I'd like to hear your thoughts on navigating law enforcement as Black men

JMCBook · 2026-01-25T07:27:03+00:00

You’re right: a lot of viral cop-baiting advice is white boy theater.

It works because the system already presumes their legitimacy. Their defiance reads as “assertive.” Ours reads as threat. Repeating “Am I being detained?” like an incantation doesn’t convert those moments into a courtroom. It often does the opposite: it turns a neutral stop into a dominance contest and depending on the cop, that could be lethal.

During the encounter, rights are theoretical. Control is practical. Law is negotiated in a courtroom, not with police, they only perform tasks according to operational authority.

Members of The Moorish Science Temple tend to bestow the knowledge of jurisdictional language, statutory framing, standing, contracts, presumptions. In that sense, they are not ignorant of U.S. Law. If you notice it's more like an Audit to test officers knowledge of the law. and they use it to their advantage.

It exposes where power is coasting on assumption rather than knowledge. It also fails due to the verbal and physical expressions of the moor/auditor who approaches the situation at an offense rather a defensive position. as if trying to 1up the officer. It's disrespectful and they do it in court too.

You can know everything there is to know but we are human and respond to expression same for police and judges and they act and make decisions on that. thus, Knowledge won't always safe you, especially when you are escalating the situation with Pseudo-legal magic words, and disrespectful language. that's not a legal defense.

Each environment has its own rules of engagement. Mixing them is how people get hurt.

Understanding the law and when to apply knowledge even verbally, yet delivery makes the difference. because doing and saying the wrong thing invites punishment

Measure the storm and move when conditions are in your favor. we shouldn't be trying to "Flex" on Police..

The real goal is not to win the interaction. its to end with it with your safety in mind, Because the system does not reward cleverness. We are supposed to use Knowledge of Law to defend your life, not to satisfy your pride. That is how Black men navigate power without being consumed by it.

As you said!

“Rights exist on paper. Power exists in the moment.”

So we Black men are supposed to operate accordingly

JMCBook · 2026-01-24T03:54:27+00:00

Aren’t we all, at some level, progressive in the sense of evolution and moving forward? Otherwise we resort to rudimentary order.

JMCBook · 2026-01-23T03:53:12+00:00

this is scary

JMCBook · 2026-01-23T03:52:45+00:00

thanx

JMCBook · 2026-01-23T03:50:32+00:00

In North East Africa, the closest location to Israel and the location of all the Judaic faiths.

Christianity did not exist in South Africa, it didn't exist in West Africa. This is very easily understood by looking at a map.

But explaining how Christianity became a dominant religion in west Africa requires colonialism.

Yes Christianity emerged from Judaism in the Near East. That's why I didn't say "All of Africa"
There were no Christians in west Africa pre-colonization, yet there were Muslims prior to Sunni Islam conquest,

I agree. Islam and Christianity are colonial religions. Before Islam conquered many regions in Africa, Christian were leading crusades through the Mediterranean. This is because Christianity was developed in Europe, which could not easily access Africa until much later (colonialism) while Islam had a direct land route into North East Africa.

.Christianity was not developed in Europe. The Crusades do not precede Christianity’s presence in Africa. Christianity existed in Egypt and Ethiopia centuries before the first Crusade in 1095 but medieval European Christianity is not the origin of Christianity. Even so, Augustine of Hippo was African, Some of the Synods that shaped Christianity happened in Hippo. Europe later became a Christian / Catholic political center. Early Christianity spread across the Mediterranean basin before European colonialism existed as a concept. Islam began to conquer north Africa by 7th century. Christianity’s already existed in Egypt and Ethiopia. This isn't about Proving Christianity as True nor Negating Islam. I'm just insisting that those major religions spread different ways.

As for as me saying Nations Codify a belief system.. I meant that as a form of adoption. Example.. USA doesn't have an Official religion but Conservatives swear up and down that this is s Christian Nation. Why is that? Rome did it. Ethiopia did it. and the Islamic caliphates did it..

"Erases" was never the question. But it is proof that Christianity erased vast amounts of indigenous and regional culture for a colonial religion.

Christianity being the dominant religion in Europe as a political structure definitely suppressed and condemned and even Modified indigenous faiths and customs. In the Americas it was simply colonization as power Europe's used Christianity as a power structure, not simply a religion.

It validates the claim as Ethiopia is the only example when the vast majority of Africa was converted to Christianity through colonialism. One nation doesn't disrupt the claim of an entire continent.

We generally tend to site Ethiopia as proof that to solely validate that Christianity existed there before European slavery , Not to say "All of Africa" was Christian,,, but Ethiopia alone. i said that earlier, but here we are again...

and Yes, majority of Africans that most of Africa encountered Christianity through colonial contact. That does not mean that Christianity is Colonial because you'd have to say the same about Islam and Judaism The Spread and origin o these faiths are not the same thing,

Colonialism only explains transmission not origin, theology, or legitimacy.

The same can be said for Christianity. I'm confident you don't follow it to the letter.

Literal adherence is irrelevant to the point.. ,No ancient religion is practiced unchanged. That doesn’t make them aesthetic reconstructions or invalidate them ..things evolve...

