“The Abolition of Slavery”
(A Satyr)
Written by Gregory Durden


Many years ago, the plantation owners were faced with a difficult decision;
To continue the practice of slavery in the face of growing opposition, or give in to the
forces that be and release the slave from their captivity. As would be expected, they were divided in their resolve until one of them, a very bright and successful scholar made the following proposal. “Why not grant the slaves their freedom? They have no real property to farm, no businesses with which to support themselves, and thus will still be dependant on us for support. We can parcel out land to them. Land which we still own, yet allow them to share a small part of all they produce!” It was a wonderful idea, to which they all agreed.
Not only did they maintain control of the slaves, but the slaves thought they were free and so the rebellions and opposition ceased. So great in fact was this idea that all owners grew to love it! Not only did the slaves appear to be free, but the owners were not responsible for providing shelter, transportation, or medical care. Since the slaves were now responsible for their own food, shelter, clothing, and medical care a new “label” seemed appropriate, and thus the term “employee” was created. Few of the slaves (sorry, I meant employees) had enough to really get ahead, and the owners were behind the scenes working to keep them where they were…and thus the labor pool grew stable – and large.
Eventually, all owners realized that the benefits were great and began using this system, which has long since crossed the color line. Today, owners still use slaves (sorry) employees to do the work they don’t want to do. Slaves (sorry) employees still get a small portion of all they produce, provide their own food, shelter, transportation, and in some cases medical care. Many things have changed since the “Abolition of Slavery” and yet…for the overwhelming majority of the people things are pretty much the same!




Copyright 2000 All rights reserved

What’s going on?...

That’s the title of a great song, made famous by the late great Marvin Gaye…and also the question of today’s “food for thought”. Though the song had tremendous “crossover” success, Marvin’s lyrics were clearly aimed at the troubles of the black community.

The opening lines of the song are – “Mother, mother… there’s too many of you crying. Brother, brother, brother…there’s far too many of you dying”…
That song was released in 1971, yet some 40 years later, mothers crying and brothers dying continue today…and for essentially the same reasons.

One has to ask, why hasn’t that changed in the last forty years?

Obviously, having elected the first black President is a big change, and surely none could argue that there are more opportunities for blacks in the country today compared with 40 years ago. This is at least encouraging, because no group rises simultaneously - but rather “one by one”, each buoying the confidence of the next. Also, regardless to the amount of opportunity there will always be a group that chooses to languish in “need” by their unwillingness to perform. Those two relatively small groups – the “presidents and the languishers” represent opposite ends of the spectrum…so what about the majority in the middle?

I remember a true story about a girl, from Chicago I believe, who survived life in the ghetto, graduated from college and secured a promising job with a good firm. As her life began to improve she felt guilty about her “less fortunate friends” back in her old neighborhood. “Who am I to be doing so well, while my friends barely get by? What makes me any better than them?” Eventually, the guilty feelings got the best of her…and she took her own life. That’s a sad ending to what should have been a success story for others to emulate.

Since I said the question was “food for thought”, I’m going to ask for YOUR thoughts on the question…before giving you the “ZOO ANIMAL Perspective”. So what do you say...why are we still fighting the same problems 40 years after that song?

The Reality


I was moved while reading an article about Bill Cosby and the backlash against him and his message to the black community.

The author pointed out the hypocrisy of some in rejecting Cosby’s message based on allegations of impropriety, while accepting Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton’s message, in spite of Jessie’s admission of fathering a child by someone other than his wife, as well as other misdeeds. He further points out that while the mainstream media devotes substantial print to questioning Cosby’s ability to effectively promote his message in light of the allegations, it devotes little or no time to questioning the abilities of their “chosen spokesmen for the black community” to do the same. The motivation of the media is readily apparent, and therefore not the subject of this article. I would however, like to give a message to those trying to shed light on the hypocrisy, presumably in an effort to “win the hearts and minds” of those victimized by it.

Stop it!

There is an old [true] saying - “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still”. At the heart of this saying is the fact that while we may chose to think of ourselves as logical beings, many of us make decisions based on emotion… and then look for logical reasons to support that decision. Often, they are non-existent. Cosby brings a message of self-responsibility, leadership, and action. While Sharpton/Jackson bring messages of finger pointing, victimization and helplessness. Your time would be much better spent in the pursuit of your goals and dreams, making you a shinning example for those who may later [of their own accord] chose to follow your example.

You can’t push a rope
You can’t kiss a girl who’s leaning away from you
You can’t climb a fence that’s leaning toward you,
And you can’t point out hypocrisy to someone who doesn’t want to see it!


This is the “Zoo Animals perspective!

The Beginning

You may think that "Zoo Animal gathering spot" is an unusual name for a blog, and I would agree. But please allow me to explain how it came to be, and perhaps you like I, will feel it's most appropriate.

A friend of mine an internet guru, recently wrote an article questioning the intelligence of people he saw at JFK airport reading a printed newspaper as they awaited their departing flights. "Those Zoo Animals, he called them. Don't they know they could get information from hundreds of newspapers via an RSS feed in real time with aggregated articles that meet their needs?" Perhaps they do...but chose to do otherwise. Perhaps reading the printed newspaper WAS meeting their need!

His comments got me thinking about why we have animals in Zoos. Though there may be other reasons, it seems there are two primary ones: 1)Most people would not see many of those animals if they were not conveniently assembled someplace for easy viewing, and 2)They are rare, in danger of extinction, and are there for protection as well as exhibit. With that in mind I will proudly bear the title of "Zoo Animal", for folks like me are becoming rarer each day; folks who see the importance of keeping in touch with a piece of our fading past, folk who are less concerned with political correctness than with seeing the right thing done, folk who know that there is more to life than increasing its speed and efficiency, and folk who are not concerned with how others may view our "perceived" archaic points of view.

Environmentalist and scientist would view the sudden disappearance of all zoo animals as a tragedy or catastrophe. I say the same can be said for the disappearance of "human" zoo animal! And with that I launch this BlogSpot...the place for the latest "zoo animal view" on issues and events affecting our daily lives!

So what do you think? Am I the last of a dying breed, or are there more Zoo Animals out there?