Host Larry Higginbottom speaks on "Blackness", how blackness has been weaponized against African Descendants of Slavery (ADOS), ADOS need their own category to distinguish themselves from other black cultures in America, Kamala Harris's lineage and policies, blacks being let down by the Democratic Party, and more.
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Observations From The Trenches
The following commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of WBCA or the Boston Neighborhood Network. If you would like to express another opinion, you can address your comments to Boston Neighborhood Network, 302-5 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119. To arrange a time for your own commentary, you can call WBCA at 617-708-3215 or email radio at bnnmedia.org. Good evening Boston, I'm your host Larry Hickenbottom and you're listening to WBCA-102.9FM, again WBCA-102.9FM, name I program, ops-servation from the trenches, ops-servation from the trenches. We'll speak about things I see out here in the community. And also, always with the focus of you and we must do something different, we've got to do something different if it's not working. So my topic today is somewhat, you know, redundant. I want to talk about blackness. It seems with VP Harris running, there's a whole lot of nuances on TikTok and Facebook about blackness. So I want to preface it this way to my group, ADOS, which stands for American Sense of Slavery. Blackness has been weaponized against ADOS, fundamental black, regional black Americans, black America, whatever term you might use, we need our own category. I'll say again, blackness has been weaponized against ADOS, fundamental black Americans, a regional black American. We need our own category, whatever term you choose to differentiate us. We need our own category, young people, and I'm speaking to you now, because we boomers again have failed when it came to leadership on this year subject. When this term first popped out back in the 70s or 80s, we're back in the 70s, I think it was. We never differentiated who it was for. Go on. We're the only people here for the most part. And at that time, blackness referred to the Negroes. It was replaced in the term Negroes, black. Everybody in the country knew we were speaking about American-born blacks or ADOS. As I identify, we stand for American Sense of Slavery, we come out of that institution. And when I like that term, most of the others, although I would be open to any term that the majority decides on, that's why I say, young people, Gen X, Gen Z, and millennials, some of you have to wrestle with and come to a conclusion. If you don't mind, I like that term, because right off the bat, it tells you ADOS, A, Americans. We are Americans. We are Americans. Yes, I have African ancestry, that's true. But I'm not an African. I am the descendant of the institution's slave. We come out of that institution. That's true. Dr. King in his last words of wisdom, when he wrote, "Where do we go from here?" He stated that, "We are the descendants of the slave." That's true. That is true. But I like that term, more so than fundamental blacks, although I understand that. Or a regional black American, I understand that. It's all referring to us, us, the Negro. So when I hear folks now, grabbing and fighting over Vice President Harris' blackness, "Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me?" It's really so disturbing to me, us boomers, us boomers. We're showing no wisdom, no leadership, no guidance to Gen X, Gen Z, the millennium. Of all the things that you are hopping on, nothing speaks about her policies that she's going to articulate or fight for on behalf of ADOS. And she told you when she was running for president, back here, when she spotted a Democratic pack, right? And getting there here behind her, she got no traction, no love. She said, "I'm not going to do anything on these for black Americans." She told you that. So again, why am I sudden now because you attest to Trump that bad? She's better than them. I beg the difference. Politics is not a giveaway. Politics is about policies. Voting is about exchange. When it appears to me that people have totally forgotten, what are you getting? What are you getting? As a matter of fact, when Trump had a interview with the black generalist group, and a young lady there, I guess she was with ABC, right, he was a prime opportunity to put this man on record and for his policy, what are you going to do for black Americans? Yeah, what she would have said, President Trump, former President Trump, you're right. When you say it in 2016, what do black Americans have to lose? They've got nothing from the Democratic Party, totally right. What's your policy to address that? How would you address the racial world gap? What's your policy on reparation? What's your policy on us getting none of this estate, city of federal contract? We get the first, none of that, none of that, billions of dollars. What's your policy to address that? What's your policy? You're right, President Trump, black jobs, these are black jobs and low-paying jobs, you're right. And we are adversely impacted by all this immigration, illegal. What's your policy on that, President Trump? What's your policy, President Trump? And so, they're getting on there, trying