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Why this African Honors American Indian Activist Dennis Banks

10/30/2017

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Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), Attorney William Kuntsler, and Dennis Banks
We learned early this morning that American Indian Movement (AIM) co-founder Dennis Banks, 80 years old, had made his physical transition. In my development as an African liberation organizer, a significant part of my consciousness has always been the necessity to support the struggle for Indigenous land rights with the same commitment and determination that I work for Africa's unity and liberation.  As a result, every year around November for the last several decades, I've thought about Dennis Banks.  November symbolizes AIM's annual un-thanksgiving (what we call thankstaking) ceremony at Alcatraz (Turtle) Island in San Francisco.  Since the mid-80s I've attended and supported that sunrise ceremony.  The All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP) has enjoyed and nurtured a close relationship with AIM since the early 70s.  I've always been inspired and impressed with AIM's commitment to advancing traditional Indigenous values.  Since the A-APRP seeks to accomplish the same objective of creating new and healthy revolutionary institutions among African people, I've always viewed the sunrise ceremony on thankstaking day as an excellent model on how to deconstruct colonialist and imperialist institutions and replace them with expressions of self-determination and forward progress.  The last time I attended the sunrise ceremony was in 2014.  As he was many times throughout the years, Banks was present that day, playing a central role in facilitating the event.  Often throughout the years, he would call up community alliances to AIM - like the A-APRP - to speak to the thousands who assemble every year at this ceremony.  I especially remember 1998, when the thankstaking sunrise ceremony happened just a week or two after the death of Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), probably the A-APRP's leading cadre and clearly our most well known member.  AIM, led by Banks, used the entire ceremony that year to dedicate a memorial to Kwame's life.  They stressedthat day how they recognized Kwame as a key ally in supporting the Indigenous struggle in the Western Hemisphere.  Banks and actor Floyd Westerman spoke that day of Kwame leading a large delegation of A-APRP members to block federal police from the Bureau of Indian Affairs building in Washington D.C. in 1972 when AIM activists were holding that building to protest oppression against Indigenous people.  During their commemoration of Kwame's life, I remember my then 11 year old daughter asking me why I was crying during that ceremony.  Obviously, I was sad at the passing of Kwame Ture, but I knew I had other emotions, but I couldn't fully comprehend or articulate them that day.  I understand those emotions much better now.

I realize today that as a young boy, I had different role models than most people my age.  Without question, at nine years old, the only heroes I had were Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, and Roberto Clemente, but as I got a little older, those sports heroes (with the exception of Clemente who remains dear to my heart today because of his courageous activism against white supremacy) faded from view.  My increasing trauma from experiencing often violent racist oppression pushed me to become an avid reader by the time I was 15.  I needed role models.  And, for me, since my young and impressionable brain reeled with pain from my growing realization of what this country actually is, I needed role models who stood up against that oppression.  I was moved to support those militant leaders who, still being alive, represented for me a spirit of strength and resistance.  A spirit of victory, whether they were perfect or not.  Whether they were still involved in the struggle or not.  Those people were Black Panther Party and Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee leaders Huey P. Newton, Geronimo Ji Jaga, Elaine Brown, Assata Shakur, Kwame Ture, Jamil Abdullah Al Amin (H Rap Brown), as well as AIM leaders Dennis Banks, Russell Means, John Trudell, Bill Means, Loreli Means, and Wabinini (Vernon Bellcourt).  I devoured everything I could read about them.  In high school I ripped pictures of them from magazines and taped them to the walls in my small room.  My parents thought I was insane.  Later they realized these were the people who would inspire and shape my life.  They were living symbols of resistance for me.  They were role models of the type of person I wanted to be.

As I grew older and began to engage our movement for liberation on a serious level, I began to meet some of them and even work, closely, with others of them.  In 1982, while still a student Pan-African activist of barely 20 years old, I remember large groups of young Africans traveling out to Deganawidah-Quetzaloatl (D-Q) University just west of U.C. Davis at the drop of a hat.  During those days, D-Q was under assault by the Reagan administration.  D-Q was the only Indigenous University in the U.S. in those days.  Indigenous activists decided they had seen and heard enough of capitalism's lies.  Treaties had promised the Indigenous people all of the abandoned military bases and prisons.  D-Q fell within this category and several years before that, the university had been established.  The Reagan administration, as racist as any, including this present one, had cut off the university's ability to grow corn which they used to sell and support the school.  As a result, D-Q had reached the point where they had no electricity and the impending threat of eviction loomed everyday.  We young Africans would go out there intent upon doing whatever we could to stand with our Indigenous cousins against this oppression.  Dennis Banks was the chancellor of D-Q at that time.  I remember being out there on one cold night when we sat around a fire watching the drummers.  It was then that Banks looked at everyone in our group and thanked us for our solidarity.  They were fed up and determined to fight for their institution and we were committed to help them.

Of course, the 1982 governor's election saw the election of a fascist who declared he would extradite Banks to South Dakota if elected.  Banks had charges in South Dakota from AIM's taking over of the town of Wounded Knee in 1973.  So, Banks had no choice except to flee California after the election to avoid going to prison.  I remember that distinctly because that 1982 election would serve as the last time I would vote in any major state or national capitalist election (I voted for Jesse Jackson in the 84 primaries, but was done for good after that).  I voted for Tom Bradley who I had absolutely no respect for.  He was a 21 year cop in the Los Angeles Police Department.  If you don't know why that would be a problem all I can say is you are probably reading the wrong blog.  Anyway, one thing Bradley did promise was not to bother Dennis Banks.  That was the sole reason I voted for him.

