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The Cruel Struggle of Producing Your Art in a Money First Society

1/10/2019

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When people talk about "art" most primarily think of music, dance, painting, drawing, sculpturing, etc. For some odd reason, writing fiction is often overlooked as art although it meets all the criteria of all the other art genres. Its creative and it reflects the vision, ideas, statements, hopes, and aspirations of the persons producing it. Or maybe, my impression of how people see written fiction is colored by the people I come in contact with who may just not reflect the literary fiction reading public. I don't know about that, but I do know that these days are extremely stressful ones.

The days are stressful because I'm preparing to offer up my third literary fiction piece to be published into another full length book. My first novel is 362 pages. The second one is 542 pages. This third one will end up somewhere in between.

The stress exists because my first two publishing experiences were very painful. The publishers didn't do what they committed by contract to do. The second publisher literally stole royalties from me and by that I mean he stole every penny of royalties I earned, which wasn't insignificant. And, he even shorted me out of books he owed me that I paid for. In fact, I have absolutely no way to order either of my first two novels unless I order them online and pay retail for them just like anyone else.

I'm stressed because I am determined to make sure this third time around goes differently. I want things to go better. I really want to realize the dreams I have for producing my work that were not only not realized through the first two experiences, but I was taken advantage of each time. If you know anything about me, than you know I fought back, but after the publishers filed bankruptcy, there wasn't much else I could do besides beating them up. To be honest, the thought crossed my mind several times, but I understand doing that would have only jeopardized my ability to make this third go around better.

So, I'm focused on using what I've learned the first two times to help me make this third experience a vast improvement. I don't have any illusions. The publishing industry, like every other industry in this capitalist society, is based 100% on profit. This reality is that is the driving force behind the struggles I've had with the other books I've written. In truth, this reality is the driving force behind pretty much every problem we experience in our lives, but that's another discussion.

For now, we are talking about me not having unrealistic expectations for publishing this third novel. For example, I know you are not supposed to say this, but I don't really care about royalties e.g. how much money I make from this next book. What excites me is having the opportunities to talk about the concepts taking place in the book. The focus on the characters fighting for African liberation. The fact that glorious struggle isn't about being anti-white, its about being pro-humanity. And, the experiences the characters have in finding that out. The method in which their ability to develop courage and commitment serves them as repression against them intensifies. Their ability to close ranks and struggle together. The ability of the masses of the people to use their experiences to motivate them to do the same. The emphasis on respecting women and all people. These are the things I dream about standing in front of large crowds to talk about.

Now, I'm a revolutionary organizer. A revolutionary Pan-Africanist organizer at that. That means we work with slim to none in resources. Everything we value and promote is messaged as insanity in this society, including all the concepts I've explained will be in this next book. Therefore, our ability to get people to listen to us and come into our environments requires sweat, blood, and tears for every person we attract. That was one of the most attractive features of turning to writing literary fiction for me. It provided an opportunity for me to address the issues I want to address in a way that maybe isn't as intimidating to people as a standard presentation about revolutionary change. We are working to change hearts and minds and whatever way that can happen, I'm willing to try it. From the feedback I've gotten from countless people after the first two books, the material very effectively achieves that objective. My challenge is getting the book(s) in front of people and that's why this publishing process is so extremely stressful. I understand that if I can do this properly, and get a few breaks, I can achieve my objective of having opportunities to get this book out there. To get people to discuss the concepts within it. That's my dream.

Anyone who produces art understands what I mean when I say you are constantly disrespected during your quest to get your art out here. Its a systemic disrespect meaning it happens consistently in every circumstance you face. I'm focused on doing my best to mitigate that negativity this time around.

The other major factor I'm thinking about is the publishing industry is just like the other entertainment industries. Its concerned about form, not essence. I have absolutely no doubt that this book has both, but the challenge is getting someone who has the capacity to pay attention long enough to your product to believe in it. This is the part I'm most unsure of. Obviously, based on my previous experiences, I've never seen what I just described. Consequently, I have no way of knowing what it looks like to have someone respect your work. A big part of me doesn't expect that. What I expect is I'm going to do whatever I need to in order to ensure my work is respected. In other words, if that means self-publishing, although I wasn't prepared to do it that way before, I am now because I definitely don't want to have a repeat performance of the last two published books.

Finally, I think its important to say that I maintain full faith in my capabilities and the product I'm producing. This book is somewhat different than the other two. The first one, I started in 2009 and finished the next year. The second one I started in 2010 and finished in 2014. This pending one I started with the second one. I would write in one on one day and the other on another day. So, it has taken me nine years to finish this one. The last four years and some I've been working exclusively on this one. If I assess the quality of my books, I feel strongly that the first one was decent, but it was my first one. I believe the second one ("The Courage Equation") was a quality book in all areas, but I think this one surpasses both of the previous ones by far. I've used what I've learned with the first two and I think that shows with this current work. What I'm saying is I've put even more into this this book and I want to see that bear fruit. As a result, I'm going to do much more due diligence than I did with the previous two. I was honestly so happy to get publishing contracts that I didn't do all of the background work on the publishers that I should have. That will not happen this time.

Whatever art you produce, if you don't firmly believe in it, no one else will. I think one way to meet the challenges of this money over people system when facilitating your art is to remember that if you are doing your art with your primary vision being making money, you will be consistently disappointed. You always have to view your art as your voice. And, it can't just be your personal voice. Your art is culture and you didn't invent and/or control the culture that produced you. That means you have the responsibility to always use your voice to challenge inequities in this world. If you lose sight of that, your art loses its soul.

These are my focuses as I embark on this third journey. I've promised myself I would do something else I didn't do before. I would have much more fun this time with the process. No one contributed nine years of work on this book except me. No one stayed up all those nights and spent all that time thinking it through except me. The number of shear hours I've spent on this project are uncountable. I have earned the right to celebrate this process and I'm going to do it. Not only am I convinced that if I follow all of these new principles in this publishing process, I not only will be able to enjoy this part of the process (like I've enjoyed writing the book), but I believe I will also position myself to meet the core goals I have with this process. So, pay attention because if everything goes the way I plan on ensuring it goes, you will be hearing about this book very soon.

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Remembering Steve Deslouches; A Fallen Young Comrade in Arms

1/7/2019

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Steevie - at far right - with others of us from different A-APRP chapters at the October 2015 Million Man March in Washington D.C.

This past weekend, we learned the sad news that our young brother comrade from our All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) New York, U.S., chapter, had suddenly made his physical transition. Steve Deslouches - who we called "Steevie" - a mere 26 years old, was gone.

I first met Steevie in May of 2015 at our annual African Liberation Day commemoration observed in Washington D.C., U.S. I was working to help build our Oregon A-APRP chapter at the time, but I was asked to go out to D.C., and Philadelphia, and serve as our keynote speaker for both African Liberation Day programs in each of those cities. Steevie came up to me after my presentation to express his excitement at the information contained in it and the passion in which he felt it was delivered. I was equally impressed by the fact he had caught a train from New York just to come down to the program by himself. I also joked with him that his physical appearance and demeanor reminded me of long time A-APRP Central Committee member Macheo Shabaka - who ironically, we also lost in July of 2018.

One of the principle rules I've learned about successful organizing over the years is the absolute importance of follow up. This is a minor, yet critically important element, that is missing from most work. I've always viewed revolutionary organizing within a hostile capitalist society as a struggle of gaining any and every advantage that you can. Consequently, I've always tried to pay special attention to follow up. What I've learned from this focus is most of time when you collect people's contact information, which I often do, and follow up with them, regardless of your efforts, you most often never connect with them again. My belief is the reason for this is most people are ready to complain and/or pontificate about our problems, but very few people are actually ready to consistently engage to do anything about our problems. That's why I was so impressed with Steevie after that African Liberation Day program when he beat me by reaching out to me first. We talked, mostly electronically, throughout that summer. He often had questions about my writings on this blog. He wanted me to refer books to him. He had questions about how to go about organizing the A-APRP in New York City.

In October of that same year, I saw Steevie again at the Million Man March event in Washington D.C. There were about 10 brothers there from the A-APRP from various chapters throughout the U.S. We met that morning and spent that entire day passing out or organizing materials and having conversations with thousands of our people. It was a great day and I recall spending hours on our feet working with Brother Steevie and the other young organizers.

