U.S. Junkies Should Make Their Own Dope

“U.S. Junkies Should Make Their Own Dope”

By: Harrell D. Williams, Sr.

 Thinking back, it is hard for me to recall exactly when it was that I craved for my first taste, but I seem to zero in on the memory of me and my two brothers looking over the “dope” in a catalog.  The year was 1973, teen years.  We were excited about an upcoming trip toHoustonwhere we’d hang out with our big sister who promised to take us to the City’s annual Jazz Festival.  With that event approaching, it was our plan to travel toWaco(largest city closest to us), cash in hand, and pick up the goods.  With it, we’d be in concert with other cool cats, chilled and grooving to the sounds of bands like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, to name one.

Having parents who understood our adolescent addiction, they drove us up toWacoto a building which housed the “dope” we “wanted.”  Upon arrival, we entered quickly, let the workers know what we were after, and were escorted to an area where we easily sampled the goods.  The transaction went smoothly and we were on our way.  A week or so later my brothers and I experienced maturity in riding a Gray Hound bus (by ourselves) toHouston.  We were excited, as well as anxious to try out our “dope”, which was securely packed away in the bus’ luggage bins.  A day later, there we were, seated on the floor of the smoke filled Astrodome.  None of the other concert-goers noticed that we were just small town boys hanging out in the big city.  They didn’t because our “dope” helped us blend right in with everyone else.    

My “dope” of choice happened to be white platform shoes, blue jean bell bottom pants, a two inch wide leather belt, and a polyester, flowered patterned, butterfly collared “Knit, Knit” shirt, topped off  by my “Black Power” afro pick.  Yes, these clothes were the “material dope” of the early 70s because, if one wanted to be seen as “cool”, these were the clothes to wear.  And, unlike today, all of it was made in the good ole US of A.

Over the past 38 years, five noted changes have taken place which reshaped us as a people and as a country.  One: Women entered into the work place in large numbers.  Two: The birth of the personal computer/technology.  Three: The rise of the mega Big Box Stores caused the destruction of “Main Streets” and the small, mom and pop stores all across this country.  Four: Retail has now becomeAmerica’s #1 industry due to the vast increase of our addiction for (dope) product.  Five: We went from a country which produced its own (dope) product to a country now largely dependent on (dope) product made by foreign countries, namelyChina.  For proof, I challenge anyone to inventory the goods within their homes and note where it was made.  The same can be done at stores while shopping.  While working on this article I took the time to inventory my clothing and found that all of what I had on was made outside theUSA, right down to my underwear.  Sad.

Everyone is aware that theU.S.economy is in shambles and many people are out of work with no hope of finding a job, or a better one.  The looming question seems to ponder whether we can fix this problem or not.  To see the current “Occupy” protest going on all overAmerica, which are led by people who are fed up with the cost of living, unemployment issues, and corporations, is to see the “material junkies” rise up and demand jobs and opportunity.  Simply put, they want to have the ability to make their own (dope) product, which means jobs, which means money, which could equate to self sustainability for all ofAmerica.  Who in their right mind could not agree with that concept?  

As I follow the “Occupy” protest, I wonder if waving a sign, or shouting chants aimed at corporate owners is the best way to create change.  Maybe another strategy should be forU.S.citizens to do our best to buy products made by Americans inAmerica. Washingtonlaw makers could help by creating laws designed to cut down on the amount of foreign goods sold inAmerica.  The goals would be to force American corporations/manufacturers to bring their businesses back toAmerica, its number one consumer.  If this were to happen, I feel it might insult China and cause them to retaliate in some way like demanding America make good on the trillion plus dollars of debt owed them, which could very well force America to change its’ currency system.  Can anyone say “Euro?”  Or, they might even wage war. 

Many might not think China would go to such lengths, but one would only need to look to Mexico and how the Cartels there are at war with the Mexican authority and the U.S. border authority, both trying to stop the Cartel from getting (dope) dope to U.S. drug users.  TheUSAis now a “junkie” for many things coming from several countries and, likeMexico, other countries probably wouldn’t take it well if we were to suddenly rehab from using their (dope) product.   

In the past 38 years, nearly all of the U.S.manufacturing jobs have gone overseas.  How and why that happened requires a whole book within itself, but it makes no sense for U.S.citizens to not be making the very goods we love and use on a daily basis.  Make no mistake about it, the majority of things most of us buy are things we “want”, not necessary “need”, which is the natural mentality for those living within a capitalist society.  I have talked to foreigners who said the first thing that shocks them about Americans is how much stuff we consume and how wasteful we are.  And they are here to sell us more of “their” stuff.  Many see us only as “junkie consumers”, blinded by the “lust” for (dope) product.  And I find this to be very true as I inventory my own overt consumption of multiple TVs, multiple electronic gadgets, socks, etc. 

The stats show that, in 2010, Chinawas the United States’ 3rd largest goods export market.  U.S.goods exports to Chinain 2010 were $91.9 billion.  In 2010, Chinawas the United States’ largest supplier of goods imports. U.S. goods imports fromChina totaled $365 billion.  TheUnited States population is 307,006,550. China’s population is 1,331,460,000. Houston, there really is a problem!  IfU.S. corporations were to bring their companies/jobs back toAmerica,China has more than enough people to support the goods they currently make for Americans.  There is no reason why their very own can not be made into the same type consumers as Americans.

