Make lower crack sentencing guidelines retroactive!!!
December 5, 2007
What’s up fam,
As you prepare to wrap up the year, I want to alert everyone to a very important event regarding drug sentencing. On December 11, the U.S. Sentencing Commission plans to hold a public meeting where they are expected to vote on whether to make the new, lower crack cocaine guideline retroactive.
On May 1, 2007, the U.S. Sentencing Commission proposed an amendment to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to reduce the sentencing ranges for crack cocaine offenses by two levels. The amendment went into effect on November 1, 2007, and will affect 70 percent of crack cocaine cases sentenced in federal courts, reducing sentences by an average of 15 months.
Retroactivity is vital because for nearly twenty years now, no group has been hit harder with mandatory minimums than Black folks. But don’t take my word for it.
Flashback: The SuperSpade in March of 2006
March 22, 2007
For people who may have just recently joined our site, we present an opportunity to get a taste of things we’ve talked about in the past. We’re going to start doing this once per month.
Here are some categorized highlights of The SuperSpade circa March 2006:
The State of Black Men
A Poverty of the Mind (1 comment)
Is the Black Man in America Doomed? (5 comments)
The Weekly Dream
Carpe Diem - The Purpose Driven Now
Life’s Lessons (6 comments)
The Hunger for More (4 comments)
General Indifference (5 comments)
Family-related
Is your family more important than God? (10 comments)
The Black Family Movement Part II (1 comment)
The Right to be a Deadbeat (4 comments)
Relationships
Are you late or late late? (6 comments)
Indifference, Insecurity, and Assumption Transference (4 comments)
A good Black man? (12 comments)
Politics
Why we went to war, Bush responds (2 comments)
Bush’s State of Iraq unveiled (2 comments)
In defense of Dubai (and Bush) (1 comment)
Bush warned of levees breaching in New Orleans (1 comment)
Supporting and listening to the troops
Categories
SuperSpade
Flashback
The Black Family Movement pt. II
March 25, 2006
Old rule: Black people cannot talk about a movement of any form until we heal our families.
Back in January, I wrote a post on the Black Family Movement and how Black people can not talk about a revolution until we heal our families. That post seemed to really strike a chord in the people that posted comments and I hope it helped those of you who did read it. And I promised I would come back with more so here it is.
SWhat bothers me profusely is the amount of generalizations Black people use to define themselves. You know what I’m talking about, “The Black family this, or Black women are that”. So what I am trying to do with the Black family movement series is to make it personal and to help your actions answer this question, “What am I doing to help heal/improve my family?” Often times, we take our family for granted and think that we are born with an innate love for them. But as with any relationships, they require sacrifice, understanding, flexibility, and communication. So please add to this list as you see fit, but make sure you are spending life energy on your family. “We all we got!!!”
1) For those of us who hold on to the anger related to an absent father (either physically or emotionally), know that that hurt is only weighing you down. Find a way to forgive them for their actions. This is not a matter of us comparing who went through the most painful childhood and this obviously will not happen over night, but it is a step in the right direction. Start walking.
2) Stop getting offended when a family member asks you about what is going on in your life. The chances are that they asking you because they care about you, not just to get in your business.
3) Have a meeting with your family to talk about building a trust fund and stop thinking that once you “make it” you are going to be able to take care of everybody.
4) Stop forgetting people’s birthdays and if you are getting a card/gift, give it to them on or before their birthday.
5) Keep track of what younger people in your family want to be when they grow up and constantly push them to challenge themselves for the better.
6) Think of all the reasons why you love the members of your family and tell them!!! What’s the point in waiting to tell them at their funeral?
7) Here’s something interesting. Start a family blog such that only members of the family can view the site and post comments.
Engage your family; learn about their politics, their philosophies on Black empowerment, and their thoughts on family and raising children. You would be surprised at how much you don’t know, trust me.
9) Your friends are not the only people you can have fun with. Why is it that so many people are appalled at the thought of going out with their family? (I’m talking about siblings, parents, cousins, etc.) Tear down these artificial social barriers in your life and find a way to weave family and friends into your social scene.
10) And this last point was number 10 on the first Black Family movement post but it bears repeating; the best reason is just because. This relates to everything.
And if you haven’t noticed, I end every post with “Stay up fam,” because we are all family. I don’t care how much of our bloodline we have in common because we all come from a great people whose sacrifices, love, and hard work made it possible for us to be here today.
Carpe diem,
Stay up fam,
Brandon
The Black Family Movement
January 10, 2006
New Rule: Black people cannot talk about a movement of any form until we heal our families.
Have you or someone you know ever been asked about the status of your family and replied with a sigh because the answer was too complicated and required too many caveats? I know the feeling well and I am sure you can attest to this as well. But no matter how crazy and dysfunctional you think your family is, they are still your family and you could have it worse by not having a family at all. No one to baby-sit your kids, take you to work, and of course, borrow money without “really” having to pay it back.
And while many of us claim that we are close to our family, have you ever thought about why? On Christmas Day, I was doing volunteer work with some of my family and I asked my nephew to rate how close he thinks our family is on a scale of 1-10. He said 10 with confidence. And then I asked him how often he talks to family members outside of his household. He said I don’t. So I then asked him how he can claim that he is close to the family if he never talks to them. I don’t have to explain how the rest of the conversation went to say that even though my nephew is 13, how many people do you know that would answer my questions with almost the same twisted logic that my nephew used? Chances are that if you reading this blog, you probably have a cell phone. Look at your last ten dialed calls and tell me how many of those listed are members of your family.
I think it is unfortunate how many of us take advantage of our family members by not getting to know them on a deeper level and let them pass away with your relationship more affected by society’s distal labels of kinship (i.e. brother, cousin, Grandma, etc.) rather than a relationship that has been forged through the fire of life. Now I know there are some extenuating circumstances that make for familial relationships impossible but chances are, these circumstances don’t represent your entire family. And if they do, just think back to slavery and marvel at the hope and sincerity that remained while families were split apart and scattered across this country like dandelion seeds. We are a strong people because our families are strong and when families are strong, we empower ourselves and our community. Because here’s the thing, I don’t care what you been through as long as you are working towards healing family wounds and reaching out where you once were reluctant. So let me leave you with ten suggestions to help heal your family in 2006 because we here at Superspade believe in providing actionable information that is tangible and practical.
1) If you are reading this blog, then you probably have email. I am willing to bet your family members do too. Get their email addresses and make it happen. And don’t be afraid to email them at work if they don’t have a personal email address.
2) If someone owes you money and you can afford it if they can’t pay you back, let it ride. And if you owe someone money, try to pay them back if you can and if you can’t, be upfront with that family member so you don’t sabotage a relationship over money
3) Play the question game and just ask people questions that you always wanted to know but were too young or too scared to ask.
4) Play spades. Need I say more?
5) Don’t make a bigger deal out of gift giving than sharing time and love.
6) Many times families will meet up when food is involved but breaking bread doesn’t mean you have to break the bank. A veggie tray and some chicken will do you just fine.
7) Meet up with the family and scrapbook because you know the picture with your whole body covered in flour is hilarious If you live too far from your family to hang out, you are not absolved from connecting to your family. Pick up a phone or email somebody. Seriously
9) If you have young people in your family, take them with you to do community service, go to their games, offer to baby-sit, and show them the right path.
10) And last but not least, the best reason is just because. This relates to everything from going out, visiting, calling, emailing, etc.
I know my suggestions will not end crime or give everyone a decent job with healthcare, but it will help us find our footing as a community and improve many of the issues that many of us think require a movement.
Stay up fam,
Brandon
