I ask you ponder the sutra observation:
"because I once disparaged this highest, of all sutras, I am now looked down upon and my words go unheeded. Despite the fact that in the HIYU chapter of the Sutra it is written, "that [because one slandered the Lotus Sutra in the past] other people will have no sympathy for him even though he sincerely tries to be friendly with them."
Then I ask you to reflect upon the following coincidences, in the light of the former observation. Keep in mind that roughly 78 % of African-Americans are Christians, 13 % Muslim, 3 % uncommitted and 2 % Buddhists of all kinds:
Dave Chapelle - $50 million jeperdized due to success neurosis
Bob Marley - died 36 y/o metastisized brain tumor; assasination attempt at 31 y/o
Martin Lawrence - found raving in the street of L.A. supposedly due to stress.
Martin Luther King - Alpha Phi Alpha, assasinated
Adam Clayton Powell, Alpha Phi Alpha, uncostitutionally barred from 12th congressional term, died 64 y/o
Redd Foxx, (John Elroy Sanford) stripped by IRS; ironially died of massive heart attack, which was one of his better
comedy routines. He was a friend of
Malcolm X - assasinated
Todd Bridges - drug/weapons/murder charges
Gary Coleman - infomercial laughing stock, assaulted by "fan" while working as a security guard
Rick James - drugs/dead
O. J. Simpson - murder charge
Bill Cosby - sex assault allegations, son murdered
Chuck Berry - seriously perverted videos in toilets
Charlie Pride - BPD
Richard Pryor - MS, drug addiction, fire victim
Muhammad Ali - Parkinson's disease
Michael Jackson - burned in fire, self-disfigurement due to surgery abuse, pedophilia accusations vs Peter Pan
syndrome
Kobey Bryant - rape charge
Billy Preston - kidney dialysis treatment; sentenced to 3yrs in prison for cocaine possesion
Mike Tyson - rape conviction
James Brown - weapons convictions, drug charges, spousal abuse charges
Nat "King" Cole - early death from cancer
Natalie Cole - alcohol/drug abuse, child endangerment
Clevon Little - colon cancer 53 y/o
Flip Wilson - liver cancer 65 y/o
Prince - child with severe birth defects/death, divorce from wife
Rev. James Cleveland - died 59 y/o
Donnie Hathaway - "fell" out of window
Marvin Gaye - murdered by his own father
Tammi Terrell- died brain tumor 24 y/o
Isaac Hayes - bankruptcy filing
Teddy Pendergrass - 1982 car accident paralyzed from the waist down and wheelchair bound.
Aaliyah - died in plane crash
Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes - killed in car crash after bankruptcy, after arson conviction for destroying boyfriend's
mansion
Shaun "Puff Daddy, P. Diddy" Combs - weapons charges
Little Kim - perjury conviction
band - armed robbery, drug charges
Roberto Clemente - died in plane crash
Otis Redding - died at 25 y/o in same plane crash that killed his back up band
The Bar Kays - died in plane crash with Otis Redding
Florence Ballard - founder of the Supremes, as the Primettes, dissed by Berry Gordy because her voice didn't sell
to whites, expelled from Motown after six years and total earnings of $139,804.94! Died 32 y/o coronary thrombosis
while living on welfare in projects.
Diana Ross - jailed for DUI, odd breast grabbing incidents, husband died in mountain climbing accident
Bobby Brown - numerous arrests for drug/spousal abuse
Barry White -hypertension, renal failure, stroke and death 58 y/o
Donny Hathaway - left a 15th floor hotel window: suicide from depression , accident, or termination of unsigned
contract;
Nina Simone - personality problems hindering career
Luther Vandross - massive stroke. diabetes
R. Kelly - arrested on 21 counts of child pornography
Whitney Huston - drug abuse and psychological problems
Kareem Abdul Jabbar Arrested for marijuana DUI
Sammy Davis, Jr. - blinded for dating Kim Novacs
Quincy Jones - massive stroke
Peter Tosh - murdered in his own home during burglary by a "friend"
Queen Latifah _ DUI
Franz Fanon, M.D. - French doctor, died at NIH in Bethesada, MD from cancer 36 y/o
Kofi Annan - oil for food bribery scandal
Ron Brown - killed in plane crash
Emmett Till - lynched by white mob 12 y/o
Medgar Evars - assasinated at 38 y/o
Arthur Ashe - heart surgeries with blood transfusions when 36 y/o led to death from AIDS at 50 y/o
Venus & Serena Williams - sister murdered
Sam Cooke - shot to death in a sleazy motel
Jackie Wilson - shot by fan 1961; heart attack on stage 1975 in coma until death in 1984
Sonny Liston - died from unknown reasons at 38 y/o
Magic Johnson - AIDS
Curtis Mayfield - paralyzed from the neck down after stage lighting equipment fell on him at a concert; had to
have his right leg amputated due to diabetes.
