Ahjamu Umi's: "The Truth Challenge"
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Black Codes = 21st Century Police & Slavery

3/26/2013

3 Comments

 
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I write about a variety of political, economic, and social issues on this blog.  The views I express are unapologetically revolutionary, Pan-African, and socialist.  As a result, I receive a pretty steady stream of replies to my article posts.  A lot of those replies are encouraging and supportive which I appreciate, but many are belligerent and even threatening.  So, for you fools who post the profane responses, you should know that I appreciate you also.  You provide a consistent supply of humor.  You're funny because your emotional outbursts clearly demonstrate your inability to intellectually respond to ideas and information you don't agree with.  What do I mean?  I encourage anyone to go back over the articles posted here and review the comments.  I never remove any of them.  You will find all of the negative posts, but never once, and I mean never, will you find a single critical disagreement.  Nothing that disproves the information being presented.  Just profanity and anger.  Well, for those of you who fit the description, you should be angry.  If I was as stupid as you, I would be angry too.  And so here I give you something else to hopefully drive you completely over the edge. 

There is much being discussed today about the stop and frisk policies of police departments around the country and how those practices disportionately impact African (so-called Black or African-American) and Indigenous (so-called Latino) men and women.  There's the Chris Dorner scenario and the LAPD, and the ongoing police killings which historically and disportionately victimize African and Indigenous people.  Also, there is the added issue of citizens such as George Zimmerman in Florida who seem to believe it's open season on African people.  And then when people like him act, the resulting inaction of the so-called law enforcement agencies perpetuates the belief that African life is worth less.  This is the point that must be understood about racism because it also answers the question about African on African crime such as the current killing sprees happening in cities like Chicago.  Whether people are aware of it or not, whether people want to admit it or not, African life is worth less than White life in this world today.  Indigenous life is worth less than White life.  Much of this problem results from the systems of colonialism and slavery which can be broken down as the period of European domination of Africa and the Americas.   This period created the reality where African and Indigenous life began to be equated with property and this perception still remains today.  Many people are unaware of any of this because the colonialism/slavery period has practically been written out of history at this point which is strange because it's legacy can be felt in every aspect of life in the world today - regardless of where you reside.  Of course, we know the reason why it's written out.  Those in power have to justify how they got on top.  They do this by perpetuating the myth that the world exists the way it does today because they worked hard, believed in God more, and had the manifest destiny to be on top.  On the other side of their fantasy, African and Indigenous people are on the bottom because of some unidentified cultural and biological flaws and a lack of civilization and a correct relationship with God.  They promote this daily - 24/7 through every aspect of popular culture and their primary objective is to get everyday people to believe this and it would be dishonest to say their strategy hasn't had traction.  That's why the idiots who post here do.  It's also why Africans kill each other without showing the same level of concern they would definitely show before going into White communities to kill Whites wholesale.  The message is clear.  We hold no more value than property.  And since accumulation of personal property is the zenth of accomplishment in a capitalist society, that means compared to the average person's  personal property, an African, Indigenous person,  woman, gay or transgender person, can have less value than a pair of shoes. 

Where does this dysfunction come from?  Some of the answers can be traced to the history of class struggle - going back to commualism, slavery, feudalism, capitalism, socialism, forward - but for a specific answer regarding racism and police and African/Indigenous life, the solution lies in analyzing the political and historical circumstances surrounding the period of colonialism and slavery.  You see, there are those - who for their own political reasons - desperately want people to believe those periods were sanitized periods in history that were really just not that bad.  The turth is those periods were some of the most horrific in the history of human civilization.  That's why we are still dealing with such a strong legacy from those periods so many years later.  For example, chattel slavery was an institution.  An economic institution that was protected by those who benefitted from it with codes that were set up to insure Africans were continually available for exploitable labor.  Once the institution of slavery was eradicated the social codes that maintained the power relations were kept in place.  This was done through the creation of "Black Codes" that were nothing more than laws that perpetuated White supremacy by ensuring African labor continued to be available and exploitable.  The continuance of armed militias, which patrolled the country to keep Africans confined to certain areas - for labor purposes - were further reinforced and better organized into legal formations that became police departments.  Thus, the practice of stopping Africans and restricting our movement - which was a tool perfected during slavery to insure we were corralled back the plantation - was continued and improved to restrict and repress our movements as we continued to organize and struggle against racism, capitalism, and injustice.  In fact, my argument is that the need to restrict our movemnet is more prevalent today than it was during slavery because capitalism is in such a state of decline.  Africans and Indigenous people, because of our historic oppression, still remain the most likely segments to rebel, which makes restricting and repressing us that much more important for the power structure today.  

