What Do You Stand For?

Hey watsup people? For this post I have a lot of questions, because I can only see this topic through my personal viewpoint so feel free to comment, as always. And though this post won't be as radical as others, at least I don't think once I get goin who knows lol, I still would ask if you have something to say say it and if you read it take it in and question yourself and your life. 

So the thing that sparked this post is an interview I watched with Sean Parker. If you don't know who Sean Parker is, he founded Napster, was on the Facebook board of directors (Justin Timberlake in the movie haha), and now is on some board for Spotify. Why is he important? Good question. I think his story is interesting because he went from a young kid, mad millions by founding Napster, lost it all in court cases for breaching copyrights, then was homeless and bounced back. Now he's worth approximately $2.4 Billion I think. Oh, and he's done all of this and he's only 34 years old. -That's crazy to me, digress.

Anyways, I was watching this interview, right? And it was hosted by Jimmy Fallon or something, and they were talking about how he got started computer programming and his early struggles (he founded Napster when he was still a teenager) and just his journey to where he is now. The one part of the interview that stuck the most to me was a certain part when the interviewer asked if Parker was happy to have regained his capital after being homeless and on the run. And what did he say? "Oh, it was never about the money..." Then he starts talking about how he just loved programming, and then he really loved music, so he put the two together and kept following that passion. 

And I mean of course when you're legally a billionaire you can act like money isn't that important to you. But there was something about the way he answered that you could tell that when he started everything, it wasn't about the money. He really just wanted to give people the opportunity to stream the music they wanted when they wanted to.

And when watching interviews from other billionaires, they all said the same thing. At the origin it was never about the money. Bill Gates said he just wanted to learn as much as he could and connect people. Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, etc. all of them said from their beginnings it wasn't about the money. Do I believe every single one of them? Hell no, but it's just crazy the uniform answer that they all gave. Digress.

Of course this sparked my thoughts, right? And I started thinking about the way that society is set up now. It's the complete opposite! If you're from a family who isn't extremely wealthy, which most of these men are, you are placed on the path to mediocrity. You are taught to go through the system, get a degree and a decent paying job that you can live on. 

And this belief isn't always placed by parents, it's everywhere! By schools, after school programs, churches, etc. I think that's disgusting. This could go hand in hand with my problems with the educational system in America but I won't do that right now.

The main thing I took out of it is, what would people do if they actually achieved what they wanted to do instead of having their dreams capped off? And how many people do what they do just for the money? And on top of that why would a society ever promote a system in which people are placed on a path to this mediocre system which doesn't allow people to reach their maximum potential. 

Even at my job right now, I hear people talk about how much they despise being at work, but I work at one of the most favored employers in the area. So my logic is it can only get worse right? So I've decided to step off of this path in my future.

I'll probably make a lot less than I was estimated to make with the current degree I will receive, but this is the way I see it. The thing that you do most in your time here on this planet is work. You begin to work at 22-23 if you graduate from college and you retire, eh with how the governments going, around 60-70. That's 40+ years of work, after which you have that same 20ish years to live if you're lucky and your heart hasn't been compromised from waking up earlier than your body is supposed to function, making you drink coffee and other energy drinks which slowly deteriorate your body, but I digress. 

My point is that in America you can either take a step out on faith and chase your own dream, or you can be complacent and chase someone else's; (i.e. working for any company where you work 40+ hours a week just for your work to maybe be recognized in an minescule employee award, digress) so why would you not chase your own? It's easier to follow the path that's laid before you, but it's more admirable to create your own. 

So back to the point of this post, what do you stand for? Are you just out here with no passion at all trying to get a check every week, or are you chasing a dream? And don't get it wrong, you can have jobs that you don't completely love if you have to set yourself up for a future movement, but are you rich and depressed or getting by and joyous?

You only get one chance on the earth, do you want people to remember you as the person who did what they were told or what they wanted and could not be stopped by obstacles? Idk man, I'll probably stop before I preach too much, but the only way for this pre-established system run by big name brands and corrupt CEO's to tumble is by more people taking the path less traveled. 

**First, why would you want to support these people's dreams? Second, why would you make yourself suffer through your entire life like this?**

So whether you want to create a clothing line that people can wear worldwide, or you want to become a doctor and start your own physicians office, or you want to invent something that effects everyone you interact with don't let this system of mediocrity mess you up man. It's clearly the reason our nation continues to lose its supremacy and I feel like it'll soon be debunked (hopefully within our lifetime) but until then, be the person to make that change. Don't keep going down this same road man, because if you chase somebody else's dream you'll never know what true happiness is. That's not your spiritual calling. You'll always have a void in you because you're not doing what you were placed on this earth to do if you have to force your heart to be behind it. Digress.  

I say, while you're still  young and have limited responsibilities (i.e. no kids/one kid, limited insurance, rent instead of a mortgage, etc.) and you have a passion, or are finding your passion, let it shine. Take whatever it is that you're passionate about (if you're not sure watch the news or have a debate with people about real world things, it'll find you before you find it) and find a way to change the world with it. After all, the worst that could happen is that you end up back in the system they tried to place you in anyways, right? But at least you can say you tried. And that passion will keep growing and burning and there's no doubt that you'll be successful, whatever your definition of success is. Promise you that. But I'll end this rant now.

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." -Oscar Wilde

Just my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

Who are you?

Stop for this post I chose to go with a more conservative title but the post content is, as I would like to think it is always, thought provoking. And I already know many people well try to denounce this immediately and not give it any thought but for those of you that for some reason read what I have to say on here just think about what I'm saying.

So the topic of this post is religion.If you're dead set on your religion and think there's nothing I can tell you you most likely won't care what I have to say but this is more for you than anyone. And I'll ask a lot of questions so if you have any answers please feel free to provide feedback because I'm just trying to be enlightened.

So the post title "Who are you?" is basically to these people who completely regard other religions as fictional. No matter what the religion it is that you count out, whether it be polytheism of the ancient Egyptian societies or it be Islam, this post is for you and the people who think like you.

Growing up in my Christian home, Methodist church, and Christian school during developing years in my life I was always very inquisitive. One question that I would always find myself asking is how can someone tell me that Jesus is the only way to heaven. Like no matter what, if you lived after Jesus died for our sins and didn't accept him you go to hell. Never bought into that whole thing whole heartedly, and I'll tell you all of my reasoning as to why.

When I was in 7th grade I did a project on Mohandas Gandhi. I studied how he held peaceful rebellions against the imperialist British government and how he sacrificed so much of himself for the peace of his nation, his homeland and his people. I admired the stories of him and all he did. Mind you this time I was in a Christian school, so one day I asked my teacher "Do you believe people such as Gandhi go to hell if they don't believe in Jesus?"

My teacher not ready for such a question at first would not answer. She was a sweet older lady, I won't expose her name but if you went to EDCS it was in history haha. Anyways after she didn't answer I asked her again. This time she replied, "Why yes. If he did not accept the Lord Jesus into his heart it unfortunately means he did."

If course this bothered me, right? Because how was he supposed to do such a thing when the people who were harassing his land had originally came in the name of Jesus? I'll digress on this point for the time being.

