Your Gibson Principles for Africa..

The Gibson Principles, for AFRICA!!!

These principles are offered to ALL people of African descent and ALL people of the world who are concerned about us to begin a process, that has already started in some quarters, that will bring about greater decency, equality, respect, cooperation, and financial prosperity WITHOUT exploitation from any corporate, government, quazi-government or private or other force from within or outside the African Continent.  They are offered to bring about help for the African continent and its’ People, and help to build on an already existing program of support for the People of Africa and the entire African Diaspora. They are also offered in the same spirit of healing, LOVe and fairness that the Sullivan Principles [from the now late Reverend Leon Sullivan of Philadelphia’s great Zion Baptist Church] were offered to the South Africans during Apartheid.

•              No African, regardless of your station in life, is to treat another African with anything but RESPECT and DIGNITY.

•              All the people of the world who are concerned about the People of Africa, The African Continent and the African Diaspora are to show that concern in a real and lasting way through some process or consideration at least once a week.  That concern can be something as small as a letter to your Congressperson asking for more financial support for any given program that has been proven effective  in helping the People of Africa such as: rightful land ownership; land and property management; the use of private and public funds in helping African people; finding Ways to provide clean, fresh water and effective irrigation for the people and crops of Africa; finding Ways to lessen, end and or to avoid violence, civil strife, conflicts and war; finding effective and useful Ways to treat women, men and children in a respectful and dignified Way for the duration; and to help Africans who may be infected or affected in ANY way what so ever with  such maladies as  HIV and AIDS. This list is BY NO MEANS ALL- INCLUSIVE… Other Africans, Caribbeans, African Americans or others from the African Diaspora  working on such decency and Peace initiatives for the Continent of Africa MUST BE EQUALLY CONSIDERED…

•              Wars of aggression on the African continent should be covered by ALL media just like any war in any other part of the world.

•              People MUST be allowed to see the progress, highlighted in a positive Way, that is going on in Africa and that is spearheaded by African people just as much if not more than they see the negative things that African People are doing on the African Continent.

•              Cultural differences MUST BE RESPECTED even though they are not supported or understood by people and governments and government leaders from the West. This RESPECT must be a forthright goal even if those cultural differences are considered heinous, strange, stupid, evil, ignorant or indifferent.

·         The massive influence and economic control that the international corporate structure has on Africa and the lives of Africans must be controlled, tailored, shaped and molded with the full consent, agreement, and control of the majority of the People of African descent living on the African continent and their leaders and those leaders MUST not be deemed controlled or unduly influenced by said international corporate structure or those leaders can be replaced through an open, non-violent and democratic process in a timely manner.

•              We must all take time to understand the so-called tribal wars and tribal differences that exist among the Africans and find solutions and Ways of resolving those differences while bringing about a peaceful co-existence among African People.

•              Different and divergent aspects of the Black community in the United States and Black communities and Black people around the world are asked to come together to bring forth a peaceful, meaningful, safe, mutually beneficial, and economically rewarding existence for ALL AFRICAN PEOPLE throughout the World.

•              The harsh treatment of the environment is to be avoided at ALL cost and ALL AFRICANS are to get and prioritize clean water, a clean and safe environment, clean and pollution-free air and the building and retooling of buildings must follow ``green building’’ guidelines to be drawn up by groups of independent Africans who cannot and will not be impacted on by corrupt influences or Western influences except for technical and financial assistance. Such technical and financial assistance MUST be without money strings attached or corrupted in ANY WAY.  

•              Population control must be part of the equation for proper and progressive development in Africa, but we must remember that Africa is a network of developing Nations. As such, the African People are not super consumers as we are in the West (Europe and the United States).  Africans use far less food, electricity, goods and services and other energy sources than the West does and an African Person is far less of a consumer because of this.  He or She leaves far less waste and far less harsh treatment to the environment than His or Her Western Cousin.  

