The Art of Deception

Ladies and Gentleman, you may be shocked but I have to hand it to Mr. Umar Johnson.  He is very good at the Art of Deception.

Why do I say this?

Well, he has fooled a lot of people.  He really has.  It takes quite a smart person to pull the wool over the eyes of so many people.

So, congratulations, Umar.

But here's the question.  How did he do it?

He fooled a lot of our people simply by using the Art of Deception.  And he applied it to appeal to the ignorance, the fears, the hopes and the dreams of our people.

Appeals to Ignorance

Umar knows that most people don't know how to verify credentials, or how to get information on how to verify credentials.  So they may think, as Umar is assuming, that commencement programs, plaques and other certificates are enough to prove that someone has a degree.  

Umar knows that most people do not know how a boarding school is started or funded.  So he used that ignorance, set up a Paypal account (that was subsequently frozen), then set up a GoFundMe account, for which the people didn't go to read the fine print.

Fortunately, there are some people, like myself and others, who actually did the research on what it takes to get a school started and what it will take to sustain a school.  And guess what folks.  It isn't what Umar is doing.

Appeals to Authority

An authority is a person or entity who has certain knowledge or credentials, who can be considered an expert or scholar in a subject area.  Umar has not displayed any evidence of having done any scholarly work, since he has not even cited his own studies and there is no way his studies, dissertation, or credentials can be located.  Also, Umar refuses to place his credentials on his websites.

He is using a pretend blood relationship to Frederick Douglass, unproven claims of being a doctor of clinical psychology, unsubstantiated claims of being a school principal, and other dubious assertions to justify his so-called expertise, all the while refusing to come up with any corroboration of any of his claims.

Umar has to remind us that his events are often sold out,
but what does that have to do with scholarship or the school?

Appeals to Fear

This is the saddest of all, because the fear is legitimate.  Anyone who gets on the Internet, listens to the radio and watches the news can see that unarmed Blacks are being shot and killed by whites almost daily.  And people are afraid.  People are looking for solutions.  And that is legitimate.

But Umar uses legitimate issues to pull people in.  And he's good at that.  But let's not let anyone use our fear to set traps for us around fraudulent leadership.

Appeals to Self-Interest

Of course, Umar knows that we are an oppressed people.  Promises of a strategy to pull ourselves out of the grip of white supremacy is very enticing.  And he plays on our desire in lectures and in interviews.  After all, if you are a Black parent, particularly a single mother, you may be fearful of what you son could encounter out in the world, like the mothers of Jordan Davis, Travyon Martin, and so many more.

Certainly, placing your son in an environment, such as the residential school that Umar proposed, seems ideal.  So some of you opened your purses and your wallets and gave money, because you could picture your son learning and thriving in a safe environment.  And that picture is desirable to you, and so many other parents.

Appeals to Pity

This appeal, if used in an unethical way, is the lowest of the low.  And I contend that Umar has appealed to the sympathy, the love, the care and the concern for children to get money for a nonexistent school, and a school that cannot exist based on the premises that Umar has put forth. That is not just low.  That's lowdown.

Nowadays, that more people are catching on what Umar is doing, he is once again, pulling the pity card.  After posting about the haters, being the new Marcus Garvey, the envy and being the number one most requested scholar, Umar has now conveniently unveiled the ex-offender movement.  I believe this is, once again to gain sympathy for himself through our sisters and brothers who are, or were incarcerated.

Poor Umar, so busy fighting the "haters" that he cannot write back to incarcerated folks...

Ad Hominem Attacks

Umar never admits defeat.  Instead, he uses ad hominem arguments, calling people "haters" and "maggots," but not addressing the concerns and questions of the people.  This is because he doesn't have the answers, or he's afraid that the real answers will be revealed.

Is Umar ever going to stop telling us he is the new Marcus Garvey?

By the way, who would envy, hate and want to be Umar?  Not I.  Let's take an inventory...

1. A man who lies
2. A man who takes advantage people's ignorance
3. A man who cannot prove he is who he says he is
4. A man who poses as a scholar, but clearly isn't one
5. A man who cannot or will not take responsibility

I don't see anything to be envious of here.  Moving on...

Red Herrings

When Umar was caught lying about abstaining from sex, he wanted you to know that the woman he was involved with was a "tramp" and a "maggot" who caused him to lose a $1 million dollar donation from an invisible NBA player.

Now that it is known that Umar may not actually have the degrees, he wants you to think that degrees don't matter, but his "work" does.

When ask questions about the donation money for his school, he deflects and he blocks them.

These are all red herring arguments.  A red herring is an argumentative or literary device used to divert attention from the real point(s) at hand.  And Umar has been really successful using red herring arguments because he still hasn't provided any real answers to valid questions.  And he will not provide those answers as long as he is allowed to run through communities, scamming people out of their money in the name of lifting us out of oppression.

Pay Attention

Think about some of these points that are made in this post.  Don't let anyone, myself included, lead you down a path of destruction.  You are beautiful, capable people with your own mind to think. Be smart.  Be thoughtful.  Please use your mind to discern the truth from fallacies. 

I recommend a book to you called The Art of Deception : An Introduction to Critical Thinking, published in 2007, by Nicholas Capaldi and Miles Smit.








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