Today was a sad day.  With Banks making his physical transition he joined Russell Means, Wabinini, John Trudell, Kwame Ture, Huey Newton, and Geronimo Ji Jaga before him.  Not many from my original list of role models are left, but whatever happens, they are all to be thanked.  Mr. Banks certainly played his part.  Now that he is gone, it is our responsibility to carry on that critical work.  We must remind everyone who the rightful caretakers of the Western Hemisphere actually are.  Its not the people who stand and honor the toilet paper flag of oppression.  Its the Indigenous people of the Western Hemisphere.  As Africans, we must respect and honor that because in honoring that truth, we honor the truth about our own oppression.  And, in supporting the empowerment of Indigenous people, we create the conditions for support for our African liberation struggle.  For that connection I honor Dennis Banks as I honor my own African role models.  We thank him for his work and his passing just reminds us how much we must continue to advance the struggle for whatever time we have left.

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Don't Confuse African Owned Businesses with African Liberation

10/28/2017

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There is a lot happening today that's irritating, but this topic for me is very high on the list.  There are many African people and non-Africans (especially those who identify as European accomplices) who act as if supporting any African owned (meaning a business owned by somebody with a Black face) business is equivalent to supporting the movement to liberate African people from oppressive and exploitative conditions.  These are two completely separate and often unrelated things and that needs to be stated and understood loud and clear.  First, for my people who want to lecture about African self reliance, please remember that we are the ones who have been telling you for decades that this capitalist system is not going to provide for our people.  So, we fully understand that this racist system isn't going to fully employ us and produce opportunities for us to give stability to our families and communities.  Since I've always known this, I financially support my people whenever I can because I realize that person who I buy food from doesn't have much chance of being hired somewhere else.  I bought my dinner at an African restaurant earlier this evening.  I have a lifetime of supporting my people so I definitely don't need that lecture from people who just started running that rap last year.  And, for our White friends who are always talking about supporting this African business or that one, that's all fine well and good, but it needs to be stated that doing this is not contributing to African people getting one step closer to freedom and liberation.

Take the restaurant I visited earlier.  Its a fish fry business that has been open in Sacramento for 37 years.  And, excluding the 10 years I spent in Oregon, I have frequented that business the entire time.  And, I don't mean just buying individual fish dinners or food for myself and my family.  I mean having countless organizational meetings there over the years where dozens of people bought food.  Having them cater community events where hundreds of people patronized them.  The owners know me and my presence there was so consistent that the first time I went there after being gone for so many years, they immediately picked up with me where we left off.  Right next to that restaurant is a clothes store owned by an African from the Caribbean that I've known for 35 years.  So, I know he has had various clothes businesses during that time.  Before he had a brick and mortar store, he used to regularly vend at our All African People's Revolutionary Party events.  In fact, he and I were remembering recently a event he vended when we had Kwame Ture speaking in the community back in the late 80s.  So many people showed up we ran out of food that night.  He can tell you that I've always been one of his most consistent supporters over the years.

Just using those two businesses for example, these are hard working people who have institutions within the African community here in Sacramento.  They are supportive of the work I've been involved in so consequently, I will always continue to support them, but they also understand my politics.  I believe that the capitalist system was built on the backs of African people. I believe that this same capitalist system's blood flow today is based on the continued exploitation of us.  I know that because this is an oppressive and exploitative system, our people are discriminated against when it comes to applying and receiving business loans to strengthen the operational capital needed to run a business successfully.  I'm aware that all of these variables create a situation where even businesses like the ones I'm describing here are always cash strapped.  The fish restaurant can only employ its own family and even with them, they cannot afford to pay them more than minimum wage.  Their margins are just too low.  And because of the low margins (that's profit margins) their prices are not as good as other places.  In essence, I'm making a decision to pay more by patronizing them.  That's capitalism 101 folks.  There's more than sufficient data to support all of what I'm saying.  So, even if every African business has the most decent and conscious people owning and running it with the highest level of integrity, this is clearly not a model that can bring about any economic independence for African people because that independence comes from accumulating capital.  We don't have any capital because the only way we could get it (remember, all of the predatory lending data confirms we won't get it from the banks) is if we had resources to control and exploit, which we don't (because the capitalists have stolen all of our resources from us).  Of course, many of our businesses aren't operating with any level of integrity.  The only economic model we know is capitalism which is the system that enslaves us.  Yet, we use its individualistic and anti-human values to run our businesses.  As a result, we end up seeing our people no different than anyone else who does business with us within this exploitative model, as a means to an end.  So, from a political and/or economic perspective, I'm still waiting for someone, anyone, to explain to me how this approach is going to liberate our people?  If you tell me it can provide income for the owning family, I can accept that. If you tell me it may even make a token few of us wealthy, I can even buy that, but don't tell me this Black capitalist model is going to bring freedom to African people.  The model itself never claimed to do that.  Marcus Garvey had a vision in the 1920s, but his objective regarding establishing a shipping line was doomed from the beginning.  In fact, it was our first example of why economics can never come before political education.  The people who bought his three ships and governed the Black Star Line ran it into the ground because their objective was personal wealth, not the advancement of the masses of our people.  And, again, there is no way anyone can explain how their methodology could have resulted in a different outcome.  They had limited resources to buy the ships to begin with and limited capital to maintain them.

