“You will face your greatest opposition when you are closest to your biggest miracle.”
– Shannon L. Alder
In my seventeen years of living, my marvelous parents have taught me lessons that aid in preparing me for the battle field that we call the adult world. However, one lesson that my Dad taught me so long ago has seemed to make itself apparent as I start on my journey to becoming a self-made man. As I was growing up my Dad would always tell me that you can’t make people like you. In your highs and lows, someone will always have something to say about you.
It’s amazing how the wisdom of our elders mean so much to us as life rolls on. As I was looking through my Facebook wall after a productive writing session on my forthcoming novella, my attention turned to a shared Madame Noire article on one of the great thinkers and scholars in our community today Dr. Umar Johnson. The online column post was entitled, Why It’s Not A Good Idea To Support An All-Black Boys Academy. I just shook my head. Of course somebody would try to spite Dr. Umar in his valiant efforts.
The website, which is most popular for black Hollywood news and propaganda pieces like this, went on to dismiss Dr. Umar because of his views on female sexual practices and homosexuality. Never mind the fact that the brother has a doctorate in clinical psychology and that he speaks from complete fact. I’ve listened to hours upon hours of his lectures in his free time and never once has he said anything misogynist or against the LBGT community. Speaking of Madame Noire playing the misogyny card, I’ve only heard of him speak highly of black women!
You can tell the article was slander. Look at the highlighted sentence! They know it’s a brilliant idea!
Since Madame Noire wants to use comments that he made to get their point across, let’s take a trip back in time to January of this year when Dr. Umar was with Professor Griff speaking to a packed house at the Southwest Arts Center in Atlanta. In part three of the video, Dr. Umar dove into one of the crucial social sciences that he would teach at the FDMG Acadamy.
“What else are we going to teach the children? We’re going to teach them the science of the Black man and the Black woman. That means what? All the little boys are going to have to study the black woman as a divinity. The boys are going to have to study your menstrual cycle and why you have one. Why is it twenty-eight days? And what is the relationship between the womb of a woman and the twenty-eight day cycle of the moon?”
As the crowd cheered in agreement with what he was saying, Dr. Umar continued on, “The boys are going to have to understand the divinity of the black woman. Why was she chosen as the first symbol of God ever used on earth? Before the Muslims or Christians turned God into a he, God was a she! The great divine mother, you have to teach that science! By the time we’re done, he won’t be able to disrespect you anymore Black woman! By the time we’re done, your son will come home at six years old and say, ‘Momma, you don’t need that hair anymore! Get rid of it! I demand that, as my mother, that you be the Goddess God made you!
Yeah, I don’t hear any misogyny there! What’s Charing Ball’s problem with him? Is it the fact that Dr. Umar wants Black women to respect themselves? In the article the writer ( who I assume is a woman) said,
“Or it is possible that you just like “freaky” sex, including role playing and S&M and that you just had an orgasm? But these ol’ Mistas-from-the-Color-Purple-acting dudes don’t want to know anything about making that kitten purr – they just want lay on a girl and do their business.”
It’s funny that she wants to name call and throw insults at Dr. Umar when she didn’t do a thing to disprove what he said in any way. Mrs. Bell just mocked him. Madame Noire didn’t even slander his idea! That seems fishy to me…..
Dr. Umar Johnson is a standup guy. He’s a professional, unlike many of the other people in the so-called ‘conscious community’. He’s made enemies just by telling the truth and professing his undying love for African people worldwide. What’s the problem?
As I’ve studied business and the media, I’ve found out that any publicity is good publicity. While negativity is never good, at least your name is circulating around in a discussion. Just ask Solange! When I saw that Madame Noire put this article out, I thought this would put a damper in his efforts to get the school running. The legion of fans of the blog will start hurling insults about him on their social media page without truly doing research on him. From there, the first impression of Dr. Umar to folks that don’t know him would be negative.
Then I looked at the comment section on the website and their Facebook post. Folks were going in on Madame Noire. I only saw a handful of people that agreed with what the writer had to say! Seeing that sight, I let out a huge sigh and smiled. There was hope!
A reader of the article decided to get familiar with Dr. Umar. Shout out to Senita! 🙂
Dr. Umar hasn’t even responded to the article. He’s to predetermined with the St. Paul’s auction to worry about any shade that’s thrown his way. The moral of my Dad’s lesson became apparent to me at that very moment. Since you can’t control what people say about you, ignore them and power through! Kill them with success! I’d like to thank Dr. Umar for giving me a real life example of this. Also, to Madame Noire and the other so called ‘black’ corporate websites, you’re not going to go against the movement for black positivity without getting checked. We’re not having it anymore!
The auction is about to start and we’ve now raised $100,000! Continue to keep donating! From a young brother, we desperately need this school. Donate at this link:
-We came, we saw, we conquered! My debut publishing effort “Riverview High: Circumstances” reached #2 on the Amazon charts! Check it out on Amazon today. Don’t forget to leave a review!
-“The Diary Of Aaliyah Anderson” is out now! Make sure to go get it!
Do you have any questions, comments or concerns? Was I right or wrong on this issue? I would love to hear from you! Contact me directly at:
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What IRVINE said: Character, credibility, and credentials. Boom!