presidential Nominee Barack Obama has spoken out about this issue and the cynics are questioning his motivation and calling it a political maneuver. I NEVER ran for office of the President of the United States of America, but like all intelligent and sincere and concerned people, we recognize the need to restore and reinvigorate a generation who has fallen prey to the lure of the streets and lack of social or personal responsibility.
Continue to speak out Senator Barack Obama, yours is not a voice in the wilderness; and with the frequency of your outreach, like the constant drip of the water, you will help to turn boys into men.
Helen L. Burleson
Doctor of Public Administration
Olympia Fields, IL

DUS Support Important To 2008 American Spirit Series
Editor:
Colorado Humanities is grateful for your enthusiasm, commitment and hard work in making the 2008 American Spirit Series event a success. Your generosity of spirit and support helped build a financial base for the event, trimmed our expenses, helped attract many community audience members and culminated in a meaningful, thought-provoking evening celebrating the ideals and philosophy of two extraordinary men.
You also helped us select and honor some of the most inspirational and remarkable leaders in our community. These American Spirit honorees are leaders who represent the best in democratic ideals, human rights and American values.
Thank you for being a part of a memorable event.
Pat Kelly
Director of Development Colorado Humanities

Conditioned Human Behavior Similar To Rats Behavior
Editor:
While it is true guns don’t generally kill people, having no intrinsic good or evil qualities of their own, they have discharged and killed accidentally. On the other hand, if you subscribe to the belief that everything is alive and conscious, you may hold the view that their origin is evil. I take a position different from that of Ronald E. Childs in Place Blame Where It Belongs: A Gun Has Never Killed Anyone, blaming poor parenting for gun violence among Black youth. I don’t believe the answer is that simplistic.
When African slaves came to America they were thrust into a culture of violence against them. This violence was perpetrated by people operating purely from the reptilian area of the brain – meaning a very low level of consciousness. These slaves went from having a sense of culture and spirituality to basic survival strategies. Essentially the slave was lowered gradually to the level of the enslaver.
Black behavior has been conditioned and maintained by certain elements of psychological warfare, the way scientist condition the behavior of rats in a laboratory. Think rats are that different from us? Think again! They are like us; an expression of consciousness in a different physical form. Caged rats when subjected to highly stressful conditions such as overcrowding tended to become highly aggressive towards their neighbors.
Imagine how stressful and frustrating it must be for people oppressed, maligned, brutalized, denied justice, opportunity and respect for hundreds of years. The rats had it easy by comparison. Think this brutal treatment of people is not by design? Think again! Ving Rhames in the film Animal discloses the formula introduced by a Caribbean slave owner to American slave holders for controlling the behavior of slaves. The societal dynamics of this formula for control are with us today. Europeans tend to be control oriented in their world view. This tendency towards obsession can be traced to the reptile brain which is only concerned with its own survival. The lack of spirituality is directly correlated to a stronger influence of this area of the brain. Non-European people demonstrate an inclination to live more harmoniously with the natural world.
The system of white supremacy in America has fragmented the mental and emotional world of the Black people it has dominated. This fragmentation has been an effective divide and control tactic, blocking and frustrating every attempt on the part of African Americans to attain self relegation. Blacks have been the big threat to white dominance and not allowed to sustain any measure of self determination as other ethnic groups have in this country.
Black youth are aware of this dynamic – this dichotomy – America the home of the free – unless one happens to be Black!
Is it really any wonder Black people are shooting each other? When guns, drugs, drug profits, alcohol, frustration and hopelessness are thrown into the mix, the proverbial rats do what is expected. You may be familiar with the experiment where rats were placed on an electrified grid and allowed an avenue of escape when the electricity was turned on. Naturally the rats jumped off the grid. When rats were given shocks with no way to escape them, eventually gave up and stopped trying. When the rats were conditioned to believe they would not escape the shocks, they did not try to, even when a way of escape was provided. The result of this experiment with rats suggests people can be conditioned in a similar manner. I could list several examples of attempts on the part of Blacks to build communities they could be proud of, that were destroyed for very scurrilous reasons, but for the sake of space, suffice to say, Black America is by design kept relatively powerless and fragmented.
Willie Lynch could not have designed this technique any better. He was the slave owner who brought the formula for the control of slaves to America. Lynching was also named for him that is why I say the physical plantations are no more (except for the prison plantation called Angola in Louisiana) but the mind control lingers on.
Unlike Mr. Childs I don’t fault irresponsible parenting for gun violence. To attempt to attribute the problem to a single cause is to overlook other probable causes. While I don’t condone the counterproductive behavior symptomatic of dreams deferred, I understand it. The problem has to be viewed from a psychiatric perspective. Unless parents can offer youth a hopeful future they have little influence.
Black people seem to downplay the importance of tradition. I believe it is the movie The Good Shepherd with Matt Damon and Joe Pesci, where Pesci, having a conversation with Damon, (CIA agent) is going through the laundry list of ethnic groups and their traditions, he says: the Italians have their family, the Jews have their synagogue, the Catholics have Rome, he concluded by saying “even the niggers have their music.” You see the problem? In terms of tradition, all Blacks have is their music?
What happened to the culture brought here from Africa? Are we passing on Willie Lynch slave mind control to our youth when we should be deprogramming them? Are we teaching them to value everything but learning to live, build and achieve together? To live in America is to be mind controlled to one degree or another. If you are African America you are no doubt more controlled than most.
Antonius
Aurora

