From The Ramparts

                                                   From The Ramparts

                                                 Junious Ricardo Stanton

                                               2016 Trends and Predictions

           

            As I have observed and stated on numerous occasions, human beings are creatures of habit and once you discern their proclivities, patterns, customs, folkways and traditions  etc. you can accurately predict their current and future behavior. If we watch what people do, and how they act rather than going by what they say, you can better detect their patterns and habits and predict their behavior.

            You can also manipulate people if you play on their emotions, ambitions and take advantage of their gullibility, naïveté or ignorance. The ruling class' play book is slim because they too are creatures of habit motivated by greed, megalomania and hubris. They do the same things over and over using the same or variations of the same strategies simply because they work. Plus they have the power and means to coerce our compliance, cowardice and acquiescence! Having said that and in keeping with observed trends, patterns and behaviors I can confidently make the following predictions about 2016:  US police will continue to kill more citizens. How can I make this prediction? Because the trend of police using lethal force on unarmed citizens (mostly Black and Brown people) is on the upswing. Neither the FBI nor the federal government keeps data on the number of civilians shot and killed by US police officers but by looking at the FBI's numbers which are not all inclusive you can discern the trend of police homicides is on the rise. According to the Killed By Police Website  http://www.killedbypolice.net from May 1 to December 31 2013, US police killed 769 civilians,  from January 1 2014 to December 31, 2014, 1108 citizens were killed.

            The Washington Post in an article published on December 26, 2015 revealed, "In a year-long study, The Washington Post found that the kind of incidents that have ignited protests in many U.S. communities — most often, white police officers killing unarmed black men — represent less than 4 percent of fatal police shootings. Meanwhile, The Post found that the great majority of people who died at the hands of the police fit at least one of three categories: they were wielding weapons, they were suicidal or mentally troubled, or they ran when officers told them to halt. The Post sought to compile a record of every fatal police shooting in the nation in 2015, something no government agency had done. The project began after a police officer shot and killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., in August 2014, provoking several nights of fiery riots, weeks of protests and a national reckoning with the nexus of race, crime and police use of force. Race remains the most volatile flash point in any accounting of police shootings. Although black men make up only 6 percent of the U.S. population, they account for 40 percent of the unarmed men shot to death by police this year, The Post’s database shows. In the majority of cases in which police shot and killed a person who had attacked someone with a weapon or brandished a gun, the person who was shot was white. But a hugely disproportionate number — 3 in 5 — of those killed after exhibiting less threatening behavior were black or Hispanic." A Year of Reckoning: Police Fatally Shoot Nearly 1,000 http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2015/12/26/a-year-of-reckoning-police-fatally-shoot-nearly-1000/?hpid=hp_hp-top-table-main_shootings-1248pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory.

            Given the mentality and training of US police and the racist nature of US culture we can safely predict more police killings of Black and Brown people (mostly unarmed males) will occur in 2016.  Given the murderous police rampage will likely continue, we can also predict The Black Lives Matter movement will naively continue to plead and appeal to the morals and sense of justice of whites to decrease the killings of unarmed Black and Brown folks. The Black Lives Matter movement and Black folks should seek redress for the murders of  unarmed Black people but they should also note the historical and cultural implications of this centuries old pattern and conclude we are at war.

            While this pattern of police violence is ongoing, our greatest threat is not from police but from within our own communities! The fervor for justice overlooks and ignores the Black on Black fratricide and maladaptive responses to European oppression that continue to grip, weaken and plague our community. We kill ourselves at a much more alarming rates than the KKK, Police or White Citizens Council ever could!

            This fratricide is a manifestation of  our frustration, self-hatred and lack of self-knowledge.  None of this is in isolation. It is all interrelated and intertwined held together by a deliberate system of European menticide (mental genocide), the deliberate attempt by whites to destroy our minds, to drive us insane, via their Eurocentric education system, their mass media that pumps out lies and vile stereotypes and depictions of  African people, including the promotion and rewarding of Blacks who create, promote and glamorize the same stereotypes that portray Blacks as: thugs, hyper-sexed predators, low life skeezers, killers and sociopaths or the other extreme of mindlessly loyal servants in service of European imperialism, domination and exploitation.

