Break-Dancing and Capoeira

I always wondered if there was some connection between Capoeira and Break-dancing. Was there ever an influence from Capoeira on Break-dancing? It is somewhat unknown of HOW exactly break-dancing developed. Some elements of the early developments of Capoeira are also a mystery, as in exactly where it came from. Please excuse some of the posturing that you see in the Break Dancing segment, I am still trying to find some other examples without it.

Beat Street - Break Dancing 1980's

Capoeira - Eberson

Tell me what do you think, could there be some connection in the development of break-dancing from Capoeira?‎ Read Entire Post!

Be A Man: Manly Humor

A woman once told me and some of my friends that she did not for the life of her understand our form of humor. We responded that it was far to manly for her to understand. There is something to be said about when a group of guys get together to be humorous. There is something of a competitive nature with me and my friends about trying to make each other laugh.

I once heard that people with a good sense of humor often live longer. My cousin's wife once said that if that is the case my cousin and I will be very old men. There are so many stories of man humor that I could get into. Yet, these videos best display the same kind of humor that me and my fellow men love.

Animals With Human Qualities

There is something so funny to me about movies and comercials where animals take on human qualities.

Chickens that Want to be French Fries

Monkey's Dancing to Yemenite Jewish Music

Scrubs Moments

Note: The above parody is of the 1980's Officer and a Gentlemen movie.

‎ Read Entire Post!

Be A Man: The Manliness of Food

So what more can I say about manhood? I have a few things, but of the most important deals with food. You know the old adage? The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. For me, there is another adage that applies. If you want to keep my attention talk to me while I am eating.

I don’t know if it is something genetic or personal, but when I eat things I hear become more interesting. I remember as a kid that when my mother would tell me things while I was eating, whatever she was saying became more interesting. Whenever watched television while eating I was able to understand or accept what I was watching. As I got older I also found the need to eat when watching my favorite Food Channel network programs such as Top Chef or the classic Iron Chef (Japanese and American versions).

So what does food have to do with manhood? There is something empowering being a man with a healthy appetite. Maybe it is just me, but when I eat a good meal I feel invigorated and ready for whatever the day has to offer. If a woman I am interested in cooked it then I am in love. That is not to say that I am the kind of man who relies a woman for cooking. Ask anyone who knows me I am a legend in the kitchen, if I say so myself. Yet, when a woman cooks there is something about the care that she gives to not only the food, but also those who are eating it that changes the whole dynamic of eating.

This has especially been the case when I was in Ethiopia and now that I am here in Israel. When I was in Ethiopia visiting my adopted family there, the mother of the house cooked a big meal in my honor for lunch. I at as much as I could, but at certain point I had no more room. So when we finished, the entire sat in the living room and talked. About an hour later the mother of the house began cooking again. I thought to myself, Why is she cooking again? We just ate. It was then that she came out with an even bigger meal. I gulped and thought to myself, I can’t refuse this meal. It would be dishonorable to do so, yet I was still extremely full from the lunch. Yet, my manly pride kicked in and I began to pray for an expansion in my stomach. Everything I held dear was on the line. If I could not eat the meal it would taken the wrong way. If I did eat the meal I felt like I would explode, which also could be taken the wrong way.

Me and my adopted Ethiopian family (2001)

So I sucked it up and then the manly surges of energy kicked in. I took as many bites as I could, and out of the need to defend the honor of all men I ate. I ate as if there was no tomorrow, and that is when the heavens opened up. A light shone upon me and I felt my stomach expand. It was working and God was on my side. I ate as much as I could and then I stopped. My surge of manly energy had subsided. I thought I had defended the pride of all men well. That is until the mother of the house said, Is that all you are going to eat? I looked at her with wide open eyes as she put more food on my plate. It was then that the heavens closed and the clouds came, and I began to reach to the heavens for my manly surge of eating capacity had left me.

I don’t remember much after that. I think I somehow got out of eating more. Yet, maybe there is a lesson about manhood in this story. We men hunger and crave. Sometimes when we eat we do so out of a competitive nature. Sometimes we do so because our attentions are diverted. Yet, even in the simple act of eating you can see elements of what makes a man a man. To the ladies who read this, next time you cook watch for your man’s reactions. You may find something manly in his eating habits.

So let the call go out to the hills and the local hamlets. Let the cry of freedom ring true at every buffet line and hole in the wall restaurant. Let the song of meat and spicy vegetables be sung by all those with X and Y chromosomes.

We are men and we are hungry!

‎ Read Entire Post!

Be A Man: Becoming The Man

In order to beat the man, you’ve got to be the man.
The Nature Boy Rick Flair (Pro Wrestler)

When I was a kid I loved reading comic books. I loved the idea of people with special powers putting everything on the line to defend the weak. I reveled in the abilities they had to fly, to lift heavy objects, to shoot beams from their eyes, and to essentially transcend the human reality that I lived in.

