Savage Creature Official Video

A night of poetry with J.Ivy

    Come enjoy an amazing night of spoken word! The event will feature some amazing CSU poets, local artists along with grammy award winning performance poet and author J.Ivy. If you have ever been to a Speak Up! event then you already know that there is never a dull moment. Last year kicked off a new event for Speak Up called the Speak Up Def Poetry Jam with feature artist Dana Gilmore. Gilmore rocked the house and stayed for some great conversation afterwards. 

We can't forget about the local artists. Cleveland is home to some amazing artists and you will not be disappointed. Watch out for winners of our past slams. Come support Speak Up and the Black Studies Program of Cleveland State University on April 1st. 

Doors open at 7pm

Event starts at 7:30pm.

This huge event is FREE to attend. 

Where: Cleveland State University (Drinko Recital Hall)

2001 Euclid Ave

Cleveland, Ohio 44115
     
     Speak Up! is an organization born out of the Black Studies Program of Cleveland State University. Reorganized in 2009, Speak Up has become a vital part of the university, allowing students to network and share their talents. Through workshops, slams, and community outreach Speak Up has remained highly active.

      Now in the hands of a few diligent students, including current president Kel Latson, and former president and current treasurer/secretary, Dwayne Castleberry, Speak Up! has established Speak Up! Def Poetry Slam. The debut event featured spoken word artist Dana Gilmore, who appeared on the Russell Simmons hosted Def Poetry Jam. Who will we have next? Do you have something to say….then SPEAK UP!

White Denial of Racism

If you have ever made a comment about racism in a group or posted on social media about racism, white supremacy, or police brutality then you probably have been attacked or challenged by a white person agitated about the mention of these travesties. Some of the most common reactions are accusations of reverse racism, accusations of blacks keeping racism around, diversions to intra-cultural (Black on Black) crime, and accusations of being a trouble starter. On top of that every mention of police brutality causes many white people to trash the name and reputation of the victim regardless of circumstance…and those are the nice ones.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center there are 784 active hate groups in America, 27 of them in Ohio.  There is not one state in America that doesn’t have a active hate group. There are still many cities and towns that Blacks aren’t allowed in. Blacks are still hung by trees regularly, only to be told they were suicides.

What makes things worse is that America is the land of causes. We save dolphins, tigers, plants, and foreigners that we plan to control but when it comes to spreading the value of American Black life, the resistance is sickening.

A few years back I posted that I love Black women and that they should love themselves. I was instantly called racist and hateful by a white lady that I went to church with. Our relationship that was built on ministry was instantly over because I gave a compliment to Black women who are often shamed because of their natural features.  Honestly, most of the resistance I have encountered have come from church folks, ministers, and pastors.

One of the worst I encountered happened recently while Officer Michael Brelo was on trial for the murder of Melissa Williams and Timothy Russell. I posted that they need justice and a white pastor responded that they the victims were criminals who were on a robbery spree (completely false), as if to say that they police were justified. When I straightened the story for him, he just went on a rant about Black on Black crime.  After I explained to him that all cultures kill their own culture more because of access he accused me of spreading hate.  I explained how much time I spend volunteering and creating organizations to help people, he called me racist.  After I explained how racism is a system (with scholarly sources), and how Blacks don’t have the power in this country to be racist he told me that he loves me and that he is praying for me.

This is a typical confrontation because there is no defense for racism and white supremacy.  Every conversation I have seen on the subject have ended similarly.  European Americans have created a exclusive system that has terrorized, robbed, and demeaned people of color and a few of their own since the rebirth of the country.  This system has terrorized more people than any other system or event in written world history and most white Americans can’t accept that they are part of it, covert or overt. As a result many whites go through what Sigmund Frued called “moral anxiety”. In fear of being seen as morally deplete, they subconsciously build a “selective attention” that separates anything negative towards people of color from their personal and national lives. At this point no matter what evidence is presented, whether video or eyewitness, can alter the prejudice of that person or group.

To end on a positive note, there are many white people starting to wake up and smell the death.  Many are accepting the truth of the travesties of this country and taking a stand to change the future. People like Tim Wise and Bob Avakian, who have dedicated their lives to exposing mass injustice and ridding America of White supremacy, have inspired many Whites to face the truth.

While many Blacks just want out of this system we do pray that those Whites that stand against injustice are successful at rebuilding this crazy system that destroys the lives of non-whites. 

-Dwayne Castleberry

 Kuumba Collective

Attached is an interesting video from Tim Wise. It's lengthy for you Twitter folk, but definitely worth the watch.

