Amid an entire week of commemorations of the original March on Washington event 50 years ago today, it's important to acknowledge that much of what we are being fed this week is propaganda designed to distract us from the real legacy of the civil rights movement in general and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in particular.  So for those sincere members of our older generations who look upon the 1963 march with a great emotional  fondness, we respect you and appreciate all that you had to endure on our behalf.  And, it is with the sacrifices you made in mind that we completely denounce the self-serving and dishonest presentation from which the march, and the movement that produced it, are being portrayed today.  We do this because we know that despite what people want to believe, there would have been no march without the selfless sacrifices of people like Bayard Rustin, a main Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organizer of the march and a gay African man, who struggled mightily to fight while being forced to stay in the shadows so as to not "offend" elements in and outside of the movement.  We also see the need to recognize courageous African women like Ella Baker and Gloria Richardson, of SCLC and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee's (SNCC) Non-Violent Action Group (NAG) respectively.  These women, and many more like them, played crucial roles in developing, stabilizing, and carrying those essential organizations so that they could conduct the dangerous movement work which created the conditions for the march in the first place.  Finally, we acknowledge that Dr. King wasn't one to articulate fantasies of a world based on idealism where material realities  were effectively ignored.  He lived and worked through a number of very dangerous campaigns in the South.  He counseled victims of raw terrorism who suffered simply because of their desire to receive basic human rights.  He knew that the legislative and judicial/enforcement sectors were never on the side of the suffering masses, but were committed to maintaining the status quo that depended upon African suffering.

The many corporations that sponsor the wonderfully sounding and looking sound bites from Dr. King know that he was no dreamer.  They fully realize that he was a soldier for justice.  That's why they consistently and systematically get you focused on the most non-lethal snippets of one of his mildest speeches (the "I Have a Dream" speech), while totally ignoring revolutionary messages he delivered in speeches like "Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam" which was delivered one year to the day he was murdered by the U.S. government.  The capitalist system wants you to stay focused on a "dream" and not on the movement for justice that people like Ms. Baker, Ms. Richardson, Mr. Rustin, and Dr. King, lived and worked for.  They want you to opine for a society where race doesn't matter so that you don't deal with the fact you actually reside in a place where race most often has a lot to do with how people are born, how they are raised, how they live and when and how they die.  The obedience script was crafted 50 years ago when James Baldwin was denied the right to speak at the march and Burt Lancaster was inserted in his place.  The script was institutionalized when Ms. Richardson was also denied the right to speak and John Lewis, speaking as chairperson for SNCC, was forced to remove the most militant references from his presentation.  In fact, the most accurate historical account of the march was conveyed by someone who wasn't even present.  Malcolm X, watching from the sidelines in Washington D.C. told us with plain clarity that the marchers were "ordered by the Kennedy brothers when to come to town, what to say, and when to leave!"  

There can be little argument today with Malcolm's assessment since, we are farther away from the core issues of jobs and justice that were articulated by King and others, then we were in 1963.  Plus, it's important that the original March on Washington isn't seen in the same context as a sporting event.  We can't look back on it like we do Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's home run record or Wilt scoring 100 points in a game.  We need to commemorate the march of 1963 because the problems that produced that march are still here, and worse, today.  Instead of looking back to 1963 with nostalgia, we need to be using that march to build upon something that takes us to an even higher level in 2013.  Instead of mystifying Dr. King's speech that day, we need to make it clear from every mountain top that Dr. King was always in an organization struggling for justice.  During the march he was a member of SCLC and he was with SCLC when he was murdered.  So, if you really want to honor King, you have to join SCLC, or some organization, and continue his work.  If we don't get serious and begin to look at these historical events with that perspective, then we will be sitting here 100 years after 1963 in even more dire conditions than we are today, if we are still here at all.

These results are based on the assumption that you are already conscious and mature enough to understand that racism isn't just an attitude that anyone of any background can have.  You are aware that racism is a systematic process of institutionalized discrimination against people of color and that people of color cannot be racist against white people because we have no control over institutions in which to inflict systematic discrimination against the white populations of the world.  If you accept the above, regardless of whether you consider yourself Black, White, Brown, Yellow, Red, human, Martian, or any other definition, then you will find these results binding and universally correct.

