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Deeper Thoughts on How to Maintain a Healthy Diet

By Ronald Webster-Bey, on July 23rd, 2014

fruits-and-vegetablesTo you it may concern: I would like to share how I stay on target with my diet and eating the right foods to maintain my health. I know that I have two selves—the Moors refer to them as the higher self and the lower self. The higher self is the spirit seed of God, which lives within your soul inside your brain. The lower self, which is the body of desires influenced by your senses such as: sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell. Through these senses the body is able to determine what it cares for itself. You have to become acquainted with yourself. Think about your thought—before acting on it. Analyze your thought to see whether it is harmful or helpful to your health.

Plan to bring what you desire to eat when you are visiting someone. Be warned that they are likely not to have the type of food that you are dieting on or have the temperament to fix something just for you.

So, listening when I go to my Moorish meeting I bring my snack on Fridays such as: granola, mixed nuts, dates, raisins, sliced apples, and apple cider vinegar with water to keep my blood pressure down. At Moorish Sunday school class our host and friends usually fix eggs, grits, waffles, toast, and sausage for everyone. My appetite for this is good, but I know that the salt content in sausages will raise my blood pressure (which I know I will want to eat). Thus, I bring my own meal. Now, my wonderful host is happy in that everyone (including dieters) is fed and full.

Ronald Webster-Bey

 

Good News: God is great. By listening to the still small voice in my soul and controlling my body wants, and the help of my doctor, my heart is much better and my next appointment will be six months from now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Why the R*dsk*ns Needs to Change Their Name

By Guest Contributor, on June 23rd, 2014

Crossposted from the Huffington Post
Written by Amanda Blackhorse

The Washington NFL team needs to change its name. I am a proud member of the Navajo Nation and it demeans me and other Native Americans. I find the casual use of the term r*dsk*ns disparaging, racist, and hateful. The use of the name and symbols used by the Washington football team perpetuate stereotypes of Native American people and it disgusts me to know that the Washington NFL team uses a racial slur for its name. If you were to refer to a Native American, would you call him or her a “redskin?” Of course not, just as you would not refer to an African-American as the n-word, or refer to Jew as a “kike” or a Mexican as a “wet-back” or an Asian-American as a “gook,” unless you’re a racist.

So how does the Washington NFL team defend its use of a racist name? One of their biggest claims is that a long tradition supports the use of the name. The team first began using the name in 1933, at a time when there was a great deal of racism in our country. In 1933, the segregation of African American people under the Jim Crow law was in full effect. The Navajo peoples’ livelihoods and sustenance were also threatened as the forced Navajo livestock reduction began. Just because something has gone on for a long time does not mean that the activity is a legitimate tradition. Not all traditions have carried on and many are harmful and repressive. Sometimes change is needed. In this case, the Washington NFL team name is an illegitimate racist tradition and it is time to change. Sports traditions are fun, but toying with racism is hurtful and should be condemned. If the use of the name continues, Native people and Native Nations will never be completely respected by fellow man so long as they are kept in what I refer to as a cultural prison.

In 2005, I attended a game between the Washington and Kansas City NFL teams, in Kansas City. I recall how the game was hyped as an “Indians fighting Indians” event, much like the “Cowboys versus Indians” hype when Dallas plays Washington. What I saw at the Kansas City-Washington game was depressing. I saw fans “playing Indian,” wearing outrageous and pathetic costumes that stereotyped traditional Native American regalia. While my friends and I held signs that said “we are not mascots,” we had all sorts of obscenities hurled at us, along with angry shouts of “get the hell out of here,” “get over it,” “go home,” and “go back to your reservation.”

Meanwhile, we were surrounded by imagery that mocked Native Americans and our cultures, in the form of posters, paraphernalia and even a portable toilet in the shape of a teepee. I did not feel safe. It was an ugly display of hostility and disdain toward my people. I remember being afraid for my well-being as well as the other protestors who remained quiet as we walked in unison around the stadium. We remained peaceful and observed our environment. I remember thinking, if upset enough, dedicated Kansas City or Washington fans, as hostile and as upset as they were, were very unpredictable and could act in a very unpredictable manner. I felt that I had stepped into a very dangerous world where my safety was at risk. At the same time, though, I need to point out there were many in the stadium who did express their support, which meant a lot to us.