So this lead me to think, what about all off the people worldwide who had not even heard of Jesus? I mean after all Gutenberg didn't even make the printing press until the 1400's and by then I'm sure the Bible was not worldwide. So for these millions of people who died in this timeframe did they all go to hell too?

When I was in high school I was never allowed to get such questions out and always kept things like this under wraps, but in college I have relearned to question so this thinking emerged again. And now my question is who was the idiot that made religion an all or nothing thing? Yeah I said idiot.

Who became so blinded by this loosely translated Bible that we have today and said there's no other way. And I'm no master on Islam but who said that their religion is the only one which will get you to heaven? So to the point of the title I am saying "who are you?" To count out someone's religion as wrong, because these type of things are clearly for the gods and the passed spirits so how can anyone on this earth discount anything?

It is well known that many religions in today's society have very similar origins, and Islam even credits Jesus as a great profit if I'm not mistaken, so why did we ever turn to just discrediting a whole religion? Or was it a choice of the people? Digress.

Next question is what do you think about people in ancient societies thought about their religion off the time? Ancient Egypt, Greece, Babylon... what about them? The people whose spirit was of great purity and only believed in the religion of the time because it was what was spoon feed to them from birth, much like people's religion is now. Are all of these people burning in hell now because they were never reached by the God of Judah which had reached us all?

Who are we to count out their religions as well? And you might say but what about the dark ages and how their religions allowed kilos and stuff but just think about all the people that say they're Christians and do terrible things. We might be half way in a dark she right now foreal, but I'll save that for another day.

**Note: I'm writing this at midnight knowing I have to be up in six hours for work. I couldn't sleep and this has been on my mind for some time. Just laying here listening to classical music vibing and venting. So if this is a little different than my other posts know I'm in a more comfortable setting, digress.**

Lately I've been studying Hinduism, Buddhism, and other things of that nature and with comparing them to what I was taught growing in the Christian church I believe there is space for every religion. Above that I think religion is made to help teach morals to the masses. Even some more radical translations of the Bible place Yeshua, sometimes known as modern Jesus, as a man sent from God who was given to the earth to show people the way to live righteous. Whether he said he is the only way to heaven, that's debatable.

Idk man. I could go on for days about this so I'll probably wrap this up soon, but if you take anything from this just know there's many things about religion that many people will never know. You can study any of the holy texts that are in this world, but at the end of the day religion should never be used to tear people of the Almighty's creation away from each other. It should be to make us more aware of our neighbor and to make the Almighty pleased by bringing positive energy to this world while we inherit it and reaching those that come after us the same things. Not fuckin arguing about who's right like some stupid ass toddlers.

I just pray that everyone realizes what's at stake for the world if things continue this way and can start to change things from this cookie cutter process that's been outgrown.

No matter who you pray through, make sure it's with a whole heart and Godly intentions. And before you start to automatically disregard someone's view of the Almighty power in the universe, make sure you ask yourself "who am I to judge this?" or you might be what's actually wrong with the world today, not their beliefs.

It's late now, I've ranted enough, and I'll probably have to drink coffee at work tomorrow just to stay awake so I'm done.

As always, just conveying my thoughts to who cares to read them.

-Marcus J.

If Not Now Then When?

Ok so for this post it's somewhat radical but whatever, if you don't like where I'm going with it feel free to stop reading. Might go on a couple tangents on this one but just follow what I'm saying.

So to start I'm going to show my true nerd side. A couple weeks ago I bought a tablet for myself. Nothing too fancy, just a nice little tablet to use for school work and stuff. Before I got the tablet, I did multiple tech reviews of the specs and different comparisons of tablets and how performance vs. price is among a wide range of tablets. While I was doing this you know what I realized? That damn near every tablet had the same technical specifications... Like from the iPad to the Galaxy Tab 3. Every got damn one had the same RAM, same differences in storage capacity, same pixels per inch, etc. The only major difference was the different company and maybe a slight change in UI, but that's it. So first off let me say don't fall for corporations cheap ass marketing schemes. If you buy a hoodie, it doesn't matter if it's Nike or Reebok the shit will keep you warm in the same weather and will fail to keep you warm at a certain point. Digress.

Anyways, as I was doing these technical researches I also stumbled upon some patents that Samsung and Apple are applying for (which are all freakin crazy and the future is going to be insane by like 2020 when all of this stuff begins to come out, digress) and as I read these patents I couldn't help to think about how quickly technology is advancing. I mean, does anyone truly comprehend that in our short lifetime we have seen the transition from AOL dial up being standard to everyone having data plans for cell phones? Don't even mention how our parents started out with computers that took up actual rooms and now they're trying to SnapChat us on their new iPhone! I digress, just know technology is fuckin cool.

Anyways, I began to think, as I do, about all of the revolutions and things that have happened in the world and thought about how the most significant ones were done with no technology at all. I mean even Paul Revere would've enjoyed sending a text instead of riding that horse, we've seen that Geico commercial. Then I just went on to think, well damn our grandparents generation stood up for what they believed in during the civil rights movement and they didn't have shit but house phones and postcards.

This lead me to think about our generation. All of the stupid shit that's actually going on and how we're just content with sitting to the side and watching everything that's being done to the actual majority by the fictional majority in Capitol Hill.

-I mean just look at the government shut down. You see when they speak about it they have to say "partial shutdown" because they know damn well federal prisons still lockin innocent people up, the army still over seas looking for new lands to invade, and all them dirty ass conniving politicians are still making their 6 figure salaries. Once again I digress. I will say that whole thing is about to come back up in January so please be ready for it.-

Anyways, I thought to myself, "What is it going to take to get people to wake up and see what's actually going on?" Then I just began to think about how easy it would be to actually make a change if people actually weren't so complacent and stood together.

The internet is a powerful thing man! Technology can mess some stuff up. Shit, even the Anonymous group of vigilantes does whatever they want and the FBI knows they can't even begin to put an end to that.

So then with all of this thinking, as I clearly put in the title of this post, I began to realize that right now is the perfect time. We're at a pivotal time in history that no other generation will see. We are at a point where the ways of the past are being proven wrong daily. All of these fake teachings that were concreted in America's system are being dispelled everyday.

"If you ever want to make good money and have a great job you have to go to college!" Wrong. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerburg, Sean Parker all have a couple billion to shut that up.

"Hard work is the only way to make it in this country." Oh really? This is why my parents can work hours on end and I can get on CNN and see an article about #RichKidsonInstagram and how these millionaires children are spending $30,000 dollars at a bar with their friends? Have they ever had jobs? Doubt it. Will they inherit their parents money? NO QUESTIONS ABOUT IT.

I could go on and on, and I'm sure that everyone else has their own examples, but the point is this man. We are at a rift between the Industrial Age of the past and the Information Age, which will be followed by the Technology Age. Yet somehow we're still doing things the exact way they were before all of these technological advances, for the most part. (Google and Facebook and companies of the sort figured it out, but eveeryone else is a bit behind.)

So when is our generation actually going to take a stand? When are we going to gain our own voice and begin to ask questions and demand answers? Clearly this system in America is once again becoming outdated, but our generation is scared to take a stand because the person who goes against the grain is criticized. What is it going to take for people to realize that RIGHT NOW is the ideal time to have a social reform (not all out revolution, but that's not out of the question, though) especially among the black community. Power doesn't come through these fake ass legislators just going along with things because it's the way things have been done and it's working. CLEARLY IT'S NOT FUCKING WORKING! More and more people on poverty, major cities filing for bankruptcy, the nation keeps becoming weaker mentally but strengthening the military, etc. I mean foreal man...