1.  You speak authoritatively about racism and race issues knowing full well that you have never read or studied anything      written by and about people of color on your own.  You know virtually nothing about Africa, Asia, or the Americas (pre-1492), except what people just as ignorant as you have told you, and you have have probably never truly thought seriously about why it is that the places where White people come from and inhabit are rich while the rest of the world is poor.

2.  You say all of the politically correct things about racism e.g. "white privilege is wrong" and "there's no diversity here", but you secretly feel that the hardships you experience as a privileged person (white or not) are just as difficult as those experienced by people of color due to everyday racism.  In fact, you actually feel that your hardships are worse.

3.  Whenever people of color speak against racism you find it difficult to unite with their analysis unless they say something that validates and recognizes your humanity as a privileged person (white or not).

4.  Whenever a question comes up about racism, it never occurs to you to seek out the opinion of those countless and qualified activists of color, living and dead, who have been providing solutions to these problems for centuries.

5.  You simply are incapable of understanding how the concept of American identity is racist, no matter how you try to rationalize or justify it.

6.  You study philosophy, ideology, and history, but you can't point to one philosopher of color, who presents an analysis stemming from their culture, that you have studied and/or have any understanding of, unless that person was endorsed by somebody white.

7.  You are not doing everything you possibly can to support independent organizations from communities of color, because their agenda is different than what you think it should be.  Or, you constantly try to get those organizations to address the issues you think they should address while ignoring and dismissing their agenda.

8.  You immediately denounce any person of color who dares to suggest that revolution (yes violence) is an alternative, but at the same time, you either support, or at least accept, that the amerikkkan government engages in violence as policy and you never challenge your friends and family who are in the military "because it's just not worth it."

9.  It has never occurred to you that white people raise their children to believe the world centers around them, which contributes to their children growing up and becoming self centered, narrow minded, and racist, while children of color, due to the dangers inherit in their existence, can never have the luxury of being raised that way.  As a result, they are always at a psychological disadvantage to accompany overwhelming political and economic disadvantages.

10.  You question the perspectives of seasoned and conscious people of color when they detect racism within an experience you have together and you expect them to validate their concern to you in two minutes, and if they cannot do it, that in your mind invalidates their assertion.

Regardless of your personal perspective on racism or what you think you know about it, the facts about institutional racism are absolutely ill refutable.  Those facts are that the banking system as we know it today, accumulated it's seed money from the buying and selling of African people.  This is also true about the insurance industry and a number of other big money enterprises.  In fact, the entire U.S. system as we know it today was built in large part through the chattel slave system that reduced African people to commodities (as well as the theft of Indigenous people's land).  These facts are undeniable, but because of the complexity  of the history and issues that came to shape the institutionally racist system that dominates the world today, it requires someone who really understands the subtle and systematic nature of this system to properly explain it.  That someone can only acquire the necessary expertise by doing two critical things.  One, engaging in work to eradicate racism as an activist involved in consistent organizational work.  And two, engaging in serious study of the history, issues, and concepts involved as a part of that work.  

There are a number of people alive and well today who meet the criteria laid out above.  I'm talking about people like Angela Davis, Chokwe Lumumba, Maulana Karenga, Min. Louis Farrakhan, Assata Shakur, Bob Brown, Elaine Brown, and that's just to name a few.  The question isn't whether you agree with any or all of those people.  That's the point.  They all represent varying trends in the movement from socialist, feminist, Pan-Africanist, Muslim, and Black Nationalist. Most of them have written volumes about the movement and our history.  Some were on the front lines in the 60s with groups like the Panthers, SNCC, and US.  Some have helped organize significant historical events like the Million Man March, Black Radical Congress, and African Liberation Days, but more importantly, all of those folks have long histories of being on the front lines of our struggle for liberation and forward progress, even though they may have different views on the best way to achieve it.  