•              Businesses that do business and develop in Africa must do so with high principles, morals and ethics and have as their core value the benefit of the People of Africa NOT PROFITS AND THE KIND OF BRUTAL EXPLOITATION THAT TRADITIONALLY IS ASSOCIATED WITH WHITE-RUN BIG BUSINESSES ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT.  Black Africans MUST be part of the business process all along the Way, and not just any Africans, but people who have a long history of positive community involvement / progressive political views and actions / and who share not only the profit-making motive but an authentic concern for the People and the Land of This Great Continent. They MUST also have the interests of ALL the African People at heart including the children of Africa, women, men and the disabled.

•              Homosexual People or Gay and Lesbian People, Transgendered People and Bisexual People among the African People MUST be treated with fairness, respect and dignity even as cultural differences and historical conflicts are worked out, considered, pondered, examined, studied, written about  and explored. The model of South Africa having Gay and Lesbian Rights as part of their Constitution MUST be a goal for each and every African country. There needs to be a consideration of partnership rights, fair treatment, access to education, access to housing rights, access to employment rights and access to jobs and other such rights considered, even as the cultural, tribal and ethnic  differences that might see homosexuals as a threat, are explored, studied and considered. The goal MUST be to consider the rights of homosexuals and transgendered People just as fairly and equally as the rights of other people in Africa.

By Brother Tracy Gibson.

February 18, 2013 Wednesday

Re-Edited and Up-Dated on September 8^th, 2013…

Check the spelling and meaning of ``Principles’’

At the Library and send as an e-mail to Oxfam America, The United Nations and the Ghanaian Embassy.

Another Look at Jimmy Carter & a long Quote From Howard Zinn's Book

He May Have Published a Book That Look favorably on Palestinian Rights in ``Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid,’’ but Research on Former President Carter shows another Side.

By Brother Tracy Gibson

If Former President Jimmy Carter is a ``Peace Lover and Man of Peace’’ I ask why won’t He take His name off the nuclear submarine named after Him? This sub, like all war machines of the United States, is a moving casket full of enough weapons to destroy this precious earth we live on. That doesn’t sound like a ``man of Peace’’ to me. Have you ever noticed the former president has nothing much to say about the plague of current information restraining legislation and oppressive legislation that was passed over the last 13 years after 9/11? These Laws called the Patriot Act I; The Patriot Act II and other such oppressive legislation have been used to water down civil liberties, for searches that otherwise would have been illegal & to justify anti-terrorist acts like torture, taking prisoners overseas and even murder? Here is part of the equation that provides an answer to the question about Jimmy Carter’s lack of support for more Progressive activities by He and the Carter Center:

 

From Howard Zinn’s book: ``A People’s History of the United States,’’  from pages 566-567: ``His {Carter’s} most crucial appointments, however, were in keeping with the Trilateral Commission report of Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington, which said that, whatever groups voted to for a president, once elected ``what counts then is his ability to mobilize support from the leaders of key institutions.’’ Brzezinski, a traditional cold-war intellectual, became Carter’s National Security Advisor. His Secretary of Defense, Harold Brown, had, during the Vietnam war, according to the Pentagon Papers,   ``envisaged the elimination of virtually all the constraints under which the bombing them operated.’’ His Secretary of Energy, James Schlesinger, as Secretary of Defense under Nixon, was described by a member of the Washington press corps as showing ``an almost missionary drive in seeking to reverse a downward trend in the defense budget.’’  Schlesinger was also a strong proponent of nuclear energy.  ‘’

``His other cabinet appointees had strong corporate connections. A financial writer wrote, not long after Carter’s election: ``So far Mr. Carter’s actions, commentary, and particularly his Cabinet appointments, have been highly reassuring to the business community.’’ Veteran Washington correspondent Tom Wicker wrote: ``The available evidence is that Mr. Carter so far is opting for Wall Street confidence.’’

``Carter did initiate more sophisticated policies towards governments that oppressed their own people. He used United Nations Ambassador  Andrew Young to build up good will for the United States among the Black African nations, and urged that South Africa liberalize its policies towards blacks. A peaceful settlement in South Africa was necessary for strategic reasons; South Africa was used for radar tracking systems. Also, it had important U.S. corporate investments and was a critical source of needed raw materials (diamonds, especially). Therefore, what the United States needed was a stable government in South Africa; the continued oppression of blacks might create civil war.’’