Ehav Ever at 10 Years Old

Lets face it, fantasy, for a kid, is an easy place to deal with. It doesn’t require much. All you need is your imagination and some free time. It becomes even more fulfilling when your waking reality is that you are weak. It becomes more dramatic when you fall asleep and dream of worlds where you are powerful, but it becomes sad when you wake up to the real world where you are powerless.

What if you could zap that bully who harasses you with your heat vision? What if you could move at the speed of sound and score all the points in your local sports outing? What if you could transform yourself from a child to a man of power? If such things were possible, what kind of blueprint would you use to build yourself into a man? What if indeed?

In my dreams I often had super powers. The only problem was that I often had problems trying to use them. In my dreams where I could fly I often was working hard to fly straight while being blown by the wind backwards. In one dream I gained the ability to fly, but I kept crashing into buildings, trees, and fences. In dreams where I had the ability to shoot energy beams at my enemies my powers would give out when I was in the midst of battle. In dreams where I had super strength my enemies would often overpower me. Why do my dreams betray me? Why can’t my sleeping world be my desired reality and my waking world the dream?

Over time, as I grew older my dreams increased and became more vivid. Yet, I never lost sight of my imagination. One of the reasons is because for so many years I was never in the place where I needed to be, even though sometimes I thought I was who I wanted to be. While I was searching the world for my place, all the while ignoring that the doorway to it was always there, I found that in my imagination I would always travel back to my past to recreate the child that I was thus recreating the life that I currently had. This for so long was my only release or freedom in a life of difficulties.

When times were hard I could imagine a world where I was dominant and where I was the hero. I could imagine myself not making the mistakes that I had made in the past. I could imagine myself going right instead of left, back instead of forward, or up instead of down. Instead of the failure that I awoke to I could sit in contemplation over things going right instead of so wrong. I could be the man.

Yet, over time as you pass from childhood to your teens, from your teens to your 20’s, and your 20’s to your 30’s even your imagination can betray you. What happens when your imagination is not enough to make you happy? What happens when loneliness and solitude become a prison, and your imagination has run away with the key? What happens when you neglect your life in order to sit in the darkness of your most private room to imagine yourself as the man you could have been? What happens when you waste away your life with made up memories to replace the reality that you are not a man, but a boy hiding in a man’s body?

Ehav in deep contemplation on his manhood

It is with this kind of realization that at some point you have to stand up, and put yourself in check. You have to defeat your best friend procrastination and his buddy hopelessness you must cast aside. At some point you have to take the dreams of the man you wished you had become and make as many of them as real as you can in your current life. The past is the past, and sometimes you have to come to that realization. You can only control the present and what remains of the future.

The man you could have been is all in your mind. He is not real, and on some level wishful thinking is fine. Yet, you can’t let the man you can currently become slip by. Sure you can’t fly, you don’t have super strength, and life has many difficult realities. Yet, the best super hero stories are the ones of ordinary men who overcome the fear of who they are not in order to stand for something.

Look within yourself. See that you are someone to be valued. You may be alone, but that is no excuse to run away from your responsibility. You may feel like the last man on earth, but you are not. You may feel like no one understands your struggle, but there are other men who struggle with their progression into life. At some point you have to look into the mirror and be proud of whom you are and where you are.

Life isn’t always fair. If this were a comic book your struggles would be the same. Yet, this is not a comic. This is real life, and in order to be the man you must beat the man. You are the man that you are, and you can become even more of that man. So dust yourself off, and get back out there soldier. You are the man! You are the man! You are the maaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!

‎ Read Entire Post!

Be A Man: The Look

When I was younger I remember how much of what I did was done to impress women. From the way I dressed to the way I talked on to my dedication to working out in the gym. When a good looking woman walked by I was the type of guy to put on more weights and try to show off. Sometimes to my own failure I was so willing to play a role to get attention. It was all about the look.

Part 1

During my 1st and 2nd years of high school I was one of those guys who tried to be a pretty boy. I would wear the suits and the paten leather shoes with the gold tips. During that time the girls used to love it when guys dressed that way. It was the manly thing to do and I wanted to style and profile. I wanted to be that guy that women would consider as they noticed my matching colors, and sense of style. Much like the birds of the animal world I wanted to be the dominant male on display showing off my feathers to appease the female sex, and to receive the benefits of a well presented male.

The Nature Boy Rick Flair

My enemies? I didn't care about them. I was better dressed than them, and better prepared than them. I had the manly walk and I had the manly talk. What did they know about the styling and profiling? What did they know about the work that it took to pick out the right suit? What did they know about the fancy cars, the stretched limos, and the private jets. That being said, what did I know about these things?


As I got older and my voice got deeper I was told by some of the women I knew that they loved men with deep voices. This was a big ego boost and I wanted to more of the type of man that women liked. I could not only dress the part now, and look like a man, I could now sound like a man. I had the cloths, I had the voice, and all I needed were the right lines and the world belonged to me.