Richard Nixon's administration promoted "Black capitalism" in the late 60s at the urging of McGeorge Bundy and other capitalists as a method of creating an African petty-bourgeois class to buffer the anger of the African masses which was being expressed at the time with over 300 urban rebellions aimed against the capitalist system.  Even that latest manifestation of promoting African business within capitalism as the solution to our problems was never seriously thought, even by its architects, to be a real solution to our suffering conditions.  They were only interested in pacifying us.  And their strategy has worked in large segments of our communities for the last 50 years.  Today, its still common to hear that same tired and discredited refrain that "buying Black is the key to our salvation."  And those of you promoting that, instead of getting angry at those of us who call this out, maybe you can finally explain how your strategy is going to help the masses of African people?  We know you cannot because even if you could (hypothetically) promise and deliver wealth to every African within the U.S., since the capitalist system worldwide is rooted in robbing and stealing Africa's cheap human and material resources, the only way you could accomplish your objective is by investing in that very same system that keeps the masses of our people, especially in Africa, poor and disenfranchised.  

It remains quite clear to us that our only solution is Pan-Africanism which we define as one unified socialist Africa, but we know that many of our people are completely committed to capitalism.  So, our ask of you is simply to present your program, explain it, and demonstrate to us how it will liberate the masses.  Saying that we should support you, individually, as a means of advancing our people can no longer be accepted by anyone concerned about our people's fate.  And, for our white accomplice friends (if you are indeed that), if you are really about African liberation, especially if you call yourself a radical, please stop watering down our sacred struggle to that of simply supporting your local African BBQ stand.  If you are hungry for BBQ, and that African business has good ribs, and you want to feel like you are helping African people, any African people, than just say that and enjoy your meal.  Just, stop acting like patronizing that business is somehow moving us forward as a people because it isn't.  This is even more irritating when all of you do absolutely nothing, or very little, to support our organizations that are actually doing work to advance our people against oppression.  

If you want to support that work, support the efforts of groups like the A-APRP to politically educate and organize our African people for revolutionary Pan-Africanism.  Information about our work internationally is available everywhere.  Or, if you aren't feeling that, support another African organization fighting against our oppression.  If you don't move to view this issue in a more scientific fashion, than at best, you are simply searching for a way to co-exist with the very same system that is oppressing African people while trying to be at peace with your sell out approach.

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How Friday Night Looks for A Revolutionary Introvert

10/27/2017

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Its that time again, Friday night, the favorite time of the week for anyone who slaves Monday through Friday within the capitalist system, anywhere.  For a lot of people in my position, living alone, some disposable income to work with, the assumption is that Friday nights would represent the gateway to the weekend warrior lifestyle.  At least some of the time, right?

Or, its that time reserved for when you can spend quality minutes with that special person right?  Well, fortunately, some weekends are reserved for the latter, but logistical conditions (that's all you need know about my personal/private life thank you) prohibit that from happening all the time.  Also, there's the issue of me being a introvert.  For those who only know me through these writings or other levels of my political work, that's a statement they find hard to believe because their connection to me is maybe me leading a group, speaking in front of crowds, facilitating a workshop, etc.  I do all of those things, but not because I relish being the center of attention. I do them because whether I'm good or bad at it, I'm determined to answer Franz Fanon's call that I fulfill my historical mission to battle tooth and nail against this backward system with everything I've got.  That doesn't mean that when I have any time to myself I'm running around actively seeking personal attention.  Its the quite the opposite actually.  Over the years I've found that organizing requires that you contribute quite a bit of your personal self to this work.  Quite a bit that you contribute that many times comes back in less than positive ways.  In other words, the saying "no good deed goes unpunished" was coined I'm sure by a revolutionary organizer somewhere.  That's often our life and so when you have your own time, at least this is true for me, I've slowly learned to respect and appreciate it.  And, since I don't get high or drink, that eliminates many of those social opportunities anyway.  People doing those things don't invite you which is perfectly fine for me because I enjoy sitting around people doing those things about as much as I enjoy watching FOX news which is 0 in case you miss the humor.  Absolutely nothing against anyone doing whatever they feel they want to do.  Its just not my idea of fun.  Not that I'm adverse to night clubs and bars.  I actually really enjoy singing karaoke (did it last night) and dancing, but I'm selective in where I go because I'm not the dude to be tolerant around people who have consumed too much or to micro-aggressive racist behavior.  So, since I don't want to send anymore people to the hospital than I already have, and I don't want to interact with the capitalist injustice system anymore than I have, I'm very selective in this area.  Besides, most night clubs these days do nothing except play this current day crappy stuff that is supposed to pass as music.  You know, the stuff that has the most simplistic beat so that anyone, especially those who are rhythmically challenged, can pretend that they are dancing to it.  Now, a place that plays old school music, the sounds that motivated people to come out because they wanted to actually dance, not just stand in the middle of the floor and drink, that's a place I could go, but unfortunately, those places are few and far in between.

So, if you add up all of those variables, most of my Friday nights are going to consist of alternative activities like night bike rides (which I love, I'm taking a break from one right now), and lots of writing, which I'm obviously also doing right now.  For lots of people that may sound like the poster version of a boring life, but throw in those weekends when I do connect with significant people and a good book every month, and I'm living ghetto fabulous within this format.  And, with the consistent and high degree of stress that a life committed to transforming the forces of production requires, using my Friday nights to do what makes me happy (and yes, nights like tonight definitely do that), is something I've come to learn how to prioritize in recent years.  Yes, to all of that along with the fact that I absolutely know the difference between being alone and being lonely.  I'm alone right this moment, but I'm not at all lonely.  I have good people plugged into my life that I spend quality time when it fits and I have my Friday nights like tonight where I'm perfectly content to spend it alone.  I've got my message I want to transmit to you.  I've got the Spinners singing "One of a Kind" into my ears.  I've got the ancestors who speak to me every moment of every second I spend on this earth.  I couldn't be in a better mood right now.