After the Million Man March Steevie and I continued to stay in contact. We would talk every month or so. Eventually, he began to open up to me some, articulating some of the personal struggles he was battling with. He was very forthright and honest about his challenges which was refreshing in this day and time when truth and justice are so often completely divorced from day to day reality. I'm no expert on much of what he shared with me, but he expressed that he wanted to continue to hear from me the things that inspired me to do this work. How I continued to overcome the negativity. How I managed to stay positive about the work and my own personal walk through life in a backward society. I tried my best to give him what he wanted.

The last couple of times I talked to Steevie, a few months ago, we talked for quite some time. He was actively working on a plan for himself and I encouraged him to do whatever he needed to do to move forward. I was always impressed with his honesty and willingness to listen to those around him. To me, he represented the exact potential we have within our young people to rise up and overcome the oppression we experience. Here was a young person who was so committed to seeing things improve for us. A person who was willing to struggle to better themselves to be in the best position to make their best contribution. A person who wanted to take advantage of every resource around them to help them on their journey. I was honored that Steevie felt I could in some way enhance his efforts.

When a tragedy like this happens, without any details (because I don't have any), the normal response is to wonder if we have somehow failed this person who succumbed and thinking that makes us sad. It's making me sad, but as I've thought about Steevie all weekend, I've come to a different analysis of this unfortunate situation. The stark reality is that this system has always, and will always, come to destroy our people. Its working to destroy everyone, but the African masses will always represent the most serious threat to capitalism simply because that entire system is based on our oppression not just in one part of the world, but throughout the entire planet. There are no people more widespread on Earth then we Africans and our systemic oppression is the exact reason why this is so. The capitalist system attacks us physically by using state institutions to repress us e.g. police, social services, prisons, etc. It attacks us other ways physically by confining us to the slave diet that is causing our health epidemics worldwide. And, it attacks us psychologically by treating us as if we are less than human. For many people, this becomes more than they can handle. This is why its so very important that a central core of our work is always to reaffirm the humanity of our people and of all of the world's populations.

I'm heartbroken about losing Steevie. I'm heartbroken about all of the loss of life that could be avoided, but I'm going to use this to encourage myself to continue to remember my humanity and your humanity, because this humanity is our best weapon against the forces that are trying to destroy us. I didn't know Steevie very long, but I'm going to tell myself that this is how he would wish us to honor him going forward.

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Organization: How we Protect African Women, Children, People

1/3/2019

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This precious African child - seven year old Jazmine Barnes - was murdered Sunday by some deranged European. He pulled the trigger, but the problem, and the solution, is bigger than just reacting to this tragic individual act. Its time for us to get organized to stop this madness once and for all. And, if you don't think we can, then you are unwittingly a part of the problem.

Like most of you, I'm absolutely outraged by the news that some infected European roach shot and killed an African baby. That another human spit wad kicked a one year old African baby. That even another piece of horse manure grabbed an African femme youth working at a capitalist fast food restaurant. And, all of this within the last week or so. Of course, this type of terrorism happens against our people daily and has been happening to us for centuries (for those of you who wish to reduce this to just the result of the present idiot in D.C. All his election has done is release the toxins that already flow in this backward society).

Many African people are reacting, understandably, saying African men need to protect our women and children. Again, this is a predictable emotional response, but I'm humbly suggesting that we need to go much deeper than that. First, I want to clarify that contrary to a lot of the reactions I'm seeing, there are African men out here who do protect our people. I know that because I'm one of them and I always have been. I can't tell you how many scrapes, fights, confrontations, etc., I've gotten into over the years standing up for our people through planned action and/or spur of the moment. I've even gone to jail attempting to protect African women. I've been kicked out of malls standing up to people who wanted to criminalize our youth. I've even confronted police doing this on multiple occasions. In fact, I've protected all types of people and will continue to do so. That's why I know what I'm saying when I say we have to go much deeper.

What we don't need is a call for a patriarchal based male dominated "protection" of our people. Its patriarchy, along with its sibling - white supremacy, that serve their parents - capitalism and imperialism - in creating the conditions that breed these attacks in the first place. White supremacy is steeped in the idea that African people are less than human. And patriarchy is based on the belief that women are less than human. These backward systems serve to justify the institutional oppression of women, non-men, and brown people. So, even though the intentions may be good, the last thing we need is to advance the notion that African men acting are the simple solution to these attacks. That thinking does more to dehumanize the agency of women and non-men which perpetuates the oppression.

Instead, what we need to understand is the attacks happen against our women, non-men, children, and yes - our men - because we are dis-organized as a people. Anyone who wishes to vent their personal frustrations at their class oppression by the capitalist system, or just their inadequacy as a person, knows that they can attack us at will and the chances of accountability for them is slim to none. This isn't any type of new phenomenon. That slim to none reality has existed for centuries. Its as ingrained in the fabric of this society as the sun rising each day.

The critical error we continue to make as a people is we naively and ignorantly expect the very state that perpetuates our dehumanization to step in and protect us when these attacks occur. In fact, we are 100% dependent upon our enemies to provide our protection. For us to expect police agencies to protect us against neo-nazi attacks is like watching a chicken being attacked by a fox and the chicken expecting a wolf to jump in and rescue them. Not going to happen. Never has. Never will. And, people can get upset about us saying that, but the data speaks for itself. I wouldn't be surprised if the perpetrators in some of these attacks are in fact off duty police.

The solution to this terrible condition is we have grow up and accept the reality that no help is coming for us. Therefore, if we want safety as a people, we are going to have to provide that for ourselves. This means we have to go to every community of African people everywhere and set up shop. We have to establish political education programming so that our people understand that this system is the reason for all the issues that we face. And, that if we want the terror to stop, we are going to have to come together to change this system. This political education has to consist of training in our communities on how to work through adversities e.g. the challenges of us seeing every member of our communities as important, whether men, women, transgender, etc. For example, this education has to inform us, in ways that presently don't exist on any mass level, that if we are ok with our transgender people being abused, this is the gateway to dehumanizing people to our suffering that makes none of us safe. Another critical component of this community work is training our communities in how to defend ourselves from neo-Nazis, police, predators within our communities, everything that serves to harm our people. And, by protecting I don't mean having a phone available to call the slave catcher patrols. And, I certainly don't mean using the stupid phone to record our people being terrorized. What I mean by protection is preparing us on how to respond when attacks occur so that we can send the attackers to hell for attacking us. Or, at least consistently mobilize to prevent harm from coming to anyone. Just like our jobs have fire drills we need to establish organizational capacity to have community drills. What to do when there are abusers in our community. Protocols on who to call when you are in danger. How to respond to people in danger. What to do. How to do it, etc. Training on how to set up community networks, etc. Community rehabilitation so we aren't providing our people to the prison pipeline system. All of this can be done. All it takes is the will. And, it can be done so that all of the best qualified people, whether they be women, men, non-men, are in leadership positions for this work.

When we have this level of organization, even when we just start to build this level of community, we guarantee you that the attacks of all kind will diminish, including those from police agencies. The ball is firmly in our court. If we continue to sit back and vent and complain about these issues. If we continue to just film them and share them on social media, then we eventually become as much a part of the problem as the neo-nazis, police, etc. who carried out the attacks. Some of us have been trying for years to do this work. All we need are people committed to work with us. Its not going to be easy, but it can be done. And, the great thing about this type of revolutionary work is we don't do it to center ourselves. That would be impossible because this work only works when the masses embrace and own it. So, all your excuses about not wanting to be bogged down by organizational egos have no basis here. Now is the time for everyone to stand up and let's get organized. Unless all you want to do is point fingers and complain. For those of you who want more, let's talk. I provide training on everything I've mentioned here and I'm willing to share it with you. You don't need money. You don't need to belong to the All African People's Revolutionary Party. You don't even need to be African because clearly, there are other communities who can benefit from this revolutionary work. All you need is the desire to build among communities you live in and are a part of. All you need is to recognize that capitalism can't solve our problems because it is the basis of our problems.

This is a call to action. What are you going to do?

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Cuba, Socialism & Concrete Examples of Human Progress

1/1/2019

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In this world dominated by the economics of capitalism, where profit supersedes the importance of people's needs, we have all had it drilled into us for the last 100 years that socialism is a bad thing. We can easily use the word "drilled" because all one has to do is ask for a comprehensive definition of socialism to find out the people who say they oppose it find it extremely difficult to provide anything that could even pose as a definition for what socialism truly is. And, we hear the constant data proclaiming that people read more in 2019 than ever, but those statistics don't explain the quality of material being read. In other words, a person taking those reading surveys can count a dime store romance novel as reading a book as much as a comprehensive analysis and history of socialist movements. What I'm saying is you don't see people everyday reading about socialism, yet the degree and passion people have in talking about it would suggest otherwise. In response to that contradiction, what we wish to do here is challenge that dilemma.

