To temba on courageous conversation about race

[Guest guest]

temba wrote:

 

THERE IS NO REASON WHY YOU

CANNOT AN INVITATION TO AMMAs programs and post it in the stores of these

communitys that are not being reached.also you can request those

introduction booklets and leave them in the stores .you can check the

progress by seeing if they have been taken each week.you can also gather

with other devotees and find a park in the neighborhoods that arent being

reached and sing bhajans.people will be attreacted to the music.if you go

into a african american communty ,you can pass out info.on how AMMA went to

kenya and show pictures of that.you can also pass out info. on how SHE WAS

PERSECUTED sa a young child because of HER dark skin.the GHANDI KING AWARD

can be passed out.most importantly you can let them know that AMMA LOVES

THEM.how you do that is through your love.they will feel your

sincerity.there are many more creative ways that people can be reached ,but

who is willing to do the work ?

Dear temba ~ I knew you would have some good ideas about reaching out to

people of color, but wow!, you have really inspired me with all your ideas.

Singing bhajans in a public park ~ how wonderful! Plus I think it would just

feel

good. And picking things that people of color can relate to, like how Amma

was persecuted because of Her own dark skin, her visit to Kenya, etc. ... wow!

Us white folk need more people like you because you are the one who can give

us the ideas that will work, and you are right in there, doing it yourself.

You continuously amaze me. Hugs ~ Linda

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

temba wrote:

 

and on another note.between african americans,puerto

rican americans etc.so-called people of color are now the majotity in

america.now another point is that we are all "PEOPLE OF COLOR".THAT IS JUST

THE SIMPLE TRUTH.are you not a person of color?ofcourse you are.

 

 

Dear temba ~ you bring forth a very simple truth, which I was much more

conscious of when I lived in Washington, DC, and, of course, you are totally

correct. The only difficulty with this truth is that not everyone knows it. In a

situation where one group, whether it be a cultural group or a class group,

the dominant group does tend to view all who are not part of their group as

"other." There has been much discussion, writing, and teaching on this subject

in universities across America. They called it "deconstructionism." Literally,

these people, scholars and students, were pulling apart the layers of

culture and history, deconstructing what had for so long been taught, so they

could

locate the truth and begin to tell histories ~ that were true. Of course,

again, from the right wing, there was and still is much opposition to this

effort.

 

I will give you an example from my own life. I wanted to be an artist, so I

went to college to study art. First I studied for two years, in a more

classical mode, at a community college in Maryland. Then I completed my last

two

years at what was considered to be a "real" art school in Richmond, Virginia ~

Virginia Commonwealth University. There were lots of women art students, in

fact, in most classes, more than half were women. Yet we/I did not know there

were great women painters, except just a few that were "acceptable" within

this Western Art school of thought. The only women I heard about were Mary

Cassatte, a French Impressionist, Georgia O'keefe, who nobody would dare to

ignore, and Helen Frankenthaler. And poor Helen was only mentioned and given

credit

for teaching Morris Louis, who became a very famous post-abstract

expressionist painter, who to "throw" paint on unprimed canvas lying on the

floor.

 

Many years later, I took a feminist art history class. This was just a bit

after the deconstructionist movement had gotten underway. I couldn't believe it

... all the women artists, renowned in their own time by their own culture

or community, who had never been mentioned. Early on, most of these women were

daughters of painters because women were not allowed to study art. Learning

of all these women and the kind of art they made and the times they lived in

totally changed my head around and opened me up. I became stronger as an

artist, for now I had role models. But mostly it was just wonder at being shown

what had been buried.

 

This is true, of course, with American history, where the history books left

out or disparaged the Native Americans, the Blacks, etc. And even once

again, the right wing opposed the rewriting of history to include the

achievements

and participation as part of American culture and history. It was not

rewriting, of course, it was actually just adding additional truth and

dispelling

untruth.

 

Okay ... I could go on, but I'll stop. What is the relevance to us as Amma

devotees? Perhaps just to be more aware, to be inclusive, to understand what

you pointed out ~ we are all people of color ~ and to act on this knowledge and

make sure the truth is never hidden again.

