States such as New York have been signing conceal carry restrictions into law like there’s no tomorrow. And recently there have been claims that these restrictions disproportionately impact minority communities. Likewise, there is a lawsuit claiming that the “good moral character” clause included in New York’s Conceal Carry Improvement Act (CCIA) is rooted in racist tradition, and it’s subjective nature is just another way to deny minorities gun permits.

These developments in the continued suppression of Americans’ God-given right to bear arms come on the heels of a trend showing an increase in black gun ownership over the past couple of years. 44 percent of retailers saw an increase of African Americans purchasing firearms in 2021.

Also, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), at least 40 percent of gun sales in 2020 were made by first-time gun buyers. Among these first-time gun buyers were young people, women and minorities, from all over the spectrum of political views. In 2020, the number of gun purchases by African Americans increased 56% from what it was in 2019, according to research by the NSSF.

And a 2022 New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center report found that Black and Hispanic gun owners are several times more likely to carry a firearm outside the home than white gun owners.

The NSSF’s Managing Director of Public Affairs Mark Oliva has spoken at length about the rise in gun ownership among black Americans, who are looking to become educated and highly trained with the most modern firearms technology. He says that due to growing numbers of women and minorities purchasing firearms, “today’s gun owner looks a whole lot less like me and looks more like the rest of America, because they are the rest of America.”

Oliva says that the typical gun owner today is “shattering the stereotypes,” and that “it’s becoming much more difficult for those who oppose gun ownership to put gun owners into a neat little box as they have in the past.”

The Rise of the National African American Gun Association (NAAGA)

The National African American Gun Association (NAAGA) has seen a dramatic growth upwards from 58 percent in 2021. And the group celebrates its 8 year anniversary this year during Black History Month on February 28. So I decided to have a chat this month with president and founder of the NAAGA Philip Smith, on topics related to black gun ownership and other present day second amendment issues.

While the NAAGA encourages black citizens to practice their second amendment rights in a safe and positive way, the group is open to anyone, not just black gun owners. The organization currently has over 2,000 white members.

“We’re not worried about where you’re coming from or what you do in your private time or how you’re dressed and all these social, political and racial litmus tests, we don’t have that,” says Smith, who makes inclusivity a core aspect of the group. “We’re gonna give u a high five and say ‘come on sister,’ regardless of your color or gender.”

Smith discussed NAAGA’s recent growth spurt with us. “Right now we’re at about 51,000 members nationally. We have over 130 chapters. We have members in every state of the U.S. and we have chapters in 38 out of the 50 states so we’re not quite there for chapters in every state but we’re getting close and our members vary.”

On the topic of gun control laws disproportionately impacting minorities, Smith concurs. “Yeah anybody can buy a Glock for $400 or a Smith and Wesson or a Daniel Defense or any gun that you want.”

But the barriers for people that want to legally carry a gun seem to grow more and more expensive. Smith explains how these would-be gun owners are then required to take a conceal carry certification course which is likely to cost at least a couple hundred dollars. “Then you have to get [the firearm] registered, or you have to go through some kind of verification, that’s another $100. So you now have in effect doubled the price of that gun, for a poor person in the hood.”

Not only does this price many black, as well as white Americans out of the second amendment, but Smith says “I think you’re basically taxing the second amendment which I think should not be allowed, and any and everybody should be allowed to buy a gun with no barriers, period. As long as you can pass that background check, you should be allowed to buy a gun.”

The History of 2A Rights for Black Americans

There is a lot of history behind the oppression of gun rights for African Americans and people of color. After slavery was abolished, the Klu Klux clan, Jim Crow laws and lynchings terrorized the black community well into the 1900s.

But that doesn’t mean that the second amendment wasn’t essential during very critical times in African American history. For starters, carrying arms is the sole reason many black people escaped lynchings in years past. And then there’s Harriet Tubman, who was armed with a pistol on her missions to rescue slaves. The first African-American female mail carrier, Mary Fields, was described by the African American registry as “a black gun-toting female in the American Wild West who was six feet tall, heavy, tough, short-tempered, two-fisted, and powerful; she carried a pair of six-shooters and an eight or ten-gauge shotgun.”