January 1, 2019, represents the 60th year commemoration of the Cuban socialist revolution. This is critically important for several reasons. First, understand that their revolution reaffirms that revolution and building socialism is a process, not an event. Most people trained under capitalism view revolution as some sort of social uprising that happens unplanned that evolves into the transfer of power in societies. People who think this way see revolution as an event. They don't understand that revolution isn't just the military struggle to seize power. That is one very small part of the revolutionary process. Revolution is the transformation of society. In fact, that's the definition of revolution - uncompromising change. That type of change takes time. So, although the Cuban revolution initially won power when Che Guevara led a military battalion into the Cuban city of Santa Clara and Fidel and others claimed victory over Havana on January 1, 1959, that was not the victory of the revolution. That was simply the beginning. Their revolution is still very much in motion.

Second, the current phase of socialist development in Cuba is the part of the process where the revolution utilizes the state as a tool to advance the people forward to communism. Again, people trained by capitalism believe all types of wild things. One of those wild things is that socialism and communism are variations of the same thing. They are not. Socialism is the period of transformation from capitalism to communism. Consequently, communism has never happened in human history because in order for it to happen, the majority of the world would have to be socialist. So, the people who claim "communism hasn't worked" or "Cuba is communist" demonstrate their ignorance of revolutionary systems. Communism is a society that has eliminated class divisions and oppression. Its a society where people's consciousness has risen to the collective level where state institutions like police, social service, etc., are no longer needed because the people's conscious altruism provides for societal needs. This is clearly not a reality that happens overnight so back to the first point, revolutions - e.g. socialist development - takes time.

Cuba's revolution being 60 years old today is instructive on the last point. The argument we are making here is that socialism serves to advance the people towards communism. Therefore, socialism is the period where the state's primary purpose is to provide the resources for this advancement. Its important to understand this because if you don't, you will fall for the anti-revolution propaganda that since socialism isn't "Utopia" revolutions don't work and socialism/communism isn't possible. Socialists never said socialism is utopia. Socialism is the construction period where the revolution is being built. And the state as an instrument is utilized to carry out this building process. Where socialism's utilization of the state differs from the role of the state in capitalism is that the state under capitalism has the purpose of oppressing and repressing the people. Police agencies under capitalism are clear examples of this.

So, how is Cuba using the state to advance their revolution and what advances have they made in the last 60 years? If you go back to the 1950s when Cuba was reduced to being a tourist location for rich people from the U.S. (pretty much the way much of the Caribbean is still exploited today), Cuba was a society dominated by racism, class oppression, homophobia, and all of the pitfalls of capitalism in a machismo society. Once the revolution seized power, these problems didn't magically vanish, and they aren't magically vanishing under capitalism or any of the fantasy anarchist societies so many people today use to justify their opposition to socialism. What Cuba has accomplished is they immediately utilized the state to prepare the people to grow their consciousness around the values of the revolution e.g. people over profit. Obviously, since the majority of the world has it beaten into them that everything is individualistic, it will take time and struggle to change this thinking. So, the Cuban revolution's method of addressing that was to make education completely and without question free to everyone, no exceptions. There is no student debt in Cuba. No financial aid. None of that is necessary because school is completely free. And since their focus is on truly educating their people, they prioritized their educational system. That means unlike capitalist societies who struggle for money for school supplies, to pay teachers, etc., because education is not a priority, Cuba placed much of their resources into this educational process. This act, coupled with completely free health care, guaranteed employment, etc., has created an environment where people can concentrate on improving their understanding of the world and their role in it. This is important because people in capitalist societies never have the opportunity to do this since they spend the majority of their life struggling to scrape out enough money to pay education and hospital bills. To look for a job that pays enough to do that, etc.

With this type of revolutionary focus on the people, the results so far in Cuba have been overwhelming. Sure, racism still exists on all levels, but nothing compared to capitalist societies. The Cuban government spends large amounts of money annually to ensure their educational system teaches their students about the transatlantic slave trade. They also have a current comprehensive campaign about LGBTQ rights in their educational process. The point is if you make education free, thus eliminating the obstacle e.g money, that people have which prevents them from receiving an education, then everyone will go to school. Then, if you ensure the type of education just mentioned is prioritized, then everyone will learn healthy and correct history. And, if you do this over generations, people's consciousness will grow. This is why Cuba, a country with that machismo history, can have such a progressive-focus on anti-racism and LGBTQ. Nothing against them, but you don't see that from the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, or Jamaica, three countries in direct geographical proximity to Cuba with the same histories. At the rate Cuba is going, those backward ideologies will become firm minority thinking in their society in the measurable future. That's progress, especially when you cannot refute that those backward ideologies are advancing in capitalist societies.

Another example of the progress of the Cuban revolution is in the area of the people's collective progress. Cuba's focus on this people focused society has created realities where they are the only country in the Western Hemisphere, including the U.S., that has eliminated mother to child HIV transmissions. They have wiped out cervical cancer and their infant mortality rate is among the lowest on Earth (much lower than the U.S.). These types of advances will only increase as they continue on their revolutionary path.

Finally, the question must be addressed about human rights. This is the question that constantly gets brought up in challenging the legitimacy of the Cuban (or anyone's) revolution. The people don't have free access to internet as they should. There is still oppression. We already said socialism isn't perfect. And, it certainly isn't going to be perfect when the strongest capitalist country on Earth is just 90 miles away and has engaged in a mass campaign of terrorism against the revolution for the entire 60 year period. The hypocrisy is overwhelming. Cuba has every right to protect their revolution and they have decided that they will sacrifice some individual rights e.g. how much money people can make, and how much bourgeoisie information they permit to be spread within their society, in order to protect themselves. If you study their revolutionary process you would know that questions like that around internet access are constantly discussed. You would know that they are working to figure out how to have their own internet system that isn't reliant on the one we all use. Right now as I type this, I'm forced to pay for a monthly service to block people from hacking in and stealing my information. I could go on and on, but the point is no logical person could blame the Cubans for wanting something better than the current internet system. Most of us in capitalist societies use it for large portions of everyday and we have nothing productive to show for it.

As it relates to democracy, the Cuban people have demonstrated that they support the direction their government is taking. Proof of that is in the fact their revolution has survived and flourished, despite the dis-integration of the former Soviet Union, their chief support for the first 30 years of their revolution. They have advanced in those last 30 years and that would be impossible, with all of the sabotage coming from the U.S., unless the Cuban revolution enjoyed massive popular support. Anyone who studies Cuba (emphasis on study, not just traveling there, although that's great too), knows this to be correct. The reason Cubans support their government is because their government is them. Unlike government in capitalist societies where representation is a reflection of who can afford it, representation in Cuba is a direct reflection of the diverse people of their society. Their committees for Defense of the Revolution (CDC) ensure people have on the ground input in their communities. Real input, not just writing a letter to some legislator who will never read it.

And yes, we know, you either come from yourself, or you know someone from Cuba who disagrees with everything written here. So, that to you means none of this can be correct because of what this person from Cuba says. Its funny how that personalized subjective analysis thing works. You can say that all day, but when I tell you I'm an African who has lived with white supremacy my entire life in capitalist countries, so therefore, I know this system must be destroyed, you would never say that because I've experienced that trauma, that's the final word on it. These are the games of capitalism. That's why we have research and study with discussion to develop our understanding of things beyond people's personal and subjective opinions. You and/or your friend may be from Cuba, but that doesn't mean you understand anything about the Cuban revolution just like the random person on any street in any U.S. capitalist city probably knows absolutely nothing about the political working in the city they live in. Sorry, but your identity politics this way won't work.

The Cuban revolution is a shining light for all of oppressed humanity. They are providing a clear example of how to build a society where people actually advance. Where problems are actually solved. And, where all of this happens where people's needs are prioritized above money. So many people for so many years swore that the Cuban revolution would die the moment Fidel Castro wasn't leading the country and when he died. Both have happened and the Cuban revolution is stronger than ever. Happy 60 years and many, many, more in your revolutionary path. We are dong our upmost best to create the conditions so that we can do the same in Africa and throughout the African world.

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How African Nationalism is not your Zenophobic European Version

12/26/2018

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Everyday, everywhere on Earth, somebody European is coming into spaces with African people (or Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere, etc) to express their perspective that nationalism is a primitive form of human consciousness. Even most of these people who claim to support national liberation for colonized people still see any semblance of national identity as reactionary and contrary to forward human progress.

