THE PROBLEM WITH DWELLING UPON BLACK HISTORY

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY

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THE PROBLEM WITH DWELLING UPON BLACK HISTORY

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It's always good to know one's history, but far too many of us are fixated on looking backwards exclusively. That renders them ignorant of what lies before us. Looking backwards exclusively allows us to sit on our asses and brag about our greatness, but it doesn’t answer the following question – if we were so great, how did we end up as slaves?

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There’s a very simple and obvious answer to that question. The answer is, because we’re the people of the future, not the past. We were enslaved because we were in the cradle of our development, and our enslavement contributed to who we are today, and who we are developing into as the people of tomorrow. So our relationship with those who enslaved us is quite similar to the relationship between the Neanderthal and modern man. The adversity that the Black man has been forced to endure has served to make us MORE rather than less. Thus, we represent the future of mankind, while those who enslaved us represent Jim Crow's dying gasp.

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Yes, being enslaved was a painful and degrading experience, but that’s nature’s way. It’s called natural selection. Nature selects certain lifeforms to thrive above their immediate environment by introducing adversity that they must overcome to grow. By managing to overcome that adversity, they become stronger and more viable as a lifeform.

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When man was placed here on Earth he wasn’t as strong as the elephant, as ferocious as the lion, and he couldn’t fly above danger like the eagle, so nature provided him with a brain to meet that challenge. As a result, man can now build machines that can crush any elephant, destroy any lion, and fly far beyond the eagle’s domain. Thus, the experience of surviving adversity was, and is, a source of knowledge and intellectual development, and if recognized as such, will make us much more, rather than less. It will help us to meet our destiny, and should always serve as a constant reminder that our greatness lies before us, not in our past.

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Trumplodytes know this. That's why they bring so much passion to their struggle. So don't look back. Look forward. Because WE are the ancestors of greatness. And WE are the ancestors that reflect the greatness that'll be looked back upon.

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Thus, we should never be ashamed of the Black experience. We should recognize it as a force that has served to make us strong and unique as a people, and therefore, embraced it with reverence and pride. For that reason, I would never change my slave name, because I want my great grandfather to know exactly whose foot is in their ass.

Eric L. Wattree

Http://wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com
BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS
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Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does. 

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DADDY'S BABY BOY

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY

DADDY’S BABY BOY
ERIC L. WATTREE, JR

"DADDY, MOMMIE SAID YOU BEAT UP THE BOGEYMAN.

DID YOU REALLY BEAT HIM UP?"
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"YEAH, TWICE. THAT'S WHY HE'S SCARED TO COME

IN OUR HOUSE."

HOWLING WINDS
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As I watched my son, dapper as they come, walk down our walkway and into manhood,

what I remember most was the howling winds. I'd seen such winds before, but never like this - my old foe was pulling up trees by the roots,

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So I watched, but I watched alone.

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As the winds raged on and the mighty palms bowed, a single leaf from our Winter-bare ficus tree

held tough against the ferocious storm. It fought valiantly against the angry gale, as though hanging tough Just to witness the changing of the guard,

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So I stood, but I stood alone.

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Like that solitary leaf, all my life I've fought the ferocious winds, and now they’ve returned, this mighty foe, poised to seize the hopes and dreams of my only son,

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So I cringed, but I cringed alone.

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Then, posterity glanced back, squared its shoulders, and beat back hopelessness as it

trudged through fields of ivy. Then it spread its wings and rode those howling winds

over yonder mountaintop,

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So I wept, but I wept with a crowd . . .

AZUSA, Calif. – In a tense, high stakes, pressure situation, where only two options exist and just one that is favorable, there is no man better the moment and no one better to protect your interests than Eric  Wattree.  And that's not just in sports but in real life too.

Wattree, the burly 6-foot-6 former college basketball standout, is cool, calm, and collected.  He always has been and probably always will be.  It's just the way he is.

Thus, when he takes the stage Oct. 26 for induction into Azusa Pacific's Athletics Hall of Fame, the former DEA agent and Air Force officer will do so with little fanfare or personal reaction.  It's the Wattree way … cool at all times.