Big Daddy Kane - Ain't No Half Steppin

During summer between my 1st and 2nd years of college I started going to the gym and working out. I went from being a skinny kid to being a built man. I remember the compliments I got during my 2nd year of college. Everything was going well, I now had everything I needed to be the man, or did I?

Part 2

Yet, all of these things, though manly, were somewhat fleeting and did not represent the man that I was seeking to be. What happens when the gold no longer has worth, the diamonds no longer shine, and the compliments become a prison? Who are you then, and what can be said for your manhood then? It was not until I returned to my roots that I started a more lasting path towards manhood.

It was during my young adult life that I decided that I want to be more morally conscious. It was then that the compliments became in who I was internally and what I stood for. That is not to say that I have completed this process of manhood, for it is continuous. There was though something different when I was complimented in what I knew, and what I did with my life.

The Role and the Reality

There was a different feeling when I opened a door for a woman, simply because it was my duty as a man to do it and not from the accolades I received. My pride would swell when I was the perfect gentleman during a date, and not because it would help me score points. A distinguishing mark was placed on me when I went to synagogue and read the Torah scroll perfectly, and not because everyone would pat me on the back.

Anyone can dress up to play at being a man. An actor can put on a nice suit, perform an oscar worthy role and receive accolades for his performance. Yet, what happens when the make up comes off, the lights are dimmed, the camera is not rolling, and the realities of the world show in his face? What happens when playing at being a man and actually having to live as a man become night and day? What happens when people can see through the nice clothing, the fancy vehicles, the cologne, and the riches? What do they see, and who are we really? What happens when society needs more than guys who can dress the part, but instead needs men who live the part? Who are we then? What happens when the world needs men who not only dress the part of the hero, but instead need men who are willing to live and breath as a hero? Who are we then?

Questions, with answers that can only be found in the hearts of all those who wear the mantle of manhood. Answers that define who we really are in the brightest of day and in the darkest of night. Matters that can either save the world, or plunge it into utter chaos. A destiny that can either be a prison or lead to ultimate freedom. You can dress the part, but can you live it?

There is something to be said about the moral and spiritual development from a boy to a man. We must be men, not because it is popular or because of the attention we receive. There comes a time when we must be men, simply because our genetic code dictates it. A young man can spend years trying to find his true path, and when he finds it something changes within him.

‎ Read Entire Post!

Movies I Really Want to See

The Dark Knight

I Am Legend

Iron Man

‎ Read Entire Post!

Be A Man: The Manthem and Manhood

So my next big thing is dealing with Manhood. I will call these posts Be A Man. It is interesting that most of the commenter's on my blog have been women. It makes me feel like a real ladies man, in a good manly kind of way. I have a few posts about manhood that will be coming in the next few weeks, before my grand opus, which will be a series of posts on Fear. Until then I present to you Be A Man.

Reposted Post from May 2007

Of late there have been a number of commercials and pup culture shows that have tapped into the desire of males to be manly. There are some that actually do well in either being comical of male stereotypes and phobias and there are others that simply push the edge. Over the years I have known women who act as if we men are hard to understand, but I believe that we men are not so hard to understand. All a woman has to do is look a little deeper.

The Manthem

The above video of the Burger King Texas Double Whopper provides and interesting piece to analyze for this article. When I first saw this commercial, there were three thoughts that went through my mind.

1) This is one of the funniest commercials I have ever seen.

2) I wish I could have been in that crowd of men when they filmed the commercial.

3) I am really hungry. I need food NOW!

Being Jewish, and in America at that time, of course I could not and would not go out and eat at Burger King because it is not Kosher and the burger itself with bacon in it is of course not kosher. Yet, the themes in the commercial did strike a certain cord within me, and I could not stop watching it. I liked it for a number of reasons, but most of all it really tapped into the whole primal needs of men concept. Hunger, strength, and the need to connect with other men of strength. There also was the underlying feeling that we as men need to show off these three things publicly.

Women are often tickled at how even grown men can be child-like in regular life, especially when it comes to being around other men. For example, when my cousin and I get together our favorite pass time is making jokes, laughing, and watching cartoons. I am in my 30's and he is in his early 40's. His wife always walks away shaking her head at our humor, but it this form of male bonding that I believe is beneficial to women also. I believe it is our oddities that is also what attracts women to us. It is only a matter of understanding it.


At the same time, I also see similar child-like attributes when a group of women get together. Their mannerisms and the bonds they share have similar patterns in how young girls play together and socialize. It begs the question of where do these kind of influences come from? Do children learn them from watching adults, or do adults carry them on from normal child like behavior? The classic which came first the chicken or the egg?

Men have the same developments as we get older. Elements of our playing as young children are evident in our relationships as adults. I have seen older men get together, and interact in ways that remind me of how young boys interact. Of course the conversations are different, and there may be less hitting and wrestling (maybe) but the type of bonds are often the same. Bonds of power, strength, humor, self promotion, and solidarity.