While there seems to be much opposition to a name change, it has been very touching to see the outpouring of support for the Native American community from so many Americans of so many different backgrounds. I believe the tide is turning on this issue, and many people are now speaking out about just how inappropriate the team’s name is.

In the past two months, the mayor of Washington, D.C., Vincent Gray, stated that if the team wants to move back to D.C. from Maryland, there will need to be serious discussions over the team name. In addition, over the past two months, leading columnists for The Washington Post, including Courtland Milloy, Mike Wise, Sally Jenkins and Robert McCartney, have written powerful articles calling for the team to change its name. Miami University of Ohio and many other high schools such as Cooperstown Central in New York have stopped using “R*dsk*ns” for their teams’ name. It fills me with hope that a change is going to come.

I personally believe that all use of Native-themed mascots and team names are inappropriate. I object to being lumped together with Bears, Lions and other wild animals and birds because that dehumanizes my people and me. I object to being lumped together with Giants, Vikings and Buccaneers, as though my people are mythical or alien. The use of Indian names and mascots steals and cheapens our Native American cultures, and promotes stereotypes. Whatever one’s views on Native American sports names and mascots, I think we all agree that “R*dsk*ns” is not acceptable under any circumstances.

If we can agree that I should not be called a “redskin” because that would be racist, then isn’t it obvious that the Washington NFL team should not use the name? Eighty years’ use of a racist term does not make a racist practice a legitimate tradition. It makes it 80 years overdue for a change.

In 2006, along with four other young Native Americans, I filed a petition with the United States Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) seeking to cancel the trademark registrations of the Washington NFL team that contain the word R*dsk*ns. According to the federal trademark law, a trademark that may “disparage” people or bring them into “contempt or disrepute” is not eligible for federal registration, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is supposed to cancel trademark registrations issued contrary to law. The federal government has no business promoting the use of the R*dsk*ns epithet by giving federal registrations to the team’s trademarks. On March 7, we appeared before a panel of three TTAB judges for a hearing on our petition. The Washington NFL team has litigated this case aggressively against us, but I am confident that we will win.

I want to thank the D.C. community and other sports fans for your overwhelming support. You are the catalyst for change. Since the team has fought us so hard in the trademark case, it is quite obvious that it will take public pressure to get the team to do what is right. I hope you, the reader, will do the right thing — speak out, and add to the momentum to change the team’s name.

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Advisory Neighborhood Commissions: What They Do. How to Run. And Why You Should!

By Grassroots DC, on June 6th, 2014

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Code Pink Re-Enacts Deadly US Drone Strike on Wedding

By Grassroots DC, on May 12th, 2014

Cross-posted from the DC Independent Media Center
Written by Luke

In December 2013, a US drone strike killed 12 people at a wedding in Yemen. On the 4th of May 2014, Code Pink staged a drone strike on a mock wedding in front of the White House. This was an American instead of a Yemeni style wedding so tourists and cops could understand.

Cayman & Michael – May 4, 2014!! from 24Lanterns on Vimeo.

As protesters crossed Lafayette Park towards the Penn Ave, a US Park Police woman attempted to stop them because they were pushing a rack of chairs. She denounced chairs as “structures” not permitted in the park and whined about permits. Most likely the claim that it is somehow “illegal” to sit in a chair in Lafayette Park is an attempt to interfere with the Peace Vigil. After foolishly putting out her hand to stop one group, she had to drop her objections and demands for permits after realizing the protest would not be in the park at all, but rather on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Once set up, the wedding was staged, and as the bride and groom proceeded back from the altar the drone struck, leaving “bodies” on the ground under what appeared to be bloodstained tarps. A speaker then reminded onlookers that a real drone strike would often include a “double-tap,” i.e., a second bombing aimed at killing first responders aiding the victims of the first attack. This is a notorious tactic when used by insurgents with paired IED’s, yet the United States has emulated it in drone bombings worldwide.