Bill Odell, an APU Hall of Famer himself after a 16-year coaching career for the Cougars, knows firsthand how composed Wattree can be.  He handed Wattree nearly every must-come-through situation during Eric's 57-game at Azusa Pacific, and Wattree delivered repeatedly.

"Eric was one of the most respected players I ever coached," said Odell who served as a head coach for 36 years on the college and high school levels.  "He was a humble, quiet leader who led with his work ethic and personal demand for excellence."

A former standout at nearby Northview High School in Covina, Calif., Wattree played for former Odell pupil Ron Rice before transferring to Fremont High in Los Angeles.  He opened his college career at the University of Wyoming, playing two years for the Cowboys before Rice alerted Odell that Eric was returning home to Southern California.  In the summer of 1994, he transferred to Azusa Pacific. Wattree's demand for excellence led him to averaging 13.9 points and 8.6 rebounds during his two seasons at Azusa Pacific, leading the Cougars to back-to-back Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) championships and a pair of NAIA Tournament appearances.  As a 1996 senior, he averaged 15.4 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting at an impressive .634 (201-for-317) clip from the floor.  Justifiably, he was named the GSAC Player of the Year.

The Cougars entered the final week of Wattree's 1996 senior season with just a one-game lead in the GSAC race over rival Westmont College.  Wins were a must for Azusa Pacific, and adding to the tension of the situation was the fact that the Cougars opened that final week with a visit to Westmont in Santa Barbara.  The Warriors needed the win to pull even with APU with one game left.  The Cougars, on the other hand, needed the victory to put away the pesky Warriors and collect yet another conference title. 

In a raucous Murchison Gym, with the score tied at 64-64 and less than 30 seconds to play and the ball in the hands of the Cougars, Odell called a timeout, and designed a play to go to Tim Sebek for the final shot.  However, the Warriors smothered Sebek, and his attempt at a game-winning shot was off the mark, wide right.  Wattree saw the trajectory of the shot and realizing it was not going in, charged the hoop, jumped up, gathered the air ball, and laid it back in for the game winner with just 2 seconds to play.

"A Westmont player turned to me and said 'you think the game is over?' Wattree recalled, "and I answered, 'it's definitely over!'"

Protecting teammates in 1996 was just the beginning of a career of security.  Following graduation from Azusa Pacific in May of that year, Wattree entered the Air Force where he served for ten years, most notably as a certified Phoenix Raven Anti-Terrorism Specialist.  He was tasked with ensuring the safety of government officials and high-ranking military personnel while providing support on highly classified special operation missions in Afghanistan and other places throughout the world.

While still with the Air Force, he joined the Drug Enforcement Administration out of the Seattle area, working on complex conspiracy and international investigations.  He stayed with the DEA for 15 years until last year, when he accepted a new position as senior investigator and security specialist with the Arizona Department of Economic Security.

"I am so proud of Eric and how he has served our country with honor and protected some of our most important people." Said Odell.  "He has been in some extremely dangerous situations, and just as he had proven to us on the basketball court, he was trustworthy in all situations.  Simply put, he is unflappable."

Wattree's Cougar career will be enshrined forever at Azusa Pacific when he joins nine other former Cougar athletes for induction into the Azusa Pacific Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, Oct. 26, at 10 a.m. in the Felix Event Center.  The ceremony is open to the public at $25/person .

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23 April 2002

MEMORANDUM FOR OFFICER TRAINING SCHOOL SELECTION COMMITTEE

FROM: 92 SFS/SFO
2 E. ARNOLD STREET
FAIRCHILD AFB, WA 99011

SUBJECT: Recommendation for Staff Sergeant Eric L. Wattree

1. I wholeheartedly concur with Staff Sergeant Wattree’s request to attend Officer Training School. He represents the enlisted ranks with the highest standard and will bring that dedication and professionalism to the officer corps.

2. Eric continues to lead a stellar military career; his enlisted performance reports speak for themselves. His leadership and experience, especially in contingency environments, remains a vital asset to our unit and wing. As one of my primary Phoenix Raven team leaders, he’s propelled to the forefront of all major deployments throughout the world. He’s repeatedly secured aircraft and crews, supporting a wide variety of missions, in the most austere and terrorist-ridden environments where security is severely inadequate. The diversity of these missions never limited SSgt Wattree’s capacity to adapt to each situation. For this reason, Eric was selected as our 2000 Outstanding Phoenix Raven Member of the Year and the 2001 Air Force Reserve Component Airman of the Year for the 92d Security Forces Squadron.

