FLORIDA – The Marion County Commission on Tuesday unanimously agreed to restore the Confederate flag that had been removed from the McPherson Governmental Complex two weeks ago.

Several members of the public spoke in favor of restoring the flag during the commission’s bi-monthly meeting on Tuesday morning. At the end of the meeting, the commission unanimously agreed to restore the flag. It will also create a historical display so that people can understand the significance of the Confederate flag as well as the other flags flying in front of the complex.

The Confederate flag was removed in the wake of the June 17 killing of African-American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. The accused killer had expressed racist beliefs and had been pictured waving the Confederate flag. (more…)

On June 24th we somewhat sarcastically predicted that PGA golfer Bubba Watson would be sucked into the ridiculous vortex that is “confederate flag syndrome”.

Today, that ridiculous prediction has come true.

Golf star Bubba Watson will paint over the Confederate flag on the General Lee, a prop car from the television show “The Dukes of Hazzard,” in light of the brewing controversy over the flag.  (link)

Watson tweeted the news Thursday afternoon:

All men ARE created equal, I believe that so I will be painting the American flag over the roof of the General Lee #USA

— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) July 2, 2015

Oddly enough, when looking back through the Treehouse archives to get the link to the Bubba Watson prediction, we discovered this earlier prediction from April 2014 when spontaneous acts of confederacy were not being nationally reported.

JUST IN: #MountZionAME church fire classified as natural, SLED says #chsnews #scnews

— Melissa Boughton (@mel_bough) July 2, 2015

(link)

Prior to his election in 2008 President Obama told everyone his intent was to “fundamentally change” the United States of America.  Not enough people were paying attention to what that actually meant, because everyone was filled with their own self-interpretation of “Hope and Change”, or “Change They Can Believe In”.

However, recent events have brought a few more people to seek a greater understanding of what’s going on in 2015.  This outline is simply going to point out a couple of visible footprints, amid the dozens possible, and show how all the modern activism stems from, and traces back to, the Obama White House.

Obama For America, or OFA, was one of the primary organizational change agents that contained all of the visible sub-sets of various activists working diligently to elect their commander-in-chief organizer, Barack Obama.

From OFA a myriad of splinter groups dispersed following the successful election.  Some began working on new social justice endeavors immediately, others began organizing in preparation for things to come in the years that followed ’08.

If you were to look up “Black Lives Matter” on Wikipedia you would note the following: (more…)

Bree Newsome, the woman who climbed the flag pole today to remove the confederate flag, is no stranger to activism for profit.

Indeed, this morning’s entourage encompassed professional videographers to document the publicity stunt.

A resident of Raleigh North Carolina, in 2013 Ms. Newsome was arrested during a protest against voter ID laws:

Bree Newsome, one of six protesters arrested and taken to jail Wednesday night after staging a sit-in at the office of the Republican North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis, said the group is still demanding a meeting with Tillis, who supports the bill. (link)

In 2014 Newsome was a panelist at Octavia Butler Celebration of Arts & Activism at Spelman College; as described: “culminating event brings together the speculative fiction and film communities to discuss the legacy of Octavia E. Butler; the intersection of Afrofuturism, social justice and Butler’s body of work“.

Here’s a video from that event outlining her complete history during the introduction (watch – beginning 24:35) (more…)

A few days ago professional activist Shaun King was again fundraising by advocating for “Black Lives Matter” followers to break the law.  His “Fundraising for Felonies Program” was his latest scheme under the auspices of raising money for bail, and telling his sheeple followers to “tag” (graffiti) southern monuments, and take down confederate flags:

Today, a national activist took Shaun King up on his “fundraising for felonies” offer and climbed atop a Charleston flagpole to remove the flag. (more…)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Justice Department will fast track the sending of $29 million to South Carolina to help families of victims of the mass murder of nine churchgoers at a historic black church in Charleston, a Justice Department spokesman said on Friday.

An unspecified portion of the money, allocated under the government’s national Crime Victim Assistance Formula Grant program, can be used to provide services to the families of victims of the shootings at Emmanuel AME Church, spokesman Kevin Lewis said. (read more)

The Bringing People Together version: At Carnegie Hall, gospel singer Wintley Phipps delivers perhaps the most powerful rendition of Amazing Grace ever recorded. He says:

“A lot of people don’t realize that just about all Negro spirituals are written on the black notes of the piano. Probably the most famous on this slave scale was written by John Newton, who used to be the captain of a slave ship, and many believe he heard this melody that sounds very much like a West African sorrow chant. And it has a haunting, haunting plaintive quality to it that reaches past your arrogance, past your pride, and it speaks to that part of you that’s in bondage. And we feel it. We all feel it. It’s just one of the most amazing melodies in all of human history.”

After sharing the noteworthy history of the song, Mr. Phipps delivers a stirring performance that brings the audience to its feet!

The Tearing Them Apart Version: (more…)

Actions and Consequences

ACTIONS = Activists organize/rally in Charleston South Carolina yesterday:

CONSEQUENCES = The above professional agitation occurred simultaneous to this next event happening. (stay with it, you’ll see): (more…)

A month before anyone knew the name Dylann Roof there was another series of racist incidents, utilizing flags, that led to another racist manifesto.

The first manifesto was delivered to the media a month before Charleston.  This manifesto was similarly filled with anger, bitterness, hatred and open threats of violence.  However, no-one paid any attention to it. Why?

In May a racist named Eric Sheppard Jr wrote a 1,500+ word racist manifesto with promises of violence toward his community in Georgia.

[…]  “THIS IS INDEED A CALL TO ACTION FOR EVERY AFRIKAN REVOLUTIONARY ON THE PLANET TO KILL ALL WHITE DEVILS AND RECLAIM YOUR RIGHTFUL POSITION AS RIGHTEOUS RULERS”..  (link)

The Valdosta Daily Times even published the manifesto complete with video from Sheppard outlining his threats and intentions, but no-one seemed to care.

[…] Sheppard stated he will “annihilate” anyone who comes after him and issued what appears to be threats of violence at Saturday’s graduation ceremonies at Lowndes High School.

The comments were made in a rambling, profanity-laced “memorandum ultimatum” sent to The Valdosta Daily Times condemning white people and local police.

A brief video showing Sheppard wearing sun glasses and inside what appeared to be an SUV accompanied his statement. (link)

The national airwaves were not filled with outrage, disgust or broadcasted conversations about racism. Don Lemon, Anderson Cooper and Sonny Hostin didn’t fly to Georgia, even after the FBI and U.S. Marshal’s office substantiated the threats. (more…)