Democracy Now report on the drone attack on a wedding party in Yemen:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/turning_a_wedding_into_a_funeral

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Save Public Housing and Fund Needed Repairs Call To Action

By Grassroots DC, on April 27th, 2014

Cross-posted on behalf of Empower DC

CALL TO ACTION!!!

Forward this message far and wide and join us for an important rally and then to pack the room for the DC Housing Authority budget hearing:

Save Public Housing and Fund Needed Repairs

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30
12 NOON
WILSON BUILDING
1350 PENNSYLVANIA AVE, NW
(Accessible by Federal Triangle or Metro Center Stations)
Rally outside followed by packing room 412
Bring ID to enter

Bus transportation is being arranged from public housing communities.  To request transportation, testimony support or for more information about how you or your organization can support the Public Housing Campaign contact Schyla at (202) 234-9119 x101 or housing@empowerdc.org.

 Preserve Public Housing

 

WE MUST PRESERVE & IMPROVE DC’S TRADITIONAL PUBLIC HOUSING

We stand united in support of preserving and improving our traditional public housing communities which serve a critical role in the affordable housing landscape of DC.  We support a moratorium on the emptying and demolition of currently occupied units.  We support improving and reopening units that have been left vacant due to disrepair.

Traditional public housing is a public resource which must be managed to serve the needs of current and future residents who can not access other private and subsidized housing because of multiple barriers.  Public housing is the only permanently affordable housing owned by the city which ensures housing is available to people based on their income, with no bottom threshold and without utility costs, where families can remain intact and residents are supported by tight knit social networks. 

WE HAVE LOST TOO MUCH

Due to completed and planned demolitions of public housing through the federal HOPE VI and Choice Communities programs and DC’s “New Communities” program, DC’s public housing stock has been decimated in recent years from over 11,000 units to only about 7,000 remaining units – at least 500 of which are currently vacant due to disrepair or pending demolition.   During the same time the need for truly affordable housing has increased and DC has quickly become an unaffordable city to live in for low income working people and the most disenfranchised families and individuals.

THE NEED IS GREAT

The desperate need for traditional public housing is evidenced by:

–          7,000+ residents experience homelessness on any given day in DC[i].  In March of 2014, the city had 827 families in shelters including 1,591 children.[ii]

–          Over 70,000 people were on the city’s waiting list for affordable housing in DC when it was closed last April[iii]

–          The loss of over half of DC’s low cost rental housing units in only 10 years time, from 70,600 units to only 34,500[iv]

–          The market rate cost of housing has skyrocketed to $1,500 or more for a two bedroom apartment, for which one would need to earn $60,000 per year or $29 per hour to afford.[v]

Housing vouchers and the private market can not adequately replace the need for public housing. Neither can job training or education programs.  The people currently served by DC’s public housing communities include:

–          over 15,000 residents
–          over 50% of whom are above age 50
–          23% have disabilities
–          With an average household income of $13,000 per year, or the equivalent of 35 hours per week at minimum wage[vi]
 
PUBLIC LAND FOR PUBLIC NEEDS

Traditional public housing is the only form of permanently affordable housing in DC that is on public land and held in the public trust to serve the needs of current and future generations.  The extremely high cost of real estate in DC is a barrier to creating more truly affordable housing.  Public land is a precious resource with which we are able to provide for the long-term needs of our city.  These lands must no longer be privatized and converted into middle and upper income tracts with time-limited (usually only 15 years) affordability covenants.
 
STOP DISPLACEMENT

The loss of traditional public housing is worsening DC’s homelessness crisis, and has contributed to the push-out of over 40,000 African American residents from our city within the time period of 2000-2010.[vii]

Public housing demolition and redevelopment is promoted by the “deconcentration myth” which assumes it is detrimental for low income residents to live in a clustered area, and that individual lives improve when residents are dispersed.  These assumptions are not supported by concrete results, in fact several scholars have documented the detrimental impact of the loss of social networks, stable housing, sense of place and identity.[viii]  The underlying stereotypes against public housing and its residents are discriminatory and blame people for circumstances outside of their control – including the condition of their properties which have been purposely ghettoized by systematic underfunding[ix].  Proponents of “mixed-income” housing ignore the fact that public housing IS mixed income, with residents paying 30% of their income including social security, child support and other benefits.  Public housing residents include a broad range of low income workers, some of whom pay as much as $1,000 per month.
 