 

Jai Ma ~ Linda P.S. I also just flashed on a Shirley Temple movie, I can't

remember the title. But in the movie she was living in English occupied

India. What happened there? The English tried to impose their ways and beliefs

on

the Indians (and when will we stop calling Native Americans Indians ... that

was all based on the mistake Columbus made when he arrived here instead of

his intended destination of India). As you said, each culture has its own

richness, and together we enrich each other.

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

one of AMMAs sons favorite movies is "THE LIITLE PRINCESS."THIS MOVIE TAKES

PLACE IN THE SETTING OF THE ENGLISH WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.AMMAS SON DIDNT

realize this until he watched this movie as an adult.they romanticed the way

they just took over these peoples lives,however this did not distract AMMAs

sons attention for he is always capitavated by SHIRLY TEMPLES CHARM AND

INNOCENCE.DOD YOU KNOW THAT BILL BOJANGLES ROBINSON,ONE OF THE GREATEST

AFRICAN AMERICAN TAP DANCERS TAUGHT SHIRLT TEMPLE how to dance.he also

appears in one of her movies and they dance together in PURE INNOCENCE.AMMAs

on falls in love with ideals such as this.its just like knowing that JOHN

BROWN A WHITE AMERICAN WHO WAS HUNG along with some of his sons for fighting

to abolish slavery was ONE OF HARRIET TUBMANS BEST FRIENDS.HARRIET TUBMANS

MISSION ,"THE UNDERGROUND RAILROAD WAS INSPIRED AND FUNDED BY QUACKERS ,WHO

WERE ALSO WHITE AMERICANS.AMMAs son falls in love with these great truths.

 

one day AMMAs son will share with you who his GRANMOTHER IS.ANOTHER great

truth that he has faliin in love with.

 

 

ps.AMMAS son has has cherokee blood as a lot of us do ,but guess what

?cherokee is not what we where called in our native tongue.WE WERE KNOWN AS

"ANYYAWAYA",WHICH MEANS ,THE FIRST PEOPLE.

>nierika

>Ammachi

>Ammachi

> Re: To temba on courageous conversation about race

>Tue, 6 Dec 2005 14:55:15 EST

>

>

>temba wrote:

>

>and on another note.between african americans,puerto

>rican americans etc.so-called people of color are now the majotity in

>america.now another point is that we are all "PEOPLE OF COLOR".THAT IS

>JUST

>THE SIMPLE TRUTH.are you not a person of color?ofcourse you are.

>

>

>Dear temba ~ you bring forth a very simple truth, which I was much more

>conscious of when I lived in Washington, DC, and, of course, you are

>totally

>correct. The only difficulty with this truth is that not everyone knows it.

>In a

>situation where one group, whether it be a cultural group or a class group,

>the dominant group does tend to view all who are not part of their group

>as

>"other." There has been much discussion, writing, and teaching on this

>subject

>in universities across America. They called it "deconstructionism."

>Literally,

> these people, scholars and students, were pulling apart the layers of

>culture and history, deconstructing what had for so long been taught, so

>they could

> locate the truth and begin to tell histories ~ that were true. Of course,

>again, from the right wing, there was and still is much opposition to this

>effort.

>

>I will give you an example from my own life. I wanted to be an artist, so I

>went to college to study art. First I studied for two years, in a more

>classical mode, at a community college in Maryland. Then I completed my

>last two

>years at what was considered to be a "real" art school in Richmond,

>Virginia ~

>Virginia Commonwealth University. There were lots of women art students,

>in

>fact, in most classes, more than half were women. Yet we/I did not know

>there

>were great women painters, except just a few that were "acceptable" within

>this Western Art school of thought. The only women I heard about were Mary

>Cassatte, a French Impressionist, Georgia O'keefe, who nobody would dare

>to

>ignore, and Helen Frankenthaler. And poor Helen was only mentioned and

>given credit

>for teaching Morris Louis, who became a very famous post-abstract

>expressionist painter, who to "throw" paint on unprimed canvas lying on

>the floor.