to have this argument over the stuff that's going to do nothing to lift the collective. So, it's very perturbing to me that today's educated black boulet, they have a common essence, a gatekeeper for whiteness. And if you were to remove their melanin, they would sound and act and behave like a white candidate or a white person. They're not fighting for ados, they're not fighting for anything that's going to make life better for the collective, because they're comfortable. And so, now these same individual, the educated class boulet, among us, right, now I have a walk going over, is she black or not, are you kidding me? Her mother's Indian, from India, one of the most cast-driven societies in America, in the world. She is a brahman, I would be untouchable in that caste system. Her father, right, from Jamaica, right, he also. It's of the upper crust. They don't know about struggling, they don't know about, you know, hardship. These are elite immigrants. Elite immigrants. Are you talking about blackness? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? It's amazing how we can sidetrack on things that mean nothing. We learned nothing from eight years of pregnant Obama. White mother, Kenyan father, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? And he said to our faith, hey, I'm the person I hear about, just not black folks, he was telling you, and that's it, I'm not doing anything to you. That's why I'm not going to irritate or ruffle the white base that I need to get elected. Come on now, ados, come on now, bring the black American, come on now, fundamental black American, come on now, people, have we not learned anything, nothing? Your politics is about exchange, your vote is your currency. So if you're not going to a leverage your vote as a bloc, as a group, you got nothing. You got nothing. And for the last 50 years that I've been voting, I'm semi now, then voting since I was 20, last five decades, 90% of ados votes always go to the Democratic party. So if anybody owes this group something, it's the Democrats, and you've always got nothing but crumbs and symbolism. So today I'm going to talk about blackness. Blackness has been weaponized against ados, fundamental blacks, regional black American, weapon trimming used, we need our own category. Joining people, we need uni, because of boomers, our time is, our time is, versus the up, we had our chance. Many our time, many on the sideline, many got no fight in them. But one great thing, you can critique what we have done and not done and not do these things in your quest and your push back against whiteness, is your turn it back now. I can assure you, you shouldn't not be wasting your time fighting amongst yourself on her blackness. She's not us. And don't let folks try to sidetrack you when we start talking about enslavement, trying to take it outside of America, everything should be anchored in America. We ain't talking about if you're a folk who ain't slaved head over there in the Caribbean, or you're colonized over in Africa, or India, whatever. No, no, no, no. America. America. America. And stay anchored here. Limited. There's no lineage there. With her and all, Obama. None. Did we not learn anything for eight years from President Obama? So why are we going down the same road, or because you detest Trump? I don't give it down. Who's in an office? Because at the end of the day, it's going to come down to your skill base. Your country, our country, system of economic is founded in capitalism. The better for words. Two important components for us poor broke people, which I came out of a home like that. There was no wealth, no inheritance. The only saving grace that you have in 2024, young people, is your label. Do you possess or have essential high income skills if you do you going to do well no matter who's in office, no matter who's there, you're going to do well. And unfortunately the vast majority of ADO's community have, what, poor, black, low paying jobs. Period. That's where the bulk is. So I believe that young lady who worked ABC missed a golden opportunity to put former President Trump on record as to what he would do to address black jobs. He wasn't lying about it. You were lying about it. But no, we stuck on racism. I don't get behooved by his racism. That's not my problem to eradicate that. That's his. We've been fighting that fight for 160 years. Put down that matter. Put that cross down. We didn't create that binary system. We've been reacting to white racism for 600 years, for 160 years, 60 years of emancipation. I don't want to concern about his policies as it's going to benefit our group. Our group, it's not our job to question folks about racism, whiteness is about racism. Whiteness is about race. Don't you understand the young people is about race. I could give a hoot about your racism. I don't want to concern about what are we getting? What are we getting out of the deal, period? All groups understand that, but eight o's, or I so-called educated black boole leaders. They're fighting about everything but the right thing. So on this Wednesday, my topic of discussion is real simple. Eight o's. Blackness has been weaponized against us. It benefits everybody but us. And the reason being, when these things, like affirmative action, all these laws was passed because