He died at age 57y/o.
Jimi Hendrix - suffocated after ingesting wine and sleeping pills - 27 y/o
Anthony Anderson - rape charge, aquitted
Clarence Thomas - character assasination by collaboration of racist whites and African American poverty pimps
Michael Jordan - father is murdered
Boyz II Men - most successful R&B group of all time for 11 years, 5 years later, WHO?
Mariah Carey - signs hefty bonus with Virgin Records then promptly is unable to perform due to mental fatigue.
Minnie Riperton - attacked by a lion, died from breast cancer 31 y/o
Heroin
Billie Holiday
Charlie Parker
Miles Davis
Frankie Lymon
John Coltrane
Ray Charles
Jack Johnson - July 20 1920 sentenced to one year in Levenworth Federal Penitentiary for violating anti-prostitution
Mann Act against "transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes" by sending his white.girlfriend,
Belle Schreiber a railroad ticket to travel from Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania to Chicago , Illinois died in auto accident.
Avoided death on Titanic due to rascism preventing him from getting a ticket!
Joe Louis - drug problem, IRS wipeout, Parkinson Disease, destitution, death by heart attack
Sugar Ray Robinson - sugar diabetes, drug addiction
Sonny Liston - mysterious death at 38 y/o possibly by organized crime
Bessie Smith - died from blood loss post T/A due to segregated hospitals
Berry Gordy, jr. - Motown, rising out of the Detroit ghetto by its own bootstraps, became Arista which became Universal
Music which is now SONY a Japanese corp.
John H. Johnson, Alpha Phi Alpha entrepreneur creates BET, Black Entertainment Television, which becomes part of
Viacom, promoter of Steppin Fetchit like ghetto urban programming.
Charles Drew - ironic loss of life due to lack of blood availability - check this
Not surprising, but not the parity of equally dastardly white folks:
Tupac Shakur - murdered
Biggie Smalls aka Notorious B.I.G. - murdered
Suge Knight - imprisoned
Ike Turner - numerous convictions for assault, weapons, drugs
Run-DMC DJ Jam Master Jay - murdered, bankrupt
Almost anybody from Oakland
June Pointer of The Pointer Sisters - TRO by sisters from using name Pointer due to cocaine abuse/arrests
Sly Slyvester of Sly and the Family Stone - drug addiction, mental health problems, tax problems
Digital Underground
The Black Panther Party - imprisonment, assasination, exile, murder by community member targeted to be liberated
Elderidge & Kathleen Clever - divorce, murder
MC Hammer - Bankruptcy
Better be careful:
Will Smith
Samuel L. Jackson
Wesley Snipes, in particular
Oprah Winfrey
Condeleeza Rice, Ph.D.
Notable exceptions:
Floyd Patterson
George Foreman
google keyword results
78,700 for R&B band arrested
71,100 for soul band arrested, but not including the band's name phrase "arrested development"
Blatant rascism sign: Pat Boone's version of "Tutti-Frutti" was released shortly after
Little Richard's and charted slightly higher. http://www.who2.com/littlerichard.html
Now, quickly, name five celebrated white criminals:
Jesse James, Butch Cassidy, John Dillinger, Al Capone, Adolf Hitler, Robin Hood, Sundance Kid, Billy the Kid, Ma Barker, Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, Babyface Nelson, Lucky Luciano, Dutch Schultz, Betty Broderick, John Wayne Gacy, John Gotti, Don Corleone, Michael Corleone, Big Pussy Soprano, Napoleon Bonaparte, Legs Diamond, Pretty Boy Floyd, Boss Tweed, Mary Kay Lettourneau, the Dalton Gang, Machine, Gun Kelly, Lex Luthor, Robert Downey Junior, Joseph Stalin, Fidel Castro, Che Guevarro, Bugsy Malone, Bugsy Segal, General Pinochet, Juan Peron, Joe Kennedy, etc.
Next, name one celebrated criminal of color, take your time: ..... and the answer is .....?