All of this technology and knowledge is at our fingertips and the biggest concern on most peoples minds is trending topics on Twitter and how many likes they get on their Instagram pictures. How about we stop living for/through other people with this technology and start using it to better the world. After all, I'm not trying to be a part of the generation where people look back and think, damn what did they even  do in their lifetime?

All it takes is to get people moving in the right direction, the power is in numbers. And with the technology we have, it's easier now more than ever to spread word to the masses. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Blogs, Radio, Television, Newspapers, Text Messages, Phone Calls, I mean got dammit we have everything that everyone's ever had in the past and more and we still won't do a damn thing...

All I'm saying is, we all see the problems that are going on in the neighborhoods, country, world and it is up to us to take a stand and fix things before it is too late. And if we don't think that now is the optimal time to do that, then when will we? Or will we ever?

Idk man, hopefully some of y'all feel me on this, but regardless leave some comments. I'm trying to see where other people stand.

As always, just my thoughts...

-Marcus J

What's the Hold Up?

For those who actually check my blog from time to time, you might be wondering why I haven't been posting recently.

Don't worry, I still have many thoughts that are more radical than the ones already posted, I just want them to be well thought up and developed before I post them so that I can say something that sticks in everyone's mind. Above that, I am doing more research on the topics I have been thinking about (autodidactism remember?) so this may take some time every now and again but please believe I have a lot more coming.

And what's coming well be nothing short of a prelude of what I believe will come in our lifetime.

Feel free to look through my older posts to prepare for the upcoming ones.

Always remember, these are just my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

Self-Reflection on Memory Lane...

Ok, so today I was deep in my thoughts -arguably my feelings too lol- but I was literally getting a headache from thinking about things that are happening right now and felt like I was going insane. The main thing I was thinking about is how many things are about to change in my life in a matter of months, and by many I mean damn near everything.

Seeing how it is my fourth year in college, a lot of my colleagues will be graduating but due to my work/class schedule I will not. This makes me think of life, and everything that comes with it. How crazy it is that in a matter of seconds, minutes, hours, any amount of time your whole life can change permanently. Like that's actually crazy to think about, but I digress whatever.

So where did my thoughts lead me? To pictures and videos and posts and things of that sort to every social media outlet I've had since I was in middle school. From MySpace to FaceBook and all of that shit. Looking through pictures, thinking about the story that correlates with every one and the people who were in my life during those periods.

The joys and triumphs at every period and the people that were there with me to celebrate them, and also the hard times that I faced and the people who were there for me in my darkest moments.

And you want to know what I thought about? Where are these people now? All of these beautiful souls that helped me to get to where I am today, where are they? Of all the people that are in these pictures and these posts, shit even my top friends on MySpace (throwback right? haha) but where are they?

Then on top of that I began to think... Damn, do we not talk any more because of them or because of me? All of these "friends" that I had, why haven't I heard from any of them? My number's been the same since I was a freshman in high-school so it can't be me right? Wrong...

So from these thoughts I went into a period of self-reflection. Reflecting on all of the good times, all the bad times, all the people I've judged, all the people I wouldn't open up to, all the people I saw as just in my life for a season so I refused to put an effort into making a lasting relationship.

**Side note: one of my biggest fears is that I will end up alone in my final hour. Which of course is the way the world works, you're born alone and you die alone right? But the one thing that I do not want to do is die by myself. I think it has something to do with me being put in an incubator when I was born, but nobody knows those effects, I'm not sure of any studies on that lol. Anyways yeah, definitely one of my biggest fears, digress.**

So while I'm going through these pictures and seeing all of these people who have had impacts on my life I just start to think, got dammit I'm the reason these people only talk to me once a year, when I actually decide to show myself at home. Whatever, the past is the past right?

This lead me to think, damn it'll probably be the same thing with people that I've met in college. I'll have a few people that I'm still cool with then the rest just face to face associates.

Then this lead me to thinking about careers, and life, and finally death. And somehow I came to the realization that I am the reason that I will have to be in the situation that I am most scared of... whatever digress.

So after this I started thinking about people from my past, and how I've helped them out (at least I would like to think so). Of all these people, do I still talk to them? Do they still need people to talk to? and so on and so forth.

I guess this rant end with a pretty obvious claim and a challenge. People die everyday and no matter what the age is, it always seems unexpected or too soon. These people that you've had stories with, laughed with, cried with, they're not promised a certain amount of time on this earth man. And the shittiest feeling in the world is if that person passes away and the only thing you can say is, it's been so long since I've talked to them, or Damn, we used to be so close.

So my challenge to anyone, Idk if people even read these shits but whatever, is to reach out to a couple of these people everyday in your spare time. See if they're ok. See if they're accomplishing their goals and dreams. At the very least, pray for protection and energy for them. Because you don't want to be that person at the end of your life wondering who cares that your time is coming to an end, or if you made an impact on people's lives.

You can't change the past, but you can reflect on it and use it to change your future. Learn from the lessons that you teach yourself during self-reflection. You're the only person that truly knows what you need to do in the end.

Whatever, my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

The Lessons from the Life of Socrates

OK, so for this post I'm not doing anything but ranting about how messed up the system is. Education, government, religion, etc. They're all systems now. They're all set up where an individual who asks questions that stump the higher ups or who tries to simplify things are looked down upon and outcast.

This all came to my mind when I was reading about the life of Socrates. I've always heard Socrates quotes, or read his writings, or his foundations that he laid for Western philosophy, but I had never really heard about his life.

**Side Note: I've been researching what people have done in their 20's to achieve levels of great success because I believe I am destined for that summit. Not trying to reinvent the wheel, I'm just trying to combine great people's footsteps and walk the same path. Hate if you want, join if you want.**

Anyways, you hear all about this great philosopher, arguably the greatest known to date, but you never hear about his life and death. So I researched it, not hard to find I just Google'd it. Found several pages so I went through them all. The most interesting page was a page that detailed the Trial of Socrates with the background to his death. -Since Socrates actually didn't write much, much of the details are found through Plato's writings, since he was Socrates' student and witnessed everything first hand. Or Xenophon, or however you spell it, because he was a student and a historian who may have been more accurate. I digress.

If you don't know the story it's pretty deep. This is basically what happened. Socrates was known as the wisest man in Athens or the surrounding areas because of his philosophy and all that he did, no surprise. He was regarded as a great man, until he disclaimed being wise.

"I know that I know nothing" is what he said, right? So from this point he went and questioned all of the authority of Athens until they were proven to not have the answers he was looking for. He did this to many greats in Athens, including politicians and councilmen, until he began an uproar.

Well of course these people in power don't want to be proven to be just normal people after all, so what did they do? They sentenced him to death by poison. Why? For corrupting the minds of the youth and impiety.

He also could have got out of his death by having his following convince the guards to let him out, but he took it like a boss and said he would stay for it was his time to die and no true philosopher fears death. My nigga. I digress.