our elders got out there and fought and confronted whiteness. The language did not specify who it was for and why. For example, voting right act, it should have said, voting right act for the nick goes because why? Just in freshman. Just in freshman. It should have said, it should have said, it should have stated who it was for and why. Super rights. Bill, should have said, it should have said rights for the niggrows because of what? Slavery and Jim Crow. From affirmative action, should have said, action for who the niggrows because of what? Slavery and Jim Crow. Set aside. Quarters, why? Because of what? Slavery and Jim Crow. All those ordinances that your elders in mind got out there with king got there behind the wood, got stoned, sped up on, mostly lost their lives, got beat down. Those laws should have been specified who it was for. And because we did not write those ordinances, the language minority, anybody could be a minority who's not a white male, bad move, bad move. King was fighting based on race, had none to do with sexual orientation or gender, but yet in still those that language is all in what, 64 acts of civil rights. So again, you got people piggybacking off of that, off of the black experience who had no skin in the game. So all these minorities, be that Jewish, white women, Asians, Caribbean's, advocates, from the Indian, all these folks have piggyback off the black experience with no skin in the game. Because we did not specify who these positions were for and why. And so now here you are now fighting with blackness. It's about lineage, young folks, it's about lineage, not blackness. She's not us. She's not us. It's just as simple. So instead of focusing on, okay, you are replacing President Biden, okay, congrats. What are your policies for us? What are your policies for that border? What are your policies for that? What are your policies? You've seen the stories in New York, Chicago, L.A., how eight of those communities have been devastated with all this massive illegal immigration. What's your policy on that? What's your policy on that? You state that you would not go to anything but black Americans, but here you are spending $50, right, on all these illegals, feeding them, closing, housing them. Oh, now y'all, how can you say you won't do that for us, but you do something for them? What's your policy? Again, you get my drift. Everything should be centered on her policy, the same with President Trump. The fact that he's not convicted, I don't get mad about that, and that's just you. We should only be concerned with, okay. What are your policies for those? What are you going to do about us being displaced by this massive amount of illegal immigrants? And the correct language is the illegal aliens, not illegal immigrants, but the Democrats changed that to make it more pleasing to the taste buds. Again, young people, as one baby boomer, get out your way. You need to understand that voting is an is and exchange is not a giveaway. You're stuck here, having arguments on blackness, and it means nothing, period. She's not one of us, period based on lineage. It's like we haven't learned nothing, I'm having eight years of personal bomber, nothing. I'm not four because I'm voting down ballot. Again, I'm on a vote now. I will be voting, that's true, but I'll be voting locally. I would not vote for neither one of them, because why? Neither one of them represent my values or my belief. And my voice, my currency, it was written to me about my group, the boomers. We've heard the skies falling. We've heard if you don't vote, you're going to be put back in the shackles. If you don't vote, you'll be put back in the slavery. If you don't vote, you're going to lose this. If you don't vote, that goes out of democracy. That goes out of freedom. I've heard that in the last five decades, to no avail. We still got nothing. Where I have loaf beat, I have loaf beat no loaf, something beat nothing. I've heard all those analyses. We on the bottom, young people, in every meaningful category, ADOS is on the bottom. On the bottom. So it's in 1865 as a group now, as a group. I'd rather say that some are not doing well, but as a group, we're not doing well. And in fact, for more information, if you were to check out the current report, current report, right? Pretty years later, the report came out initially in 1968 after the riots, LBJ wanted to know why they upset, why they bring down America. So he commissioned, he commissioned, the first call by the current report, K-E-R-N-E-R, in 1968. It lists all the reasons that cause black America and 100 cities, right, to get out there and get busy. Well, 50 years later, right, in 2018, they have the current report, current report, right, 50 years later, it found, besides ADOS having increased numbers in education degrees, everything else was dismal. Home ownership, wealth, income, health, you name it, all indicators that measure your quality of life, we made no progress as a collective group. We made no progress as a collective group, really for yourself, for more information. Turner, 50 years later, so here you are arguing all this woman here, what's she black or not? It's about lineage, it's about lineage, it's about lineage. She's not one of us, period. They're aside, what's your policy? What are your policies