The message here?  That police were never created to "protect and serve" African and Indgeneous communities.  Of course inner cities have a myriad of problems which we can certainly explain, but that's another article.  The point here is to promote that the role of police is to perpetuate those problems and keep them going while restricting and repressing the community in the process.  So you liberals can continue to believe the solution is holding police accountable if you want to.  We certainly won't discourage you because we believe Sekou Ture when he said "bad organization is better than no organization", but we intend to continue to organize to create social consciousness where police are not welcome and/or needed.  They have always served to create problems for us and are not capable of being problem solvers in our communities anymore than the U.S. military is a problem solver in other countries. 

So, there will be the continued stream of dumbasses out there who respond to this post with yelling and cursing, but they won't be able to refute a single word here because it's illrefutable.  Unfortunately, that last sentence is a logical one which eliminates the people in question from being able to interpret it, so just keep yelling.  Actually, we invite you to continue hating.  We know why you behave the way you do.  Your time is running out.  You know it.  We know it.  And you know we know it.
3 Comments

Thank God for The Great White Experience!

3/9/2013

1 Comment

 
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 I just had an epiphany.  I realized that we spend so much time focused on the stresses of our  daily lives, our families/relationships, jobs, and for a select few of us, our  activism, that we rarely get a chance to appreciate the little things we take  for granted that keep us going.   When I sat down and took time to think of those invaluable things that  make my life continue to function, the first thing that came to my mind is the  Western Judeo-Christian/European political, economic, and social experience of  the last 500+ years, that for the sake of brevity, I will refer to going forward  as simply the great White experience, or TGWE.  For just one moment, I want all the African people on the planet – all 900 million of you  scattered and suffering in over 120 countries worldwide, and all our Indigenous (that means Native American,  Chicano, Mexican, Puerto Rican, etc.) people, Asian sisters and brothers, Arabs,  and all other people of color to consider something.  For  all of us there is one question we never ask that we should ask ourselves  daily.  What the hell would us poor  lost souls on the planet be without TGWE?   I mean, according to what we all learned in TGWE schools, they  invented/created all the major forms of technology that have advanced the world  in areas of communication, travel, medicine, and overall human development.  I know that in recent years some  ungrateful people have tried to make an issue out of this by suggesting that  many of those contributions were made by us, but since the White power structure  is in charge, I think it’s safer if we just believe them.   Besides, it’s less contentious that way.  Plus, for centuries they’ve been  telling us how grateful we should be to them for all they have done for us and  instead of just stopping, taking a deep breath, and acknowledging their  greatness, all we do is disagree, argue, and create counter positions.  I mean, they were kind enough to come  directly to the places we lived – like Africa, Asia, North, Central, South  America, and Australia.  And when  they got there they went over and beyond the call of duty by taking time out of  their busy schedules to completely and totally civilize us.   They even made things easier by killing or incarcerating all the ones who  refused to cooperate, thus leaving only those of us conscious enough to  understand how lucky we are.  Since  that all happened there’s little question that our lives have been nothing short  of outstanding.  They took our  primitive Gods and gave us Jesus – in their image – so that generations of our  youth wouldn’t be confused about who they were and who they should worship.  Then they wiped out our worthless  histories and gave us their model to pattern our lives after.   Who needs the ancient civilizations of Mali, Timbuktu, Songhai, Ethiopia, and  Kermit, not to mention China, Japan, and the civilizations of the Incas, Mayans, Plains Natives, and Aztecs, when we have the Kings of the Roundtable in Europe  and the Greeks and Romans? The  European civilizations are obviously more relevant and important.   That’s the only explanation for why we still wear those feudal European  names like Gomez and Johnson, Jackson and Smith, right? What more could we have asked for?  
 