The moral to this story is not that you have to do what I do or live your life as I do.  If that's what you think you clearly don't know me or understand anything about what I'm doing here.  The point here is that if you are going to outlast this energy sapping, morale destroying, spiritually killing, backward, anti-human, capitalist system, you better learn how to define your life in a way that permits you to develop and maintain healthy ways to nurture yourself.  Because, in case you didn't notice, this system is killing us.  So, we are trying to fight back while maintaining our sanity.  Choose your weapons carefully people.  You may not understand mine, but one thing is for sure, they work for me and that's all that matters because that tells you I'll be here fighting and fighting strong for as long as I'm able.  And, while I'm striking blows, I'd like to be able to look around and see you next to me because no matter what this cesspool society is telling you, you matter.  I'll be feeling that within myself while I wrap this up and start peddling back across town with P-Funk playing "Not Just Knee Deep" live bumping in my ear.  That's about as good as I'll ever need it.


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Time to Acknowledge the Underappreciated A-APRP Organizers

10/25/2017

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In this day and time it may seem that everyone isn't what they proclaim to be.  That's why its even more important that we understand and acknowledge those who tirelessly and without recognition continue to work daily to not only challenge injustice, but build capacity to permit the dispossessed African masses to fight back on their own terms.

I'm going on my 34th year being an active member of the All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP). I think that qualifies me to make several observations.  I can guarantee you that you cannot find a more selfless and dedicated cadre of revolutionary organizers than those within the A-APRP.  You will also not be able to find better trained, skilled, knowledgeable, and experienced on the ground organizers than those of the A-APRP.  This is proven by the fact that with very few material resources and even less backing and support, over the last almost 50 years, the A-APRP has been able to establish a physical presence throughout much of Africa, Europe, including places like Russia, North, South, and Central America, and the Caribbean.  

Despite this wide international presence and the amazing amount of work this presence has produced, you will not hear the A-APRP mentioned within typical activist circles within African communities and our existence is completely ignored within white left environments, but there are clear reasons for this.

The A-APRP has always concretely expressed our commitment to revolutionary transformation.  Consequently, we have never sought to use the capitalist media to advance our work.  In other words, we are the living embodiment of Gil Scott Heron's song "The Revolution will not be Televised."  And, despite the fact A-APRP cadre are disciplined, well informed, and highly skilled, our commitment to revolutionary work means we never seek personal attention in our work.  Therefore, most of the time, the work we do we don't even claim because our objective is the work, not the credit.  For example, most everyone has heard the call to action for people to join organizations working for justice.  This has been the core organizing principle for the A-APRP since our inception.  We have done extensive on the ground work to get everyone from Minister Louis Farrakhan (study the history of the first Million Man March and our role in it) to Muammar Qaddafi to advance this join an organization line.  You can also study the advancing consciousness among African people all over the world to connect and relate our liberation struggles to our African identify and culture, a clear hallmark organizing foundation of the A-APRP.  In fact, it was during the A-APRP's introduction press conference in 1972 at Howard University where it was declared that we would "put the word African on the lips of every African everywhere."

All of that work, and much more like our "Smash the FBI/CIA" campaign which people thought the A-APRP was crazy for launching in the early 70s, has done wonders in advancing the consciousness of African people worldwide to our connection to each other and the need to recognize that in order to bring us closer to liberation.  This work has also greatly influenced our people and other justice loving people as well, but all of this outstanding work isn't even the most incredible thing about A-APRP organizers to me.

The most outstanding element of the A-APRP is how the structure of this political party prepares its cadre to develop a selflessness and commitment that makes its organizers worth recognizing.  I have a saying I use to describe this.  I often state that I'm in environments I don't agree with 95% of my life.  What that means is our life as revolutionary organizers is about raising the consciousness of all of our people.  We take this approach because we realize we cannot have Pan-Africanism without Pan-Africanists.  We cannot have revolution without revolutionaries.  And, we cannot have socialism without socialists.  So, the core of our work is raising that consciousness among the masses of our people.  This work has taught us that political education is the most potent weapon at this time to move us closer towards our objective.  That's why we are always suspect of any organization that places militarism over political education, regardless of their good intentions.  The focus on political education has permitted us to produce a multitude of organizers on the ground all over the world who work selflessly.  If you have attended any type of A-APRP event you know this to be true.  No organization promotes other organizations as much, and even more, than it does itself than the A-APRP.  No other African organization promotes other non-African struggles for justice as much as the A-APRP.  People who lack revolutionary consciousness have a very difficult time understanding why we do things the way we do them because these people are not focused on transforming mass consciousness.  We are.  So, that's why we have no issue working below the radar.  Working to build relationships while asking nothing in return.  Working to help support all work within our communities.  No one in any organization who has had any contact with on the ground A-APRP organizers can say anything different than we worked to support their work, even though they possibly cannot tell you in clear terms what our mission is (it should be said that often, those people end up joining the A-APRP and becoming some of our most effective cadre).  

This isn't the place to explain why we are willing to do that.  If you don't understand it, I can assure you its because you don't understand what it takes to create conditions for revolution.  That's why we so fervently love and support the Cuban revolution the way we do because unlike so many so-called revolutionaries, we understand their struggle.  They helped liberate the entire Southern portion of Africa asking nothing in return.  This is what revolutionaries do and this is exactly how the A-APRP approaches our work.