to aid and assist us? Come on now, you're wasting your time fighting them with something that bears no fruit. But you know, we need on category, and this would be resolved once and for all. Our beings have their own lineage, African have their own lineage, they're not like me, what brought them here is not what brought my folks here, our struggle's not their struggle, our need is not their need, we've been fighting this fight with whiteness for a hundred, what, for four hundred and five years we've been here, ADOS, we've been fighting whiteness for four hundred and five years we've been here. Area beings need, I'm not our need, Africans needs not our needs. We've been fighting for a redress of our government, from our government, from our government, system after patient. We the only group that's been in constant conflict with whiteness. These other group, be the carer beings or Africans, have some of you and I will never, ever, ever taste or experience, what's that Larry? They were given a reprieve because of what independence from whiteness, when they gained independence, being the Caribbean country or the African country, they have been independent since what, the 1950, 1960s. So they have been free of white control and domination for 57 decades for the coming year. And they all got here after the 1965 act of immigration, for more information read about the time they got here. That came off the back, the blood, the sweat, of the civil rights movement, our people. Before that, white folks were not letting them in the country, period, period. And so here we are, here y'all are, caught up in two, colorism, which does nothing. The policy, nothing, was really perturbing to me is that my group, baby boomers, fail, fail miserably to keep you anchored in our struggle and our sacrifice. We fail miserably to keep you, Gen X, Gen Z, and millennial anchored in our struggle and our sacrifice, because we opted, the leadership of my group opted for. Convignancy and comfort. We opted for conveyancy and comfort. We stopped fighting and struggling and sacrificing for self-determination and independence. We got this crime call from the action or inclusion, and off many went. And many were able to get out the hood, move to a better part of the city, move outside the city. But the group as the whole got stuck, admired, and what they got there, the hood, they couldn't leave the wanted to. And so now here we are in 2024, fighting over blackness, which means nothing because why it's been co-op. That term originally referred to the Nick Rose, us, Adolfs. Not two, one about Caribbean, the one here, African, the one even in the country. So here we are in 2024, embarking on a road down the road that means absolutely, positively nothing. And I say to you, young people who come into the play to replace us, boom, it's your time to give a whiteness. You need to really, really petition the government to have our own category, to distinguish us from Caribbean blacks and from African blacks. And that binary system based on color was created by what? European, white man, he created it black and white, paradigm. When we started referring to ourself as black, everybody in America, including all the whites, everybody knew it referred to who, our American born black and white adults. The last 30, 40 years, because we allowed everybody to come up on the hot tent, we allowed everybody who might be somewhat inconvenienced by whiteness or marginalized to be seen as us. And so now the original group that these laws were intended for have been kicked out the house. That's why right now, being the dollar spent on illegal immigrants with no stoppage in sight. And this you can take it to the bank, young people, hear me now, no matter who wins in November, November 4th, this you can take it to the bank. If you're broke on November 4th, you'll be broke on November 5th. If you got no wealth on November 4th, you'll have no wealth on November 5th, no matter who gets in office. Your quality of life comes down to do you possess a certain level of wealth to be comfortable in this great country of ours. And the fact is that many members of the Edel's community don't have those skillsets. They don't possess that level of wealth. And so for these educated black bouillades, they be up in arms over blackness. When the quality of life of the group is dismal at best, it's not changed since the 1960s rise, it's just totally unfathomable, it's totally unacceptable. That's why, in my own opinion, they're becoming the best gatekeepers of whiteness anybody could ever recruit. Because they out there saying if you don't vote, you're not black, if you don't vote, anti-women, if you don't vote, it's ridiculous, totally ridiculous. All because you the test Trump, hey, I'm about policy, baby, I don't care if the Republican Jackson, what is your feeling on reparation and why? What's your feeling on us getting included in all these billion dollars spent on these city contracts, state contracts, federal contracts? How can you help us get some of that money? But we don't do that. We have been brainwashed into the erasers, the erasers, I don't care, I don't care about that. What do you policy as it go on, as it pertains to my group, period? And I hope young people, as you come to the bathroom, start to take the reins