We have the European socialist left to primarily thank for this racism disguised as class analysis. How and why do/can we call it racism? We can because the basis of this inept analysis is that the history of Europe is the history of the world, meaning whatever has happened to Europe and European people is the definition on how everyone else in the world needs to view a phenomenon. Based on this perspective, since nationalism in Europe has meant ethnic chauvinism e.g. nazi Germany, and more recently, the disintegration of the former Yugoslavia, etc, and ethnic challenges in the former Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries, for these people, these examples must of course apply to everyone on Earth because what makes sense for white people must be the model for all of humanity.

We aren't mad at Europeans for this bit of racism. We understand their conclusion was unavoidable. Its not an accident that most people on Earth, including many Africans, know virtually nothing about African history. Its equally not an accident that I sit here in the Western Hemisphere and virtually no one, including many Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere, no anything of the history of this hemisphere. The dominant message for over 500 years has been that Europeans are the innovators, leaders, and framers for all of humanity so of course it would never occur to these people to examine the histories of Africa and Europe (for example) independently to determine the important differences.

There are significant differences in history. Sekou Ture, that great Pan-Africanist, gave a resounding analysis of this question. He talked about the fundamental differences between African and European nationalism. He explained how Europe, culturally overwhelmed with intolerance of every kind, has historically engaged in a struggle of nations (Yugoslavia and other countries), "evolving" from countries into states as a result of struggles for independence, resources, freedom from oppression, etc., that areas of Europe have suffered for centuries. European nations have proven to be threats not only to surrounding nations, but to the entire world. Its a fact that Germany was splintered as a nation (West and East) due to its role in initiating both world wars. There is probably no better example of a people's chauvinism.

By comparison, Ture further explains that in Africa the "countries" that pass today as states e.g. Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Sudan, etc. (over 60 in all if you include all the surrounding islands) were created by European colonialism. His argument is that consequently, these "countries" having been created for the benefit of Europe without regard for Africa's ethnic reality, are not countries, but states. As a result, colonialism works against African freedom and self-determination. In fact, the only solution for Africa to correct this problem is the unification of Africa (under one continental socialist government). Or, in other words, the evolution from states to one nation.

Following Ture's correct logic, African people, and all colonized communities, must use nationalism as a tool to unite themselves against colonial oppression. This strategic approach has absolutely nothing to do with the ethnic chauvinism of Europe, but everything to do with serving as the prerequisite step towards socialist development. Since current African states were created to serve European colonial interests, none of those so-called countries have the capacity to ever become self-sufficient on their own. Even ethnic groups in Africa, divided without regard by the European colonizers, extend beyond these colonial borders. For example, Akan are found in all of the following neighboring countries; Ghana, Ivory Coast, Togo, etc. The way Africa is set up currently, it would be like dividing Britain so that many of the people in Britain would now find themselves in France and Germany being referred to as French and German despite the fact those people still speak English and operate specifically as British people. Mind-boggling, yet the current day reality for Africa for centuries now. Since the current version of countries in Africa are not viable, initiating socialism in each of these micro-states will never achieve socialist development. That would be like you trying to declare your house a socialist entity while the entire city, state, country, etc., you live in is capitalist to the core. How much success would you have beyond symbolism within this reality? By comparison, all of Africa provides exactly what would be needed for the successful development of a socialist entity. And, since none of these micro-states agreed to be split up, and none of the African people violently and viciously pulled from Africa to be enslaved, agreed to that terror, its completely logical to unite Africa and to advance a collective African identity for all people of African descent everywhere.

One unified socialist Africa is viable, feasible, and the pathway towards true independence and self-determination for Africa and all her 2 billion children worldwide. And once that socialist entity is created it clears the way towards Africa's dominant socialist reality making its contribution to worldwide communism. At that stage e.g. most of the world being socialist, we can start talking about nationalism no longer being needed, but for today, nationalism is an invaluable tool for colonized people.

The strange thing about this ill-refutable analysis is that there is ample evidence that core European socialists are very well aware and supportive of this analysis on nationalism against colonialism that we speak of here. Vladimar Lenin, the co-founder of the socialist party which governed with the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Soviet Union) and the October revolution of 1917, says quite clearly in his book "Imperialism" that nationalism is "the prerequisite of socialism." We agree.

The other element of this discussion that must be discussed is the question of national identity. Since we are colonized for the reasons indicated above, our history demands that we completely reject Joseph Stalin's definition of nationality as "common language and common geographical location." That definition speaks volumes to the issues Europe has historically had with the concept of nationalism. For us, nationalism is defined correctly by Kwame Nkrumah when he said nationalism is "common history and culture." Nkrumah's definition speaks directly to Mississippi activist, Ms Fannie Lou Hamer's, comments to Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) and other Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee members in 1964 when she returned from Guinea. She told them that "they look like us, talk like us, and stand like us! They even be holding they babies like we do!" I build on Ms. Hamer's comments to say you can stand anywhere in Africa and observe social interactions. If you are from the U.S., although the people you are observing may not be speaking English, you can pretty much figure out what the basis of the exchange is based on observing their body language and non-verbals. Why? Because we are the same people. We didn't separate and divide ourselves. The Hutus didn't struggle to be separated from the Tutsis. Colonialism pitted them against one another. France and Belgium are the reasons for the conflict between those two groups in Central Africa. Nationalism is what will help us resolve conflicts like that one. The one in Sudan. The one in Western Sahara. Ethiopia/Eritrea, etc. These situations are completely different than Serbia and Croatians and anyone who compares the two doesn't understand anything about Africa.

National identity and consciousness isn't bourgeoisie. The negation of the necessity for colonized people to utilize nationalism as a tool for unity and forward progress towards socialism is extreme petti-bourgeoisie ideology. Pan-Africanism has absolutely nothing to do with oppression against non-Africans just like Irish nationalism against British colonialism isn't racist. Actually, Irish national identity is the closest thing in Europe to understanding the argument about nationalism that we make here. So the best thing anyone seeing the world through a European socialist worldview can do going forward is stop talking about African nationalism until you properly understand it and colonialism. The white socialist left has spent the last 100 years working overtime to recruit African people into it. Today, you can count the number of Africans in those organizations while our political formations continue to grow, grow, grow!

The white socialist left will never have any type of relationship with African people (beyond token representation) until they learn to respect African people and you cannot respect African people anywhere without respecting Africa. You also cannot respect Africa without respecting what's going to be required to uplift Africa e.g. national liberation e.g. Pan-Africanism.

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Yes, Let Me Admit & Tell You Why I May Watch a Christmas Special

12/19/2018

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I don't celebrate Christmas. I'm not a Christian. I'm not a Muslim, or Jew, or a practitioner of any organized form of spiritual worship. Christmas in industrialized capitalist countries, of course, has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus beyond the name meaning a Mass for Christ, or the birth of Christ. The capitalists wanted to make this holiday so much about spending your hard earned money with them that they even organized to make the holiday commemorated on December 25th, the end of the year, despite overwhelming evidence that Jesus wasn't born anytime close to December. What this month does do for capitalists is provide the largest shopping environment at the end of the calendar year, providing capitalism with a dependable revenue boost at the end of the year.

So, I don't celebrate Christmas, either the spiritual part or the secular spend money Christmas. I haven't done so going on 40 years. My thirty one year old daughter has never celebrated Christmas in her entire life. And, despite having to endure endless accusations that we were ruining her by "denying" her a made up holiday with another great European man as the savior, she's turned out just fine.

I honestly believe that I attempt to live by the revolutionary principles of the movement I live my life by with as much dedication and commitment as any religious person gives to their faith. So, despite how unbelievable it is for those people who have been conditioned to believe their Western Judeo/Christian values are the core values from which the Globe balances upon, December 25th, like every other imperialist holiday, is just another day for me. No decorations. No presents. No large meals. In fact, if all goes my way next week, I'll spend most of the day continuing to place finishing touches on my latest novel. Maybe do GrubHub or something for my meal that day. We'll see. That will be it.