The Manthem commercial also, taps into the concept of men running together in droves and packs behind a common banner. When one man sees a group of men that he can relate to and emulate, he often wants to be a part of the group. It is a powerful motivator to walk with other men for a common cause. To share in their victories makes us also appear victorious.

What has to be understand is that we men have strengths and we also have our weaknesses. Yet, every man wants to on some level feel as if he has conquered something and lacking this often bruises elements of our innate ego. There is also a need for us to be perceived and received as Alpha males amongst women as well as our fellow men. This is a big ego boost when like minded men gather together to exude our common manhood. This is especially true when we do so in the view of women that we have feelings for or are trying to impress. Thus there are men who play sports with the sole purpose of showing off in front of women. The idea being that women are attracted to those males who are able to perform boldly on the physical battlefield as well as in the mental battle of wills.

The Manthem commercial touches on the feeling that some males in today's societies have that their strengths are being taken away from them. It details the struggles that modern men have in societies where being manly has no real physical meaning. This simple, but complex, commercial also for me explores the search for a new meaning of manhood. What are its ideals and what banner can men of all cultures and ethnicities unite around? How has manhood progressed from the past to the present? How does manhood differ from cultures and religions?

There are men who long for a past, that many of us may not have even survived. That past is of the skilled warrior who lived, breathed, and survived based on his strength and wits. Gone are the days of the Gibor, the Adir, Samurai, the Ninja, the Knight, Barbarian and the Warrior for the most part. Yet, not all male societies focused on this as the sole definition of manhood. In Biblical times it was a mix of the Gibor, a man of physical strength who at the same time was learned in the ways of God and the ways of life. A Jewish man in those times could be a warrior, a scholar, a philosopher, and a follower of ethics. Maybe it is the ethical battle that is missing from many of our lives, and maybe this is the new definition of Manhood.

‎ Read Entire Post!

One of My Favoirtes: Scrubs

I think that after ever series topic I have to do something fun. So I go back to things that make me laugh.

I started getting into Scrubs right before I left America. I wish I had bought the DVD sets. There are so many little things I love about Scrubs, so here are the ones that make me laugh every time.

Scrubs Dr. Kelso vs. the Janitor over Muffins

Scrubs - Billy Dee Williams - Lando

Note: For those who don't know Star Wars Billy Dee Williams played Lando Calrissian. He was pretty much the ONLY person of color in the original Star Wars movies. It must be truly weird for actors when they are remembered as a character they played rather than who they are.

Scrubs - Coffee Addiction

‎ Read Entire Post!

Antisemitism and Racism: Fighting Back

As a reminder this is the last of a series of posts I have been doing on Antisemitism and Racism. In order to understand this post you will need to read the previous posts.

The other posts are as follows.

Part 4: A Consideration

Part 3: Racists Ideologies and Antisemitic Concepts

Part 2: The Good Guys and the Bad Guys

Part 1: A Starting Point

In order to understand a thing you have to know what it is capable of.
Blade 1998

So if you have read my posts on the topic of antisemitism and racism you will notice that one of the themes I concentrated on is that the antisemites and racists of the world are often one and the same, or have associations with each other. The other matter I have focused on is that they are also doing all that they can to prepare for a future that they believe will come to pass. For some of them this involves the idea of a global race war for which they need to be physically and mentally prepared for.

When you talk to people from the groups that the antisemites or racists hate about what preparations they are making to counter such groups you often get this kind of reaction.



Or sometimes this kind of reaction.



I don't much buy into the idea of a global race war. Maybe ethnic conflict on a local level, but global, I am not so sure of. Yet, whether or not even a local one were to take place I believe that Jews, African Americans, and Africans need to know what threats exist and also be preparing for them. When I look back at the videos I posted of the racists/antisemites I only see that happening when the following truths are confronted.

1. In every video about the racists and antisemitic groups are spending a lot of time training for combat.
   
2. They are forming networks.
   
3. They are promoting their agendas through internet, music, and underground promotion.
4. They are also forming communities.

So this begs the question. For those who read this and see what these groups are doing to prepare themselves, what are you doing to be aware and prepared? What would you do if a group of skinheads showed up in your neighborhood? What would you do if they showed up at your front door? Would you be able to defend yourself? Would your neighbors be aware enough to help you? Would they even care? Would your local community fight with you if you were attacked by one of these hate groups? Would your children know how to defend themselves?

What if you found out that the teachers who are teaching your children were a part of one of the underground groups that I mentioned earlier? How would you handle that situation? What if you found out the owners of a business you support financially were members of one of these groups?

At first I had plans on making this post longer and more details, but I think these questions speak to themselves. If you the reader don't have answers to these what if scenarios I painted then you have a clear problem that could one day present itself to you or your children. This goes beyond the realm of whether you are African, African American, Jewish, Euro-American, Asian, etc. These groups are gunning for anyone who doesn't subscribe to their philosophy.