``The same approach was used in other countries—combining practical strategic needs with the advancement of civil rights. But because the chief motivation was practicality, not humanity, there was a tendency toward token changes—as in Chile’s release of a few political prisoners. When Congressman Herman Badillo introduced in Congress a proposal the required the U.S. representatives to the World Bank and other international financial institutions to vote against loans to countries that systematically violated essential rights, by the use of torture or imprisonment without trial, Carter sent a personal letter to every Congressman urging the defeat of this amendment. It won a voice vote in the House, but lost in the Senate.’’

``Under Carter, the United States continued to support, all over the world, regimes that engaged in imprisonment of dissenters, torture, and mass murder: in the Philippines, in Iran, in Nicaragua, and in Indonesia, where the inhabitants of East Timor were being annihilated in a campaign bordering on genocide. ‘’

``The New Republic magazine, presumably on the liberal side of the Establishment, commented approvingly on the Carter policies: ``… American foreign policy in the next four years will essentially extend the philosophies developed … in the Nixon-Ford years. This is not at all a negative prospect … There should be continuity. It is part of history … ‘’

Why I am Against Cocane Use... & Illegal drugs

Cocaine Use is harmful to you health. It can devastate your physical self and cause havoc in our communities. I am against illegal drug use of any kind.  There are far too many Black men and Black women in jail on charges of drug use.  We need to be about the business of providing jobs and decent work for our communities & not allowing drugs to be sold in our communities. I will be researching this later and will write more here in the future.


Brother Tracy Gibson, Advocate for Black People, Black Youth and Black children --
Budding Philanthropist --  Journalist  send me an e-mail at blockboi75@yahoo.com

An Anonymous Offering of Anti-Military Slogans

Anonymous

Anti-Military Slogans

1] Please stop hurting our Babies.

2] Turn your tanks around and give thanks there is a planet to save, not bomb.

3] Give thanks for our Planet—stop the bombing and hatred.

4] Don’t you understand these are children you are forcing into war for profit and plunder

5] Education not war and degradation

6] The church must get behind Peace and allow us to heal and think positively.

7] The Pentagon, I say, needs to start thinking about a Peace-Time Economy instead Of war..

8] Women & Men stand for Peace, Freedom & Justice.

9] We can make Peace by Educating Ourselves & Demanding & Creating better access to Progressive Information for Our Communities.