I do experience some struggle with Christmas though. For example, I do like to watch the animated Christmas specials and all the work I've done on my emotional health has helped me understand why. When I was a child I always felt like I had no stability and no place, anywhere, ever. As a result of that trauma, I became really good at escapism fantasy. That's the reason becoming a fiction writer was a logical result for me. People always ask me if I ever struggle to find ideas to write about. Every time they ask that question, before giving me a chance to answer, they explain that they find it extremely difficult to organize their thoughts to engage in any type of comprehensive writing. I never want to discourage them so I never say much when asked, but the truth is I always have creative ideas to write about. I do because I've spent my entire life figuring out how to develop those ideas. When I was little, escaping into my own world was my way to protect myself. At least that's how I saw it. "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer", you know, the one narrated by Burl Ives, and all the others like it, I loved them! And, today, despite the evolution of my revolutionary consciousness and practice, I still find a smile coming to my face when I come across one of those specials. When I was much newer to this political movement and struggle, I used to be very ashamed of this. I would hide it and I certainly would never have admitted that I would "abandon" my revolutionary principles for one hour here and there to watch an animated Christmas special.

As I've gotten older and more mature, I've come to understand there is no contradiction here that I need to be concerned about. The same way a ride on Disneyland's "Peter Pan Adventure" generated a smile on my face when I did so two months ago, those television specials provide me the opportunity to return to my youth for a moment. Since I view much of my youth as having been stolen from me, I have learned to truly appreciate being able to reclaim those moments. Even if I'm only doing so momentarily in my mind.

So, despite the fact I don't celebrate the capitalist consumer holiday known as Christmas, which has very little to do with the birth of Christ, I still look forward to December each year. I realize now that it represented the potential for what I hoped would be. Could be. For me and my family. And, as I think about it more and more, I realize that's the entire objective of how capitalism does its holidays. These days are all about getting us to believe in this society. In other words, holidays in this capitalist society are designed to serve as propaganda mechanisms for the system. And, they have figured out a way to make it profitable in the process. A great process for them, but the fact December, especially during the so-called latter holiday portion of the month, is the time of year when most people kill themselves, reminds us there's other more important things happening right now. Clearly, the joy of the season misses a whole lot of people when you don't have the money to play, the mental health to participate, or the conditions to engage.

So many people have moved towards having people focused gatherings this next week. I think these social sessions are great ideas to help alienated people connect on people's levels while being able to avoid the pressure to have money and buy things. Me, as I said, I'm fine with being by myself or with extremely close people in my life during these so-called holidays. I just prefer to stay away from the push to participate. I've tried it. I've gone to dinners, etc., but I was always forced to do things I'm not comfortable with. No thanks. Instead, use the time when people are so focused on all the drama to take care of yourself. To reflect. To think about how you can implement the things you want to do in 2019 to move yourself further towards reaching your full potential as a human being.

I watched one special this season and if I'm fortunate, I'll run across another one or two before next Tuesday. They help me recall the time when I was about seven and my physically disabled and illiterate aunt was telling me, when no else could hear, that I could talk to our dog at midnight on Christmas Eve, Christmas day, and our dog would talk back. You had to know my aunt. All she ever knew was Louisiana produced fire and brimstone religion so she believed what she was telling me as much as you believe you need to breath oxygen to live. I tried the talking at midnight thing a couple of times with a couple of different dogs, but the dogs just stared at me. And, like everything else in my youth, I thought the problem was I was doing it wrong.

I get to watch those shows and recall all those memories now because I know it was never about any problems with me. That knowledge strengthens me and helps me prepare for the days after the so-called holidays when my resolve, commitment, and determination will need to be as focused as ever to ensure I can make my best contributions in 2019 to our forward progress for peace and justice.

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Our LGBTQ African Family, Unity, & How Many Still Don't Get It

12/15/2018

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There's no shortage of ignorance in any capitalist society. And, since this country is the center of world capitalism, its stands to reason that despite the undeniable reality that information is everywhere around us, ignorance is the standard in this society. Actually, ignorance is actually celebrated here. I'll give an example. Whenever I've spoken and/or written about the topic of our LBGTQ communities, I've received simple questions from the most simple minded among us asking and/or "accusing" me of being gay. Although I do think that is a very stupid way to respond to any type of analysis, I'm not offended when that happens because I've spent my entire life working for unity among African people. And, when I say working for it, I mean making sacrifices, suffering the worse type of disrespect, and many, many other things most of you will never have any idea about. I and others choose this path because we are committed to making contributions towards alleviating the oppression our people experience. Our commitment has led us to take studying our circumstances very seriously, That study and that work have helped us develop a very selfless approach to everything that we do. Its definitely not perfect, but its without question a consistent effort.

This focus has answered many questions for us that many of you don't even know how to think seriously about. One of those questions is about what it will actually take to unify African people. Of course, when we say unify, we are scientific in our statement. We are under no illusions about any type of "we are the world" unity. There are plenty of African people who are committed class enemies to the masses of African people and humanity. We make no effort or have any desire to unite with that enemy element among African people. We intend to take them down with the rest of the oppressive classes that we will eventually overthrow. Those people always have the option of deciding to commit class suicide and join the mass struggle for revolutionary change, but until they do that, they are in the cross-hairs of our struggle.

Who isn't in our cross hairs are people within our communities who are oppressed by capitalism. This includes African men who are oppressed by class and white supremacy. Women/femmes who are oppressed by class, white supremacy and patriarchy. And our LBGTQ African family members who are oppressed by class, white supremacy, patriarchy, and homophobia. If you can count, this makes them the most oppressed within our communities in many instances.

We know, some of you are singing that tired refrain about they made a choice. We can't dignify that ignorance here, but we will say that's far from the point anyway. The point is if you claim to be for African unity, we are challenging what you really mean when you say that. If your African unity means you are willing to unite with Africans if they subscribe to your vision of what mode a "true" African must fit in, then you expose yourself as a fraud when it comes to unifying our people. Unity by definition means people coming together by making the conscious decision to focus on what we have in common, our oppression by this backward system, while accepting that we are not all the same. I know this because I do it daily. I accept your religions although I have absolutely no use for them myself. And, save that nonsense that I only say that because I haven't faced death. I've faced the end of my life multiple times, including having last rites read over me while I was in a coma so you will have to save that foolishness for someone else. I have no use for most of the social institutions rooted in this system that oppresses us that our people utilize, but the entire point of unity is its not about what I accept or what you accept. Its about whats in the best interest of our collective people. In other words, it takes a certain level of political sophistication to unify any people. That sophistication can only come from a commitment to solving the problem along with a comprehensive and scientific understanding of the problem. Since most of our people aren't even in organizations fighting for our freedom, we cannot even really have a serious conversation about political sophistication. In this bourgeoisie "democratic" society, most of you think your voice matters even if you don't have the slightest clue what the hell you are talking about. You aren't involved in our struggle beyond the vomit that comes from so many people's mouths, so my point here is we have a ways to go before we can broach this political sophistication question.

Also, far too many of us are stuck on this inept concept that by accepting our LGBTQ family members we are somehow going to have to start living their life with them. I have no words. If I accept you being a Muslim or Christian, how does that make me have to live an Islamic or Christian life? I am just saying I accept you as a full human being. I mean are so many of us that insecure on a personal level? I am a cis man. I've always been with women and that will never change. I just don't understand why I need to spend one second pondering what it could possibly mean to my life if the man next to me loves men instead of women? Honestly? To me this sounds like a personal identity challenge that maybe counseling can help? I don't know.

Another point on this question is as African people in this society we all understand that there are clear differences in policy and implementation in this society if you are African compared to if you are not. What I'm saying is if the so-called cis (so-called heterosexual) European community doesn't accept and respect the cis African community why is it so difficult for you to understand that the European LGBTQ community isn't treating the African LGBTQ community any differently. That's the point. As African people we will continue to be collectively disrespected as long as we are disorganized. That's why we have to unify because that's a necessary component to our organization. And, our organization is the requirement for us to change this oppressive system. We need all of us to accomplish this objective and if we listen to some of you playing like you care about our people's liberation and start leaving out segments of our communities because of your personal insecurities, we are playing directly into our enemy's hands. The European LBGTQ political agenda isn't the same for our people. What African LBGTQ people have you seen running screaming about the right to get married? Its not different than the European feminist movement not receiving any large infusion of African femmes anytime soon. Or the European dominated labor movement becoming a main instrument of struggle for working class Africans.

All of this speaks directly to the humanism of our African culture anywhere. Your argument that being LBGTQ is a choice and isn't backed up by science is invalid. The clownfish changes its gender at will, including creating reproductive organs at its desire. Homophobia isn't an African value. Its another system of oppression that has been imposed upon us by the colonial system that keeps us oppressed and so many of you are so willing to continue to play your role for the massa. This division among us only benefits those who desire to keep us oppressed so stop helping them.