 “I always use examples of heroes within our community, you know the Buffalo Soldiers, Tuskegee Airmen, the Harlem Hellfighters out of the army, Deacons of Defense, folks that really utilized the firearms to emancipate [themselves],” says Smith. “We should be very proud of that fact, and they died for us in many many cases, and those are just the famous ones but a lot of not-so-famous people died utilizing a gun to try to fight for their freedom as well.”

Smith says because their ancestors fought so hard for freedoms such as the Second Amendment, it’s critical that black Americans do their part to preserve these liberties. “We’re not discounted Americans, we’re not sub Americans, we’re Americans and we fought for this country when we weren’t even considered citizens, so we are in my mind the most patriotic group within the U.S. by far.”

MLK, Civil Rights, Black Panthers and the Mulford Act

The Civil Rights Movement was led by Martin Luther King who recognized the need for self-defense (and was denied a conceal carry permit which he applied for after his house was bombed). The rise of Malcolm X and the Black Panthers also played a significant part in the breaking down of racial barriers, and these individuals believed that nonviolence was not the road to take to protect blacks, that in fact it would only put them in more danger. Then came the Mulford Act, an open carry ban which was California’s first major gun control law, signed by Ronald Reagan, who was governor of California at the time. According to History.com, “The 1967 bill took California down the path to having some of the strictest gun laws in America and helped jumpstart a surge of national gun control restrictions,” including the Gun Control Act of 1968. It’s also worth noting that the National Rifle Association (NRA) supported the Mulford Act.

This Mulford Act was signed at the same point in history when the Black Panthers began educating people on their rights the old school way. The NAAGA’s Smith refers to the Black Panthers as “the first group coming from the black community that really utilized firearms as part of their dogma.” The Panthers would show up in the neighborhood when a citizen was confronted by the police, armed with lawbooks, to observe the interaction, as Smith says, “right there on the spot, right there on the spot literally.”

Modern Day Black 2A Leaders

Now let’s take a look at modern second amendment leaders and activists from the black community.

Gun rights activist Lucretia Hughes spoke in front of lawmakers back in June about her experience losing her 19-year old son to gun violence perpetrated by a convicted offender who used an illegally obtained gun. With the second amendment currently under attack, Hughes is adamant that tighter gun laws are not the answer. Instead, Hughes, a 48-year old African American female, says that guns are essential as a mechanism for protection and self-defense, and uses her testimony to bring together women of all ages and races to learn about guns and receive proper training.

Hughes says she has a black police officer, Sheriff Jones of Barrow County, Georgia, to thank for insisting that she carry a firearm for protection when he noticed her door-knocking alone for Congressional candidates in her neighborhood. Sherriff Jones asked Hughes about where her gun was, and when she told him she had left it at home, he said “look around you, I’m the only cop within ten minutes of getting here to save your life. You will be dead before I even rescue you.”

Then there’s Colion Noir, a young African American attorney and Second Amendment advocate. When he was struggling to pass the bar exam, Noir found solace and stress-relief in going to the shooting range.

Noir recently did a video where he unpacked the Mulford Act after Joy Behar claimed on the View that “when black people get guns,” the laws will change. Then Noir argued that if Behar truly feels that way, then why isn’t she encouraging blacks to practice their second amendment rights as much as possible?

Thomas Cunningham started Onyx Gun Club in Ohio due to scarce representation of people of color at his local shooting range. Onyx Gun club emphasizes responsibility and safety training to shatter historical stigmas of black gun owners.

And right before an armed citizen stopped the deadly Mall Shooting in Indiana last summer, Black Guns Matter founder Maj Toure began calling for training citizens to ‘defend life’ as the only gun control necessary in America. You can check out his moving statements on this issue here.

It’s been a challenging, but victorious road for black Americans that want to become educated and trained on all things gun related.

Smith says that when he first started the NAAGA, “the initial conversations I had were very tough because folks, you know, only deal with what [they] know, and a lot of folks didn’t really know much about our community.” He then found himself “constantly educating folks in the manufacturing side, ammo, gun holsters, whatever, about our organization.” One key message that Smith seeks to transmit to society is, “that black folks, let’s be transparent, are buying guns, and a large amount of guns, and they’re changing their mindset slowly but it is changing.”