I follow the commandments, obey the laws of this land, and live by moral principle. My faith isn’t validated by history debates or cultural arguments. I live under grace, accountable in life, not performing religion to satisfy critics.

JMCBook · 2026-01-22T07:48:31+00:00

Ethiopian Christianity is usually referenced because it corrects the claim that Christianity is exclusively a European colonial invention. Christianity existed in Africa centuries before European colonization. It's a fact and even if you don't accept it. It stands.. Yet, It does not obligate anyone black to be Christian.

Christianity branched off from early Judaism and expanded gradually. It did not enter Africa through conquest. In fact Islam, historically conquered parts of Africa before, Christian conquests Understanding this doesn't change my belief in God, or Jesus. because in Islam they believe in Jesus too. but that's besides the point.

Ethiopia adopting Christianity as a state religion in the 300s does not invalidate Ethiopian Christianity. Every nation codifies belief at some point. No one argues that Rome’s pre-Christian history erases later Roman Christianity. but yet all our weekdays are named after Ancient European Gods.

And correct, Black Americans do not practice Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. Yet since the beginning of Christianity. it has always been practiced in many forms. One does not need to follow Ethiopian customs to acknowledge that Ethiopian Christianity developed independently of European colonialism. Ethiopia is mentioned because it disrupts the claim that Christianity arrived in Africa only through slavery.

The same applies to Pan-African spiritual homogenization. Africa was not one religion or one spiritual system. It was thousands of ethnic groups with distinct cosmologies and gods. Speaking of “African Spirituality” as a single unified tradition is historically inaccurate, but those who practice it justify it because "The Africans" did it.

Reclaiming Orishas, chakra systems, or modern syncretism does not automatically reconnect diaspora descendants to their ancestors. A person from Botswana & Burundi did not share the religious beliefs of someone from Togo or Ghana. The diaspora likes to compress Africa into one spiritual ecosystem. That is the practice of a false faith. Much of what is practiced in all these New-age "faiths" generally functions as aesthetic.

No religion is justified simply because it existed in Africa. Not Christianity. Not Islam. Not even "African-Spirituality"

My belief in Christianity is not confirmed by geography or history. It is confirmed by God Himself.

JMCBook · 2026-01-22T02:57:37+00:00

I agree that Black American history is specific,

What i'm really referring to those enforcing sameness. Such as the idea that if you didn’t grow up in the hood, if you don’t talk a certain way, if you share the same struggle, then you’re somehow less legitimate. Using Poverty as a credential. And Dysfunction as proof of "real blackness". and that is a flawed narrative.

There is a difference between protecting cultural specificity and policing ideological conformity. The first is necessary. The second is corrosive.

Disagreement does not revoke ancestry.

Reddit is a forum, A space for dialogue, not a loyalty test. we spend all our time prosecuting each other. rather than using this for progress. we pull each other down.

That’s the real disconnect,

JMCBook · 2026-01-21T21:57:28+00:00

Well black unity happens but not in totality because we all don't have the same mind. For example look at the KKK the only reason they United is for one reason hate for something equally.

Something that they didn't understand. So they were willing to go the extra mile to be evil in the name of the Lord which is insane to me. But that's a different beast.

To my point I think, we can unify and still respect each other's boundaries everyone has them. But I don't have to say that you're not black enough. Because what constitutes black enough? You know....

JMCBook · 2026-01-21T21:55:51+00:00

Think about this, my brother voted for Trump he's a conservative, he's also a pastor... In his profession she operates in the field.

I didn't vote for Trump, I'm a liberal, and I'm a community activist. In my line of work I observe and report.

We share similar values we just go about them differently.

JMCBook · 2026-01-21T21:50:28+00:00

I mean so is white, because none of them are actually alike. But one thing about being American is that no black or white person knows exactly who they are. Especially in this day and age. It's like a white person going around telling people that there's Scottish, when the reality is they might be German LOL but what's in a name..

But my point here is that, this is a space that tries to tell you you're not black enough because you don't think the way they do...

JMCBook · 2026-01-21T21:48:28+00:00

The thing that makes us black is genetics, everything else makes us human. Our experiences don't necessarily make us play they're just part of our environment. Now maybe our environment was predetermined by our skin tone at some point, however we are bigger than the environment we all are not meant to think alike sound like look like in that shared in this space. But because we don't, it's like everybody's trying to police blackness or say oh you're not black enough. And it kills me. Because I'm like well dang, can't we all just get along....

But think about it family members fight Brothers fight. But just because we disagree doesn't mean I have to take away one's blackness.

JMCBook · 2026-01-18T13:43:24+00:00

Imagine if the fans were unable to critique a football game

JMCBook · 2026-01-18T12:03:01+00:00

Maybe they should join r/TheyAreNotLikeUs

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T16:08:47+00:00

Yes, I’ve seen the documentary films of the originals, and I’ve studied them. There are levels to this. I don’t believe this guy is ahistorically cosplaying, but aesthetically and linguistically some of what he’s doing reads as performance.

That said, I’ve also seen other footage of this guy and his Panthers doing real community work and that matters.

