LANGUAGE OF ONE P.XX : THE EXODUS

"If you stop struggling, then you stop life."-


HUEY P. NEWTON






CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico – The mother of four raised a finger, pointing out abandoned and stripped concrete homes and counting how many families on her street alone have fled the Western Hemisphere's deadliest city.
"One, two, three, four, here, and two more back there on the next block," said Laura Longoria.

"No one knows how many residents have left the city of 1.4 million since a turf battle over border drug corridors unleashed an unprecedented wave of cartel murders and mayhem. Business leaders, citing government tax information, say the exodus could number 110,000, while a municipal group and local university say it's closer to 230,000. Estimates by social organizations are even higher."-

Fox News

21st century Mexico. In research and interest, one word came to mind, borderline anarchy.

an·ar·chy 
–noun
1.
a state of society without government or law.
2.
political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control: The death of the king was followed by a year of anarchy. -



Dictionary.com



Crossing over 2011, one situation kept my attention as it progressed since its turning point in 2007; The crackdown of mexican drug cartels. Generation after generation the drug market has been one of the profitable/destructive commodity's via the states and international waters. Obvious as this holds, though the drive of cartels thrive on currency, power, and fear to gain further influence and control, the greatest highlight of the war is the plight of the innocents:

"Now the drug war has caused thousands to flee. The stepped-up patrols came after the city's once-thriving commercial strips had been reduced to rows of decrepit, boarded-up buildings. Even with new medical facilities, doctors have closed private practices and staged walkouts to protest kidnappings."-



Californian.com


-The first movement of fleeing residents hail from Ciudad juarez. The preservation of innocent lives, poor to rich, increasingly becomes the theme of the hour. Though never published through mass media institutions, its safe to say mexico is in a state of emergency. The history of mexico..the overall dispersal via its homeland and the states is rich, a unique prescence in the indigenous cultures of latin america. The drug sub-culture, its nature is plainly ruthless. Below is recent CBS report on the clash of power and turmoil, down to why the cartels stay in active buisness.

"MANY MORE WILL HAVE TO SUFFER, MANY MORE WILL HAVE TO DIE"-

The Hon. Robert Nesta Marley(Natural mystic)

By reports numbers of those killed among rival cartels, fallen police have climbed; even the Proverbial blood of the innocent cries out. By seeing the state and movement of Ciudad Juarez in recent days, it foretold a possible increase in mexican refugees, finding their way via other communities and cities; to escape a a constant state of fear of violence that shakes the foundation of the government. The state of the cartels progress with updates, from recent truces among cartels to moving their shops and influence into central american countries. They are left primarly by choice to their ultimate destinies, and possibly the fate of an ongoing conflict, fueled by power and greed. Either way, in the western hemisphere this is one country in crisis. 2011 is another window of time to see resolves to an ugly conflict.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2011

STREETS CONSCIOUSNESS P.XX: AMERICAN ECONOMY

"Poverty is the worst form of violence.”


Mahatma Gandhi

"If you look at the year in economic statistics, you could tell two different stories of two different Americas. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a two-year high this week: retail sales, industrial production, factory orders, all are up. And the biggest corporations are posting healthy profits. And yet, hidden among all these trends is one that was released this past week by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
In 2010, cities across America saw a 9 percent increase in the number of families seeking emergency shelter. One out of 200 people in America slept in a homeless shelter this past year. The homeless crisis now affects more families, people who just a year or two ago had jobs, apartments, relatively stable lives that affects more families in that any other time in recent history. '-

Food. Clothing. Shelter. One night listening to BBC radio in my home, they addressed a story that slowly grabbed my attention. The reality of a homeless family, a single father raising his nine year old daughter. He explained the trial of losing his home, sleeping many nights in a car and struggling to send his daughter to school everyday, to finally finding a home just before its foreclosure. Recently passing through the holiday season, i thought of the burden, the struggle and his age(only 28). And the relevance to how homelessness touches all walks of life.