Now did he do anything wrong? No. He publicly questioned the wisest men in the state, which is what you are supposed to do when you need answers right? Then he belittled them by saying that he was unwise, which them angry because of the paradox that he was the wisest man in Athens. Go figure.

So they killed him. Flat out made him drink some poison and told him to walk until he couldn't feel his legs, then lay down so the poison could get to his heart. Pretty ruthless.

How does any of this relate to the system? Simple. I'll give you a few examples from my life personally.

Many times as a Christian you are told to ask WWJD, right? but if you check The Gospels, the answer to that question doesn't exist when you're in your 20's. So, what have I been doing? I have been asking people what did Jesus do when he was my age. Did I receive any answers that have pleased me yet? Nope.

As a Christian, any religion, you must believe in blind faith or whatever, but what if that's not good enough? And, if you've read previous blogs, The Bible is very loosely translated and even the perception of Jesus has been tainted throughout Europe and into America, so why must I believe everything that these tainted church's have told me if they cannot answer this question?

Why am I not allowed to ask what Jesus was doing when he was my age, but I am supposed to believe that he lived without a single sin for 33 years on this corrupt earth and is the sole way to everlasting life? What is the problem with this simple question?

Easy, it can not be found by the majority of preachers. You know the same ones I talked about leading these corrupt churches. The system wants you to go to their services, give them money, and listen to the same little excerpts that they pick out of this loosely translated Bible instead of asking questions that they cannot answer.

Another example, ask a politician what's wrong with socialism. In a time where the top 1% of the country, who have made their money off of corrupting millions of people since the slavery days (maybe even before) to get their wealth that they continue to stretch to the point of no return, what's wrong with them giving money to the rest of the people who are driving the government into debt, from what politicians say, because of Social Security and government programs like food stamps and things of the sort?

Why can't those people, who spend millions of dollars on private jets and competing to have the largest super yacht give that money instead to black communities that have been on the decline since Reaganomics disrupted the black family and the black power movement started in the 60's and 70's. Digress.

Aren't these fair questions? I would like to think so, right?

Another question, why are people scared of a revolution when this sole thing is what this nation was founded on? If the system's broke, like our forefathers believed England was, you go to any means you can to fix it! And the government knows it's coming. Their preparing police all over the nation with hollow tip rounds and kevlar like they're preparing for a war. Armories that were dormant are being revitalized like an invasion is coming, but what America doesn't know is that the invasion is coming from within. I'll digress on this point until a later post, but if you don't believe me get on YouTube and search Civil Unrest in America. Crazy stuff that's happening without people even being aware of it. Whatever.

Back to the point

What happens in this system, is these questions are frowned upon. People who ask questions are written off immediately while the media portrays everything as "evil" and not as good as what we have now. WELL CLEARLY WHAT WE HAVE NOW ISN'T FUCKIN WORKING!

As a kid, you're only allowed questions in class when you raise your hand. If the teacher doesn't know, and the child continues to ask they are placed in detention or timeout or whatever.

If you ask these questions in church, you are written off as not having faith or some other question is brought up to make it seem as though you are wrong.

If you bring these questions up to a politician you are seen as a radical or a terrorist that doesn't have faith in the country.

I could really go on all day about the way the world doesn't want you to ask questions, but please don't give in. If you have a feeling, or there is something that goes against your logic question it until you find an answer.

My greatest hope with this blog is that by some way of the universe people spread it and see the questions that are on here and spark questions of their own. Because, there are answers for everything it's all a matter of how hard you are willing to search before you find them.

I'll be done with my rant now. I hope you read all of the way through.

As always feel free to comment where I was wrong or your personal opinions I appreciate all thoughts and perspectives that are given with respect.

These are just my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

How Do You Fight What You Can't See? [Part I]

Hello all. Don't really have a direction in this post but it is something that has been on my mind so I figure I'll work on this post for a couple of days to get my thoughts out and see if I come to any type of conclusion.

If you are unaware, I am biracial. On top of that I come from a lower socioeconomic neighborhood and family tree. And when I say that I mean both of my parents income when they were together still did not reach six figures. Now that they are divorced and paying college tuition, times get tough from time to time.

Being faced with both of these barriers I was faced with a lot growing up, and not a lot in a sense where I couldn't make it by with what was provided me -problems are all relative to what you know- but I definitely overcame many obstacles to get to where I am now.

But in overcoming those obstacles I let some things sink in throughout. You know, the obstacles that are the hardest to overcome. The ones that don't come in from a direct decision but from observations. Of these, insecurities, inferiority complexes, many psychological issues, and false understandings which were never directly debunked to me.

I believe this is how things such as class-ism and racism continue to stay so strong in the minds of people. Of course they began with the utmost of ignorance, but through that ignorance stereotypes were born and raised. As time continued, and systematic racism continued, stereotypes spread faster than people could. I'll digress for the time being.

As I've stated in an earlier blog, I've been reading a book called Brainwashed by Tom Burrell. I'm not going to go in depth on the book but it is a book that challenges the Black Inferiority complex. This is the belief that black people are not as intelligent, sexual beasts, violent/loud, etc. (you know the stereotypical thoughts of black people that was established during the implementation of slavery and held onto ever since). This book has made me think of many things, though.

Coming from a place where many people have these thoughts that they are inferior, I decided that although the BI complex is a great burden there is an even greater complex that allows class-ism to be just as influential, if not greater. It is true many black men and women get hit with the double whammy, but (seeing how my white family is not much better off) poorer white people are not far ahead.

The belief that these rich people and people in these positions of power deserve it because of what they have done is sometimes ridiculous. This false "majority" who continues to make laws and rules which work for them is a wash. The fact that I watched my dad for the better part of my life work 12-15 hour days, make almost nothing due to his salary, and then lose his job while the CEO shut down the company and took the money they wanted to be good is ridiculous. Tell me who deserves what? I digress, the universe comes around for everyone. That's a fact.

So one thing that has been on my mind for a while is, how do you fight these things? Personally and as a society? And above that, how do you get people to see that there is something wrong with this system when they're comfortable with it?

Why are black people fine with living in "the hood" and why are other people fine pretending like the nation is perfect. How is it possible to spread knowledge about the wrong doing of the "majority" when the actual majority fails to realize the power they have?

Then when people finally get to a position where they can tell of the evil, they get written off as being crazy or killed. So who is actually willing to ride for the cause when their life is the sacrifice for the greater good?

These are questions that people have had for years, but somehow in this new generation we stopped fighting. We became complacent. We left the work of our grandparents and parents at the door, while we chill in the house.

This is really just a rant, whatever, but what will it take to rally people? And not just for long enough to allow America to write it off, but enough to make an actual change. To put all of these "false prophets" [See last post] in their place. Whether they be politicians, pastors preaching in the name of the Devil, teachers teaching their history, or people in the media spreading the lies of the nation to the masses.

I have many questions but no answers. I figured I would start with a blog, ta da, but above putting my perspective into words, how do you foster change in an age where being complacent is praised and being a revolutionary is terrorism. If I recall correctly, this nation was based on a revolution. And there have been several since which have shaped this country.

How do we begin one in our generation? How do we take the country away from the old ways of thinking and implement change? After all, the technology age is forcing everyone to adapt faster in every aspect. Consumer goods, business practices, even dating is different everyday. Yet we still abide by the same rules and regulations that our grandparents did. IT'S A NEW DAY!!