I must admit that age and maturity has slowed my consumption a bit, especially in these tough economic times, but however large or small my addiction is, I too like buying things I “want” and not necessary “need.”  It’s (currently) the American way.  But this “junkie” needs to do a better job to note foreign goods and try and seek out American product.  Being a realist isn’t always easy, but if anyone can admit they are a “material junkie”, then their next thought should prompt insult in the fact that we “the junkies” are not being allowed to make the very (dope) product we are addicted to.  What the heck is up with that?! 

Harrell D. Williams, Sr., is an independent, free lance writer. For comments email harrellwilliams7@yahoo.com

Stats from the Office of the United States Trade Representative: http://www.ustr.gov/countries-regions/china

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Michael Jackson: The Boy, The Man, The King Of Pop

IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL

 http://www.neinformer.net/CommunityEvent.html

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“Michael Jackson: The Boy, The Man, The King”

 

By: Harrell D. Williams, Sr. 

July 2009

As with most people, I am still in shock over the news that Michael Jackson has gone on to eternity.  Entertainer Michael Jackson has been a part of my life since I was 8 or 9 years old and throughout the years I’ve seen him grow from the boy, to the man, to the King of Pop.  Over the past several days I’ve had a chance to reflect on the times I connected with Michael in the spirit of music and youth.  Times like being at a sock hop back in the mid-70s and hearing “Dancing Machine” booming out of the DJ’s speaker system.  Or, in 1979 when I attended a welcoming party my freshman year at college, walking into the student center just as “Rock With You” forced everyone to the dance floor.  It was in 1980 that I had my first club experience at (then) Kashem, in College Station, Texas.  There, I met my soon to be wife and we danced to “Let’s dance, let’s shout, shake your body down to the ground”, sweating it up.  And I’ll never forget the evening in 1982 when I gathered with my work-buddies at a co-worker’s house for beer and to watch the premier of “Thriller” on MTV.  Quit impressive.  Yes, there were many “Michael Jackson” moments in my life, but none as memorable or as impressionable as the one in 1969.

I often think/say that black children born in the 50s and 60s were born at the best time ever here on this planet Earth.  We’ve witnessed or felt the hate and evil of the Jim Crow era; we’ve lived in and visited black neighborhoods that were vibrant, connected, filled with love and were safe, with homes bound together by mothers and fathers.  We attended all black schools with black male and female teachers who were outstanding in their field, who were caring, strict and our parent’s friends.  We saw the rise of the Civil Right era, the signing of the Civil Right Act, and the rise and fall of our nation’s greatest peace maker, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., which was followed by our mass Exodus across the tracks into the world of school and social integration.  Just prior to the assignation of Rev. King was the assignation of President John F. Kennedy, followed by the assignation of his brother, Senator Robert F. Kennedy.  And who can forget Malcolm X.

We witnessed these things and more along this nation’s journey to where it is today, but most importantly we witnessed things that gave rise to “funk” and “soul”, terms of endearment understood within the black community.  These terms embrace things like living with cockroaches; the smell of hair being fried by a hot comb; catching and frying up yard bird; wood floors and space heaters in winter; the whole family at the dinner table, laughing, talking over meager family meals; track shoes with holes worn at the little toe; being cool in worn, starched bell bottom jeans; sharing hot bath water; clothes smelling like smoke wood; bare feet on hot dirt roads; knowing, speaking to everyone you saw; the standards in respecting elders; enjoying the one TV channel; grease for lotion; beer joints and blues music; playing outside the majority of time; Press Ham sandwiches, and so on.

I note these things to try and give texture to the way we were, the way it was in America during the 50s and 60s.  These were days that I wish younger African Americans could have experienced.  It is so odd to know those born within the last twenty to thirty years know nothing about living in a house where the doors were unlocked most of the time, or the windows were raised during the night to catch a breeze while everyone slept.  Yes, we children of the 50s and 60s have many insightful memories, but, to me, one of the most memorable events of my childhood was in the late 60s, the evening The Jackson 5 made their first TV appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show.  The A and B side of their first 45 vinyl record was about all we knew of The Jackson 5, so we were extremely excited to see them moving in motion, and how exciting it was. 

The energy from those boys poured from the tube as we looked on in amazement.  Right away, it seemed that they all had a little something about them that we could identify with.  Maybe it was the funk, or soul that resonated from the tube; maybe we could see it in them; that funk and soul which comes from living in a small house with many siblings; or that which comes from living within a loving, peaceful black community.  Maybe we felt enough to know that they were like us in many ways.  I can’t rightfully put my finger on it, but though they were on TV, they didn’t come across as being above or below their people.  Watching them, we were fascinated by their clothes and dance moves.  They were so much like the boys next door, down the street, or at school, but man, could the sing and dance.  

The history of how blacks were relegated to subservient roles on TV during the 50s and 60s is well documented, so when these very young, good looking, clean cut brothers with afros did their thing we were up dancing with them.  They were an instant hit all across the nation and they were ours.  They were positive, well behaved and from a large family, like many others within black communities.

From 1969 Michael Jackson went on to do many remarkable things within his entertainment career and else where and I admire him for that.  But long before the weird tabloid news stories, long before “The Jacksons” movie told all, and long before La Toya told her tales, there was The Jackson 5, the boys who were great ambassadors in showing the world the talents, the brains we possessed as a people.  And from the boy, to the man, to the King of Pop, what I will miss and remember the most about Michael Jackson is “the boy” I met (via TV) in 1969.  How wonderful he was.   

Thank you, God, for giving Michael to us.  Michael, may you now rest in peace.  Long live the King.

For feedback, opinions and editorial comments please email:
harrellwilliams@sbcglobal.net