An Anonymous Article About Business, Jobs & Real Estate

Anonymous

One of the First complaints People have about their jobs is they feel rushed & pressured in their work. The funny thing is workers & employees may NOT even know they feel this way because management is so busy squeezing every penny out of working People they often rarely ask workers about job satisfaction. There needs to be a Progressive, Anti-racist business magazine to help inform the public on such issues. One would think Black Enterprise for would obviously foot the bill.  I have subscribed to Black Enterprise for years, and they really don’t foot this bill. They often talk about making progress along racial lines and have improved greatly over the years, but they rarely take on Big Businesses that are often exploiting workers in foreign countries and in the U.S. The corporate structure is also guilty of environmental abuses that if the general public knew about them, the general public would be outraged and demand improvement. Progressive thinking is the Voice of the Future. That Voice of the Future also beacons the small and People of Color business community as well as the Progressive business community {There is some cross-over as to these categories} . Small community businesses often hire from within the community and are more willing to share profits with employees & community members through community assistance programs & promotional events that benefit the community.  I challenge Success Magazine, which I just subscribed to about a month ago, to be more Progressive & more Pro-Woman, Pro-Non-White & Pro People of Color, More Pro-Worker & more Pro Family. Success Magazine needs to talk more about & embrace issues like Gays & Lesbians in the Workforce & in leadership positions in business [do Gays & Lesbians feel they can, in light of the Abolishment of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in the military, & the evolving general  acceptance of Gay & Lesbian marriage in the United States of North America, can gays be more OUT in the workplace, or do major Gays & Lesbians who work in corporate North America still feel the need to hide their sexual identity {which would be sometimes be understandable}].  I want Success Magazine to be more willing to expose pushy unions as well as more able to expose corporations that, like Halliburton, Wal-Mart, Coco Cola & Monsanto, are allegedly Anti-Worker & very exploitative.  This is why I’m going to talk briefly about MaryAnne Gilmartin, a successful  Real Estate broker & dealer in Manhattan.  One of the Rap stars says ``You Exhaust me like a muffler.’’ That is NOT how I feel about Ms. Gilmartin. In the article about Her—and first I have to say when I worked for TV Guide magazine in Radnor, Common Wealth of Pennsylvania, one of the tough-nosed female managers was named MaryAnne, but I didn’t think of her at first.  Ms. Gilmartin’s article was great because she talked about being ignored as a serious Real Estate person because  she is a woman. [She works for Forest City Ratner Cos., as president & chief executive officer as of the November 2014 issue of Success magazine].  That got my attention because I am a Black man and  a homosexual and have felt the bitter sting of being ignored, rejected, discriminated against & even mentally & physically abused & assaulted because I am a Black man and a homosexual – just because I’m what I am & who I am naturally.   She owns, I mean actually owns the New York Times Building which is on Eight Avenue [as much as anyone can tell who owns what nowadays].  The New, New York Times Building opened in 2007, according to Success magazine from November 2014.  Unfortunately while I take Pride in Ms Gilmartin because of her success, I also have to wonder if the Pacific Park Brooklyn Project she spearheaded in Brooklyn didn’t displace & gentrify Poor & Latino & Latina & Black People in New York in a big way. [By the Way, I have to add this: I am very concerned about women master-minding & fronting businesses that are actually held by their husbands, boyfriends or other male-dominated entities & taking good salaries for their work, but forgetting to advocate in any Way for the rights & concerns of women on issues such as abortion rights; leave for day care; proper education for children; having a Nanny paid for by the government so women can work & not have to worry about the children; having enough spending money to spark massive needed growth in the public & private sectors through the forward movement of the economy internationally; & in the United States of North America; Proper, legal, licensed, available & inexpensive day care for women & families; & environmental issues as they pertain to women & families.]  These issues are real & although I am a man, I advocate for our Black & Progressive & Latin families getting these rights & benefits.  It would be nice if Success Magazine took up the banner on some of these issues.

 

A Letter to The Motion Picture Association of America Dated: October 22, 2014 -- Wednesday

October 22st, 2014 Wednesday

Mr. Tracy Charles Gibson,

Writer—Film Critic –Social Commentator—Researcher

Post Office Box 42878

Philadelphia, Common Wealth of Pennsylvania  19101-2878

1(215) 921-2065

BrotherTracy11@GMail.Com

Draft to: The Motion Picture Association of America;

500 Mamaroneck Avenue, Suite 403,;

Harrison, New York 10528;

and

Actor’s Equity; 165 West 46^th Street;

New York, New York 10036;

&

Director’s Guild;

110 West 57^th Street;

New York, New York 10019…

Re: Improving on How Movies get rated; demanding new gerunds & Asking Who decides what movie topics & movie subjects get to be considered & accepted for actual production of feature films in the United States for International distribution… How do we improve on this picture!!!

Dear Madam or Sir:

                I am an avid movie watcher & I have been since a very early age. I know there is a social, economic & intimate equation used to figure out what movies get rated. My feeling is the system needs to be changed & overhauled dramatically to allow for more professionalism, more broader subject areas to be studied both artistically & through the documentary format & for a greater number of independent films to get the kind of rating that will allow  for a broader more main stream audience to accept them…  While these changes must be dramatic, I think they can be put on a time schedule that would allow them, the changes that is, to be phased in over time incrementally.  My feeling is the film rating system needs to be changed to include new gerunds that really didn’t exist before. For example, X-Rated films really should not just be all lumped together as X films and given a public shunning when people privately spend hundreds of dollars on such movies. [Some of them may have parts or entire films that are of some artistic value.].

