tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post2716486369633906835..comments2023-09-28T07:08:53.618-04:00Comments on The Harvey Journal: On the Trouble in the NationHarold Michael Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06827668947854084930noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-21543288396901478162009-09-01T07:07:29.181-04:002009-09-01T07:07:29.181-04:00I am appalled (to be polite) by the blatant racist...I am appalled (to be polite) by the blatant racist perspective of the presenters of this "so called black agenda." I am black and this is NOT my agenda. If I had an agenda for black people in Atlanta it would be a quest for a quality education; safe, decent affordable housing; access to healthcare; jobs that pay a living wage; and public transportation that goes where people want to go timely and economically! I want black people to act like black people are supposed to act! Stand up straight and walk with dignity, act decent and have respect for our community! How's that for an agenda? <br /><br />Atlanta has had a black Mayor and majority black leadership for the past 36 years. What benefit was it to more than a handful of black people who because of their "name" get to participate in politics or government contracting opportunities? Where is the opportunity for the rest of the people in Atlanta? This "black leadership" has failed to enact its "black agenda" in 36 years and there should be little expectation from black people that these same "black leaders" are going to do anything different if they continue to reign in power. The problem is these people are NOT "black leaders" they are "leading blacks" and they have been leading black people in the wrong direction for far too long. What happened to “the city too busy to hate”? How can America elect a Black president, but Atlanta can’t elect a white Mayor? <br /> <br />What Atlanta needs now is to elect the best qualified candidates with the ability to deliver what is important to Blacks, Whites, Hispanics, Asians and any other ethnic group that may call Atlanta home. Atlanta can no longer continue to elect people because they are their "friends" or because their "name" is the same as someone else who was prominent in their own right at some time in the past. The problems we have in Atlanta can be solved partly by selecting top quality leaders as Mayor, City Council and Department Heads and not under motivated, under achievers who are friends or relatives of "somebody who is, or was, somebody.” <br /> <br />In my book, "everybody is somebody" and we all want the same quality of life in Atlanta! That's why I am asking the citizens of Atlanta to elect me on November 3rd to Atlanta City Council in the Post 1 At Large race. Is it bold of me to run? Hell YES! <br /><br />I think the voters of Atlanta have enough common sense to elect who they believe is the best person qualified to serve them despite their race and they don’t need the Black Leadership Forum to tell them different. Someone’s race should not be the deciding factor and voters should not be afraid to exercise their own mind when it is contrary to the command of the black leadership. <br /><br />What should be important in any election is the experience, education and ability of the candidate to get the job done! In the Post 1 race, I AM that person. When the voters elect me, I won’t say I’ll make you proud, but I do promise “I won’t let you down.”<br /> <br />Ashamed for the Black Leadership Forum<br />Dwanda Farmer, Candidate – Post 1 at Large<br />Forward with Farmer Campaign<br />www.forwardwithfarmer.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-48629281598506561372009-09-01T03:55:06.090-04:002009-09-01T03:55:06.090-04:00Great writing Michael.
I don't see how this ra...Great writing Michael.<br />I don't see how this race thing can still be an issue. You have abilities that far exceed the poor white trash who still cling to the Conferacy1<br />I was in Selma in '62 and marched with my ministers group with Dr. King. And to think, all this time and a black president, and these fools still have an agenda they should be ashamed of themselves for!<br /><br />Georgiana<br />London, EnglandAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-46733831015405610542009-09-01T03:51:28.118-04:002009-09-01T03:51:28.118-04:00Michael, your article was very thoughtful and well...Michael, your article was very thoughtful and well written. I grew up in Ohio, and my father, while relatively conservate, liked people and was really opened minded and cared about social justice. He even signed up african amercians to vote in Oklahome after the voting rights passed. I guess I grew up sheltered in Ohio, but with values of understanding and equality. I went to college in a very conservative part of Virginia in the early to mid 90s. I was shocked by how badly some of my african american friends were treated, had just assumed we were past a lot of the awful history in the US. It opened my eyes that we need more discourse and reach out to each other and engage in a respectful dialogue, in order let go of the anger and hatred of the past.<br /><br />Beth<br />ChicagoAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-17816759900950140072009-09-01T03:48:17.574-04:002009-09-01T03:48:17.574-04:00Michael,
I read your blog post! I like it! Keep o...Michael,<br /><br />I read your blog post! I like it! Keep on keeping! <br /><br />Kathryn E.<br />MassachusettsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-32995711759402584682009-09-01T03:41:45.504-04:002009-09-01T03:41:45.504-04:00Michael.......