So, to all those past, present, and future A-APRP cadre, here's a nod of respect for your work.  They may not see you, but for those of us who know, you are organizing right now in the cold, racist, and unforgiving environment in Europe.  You are dong the same in the same backward conditions throughout Western Hemisphere.  You are certainly wading in difficult conditions at home in Africa that exist because of imperialism, but yet you shine in our work among our people.  Some of you are establishing the A-APRP in places where it doesn't have much or any history at all.  This is overwhelmingly challenging because our people have been completely programmed to reject any suggestion of independent African liberation.  Yet you will continue.  You will be constantly disrespected, yet you will continue because that's who A-APRP cadre are.  And eventually, the seeds you plant will start to germinate.

This isn't a cry for recognition or thank yous.  In fact, many A-APRP cadre will probably be uncomfortable with this writing.  As Kwame Ture, one of the greatest A-APRP cadre, stated "we don't want fame, we don't want money...We only want the power of the organized masses!"  As a result, I know A-APRP organizers don't need recognition.  If we did we would have quit years ago because God knows we won't get it.  I just wanted to let you know that the next time you hear people say our organizations aren't doing anything, think of the fact we are established all over the world.  That cannot happen with no resources without some hard and consistent work taking place. Without something that resonates with our people.  The next time you hear that our organizations are corrupt think about the fact you don't hear of the A-APRP stealing one penny although our contributions to our people can be seen with clear vision by the visually impaired.  You don't hear about us permitting oppressive behavior from our members.  You don't hear about us trying to manipulate a roach.  We are not perfect, but we are always honest, consistent, and determined.  No matter how much you understand or don't understand about our political party, you cannot question that if everyone operated with the same principles we bring to the table with everything we do, our people would advance quickly towards justice and liberation.

So while others may be consciously or unconsciously seeking positions, respect, acknowledgement, money, etc., we continue to work tirelessly and selflessly to create the conditions for the final battle that will bring true liberation to not just token members of our community, but to the masses of African people everywhere.  And to those A-APRP organizers on the ground, we see you.  We see your work, and we appreciate everything you do.  You inspire us and we hope our work inspires you.  Together we will grow and become strong enough so that those who ignore our work will be forced to see it.  That day is coming and coming fast.


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The Age of Social Media and the Danger of Instant Intellectualism

10/21/2017

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Think about this.  How often these days do you see someone reading a large volume book?  Something on history? African, European, Asian, Indigenous, History? Religion? Politics? Philosophy? Capitalism?  Socialism?  Communism?  Anarchism?  White supremacy?  Patriarchy?  You get the idea.  I bet if you do think about it, you rarely, if ever, see anyone reading books on these subjects or any other serious topics.  

At the same time, I bet you won't have any difficulty at all finding people who have an endless supply of opinions about all of those topics.  These types of paradoxical realities make me wonder; how are people getting their information these days?  And, what is the quality of the information people are receiving?

I think the answer is obvious.  Many people, worldwide, are relying on social media to form their opinions about everything.  This means reading a short article on Face Book, Twitter, etc., has come to somehow represent engaging in extensive research about the phenomenons happening in this world.  And, because this practice has become normalized in most circumstances, it works in most instances because everyone has the same information from the same sources so no one has the ability to really challenge the most popular concepts on any type of cognitive level.  In other words, critical analysis and thinking is operating at a dangerously low level.  If people only possess the skills to read surface level analysis, which often isn't even well researched, then those same people will not possess the capacities and skills to evaluate information in critical ways that permits them to break down and properly assign credit or discredit to what they are reading.  The danger of this is it becomes much easier under these circumstances to get people to believe what you want them to believe.  And, for slick, experienced, and expert propagandists like the capitalists, this is a very dangerous trend for humanity.

The reason why reading books, not watching videos, not reading quick social media articles, should be the foundation for how people learn to digest information is because of the skill set you learn by reading books as opposed to the other methods.  With social media fare, whether it be articles, videos, etc., your socialization is going to be reading and accepting the slant being presented in those mediums.  This is especially true with videos, even documentary type presentations.  This is true because if you are watching something, you are training your brain to allow the presentation to dictate the flow and and essence of the information you are receiving.  Your brain learns to let the presentation determine for you what is happening and you never teach your brain how to make those determinations on its own.  Reading social media articles is often not much better unless you are reading more analytical sources, but the chances of that happening are not good because if you study most of the social media article sources, they are filled with inaccuracies and underdeveloped analysis.  The reason for this is the fast paced environment that social media exists in.  Something happens like the elections in Kenya, the killing of U.S. green berets in Niger, the political situation in Catalina, protests against white supremacy in the U.S.  When these things happen, the social media world has the pressure of responding immediately e.g. within hours.  You are not going to be able to get the best scholarship under these fast paced circumstances.