As soon as people begin to wake up change can be made, but people continue to sleep walk through these times because they are "comfortable." But one day, that comfort will be all fucked up and everyone will be wondering what happened.

Our government is out of date. When milk spoils you replace it. When a player on an NBA team gets too old and tired, he is traded or released if he refuses to retire. We see this common theme in every aspect of life, yet are comfortable with it in the government and ways of thinking about people and classifying people. COME ON MAN!!

I guess the base of my questions is a list of why's and how's. So as you can see this is a Part I, because I haven't thought of any answers that I can formulate right now but I will come back and post on this topic later with my solution, which I'm sure will be very entertaining.

Until then just the final questions that I'll be thinking about:

How do we get rid of things that are rooted into our nation (i.e. institutionalized racism)?

How do we get people to see that the nation is no longer a nation of the people/persuade people to take a stand?

How do we expose this "majority" and empower the people?

How do we fight the things that we cannot see?

Just my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

P.S. I don't know if people can follow this one, so as always feel free to leave comments and questions.

Ravenous Wolves in Sheep's Clothing

So for my next post there's not really any crazy logic, maybe a touch, and maybe a little controversial, but for the most part it is truly just a rant. If you do not catch the allusion in the title of this post, it is from The Good Book, aka The Holy Bible.

Now from my previous posts, you probably think that I'm some type of atheist, or some weird religion, from the things that I've said. My response to you is no, that's stupid. I believe in the Almighty Lord. I have been baptized as a Methodist, accepted Jesus into my heart when I was in the 4th grade -note idk if there's such a thing as becoming an un-Christian but I might be near that point, not in a bad way though- and I used to attend church at least 3 times a week. I also went to a Christian school from 4th to 8th grade, pivotal years in my life for the most part, and I pray at least twice a day in which I like to make sure one of those prayers is 5-10 minutes at least. I also read my Bible, if not daily at least 3 times a week, since many churches rehash the same verses and chapters.

So, once again, I am not a scholar. I am not a pastor, priest, bishop, did not even finish confirmation into the Methodist church; but I will be discussing the Bible in this post.

With all that being said I begin with Matthew 7:15.

**Quick Side Note: The reason I began this blog is because I felt lost to a certain extent. I found myself going on a "Soul Search" type of thing and all of the things I began thinking about, I just had to get out of my head. This search lead me to question many things, including religion, my own habits/actions, and life in general. Keep this in mind while reading the rest of this post; and all other posts for that matter.**

Anyways, if you are not familiar with Matthew 7:15 and do not feel like Google-ing it, it says the following:

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

So this isn't that crazy of a statement right? But when reading the whole chapter of Matthew 7, I began to question many things. The chapter talks about how you can tell these false prophets by the "fruit" they produce. For the people who do not get the metaphor it's simply you can call people for their BS through their actions.

In the chapter Jesus speaks about people who are judgmental, people who commit terrible crimes against their neighbor, people who think of themselves as higher than anyone else in society. You know, those hypocritical people that say they are disciples of the Lord then go on to only choose the scripture that works in their favor, then disregard the rest of the Bible to prove their point.

These are usually the same people who take ideas and disguise them as things that are meant to help the people that they "care" about but are actually just for personal gain, the facade is just something that they can get many people to buy into as long as they can seem genuine enough - i.e. people who start charity organizations just to get a tax write off, then they eventually take the proceeds from the donations anyways. I think you can understand what I am getting at by now. I digress.

From this chapter, though, I began questioning many things; mainly established religion. These so called "Christians" who wear their Sunday's best to church in order to not be judged, and also in order to judge those of whom cannot afford these types of things -and really those "Christians" who judge people/gossip at all [Matthew 7:1-5]. These so called "servants of the Lord" that reap great amounts of money from their congregations and live a wealthy life while they watch people in their church struggle, as many times those are the people who truly live how Christ would have wanted. 

Example, any million dollar preacher. 


*Personal Aside - I have been to many churches in my life. Most times when I have went with my entire family, you know black dad and white mom, I would overhear the worst comments about our family. All this judgement might have lead me to the point I am at now, digress. Through all of this, though, I watched my parents, who are nowhere near perfect, live through the ways of the Lord. From taking in my friends and family who had problems at their homes, to my dad being the neighborhood father since many fathers were not around. For people to judge families because of their income or situation at a church is the most evil thing I think is possible. To call yourself a Christian is a direct smack in the face to the Almighty. If you don't believe that, once again you can Google Jesus parable about the Pharisee who prays loudly, or how he feels about rich people getting into heaven, or read Matthew 7 in its entirety. That statement is not up for comment or discussion. That, my friend, is nothing but factual*


My question is this, right? How do you, as a servant of the Lord, feel comfortable taking people's money that are less fortunate then you? How do you, one leading the community in the light of Christ, feel at ease with gathering material possessions by the load? 

I am pretty sure Jesus did none of these things. I am pretty sure Jesus told his disciples to drop their nets and follow him, their nets being their worldly job (I know not all the disciples were fisherman). [This is where you correct me if I am wrong]

So off the back, my search led me to believe there are many corrupt pastors. Many pastors who are false prophets and they might not even know it. After all, what if someone came to them with an opportunity to leave all of their worldly possessions behind to go to a live in a desert to spread the word of Christ, say where there are jihads . You think they're jumping at that chance to spread the Word of the Lord to those people, who are in need of it? Some might... Majority, I'm doubting that. They've turned churches into businesses where they sell the Word. So I am labeling those type of people as false prophets, comment if you want. [Before you comment read Matthew 7:22-23, that is exactly what I am talking about]

From here, I began looking inward at myself. I am one of the people who have been being lead by these false prophets, so that evil energy (see my last posts) has been being sent in my direction for years without me denying it. So, yes, I found much negative energy in my soul. Much of it wasn't just brought on me by these false prophets at the church, but false prophets elsewhere. 

Whether they were mentors, friends, family; these false prophets who preached to me about love and honesty and virtue, I finally started seeing the "fruit" that they produced. 

So what did I do, that I continue to do because these false prophets never cease to enter into your life, you may wanna know? I laid by myself, in a pitch black room and prayed, not in the name of the Jesus I had been taught, but to the Almighty Father of the Universe. What did I ask for? [Reference my last post, I don't believe in praying for anything material or physical; mostly just energy and wisdom] I asked for sight. Not just seeing physically, I have near 20/20 vision, I asked for spiritual sight. A sight that could see through these kind of people and take mental notes of the fruit that they produced so that I would never be tainted again. [Once again before you comment read Matthew 7:7-8]

I've always had a knack for calling people for the frauds that they are.- some people call it street sense, I just know it's God leading me through life until I wake up from the sleep walk- and I swear to you, after I laid in my room for these countless hours and had this conversation with God, I woke up the next day and I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. 