There should be, in my humble estimation, a gerund that denotes educational video among the adult film venue. Such films, although adult, could be used to help sometimes reluctant parents teach a higher level of ethical intimate behaviors to their children. *[ I am not a parent, but I am deeply concerned as to what our young People are watching. I think there should be an independent board that answers to the public need to determine ratings, but I feel this board must be REALLY independent and include regular people, parents & some younger people [over 20-years of age] as well & be racially mixed, mixed as far as religion, class, income level, sex, and sexual orientation.]  Such independent adult films could include no slapping or a great deal less slapping or hitting; no violence of any kind and no ethnic slurs; Women would need to be treated like real human beings for a change, as would Lesbians and Gay men. Such films could have more meaningful story lines, complex dialogue, and a greater acting skill level than what is common in present adult film.  Such a film could have some kind of Adult Sexual Education designation and could be separated along lines of sexual orientation—Gay or Straight.  I would also recommend no sharing of body fluids & a required use of condoms in such films. These films would be mostly for entertainment purposes for adults over 21 years of age. For example they might be called: More Ethically Sensitive Adult Films.

There is yet another gerund for more adult films.  These would be used to help parents, as mentioned earlier, to make sense of sexuality, intimacy, early sexual development of their teen-aged children, if the parents so desired to use them as an educational venue. Early sexual  encounters & other early quasi-sexual encounters that youth may have had with adults or other people in the family or just friends or employers may have a devastating and deleterious impact on young adults and teen if they have no context through which to experience such early experiences.  I am not saying that such encounters between adults and teens were or are of an overt sexual nature.  Such encounters may have been an awkward conversation or an awkward phone conversation with a parent, an ole aunt or uncle; a phone conversation or personal conversation with a peer; or may have been more openly intimate in nature. Degrees & levels of decency & appropriateness need to be made clear early on for young people so boundaries can be established & not so easily crossed as they tend to be right now in Western society, especially in the United States.  There needs to be some penalties for crossing such boundaries put forth by parents, grandparents or guardians, but those penalties don’t need to be gross, unusual or too harsh, but they need to make clear what was done wrong & there needs to be help to make sure they don’t happen again. Such film would be more educational in nature than for entertainment purposes. These films could be for young People between the ages of 13 to 20. They could be called for example: Films That Educate Our Youth on Appropriate Sexual Matters, Intimacy & Sexual etiquette.

There could also be another designation for youth 5 to 16 talking about inappropriate & appropriate touching by adults & peers & how to ``deal with same’’ if & when they happen Listening to trusted & responsible adults, responsible grandparents, & other significant & trusted family members can have a significant positive impact on lessening the long-term damage to  youth in such cases. I, for one, don’t think that just because a person in the family is Gay or Lesbian that their sexual orientation makes one unqualified to be a trusted or significant role model or parent-like member of the family. I have friends who are male homosexuals who have sons & children of their own & have done wonderful work at raising their children in relatively healthy households. Back on subject, such film could be used to help the extended family avoid those ``sweep-under-the-rug’’ subjects like incest, sexual child abuse, molestation, sexual violence and inappropriate touching, etc.  These films could help expose the abusers in the family & help lead to psychiatric help for such family members instead of just ignoring or shunning such family members. Such film could also be used to help determine what happens exactly in such cases and help those abused feel lee victimized and more empowered. This would certainly lead to more healthy families in the Black & Latin community. I am sure ALL ethnic communities could benefit greatly from such a new film gerund. For the African, Caribbean and African American family, bringing in traditional African mores, traditions, family histories, long-held values & so forth may very well be very beneficial, even if such mores & family values go against more modern family traditions & more modern community standards. Such film might be called: Films That Examine Appropriate Interactions with Our Youth.