They may not strike as an army and they may not cause you a direct threat, nor in in the immediate future. Yet, what if one day one your loved ones comes up missing and it is found they were kidnapped by one of these groups? What if one day you are walking home alone and are being followed by members of such a group? What if one day your children are being recruited by such a group? The reality is that most African American and Jews are not prepared for the Antisemites and Racists of the world. Yet, that doesn't have to be the continued and future reality.

Enter no conflict against fanatics unless you can defuse them. Oppose a religion with another religion only if your proofs (miracles) are irrefutable or if you can mesh in a way that the fanatics accept you as god-inspired. Fanatics know where you stand, but more important, must recognize who whispers in your ear.

Missionaria Protectiva Primary Teaching, Chapterhouse: Dune by Frank Herbert

The answers for me were the following actions I took this year. First decided to move to Israel. I didn't just move anywhere I moved into a community with a high concentration of Israelis who could defend themselves if the day came. I also moved into a community where if something happened to me people would help me out. If I disappeared there would be people who who would go looking for me. I also started training in martial arts again. I am also working on preparing myself for what ever may come by being educated on what my enemies are doing. I in turn do what I must to be able to counter them because they exist in the world, and even here in Israel. These answers for me also lye in a connection with God in the ways that have saved, inspired, motivated, and guided all my Jewish forefathers and mothers.

The reality is that we live in a cold hearted world with many underground movements and such preparing for battles. To counter these people you have to know what they are, what they fear, and where they stand. So the answer is, in order to fight back you have to be able to counter them by also being prepared in the same way they are.

The following article will provide you with some interesting insights into some of the underground tactics of some of the White Supremacists groups in the US.

My Dinner at Applebee's With White Supremacists!‎ Read Entire Post!

Racism and Antisemitism: A Consideration

Don't forget that there are now three posts before this post. . So this is an in-between of sorts of the posts I am doing about Racism and Antisemitism. You can read Part 3, Part 2, and Part 1 to get the first posts I did on this topic.

Before I get to the segment about what African Americans and Jews can do to fight back against racism and antisemitism there are a few more videos I found that may drive the importance of this home. This post has some graphic photos in it so be prepared. They are things that need to be seen, because it is the doom or men/women to forget.

These videos are from Marco McWilliams of RezaRitesRi.com who visited The University of Rhode Islands Feinstein Providence Campus to experience their Strange Fruit Lynching exhibit. There he met exhibit producer and curator Lisa McLeod.

University of Rhode Island Lynching Exhibit - part 1 of 3

If you are Jewish and you think that the first video has nothing to say to us, watch part 2 of the this video and see that Jews were being lynched also.

University of Rhode Island Lynching Exhibit - part 2 of 3

In the first few moments of this video there are some things that should be considered for the present.

University of Rhode Island Lynching Exhibit - part 3 of 3

Further, to see how the racists and antisemites switch back and forth on who they hate, and even use Jews and African Americans against each other, I submit the story of Leo Frank.

Leo Frank, 1915

The lynching to death of Leo Frank represents one of only four cases of a Jewish-American being lynched in United States history. (There was a case of a double lynching of a Negro and a Jew in Tennessee in 1868; there were two other cases of American Jews lynched in the 1890s.) Frank, the manager of an Atlanta pencil factory, was accused of murdering teenaged employee Mary Phagan in 1913. Despite evidence linking the factory's African-American janitor, Jim Conley, to the heinous crime, a jury of Frank's Atlanta peers found him guilty and Frank was sentenced to death by hanging. Not only did the prosecution ignore evidence pointing to Conley; it used Conley as its main witness to condemn Frank. This was a unique moment in southern legal history - the testimony of a black man in Jim Crow society used against a white defendant. Subsequent appeals were denied, with even the United States Supreme Court refusing to hear the case.

Even after Frank’s housekeeper placed him at home, having lunch at the time of the murder and despite gross inconsistencies in Conley’s story, both the grand and trial jury chose to believe Conley. This was perhaps the first instance of a Southern black man’s testimony being used to convict a white man. In August of 1913, the jury found Frank guilty in less than four hours. Crowds outside the courthouse shouted, "Hang the Jew." Historian Leonard Dinnerstein reports that one juror had been overheard to say before his selection for the jury, "I am glad they indicted the G-d damn Jew. They ought to take him out and lynch him. And if I get on that jury, I’ll hang that Jew for sure."

Facing intimidation and mob rule, the trial judge sentenced Frank to death. He barred Frank from the courtroom on the grounds that, had he been acquitted, Frank might have been lynched by the crowd outside.