Four years ago, as is often the case, when a book comes out that I'm very interested in, I buy it the day it comes out.  In this instance, the book was "Stokely - A Life" the biography of the life of Kwame Ture, previously Stokely Carmichael, written by Peniel Joseph.  Whether we are talking about someone who had little to no information about Kwame's life and contributions or someone like me who has detailed information about Kwame's existence, this book had a very strong basis in discussing Kwame's youth through his activism in the U.S. up to 1968.  After that, the book displayed serious shortcomings in understanding Kwame's work in Africa and for African people worldwide.  It took me three days to read the entire book and I spoke to all of my perspectives of this book in a review I published on this blog (and several other sources) entitled "Stokely - A Life Starts Strong, Crashes Hard."  Now, regardless of whatever critiques I have of this biography, I was impressed with reading that the author had a research team that helped him study Kwame's life to produce material for the book.  And, that process took years to complete.  This is in sharp contrast to mere hours that most social media articles are produced from.  The difference shows in the detailed and analytical way in which the book demonstrated its research up through 1968 (now, the lack of such focus the book displays after 1968 is more consistent with the low level of research we see in much coming through social media).  Plus, the reason I am in the position to make a critical assessment of the book as I did isn't because I'm smarter and more highly skilled than anyone else.  It can happen because my analysis of Kwame's life leading up to Joseph's book wasn't informed just by videos and quick hit articles.  It was informed by the hundreds of pages of the comprehensive book "In Struggle" the history of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) by Claybourne Carson.  "The River of No Return" the autobiography by Cleve Sellers, one of Kwame's comrades from SNCC.  "The Making of Black Revolutionaries" the autobiography by James Forman, another SNCC comrade.  Kwame's own autobiography "Ready for Revolution", and a number of other books on the civil rights and black power movement in the U.S., not to mention my time working with Kwame and my subsequent exposure through my organization, the All African People's Revolutionary Party (A-APRP), the organization Kwame helped spread throughout the world.  I was able to read countless books on the Democratic Party of Guinea (PDG) the organization Kwame contributed to along with the A-APRP for last 30 years of his life.  Volumes of books like "Revolution, Culture, and Pan-Africanism", "Africa on the Move", and "Strategies and Tactics of the African Revolution" by Sekou Ture, along with the multitude of books by Kwame Nkrumah like "The Handbook of Revolutionary Warfare."  The point is by the time Joseph's book came out in 2014, I had a very firm foundation of who Kwame Ture was, what work he did, how he did it, and what the assessment is of his work.  Also, my decades of belonging to the A-APRP's work study process, where we read volume books and discuss and analyze them, gave me consistent practice in thinking more critically about everything I read, everything I watch, everything, I encounter.  So, although I read social media sources and would never discourage anyone from reading anything, I know there is absolutely no way you can take your individual experience reading "soft" articles and have the same level of skills.  You have a very limited foundation which makes that soft article much more likely to sway you.  Since your practice is individual, you have no real practice engaging comprehensive material and debating it with others.  The only check and balance you have with your process is whatever is floating around your head at the moment.  It's hard to see how anyone can see the latter practice as having anything close to the level of legitimate quality as a process of studying volume books, and discussing them with others within the context of the on the ground struggle for justice and liberation.  Here's an example.  About a year ago, I was introduced to a young African who upon hearing Kwame Ture's name launched into a tirade about how Kwame sold us out to the U.S. government e.g. Kwame was a snitch.  Having the foundation I have, I knew immediately what this young African was referencing.  I asked him where he got his information.  Social media sources.  Surprise.  I then proceeded to explain in great detail the Federal Bureau of Investigation induced campaign against Kwame and others that produced the lie about his testimony to the House of Un-American Activities in 1970.  I gave him my sources which included a long series of books including "The FBI's Secret War against the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement." The young African was humble and very appreciative to my explanation, but this demonstrates the old saying that "a little information can be dangerous."

Finally, the current trend benefits no one besides the power structure because if people don't have the skills to dissect real information than what you have instead is an atmosphere where people who don't have the skills to analytically break down conditions will resort to making up that analysis.  This is why you have Africans running around today in the U.S. talking about we don't come from Africa.  I encountered one the other day.  I asked this person where their family was from.  They said Louisiana, a slave state.  I asked them what their family name was.  They said Johnson, a British name.  I told them they are an African with a British name with a family from a slave state and they are telling me they are not from Africa?  They told me we were here in the Western Hemisphere for thousands of years as a people.  I responded by telling them I had no doubt some of us had traveled to this part of the world, but I couldn't point to one person who can trace their roots that way, but everyone I know has the same history they and I have, one that traveled through the transatlantic slave trade.  With no real foundation of comprehensive study and analysis.  No skills to evaluate what two or more opposing sides are saying and no abilities to ascertain what constitutes a true path, there is a clear danger of creating a generation of people who have no choice except to accept, at least on some level, whatever is being projected at them.

The good news is books are everywhere and there is plenty of energy to engage the issues of the day.  The path forward cannot be  one of convenience and quick answers.  That's fool's gold.  There is only one solution.  Join an organization engaged in struggling for justice because you cannot do it as an individual. If you can, I wish you would hurry up and get it done!  So, clearly, you cannot.  So, join an organization and/or make sure the organization you have isn't just telling people what to think.  Institute that analytical study process, create a booklist, and get to work.  Tie your reading with action designed to get results and if we all start doing this, before long we can bring up a new standard where honest and principled intellectualism is respected as the vehicle it should be to right a wronged ship.  Reading volume books is harder, longer, and much more rigorous, but it will help you get more (either way) out of your social media information which at best, can only be supplemental reading to whatever subject you are addressing.




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Green Berets Killed in Niger:  The News You need to Know About

10/12/2017

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Compared to all the non-news about the U.S.'s disrespectful and colonial relationship to Puerto Rico, its efforts to control its rebellious professional athletes, and their continued unbelievable recounting of what happened in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., last week, this story about four U.S. Green Beret soldiers being ambushed and killed in the African country of Niger has been virtually swept under the capitalist news rug.  And, this is the story that you should be paying attention to because we can guarantee you this is simply a signal for lots more to come.