3. Whether operating under peacetime or contingency operations, Eric easily assumes control and tackles every situation with meticulous tenacity, a quality highly desired in our Air Force officers. Requested by name, Sergeant Wattree, provided security for presidential Banner missions throughout Greece, Peru and Viet Nam. While deployed to Afghanistan, he flew numerous combat missions in our nation’s pursuit to eradicate terrorism through Operation ENDURING FREEDOM. Additionally, he provided round-the-clock force protection for aircraft in other high-threat environments including Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Oman.

4. Sergeant Wattree motivated his personnel during the worst conditions and raised the level of esprit de corps to integrate personnel from other Air Force specialties into a cohesive team. His leadership, integrity and devotion to our Air Force play an integral part in our future leadership. Eric has what it takes to become a commissioned officer and earns my full support to attend Officer Training School.

FRANK HELLSTERN, JR., Captain, USAF
Operations Officer

AND THE BEAT GOES ON WITH YOUR SONS

ELIJAH WATTREE

SAILOR OF THE QUARTER

UNITED STATES COAST GUARD

ERIC L. WATTREE III

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I recently graduated from Oklahoma City University with a BBA - Economics (Minor in Marketing).

While at OCU I obtained many certifications, an example being the Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) Certification. I've also been a member of the Investment Club where we managed a portfolio of actual securities initially worth $100,000 - profits going towards OCU scholarships. Throughout my 4 years, my ability to establish and maintain relationships has been my biggest asset. Being able to think critically, analyze data and relay information effectively have been critical to my success.

I also had the pleasure of being a 4-year student-athlete, spending two years as Team Captain. As a captain, the importance of taking necessary sacrifices for overall team success as well as effective time management as it relates to workload efficiencies are vital. I served 4 years as a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) in which we created a vehicle for student-athlete representation, organized community service efforts and promoted a positive student-athlete image on campus. I was selected on numerous occasions to speak publicly at various high schools, as well as at OCU's Sports Spectacular, the end-of-year sports banquet.

I love to learn, build relationships and WIN!

YOU'VE DONE WELL, BABY BOY.

YOU AND MY GRANDSONS HAVE BROUGHT THIS 

OLE HOOD RAT GREAT PRIDE.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

AUGUST 19, 1974

Eric L. Wattree, Sr.

Http://wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com
BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS
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Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does. 

 

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I PLACE MY FAITH IN COMMON SENSE

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY

I PLACE MY FAITH IN COMMON SENSE

There’s been a debate raging over the race of Jesus for as long as I can remember.  But it never really interested me, because as far as I’m concerned, it really doesn't matter, because regardless to what  race Jesus was, he was just another man. The only reason there’s a debate at all is the Bible claims that Jesus was the son of God. But unless we consider us all the sons and daughters of God, that’s complete nonsense.
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The people who wrote the Bible and other religious books didn't know any more about God than we do today, so we really shouldn’t take them so seriously. They were simply the Pat Robertsons of their time, so the Bible merely constitutes the superstitious rantings of 3000-year-old dead men, and not, as we’ve been told, “the word of God”. It’s the word of man, regarding God, and that’s it.
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What makes many assume that the people who wrote the Bible were any closer to God than we are today has always eluded me. I suspect that the primary reason that many believe that is because they’ve reasoned that since the people who wrote the Bible lived 3000 years ago, they might have been on a more friendly terms with God. But 3000 years is only the blink of an eye in terms of cosmic time, so it’s not like they met God while he was at work. But based on the way some people place all of their faith in the Bible, you would think the book was actually dictated by God to the people in real time. Well, it wasn’t. The Bible only reflects what people believed about God, but they had absolutely no evidence that what they believed was true.
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The universe is 13.8 billion years old, so 3000 years is just a drop in the bucket in terms of the age of the universe.  So all those 3000 years really mean is that the people back then lacked the education that we have today. Today, if we see a man walking along the beach on the wet sand as the Sun is going down, we see it for what it is, a man walking on wet sand. But 3000 years ago the people would mistake the illusion of the wet sand as part of the ocean and think the man was walking on water. Or, if a person passed out in the public square and Jesus sprinkles water in his face to bring him around, 3000 years ago people would have thought Jesus brought him back from the dead. So one of the reasons they reported so many “miracles” back in those days was due to their ignorance and lack of education.  
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So we have to be careful what we accept from the Bible, because those people lacked knowledge and sophistication. As a result, when you follow the Bible, you’re following people who lacked the understanding that we have today. So don’t let man mislead you. There’s nothing un-Godly about questioning the word of man. God expects it of us. That’s why God gave everyone their very own brain and the capacity for logical manipulation, to prevent us from being the mindless victims of stupidity.
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Man uses the Bible to try to get other men to think that he speaks for God. But a literal belief in the Bible is like trying to rely on somebody who rode around on a donkey all their life to teach you how to operate your brand-new Cadillac. If you turn on the radio they’ll think it’s God talking to them. So you can’t base the decisions in your life on the attitudes of people who lived 3000 years ago. You must always think for yourself. That’s God’s will – the fact that he gave you your very own private brain attests to that fact.
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Think about it. I wonder who taught Black people that “God’s only begotten son” was a White man with blue eyes and flowing blond hair who could walk on water and never die? And who taught us that God gave White folks a book that told them exactly what he wants us to do, and that should replace all manner of common sense? Think about it. Who taught us that, and what makes us big enough damn fools to believe it?