Although we understand that the European LGBTQ movement is a bourgeoisie one like all European so-called social justice movements in this capitalist society, our humanism isn't just reserved for African people. As the people who this system was built on top of, and, who it continues to be maintained upon, we, more than anyone else, should make a clear commitment to stand against any oppression. That requires us to rise up above the colonial religious education we've received and recognize what's happening here. Our culture accepts humanity. That is the reason we have never risen up and burned this backward society down to the ground. Most Europeans expect us to do that at any moment. That's why you always experience such strange interactions with them on a daily basis, but we don't do that because we are not a destructive people. We are not a people who stand up wholesale and commit systemic acts of violence against anyone. Of course, like anything else in life, there are exceptions, but if you line up the world's populations and chronicle systemic violence by Africans against Europeans compared to vice versa, there is no comparison and even the most ignorant white supremacists don't attempt to dispute that. We get that aspect of our culture on virtually every level, but for some reason, we miss it on the LGBTQ question.

African unity means every African. The minute we start making exceptions we open the door for division. That is ill refutable. What's next? No physically disabled Africans? No Muslims? No overweight Africans? We want unity with all African people, period. Maybe like the question of zionism is somewhat of the litmus question on settler colonialism, the LGBTQ question for African people is the litmus question on African unity. If you resist unity with all of our family, you cannot be for Pan-Africanism. You cannot be for African unity on any level. Having been on the wrong end of racial discrimination my entire life, the absolute worst thing I ever wish to be guilty of is perpetuating oppression against anyone. All of your arguments used to justify your closemindedness against our LGBTQ family are the exact same things racist Europeans say against us. All the religious and social arguments are the same, which makes sense because they are used for the same objective. To keep people divided who's unity would serve to rock this very foundation down to its knees. Maybe the day will come soon where we can more easily determine who really doesn't want true unity based on how stupid and immature your approach is towards our LGBTQ family members? One day soon, our people will wake up and rest assured we are not sitting still waiting for that day to come to us. We are organizing on a world wide basis to bring about the necessary political consciousness we need. Being LGBTQ isn't something that confused Africans inherited from Europe. Its always been a part of our people and culture. People have just felt repressed over the last several hundred years to the point where hiding it (being in the closet) has become normalized. Its time for us to grow up and provide the love and support all of our people need. If other segments of our people are not receiving the support we need, we need to address that, but not at the expense of other deserving segments of our people. Just like African people decided we weren't going anywhere by declaring that "black is beautiful!" our LGTBQ family, queer, transgender, all of these wonderful family members, are going anywhere. Start learning how to treat family because whether you know it or not, we all need each other.

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And the Most Popular African Leader for the Last 25 Years Is...

12/13/2018

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Two the first things Nelson Mandela did once released from prison in 1990 was visit Libya and Cuba to give personal thanks to Muammar Qaddafi and Fidel Castro respectively. He understood that both played significant roles in his release and the victory over racist apartheid in his country.

Wait for it. Are you ready? Its not Nelson Mandela. Certainly, its not some silly answer like Barack Obama. Not even close. Of course, we don't claim to have done a formal survey on this. We haven't conducted a scientific experiment on this question. Our assessment is going to be entirely based on our understanding of African politics over the 25 year period in question and informal discussions with Africans everywhere.

Our answer to this question is unquestionably, without a moment's hesitation, Muammar Qaddafi from Libya. Why Qaddafi? Wasn't he a dictator? First, let's define dictator. What is the point and/or benefit to having complete control of a country? To controlling all of a country's human and material resources? To preventing people from doing anything to challenge your power grip on the society?

We would argue that to be a dictator, someone has to do all of the above. And the purpose for doing all of those things is to ensure that you can maintain your personal power. In Africa, dictators, and there have been some, have been so as puppets of Western imperialism. In other words, people like Mobutu Sese Seto (from 1964 to 1997) in the Congo, and some of the present day problem leaders like Paul Kagame from Rwanda, controlled their countries at the behest of imperialism. They have been permitted to maintain that control, despite whatever terror they reap on the populations, as long as they use their ruling apparatus to ensure Western business interests in their countries are sustained. In the case of the Congo, that is the most mineral rich area of the entire planet. Gold, diamonds, and the $600.00 USD per pound columbite tantilite (coltan or cobalt) which every electronic device you use that gives and receives a signal relies on to function, are all in plentiful supply in the Congo along with uranium, copper, and other necessities.

What is constantly reported to you and me is that the constant strife and conflict in the Congo is the result of tribalism. The truth is these multi-national corporations recruit and arm militias to fight each other for territorial control of the coltan mines with equipment and training supplied to them by Western imperialist countries, with the U.S., as always, leading the way. In return for protecting these vital resources for imperialism, the despot dictators like Mobutu are provided wealth to the extent that during his reign of terror, Mobutu was always one of the richest people in Africa, despite him having only a low level experience as a military officer in his background.

Although Mobutu, an actual real live dictator, had almost 20 Rolls Royce luxury vehicles for his personal use while he was being puppeted to pillage the Congo, Qaddafi had 0 vehicles in his personal possession. He was never focused on having material possessions. In fact, when the U.S. bombed the you know what out of Libya in 1986, Qaddafi was living in a tent. This is where his daughter was killed, in that tent. Even the people who killed him in Washington D.C. never tried to accuse him of stealing Libya's wealth for his own benefit. This is ill-refutable. He wasn't interested in wealth that way. What he was interested in was using Libya's massive oil wealth to provide free education and health care to the Libyan people. He was interested in providing every Libyan family with financing to establish their families within Libyan society. He was interested in supporting the project to build the Wasra dam throughout the Sahara Desert which provided potable water to millions in Chad, Ethiopia, The Sudan, Niger, the Western Sahara, and other parts of that region. What he actually did was provide material support to every liberation movement in Africa, and around the world, including the American Indian Movement and other movements outside of Africa.

The reasons indicated above are the exact cause Qaddafi was the most popular leader in Africa during this period and his most important contribution was actually the one that cost him his government and his life. He initiated a project in 2003 to create one financial currency for all of Africa. He always acknowledged that doing so wasn't his idea. The idea came from the leaders of African independence and recent Pan-African leaders such as Kwame Nkrumah. Qaddafi always recognized this. The idea of an African currency was discussed by Nkrumah, Sekou Ture, Modibo Keita, Chekh Anta Diop, Julius Nyerere, and others because without this and other steps geared towards uniting Africa, she will always be in the subordinate position to Western imperialism.

Every country's currency is just paper money right? What makes some currencies more valuable than others is what's backing them. In the case of the U.S. dollar, it has value, just like the British pound, the French Franc, etc., because these currencies are backed by gold and other wealth of these empires. In other words, because of this wealth, you know you can take this currency into any bank and/or business anywhere in the world and they will accept it because of the financial wealth of this country. The people accepting the money know that this country is in the best position of existing countries to continue to exist, so the money from here maintains its value. The fact this "stability" exists solely because of imperialism's theft from Africa and other places is never broached.

n Africa, its the opposite. Due to imperialist manipulation which produces the type of neo-colonialism described through Mobutu in the Congo, there's no political and economic stability in African countries. Consequently, the currency isn't backed by anything that anyone anywhere has faith in. This is true even from one African country to the next. They won't accept each other's currencies. What Libya was doing between 2003 and 2011 was laying the groundwork to create an African currency called the dinar that would be backed by Libya's massive gold wealth. Libya, then the most stable economic country in Africa outside of imperialist supported and maintained Azania (South Africa) had the punch to back a currency like the dinar.

Today, you can't find an economist anywhere who won't admit that the dinar would have turned the world economy completely upside down. Now, all of the sudden, you have to deal with Africa on the world market. And, the dinar was simply the first step to uniting and consolidating African control of the resources the currency is used to protect. To understand it better, imagine if you lived in a world with two other people. One of those people had the capacity to produce products and the other had the capacity to buy and consume those products. You, had no capacity to do either. Your entire existence was dependent upon what either or both of those entities did. If you figured out a way to come to the table in a way where you had to be dealt with by both in an economic sense, that would clearly change the power dynamics. That's what Africa having its own strong currency would look like in the world today.

The imperialists knew this and that is the reason the Obama administration decided to bomb the Libyan Jamihiriya (the Libyan government with Qaddafi) completely into submission. And, Hillary Clinton's own emails apparently confirm that for all who doubt the truth and for those who continue to try and paint a positive picture of Barack Obama. He was the president who was responsible for taking down the most productive government in Africa. Chew on that because all the anti Qaddafi propaganda you try to stand up with to defend Obama cannot refute those truths. And, that's without us even talking about his administration's role in building a massive US. military presence in Africa to protect imperialism.