I realize there are some of us who disagree with  all of that, but I don’t know why.   Clearly, if you look at history – the meticulous way TGWE presents it,  Europe is the center of world civilization and therefore it’s essential that our  children learn only about European culture, norms, and styles.  In fact, anything non-European such as African or Indigenous languages
  and names is certainly inferior, a waste of time, and downright embarrassing  when compared to the advanced culture and civilization of White people.  So stop arguing with them about  Thanksgiving and the Fourth of July.  So what if we had some trouble during those times.   We get to eat turkey and BBQ on those dates now, so what’s the  problem?  Let bygone by  bygones.

 These wonderful White people were so focused and committed that  they didn’t just come to our places and steal us away to come here, a generous  and outstandingly humane thing to do in its own right, but they made the  additional sacrifice of staying in our homelands to properly educate us and stop  us from destroying each other.   They even put systems in place to organize us like the passbook systems  in South Africa, and Rwanda, caste system in India, reservation system in this  country, or the complete corralling of the Palestinian people in their national  homeland.  Just think for a moment  what Africa and the Americas would be like if TGWE had never made contact?  Me, I’d be banished to some warm  comfortable setting in West Africa, probably with strong math skills – since  those ancient African societies were central to developing many of the math
concepts utilized today.  I would  also probably live in a society with some humanist and egalitarian principles,  but that’s a waste of time to think about because I wouldn’t have Oprah, or  Michael Jordan, or LeBron James.   No Tiger or Kanye or Beyoncé?   I mean, even an idiot would have sense enough to see the immediate value  in trading an African identity, a strong sense of community, and  self-determination for Lil Wayne – right?  

Finally, we have to thank TGWE for creating a  society today where people’s history can just be erased without a trace.  I’m serious!  We can function right now in 2013 and just forget all about whatever  negative stuff happened before now. 
So when our White sisters, brothers, and even many of us, act like there  isn’t a problem now, and there never has been a problem that needs to be seen as  a blessing and not an irritant.  I  know many of us feel that the comforts of this society are produced on the backs  of poor people and countries, but you can’t prove that!  Besides, if that was true, why won’t you do anything to change it?  All the poor people seem to be  primarily interested in integrating into TGWE, not challenging it. 
So, come on people of color, practice learning how to do this.  We owe it to TGWE to evolve and stop  being negative all the time.  We’re  bringing people down.   If  nothing else, TGWE has taught us that we as individuals have complete control  over our destiny. If we just make the right choices in life, we will enjoy all  the fruits that society has to offer.   We know this is true because TGWE has preached this to us for centuries,  arguing that TGWE has produced this wonderful society that is blessed by God and  that all the struggling places in the world – meaning where we come from – are  suffering because they aren’t as blessed as TGWE.  If that isn’t true what else explains why the White countries are rich  and we are on the bottom of every place we  exist?

 My suggestion is that we get with the program and embrace TGWE  100%.  If we do we can enjoy more of the fruits that it has to offer like overextended debt, excessive stress, and  pandemic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and dementia.  We can also fully experience what it  means to live in complete fear and violence all the time.   Women can become commodities, and we can be shot on sight for simply  existing.  Hey –I know.   We’re already experiencing all of those things, but according to  proponents of TGWE, if we just stop resisting and embrace their system all the  way, our problems would be diminished significantly.   Maybe what they are saying is if we completely surrender we can just put  ourselves in the position to be totally wiped out!   Could it be that’s the best we can hope for?   At least the pain would end?  Or, maybe there’s something else?   Maybe there are really alternative views to TGWE that have more  validity?  Could that be  possible?  No, because if it was,  it would be on CNN and MSNBC.  I  mean, it’s not even on BET or Telemundo and it would certainly be on those  channels if that was true –right?   I guess I don’t really know for sure.  This stuff is just way to complex.  White people should just continue doing  what they’re doing.  Keep walking  around like you don’t see us – and our suffering.   Keep telling us that everything good that has happened to us is your doing and everything bad is ours.  People of color should just keep trying to fit in like that square peg in the  round hole.  Me…I’m just not going  to worry about it. Springs almost  here and the NBA playoffs are about to start.  More LeBron!  You see, I got more important things to do than worry about this  stuff.

1 Comment

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    Author

    I don't see disagreement as a negative because I understand that Frederick Douglass was correct when he said "there is no progress without struggle."  Our brains are muscles.  Just like any other muscle in our body if we don't stress it and push it, the brain will not improve.  Or, as a bumper sticker I saw once put it, "If you can't change your mind, how do you know it's there?"

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