So the logical question is why is it that when something happens like the zimmerman verdict you never hear from any of these experts?  Unless you dig deeper for more independent voices like you are reading here, their perspective on racism is never made available to the majority of the population.  Instead, we are bombarded with a steady stream of athletes and entertainers like Charles Barkley on CNN and the bevy of clowns and buffoons who are paraded out on other networks to express their uninformed perspectives on the zimmerman verdict, racism, and what all of this means for present day society.  Don't get me wrong.  I love NBA basketball and since I was a huge fan of Philadelphia and Dr. J in the late 70s, I was a big fan of Barkley's when he was drafted by the Sixers in 1984.  He turned out to be a great ballplayer; six foot four and half at most, but the ability to out jump anyone.  I loved watching him and I even saw him play in person on countless occasions.  So, I have nothing personal against him.  I just think that if I want great basketball highlights, I'll look towards Charles, but if I want an expert opinion on racism, he is not even in the first million that I would turn to.  Unfortunately, Charles is confused enough to believe he has an opinion worth hearing.  And since CNN and was so eager to hear what he had to say, it's easy to understand why he would think that, but all you have to do is listen to him and it's immediately obvious how naive he actually is on the subject of race in this society.  For example, he comments that "I don't go for sound bites...I watch CNN very closely so I know what happened with this trial."  First thing Charles, CNN is nothing except sound bites and so if you think you are getting objective news from that, you are really in trouble.  Capitalist owned media isn't objective.  It's beholden to the corporate/capitalist sponsors who pay for the airtime.  The point being Cheverolet, Verizon, Chase Bank, etc., they decide what goes on television since they're paying for it and their organized to insure their interests are represented 100% of the time.  This is the reason Barkley is summoned instead of Farrakhan, Davis, or Karenga.  The people I named above won't stick to the corporate media line so therefore, you won't see them on there.  Of course we were educated about this 50 years ago by none other than El Hajj Malik El Shabazz (Malcolm X) who when told he and the work of the Nation of Islam were denounced by baseball player Jackie Robinson retorted "whenever a Black man stands up and speaks independently for his people, the White man always runs out and gets an uncle Tom negro...An entertainer...a baseball player or a trumpet player, to counter that independent Black man.  The White man never gets a trumpet player to speak to the important issues impacting the White community, but whenever they need to counter a clear thinking Black man....Here comes the baseball player.  

The clear thinking African man and woman Malcolm was speaking of is still here, but you will never find them on CNN, NBC, CIA, etc.  In fact, until we can steer people towards independent analysis of all stripes, we will continue to perpetuate the confusion on racism that makes up the dominant perspective on that and most issues today.

Just take a browse through youtube and you'll see it.  A number of videos being posted, dozens of them, that focus on cities like Los Angeles where the Brown population is rapidly outnumbering the Black population.  These videos are placing the focus on cases where Indigenous (Brown) folks are using violent and intimidating tactics to attempt to push African (Black) folks out of South L.A. neighborhoods they have inhabited for decades.  The target audience for these videos is the African community and the message is clear; oppose "illegal" immigration because "these Mexicans are coming in here, taking over your communities, targeting your people for death, and are clearly the primary problem you are facing in this society today!"

The videos raise the obvious question of how bad this problem really is.  Is there really wide-spread violence occurring between Black and Brown communities in cities like L.A. today?  Absolutely there is.  In fact, this problem is enormous, undeniable, and must be prioritized, but in order to properly address this issue, we must first correctly understand it's sources.  The best tool of  analysis to accomplish this feat with any issue is to ask the most critical question?  Who is benefiting from these tensions between these two historically exploited and oppressed communities?  Is it the African community?  Clearly, anyone who suggests yes is insane.  Is it the Indigenous community?  Although it's easy to see how someone who has only a surface understanding of the so-called "immigration" issue could be confused enough to believe Indigenous people are benefiting, because they are "coming" to this country, a deeper analysis clearly indicates they benefit about as much as African people, which means the positive results are negligible.

No, the real beneficiaries are the same culprits.  The multi-national capitalist/imperialist network.  You know, the major international corporations that exploit and dominate the world's human and material resources for private profit.  How do these entities benefit you ask?   Several university economic reports on inner city economics, including an exhaustive study by the University of Chicago, estimate that approximately 400,000 jobs have left Los Angeles for overseas countries since the 1992 rebellion.  This benefits corporations in multiple ways.  Those 400,000 jobs are being filled by people who are being paid a fraction of what they would be paid by workers in L.A., without medical benefit costs.  Plus, the reduction in jobs permits companies to keep wages low in the U.S. by keeping these two communities competing for those few jobs.  To round out the plot, the African community's frustration and anger is focused on Indigenous people.  By the same token, Indigenous people are encouraged to see African people the way Amerikkka sees us - as the dregs of society.  Since this is a worldwide anti-African ideology, it's very easy to see how the phenomenon of disrespecting African people is easily adopted by practically anyone who spends at least five minutes in the U.S.