If you study African politics and talk to people in the know (that last part is important because we are so intellectually lazy, some of us will suggest that any random African born in Africa is an expert on everything happening in Africa), you will find out that contrary to the capitalist media in this country and the other capitalist countries, the Libyan Jamihiriya was loved by all of Africa. When the U.S. led North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO - all the Western imperialist countries) was destroying Libya in 2011, there were millions of people protesting it around the world, but most of us don't know that because we aren't paying attention to Africa. Most of us don't know those protests are still happening and growing everyday. Africans recognize that Qaddafi was their friend and most of you are not.

So, Qaddafi is loved in Africa and the only reason that's relevant is because imperialism always believes that they can kill the idea by killing the person, but they are wrong. If you think you have heard the last of what Qaddafi was doing, very soon, the joke is going to be on you.

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An Ice Cube Concert & the Reminder of How Powerless We Are

12/10/2018

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Saturday night I paid $65.00 USD to see Ice Cube. Actually, I wasn't really going to see him. Also performing at the show was the classic old school group Zapp who I have loved since I bought their first album in 1980 as an 18 year old. I owned all their albums and since it always seems like 90% of hip/hop, at least the so-called West Coast "gangsta rap" is Zapp (Roger Troutman), and Parliament-Funkadelic samples, I will always enjoy Zapp. E-40 was also performing. His music defines reactionary, but if I'm honest, when I was at my lowest point of self-sufficiency in Oregon in 2010, 2011, listening to his music reminded me of the Califonria/Bay Area, which reminded me that's where I came from, which reminded me how I've come through much more than what I was dealing with at that time. So, for that, I wanted to see him too, because hearing his music live was going to be some sort of therapeutic thumb in the face to my struggles seven/eight years ago. And, because of the reasons given above, I was ok through Zapp and E-40's performances so that by itself was worth the cost of the ticket.

What I want to talk about though was Ice Cube's performance. He was the headliner and he spent almost twice the time on stage than any of the other performers mentioned previously. Now, I listened to Ice Cube once he left NWA and went solo. At that time, he was being mentored by former Nation of Islam National Representative, New Black Panther Party founder - Khalid Abdul Muhammad. By the time Ice Cube released "Death Certificate" in 1991, I was happy to plop down my - whatever it cost - for that CD. His approach was angry and extremely anti-woman and patriarchal, but most of us, including the many African women engaged in my organizational life at that time, collectively decided to forgo criticism of his unforgivable anti-womanism because of the strong anti-white supremacy statements that were expressed in virtually every song on that album. I'm not excusing that decision. Its not anything I'm proud of, but up to that point, no one else had figured out a way to express the raw anger of inner city Africans than what Ice Cube articulated on that album. His analogy of a European (white) man kidnapping Africans in his car to the slave trade was genius. "My Summer Vacation" is the story of so many Africans locked up in this country's illegal prisons. "Man's Best Friend" is still poetic justice on African gun rights and "No Vaseline" remains one of the very best dis records in hip/hop history. And without question, the best portion of that record is the end when Ice Cube viciously assaults the late Eric "Eazy-E" Wright for meeting with the Republican National Committee as a fundraiser for the just departed George Bush Sr. "I'll never have dinner with the president, and when I see your @ss again I'll be hesitant!" Pure genius! I'm not mentioning any of those songs filled with patriarchal lyrics because quite honestly, I don't really know them. I skipped over them 100% of the time, but the ones I've mentioned, I played often. Never in front of my then young daughter and any other children in my presence because Cube's constant use of the n word was just not something we have done since the 1970s. Those political lyrics though. "A Bird in the hand (crack) is worth more than a bush (the president) to convey how Africans know they have better odds dealing drugs than trying to play the capitalist game...No matter what anyone says, that's genius. That's the core of what hip/hop is on all levels, despite its shortcomings. During those early 90s, Cube surpassed Public Enemy, KRS-1, and other "political" hip/hop voices in some ways because of his ability to capture that anger. His music wasn't about intellectually dissecting racist society. It was about sticking a 45 caliber pistol into uncle sam's mouth and squeezing the trigger and I loved it!

Even with all I've said about Ice Cube's music in the early 90s and its impact on me, I wasn't under any illusions before Saturday night. The Ice Cube of "Death Certificate" was a young man in his twenties. The Ice Cube of today is a middle aged man who has become the maga capitalist mogul who has distributed blockbuster movies like the "Friday" and "Barbershop" franchise series along with several even more mainstream movies in recent years like "Fist Fight". He's become a major mainstream capitalist star who can be seen in commercials and on ESPN breaking down NBA basketball games with uncle Shaq and Charles. Khalid Abdul Muhammad is a very distant memory for Ice Cube so I knew before Saturday that the chances of Cube performing anything produced during his "angry" years (1990 to 1994) were slim to none. And, my prediction was 100% accurate. The only song Cube performed that could even be suggested as political was his recently released anti-Trump song which of course he would sing, he just released it. The most basic business sense would require him to perform it everywhere he goes, but his short version of it along with his immediate disclaimer after that song of "I'm finished with political stuff...I just want to have fun!" clarified how a song calling for Trump to be arrested may seem radical to those who didn't hear Cube's albums in those early 90 years. Arresting the president pails in comparison to someone who rapped that "the white man puts us in prison for doing everything he does to us - robbery, murder, rape..." Instead, Cube's entire presentation Saturday night was titled heavily towards his "Westside Connection" west coast "gangsta" theme of the late 90s. Why? Because the "gangsta" stuff is safer for him with his current mainstream image. The question why anti-woman (one thing that has never changed in his music) and Africans killing each other lyrics are much more socially acceptable than rap commentary about racist police terrorism and oppression against African people is an entirely different conversation all to itself. I will say that African people have no collective value to this system. Never have and never will. Consequently, if you understand that, it shouldn't shock you in the least that us being dehumanized is entertainment in this backward capitalist world and any commentary challenging that narrative is about as valuable as a song calling for safe passage for every roach people see in their houses.

What I would like to ask everyone to consider is how it is you can claim this country has free speech and democracy when the only way you can become a big selling artist in this country is to tow the line and produce "art" that disparages our people and our culture? That disrespects our women and non-men? None of that is an indication to me of a society where the masses decide the direction of their lives (the definition of democracy) or have the ability to speak to the issues of the times.

The truth is the fact this is the reality is a reflection of the lack of political education in this society. There was no mass uprising Saturday night when his performance ended, missing all of his political material. People seemed quite pleased with "Put Yo Back Into it" and "Up in the Club" compared to "No Vaseline." Now, I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that Ice Cube probably has some desire to perform some of those early 90s songs. I say that because I didn't miss his off the cuff comments several times Saturday night about how "they want to blame everything on us!" but until we demand that our culture be represented in ways that uphold our struggle for justice, that day where artists say what they want, and more importantly, what many of us want, is never going to happen.

Sekou Ture, in his classic work "Revolution, Culture, and Pan-Africanism" said that culture is the tool in which oppressed people arm themselves to battle colonialism. I'm an author who writes fiction books that are focused on Africa and our African liberation struggle. Books that present women as full human beings. Books that don't reduce our struggle to one of being anti-European, but clarify that our enemy is the capitalist system. So, based on the challenges I have getting my books out there, I understand why the Ice Cube of 2018/19 is not the Ice Cube of 1991. Everyone who reads them, confirms the quality of my literary fiction. Quality isn't the issue or the defining characteristic. In today's popular culture, that defining element is the products ability to sell and that ability is determined based on the lacking political consciousness of the masses of people. In other words, as long as the masses are willing to settle for nonsense than the entertainment industries will produce nothing except nonsense. Ice Cube's movies are all stacked with nonsense so he clearly has learned that lesson. To be successful, you have to appeal to the most base element of people's consciousness. People don't want to think, they want to laugh as if people are too simple to do both.