NO MORE BROKEN PROMISES

DC’s “New Communities” program has failed to provide promised results. While hundreds of residents have been moved out of needed housing, years have passed and in some cases literally none of the promised new units have been built, while in other cases there have been far fewer, and smaller, units then promised.[x]  New Communities legislation was passed in 2005 for the Lincoln Heights, Northwest One, Barry Farm and Park Morton communities, and to date these communities have seen increased deterioration, blight and neglect.  These New Communities projects must be abandoned and existing public housing should be immediately repaired and improved, to the extent possible, or rebuilt where necessary.

No More Broken Promises

Where new so-called “replacement” units have been built, residents face multiple hurdles to accessing and maintaining residence in the new privately-managed units, including facing additional background and credit checks, income qualifications, rescreening based on the private landlord’s policies and HUD’s FSS (family self sufficiency) class certifications.  Many if not most of those displaced do not qualify for the new units. The rate of residents returning to after redevelopment averages only 19% nationally.[xi]

UPLIFT OUR COMMUNITIES, DON’T DESTROY THEM

We propose a new way forward using a Community Economic Development model.

We can improve the built environment and uplift the lives of our residents by adequately funding the DC Housing Authority to perform regular maintenance and repairs and end slum-like conditions.  We can invest in programs that build the community from the inside out, by strategically identifying and supporting what works in public housing – helping budding entrepreneurs develop businesses in the community, supporting loving caregivers who instinctively develop afterschool and summer programs despite a lack of resources, and by fostering the ability of families to remain intact and tight social networks that allow people to depend on each other when it counts.

We can increase resident involvement, end retaliation against those who advocate for improvements, and empower residents by providing them with greater governance roles.  Further, we can ensure that maintenance and repair jobs are given to public housing residents, and that residents are provided access to union apprenticeships that will lead to good paying jobs with dignity.

As the federal government continues to divest from public housing, we must make public housing a local priority.  It must be included in our city’s affordable housing budget and we must identify ways to preserve our land, housing and community fabric in perpetuity.  We must go beyond traditional “economic development” models which rely on profit-driven private developers and employ community development professionals to help us create a sustainable housing program while preserving public land for our public needs.  We must utilize alternative strategies such as Land Trusts and Limited-Equity Cooperatives to ensure a mission-driven, not profit driven, democratic structure that serves needs while preserving public assets which are a multi-generational public trust.

We endorse these principles, and we commit ourselves to working to advance them, hold government officials accountable to carrying them out, and pledge to support those who share our vision through grassroots involvement and advocacy.

The demolition of public housing and replacement with privately owned and managed units has disrupted and destabilized our communities, worsened the affordable housing crisis and has been used to accelerate the already rapid gentrification of our city and displacement of our residents.

It is, therefore, our intention to engage all relevant officials and agencies in the process of bringing about meaningful and systematic public housing improvements. We offer our vast experience and sincere commitment to rebuilding a system of which we can all be proud and that will serve as a model for similar jurisdictions around the nation.

THE DC CITY COUNCIL, MAYOR AND DC HOUSING AUTHORITY MUST IMMEDIATELY:

  • Allocate $50 million in the city’s fiscal year 2015 budget to improve and preserve public housing.  Despite all the talk about funding for so-called “affordable housing” the Mayor’s proposed budget includes NO funding for public housing.  Funding should be directed as follows:

o       To rehab the 400+ traditional public housing units and 37 scattered site homes that are currently vacant due to disrepair and move homeless families into these units.  We estimate $35 million is required.[xii]

o       To ensure timely and effective – not band aid – maintenance and repair of public housing units and to enhance interior and exterior conditions to improve quality of life.  This should include fulfilling the over 3,500 currently outstanding maintenance tickets.  We estimate $15 million is required.[xiii]

  • Complete the renovation of 208 units at Highland Dwellings, a public housing community that won a settlement with the DC Housing Authority to repair and maintain the property as public housing.  Nearly 150 families were moved out and they, along with the 60 remaining families, await completion of this delayed project which DCHA says they have secured $44 million in financing to complete[xiv]
  • Implement a moratorium on the emptying and demolition of public housing units, undertake an audit of the New Communities program and initiate a comprehensive reform of DC’s public housing system to ensure long term funding, improvements, preservation, resident empowerment and holistic quality of life improvements. 