>

>Many years later, I took a feminist art history class. This was just a bit

>after the deconstructionist movement had gotten underway. I couldn't

>believe it

> ... all the women artists, renowned in their own time by their own

>culture

>or community, who had never been mentioned. Early on, most of these women

>were

> daughters of painters because women were not allowed to study art.

>Learning

>of all these women and the kind of art they made and the times they lived

>in

>totally changed my head around and opened me up. I became stronger as an

>artist, for now I had role models. But mostly it was just wonder at being

>shown

>what had been buried.

>

>This is true, of course, with American history, where the history books

>left

>out or disparaged the Native Americans, the Blacks, etc. And even once

>again, the right wing opposed the rewriting of history to include the

>achievements

>and participation as part of American culture and history. It was not

>rewriting, of course, it was actually just adding additional truth and

>dispelling

>untruth.

>

>Okay ... I could go on, but I'll stop. What is the relevance to us as Amma

>devotees? Perhaps just to be more aware, to be inclusive, to understand

>what

>you pointed out ~ we are all people of color ~ and to act on this

>knowledge and

>make sure the truth is never hidden again.

>

>Jai Ma ~ Linda P.S. I also just flashed on a Shirley Temple movie, I

>can't

>remember the title. But in the movie she was living in English occupied

>India. What happened there? The English tried to impose their ways and

>beliefs on

>the Indians (and when will we stop calling Native Americans Indians ...

>that

>was all based on the mistake Columbus made when he arrived here instead of

>his intended destination of India). As you said, each culture has its own

>richness, and together we enrich each other.

>

>

>

>

 

_______________

Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE!

http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

[Guest guest]

THANKYOU my dear sister linda ,but in all sincerity ,it is not me.MOTHERS

son WILL EMBRACE IT AND ACCEPT IT ,BUT he will not and cannot take any

credit for anything.NOT EVEN ONE DOT.TODAY AMMAs son passed out a "CONSIOUS

CHOICE"MAGAZINE TO SOMEONE.they were amazed and astonished to know that all

of these wholistic healing places and other great ancient practices were

being taught in buildings that were right in their faces.it was like she

went to another level of awareness.AMMAS SON WATCHED her awareness expand

right before his eyes.who knows if she will follow up on any of it,but now

she has expanded.unless we expose what we have been so blessed to experience

with those who typically would not be exposed to it ,we dont know what their

responses will be.we bring the effort and AMMAs grace brings the

result.namah shivaya my dear sister linda.

 

 

>nierika

>Ammachi

>Ammachi

> Re: To temba on courageous conversation about race

>Tue, 6 Dec 2005 11:12:32 EST

>

>temba wrote:

>

>THERE IS NO REASON WHY YOU

>CANNOT AN INVITATION TO AMMAs programs and post it in the stores of these

>communitys that are not being reached.also you can request those

>introduction booklets and leave them in the stores .you can check the

>progress by seeing if they have been taken each week.you can also gather

>with other devotees and find a park in the neighborhoods that arent being

>reached and sing bhajans.people will be attreacted to the music.if you go

>into a african american communty ,you can pass out info.on how AMMA went

>to

>kenya and show pictures of that.you can also pass out info. on how SHE WAS

>PERSECUTED sa a young child because of HER dark skin.the GHANDI KING AWARD

>can be passed out.most importantly you can let them know that AMMA LOVES

>THEM.how you do that is through your love.they will feel your

>sincerity.there are many more creative ways that people can be reached

>,but

>who is willing to do the work ?

>Dear temba ~ I knew you would have some good ideas about reaching out to

>people of color, but wow!, you have really inspired me with all your ideas.

>Singing bhajans in a public park ~ how wonderful! Plus I think it would

>just feel

>good. And picking things that people of color can relate to, like how Amma

>was persecuted because of Her own dark skin, her visit to Kenya, etc. ...

>wow!

>Us white folk need more people like you because you are the one who can

>give

>us the ideas that will work, and you are right in there, doing it

>yourself.