"Im, on top of the world blue diamond or black pearl"-

DA GIF(Nyc based independent recording artist)

-Ive seen some of my peers witnessed the pains of economic struggle, from finding a place to rest their head to dealings with social services. Post 21st century the Obama administration progressively seeks to repair a damaged economy. Homelessness is relative to all brackets of class system; hunger pains as told and experienced by some leading figures:

"Born Lawrence Parker in Park Slope, Brooklyn in the fall of 1965, the MC left home at 14 to become an MC and Philosopher. He came to live in a homeless shelter in the South Bronx, where he was dubbed Krishna by residents because of his interest in the Hare Krishna

spirituality of some of the antipoverty workers."-

Wikipedia

The many examples of the struggle of american economy:

"I CONTEMPLATE BELIEVING IN KARMA, THOSE ON TOP CAN JUST BREAK, AND WONT BE EATIN' TOMMORROW"-Nas

"I have to be here with my daughter and grandson. I mean, not being able to have our own house and - because I know I'm better - well, not better than that, but I mean, I know I can do it. It's just - the work is just hard after hard. You know, you go to an (unintelligible), there's 15 people there. And (unintelligible) always is to having my own place and being able to provide for my family, which I can't right now. "-

Jamie stewart(temporary shelter resident)

-One of many realities. Closing 2010, the A.L.I.H.S.T series(blog) has bore as a reflection of our own societies, troubles to triumphs. This brief look at homelessness is one of many social issues. As we enter 2011 my hopes is that we continue to look at ourselves head on, and move progressively into the coming generations. Peace.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

STREETS CONSCIOUSNESS P. XVIII:CONCRETE JUNGLE

"NO SUN WILL SHINE..IN MY DAY TO DAY, THE HIGH YELLOW MOON, WONT COME OUT TO PLAY"

THE HON. ROBERT NESTA MARLEY

cul·ture- The quality in a person or society that arises from a concern for what is regarded as excellent in arts, letters, manners, scholarly pursuits, etc.
5. the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group: the youth culture; the drug culture.
6. Anthropology . the sum total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.


Dictionary.com

As webster defines above, a culture is simply a way of life, stemming directly from a community or society. By experience and observation,naturally, there is a different mindset, spirit and culture to every state, and sub communites, 100% relevant to every bracket of class system, from upper to lower. Take a second look at the culture of south jersey. The A.L.I.H.S.T series revisits Camden NJ. In the series "Urban promise" it sought to tell the story of camden.(coined as the "black hole"(due to the influx of drugs and violence). and the redemptive voices/activism to challenge it.

"It was ranked the most dangerous overall in 2004 and 2005. It dropped down to the fifth spot for the 2006 and 2007 rankings but rose to number two in 2008 and to the top spot in 2009."-

Wikipedia

-By observation, conditioned poverty equals crime and social unrest. The statistics documented above are recent. But by sources and the city's failing economy i understood the city is in the process of laying off industrial workers to law enforcement; illustrating the breakdown of the city's governing bodies.


-Thursday's blog feature is not purposed to paint the bleakest picture of an american city, but to bring attention to the state of the district, and greater concern for the culture of the youth. Majority are exposed to the same social ills, dominated by gang prescence with little to no way out to a greater livelihood. We close this pre holiday feature a knowledgeble song from immortal technique, about an ongoing war, from within the states and abroad.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

LANGUAGE OF ONE P.XIX : SONGS OF PALESTINE P.II

"THIS AIN'T THE LIFE THAT I
CHOSE BUT IM TRYIN TO FINISH"-

John forte

"Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition calls on all its members,supporters and people of conscience to demand that the US administration direct the state of Israel to stop the targeted arrests and immediately release all Palestinian children detained in its prisons and detention centers. The US is bound by its laws and international conventions to cut off all aid to Israel until it ends the institutionalized and systematic abuse of Palestinian children and all of its violations of Palestinian human rights and basic freedoms in a verifiable manner."

Above is an exerpt of a petition letter written by a palestinian activist on behalf of Isreali military abuse. Langauge of one revisits "songs of palestine"; the extension of the historic Palestinian/Isreali conflict, the systematic oppression/exploits of the palestinian territory.