and leave that you understand that voting is an exchange on a getaway, if you're not getting something for your currency, why are you voting? Would you patronize a store, spend your good money and not get fair value? Would you do that? Would you patronize a store, spend your good money and not get fair value for that? I don't think so. Your vote is your currency. So why would you give your voter away because why Trump is this or Trump at that? I don't care about that. I don't care about what are your policies towards my group who's the bottom cast. And if you are blessed to get elected without help, what are you going to give us a return to start to address some of the conditions that we have been facing since the 1968 rides? And all the data shows that our group collectively are just the worst off that we were in 1968. The only thing different I can see from being a member of the boomers who live for that is that the unchecked violence that we were subjected to as the community that's greatly been reduced or disappeared. That's right. The unchecked violence that we could be subjected to by all whites, be it male, female, kids or whatever has been totally taken off the table. These fours have an access to wealth, contracts, dismal, dismal. So I say to you young people, you come to the stage. We need our own category. We need your own category that distinguishes us from black caribans and black Africans. And it got to be based on lineage. Should be based on what we need, what you need. Again, I'm going to take a break and I'll be right back. Again, you listen to WBCA, 102.9 FM, again, WBCA, 102.9 FM, I'm your host Larry Hagenbottom in the program, op-service of untrenches, again, op-service of untrenches. Speak about the things I see out here affecting my group, ADOs, and why we need to change it hard. And remember, as long as you're above ground, young people, you can always make something happen. So I'd be back. Don't go nowhere. The revolution wasn't televised in the '60s. Is it going to be televised in the '90s? Well, you know, the catchphrase, what that was all about, the revolution would not be televised. That was about the fact that the first change that takes place is in your mind. You have to change your mind before you change the way you live and when you move. So when we said that the revolution would not be televised, we were saying that like that the thing that's going to change people is something that no one will ever be able to capture on film. It will just be something that you see and all of a sudden you realize, I'm on the wrong page or I'm on the right page, but I'm on the wrong note, and I've got to get in sync with everyone else to understand what's happening in this country. But I think that the black Americans have been the only real, that hard Americans here because we're the only ones who carry the process through the process, that everyone else has to sort of like skip stages. We're the ones who march, we're the ones who carry the Bible, we're the ones who carry the flag, we're the ones who try to go through the courts. And being born American didn't seem to matter because we were born American but we still had to fight for what we were looking for and we still had to go through those channels and those processes. People won't give you the real talk on drugs, but it's time we know the facts. Fentanyl is killing people, it's a powerful opioid, often made illegally and commonly mixed with illicit drugs. It can even be pressed into counterfeit pills that resemble prescription medications. Just two milligrams, about the size of a few grains of sand, could potentially be lethal. This isn't an ad that scare you, but it isn't an ad to make you think twice. Get the facts, go to realdealonfentanyl.com, this message is brought to you by the ad council. Again, here's that song again for the hundredth time today, here's that song again, it's gonna be stuck in your head all day. Here's that song again, it will make you cray cray. You love your kids enough to watch that TV show a budgillion times, love them enough to make sure they're in the right car seat for their age and size, show them you love them. Keep them safe, visit nhtsa.gov/therightseat, brought to you by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the ad council. The impact of a meal goes well beyond feeding our bodies, because when people don't have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, they can truly thrive, like Marta. And now we'll hear from our class valedictorian, who with our hard work never ceases to amaze us. Welcome Marta Moreno. And Alex. Hey Alex, how did the interview go? I did it, I got the job, I can't believe it. I knew it, let's meet up later to celebrate. And Diego. Mom, I got first place at the science fair with my volcano project. That's amazing sweetie, congratulations. Because when people are fed, futures are nourished, and everyone deserves to live a full life. Join the movement to end hunger at FeedingAmerica.org/actnow, FeedingAmerica.org/actnow. A public service announcement brought to you by Feeding America and the ad council. The revolution wasn't televised in the 60s, is it going to be televised in the 90s? Well you know the catchphrase, what that was all about, the revolution would not be televised. That was about the