Despite these breaches of due process, Georgia’s higher courts rejected Frank’s appeals and the U. S. Supreme Court voted, 7-2, against reopening the case, with justices Oliver Wendell Holmes and Charles Evans Hughes dissenting. Frank’s survival depended on Georgia governor Frank Slaton. After a 12-day review of the evidence and letters recommending commutation from the trial judge (who must have had second thoughts) and from a private investigator who had worked for Hugh Dorsey, Slaton commuted Frank’s sentence to life imprisonment That night, state police kept a protesting crowd of 5,000 from the governor’s mansion. Wary Jewish families fled Atlanta. Slaton held firm. "Two thousand years ago," he wrote a few days later, "another Governor washed his hands and turned over a Jew to a mob. For two thousand years that governor’s name has been accursed. If today another Jew [Leo Frank] were lying in his grave because I had failed to do my duty, I would all through life find his blood on my hands and would consider myself an assassin through cowardice."

On August 17, 1915, a group of 25 men, described by peers as "sober, intelligent, of established good name and character" stormed the prison hospital where Leo Frank was recovering from having his throat slashed by a fellow inmate. They kidnapped Frank, drove him more than 100 miles to Mary Phagan’s home town of Marietta, Georgia and hanged him from a tree. Frank conducted himself with dignity, calmly proclaiming his innocence. Townsfolk were proudly photographed beneath Frank’s swinging corpse, pictures still valued today by their descendants. When his term expired a year later, Slaton did not run for reelection and Dorsey easily won election to the governor’s office.

For U.S. Senator Tom Watson, the malevolent Georgia Populist, Frank's violent death -- he refrained from using the word lynching -- "put Jew Libertines on notice." Ironically, at an earlier stage of his career, Watson had professed his intention to "make lynch law odious to the people." By 1915 he defended lynch law and warned: "The next Jew who does what Frank did is going to get exactly the same thing we give Negro rapists." (source 1) (source 2)

Not only the US, but even here in the Middle East my thoughts turn to events like the Hebron Massacre of 1929. The Hebron Massacre refers to the mass murder of sixty-seven Jews in 1929 in Hebron, then part of the British Mandate of Palestine, by Arabs incited to violence by false rumors that Jews were massacring Arabs in Jerusalem and seizing control of Muslim Holy Places The carnage had a deep effect on the Jewish community. The survivors were forced to flee Hebron, and their property was seized by Arab residents and occupied until after the Six Day War of 1967.

The Baltimore News 1929 Hebron Massacre of Jews

Sound familiar? People being executed based on false information. The mutilation, murder, and raping of a people. This was not the first time this had happened to Middle Eastern Jews.

I ask myself the question of what happened to the racists and antisemites from the photos in these videos? Where are they now, where are their children? How do I know that the TV producers of today are not some of the children of people in these photos? How do I know if supporting one politician vs. another I am not supporting those whose families sponsored these kind of things? When I think of the 3rd video with the thousands who showed up to the lynching festival, I wonder where did all of those people end up? Did they just all of a sudden change their minds when Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated? Did time and different circumstances make them think differently? On some level I really doubt it, but how can I know? How can I sleep soundly at night when I don't know if I may have been walking with and talking with someone who was a part of that situation?

Though I don't live in America anymore, and I hope to never return to live in America I feel a certain bond with the information in these videos. As I mentioned I have encountered racists Jews and antisemitic African Americans. I have also witnessed people trying to outdo each other with statements like, "Slavery and racism against blacks was far worse than the Holocaust" or even "The Holocaust was far worse than slavery." My response to both types is to take a photo of an African American being lynched and a Jew being murdered by a Nazi.

Lynching of an African American man 1889


Murder of a Ukranian Jew 1940's

Do you think the victims in those photos really cared which situation was worse? Do you think the fact that one was hanged and the other shot while over the previous victims makes one situation worse? Do you think either man would have traded places with the other? The situations are different, but the outcomes were the same. To try and use these kind of situations to trump someone else belittles the memory of BOTH men, and elevates those who MURDERED them. What thoughts ran through their heads before they were executed? What prayers might they have said before their deaths? What would they have become if they had lived?

Do you still think that racism and antisemitism are not related? They are closely related as if they are brother and sister to me. They are different, have different histories, and were birthed at different times. Yet, they come from the same grounds. They take root in the same soil and their fruit can be taken and fed to anyone, including their intended victims. Just look at the Russian Jews here in Israel who to have become skinheads and neo-nazis. Just look at the various gangs such as the Crips and Bloods that sprang up in certain black communities in America.

Antisemitism and racism are fruits that come from the same tree. If you are a Jew and are racist you are also an antisemite because both are fruits from the same tree. If you are African or African American and are antisemitic you are also a racist because both fruits come from the same tree. Jews and African Americans have been lynched and murdered in America and in around the world for HUNDREDS of years. You can't ignore one and act like it doesn't affect the other. Maybe it is time for REAL dialog on these matters within and between both of these groups. God knows the racists and the antisemites are dialoging.

‎ Read Entire Post!