"Minors, defined as anyone under 18, should be questioned by specially trained officers and only during daylight hours. The children must be able to consult with a lawyer and a parent should be present." Ronit Sela, a spokeswoman for the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), said her organisation had been "shocked" at the large number of children arrested in East Jerusalem in recent months, often by units of undercover policemen."-

Journalist John Cook

http://www.jkcook.net/



-Disturbing as the situation is this is one facet of the political and military oppression in the palestinian territory by the Isreali-Zionist regime. The conflict generally stems from a deep ethnic struggle of race, religion and land. Some of the atrocities committed by Isreal bear as a form of fear tactics to the palestinian community.

"Race Matters"-Cornel West

-One of the factors to fuel my activism in palestinian solidarity via music, information and publishing is seeing the reflection of systematic oppression globally; from the history of apartheid in Cape Town South Africa, to the civil rights struggle, and people of color in america, even post 21st century. The same fuel and views shared in organizations as SNCC:

" After Israel occupied Palestinian territory following the 1967 Six-Day War, some American blacks supported the Palestinians and criticized Israel's actions, for example by publicly supporting Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state.


"The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) newsletter wrote an article criticizing Israel, and asserting that the war was an effort to regain Palestinian land and that during the 1948 war, "Zionists conquered the Arab homes and land through terror, force, and massacres". This article led to conflict between Jews and the SNCC, but black SNCC leaders treated the war as a "test of their willingness to demonstrate SNCC's break from its civil rights past".-


Wikipedia

- Here in the west its easy to see the conflict in the east/Gaza strip is pretty deep seated. Recent efforts from the Obama administration and Hillary Clinton tried to bridge the gap with peace talks, only to struggle with unstable results. The struggle of the palestinian territory is reckonized by leading progressive artists as M1 from dead prez, and today's feature, a lyricist with a strong underground prescence Narcycist with "Hamdililah" an underground single with cameo's from Jay electronica, and Tragedy Khadafi; a song relative to all people, spoken through an Arabic tongue.



THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

MUSIC IS LIFE P.XXI : GENERATION GAP

"We got to have peace"-

CURTIS MAYFIELD

"Beginning of moral decay"

"USA TODAY's series overlooks the role Baby Boomers played in establishing the moral ambiguity that plagues us today. Their rejection of their parents' values, their idealism and their inexperience made them easy marks for Saul Alinsky, a community organizer who wrote the book Rules for Radicals.
Alinsky used the Boomers and their struggle against racial injustice to popularize his own radical agenda. Primary among that agenda was the moral freedom implicit in the dictum "the end justifies the means." Human nature, not the Boomer generation, is responsible for the abuse of this moral freedom, but understanding its historical context is a step toward recognizing and combating it."

Doris Kabureck; Palmetto, Fla.




One letter from a reader on the changing face of american generations since the years of the early 20th century. The term "baby boomers" emerged from the generations after 1945; post WWII. This letter gives the illustration of the moral/ethical value decline of america; from the struggle of the civil rights movement, to during and after the vietnam war.

• Race and ethnicity. Seventy-six percent of early Boomers are non-Hispanic whites, compared with 68% of those born later. Blacks are the largest minority among older Boomers but are outnumbered by Hispanics among younger Boomers. Blacks make up 12% of Boomers born in the 1960s; Hispanics are 13%.

-In the matter of the moral fiber, every generation since the mid 20th century up till now was responsible for raising and influencing the next to come. Post 21st century pop-culture plays a Major part of this and the coming generation. Amongst all ethnicities in america, since the baby boomer generation, has experienced a shaking in moral ethics; though pop-culture has a degree of influence to the social ills; the ultimate restoration begins within,the family structure. We close this early december brief post with a recent progressive effort from contemporary band "The Gorillaz" with a closing of a generational gap: two features of Mos Def and veteran soul singer bobby Womack. Aside from freedom of speech and political agenda's, if america reckonizes a moral decay and its fruits, it only calls the masses to be conscious of what we leave behind for the next generation. Peace.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

LANGUAGE OF ONE P.XVIII :ISLAM IN AMERICA P.II

“I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.”-

Cassius Clay(Muhammad ali)