fact that the first change that takes places in your mind, you have to change your mind before you change the way you live and when you move. So when we said that the revolution would not be televised, we were saying that the thing that's going to change people is something that no one will ever be able to capture on the film. It'll just be something that you see and all of a sudden you'll realize, I'm on the wrong page, or I'm on the right page but I'm on the wrong note, and I've got to get in sync with everyone else to understand what's happening in this country. But I think that the black Americans have been the only real, that hard Americans here because we're the only ones who carry the process through the process, that everyone else has to sort of like skip stages. We're the ones who march, we're the ones who carry the Bible, we're the ones who carry the flag, we're the ones who try to go through the courts, and being born American didn't seem to matter because we were born Americans but we still had to fight for what we were looking for. But we still had to go through those channels and those processes. I'm back. Again, you listened to WBCA 102.9 FM, WBCA 102.9 FM, I'm your host Larry Higginbottom, names program, op, surveys from the churches, but speak about things that I see in my community. My group, Edo's, there needs to be changed, I'm not into gloom and doom, I'm not into the sky falling, I'm not into this no options, as long as you're above ground, you can make changes. And my topic today, based on all the hoopla over VP Harris running or blackness, is real simple. Blackness has been weaponized against Edo's fundamental blacks or raising the black American. We need our own category. We allowed everybody to co-op that term to piggyback off of our struggling, off of our hardship. That term was synonymous with Negroes, everybody knew, it was talking about Edo's. And because we allowed everybody to come under that term, now you got people over here at Warby's job in our community, over vice president Harris, when she told you when she was running, I'm not doing anything only for black America. Duh, do you not learn anything from President Obama? Voting is an exchange, not a giveaway. Voting is an exchange, not a giveaway. So nowhere in her three years has she done anything and said anything that's going to prove the plight of the Edo's community, nothing, nothing. So why this internal war amongst some of us, it's ridiculous. You raising funds, although it's going to do something for the collective. Come on now, people, come on. Let me read an excerpt for you young people, because my focus really is on you. One of the time I got left on this earth, I'm a baby woman, as I get out of your way, you guys come to the podium, to the table whiteness, your term, to confront and deal with whiteness, every generation has to deal with it. But the good thing is that you can critique what King did, what Boomers did, and you now know what not to do. In your quest against the spirit of whiteness, you now know what not to do. One of the things that I think you need to consider this here, and for more information, you can also check out this book called Race for Success, the 10 Best Opportunities for Blacks in America by brother George C. Frazier. This came out in 1998. I was coming to grad school then, and I bought it. And what's really a blessing, when our elders who've been out here in the Muckin and Meyer get whiteness, they know what's needed for you to be successful and succeed. When they share wisdom, unfortunately, the group as a whole are not holding on or trying to follow that wisdom. But in reading this book here, the Race for Success, he says something that I was very profound in 1998, he's also profound now. And this gives me a follow on page two. He said, "Trend one, from civil rights to economic power, from civil rights to economic power," I'm reading this little paragraph, it sums up where we are what you should be about. He said, "The first wave of black empowerment in the 19th century would dedicate to obtaining a physical freedom. The second wave in the mid-20th century, targeted civil and human rights and created a affirmative action. Now, the third wave is squarely focused on freeing ourselves from economic enslavement and achieving economic power in the 21st century." That's why y'all young people, in this third wave, this third phase, your attention and energy and effort should be on acquired economic. That has to deal with your skills. It all comes back to your skill base, so no matter who's in office, right, who's at City Hall, State House, down D.C., my closest friend to myself, we're going to be okay. We're not going to start at all. We did well on the bush, did well on the Clinton, did well on the bomber. Did well on the Trump, did well on the Biden, no matter who wins this November, we're going to do well because we're out of skills. Economic assistance is still found in capitalism, but in other words, it comes down to labor. Capital needs labor to make profit, to produce goods and services, it needs labor. If you possess those essential skills, you're going to do well no matter who is in office. So, I don't vote on the national level because why need a party represent my group or do we're going to do anything for my group? So