Racist Ideologies and Antisemitic Concepts

I am writing this one on the fly so please excuse grammar and spelling mistakes. I will fix this as the week progresses. So this is part 3 of the posts I am doing about Racism and Antisemitism. You can read Part 2 and Part 1 to get the first posts.

When I was younger I found myself in several locals that were hotbeds for the future racists and antisemites. There were two environments that I lived in when I was younger that I can look back on and remember individuals who I could now see being racists are antisemites. These individuals, though young, had certain qualities that made them dangerous in my eyes. When I say danger, I mean in terms of not placing my trust in them because of a certain something that was either obvious or hidden. In order to explain what I mean, there are 4 things that many racists and antisemites have in common.

1. A Founding Myth of Power
2. An Illogical Hatred of Their Enemies Perceived Power or Intentions
3. An Underground Element
4. A Sense of Urgent Preparation for Future Conflicts

A Founding Myth of Power

One of the keys of antisemites and racists are that they often revovle their needs around some sort of ancient founding myth about their culture and themselves. This myth is countered with the idea that their former glory was either taken away from them by the groups that they hate, or that their glory is currently being threatened. This leads itself into the need to regather their lost brethern to return to their old ways.

For many of the neo-nazis, skin-heads, and KKK this hearkens to an idea that they are descendants of Viking Warriors, Celtic Warriors, or the Knights of Europe old. They congour up memories of the tough Aryan male who stood with his weapon in hand, with the cold mists spraying on his face. He is glad with armor or with the skins of animals that he has killed with his bare hands. He lives for adventure, war, and conquest. His conquests are valid becaue of the strength and the work produced by the sweat of his brow.

Thor the Viking God of Thunder

The same kind of myth exists for the antisemites who mix their hatred of Jews with a black power agenda. The idea here is that Blacks in Africa were doing were almost god-like, if not gods prior to growth of industrialization in Europe. Those who subscribe to this myth teach their theology as if all Africans were kings and queens and there were internal conflicts. All the positives are promoted to the Nth degree, and none of the negatives are ever brought up. Africa is also promoted as if it was somehow unified country instead of a continent with diverse ethnic groups.

This formula is often mixed with an ancient Egyptian myth involving the religion and symbols of the pyramids and such. In their view Africa was the light to the world, although they focus almost entirely to Africa having been the light to the Europeans. The focus here is that Africans did everything before Europeans. It often ignores Asia and the Middle East, but at times these regions are included as African.

Racists Ideologies

When it comes to what the racists believe, I have found some interesting concepts in my travels that are often either completely illogical or over foolish in their content. One of the ideas revolves around white society being brought down, or poisoned by Blacks, Asians, and Latinos. The idea is that somehow America, and Europe always belonged to the white man and that the existence of free Blacks, Asians, and Latinos brings down the purity of the white race. They once feared that blacks would roam free in America and cause chaos. Crime would run rampant and blacks would rape or marry their pure white women. In this myth lies the idea that the white male somehow owns the white woman, as they often allude to with the idea that black men would marry OUR white women. These same groups often hate Asians for the idea that Asians are taking over the country. They also hate Latinos for the idea that there is a Latin invasion of the country and that they won't speak English.

These racists are illogical in their fears, because of the fact that most African Americans descend from Africans who were FORCED into the Americas. If these racists want to be mad they should be mad at the those who took part in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. This hatred would be directed at a wide array of peoples from all over the world, including some of their so called "white" forefathers.

Unforgiven: Legacy of a Lynching

The reality I have seen is that these people are often trying to define "white" culture in their own mold, and they also blur the situation to where it sometimes perceived as if all white people are in on it. They groups also believe that normative "white" society has been polluted in its ideals and they regard a good number of "white" as living under a fake banner.

Some racists point to rap music and R&B as a way to claim that blacks are having a bad influence on America. Even in the 50's and 60's there were those who believed that rock and roll music was going to influence white kids to act like black people. In turn America would go topsi turvi. These same racists point to the images in modern day rap and R&B as a way to say, "We told you these people were animals. Just look at their music and their lifestyles." They often point to statistics that come out about minorities as a way to justify their hate.

KKK vs. Hebrew Israelites

Antisemitic Concepts

There are several types of antisemites.

• White Power antisemites
• Black Power antisemites
• Anti-Israel antisemites

The first group of antisemites from the white power crowd often believe that Jews are a part of a world wide conspiracy to control things. They often hearken to the idea of the 5 Jew bankers who control everything.

With the Black Power antisemites they also believe in the Jewish conspiracies of world domination. This group of ideas is often very fuzzy in their antisemitic myth, yet it somehow involves "The Jews" starting the slave trade. Another sister theory to this is that Jews are attempting to hold back or hold down black people by way of Jewish control of Hollywood and financial institutions.



Most of these groups believe that Jews of today are not really descendants of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Bible. They often refer to the Khazar myth that today's Jews are mostly descendants of converts to Judaism as a part of a world domination plot. They also ignore that when a person converts to Judaism they are just as Jewish as someone born Jewish. Some of these groups believe that they have either replaced the Jewish people for God's favor or they believe that they instead are the real Israelites.