I recognized as a here teen that one of the biggest mistakes that a person can make in life is to listen to other people instead of connecting the dots yourself. Even the most intelligent people have a tendency to cherry-pick facts and bend reality to fit what they want to believe. So once you get the facts, you should ALWAYS connect the dots for yourself. So I learned early in life that anything I can't figure out for myself should simply go unanswered until I can. Because man has a proven record of being stupid, and I didn’t want to go through life following stupidity. That's why we have so many problems, and it’s also why we have people like Donald Trump running our government.
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Washington, D.C. is filled to the brim with some of the most pronounced idiots in America. They’re self-serving lunatics who are more interested in influence and personal power than they are the American people. That’s why Donald Trump is trying to get America to sacrifice it’s children to the Coronavirus just so he can be re-elected. But, of course, that’s just a completely selfish man acting in his own self-interest. There’s nothing unusual about that. But what’s frightening about is the number of people stupid enough to sacrifice their children for him.  

THE CONGNIVIST

So for all of the reasons above, I’ve become what I call a devout Cognivist. That is, I’m a firm believer in logical cognition. I don’t believe in walking dead men, talking snakes, or any human messengers from God, because God doesn’t need messengers. I believe in one thing - the holy power of common sense - because common sense is our one, and only, connection with the creator.
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Having “faith” has absolutely nothing to do with God. Having faith simply means that you “have faith” in what you’ve been told by other men. And since I have absolutely no confidence in anything either written or said by man, faith is not my thing. I only have “faith” in one thing - common sense - because common sense was bestowed upon me by God himself, so I don’t have to worry about the credibility of any self-serving preacher, politician, or middle-man. 

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Eric L. Wattree

Http://wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com

BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS

Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does. 

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TRAITOR TRUMP

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY

TRAITOR TRUMP

ATTENTION CHRISTIANS AND AMERICAN PATRIOTS:

IF YOU THINK JESUS WOULD CONDONE TRUMP’S BEHAVIOR, WHATELSE ARE YOU LYING TO YOURSELVES ABOUT?

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TRUMP CLAIMS TO LOVE AMERICA,

 NOW THAT IT’S CONVENIENT . . .

BUT HE OBVIOUSLY DIDN’T FEEL THAT WAY WHEN IT WAS HIS TURN TO PUT HIS LIFE ON THE LINE TO DEFEND IT . . .

OR WHEN HE STOOD BY AND ALLOWED PUTIN TO PLACE A BOUNTY ON THE LIVES OF AMERICAN TROOPS WITHOUT UTTERING A WORD . . .

OR WHEN HE SENT SECRET POLICE TO ATTACK PEACEFUL AMERICAN CITIZENS EXERCISING THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS.

WHAT A CREEP!

A Former Marine
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Eric L. Wattree

Http://wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com
BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS
.
Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does. 

 

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