I’ll never forget the individual who dosed me with the proverbial red pill, or, in other words, helped wake me up to the status of world affairs. He’s a modern-day Bob Marley, possessing a parallel talent for weaving spiritual and political elements into his reggae tracks. His name is Alvin Charlery, also known as the Poetic Juggler. His melodies infuse syncopated rhythm and calypso with lyrics that hold profound meaning, particularly corresponding to modern day issues such as the New World Order, social decline, and economic collapse.

How did he get the name Poetic Juggler? For about 30 years now, Charlery has been a soccer coach for soccer clubs across Connecticut. “I used to juggle the ball while reciting poetry, oh the kids loved it! So one kid shouted ‘oh sh*t coach, you are the poetic juggler!’“ says Charlery about how he coined his musical alter ego. “The minute that came from this kids’ mouth I was like ‘yes that is my name, that is my name.’ ”

While Marley arose from Jamaica and Trench Town, Charlery hails from the other side of the Caribbean, his native island of St. Lucia. Like Marley, Charlery gives thanks to Jah Jah, who those outside of the reggae realm may know as the Lord Above. “The reason the great Jamaican stuff deepens over time, over years, not with nostalgia but with meaning and nuance, is that it's a spiritual music,” was the description given in a 2011 GQ article about legendary reggae icon Bunny Wailer (of Bob Marley and the Wailers). “That's the anomaly underlying its power. It's spiritual pop—not in a calculated way, like Christian rock, but in a way that comes from within.” Charlery credits Marley and Wailer for being his biggest inspirations. And while many of his political messages align with the oppressive elements Marley crooned about, Charlery builds upon the roots of this oppression with his heavy references to elements like the New World Order, United Nations, and nuclear weapons.

When one thinks of Marley, Bunny Wailer, reggae and Rastafarianism, the topic of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement may not immediately come to mind. But back in 2016, the Poetic Juggler whispered in my ear that “Donald Trump will go down in history as the best president America ever had.” Coming from a green card holder whose music is a portal for the unity of his beloved ancestors’ country, Africa, this seemed counterintuitive to the rampant media coverage of Trump’s campaign which, according to publications like The Week, NBC and the Huffington Post, was “run on racism.”

In his song “Stand Up,” Charlery gives recognition to many of the “people that were killed during their time as leaders who were trying to bring about the unification of Africa…and America and Europe wouldn’t go for that at all.”  The names mentioned in the song include Nelson Mandela, Patrice Lumumba, Marcus Garvey and Sekou Toure. Charlery believes that if Africa could be united, just like the United States, that it would have a more powerful voice in world affairs, which would in turn benefit the entire world.

As it turns out, Trump appears to appreciate reggae music. In his book “Think Like a Billionaire,” Trump recalled a 2004 guest hosting spot on Saturday Night Live, where he had the privilege of hearing Toots Hibbert (known as one of reggae’s founders) and his band Toots & the Maytals rehearse. "My daughter Ivanka had told me how great they were, and she was right. The music relaxed me, and surprisingly, I was not nervous,” Trump wrote in the book.

The Poetic Juggler was also the first person to inform me of the New World Order in detail, and at the time back in 2016, I still wasn’t sure if this concept was a real thing or just a conspiracy theory. But hearing about the world takeover of these elites from someone with a demeanor as laid back as Charlery’s – coming from him, all these ideas sound more grounded and less conspiracy-laden. I think many people are used to hearing about these shocking realities from panicked voices across YouTube (or Rumble, or Bitchute). I believe that reggae is an excellent forum through which to funnel these concepts.

“They’re all in cahoots,” declares the Poetic Juggler with a shrug when he refers to Bilderberg, the World Bank, George Soros…the whole gamut of forces that are having a significant impact on world affairs.  

The Poetic Juggler says that his outspoken support of Trump hasn’t gone over well with friends of his, as well as several girlfriends. “When I would open my mouth in support of trump, ohhhh maaaannn I’m like their worst enemy,” Charlery sighs in his Caribbean drawl.