"On Islam, let's choose pluralism over prejudice

By Eboo Patel
About the best thing that's said about Muslims these days is they can't all be bad. Maybe so, others insist — but they all have that potential. This is the logic of prejudice, which holds up the worst elements of a community and fears that the rest will follow.
America is great because it believes in a very different idea — the logic of pluralism. The logic of pluralism affirms that every tradition has achievements, every community has gifts, and our nation is stronger when it invites those communities to contribute to the common good."-

One hot topic relevent to America. Language of one covers the controversy of islam post 21st century; with part II giving insight to base to Islam's holy book(Q'uran), and practicing muslim's in america in contrast to Jihadist's(holy war), coined by mass media as worldwide terrorism:

"Muslims believe that the Qur’an was revealed from God to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel from 610 to 632 CE, the year of his death.[5][9][10] Muhammad recited the Qur’an to his followers, numbering tens of thousands, who recited after him, until they had memorized it. He also dictated it to his scribes (Muhammad was illiterate) who wrote down its verses during his life. Shortly after Muhammad's death the Qur’an was established textually into a single book form by the order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr.[11] During the reign of Uthman"-

Wikipedia

-Due to the countless accounts of Jihad from within and without the states, and post 9/11, practicing muslim's began to become targets of hate crimes. In politics, from the Bush administration to Obama's, Islam was ultimately reckonized as a religion of peace.

The face of Jihad reflects on the atrocities of 9/11,(through the interpretations of Osama Bin laden and Al Qaeda suicide bombings of the present day iraqi democracy, and attacks internationally. Fundamental jihad runs on a strong belief system; one that governs the goals of some islamic states(Iran).

"President Obama focused on the importance of pluralism in his recent trip to Indonesia, a nation with the largest Muslim population on the planet, but also sizable communities of other faiths. He spoke personally of how Indonesia's diversity enriched his childhood experience in that country. And he spoke presidentially of how viewing diversity as a strength can help grow a nation's economy, stabilize its politics and make its culture more attractive."

-The obama's administration campaigns the ideal of pluralism to accept the diversity of religion in america, Including Islam. Language of one gives a brief insight to the contrast of fundamental and more radical forms of Islam. We close with "Narcycist" an independent islamic based hip hop group on feature this thursday with their views on stereotype, politics and faith.


THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010

MUSIC IS LIFE P.XX :THE PENDANT P.III

"Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real."-

Tupac Shakur

1971-1996

"Black males continue to perform lower than their peers throughout the country on almost every indicator," the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, which represents the nation's 66 largest urban public school systems, said in a recent report.
While much of the news coverage of the council's gut-wrenching report has focused on the failure of nearly all fourth- and eighth-grade black males to read and do math at proficiency levels, less attention has been paid to its conclusion that educational improvements alone won't fix this problem. What's needed, the council said, is a "concerted national effort to improve the education, social and employment outcomes of African-American males." -

Dwayne Wickham

The plight of urban academia. The statistics/estimates of "the minortity report" and the ladder of american class system usually cut close. But the above article refrenced in usa today focuses in the education of the black male.

"If you think that's just a warmed-over pitch for more funding of a liberal agenda, you're being shortsighted. In 13 years, minorities will be a majority of this nation's children younger than 18. In just 29 years, most working-age Americans will be black, Hispanic, Asian or Native American. This nation will be hard-pressed to remain the world's leading economy if a sizeable — and growing — share of its potential workforce is slipping through the gaping holes in our education system."

-In a truthful account the passage of the black male in the american in the american urban public school holds a testament by itself. The african dispersal in general holds its own rich history in america; more exceptionally the black male in the inner city faces the rites of passage of peer preasure; to overcoming the hurdles of the social ills of the environment. The unfortunate facts of this article of black males and education should encourage them and the youth to equipt themselves for todays world: in and out the classroom. As stated in one A.L.I.H.S.T blog, academic education to a degree is still the "pendant", due to a ever changing world, economy and educational system. We close this brief analysys and insight with one lament of people of color, a throwback from industry veterans D-Block's Styles P and Black Thought.

THEE URBANPRIESTHOOD GROUP LLC 2010