But, see, I'm never going to be like these people that start to believe that they've been enlightened and not going to help other people get to this same point of knowledge. I cannot think of the verse in the Bible, I think it's in Matthew 15, where Jesus talks about the blind leading the blind into a pit. EVEN JESUS WOULD ALLOW THESE PEOPLE TO SUFFER! [Please correct me if I am wrong] 

My calling, to share my perspective, and my experience, and my findings to people who are being led by the blind, the corrupt, those people who produce evil fruit. I think it's in Psalm 82 which says we are all the children of God the Almighty so we are all gods in our own right. I will yell until I can no longer yell until people know that these corrupt people are not the answer. These people who eat the whole pig and toss the bacon to the crowd, who appear to be great leaders of the community, regardless of what realm they are in, need to be confronted. They need to be given their own fruit and ask if they think that fruit is evil or not. They need to be seen for what they are, and if they continue their ways they need to be allowed to blindly fall into an everlasting pit by themselves because they have been corrupted to the core and at that point there is no chance to save them. But the people who still have a chance must be saved from following them.

One of my adviser's tell me all of the time, "Marcus, not every mission is your mission. Know your mission." And yeah, that is right to an extent, but when I see the masses being corrupted because they are being led by people who should not be leading them, due to their inability to see, I refuse to believe that that is not my mission.

Have I done wrong? Of course. Will I do wrong again? Without a doubt in my mind. Because we are all human. We are all corrupted by this evil that is thrown around with no cares as people get rich and publicize it to the masses. I digress.

The point of this is to open your eyes. Have that talk with whatever you believe in, because at the end of the day there is only one creator of this universe. Ask that Almighty Being for sight, once again not physical sight but spiritual sight. A sight where you can see clearly the fruit produced by people and if it is truly as pure as they say it is, or if it is filled with evil spirits and toxins.

Ask for the energy to recognize Ravenous Wolves in Sheep's Clothing.

As always, these are just my thoughts.

-Marcus J. 

Read My First Thing Before You Jump to Conclusions

Ok, this is just a short post because the title pretty much says everything I need to say. In my first post, title First Thing, I clearly state that I do not think I'm some type of demi god or a self proclaimed intellectual. I say that these are my thoughts from my perspective because, as many people should know, EVERYONE HAS A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE!

With that being said, once again, if you disagree with anything, comment respectfully and if you know me personally come and talk to me about it. I am always open for a good conversation about controversial topics.

With that being said, enjoy seeing things in a different light.

-Marcus J

Death Isn't the End of My Being...

So for my next post I plan on, once again, challenging common beliefs with some unruly logic. As you can tell by the title, I never think my existence in this universe will come to an end. Do I think I am immortal? Nah not really. Do I have my weird way of thinking to back up this rant? ABSOLUTELY!

So, seeing how I am still by the grace of the Almighty in the engineering school where I am, I have learned many theories, laws, and things of that nature that are "known" to be factual. The one that always bothered me the most is the physics law, the Law of the Conservation of Energy.

For those who don't know what it is, or cannot use the clues from the direct words of the law, it's basically that energy can neither be created nor destroyed. Seems simple right? But if you know about physics, you know a couple theoretical physicist have stretched this law to it's limit, as well, by questioning it. One guy named Albert Einstein did some crazy stuff with it, maybe you've heard of him... -Side note the theory of relativity is absolutely wild, and so is quantum theory; can't even begin to fathom stuff like that.

Back to the point, this theory always led me to have an infinite amount of questions.

**One more side note which is important to this post. I had a dear friend pass away this summer, and that is what really forced me to think about death seriously. She was just about to turn 21, had the world at her feet, and had the energy of 1,000 suns. Indirectly this post is a dedication to her, but you'll see how that happens at the end.**

I've always had a problem when thinking about death. As you can tell, my logic is twisted at times and from listening to what people tell you about afterlife there's no logical way anyone can comprehend just not existing. From what most people will tell you, if you don't die a horrific death and become a ghost/demon, you go to Happy Heaven or burn in hell. I've always had many questions about this concept, but I'll tackle that bully in a post later, for now let's just get back on topic.

So as I questioned this "not existing in the universe" fear, I thought about many things. For one, I watched the movie Immortals and had some crazy thoughts about a war in the after life. I also thought about many things which religious people will tell you. You know, your spirit going through the great gates of heaven into a party in paradise where we praise all day and feast with the great (enter a single religious belief group here) that have passed. [I completely disagree that only one group of religion gets into heaven as well but once again, that'll be in a later post] Ultimately, I found the first more appealing, but only through my logic.

I am a firm believer in the ways of the universe. If you are not, you might want to stop reading now. I only believe in the ways of the universe by applying this law of conservation of energy to everything. If you perform an action, you exert energy right? Even further, when you perform an action you have to think about the positives and negatives of that action. It's what people do, it's called having a conscience. If you do not have a conscience, you need more than religion to help you.

Back to the point, kind of not, but every thought, every voluntary action, every involuntary action that your body makes goes through the brain. If you don't know how the brain works -technically nobody does because it's the single most amazing thing ever, digress- you know you have roughly over 100 billion nerve cells called neurons which send some type of electrochemical impulses through your body. Now as stated in every post, I am not a neuroscientist and am no professional on the matter, but I'm pretty sure these electrical impulses amount to a shit load of energy.

No matter who you are, how "smart", how aware, whatever you think your status is, everyone's brain works the same. Some people have better sections of their brain than others, but at the end of the day they all work through these impulses. Every one has thoughts, can move their limbs for the most part, and things of the sort which require brain power.

Seeing how there's roughly 7 Billion people in the world, which increases quickly, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say that the energy only used to keep people alive is a significant amount.

Here's where my logic lead me.

If I think as much as I do, my brain must be throwing these electrochemical impulses out at some type of advanced rate right? But, see, the act of dying causes your brain to turn into a shut down factory. So where does the energy go? When I die, according to this "Law of the Universe" my thoughts are somewhere, because the energy that generates these thoughts can't just be destroyed. Even further, these thoughts, these energy impulses which lead me to think the way I do, have to be coming from somewhere, right? Who am I to create energy and go against this "Law of the Universe"?

So, this is what I came to believe after failing exams because of thinking so much about this and not sleeping for the better part of the months following my friend's funeral. When people die, it's not the end. That spirit that lives within you, that energy that you have -since it cannot be destroyed- it keeps going. And as a person, you receive the energy that you put into the universe.

I like to think of it as a big ass Karma bank, right? But there's some Almighty Power which is the teller and He's dealing energy with interest rates. So if you're working hard, exerting energy, on positive things then that energy of the people that have passed can be given to you. If you're spending your time exerting negative energy, well you get the hand you're dealt. You might receive some energy, but it'll be the energy of corrupt souls which will only bring more torment to your life. I think this is how these corrupt ass people have the energy to do all this devil's work but still at the end of the day are miserable. Likewise, I think this is how factory workers can work all day, everyday until they retire and be happy with the nothing that they've saved for retirement because they kept positive energy in them.

Whoever this teller is, this Almighty, He hears the prayers and sees the intent behind them. If someone is praying for strength and endurance to keep doing positive work, He'll send it. That's why most religions are supposed to tell you not to pray for material things and be focused on such worldly things, I digress. He is aware, and He has the power to distribute this energy, since it can't be destroyed (by the laws of the universe). And maybe this Almighty has a evil counterpart which deals out the negative energy, but whatever I'm sticking to this belief.

With this being said, I don't believe death is the end. And while I may not believe in the version of eternal life that everyone else might, I know the positive things that I strive to do on a daily basis will allow me to continue to grow into a successful person with the brain of a scholar, because that's what I'm putting into the universe.