He says that in 2016 when he saw Trump and his wife Melania ride down the escalator to announce his bid for the presidency, he said “you guys are watching the next president of the United States” while his girlfriend and one of his friends laughed and shook their heads in disbelief. “I saw it! I saw it!” Charlery exclaims, referring to Trump’s ultimate victory in the 2016 presidential race. Charlery said the first, and clearest sign he saw that signaled Trump as the best candidate for changing America’s position in this worldwide system of oppression was the simple fact that “the media hated him!”

“What the New World Order wants to issue is the destruction of countries' sovereignty. And so the world can be governed by people who were never elected. That’s why Trump went on that America First thing, so if America comes first, then I don’t think he means that he would only do things to support America [meaning Trump would not be sacrificing the rest of the world] but nobody should have a problem if he wants to put America first. You’ve got to put your country first!” says Charlery. He then goes on to point out that the overwhelming amount of people in both political parties that oppose Trump should be a red flag to people. “The reason they don’t like him is because they knew he’s not following the agenda of the New World Order.”

Trump is not addressed in Charlery’s music, however, if you take a close look at the issues he sings about, one may see the parallels to Trump’s America First and For the People message. In addition to what I have already mentioned, below are some of the main world issues addressed in Charlery’s music:

   · Draining of Africa’s natural resources.

   · The “crystal ball effect” of countries with nuclear weapons.

   · The vaccine and annuit coeptis (the phrase on the back of the American dollar).

   · The International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

   · Decline of social order.

   · The ability of the black population to “flex” since they now have equal rights to white citizens in             America.

Charlery’s music also exudes a message of love and cementing of moral principles that are so simple yet so lacking in many parts of the world today. An example is the extraordinarily infectious “Scholar,” which is intended to redirect the minds of today’s youth, in whom critical thinking appears to be a lost art. “A critically thinking mind is worth more than a dollar, I would rather be a scholar,” is the chorus that has saturated my mind, and I am sure it does the same for many other minds as well. Charlery dreams of the day he walks by and hears a group of children out playing and singing the song. “Because it’s not just words for words, like meaningless words, you know what I’m saying…I think they would act on that. It’s a catchy song, and when they understand what they’re saying, it’s like ‘Ok!’ “

Perhaps Charlery’s song that holds the deepest and most profound message, at least in my opinion, is “Economic Hitman.” He says the idea for the song came to mind when he woke up in the middle of the night on one fateful day in February 2000. His son, a baby at the time, was crying, and he flipped on the TV. “I happened to turn on the television, and the program that came on, there was a guy who went to MIT, he said they recruited him to work for the U.S. government, CIA, whatever and his job was to be an economic hitman.” But, according to Charlery, what the job entailed did a number on the man’s conscience after a number of years. “He was able to amass riches and wealth, but at the end of the day what it caused, the havoc it created around the world, he was like nahhhh…it really wasn’t worth it.”

In “Economic Hitman,” the chorus goes “economic hitman Babylon travel the earth to sell their plan, their quest is to control the third world lands.” The song goes on to paint the picture of the economic hitman, who is “traversing the earth with cash and a bullet, never did sure who paid for the ticket, like a fast ball going straight to the wicket, giving ultimatum Africa running out of uranium.” Charlery explains that from his understanding, the economic hitman would offer cash to world leaders to agree to carry out their plan which would ultimately lead to countries “incurring debt they cannot handle.” If the world leaders did not accept the cash and agree to that plan, then the bullet was what would come afterwards, by the hand of someone else who is on the same team as the economic hitman.

Charlery refers to the concept of Babylon in “Economic Hitman,” and his album, Divine Inheritance, also has a song named “Babylon,” which is “a colloquial name for the general system of oppression.”