Just read your blog post from Satur...Michael.......<br />Just read your blog post from Saturday and LOVED IT!<br />Being born when I was and growing up in rural NY throughout the 60's and 70's I was just a child when most of what you write about here happened and didn't fully understand or become aware of the civil rights struggles until a little later in life.<br />I really appreciate your look back and also forward.....thanks for directing me to this piece. It's definitely worth reading and I hope you continue on documenting your views and experiences.....past and present!<br /><br />Lori<br />Upstate New YorkAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-77498842682171935482009-09-01T03:37:27.080-04:002009-09-01T03:37:27.080-04:00Michael, I have just read your new blog posting (&...Michael, I have just read your new blog posting ("On the trouble in the nation") and I have a few thoughts I'd like to leave with you.<br /><br />Prejudice takes many forms in human interaction. For a couple of centuries, at least, in America that form has been predicated mostly on skin colour, on black and white. My own history is Irish, and there prejudice took on the form of religion, language and nationality. Unlike black Americans who were stolen from their homes by white sailors and brought to America to be slaves, Irish Catholics had their homes stolen from them and were made into slaves without ever leaving the place. It amounted to much the same thing. My family were Catholics, but had the rare privilege of being Catholics with money and position in society (descended from the First Earl of Antrim Sorley Boy McDonnell). My grandfather lost the last vestige of that money and position when the storm-troopers known as the Black & Tans came and burned his farm and forced him to emigrate to Canada with eight of his nine children in tow, leaving the youngest to die in Ireland as he was too sick to board the boat. But while the line the British used to divide the Irish was the Catholic-Protestant line, there were great protestant leaders (Charles Stewart Parnell for one) who championed the republican cause and the emancipation of the enslaved Catholic Irish. This remark I make in regards to the situation you describe in Atlanta, where for the first time in almost 40 years it appears a white woman may become mayor, replacing a long string of black leaders. Is this a loss of power for blacks? Doesn't the leadership provided by the new mayor, whoever it may be, count for more than the skin colour? If a black man should not be denied power BECAUSE of his race, then it follows that he should also not be granted power BECAUSE of his race.<br /><br />Rory M. <br />CanadaAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-18185269433225799002009-09-01T02:19:10.741-04:002009-09-01T02:19:10.741-04:00Very well written, some see the country as occupie...Very well written, some see the country as occupied and not not belonging to them any more- them is the big point here. Who are they? These folks want the the White House back and won't be satisfied with anything less. They are hurt, angry, frustrated and confused. They will stir up trouble also. In the mean times it's to impede the work of the president.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-65614167200860046272009-08-31T01:40:23.212-04:002009-08-31T01:40:23.212-04:00You write of a world that is foreign to me. To ac...You write of a world that is foreign to me. To achieve equality under the law has only related to me in the female form and even then I have never given it much thought because I have never had to give it much thought. First of all I would never attend any mob type gathering in any form, I think they are barbaric and that includes political conventions. To be a political leader requires attending and even organizing some of these gatherings and to be a black political leader in the world seems to be dangerous. Your writing and blogs are opening up a world that I guess I knew existed on the peripheral edge of my world but I never gave it much thought. <br /><br />Keep writing Michael. There is enlightenment in your words.Ms Lee Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05040853502004297968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-16354658844173333662009-08-31T00:34:54.963-04:002009-08-31T00:34:54.963-04:00Dr. Harvey,
As always, well written! Howeve...Dr. Harvey,<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />As always, well written! However, you didn't bring this entry to a head! Please “bottom line” this article! Thanks!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Nickalus T. HoltAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-41830983030300427672009-08-30T01:49:34.690-04:002009-08-30T01:49:34.690-04:00I was not there to fight along side all the people...I was not there to fight along side all the people who lived through the struggles to 1 (give women the rights they have today) and 2 (give people of color equality). I enjoy both of these today and as a person from this Generation X I will not forget that. <br /><br />You are absolutely right, for me my vote is never about race, religion or sexual orientation. I vote on what I think is the right think to do for America. Weather I will oppose something in my religious freedom or not is not up to what I should do for my fellow countryman's freedoms. <br /><br />Maybe we (my generation) have taken a little something away from all the past battles that were fought for us. I think it is us who speak now by voting in record numbers as we did. We are at an age (in our 30s) that we feel comfortable in our own skin and feel OK making our own choices. We understand that we do not have to shout we only have to use the our vote and our solidarity to change our world.Juanitahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02020833914918234943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6088668303817033033.post-54360309640423249822009-08-30T01:12:53.663-04:002009-08-30T01:12:53.663-04:00Well, done, again. So many elements of history em...Well, done, again. So many elements of history embodied into one piece of literary genius. As scientists would say, "Matter is neither created, nor destroyed". In comparison to our human condition, "Ignorance is neither created, nor destroyed; it merely changes form as the physical realm ages."The Baker Advisorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18376842897687955172noreply@blogger.com