On that note, I come to my final conclusion. Oeshae Morgan you were an amazing person during your time on this planet. The things you did, the people you affected, the life you lived were all just proof of the amazing energy you had. So while we have all grieved countless hours about what happened this summer, know that I believe that your spirit is still in this universe making someone better who will go on to change the world someday to the extent that you would have. I never said goodbye to you because I know someday our spirits will meet again to help the same person who needs that positive energy. I love you Mama Shae. May your spirit live on.

This post is dedicated to Oeshae Sierra Morgan 

July 14, 1992-July 12,2013

Gone but never forgotten.

Everyone who is seriously interested in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the universe – a spirit vastly superior to man, and one in the face of which our modest powers must seem humble. 
-Anonymous (believed to be Albert Einstein)

Just My Thoughts...

Trayvon Martin was More than Just a Racial Thing

So for my next post, I thought I'd shed light on something that I thought about heavily over the summer. While I am writing this, I am listening to The Beatles "Revolution" and other songs of the sort, so if I go off on a anarchy type of rant please forgive me.

The topic of this post, as stated in the post title, is the Trayvon Martin case and the controversial decision of the jury. When I heard the verdict, I was angered but not surprised. My lack of surprise came from reading a variety of articles which covered the trial and the point of views that were taken in the articles.

When covering any story that comes to the news as worthy to be covered I like to see different points of view, so I do my research on different media outlets -still never expecting to get what actually is happening- so I research right wing opinions on Fox News, and conservative opinions on CNN, then radical opinions on independent websites, and whatever else I can stumble upon.

Quick Side Note: If you believe everything that the news tells you, you are a fool. These media outlets are the same as everything else in today's society, businesses. They gain money by drawing in viewers, whether that is by delivering news the fastest or coming up with a controversial topic that will keep people watching until the next big thing comes up. I digress.

Like I was saying, I knew how the verdict would be because of the insensitivity of the majority of White America and the image of the black male in the eyes of America as a whole. During the time the trial was going on, I saw the most inadvertent racism I have ever seen in my life. Whether it was black people calling Zimmerman white, or white people labeling Trayvon as a thug, even recently to these dumb white kids thinking it's cool to do something called "Trayvoning" I was fucking disgusted to live in this country.

When reading some article on CNN, I realized what it was about Americans, and maybe people in general. The lack of empathy in people in today's society is absent. For whatever reason, the fact that none of the jury could put themselves in Trayvon's shoes on that night is mind blowing to me. If Trayvon was any other race/gender/whatever the death would have been a tragedy, I digress.  This led me to think, as most people did, didn't Trayvon have the right to stand his ground?

So the jury empathized for Zimmerman, but not the dead boy and the grieving black family, OK cool. That was kind of expected. Especially with how the defense built their case before the trial, saying Trayvon sent pictures of guns and weed like most "thugs" do. This bullshit "defense" was allowed to question the dead man of his character, which was too much for me to fathom. But if the jury would have empathized with Trayvon with one second, they would have seen how deranged Zimmerman must have seemed, following a young teenage boy through the rain. You know how many fuckin weirdos and pedophiles are out in today's world? If I was Trayvon I would've kicked his rent-a-cop ass too, once again I digress.

Anyways, we know how that turned out, nothing we can change now even though Zimmerman bugged tf out after the trial and I'm sure he's still pretty scared for his life. Back to the point. This whole case made me think about one thing in depth. "Hmmm" I thought "I wonder who else had a case built against them where we were not allowed to be empathetic for them for a single moment."

Let me just say, I am one who believes that people are innocent until corrupted. So one thing I've always thought about since I was in 4th grade, on the date of Sept. 11th, is why would people just want to harm America? Even more, why would people who are half way around the globe want to just destroy a whole nation? They don't even know anyone who lives here! Back then I wasn't into researching, though, I was just a young boy. I began to look into that in high school in my AP US History class, and learned of all the bull America did which led to the rise of al Qaeda and hate of America.

So what tf am I doing relating Trayvon Martin to al Qaeda? Using my logic.

The white women on this jury will never know what it is like to be a black man in America, not for a single second. Going to Obama's speech, only a black man in America knows the struggle to be oppressed daily in the "land of the free" for as long as we have. This is now being closely followed by how any brown skin toned man in America feels, as the "majority" is actually a "minority"; Digressing once again.

So from this situation -in which every one of these white women would have used any weapons available, even concrete, to break out of the grasps of this fuckin rent-a-cop- we see the complete lack of empathy for the real victim, you know the one that was shot and killed, because of fear placed on them by an image created by history.

For this next part, I'm not trying to say I agree with terrorism or any acts that they commit, but I do want to offer a new way to think about something we only see as Americans and not just beings in the universe. These men are labeled as terrorists, they are painted as the most disgusting, violent, soulless people on this Earth by the media, but they have to have a reason/mission for what they are doing, right?

**For this next part, reference my first post. I am not an expert, I am not a Master nor do I have a PhD from any institution on this subject, I only have knowledge which I have gained from personal research.**

So al Qaeda is just a group, which has taken an aggressive approach to what America does, in my opinion. Pushing its religion as the only one which is right in the world. An article I read on Frontline says that their mission is to oppose all non-Islamic governments with violence and force. I won't go into detail about the group, because I'm not an expert. For the sake of my argument this will be enough.

Now, for a hypothetical situation, let's put a group of Americans, let's say die hard Christians, in the situation of these people who believe that we are the devil and by killing us they gain access to the highest heavens.

Let's say that a government that is lead by a group of people who are power hungry and corrupt at times come to our hemisphere and we see them fighting wars with our neighbors for a "good cause"; but during these wars we witness them attempting to steal all valuable resources from the land, which we make our country's money from, and they do unGodly things consistently in the process. Well how are we supposed to believe that these people are here for a good cause if all they're doing is killing people and scouring the land of all valuable natural resources?

I believe that this group of die hard Christians would feel that it is their right to protect themselves, their families, and the world from this demonic force which has had such an impact on a civilization full of sinners and corruption. If you don't think this would happen, Google the crusades. I mean sheesh, we even have people who are from America and see exactly what our government does overseas and become terrorists themselves -digress.

The use of drones and bombs that we deliver into places over there is a whole other thing within itself by the way, but I won't start on that.

Now like all things, do I think this group has strayed from their original mission, of course. Killing innocent people is not protecting the world from the same White Devil that much of the world fears, but does a different approach of the origin of this group make sense to me, definitely.

So if you haven't caught how I'm relating the acquittal of Zimmerman to empathizing with Middle Eastern people here it is. Not everyone is white, big news flash. Not every black male is a fuckin thug and not every brown skinned male is a terrorist. The lack of understanding by some of White America, and America in general, is absolutely crazy to me sometimes. All I'm saying is, just imagine there were bombs dropped outside of your neighborhood on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Your life would be miserable, absolutely terrifying.

If that's too much for you to think about, think about why Black America was enraged at the acquittal of George Zimmerman. Imagine you came home and your son was murdered when he was unarmed, by a rent-a-cop who was told repeatedly to stand down; then that person was acquitted because they painted your son as an animal and the jury believed it because of the false image portrayed to the American people.

