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This is the Eye of Grace. This is where the world is set straight before your simple minds. This is where the shit hits the fan.
You are nothing without me.
The Hand That Feeds
This is Mbwokana Obuthan:
He’s 9 years old… He lives in an African country ravaged by warfare and ruled by starvation and disease. His sisters were born with the HIV virus, but for some reason he lucked out. Little Mbwokana goes to the village school every day. He has to walk for 34 miles to get there, and his lunch consists of a spoonful of rice. On his way home he takes the way through the market place so he can rummage through the garbage cans for a snack. There are rumors flying through the air about the rebels coming. They hit the neighboring village last week, killed all women and children and cooked them, before they fed them to their husbands and fathers. There are rumors that the school will be shut down too… There is no money to pay the teacher, or to get any new books…
OK… We have heard the story a million times, especially in the light of the recent Live8 telethon event that showcased artists “with a global conscience”. We hear that what we spend on a CD will keep little Mbwokana Obuthan in school for a year. A few bucks will see him through medically for another year… What heartless bastard wouldn’t want to contribute to this worthy cause? Look at Brad Pitt! He’s in Africa all the time, bringing plentiful bounty for one and all, out of the goodness of his hear.
Well, listen Mbwokana… Nothing personal or anything… But you’re fucked. Not because you’re a bad little kid or anything, but because I would prefer it if we kept our priorities straight. I know your life sucks and that having flies in your eyes must be annoying as all hell, but you are not my problem.
Sorry kid…
Now... This is Jamal Washington:
He’s 9 years old… He lives in an LA neighborhood ravaged by gang wars and ruled by drugs and poverty. His sisters got HIV taking dicks up their asses for food money and crack down on the corner, but they go untreated for since medical insurance is but a dream in these parts of the world and the walk-in clinic is a dog-eat-dog world ruled by junkies looking for a hit…
Little Jamal goes to school 10 blocks down. The school bus hasn’t stopped on his block for years (or any other block on these streets for that matter – what are they, stupid?) so he has to ride his rusty bike there (present from the guy with the gold teeth who takes his momma away during the nights), weaving in and out to avoid rival gangs, dodging bullets as he goes… His momma never packs him any lunch since she is out like a light by the time he has to leave for school (and there is no food in the cupboards anyway – except for old peanut butter), so he beats up little kids for their lunch money instead.
On the way home he cuts through the department store, shop lifting a little of this and that as he goes… There are rumors that the Bloods are moving in on their turf any time soon. They took over Grove Street last month, killing three of his cousins, but momma said not to worry. She doesn’t care who she works for. There are rumors about the school cutting down on all special ed classes and extra tutoring for kids with learning problems. What these teachers are getting paid is not enough to make them risk their lives when showing up for work, and the ones who do show up are too damn jaded to give a shadow of a fuck about the kids anyway. The school is a goddamn war zone. A mini slice of his block if you will. You have the gangs, the drugs, the beatings and the violence there too.
Who do you think our fine American government should help first?
Mbwokana or Jamal? Which kid is the American government’s primary responsibility?
Well, are they both mutually exclusive to help? No, but one still comes before the other in the eyes of America, by right of citizenship. Jamal is entitled to a safe home environment, a medical network, a solid education and hopes of a brighter future.
To date, we’ve spent over $150,000,000,000 (that’s billions to you digiterates) on the Iraq war. Right or wrong, no matter what position you take, that money would have put a cop on every corner in each of these troubled neighborhoods. That money would have secured our schools and cleaned up the streets. That money could have been used to strengthen the social security program our government cries about because it’s running low in funds.
For the African kids we have pseudo-philanthropists like Brad Pitt, walking up and down the red carpet preaching their kumbayahs. We all know he’d rather help the African kids because his $10,000 will make him a semi-God over there, whereas it would only pay for one kid over here. Where’s the glory in that? Bless his oh-so-very-shrewd heart.
I am all for “forgiving” the third world the incurred debts, since they can’t pay it back anyway, but after that… leave the financial aid to the Bonos of the world…
There should be a G8 summit with the top eight benign and good-hearted artists of the world - Elton John, Bono, Brad Pitt and whoever else fits the bill – where they could all get together and start ordering school books and vaccines for the more unfortunate peoples of the world. It’s their money – why not put it to good use? But from a national perspective… From a tax payer’s perspective… Let the U.S. government focus on cleaning up our own backyards before we give money away to other countries, taking the food out of the mouths of American kids.
Fuck little Mbwokana, save little Jamal.
~ The Eye of Grace ~
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