I vote locally. My quality of life did not change, not one hour, not one hour. Nighting on my closest friend, neither has my closest friend because why of their skills? Their skills are needed in capitalism. So why are you so bent out of shape if Trump wins or don't win? Come on now. We have been sadly miseducated on how this thing works. So if you're not getting a exchange for your currency, your vote, why are you jumping up and down, making all this noise behind VP Harris and Trump? Come on now. Come on. That's why we need our own category to distinguish us from Caribbean blacks and African blacks because our lineage is not the same, not the same people. Our struggle ain't the same. We've been fighting whiteness since 18th to 25th, they just got here. We've been fighting this thing here for 160 plus years, they just got here. The minute it's not coming in to confront whiteness, they came here for economic reward. Period. Ain't about no voting, about no freaking democracy or constitution. I'm broke, broke, broke, broke, broke, broke. Who has the chatter? Who has the money? Who has the moolah? America. I want some of that. I read where it says our gross national product is 25 trillion dollars. That's why they're coming. That's why they're coming. Ain't nothing about freedom, ain't about freedom. I'm broke. And I can create a very handsome life here in America from the financial rewards that I can get here. I can send money back to my homeland to help the impoverished people there. Don't get it twisted now. Don't be fooled now. Ain't those. Don't be fooled. These are not allies. They didn't come in to be allies. They do not see whiteness or racism through the same lens as you and I. They have had a 60 or 70 year reprieve from white domination and control. When they come to America, they are not coming here to confront whiteness or watch the primacy or white racism. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's not why they're coming in, whiteness is okay with them. They're coming here to extract as much as a financial wealth out of our country for them and their rightfully so. That's what you should be about. Period. So if you're not teaching your children or yourself the essence of what capitalism need which is labor. It needs labor. And essential high income labor always will get bigger dollars, bigger return. If you're not teaching your kids how to thrive out here, how to navigate America, you have failed them. You are right down right failed them. And I say to you, the data doesn't lie. We have made no progress as a group since the 1968 rise. You can read the current report, current report 50 years later came out in 2018. It says itself for having more blacks with degrees. No wealth, no income, no housing, all those metrics that measure quality of life. We are worse off. The only thing that's proved is that this unchecked valor that we were subjected to or could be, the executive has diminished greatly. 'Cause we ain't taking no but women, we ain't taking no but women. But fourth, what measure quality of life? Your wealth, your income, your environment, your community, education, all those metrics. We are dead last, it's worse. No progress. You're fighting with blackness. Is she black or not? Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? I'm very distraught with my group. The boomers, we failed. The leadership was leading us right, failed us miserably. Jesse Jackson, Rainbow Coalition, NAACP Urban League, all got behind the so-called black capitalism. How can you have capitalism with no wealth? No wealth. Having a diverse cabinet does not equate to wealth for your group. Having so-called inclusion does not equate to treating jobs for your people that are meaningful that leads to the middle class of battle. So that leadership settled for symbolism. They got a diverse cabinet who ain't you happy, ain't you pleased? Nothing tangible. Nothing concrete is going to elevate the collective. The King God bless his soul gave his life for the uplift for the collective, not for a few to say. Oh, the first one here, first one there, first one here, first one there, he didn't have that nonsense. That's all a con game to keep you distracted from the fact your group is still stuck down the mud. And you're being pushed further and further and further in the mud because of this massive wave of undocumented illegal aliens, quote unquote, immigrants. So everything needs to stem about what do your policies to address these ales that are afflicting my group? And not on Ms. Harris' blackness, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? I sit and listen, we told this May when I go to TikTok and some of these Facebook platforms. We done it. Just totally assonized what we got caught up in. Like we didn't learn nothing, nothing from 80 years of prison Obama, nothing. Well, I will keep saying, young people, at the end of the day, if you're a member of it, nobody's coming to save you, nobody's coming to save us, nobody's coming to save the group, nobody, including the educated black boulet, because they are comfortable. They become, they become the gatekeepers. They have no transformative agenda to help the collective, nothing, because they will not confront the white power structure because they are benefiting. We need these terms like