The media will do what they have to do in many cases to make people believe what they want them to believe. My challenge to you is to stop listening to "facts" and be a person, who recognizes that the person being labeled as a monster or an animal or soulless is just a person just like you. They have thought processes behind decisions just like you. They must use the restroom, eat, sleep, fight temptations, etc. just like you do. The only difference is the environment and the decisions that were made based off of that environment.

So next time you start to wonder how people could terrorize the world, ask yourself if you're talking about the American military or "terrorists." Next time you think, why do black people still blame white people for slavery and the system of America, do some research about those topics, I'm sure you'll be enlightened at what you find.

“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.”  -James Baldwin

“We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer


As always, these are just my thoughts.

-Marcus J

America Would Paint the Actual Jesus as a Terrorist

With my first post, rant, personal insight that I will post on this blog, I wanted to choose something controversial. I feel as though I can share my thoughts on this subject and some will judge, of course, but some will understand exactly what my logic is and begin to ask questions that should be answered. Hopefully I don't get banned after this first post lol.

Being that I am biracial (black father and white mother) and that I am also a victim to class-ism (born into a very low middle class family) I have found myself facing many obstacles as I continue to pursue my American dream and enter into different realms of society. The most complicated of these obstacles are the insecurities that are deeply rooted within my subconscious, and that I had no idea were there until I was immersed in the collegiate campus made up of over 80% White Americans and less than 10% African-Americans. This seems like no major thing, I was simply culture shocked from coming directly from a community made up of entirely African-Americans, right? Until I found myself trying to understand why I was unable to become friends with my Caucasian mates without the strange feeling everything that I did was being judged heavily.

This feeling lead me to learning about the Black Inferiority Complex, which is discussed in several books, dissertations, etc. for those who believe it is just another "excuse" black people make to stay behind in America -I digress. It is basically the belief that African-Americans, and those with darker skin around the world, are less intelligent beings that are seen by others as animals who have distorted thought processes and beastly rage, sexual habits, etc.[Savages if you will] I will not focus on this now, however, because I am sure it will be a topic that I address soon.

Learning about the BI complex made me take a closer look at how Africans managed to go from the greatest scholars and kings on the globe, who began civilization and built the pyramids, advanced irrigation systems and cultivated civilizations in what some people would call a "barren land" to being satisfied with being on social security, food stamps, and unemployment checks.

This search lead me to a book title Brainwashed by Tom Burrell. Once again not the topic of this post, however, in the book there was a section which spoke about the bleaching of religion. Though, what Tom Burrell did not go into is that this started long before slavery times. I will speak about my findings shortly, but the question that remained in my mind through the searches I've made is "When did Jesus, born in the Middle East (Judea is in Southern Israel near Egypt, also not for from Saudi Arabia) become a white man in every image available?"

So in my own independent research I found a paper written by Wesley Muhammad, PhD. entitled "Color Struck: America's White Jesus is a Global Export and False Product" in which Dr. Muhammad speaks on how in 4th Century Europe there were many different versions of Jesus, from white to black, that floated around with the white image being one of the least popular. Yet as slavery continued to grow in the 19th Century the image of "White Jesus" became most dominant, even into Europe, as it gave a holiness to a white race. After all, how could you feel good about enslaving Africans being a Christian when they are closer to Christ's lineage -I digress. Anyways, this is one of the social propaganda tactics which gave white men more power, and a right to enslave and torture other humans -once again I digress.

Ok, so you're probably wondering how this would make Jesus a terrorist in today's society, right? Keep following me and I promise you'll see where I'm going with this or think I am completely insane. 

So far we have shut down the idea of "White Jesus" seeing that he was born in the Middle East. Now, to the man Jesus instead of the idea. If you were unaware, Jesus was not the most popular in the Roman Empire. He was seen as a radical, who had to escape from Roman soldiers many times -yes this is stated in the Bible as well- and was even near being stoned for his "blasphemy." Why was he hated? He stood up against a corrupt empire on the verge of destruction. This, along with his following made him infamous.

Quick side note before things get messy -Yes, I am a Christian but yes I also have questions. Like I have said in my first post, the most powerful question you can ask is "Why?"

To continue, and start to wrap things up so people don't discount what I'm saying, the earliest written Gospel known to man is believed to be Matthew (once again do your research) which is believed to be written between 40 A.D.-140A.D. My issue, what story have you heard, word of mouth, has been completely true from 10-100 years after the actual events took place. Once again, I'll speak about this in a later post. Stay tuned.

Anyways, back to how America would not be a fan of Jesus. This is where I start to tie it together if you've lasted this far. America is a worldwide empire, much like the Roman Empire was. "The sun never sets on the Roman Empire/American Territories." [I feel that these can be interchangeable.]

This is where you can follow my logic (hopefully).

If someone in today's society had the power to influence people enough to make them believe in a common cause -influence strong enough that they would kill other people/themselves if needed- they would immediately be labeled as dangerous. If they began to speak out against the established laws and religion  of the time, and have the audacity to call themselves the sole way to an eternal life, while speaking out against the American Empire, I am pretty sure a few politicians would have some major problems with that.

Now let's top it off like this. If someone, a Middle Eastern man who no one was exactly sure what actions he had committed in his teens and 20's, came to accrue a following in his early 30's that he convinced he was the son of the Almighty God and had never committed a sin AND on top of that is the only way to having an eternal life -along with the bashing he did of established order on the way- I am preeeetttyyyyy sure that there would be some angry people at the top of the totem pole.

The major part, he was able to rally the poor people, the actual majority instead of the factual majority, into believing in him more than the government itself. If someone had these qualities today, I would name names but they are all seen as terrorist threats and have been/will be hunted and killed, they would be listed as number 1 on America's Most Wanted list and be put to rest before the world could know their true cause or their motives.

If you have any trouble following any of this feel free to leave a comment or question.

Once again, these are just my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

First Thing

My name is Marcus J. I am on track to become an Industrial Engineer, but above that I am a person focused on well developing my brain in its entirety rather than being contained to a single learning style.

I went to an art school in high school where I majored in visual arts, then completely flipped the script as a I entered directly into the school of engineering where I am now.

If anyone happens to stumble upon these blog posts for any reason, understand that these are just my thoughts that I have come to believe through my logic. I have no PhD or even Master's degrees in anything I will post about, but I do have logic behind all things I will post about.

This logic comes from my passion for autodidactism, or simply put my desire of self-education. Whether this be through the realms of art, philosophy, religion, or physical science, I believe everyone should always ask the question "Why?" and when people run out of answers for you, proceed to search for an answer by any measures necessary.

Hopefully, if this blog does reach anyone, it will briefly allow you to see things from my perspective and logic. If you have extra comments or concerns on any posts, feel free to share your point of view, but do understand although I respect everyone's thoughts I have the right to completely disregard them, call the BS where I see it, and above all ask for the logic behind the point of view that you bring to the table as to understand better.

One final note, I do not argue, especially over the internet, so be polite in your responses and I will return the respect. If any comment has a negative impulsion, I will delete it and continue on with the more enlightened individuals instead of wasting life on ignorance.

With all of that being said, I hope anyone who sees this blog site will enjoy reading my posts.

Just my thoughts.

-Marcus J.

P.S. The quotation in the background is by George Gurdjieff which says the following:

"Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave."