America is the Black man's battleground. As I travel the streets of Oakland, I run into police at crime scenes, streets taped and markings for bullet casings. It is almost daily or weekly. This is war, whether caused by external or internal forces. War is war. Coast to coast. But we cannot make war unless one is prepared. When unprepared, one is simply the victim who suffers but is unable to stop the war against him or her. How does one prepare for war? Put on the armor of God or obtain spiritual consciousness, then one can walk through the valley of the shadow of death but fear no evil. Be conscious of the Tone Test: when stopped by the police, one can be arrested, released or killed, depending on one's tone of voice. When encountering another brother, the tone test operates. Depending on our tone of voice, we can have an argument or the situation can escalate to violence and death. Isn't there a Hadith that says when we encounter the ignorant, say As-Salaam-Alaikum. Don't escalate a situation when you know where it is going! We must survive to fight another day of our choice, not the enemy's. And don't think you are going to defeat the enemy with guns. My friends and comrades in the Black Panther Party tried this but suffered a military defeat. We don't have enough guns or bullets to match the police, the US Army, Navy, Air Force, FBI, CIA, NSA, spies, snitches and agent provocateurs. Fidel Castro said, "The weapon of today is not guns but consciousness."--Marvin X