Niger is a landlocked country in Africa that is surrounded by Libya in the North, Nigeria and Benin in the South, Burkina Faso and Mali in the West, and Algeria in the Northwest.  For those who didn't perform well in geography, that means Niger is a gateway country to the Sahara desert region.  An area with great historical significance, Niger was once a part of the ancient Songhay empire that included Mali's Timbuktu, which is the world's oldest recorded university.

Today, Niger, like the rest of Africa, is dominated by neo-colonialism, the system where the capitalist powers have instituted a process of governance that serves their political and economic interests, not the interests of the people of Niger and greater Africa.  This is proven by the fact the African Command, the U.S. military program that has created almost 100 military installations throughout Africa, chose Niger as the place to build its $100 million dollar drone base.  The base is located in the Niger city of Agadez, the largest city in central Niger, which has a population of almost 120,000 people.  Agadez is approximately 200 kilometers - or about 120 miles - from Niger's capitol city of Niamey.

The purpose of this drone base is the produce the MQ-9 Reaper drones which are used for what the imperialists call "predator" missions e.g. espionage, but also attack actions.  These drones have been recently equipped with the capacity to fire two A14 Hellfire missiles.  All of this is propagated by imperialism to serve the purpose of diminishing the so-called ISIS presence throughout Africa, although these imperialists would have a very difficult time explaining to you what exactly all these thousands of U.S. military personnel, and the thousands of Africans they are providing equipment to and training, have done to address these so-called terrorist concerns (not to mention the millions of your tax dollars - if you live in the U.S. - you paying to finance all of this).

Instead, the presence of these drones are so unpopular in Africa that Niger was the only neo-colonial state in the region that the U.S. could convince to house this base.  And, looking at the assault against these Green Berets, its not just the drones people don't want there.

It should be noted that although the imperialists are blaming ISIS for these attacks, I would only suggest believing that if you are the gullible type who depends upon your enemies for all your world analysis.  I don't claim to have absolute evidence of who committed those killings, but we do know that even the imperialist U.S. military intelligence units are claiming that the soldiers (including the five Nigerian troops who were also killed while accompanying their trainers from the U.S. military) were intentionally delayed in the village where they were meeting with local leaders in a deliberate effort to ensure the troops would be placed right in the line of fire of those who attacked them.  All the physical evidence verifies this account which tells us that whomever carried out the attack had a significant measure of popular support among the local population.  This isn't the profile for the brutal terrorist entities that imperialism keeps trying to convince you the U.S. military presence is there to protect everyone from.

The more likely scenario is that one some level, people are starting to resist the U.S.'s  imperialist and violent existence in Africa.  People are resisting this effort to make Africa a police state.  And we say this because Africa is on fire with resistance. Whether its protesting elections in Kenya, regime control in Rwanda, economic disparities in Azania, South Africa, land reform in Zimbabwe, exploitative mining in Guinea and Ghana, or oppressive puppets for imperialism in Libya, Africa is on fire.  And the fact you aren't hearing about it doesn't make it any less so.

Its also noteworthy that of the four U.S. service people killed, one was an African born in the U.S.  His body was not recovered with the others.  This brings recollection to the warnings issued by African liberation movements in the 80s when U.S. military intervention was threatened.  Those movements issued decrees warning Africans in the U.S. that if they joined with imperialism in invading Africa, they would not be taken prisoner, meaning they would be killed on sight.  This is a serious warning for Africans in the U.S.  If you belong to the U.S. military and you are in Africa participating with imperialism's efforts to subjugate Africa, don't expect a family greetings because you don't deserve one.

People in the U.S. are programmed to view the U.S. as the center and initiator of everything in the world.  The truth couldn't be farther from that.  These uprisings in Africa are the current steps towards fighting for one unified socialist Africa to cement the final battle against imperialism on the world stage.  Stay tuned to these developments.  We can assure you there will be more to come.

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Just for the Record:  Most Africans have Never Stood for Your Flag

10/9/2017

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If you live within the U.S. then you have undoubtedly heard that African people are protesting against state sanctioned terrorism against our people (police terrorism) and the accompanying protests staged by professional athletes has helped bring wider attention to this serious problem.  Of course, the bourgeois politicians and corporate elite (professional football team owners for example) have been quick to denounce these protests by their players and these billionaires have started threatening those brave athletes who would dare stand up against injustice.  

Due to the overwhelming pressure that these athletes are being placed under, regular death threats, taunts and racial slurs being hurled at them during games, and losing endorsement deals left and right, and in the case of Colin Kaepernick, being openly white balled from even playing, some of the players unquestionably feel pressure to balance out their principles with the need to ensure their careers continue.  So, when the bourgeois capitalists harp this tired narrative that the protests are "disrespectful towards the U.S. military and the flag" its understandable that some of these athletes, lacking political education and organization and having primarily having to stage these protests on an individual or small collective basis, are succumbing to this pressure.  This is evidenced by how quick many of them are to establish they aren't challenging the military or the flag.  In fact, the athletes are kept on the defensive on this question by the capitalist media.  Despite how many times they declare they are not protesting the flag, they are asked unstop about it.

Well, understanding the forces that have these brave athletes on that defensive, we have to state loud and clear that our people have fought and died on the front lines in every war this backward country has engaged in since and including the so-called American Independence war.  In truth, the first soldier killed during that war was an African; Crispis Attucks.  And, since then, we have been dying in all their wars and today we have absolutely nothing to show for it.  The capitalist state institutions in this country protect those employed by it who shoot us down like dogs in the street.  So, clearly, we owe the U.S. military nothing at all, but to abandon it wholesale.  And, as for their rag, I mean flag, most of our people are not stupid.  We know full well the history of systemic and individual racism in this country.  We know that all the oppression directed against us operates with full impunity in this society.  We know that every institution of this country protects white supremacy and the masses of Europeans (white people) in this country stand lock step with each and every tenet of white supremacy and oppression against our people.  Since we know all of this, we have never seen the U.S. flag the way the majority of white people see it.  We have never seen the U.S. the way most white people see it.  We know this is an empire and to most of us, honoring the U.S. flag is the same as asking Jewish people to honor the swastika.  