            We can safely predict 2016 will see further deterioration of public education as cash strapped states, counties and municipalities grapple with ways to pay for a public education system that maintains a two tiered structure: one the educates the haves and another that offers minimal services to the have not's.

             "On average, schools serving more minority populations have less-experienced, lower-paid teachers who are less likely to be certified. A report from the Center for American Progress found that a 10 percentage point increase in students of color at a school is associated with a decrease in per-pupil spending of $75. Disparities in course offerings mean students of color have fewer opportunities to challenge themselves with more difficult courses — the type of courses needed to prepare for a four-year college degree or for a high-paying career in STEM.

            In seventh and eighth grades, blacks make up 16 percent of students, but account for 10 percent of students taking Algebra 1 and 9 percent of students passing the course. While nearly one in five white students took Calculus in high school, one in 15 black students did. Fewer black students have access to a full range of high school math and science courses — algebra I, geometry, algebra II, calculus, biology, chemistry and physics. They are under-represented in gifted and talented programs. Black students take fewer Advanced Placement classes than white students and score lower on AP tests. While black students disproportionately attend schools with higher minority populations, the teachers, principals and administrators who interact with the students are a different story. When the U.S. Department of Education collected data in the 2007-2008 school year, 80 percent of principals in public schools were white. Meanwhile, only 6.2 percent of high school public school teachers across all subject areas are black — the highest percentage is for health and physical education, where 9.2 percent of teachers are black." US Education: Still Separate and Unequal http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/01/28/us-education-still-separate-and-unequal

            Options to combat this debilitating trend include: home schooling where parents come together to develop a rigorous educational curricula for their children and Afrocentric community schools that supplement what the children get in the local public schools; but these require an uncompromising commitment on the part of the parents and the community. The seminal questions is, do we have that type of commitment?

            Another potential trend in 2016 will be increasing hopelessness, lethargy, depression and stagnation within our communities. We are being dumbed down, lobotomized and zombified. We take our own selves out of the game by drinkin' and druggin' much to the delight of our tormentors and adversaries. It makes them richer and weakens us so they can further exploit and dominate us!

            The good news is that none of these predictions or scenarios have to come to pass or manifest; we can alter our future and our reality! But we have to be willing to make a serious change in our mental processes and lifestyles. We will have to take action! Heretofore we have been unwilling to use our imagination, the greatest gift the CREATOR gave us other than LIFE itself, to spark a personal, group and collective transformation. We can do better!

            Too many of our people live in communities that have been red lined, where disinvestment and decay are rampant and where for the most part a dynamic and progressive collectivist Black leadership is absent. Black children and adults do not see images of strong Black leaders like Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Noble Drew Ali or Septima Clark working to rebuild the community, to empower our people or exhort them to be their greatest selves.

            We fail to realize there is always an opportunity to change. We do not have to continue to be depressed, lethargic and unfulfilled. We can decide we can do and be healthier, more productive and transform ourselves and our communities. Just as changing one letter can change a word's meaning (for example change the i to an e and bitter becomes better), we can change our attitude, change our goals and decide to become enthusiastic, focused and productive as opposed to frustrated, depressed and uncreative.

             The good news is 2016 doesn't have to be a continuation of years past. We can change these negative trends because we have agency and the power to change ourselves! We can go from feeling powerless to being powerful! We can transform ourselves and our reality simply by changing how we think, what we think about and how we use our energy. We can do this. The Civil Rights and Black Power movements changed the world!  Yes our adversaries pushed back with COINTELPRO and attempted to crush our spirits but our warrior spirit is still alive deep inside of us.

            We have the power to metaphysically defeat our tormentors! Victory will not come through physical weapons (at least not in the beginning). Transformation begins on the mental and spiritual levels! Change your mind, change your outlook, change your energy level from apathy to gusto. Change your self-image, attempt to discover and actualize the talents and latent potential residing within you. Determine to bring them out to the fullest.

             Just as a small seed yields a large tree baring seasons of fruit, your imagination and energy will bare positive results. As we get stronger, more confident and accomplished in our mental alchemy we will notice a significant change in ourselves and our world. Don't let anyone discourage you, stay strong and you will transform and make 2016 a great year for you and yours. As we come together we can and will transform the world.

                                                            -30-