At the same time, these newly proposed changes are not thought up or proposed to curb or curtail artistic expression. Rather, they are being extended to help give legitimate boundaries to move towards helping people understand the new realities they are faced with each and every day in modern Western societies. I think of, for example, how Black families used to feed each other very unhealthy foods at family reunions. For example, now very few Black family Reunions, even in the Deep South--where more traditional Soul Food cuisine is prevalent--offer some vegetarian alternatives. Many younger people & the older more responsible people want to eat or try delicious vegetarian foods even if it is for the first time. There may even be a person in the family or two, like my sister, who specialize in cooking such vegetarian fair.  Back to the subject at hand, like food, with film, it is important to point out that I am not saying to do away with all the other types of adult films. People will still want traditionally fattening foods like they will want traditionally over-the-top adult film.  Taking away choices might well be impossible because of the inexpensiveness of producing independent film on a shoestring budget & because of the ``underground market’’ for such film.  Just offering alternatives will be hard enough for the porn establishment to embrace & accept. By the same token, it is hard, but improving, for the food industry to accept vegetarian alternatives that are better for us and less fatty, salty and processed.  The market for an array of film that might exhibit some of what might by many be considered very odd & strange behaviors, is still very strong.  I have personally tried to avoid such films that, in my own estimation, go too far.  But having an alternative & more choices will have, I believe, a very positive impact on our culture and our People here in North America.

 

I would like you to circulate this letter to your friends in the Film Industry and write me back to let me know how I can extend the impact of this letter and any other such letters about film ratings.  How film risings need to change the codes through which films are rated is apparent as explained in this letter. As critical thinkers, parents, grandparents, guardians and others in the community concerned about our youth and our families and artistic freedom, it is important to extend & create & / or recreate new film gerunds in U.S. & World Markets. Creating safe spaces for more educationally intimate films to be created that will ultimately bring forth a better, more healthy environment for families to talk about intimacy & sexuality in a coherent, knowledgeable & parentally authoritative Way that will help spread more truth, family stability & lessen fear & ignorance on this subject—this must be our goal.

 

Peace & Blessings,

 

             Tracy Charles Gibson, Advocate-Budding Philanthropist – Businessman & Proud Uncle & Proud Great Uncle

A Letter to Jannie Blackwell & Doctor Molefi Kete Asante from May 28th, 2013, Tuesday

May 28^th,

2013 [Tuesday]

Dear Molefi Kete Asante and Jannie Blackwell:

Good Afternoon. I am writing you both today concerning a very important matter.  It is something most people don’t think of or understand, but people like myself, who have been writers and researchers for years, think about it all the time.  I am writing you about the established book collection at the Lucian E. Blackwell Library in West Philadelphia.  My concern is that the rare and important books on reserve there become a part of a permanent collection there in West Philadelphia and not get tossed around from library to library until they get old, battered and withered. I recently took out a copy of the Classic By Ralph Ellison, ``The Invisible Man,’’ and it was in fairly bad shape.  I hate to see such a formidable book not have at least two copies that are part of a permanent collection at the library that cannot be handled in the rough and tumble manner some patrons handle books.  I am writing because I want to ask you both as to how such a book and even artifact collection that might be housed at Blackwell becomes more accepted, popular, stoic, scholarly and academically enshrined.   If we had such a collection at Blackwell, it might even mean getting Federal Dollars that would mean building an addition onto the Blackwell Library and expanding it into something like the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, but more accessible and readily available right here in Philadelphia. Having such a collection right here in West Philadelphia would mean bringing top flight researchers, academicians and high-level teachers and students here to examine and use the collection and would increase the importance, visibility and viability of our City as an education center.  As you know I have advocated for Philadelphia to become the Education City because we have so many stellar and accessible schools here such as Community College, Temple, Lincoln University and Chaney University right here in the area.  If there is anything I can do to make this Real Dream of mine become a reality, I hope you will let me know. I will enlist the considerable assets of my research, development and advocacy firm [``Brother Tracy Gibson and Associates, Inc.’’] in the work of achieving such a worthwhile and attainable goal.    The Peace of the Lord Be With You,

 

Brother Tracy Gibson,

Founder, President and CEO OF:

Brother Tracy Gibson and Associates, Inc.

Building Better Tomorrows So Formerly Oppressed People Can Take Back Their Power Through a Non-Violent, Peaceful Yet Radically Effective Process.

 

CC: Education Secretary Duncan; State Senator Shirley Kitchen; State Senator Vincent Hughes.