>You continuously amaze me. Hugs ~ Linda

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

_______________

Don’t just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search!

http://search.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200636ave/direct/01/

[Guest guest]

Temba wrote

 

>> one of AMMAs sons favorite movies is "THE LIITLE PRINCESS."THIS MOVIE

TAKES

>> PLACE IN THE SETTING OF THE ENGLISH WAR IN SOUTH AFRICA.AMMAS SON

>> DIDNT realize this until he watched this movie as an adult.they

romanticed the way

>> they just took over these peoples lives,however this did not distract

AMMAs

>> sons attention for he is always capitavated by SHIRLY TEMPLES CHARM AND

>> INNOCENCE.DOD YOU KNOW THAT BILL BOJANGLES ROBINSON,ONE OF THE

>> GREATES AFRICAN AMERICAN TAP DANCERS TAUGHT SHIRLT TEMPLE how to

>> dance...

 

Dear temba ~ thank you for remembering the title of this movie for me; it is

the to which I was referring. I am very aware that Bill Bojangles Robinson

taught Shirley Temple to dance, and he did a great job. I loved watching them

dancing together, and I believe that he actually appeared in several of her

movies. One was "Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm." But I know there were others.

This child just has no memory anymore. Jai Ma ~ Linda

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

temba wrote:

 

>> thankyou for giving your perspective on this topic.it is great that we

are

>> all listening to each other and sharing.to share from the heart is to

love

>> and AMMAs son thanksyou for loving him through this form of

>> sharing.everyones perspective has its purpose.MOTHERS son would like to

ask

>> you a question.are you saying that there are more crimes commited by

blacks

>> and hispanics and that is why the prisons are more filled with blacks and

>> hispanics?are you buying into that?is that what you are saying my

beautiful

>> brother?do you think that 95 percent of the crimes in america are

commited

>> by AFRICAN AMERICANS AND HISPANIC AMERICANS?THAT PERCENTAGE IS WAY >>

OFF...

 

Dear temba and all,

 

This morning when I turned on the news, there was a story about a video that

had been made by police in a metro police department (I'm sorry; I wasn't

quite awake, so I didn't catch where this happened). The police who made the

video are saying this was a "satiric" video. The video showed a homeless man

being run over by a police car; a busty white woman being pulled over and

basically harrassed, and something involving a Black man. Racism, sexism,

classism

are alive and well in America.

 

I decided that I would try to bring some actual facts to this discussion.

After this, I'm not sure I'm going to continue to be part of this

conversation...too many digests, and not enough time for me to be reading what

is

basically the same belief-based information over and over.

I realize that some of what has been stated is based on personal experiences

and also of working with certain populations in need. And my first priority

with the group is to keep the prayer list going.

 

The information below is from the FBI Department of Justice, "FBI Uniform

Crime Reports," 2004 crime data, the most current data available.

 

For all arrests, the breakdown by race is as follows:

70.5% white

37.2 % black

remainder, other races

 

For all arrestees for violent crime, the breakdown by race is as follows:

 

60.5% white

37.2 % black

remainder, other races

 

For victims of violent crime overall, given in terms of the number per 1,000

in the general population:

26 Black per 1,000

21 White per 1,000

remainder, other races

 

For murder victims, the breakdown by races is as follows:

49% White

47% Black

remainder, other

 

For prison inmates, given in terms of the number per 100,000 in the general

population:

3,218 Black per 100,000

1,220 Hispanics per 100,000

463 White per 100,000

 

To visit the websites where I obtained this data:

 

_http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/summary/index.html_

(http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/cius_04/summary/index.html)

_http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm_

(http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/prisons.htm)

 

Consequently, all social factors aside, and I grant that the poor, and those

from abusive and dysfunctional families, are ill prepared to function in the

"real" world, I believe the data speaks for itself.

 

Also, Michael Moore, the Circle of Love Inside Member, is one of the people

I write to. The circumstances around his trial were suspect, yet a second

trial only reiterated the information in the first trial. Aikya could speak

more

specifically about this. Michael, who has never seen Amma, except in

pictures, is one of the most sincere and humble devotees I have had the blessing

to

interact with.

 

That's all ... "just the facts, mam" ... Jai Ma ~ Linda