Thirty Six to One (Blacks are Asleep at the Wheel)

No, it's not a lopsided sports score. It's not odds in Las Vegas. It's the number of people shot on Father's Day weekend in Chicago. Seven were killed and 12 were wounded Sunday night. At least three were killed by police. This is significant because this upcoming week is also the start of the George Zimmerman trial, the man accused of murdering Trayvon Martin. Now I don't know how many of those people shot were Black or how many of the shooters were Black because those statistics aren't available yet. However, knowing history as I do, I can assume that a good number of them were. The point I'm making is this, Why as Black people are we not as outraged when that many of us are killed on a given weekend as we are with the one person killed by George Zimmerman? Don't misunderstand, what he did to Martin was wrong, and we should be outraged; however, we should not take the casual killing of Black people by Black people as being just yesterday's news. I say we are asleep at the wheel because as Black people we have a lot to be concerned about. Unemployment among Black people is twice the national average. Blacks lost most of their wealth during the real estate crisis, our neighborhoods are not recovering like those in other areas,and even though there is a Black President, we have less representation in Washington, not to mention the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by reversing Section 4. It seems the Supreme Court is more concerned with gay marriage than the voting rights of Black people. We are rapidly moving forward to the past. As the older Blacks struggle, our young people can't seem to see past rap music and the culture depicted on BET. Guess what? other groups are pushing their political agendas while we stand still. Look around. The gays are now a political force. The Mexicans (who now outnumber Blacks in America have an agenda. Washington isn't pushing immigration because they want to. They see Mexicans as a voting block to be courted and they know they can make a difference. Mexicans also have the jobs that Blacks used to have. Forget about what Paula Dean is saying because we're all being called the n word by someone, some place, sometime. As I watched the 50th anniversary of the march on Washington, I can't help but think that as we struggle for jobs, equal employment, voting rights, and other legislation for the benefit of Black people, we must must also learn to tame the enemy within. Believe me, this is what will ultimately destroy us.

Bankruptcy Works Only When They Want it To "It's the Law"

Be careful when you file for bankruptcy. Many times the creditors wait for you to complete the program and then they come after you again. Case in point: I filed and included some personal property taxes and supposedly they were written off. As soon as I completed my chapter 13 and tried to go and get tags for my car, they said hold on you still owe five years of back taxes. If you live in Kansas City, Mo and have ever dealt with any of the city personnel you know rude the women are in the assessors office. They treat you like dirt and they enjoy it. Anyway, I was sent to a women's desk in the back who proceeded to tell me that "You still owe these back taxes." I tried to explain that I had taken care of them in my Chapter 13. She got up, gave me a dirty look, and then disappeared into the back. After 20 minutes she reappeared and said, "You still owe these taxes! and if you have any questions contact our attorney." After that, she made it clear that she didn't have anything more to say to me or in other words get out! So I called the attorney and asked why I still owed the taxes. She said "You didn't file the declarations on time for the years in question, so they aren't eligible to be discharged in your chapter 13." I promptly said, "Yes I did." To which she replied "Well prove it to me." I told her I would contact my attorney to which she replied,"That's fine they know the law." If you've ever sent in your declaration, you know you just mark the vehicles you own and send it back. I don't ever remember getting a receipt or acknowledgement saying that they had received it. Have you? Knowing that I had actually sent in the declarations. I contacted my attorney, who acted as if he had never met me before, and was told, "If you didn't file them, there's nothing we can do for you." When my wife said, but that's not right! she answered, "Well, there's right, there's wrong, and then there's what's legal it's your word against hers, who do think the judge will believe?" Then we were promptly shown the door again. I thought it was very obvious that only the declarations missing were the ones concerning the years in question. Also, that it was just that simple for her to say "you didn't file on time" She knows that no one can prove something like that. I believe she just waited for me to be discharged to come after me for the taxes in question. I was told once before by my attorney that people didn't like to see a "person like me" beat the system. So basically they knew all along that this could happen, hence the cold shoulder when I went to them for help. So now I got back taxes to pay and I'm wondering who else will come after me with some legal way of making me pay for bills that were supposedly discharged. I was going to say, if and when you ever decide to file bankruptcy, find an attorney you can trust. Since there is no such thing, do as much research as you can concerning the process, the bills you include, what can happen after you complete the plan, and everything else you can think of. Believe me, you have no friends downtown. They all they all know each other and they all work together. They could care less about you. If you happen to be a Black person, you know it's an "Obama thing." All the people in power in this city hate him. They can't get to him, but they will get us. I've known many white people who file for bankruptcy and the plan include millions of dollars. But a Black person won't be getting away with anything. I know that no one cares about this, after all I'm not some conservative political group who hates the President and feels I've been abused by the IRS. What I am saying is the fact that we have a Black President (who by the way hasn't done a damn thing for any Black people) is the reason so many of us are being abused by State and local powers in the mid west. This includes police officers who issue "Obama tickets" to the companies that won't hire Blacks which adds to our unemployment rate being double the national rate. I'm saying this to say, be diligent in everything because there is hate every where out there.