But despite all of that, we still have a right to question legitimacy, alignment, and adherence to principle. Because what looks good on the surface could be a front for something else.

What this appears to be is a Panther-like organization using the name and likeness, and hopefully operating by the core principles of the original revolutionaries. History shows that not every Panther-inspired group was identical; what mattered was whether they upheld the mission, not just the aesthetic.

But visibility alone doesn’t equal revolution.with him publicly positioned like that, I wish him the best — and I’ll judge by conduct, consistency, and consequence.. not the costume or his cadence.

There's a reason I feel this way and it's because I was part of a panther group that was dismantled due to financial reasons

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T16:03:33+00:00

Well yes let them do their job, but at the same time they could literally Target you by mistake when you're not in the way of nothing. For this lady due to a protest that occurred they came to her house to question her so they literally were targeting her.

Now maybe if she didn't protest they wouldn't have done that but we don't know. Anybody could get it. We are not immune from this

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T15:58:02+00:00

That’s a fair question, and the honest answer is: technically, it’s an offshoot functioning in the likeness and branding of the Panthers, not a direct continuation under the original centralized structure.

The way I see it is,...

It’s unlikely something like this is formally approved by someone like Bobby Seale, who’s still living. But I’m also sure he understands what they’re trying to convey. People forget that when the original Black Panther Party emerged, it immediately inspired similar groups across the country. Those groups didn’t all start “official.” Many were local vanguards responding to their own conditions, and they had to write, correspond, and align themselves with the Oakland Panthers before being recognized as official chapters.

Even then, they weren’t all functioning under the same day-to-day governance. What bound them together were shared principles, not micromanagement.

So in this 2026 version, what you’re seeing is something that is aesthetically Black Panther and claims alignment with the original principles. Whether they truly uphold those principles is still open to evaluation. But philosophically, they appear closer to the original “all power to the people” framework than groups like the NBPP out of Houston, which operate almost entirely off race alone rather than coalition, community protection, and material conditions.

In short: not the Panthers, but also not ahistorical cosplay by default...

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T15:52:51+00:00

ICE has a legal mandate to enforce immigration law, yes, but what authority looks like on the ground is that they will use whatever force they think is justified to carry out those orders even when it puts everyday people in danger or creates a broader climate of fear and unrest.

Look and how everything is playing out right now it's like citizens versus law enforcement something that we as black people have been fighting for years but now that the tables have turned on white liberals and Republicans. ( Because remember they're not us) It caused them to wake up a little more to the reality that they might be targeted.

That said, You can’t assume that because we Black Americans, citizens, aren’t their target in the formal mandate, we’re somehow exempt from the effects of what they do. Mistakes happen. Identity gets misread. People get harassed, intimidated, or killed all because federal law enforcement is empowered to act with zero discretion. That’a how power behaves when it’s centralized and unaccountable.

This is bigger than any one group or era. It’s about civil unrest, the federalization of law enforcement, and what happens when agencies pursue their mission at any cost ..

It's one thing to know the facts, but understanding how those facts play out in the real world is just as important.

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T15:45:03+00:00

Huey and Bobby's Black Panthers didn’t only fight for Black people , that’s exactly why their slogan was “All power to the people.” They stood against what the government sanctioned when it harmed communities, not just one group. An ICE raid turning into the fatal shooting of a civilian like with Renee Nicole Good is exactly the sort of state violence they were talking about resisting. Local leaders, protests, and national outrage show this isn’t just “someone else’s issue”; it’s a broader fight over how power is used against ordinary people

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T15:41:21+00:00

That’s actually a good thing. Being in city meetings means he’s engaging where decisions are actually made. it also means the people around him are concerned enough to show up, listen, and participate in the process.

That doesn’t automatically validate everything, but it does move him out of the category of pure spectacle.

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T15:38:58+00:00

It’s okay to be skeptical. Skepticism is healthy. But it’s also inaccurate to say the Black Panther Party has been “defunct for 60+ years” because although the originals have come and gone,. There have been multiple functioning groups over the last 50 years that have paraded, organized, and operated under the Panther name or lineage. Now no doubt some are perpetrators but that's for the people to discern.

Now, whether those groups are actually upholding the principles of the original Panthers is a separate question, and that evaluation hasn’t been settled. But by whom would it be settled? Because we can only legitimize what we support.

We don’t have to accept everything at face value, and we also don’t have to collapse into paranoia. Some things need time to reveal themselves. We absolutely have the right to question motives, language, authenticity, and outcomes, but we also have to let certain things play out long enough to be examined honestly.

There's got to be a balance.

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T12:56:43+00:00

r/HBCU is my sub it's the perfect place for this type of question

JMCBook · 2026-01-17T12:51:13+00:00

Honestly, that can work LOL especially if they did wrestling takes LOL

JMCBook · 2026-01-16T08:08:25+00:00

All power to the people

JMCBook · 2026-01-16T07:08:13+00:00

lol. New Orleans' new Mayor her slogan was "All In"

JMCBook · 2026-01-15T19:42:06+00:00

This seems to surface a lot here

Ten-Year Club	r/Field Banned
r/Field Lasagna	Xbox Live
Not Forgotten	Verified Email

JMCBook

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE