Black Panther vs 1915’s Birth of a Nation

Marvel's Black Panther and Our Beautiful Black Future Happy Tuesday, CHN friends! Did you see Black Panther?!?! We did!  What a movie! Black Panther has the potential to be as consequential a film as 1915’s Birth of a Nation. Just as that film wrote the cinematic narrative for the relentless portrayal of Black people as sub-human, Black Panther has opened the door to a new narrative that portrays Black people as fully human beings. With a cast of extraordinarily beautiful Black women and men from across the African Diaspora delivering magnificent performances, and a script that is thought-provoking, funny, and inspiring, with many lines that really hit the spot for us as Black people, Black Panther is a fantastic movie. Can we just take a moment to appreciate all these beautiful Black actors. I am blinded by the beauty, where are my SHADES?!?!" Black Panther has set the stage for a new era in film history--one in which Black people might routinely create movies that show Black life and culture in all its richness and complexity. For that, the film’s producers, writers, director, and actors deserve the deepest thanks of all Black people. In the words of Marcus Garvey: In one fell swoop, Black Panther gives us a glimpse of both that history and that future. It invites us to think about the possibilities of creating a Wakanda-like existence for ourselves and our children. The movie creates a beautiful world for Black people to inhabit—a world that helps us imagine what our lives as Africans could have been had it not been for the great European disruption of nearly 600 years ago. Black Panther makes us long for that world and may, in so doing, encourage us to do the long-overdue work necessary to empower us to create that world.   Garvey said that in order to create the beautiful future that is our destiny, we must “emancipate ourselves from mental slavery.” We must free ourselves from the poisonous lie that Whiteness is superior to Blackness. The urgent question implicit in Black Panther is this: Why is it that the fictional world of Wakanda stands alone as a symbol of Black preeminence, and why is it that in this real world that we live in today, there is no Black country like Wakanda? This is no accident. For nearly 600 years, we Black people have been living our lives according to a narrative written for us by Europeans to serve their economic interests. In their narrative, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, everything Black is “ugly and evil,” and everything White is “pure, high and clean.” This narrative is grounded in the lies of White superiority and Black inferiority and was created to justify the enslavement of African people and the economic exploitation of Africa, the richest continent on the face of the earth. The European narrative created a hierarchy of humanity with White people at the top and Black people at the bottom and sometimes even outside of the circle of humanity. These lies convinced the world that nothing good comes out of Africa and that Black people are not as beautiful, intelligent, lovable, capable, worthy or valuable as White people. These lies objectified, commodified, and dehumanized people of African ancestry. As a result, for almost a millennium, all over the world, the advantages conferred by “Whiteness” and the disadvantages imposed by “Blackness” have been multiplying. This is why, all around the world, Black communities are under-developed and Black lives do not matter as much as White lives. Once we see how this narrative, grounded in lies, has been shaping our lives, we can begin the intentional and systematic work of rejecting it, in favor a narrative that we write for ourselves—a narrative grounded in the truth of our dignity and humanity as people of African ancestry. Racism against Black people stands on a foundation built by the lies of White superiority and Black inferiority. The characters in Black Panther evince no sense of being inferior to anyone. That is a big part of what makes it such a beautiful movie. It is also what could make it a great impetus for what the global Black community needs most right now: a movement for emotional emancipation, a movement to free all people of African ancestry from the lies –once and for all.  Join Community Healing Network in creating a Wakanda-like world in which Black people are free not only in body, but also in mind and spirit-- a world in which Black people everywhere have moved beyond surviving to flourishing. Let us know what you think! Tune in every tuesday for Let’s Talk Tuesdays.   -Enola G. Aird, Founder and President Connect with us Check us out at Communityhealingnet.org

Exemption from State Taxes. Veterans. State of Maryland Bill 312, House Bill 362 Feb 21, 2018

Fellow Veteran, 

Would you like to have 100% of your uniformed service retirement income exempt from Maryland state income tax? If you answered YES, we need your help!

Please attend the legislative hearings for Maryland Senate Bill 312 and House Bill 362 in Annapolis next week, on Wednesday, February 21^st, beginning at 1:00 PM. The legislation, submitted by Governor Hogan, exempts $15,000 in 2018, 75% in 2019, and 100% in 2020.

We need for you to either testify or to help us make a show of force in the hearing room.� I am coordinating with Secretary of Veterans Affairs George Owings. �Our panel(s) and crowd will travel from one hearing room to the other with him.� It worked well last year to tell a coordinated story, so please let me know the gist of your testimony; it will enable me to create the most effective panel(s) possible.

We will have a conference call on Monday, February 19^th, at 7:00 PM to provide details about what to expect on Wednesday. The detail information will also be sent by email to those who have asked for it. Please send me an email prior to 5:30 PM on Monday, February 19^th, to receive the conference call dial-in information.

OTHER THINGS TO DO:

1. Forward this message to every retiree (and every soon to be retiree) you know who is a Maryland resident.

2. Forward this message to the president of any veteran or military-related organizations that you belong to and ask them to help us get people out for the Feb 21st hearings.

3. Wear a hat or other clothing item denoting your military affiliation when attending the hearings.� Please do not wear your uniform.

4. Organize car pools, van pools, or charter buses to come to Annapolis for the hearings.� Free limited parking is available at the USNA; it is just a short walk from the Academy to the State House and Senate buildings. http://msa.maryland.gov/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/govbldg.html

5. Contact your State Senators and members of the House of Delegates to support HB 362 and SB 312.

http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/webmga/frmmain.aspx?pid=legisrpage

Regards,

Annie S. Brock

Legislative Liaison

FEBRUARY 14, 2018 U.S. Energy Department forming cyber protection unit for power grids

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-energy-cyber/u-s-energy-department-forming-cyber-protection-unit-for-power-grids-idUSKCN1FY29C?feedType=RSS&feedName=politicsNews&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Social

CYBER RISK

FEBRUARY 14, 2018 / 10:22 AM / 6 DAYS AGO

U.S. Energy Department forming cyber protection unit for power grids

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said on Wednesday it is establishing an office to protect the nation’s power grid and other infrastructure against cyber attacks and natural disasters.

President Donald Trump’s budget proposal unveiled this week included $96 million in funding for the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response.

Energy Secretary Rick Perry said the DOE “plays a vital role in protecting our nation’s energy infrastructure from cyber threats, physical attack and natural disaster, and as secretary, I have no higher priority.”

Last July, the DOE helped U.S. firms defend against a hacking campaign that targeted power companies including at least one nuclear plant. The agency said that the attacks did not have an impact on electricity generation or the grid, and that any impact appeared to be limited to administrative and business networks.

The previous month, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation had issued an alert to industrial companies, warning that for months hackers had targeted nuclear reactors and other power industry infrastructure, using tainted emails to harvest credentials and gain access to networks.

In some cases hackers succeeded in compromising the networks of their targets, but the report did not identify specific victims.

Nuclear power experts, such as Dave Lochbaum at the Union of Concerned Scientists nonprofit group, have said reactors have a certain amount of immunity from cyber attacks because their operation systems are separate from digital business networks. But over time it would not be impossible for hackers to potentially do harm, he said.

Reporting by Timothy Gardner; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Event: Feb 23, 2018. Black History Month. African American Leaders in the White House: Education, Business and Policy.

Register Now to Join us in Celebrating 2018 Black History Month

Minority Business Development Agency sent this bulletin at 02/16/2018 10:01 AM EST

Register at:  www.mbda.gov/blackhistorymonth

Nature Heals Itself. Dominica, An Island Reborn.

What is a disaster, an emergency, a crisis?

Questions that we as emergency and crisis managers must face daily, especially when asked by our future leaders, our children.  I believe in keeping it as simple as possible, or 'KISS' (keep it simple, stupid) for the average layperson.  Nothing fancy, nothing unique.

A disaster, emergency, or crisis is any event that affects or is caused by humans.

Dominica will recover from the 2017 Hurricanes.  Nature shall heal itself, humans must rebuild better shelters or homes to weather the next storm for highest hurricane category level to survive. 

Please review the short video narritve 'Dominica - An Island Reborn' at the Caribbean Today websites:  http://today.caricom.org/   

Charles D. Sharp
CEO
BEMA International