In recent history, we have the examples of the social upheavals of the late 1960s and the political hip/hop era of the late 80s, early 90s, to prove that the consciousness of the people dictates what the artists put out, not the other way around. In 1968, James Brown had to produce "Say It Loud! I'm Black and I'm Proud" because the masses of Africans demanded music making that sort of statement. That's what people wanted to hear and despite the fact it was reported that Brown refused to even say the "I'm Black and I'm Proud" part of the song (the children say that part), he was still a smart enough business man to know the record would advance his career. And LL Cool J was equally as aware in 1990 when he was booed from the stage of a show in his native New York because people felt his player lyrics were out of touch with the consciousness of the times. He said so himself. So, don't tell us the masses don't make history. The capitalist system works overtime to keep us confused. Or, maybe you believe it was a complete coincidence that the Isley Brothers recorded songs like "Harvest for the World, Fight the Power" and "The Pride" in the early 70s compared to "Between the Sheets" in 1984. The difference? The consciousness of the times. The activist focused early 70s compared to the me first/only 80s. My point is all of this is the result of what people want and demand, not the artistic focus of individual artists.

So, no, I didn't enjoy Ice Cube's performance. Not because I expected him to perform my songs. As I said, I knew he wouldn't so that's not what bothers me. What's irritating is how easy it is for the majority of us to accept such regular slaps in the face without the slightest flinch on our part.

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My Childhood Introduction to Domestic Violence

12/7/2018

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Like everything else in this extremely backward society, the lack of analysis around domestic violence has permitted the problem to be defined based on how it serves the interests of the person(s) articulating the issue. In other words, domestic violence, like virtually everything else, is defined as a arbitrary phenomenon that can be articulated and defined whatever way fits the narrative of the person doing the talking. So, in this dysfunctional environment men can be considered just as much survivors of domestic violence as non-men. Without question, there are certainly men who are legitimate sexual assault/domestic violence survivors, but revolutionaries always want and need to be systemic in evaluating social situations. As a result, we develop an analysis that is informed by objective data, not just our personal feelings. That analysis tells us that history, especially understanding the history of the development of class structures, has an intricate tie to violence against non-men. And this violence is perpetuated through the culture of patriarchy. That means the conditions impact all of us. Or, even those of us who identify as men, are impacted in adverse ways by this systemic assault against non-men. I will describe my exposure to this unfortunate problem. Hopefully, no one is triggered by this description and if this is a possibility, you should probably stop reading here. The point of recounting this story is to continue on my path of personal recovery from the dysfunction of my youth and to express the point that this unfortunate problem doesn't benefit men in any way and nor are we separated from its impacts of us.

When I was eight years old, living in San Francisco, I lived in a tenement building with my family. We had an extended family that included my maternal grandmother, my oldest sister, her husband, my physically disabled maternal aunt, my mother, father, and other sister. At that time, my male role models were my father and my brother in law, my sister's husband (she was 11 years older than I). She married at 18 and I think I understood some of the challenges they had. The constant struggle for them to find employment (obviously, they were living with my parents), especially my brother in law. I knew this because previously, they had lived in a unit downstairs, but finances forced them to move in with us. I remember the stress of all of us living in those quarters together. I wasn't aware of the distinct tension that existed between my sister and her husband. All I knew was I used to love sitting and listening to my father and brother in law talk. It was my first male role modeling. They would talk about family life. Besides profanity, these conversations were usually G rated and a lot of what I learned about my father, who seldom talked to me, I learned from these observations. I knew he considered my brother in law his friend and they often socialized and had drinks together sitting at our kitchen table.

One day my father I picked me up from school as he usually did since he worked graveyards. And, as was the typical process, he dropped me and my sister off at our residence so that he could drive down and pick up my mother from work. On this day as we drove up in front of our building, there was my brother in law standing there. I recall thinking it odd that he would just be standing on the street, instead of being inside, but I remember my dad honking at him and then I recall him walking on down the street, away from our residential building. This meant the only people inside were my grandmother, wheelchair bound aunt, and my middle sister and I. No sooner did I get inside and start eating the campbells soup my dad had left for me than the doorbell rang, repeatedly. I remember my grandmother buzzed it and in spilled my sister with my brother in law tackling her. My grandmother screamed at him, our little cocker spaniel dog was barking and I was losing my mind. At first, I tried to tell myself they were play wrestling. They were still teenagers and they often rough housed, but as I watched him strike blows against her I realized this was for real. Meanwhile, my grandmother was grabbing a steak knife and making her way down the stairs to defend my sister. At this point, my brother in a law pointedly told me to go into the bathroom and lock the door. Well, we were trained to listen to our elders without hesitation, so I did what he told me the do, terrified or not. Once in the bathroom, I heard the repeated pounding. I heard my grandmother pleading, screaming at him to stop. I heard our little dog barking. For my eight year old mind, my entire stability as a human being was being ripped apart. My brother in law, one of my male role models, was supposed to love and support my sister in my mind. He was supposed to respect her? I had no storage place to file this assault. What I've never said to anyone before is in my panic and confusion, I picked up a can of house spray sitting there and with the matches sitting there I lit a match and as a distraction, I thought it would be a good idea to see what would happen if I sprayed the spray into the small flame. Anything to distract me from what was happening outside that door. I sprayed the match and the flame increased 10-fold.

Eventually, my grandmother succeeded in getting my brother in law off my sister and out of our place. I'm not joking with you when I tell you that where I come from, we don't call the police. That was never a consideration, but I distinctly recall that once my parents returned there was a long debrief. Once they determined that my sister didn't need to see a doctor she was cared for and they lamented on and on about how my brother in law, knowing the daily routines in our family, waited intentionally for my father to leave and for my sister to arrive. I recall my mother and father getting some people together and going out to scour the streets for my brother in law. They never captured him and I never saw him again until about 30 years later at my nephew's wedding (the child of my sister and brother in law, my sister had my nephew at the time of the assault, although I don't remember where he was at the time). As I became an adult, I had always told myself I would harm my ex brother in law if I saw him, but as I saw him at that wedding, he was a much older man with his own health issues and he and I never even bothered to interact.

What I don't remember or know the answers to is what impact the attack had on my sister, who I remember having great potential at that time. She was able to type about 140 words a minute which in those days was a major skill. After that incident she continuously struggled with addiction and holding a job for the rest of her life. In 2013 she unfortunately met an untimely end. I'm not blaming that specifically on that attack. I'm saying I don't know what impact it had on her. I also don't understand how I didn't burn my entire face off that day because by all rights, I should have, but I escaped unscathed. Some people would attribute that to some spiritual intervention, but I refuse to believe something like that because I'm not that self-centered. There are people all day everyday who are much more deserving than I could ever be and horrible things happen to those people all the time. I prefer to believe that the variables and factors that happened to line up for me that day, as they have on many other occasions (and on many occasions they haven't). Instead of thinking I'm some sort of specially blessed individual, I believe whatever reasons I escaped serious injury, or death, that day, I have to use that as an impetus to continue to do good work. I don't know what impact the attack had on my parents or other sister because we never discussed things like that in our family. I do know that besides my mother and I, my entire family suffered from addiction. And, today, besides my middle sister and I, everyone else is deceased, and my surviving sister has a multitude of heath issues. As for me, I recall a feeling that my sister's life had little value. I remember feeling like I was helpless to do anything to help her. And I know I felt like my life had absolutely no meaning.

All my childhood beliefs vanished that day. I know I felt that day, and I've felt ever since, that the entire experience was unfair and harmful to my sister, my middle sister, my grandmother, me, our dog, my parents, and everyone else. We had a trust that evaporated that day and just like several thousands of years ago, a man figured out that by exerting his ability to physically dominate someone, he could express power for himself. I know that as a little boy in a racist society, I wanted to learn how to have a power of my own, but that day, I realized as I have for the rest of my life, that I definitely saw achieving power in that traumatizing and dishonest way as cowardly and harmful. Maybe that day also signaled for me that we cannot achieve the power we are looking for as individual African men. We have to do it as a part of a collective effort to empower the masses of people that respects and supports non-men out in front. Maybe that day did that. Maybe not, but I know that I've never felt fear and uncertainty more than I felt it that day. I wasn't the target. I'm a man, but even at eight years old, I realized this is a destructive way for men to interact with non-men. I also learned that day that when these assaults happen, they traumatize the woman being attacked, any other people who are there, and any people who are not there. We are all traumatized until we figure out how to evolve through these difficulties.

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The Cruel Struggle of Producing Your Art in a Money First Society

Remembering Steve Deslouches; A Fallen Young Comrade in Arms

Organization: How we Protect African Women, Children, People

Cuba, Socialism & Concrete Examples of Human Progress

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Our LGBTQ African Family, Unity, & How Many Still Don't Get It

And the Most Popular African Leader for the Last 25 Years Is...

An Ice Cube Concert & the Reminder of How Powerless We Are

My Childhood Introduction to Domestic Violence

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