 

[i]2013 Point in Time Count, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governmentshttps://www.mwcog.org/uploads/pub-documents/qF5cX1w20130508134424.pdf

[ii] Washington City Paper, No Place Like Home: D.C.’s population of homeless families exploded this winter. The city wasn’t ready. March 14, 2014 http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/45550/no-place-like-home/

[iii] Washington Post; In DC a Public Housing Wait List with No End; April 11, 2013http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-dc-a-public-housing-waiting-list-with-no-end/2013/04/11/6073e7d2-a2cc-11e2-9c03-6952ff305f35_story.html

[iv]Source: “Disappearing Act,” DC Fiscal Policy Institute, 2012 http://www.dcfpi.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/5-7-12-Housing-and-Income-Trends-FINAL.pdf

[v] Source: “Out of Reach 2012   http://nlihc.org/sites/default/files/oor/2012-OOR.pdf

[vi] All figures from HUD   http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/picture/yearlydata.html

[vii] Washington Post,  Number of black D.C. residents plummets as majority status slips away; March 24, 2011http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/black-dc-residents-plummet-barely-a-majority/2011/03/24/ABtIgJQB_story.html

[viii] “Forced Relocation vs. Voluntary Mobility: The Effects of Dispersal Programmes on Households”

Author: Edward G. Goetz, Housing Studies,Volume 17, Number 1, 1 January 2002 , pp. 107-123(17); “Poor Health: Adding Insult to Injury for HOPE VI Families” Authors: Carlos Manjarez, Susan Popkin, and Elizabeth Guernseyhttp://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/311489_HOPEVI_Health.pdf; “Concentrated Poverty, A Critical Analysis”2010

Author: Herbert J. Gans http://herbertgans.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Concentrated-Poverty.pdf; “The Myth Of Concentrated Poverty” Author: Stephen Steinberghttp://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/UBST/DEPT/FACULTY/Myth%20of%20Concentrated%20Poverty%20-%20Steinberg.pdf;

“Deconcentration and Social Capital: Contradictions of a Poverty Alleviation Strategy, Journal of Poverty Volume 12 2008” Author: Susan Greenbaum

[ix] National Low Income Housing Coalition http://nlihc.org/article/summary-fy14-hud-and-usda-omnibus

[x] Source: Washington Post http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/in-district-affordable-housing-plan-hasnt-delivered/2013/07/07/789f1070-bc03-11e2-97d4-a479289a31f9_story.html ;http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dcs-lincoln-heights-waits-for-renewal-as-citys-affordable-housing-strategy-languishes/2014/01/08/c57456a4-789a-11e3-8963-b4b654bcc9b2_story.html

[xi] Of residents displaced by HOPE VI projects nationally from 1994-2005, only 19% returned after redevelopment.  “We Call these Projects Home,” page 34http://www.righttothecity.org/index.php/resources/reports/item/61-we-call-these-projects-home

[xii]DCHA must be compelled to make available detailed condition reports of the vacant units in order to generate a cost estimate for repairs.  Estimate is based on figures provided on page 20 of 2014 OVERSIGHT AND PERFORMANCE HEARING DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSING AUTHORITY, vacancies reported on page 16 & Attachment 7http://dccouncil.us/files/performance_oversight/2014DCHAPerformanceOversightPrehearingQuestionsF.pdf

[xiii] 2014 OVERSIGHT AND PERFORMANCE HEARING DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HOUSING AUTHORITY, page 21http://dccouncil.us/files/performance_oversight/2014DCHAPerformanceOversightPrehearingQuestionsF.pdf

[xiv] 2014 OVERSIGHT… page 23

 

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