Charlery is a bona fide example of the American dream. Growing up in St. Lucia, he says “those were glorious years,” but eventually the Poetic Juggler realized his country had become too small for him and he knew it was time to leave for “greener pastures, to make something of myself.” Charlery said he knew he was a skilled soccer player (or as they call it in St. Lucia and Europe, “football” player) and that his athletic prowess was very likely to land him a scholarship. Typically, when he thought of the best football teams, England was the first country that came to mind. But what deterred him from going there to pursue his ambitions was “because I’m aware I’m a black man, and what I saw, the hurdles the black players that were born in England had to overcome in their own country, I said to myself, ‘who am I to think that I can go there and have things easier than them?’”

So Charlery chose instead to come to America on a visa and “When I left, I knew I wasn’t going back in a hurry.” Charlery already had several friends in the United States, and after a few years of doing construction in Brooklyn he grew bored and ventured over to Connecticut to visit his friend who attended the University of Bridgeport and played soccer there.

“He wasn’t even aware that I was coming, I just took the train, ended up at the train station in Bridgeport, walked to the school, I knew I would find him because the place is not that big.” The rest is history. Alvin’s friend happened to drive by and see him walking and proceeded to take him back to his dorm and find him a change of clothes so he could bring Charlery to his soccer practice.  “So we’re on the field, we keep kicking the ball, I mean that’s part of my plan, I didn’t know I would end up going to practice with them, but I always knew I had what it takes to get a scholarship.” And sure enough, it did not take long for a coach at the soccer practice to notice Charlery’s skills that day. “My friend called me and introduced me to the coach, the coach was like, ‘continue playing,’ and at the end of practice the coach said to my friend ‘don’t let him go back home tonight.’ The following morning, I was in the admissions office. Scholarship baby!”

The Poetic Juggler: A Caribbean scholar who sets himself apart, who knows where his strengths lie, who sees the truth and stands for it with no apologies. A precious gem arising from the tropics, he has a history of knowing what he wants and how to pursue it. He takes the opportunities handed to him and crystallizes them into magnificence. And his crystal ball says phenomenal and wondrous things lie ahead.

Learn more by visiting the Poetic Juggler’s website.

Follow the Poetic Juggler on Facebook and YouTube

For bookings email: [email protected]

*Written by Jessica Laurel Geraghty 

Mass shootings seem to always be a great excuse for lawmakers and media to push for more red flag laws. Such is the case with the recent Club Q shooting in Colorado that killed five people and injured 22 others. But there are several problems with this. First, these laws are largely left up to interpretation. Two, it’s very difficult to put these laws into action without violating Constitutional rights. And third, states that do have these laws fail to effectively use them, rendering any discussion or legislation in this realm to be a complete waste of time.

A Brief Rundown on Red Flag Laws

In June, the House passed a gun control bill that allowed for “red flag laws,” meaning that a person’s family member, coworker, friend, police officer, or another person close to them can petition federal courts to remove firearms from that person’s home if they believe they are significant risk of harming themselves or others. Often, firearms are then temporarily removed from possession of the person being flagged as a risk before any hearings take place. The House bill has yet to pass in the Senate.

Nineteen states and Washington D.C. have red flag laws. But the Supreme Court recently dealt a blow to red flag laws. In the case Caniglia v Strom, the Supreme Court protected both privacy rights (fourth amendment) and gun rights (second amendment) by ruling the unwarranted search of the home and seizure of the firearms in possession of the individual in question, Edward Caniglia, to be unconstitutional.

A recent article from the Poynter Institute concluded that while there have been instances where court orders resulting from red flag laws may have prevented suicide, there is simply not enough research to conclude that these laws prevent dangerous people from killing others. And even in many of these 19 states that have red flag laws, a recent study from the Associated Press found that they were rarely used. For example, Chicago had 8,500 shootings, which led to 1,800 deaths since 2020. But red flag laws have only been used four times in Chicago.

A recent study from the Crime Prevention Research Center found that the supposed high support for these red flag laws is likely due to the public’s lack of knowledge about how they work. When survey respondents were informed of the lack of due process in most red flag cases, strong support of these laws came down from 34% to 14%.  Back in 2018, the ACLU of Rhode Island spoke out against red flag laws, raising concerns about the impact these laws would have on civil liberties.

These red flag laws don’t seem to work because of their inherent vagueness. First, determining whether a person is a danger to themselves or others is widely left to the discretion of the police officer present. Second, a recent article from Reason.com which examined Colorado’s red flag law in the wake of the Club Q massacre stated that “the ‘significant risk’ standard [used to determine if a person is a risk] is open to wide interpretation, and the process encourages judges to err on the side of issuing orders,” putting innocent people in danger of losing their Second Amendment rights. The article also pointed out how the red flag law would have likely expired months before the Club Q attack, unless the police or another petitioner was granted an extension by successfully making the case that the would-be shooter remained a threat. So the law likely wouldn’t have even prevented the tragedy.

Mark Oliva from the NSSF Weighs in on Red Flag Laws and Due Process

I asked Mark Oliva, Managing Director of Public Affairs for the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), what his thoughts are on red flag laws. “The NSSF is never opposed to red flag laws so long as those laws have due process rights and protections written into them,” says Oliva. “The difficulty is that [out of] the 19 states and the District of Columbia that have those laws right now, none of them have due process rights and protections written into them.”

Oliva provides a hypothetical example of a woman whose abuser calls authorities and reports that she is suicidal so her firearm should be taken away. Under the current red flag laws some states have, while she is awaiting procedural due process, she would be unarmed and unable to protect herself and therefore vulnerable to the abuser. Oliva also points to the failure of authorities in these states that do have red flag laws to utilize them properly to remove firearms from the possession of individuals such as the shooter in Buffalo, New York. Oliva points out that the Buffalo shooter Payton Gendron was never given a mental health hearing after his family expressed concerns about his erratic behavior and therefore was still allowed to have the firearm in his possession. Oliva points out that despite these failures to properly enforce the laws these states already have, there are louder and louder cries for more gun control.

Ablechild Demands Answers Regarding Link Between Mass Shootings and Psychiatric Drugs

I also recently spoke with Sheila Matthews, co-owner of Ablechild, a national parent’s rights organization, which is dedicated to protecting full informed consent and the right to refuse psychiatric services. Gallo sees these red flag laws as “red herrings,” or diversions from the real problems our nation is facing that are at the root of many of these violent tragedies.

For decades, Ablechild has been calling for investigations into the connection between mass shootings and psychiatric drugs, and they have yet to get such an investigation. Many of these shooters were taking psychiatric drugs at the time the crime was committed. The 2005 Red Lake, Minnesota school shooter was taking Prozac at the time of the massacre. Ablechild submitted a written request to the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota, as well as the FDA, requesting a full investigation into this event. In 1999, one of the Columbine shooters, Eric Harris, was taking the antidepressant Luvox. Then fast forward to the Las Vegas concert shooting in 2018, where the autopsy found that shooter Stephen Paddock had anti-anxiety medication in his urine. 

“Pharmaceutical companies and the mental health industry take zero responsibility for the link between psychiatric drugs and mass shootings,” says Matthews.

There was a leap to gun control after the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, which is still obscured in a cloud of unanswered questions related to Adam Lanza’s (the shooter’s) psychiatric care. First, there were the criminal charges and other serious allegations involving Dr. Paul Fox, a psychiatrist who played a big part in Lanza’s treatment.  In 2016, Fox was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security and eventually convicted of a felony.  According to the state police report, the Yale Child Studies Center evaluated and treated Lanza from October 2006 to February 2007.  Lanza’s mother sent an email to in February of 2007 requesting that Dr. Fox “take the lead role” in treatment Adam would be receiving.  Just six days after that email was sent, treatment abruptly ended.  After that, there has been no information made available to the public regarding what became of Lanza’s mental health treatment, or what psychiatric drugs he was taking.  Meanwhile, legislation was passed to allocate millions of taxpayer funds to increase mental health services and implement severe gun control measures. 

We all want to prevent these tragedies and solve mental health issues, but these solutions appear to be misdirected, while the root of the problem remains unaddressed. Instead, time and money are wasted on laws that are unclear and mental health services that could potentially be part of a system that is perpetuating violence and instability. We will never know for sure, so long as the government continues to refuse to investigate long-endured common denominators from these school shootings, and instead threatens the rights of law-abiding citizens with legislation such as red flag laws.