All of this is made even more complex because of the relationships of so-called gangs, or organized crime to this equation.  The Mexican Mafia (El Eme) in Southern California is aligned with the Aryan Brotherhood, or the Brand - a white supremacist formation.  These two formations have hatred and business motivation to move against all Africans and the Mexican Mafia directs the activities of virtually all of the Indigenous street organizations in Southern California through the Sureno cultural phenomenon.  This web includes F-13ers, 18th Street Gang, and even gangs from El Salvador like the M-13ers.  This represents thousands upon thousands of street soldiers who carry out the Mexican Mafia's charge to eliminate African people who El Eme sees as competition to their objective of controlling all turf, inside and outside of prison.  Still, this gang/prison conflict shouldn't and cannot be seen as representing the interests of African and Indigenous communities.  At the very least, this aspect of the issue is a reflection of a specific problem.  Quoting Sanyika Shakur, formally Kody "Monster" Scott - author of "Monster" An Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member - "we don't have any problem with Mexicans...We have a problem with El Eme!"  Plus, it's dishonest to present this issue as a one sided case of Indigenous gangs prying on African people.  In other parts of the country, particularly the South and some cities like Philadelphia, where Africans still outnumber Indigenous people, African street organizations and individuals are targeting growing Indigenous populations for criminal acts because these folks are less likely to speak out due to their undocumented immigration status and language difficulties.

As to the larger issue of lack of jobs, community respect, and the other issues the corporate thugs are exploiting, those aspects of this problem also deserve deeper analysis.  First, it's obviously true that African people need jobs, but the reason we don't have them has nothing to do with Indigenous people.  Institutional racism has prevented us from receiving fair and equitable opportunities for employment for hundreds of years in this country and nothing has changed.  The solution to this problem is tied up in our being able to produce opportunities for ourselves instead of relying on our enemies and the system that oppresses us to assist us in our development.  This solution is outside of the U.S. capitalist system.  It's in achieving Pan-Africanism, the total liberation and unification of Africa under scientific socialism.  

Secondly, all these idiots are screaming about "illegal" immigration, but none of them are explaining why this phenomenon is happening.  None of them are discussing the criminal enterprises of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Mexico and how these so-called structural readjustment programs have eliminated social programs in Mexico like health care, schools, and mental health services.  Even police have been cut dramatically.  This is done to redirect public funds to service IMF loans that supply technological development for corporate advancement in Mexico, Africa, Asia, and everywhere in the world that capitalism is exploiting.  The reduction of these services has created the instability that has led to the proliferation of drug cartels.  It's also eliminated jobs and caused the domino effect that has people "running for the border."  The solution here is related to the worldwide effort to prevent the IMF and other imperialist agencies from dominating in Mexico, and everywhere else, and returning stability and self-determination to the entire planet.  Finally, it has to be stated that the Indigenous people could never be illegal or even immigrants in the Western Hemisphere.  They were here first and were driven from their lands by illegal, racist practices like these state land gift programs that "awarded" Native lands to white illegal aliens.  That land has descended through family trees creating some of the wealth white people benefit from and enjoy today.

To summarize, it's important that all you intelligent and expert people understand the basic statement displayed in the wall tag on the picture leading into this post.  The key to all of this is written in that picture.  The concept of African and Indigenous people coming together frightens the power structure.  Just like the concept prisoners of all races uniting against the prison administration frightened the power structure in 1971 in New York and caused them to unleash barbaric brutality against the resisters of the Attica rebellion.  Keep in mind that this so-called African/Indigenous beef took off immediately after the collective consciousness of the 1992 rebellion expressed itself as the picture indicates.  Isn't that a coincidence?  There's no question that these two communities are complex and have their own histories and respective places to occupy.  There is no way around that, but whatever directions we go towards going forward, we must have the vision to establish our own relationships. We must stop continuing to be manipulated by the same power structure that keeps our communities and native societies (Africa, Mexico, etc.) dis-organized, oppressed, and exploited.  Maybe the key to the future is located in looking at the best of our glorious past when we co-existed on the reservations to fight together against the system to help eliminate slavery and oppression against Indigenous peoples?  There are young people everywhere who are taking their que from that history and how strong could we be once we decide to truly start thinking and acting for ourselves against capitalism instead of for it's benefit?