all Americans, for everybody, you know, ain't done coming your way. And in fact, these black elected officials can't even use anything that's aimed at us only. They won't say it. They won't never say, but it's just for black Americans. Here's the reason why, here's the data, here's the research, why does it need to happen? No, for this thing. Well, yes, we need, well, we have some black Americans, but, you know, people color, let's be engaged, other minorities, other, uh, at risk groups, everything for us can have what I call this, uh, uh, uh, salad bowl effect, everybody. But everybody just get their own policy for their money, for their money, for us, we got everybody in that salad bowl. They got no courage, they got no conviction, but they don't stand for anything. And blackness has been weaponized against adults from the middle blacks, the middle black Americans. We need our own category. We need our own category. And boomers, we was wrong to allow all the other groups to come under this tent when a LBJ never ever meant for a reaction for nobody but the Negroes. We hurt ourselves and we're paying for it. And young people, you need to be clear now, no one's coming to make it better for you. No one's coming to make it better for you because they didn't come for me, they're not coming for you. So I come to a close on this year Wednesday, just remember now it's not about blackness, it's about lineage. Her lineage is not ours. And it's about in this country, America, not the Americas or India or Jamaica. No, no, no, no, no, America. She's not one of us. Maybe it was President Obama. Don't get caught up on ethnicity, no. But in race, I like night and day. Come on now, be smart, be smart now. You can take and learn something from us boomers, what not to do, what not to do. So again, it's that come to a close on this Wednesday, hope you have enjoyed my conversation. Food for thought, something to bounce things around. I'll be back next Wednesday, start willing, but more, more authorization matrices. Think about things that we need to do differently, and I'm all about saying change can occur if you understand it first starts with you. It starts with you understanding no one's coming to save us. No one's coming to make it better for you. And so until you change your way of thinking, you ought to look on life, you're going to stay on the bottom. And no one's coming to get you off the bottom, eight of those. No one's coming to get you off the bottom. And the vast majority of the group is on the bottom. In every category that measures quality of life, our group is still there from 1968 rise. We're still on the bottom. Don't be fooled by a few, you know, entertainers, you know, rappers, whatever, you know, don't be fooled by that nonsense. As a collective body, no movement, baby, no movement. And in fact, we were soft, got on the show for it. I read in the, I think it was New York, New York, New York, New York, New York paper, that the greatest trend of real wealth will be occurring with baby boomers, naming white people to the air. Black baby boomers are leading virtually nothing to the air. Black baby boomers as a group are leading nothing, virtually nothing to the air, to the air. Why? I went the wrong way. We stopped fighting for ourselves. We became complacent, we won a conveyancy and comfort. We stopped struggling for independence and self-determination. We stopped struggling to get contracts that we can control how our people create wealth, capital. To do our own projects, our own development, we stopped fighting for that. We won the job and they were saying to my youth and young, young, young age, go to school, get your good education and get you a good paying job, well, that's what folks did. None of that leads to wealth or factories that you can hire your people. It doesn't lead to that. So in a way, young people, you're back at square zero, you are now back at square zero. But the great thing in your favor, by critiquing what King did and what my group did, you now know what not to do. So you in a much better position than my group were. There's no more experimenting, there's no need to experiment. You know what to do to be successful in America. Again, all you gotta do is go about doing that and you will be fine. You will be okay. But again, fighting number blackness is the waste of your time because again, if you broke November 4th, you'll be broke November 5th. If you got no wealth on November 4th, you have no wealth on November 5th. Trust me on that. At the end of the day, it's gonna come back to your skill base. Do you possess essential high-income skills? So until next Wednesday, I'm your host, Larry Hagenbottom. You've been listening to WBCA, one of 2.9th film. In my little program, it's called Ops 3 Vision Retrenches. I'll be back next Wednesday with some more thoughts until then, take care of yourself and be well. The preceding commentary does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff and management of WBCA or the Boston Neighborhood Network. If you would like to express another opinion, you can address your comments to Boston Neighborhood Network, 302-5 Washington Street, Boston, Massachusetts, 02119. To arrange a time for your own commentary, you can call WBCA at 617-708-3215 or email radio at bnnmedia.org. [BLANK_AUDIO]