The Association between Naziism and Arab Antisemitism

Most of these groups focus on European Jews and they have no idea that there are Jews of Middle Eastern, African, and Asian descent. Their logic is also weird in the fact that only 1 out of every 654 people world wide are even Jewish. That means about 15 Million Jews world wide. Most in Israel and New York. Not much of a world wide conspiracy.



There is even an anti-Israel element to this that believes that Israel's existence threatens world security. As if such a thing as peaceful world relations ever existed. These type of antisemites use their hatred of Israel as a way to unleash their hatred upon Jews, who may or may not identify with Israel. They use this as a platform with which to be prejudice against Jews.

So What Do They Want?

In the racist mind these are all a part of an assault on the pure white Aryan race, there will come a time for a stand. They in turn must do something to bring their white brethren out of their current slumber. They must inspire white pride and power. Much of this on the outside involves Nazi imagery, punk rock, tattoos, shaved heads, etc. There is an underground element that has brewing for some time now. It is an underground movement of White Power advocates who have gone either high tech or remain in the shadows. They are promoting themselves on the down low, they are recruiting on the down low, and they are living like what would be considered average citizens. These kind of racists are also antisemitic and they also feel that they have to throw off the supposed shackles they believe that Jews have placed on them.

The wants of the antisemites who are black, is not as clear. They seem more bent on informing other blacks of the supposed Jewish conspiracy. They often lecture and go on, but are not much when it comes to what actions they think should be taken. They often bend and twist Jewish literature, which they often have never read in its original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Judeo-Arabic, etc.) They also often rely on texts from Europe or from the racism from 1 or 2 Jews as a way of proclaiming it as what all Jews believe. These groups at times have religious elements to them, and they beleive that blacks should be in their religious system to follow the truth.

In the end some of these various groups believe that a race war is coming that will engulf America and the world. The white power groups are the ones that are doing the most to prepare for such a situation. If you go back to my second post on this topic (Part 2) there are videos of white power training camps all over the world. Even here in Israel it was found that there were some Neo-Nazi cells made up of Russian Jewish and non-Jewish youth. These groups are no different than their brethren, but the fact that they could be found in Israel shocked so many. That is like the KKK being in Ghana or Ethiopia.

These white power groups are similar to terrorists in that they are training DAILY. They are learning how to shoot guns. They are learning how to do hand to hand combat. They are learning survival techniques. They are learning how to work as units. Many of them are also learning how to hide in the shadows and blend in with society until the time comes for them to act. Some of them are acting now by vandelizing, maiming, taunting, and indoctrinating.



In my next post I will cover what I believe Jews, Africans, African Americans, etc. can do to fight back and be prepared.

‎ Read Entire Post!

Black Blogging to End AIDS

I didn't get a chance to really write something in this. I was informed by Yobachi from Black Perspective that today is Black Blogging to End AIDS day. I will admit I don't think much about AIDS for several reasons. I don't know anyone who has had it. I don't see much of it in the news that I keep up with. So with that it becomes easy to forget that such a thing exists and that so many people are affected by it.

I do know that there is a lot of research on AIDS being done here in Israel and in the US.

Research from Israel and the United States has provided new information about HIV/AIDS

The video below was done by ABC 7, and I don't much buy into the idea that somehow AIDS is "Out of Control" in Black America. From what I understand AIDS is a problem EVERYWHERE. I also think that the idea that everything is out of control for Black America is a theme common to news channels. Yet, maybe videos like this need to exist to shock some sense into the system that there is a need for more research and funding for developing a cure for AIDS.

Though I can't relate to everything in this video, I think there is an important need for people who are heralded as leaders to step up to the plate and educate people. AIDS like any other disease is a reality that transcends just the areas of religious morality, but a social reality since people can get AIDS through a number of means beyond sexual relations. I also disagree with the idea that somehow AIDS is beyond the ability for religious reason to deal with. In Jewish tradition we are taught that EVERYTHING that can be dealt with in the human experience can be found in both the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and in what has been transmitted in the Jewish tradition.

As a Jew I see that there are two fronts that AIDS needs attention on. First the moral, but also on the social. It is inhuman and immoral for governments and people with the finances to refuse to fund research to ignore such troubles. It is also inhuman and immoral to allow droves of people to suffer under a burden without people of compassion rising up to help them.

At the same time I don't believe that the so called leaders of any society are the ones who can lead people to a so called promised land. People as individuals need to rise up and make a difference. Maybe, children need to be pushed to become doctors in order to fight AIDS. Maybe children need to be pushed into morality to fight AIDS. Maybe families need to work with communities to fight AIDS. Maybe people with AIDS need to be supported, no matter how they got it, because it is the human thing to do.

So for what it is accept this as something to consider.

‎ Read Entire Post!