Who Protects The Family From Child Protective Services?
Editor:
I, as a parent and grandparent, am extremely alarmed and appalled at the ineptitude and double standard that still exists within the Department of Human Services Family and Children’s Division.
Case in point, I recently became aware of a situation in Arapahoe County where a 15-year-old girl had been continually skipping school, smoking marijuana, hanging out with boys, etc.. The father of this young woman, having reached his breaking point, lost his temper and struck her, leaving this young woman with a black eye. Upon seeing the young lady in this condition, the school counselor did the appropriate thing and called the police, who took the girl’s statement, promptly arrested her father and removed the other children from his care. That father is now up on charges of assault and believe it or not kidnapping because he removed his daughter from one room of the house in which they resided to another to discipline her. He is facing a mandatory six months to two years incarceration for this act.
Now in Denver County a similar situation had come to light at about the same time, however the response has been dramatically different.
A 15-year-old girl goes to school with a black eye, she reports to the school counselor she has been struck by her mother. She states to the Denver County Police Department that her mother over the space of four years has broken her finger, repeatable abused her and her other sisters, and one time even broke a bone in her foot to stop her from participating in the school track team, because the mother wanted her to baby sit. Multiple scratches and scars were found on these children.
After an interview with this mother she admitted to cooking crack cocaine in her home, and is a self proclaimed kleptomaniac. She was found to be in possession of over 200 stolen DVDs. She has reported she sold drugs out of her home and used the children to hold the drugs and be “look outs” while she was selling. Furthermore, she admits to stealing in front of her children to support her drug habit. These four children range in age from six to 15 years, and each has a different father.
Denver County’s response to this is to deny the grandparent’s access to their grandchildren without a court order. And the “treatment plan” is to return these unfortunate children to the woman they have stated they are afraid of.
Would someone please tell me what is wrong with this department? Or should the question be why are there laws in place that would allow such lunacy to take place? What, do you not go to jail from one county to the next for such actions? Or possibly, is the standard different if you are a male, or is it determined on racial lines?
This is clearly a dysfunctional system.
Families are treated by department workers with indifference and disrespect, when trying to secure their family members. Workers with personal agendas, shuffle people’s children like chattel from one foster home to the next, removing from the children any sense of family and security they may have left.
As a community we pay the salaries of the lawmakers and caseworkers as well as the police department. We deserve better for our money.
There should be nationwide standards under which the same laws and punishments apply when abuse has take place. Adhered to and initiated by our police departments as well as any other entity charged to protect the safety of our families and children.
Furthermore, extended family should not be treated like foster parents, but rather the concerned loved ones they are, and should be entitled to respect and protection.
Felecia Everett
Denver, CO