Black Lives Don't Matter

I want to start by saying that things have been more crazy lately in our country but that would be a lie. The truth is that things have always been crazy in this country, especially when it comes to its black citizens.  What we are experiencing is a surge of awareness because of social media.  Things have never been good for Black Americans in the U.S.. We have always live under a system of oppression built by Europeans called Racism also known as White Supremacy.

Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.

-Alex Haley

During the formation of this country Whites realized that the vast amount of Blacks could wake up and fight for their freedom at any time. In order to keep their businesses going they created the ideal of race and customized the majority of their laws to keep African Americans powerless. This system is the most documented one in the history of mankind yet many people still deny it. Our very Constitution was written with the oppression of Blacks in mind.  The six mega media outlets were built off the degradation of Blacks. For the vast majority (pretty much all) of America’s existence Blacks were used primary as free/cheap labor, demeaning entertainment, scapegoats, and targets for aggression.

No pen can give an adequate description of the all-pervading corruption produced by slavery.

-Harriet Ann Jacobs

It’s also crazy that Blacks are view often as lazy even though they literally built the majority of this nation’s major establishments. White Americans have historically and presently benefited from this free labor, building an exclusive wealth system that is restrictive towards Blacks.  African Americans were only freed from slavery due to a political ploy that went wrong for the politicians (Lincoln and others). It was never meant for their benefit, they only wanted to get rid of Blacks, but it didn’t work.

Blacks began to prosper at a rate never seen in the history of the country but White Americans started to rally and protest against this new Black freedom. These protest were some of the deadliest events in U.S. history. Whites would march to where Blacks live to beat and kill them.  They would bring their family and friends including kids to watch and celebrate Black bodies hanging and burning. Statistics can’t even count the amount of deaths.

Whites would burn down neighborhoods to destroy any progress that Blacks had (Google the bombing of Little African, Oklahoma which is the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil). Let’s not even go into the Jim Crow era, Civil Rights Movement, the Drug War, or the School to Prison pipeline.

My point is that Racism is a system where people of one race assert the power over another based solely or mostly from race.  At this point in history it is plain evil to deny this system and its impact on the people who built this nation for free.

Throughout history revolutions have sparked, but the system just adjusted to them to maintain power.  Now is the time to push harder than ever for change. We have social media to gather and organize globally. Let’s make them change the system again. We know all lives matter but our country doesn’t seem to always think Black lives do. If you think that complaining, marching, resisting police brutality,  rallying, and black empowerment are reverse racism then you probably have some racist tendencies that need to be checked. 

The American Negro never can be blamed for his racial animosities - he is only reacting to 400 years of the conscious racism of the American whites.

-Malcolm X

#BlackLivesMatter #WomenLivesMatter #HispanicLivesMatter #AllLivesMatter #WhiteLivesMatterTooJustHelpChangeThisDamnSystemOfYours.EnoughPeopleHaveSufferedAndDiedForYourConvenience 

-Dwayne M. Castleberry

The Kuumba Collective

ReclaimMLK MLK Day March

#ReclaimMLK MLK Day March

Facebook Event Page

1 P.M. January 18th, 2016

Justice Center Complex

1200 Ontario Street

Cleveland Ohio 44113

This year we return to march on Martin Luther King Junior Day, to walk in the legacy of Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement, and to stand in solidarity with those seeking justice in our communities.

Martin Luther King Jr’s life’s work was the elevation, honoring, and defense of Black Lives. His tools included non-violent civil disobedience and direct action. Dr. King was part of a larger movement of women, and men, queer, and straight, young and old. This movement was built on a bold vision. This vision was radical, principled, and uncompromising. The freedom fighters attached to this vision did not bow to political expediency or the calls for gradualism heard in their day. They were called impractical, rash, not strategic, irrational, and naive. Their tactics were controversial. Some elders distanced themselves from what was then a new movement for change. Some of the older generation joined in.

The present day Movement for Black Lives draws a direct line from the legacy of Dr. King and the current struggle we face today. Unfortunately, Dr. King’s legacy has been clouded by efforts to soften, sanitize, and commercialize it. Impulses to remove Dr. King from the movement that elevated him must end. We resist efforts to reduce a long history marred with the blood of countless members of our community into iconic images of men in suits behind pulpits.

We resolve to make MLK weekend a time of resistance to injustice.

-The CSU Justice League
Facebook Event Page

Savage Thoughts

Thank you for visiting my blog. I will keep you updated with events and projects. Also I will let you play inside of my mind through my thoughts.lol

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