So, despite the capitalist system having no shortage of 21st century uncle toms to trout out and tell us how wrong we are, we know those people are bought and paid for.  They know they cannot even enter our community with that talk.  Frederick Douglass spoke eloquently about the contradictions of the U.S. flag and his unwillingness to honor it or the so-called national anthem approximately 250 years ago.  And Douglass was no militant.  Jackie Robinson, the first African to play in big league baseball, who was a republican and never could be confused with a progressive thinking African, also expressed clearly in the 1950s, that he couldn't stand for the national anthem.

If you drive through any predominantly African community, anywhere in the U.S. you won't see U.S. flags waving anywhere close to the way you see them in white communities.  If you go to our events in our communities e.g. weddings, graduations, even commemorations, you won't hear it or see it.  Years ago, at an African student event at a university, which was hardly a hotbed campus of radicalism, I was asked to give an opening statement as a way by the organizers to fire up the students.  I devised a skit where myself and another co-comrade, had re-written their national anthem to reflect the contradictions within the song.  I don't remember all the words, except the end which we concluded with "and, the home for a fee, and the land of the slaves."  When we started by playing the music and asking everyone to stand, about 75% of the audience, without even knowing they were being tricked, didn't stand, and there were loud protests all throughout the room.  This is a typical response by African people to this sad representation they call a national anthem and remember, this wasn't even a politically progressive crowd.  This was a group of petty-bourgeois and privileged college students.  Its not like we were in the middle of a severely oppressed African community.

So, a few years ago, when former National Basketball Association (NBA) player Josh Howard, goofing around with friends at his former college campus during a football game, joked on camera when the national anthem started that "Black people don't do that s - - t!" he may have gotten into trouble with the NBA and its mostly white and ignorant fans, but he was merely stating a clear truth. 

As someone who has witnessed, encouraged, and celebrated all of the above for decades.  As someone who hasn't stood for your anthem since Jimmy Carter was president.  I'm telling you we ain't standing for your flag, your song, or you, because that's really what its about.  We ain't with you because you are always with the forces that oppress us.  And, all this power ramping against our athletes is only serving to energize our people and all other peace loving people who stand with us against injustice.  So, for all of you people who are getting pumped up enough to confront us long suffering and tired souls when we don't feel like honoring hypocrisy, you better hope you don't run into the wrong ones of us with your racist confrontations and rants.  I'd suggest you think before you act.  Or soon, we are going to be using a new term.  "Suicide by oppressed African."

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50 Years since Che Guevara:  A Friend for Oppressed People

10/6/2017

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I have always loved and respected Ernesto "Che" Guevara and most of the conscious Africans I know feel the same.  We all know he was a European, yet we love and respect him as much as we do any of our very worthy immortals of struggle.  The reasons why - his tireless and courageous work to help liberate the Americas, as well as Africa - are well documented.  The recent smear campaign by cowardly racists who resent Guevara's immense popularity, especially by the brown people's of the Earth is also well known.  That campaign is based on intentional lies to discredit his image.  Che's massive achievements for justice and the efforts to discredit his work are expressed multiple times in other articles about him on this blog as well as many other places.  So, if you still don't know his contributions, or that the efforts to deny that are complete fabrications, its probably either because you don't want to know or you don't care.  

That's the reason why we aren't talking about either of those things on this post.  Instead, we wish to use this weekend, the 50th year since Guevara's physical disappearance from this life, to highlight the reasons why he continues to be missed.  If you truly understand the struggles of colonized peoples, and most people don't - even many folks within colonized communities - then you know that one of the most important tasks within that struggle is to deconstruct the aura of invincibility that imperialism has erected in front of us.  This is a critical step for us because until that aura is defeated, we will continue to believe that we cannot touch imperialism.  And, since much of the mystique that imperialism holds over us is the belief that we are inferior, touching imperialism is something we have to do.  There are not many people who touched imperialism like Che Guevara.  His entire life was a series of thumbing his nose at the worldwide capitalist classes.  He did that as a very young man when he witnessed the illegal U.S. overthrow of the democratically elected Arbenz government in Guatemala in 1954.  Che's response to that trauma was to enlist himself in the struggle of resistance in that country.  It was his developing activities in that area that caused him to land in jail in Mexico City where imperialism carelessly imprisoned him with Fidel Castro and that initial group of Cubans that would sail the Granma and help launch the Cuban revolution.  Guevara thumbed his nose at the establishment by ignoring imperialism's colonial imposed borders.  He respected the Cubans and their mission so the fact he was born and raised in Argentina did nothing to prohibit him from asking Fidel if he could join his effort to liberate Cuba.  Guevara understood that a liberated and socialist Cuba would serve as a launching pad for revolution throughout the Americas, including Argentina.  

Guevara, disregarding the establishment again, dismissed his formal medical training as a doctor to enlist in the working class struggle for revolution in Cuba.  Once the Cubans were victorious in 1959, Guevara had earned his place among the Cuban revolutionary decision makers.  During the 1962 event entitled "the missiles of October" Che again showed imperialism no deference, openly responding to every U.S. threat of nuclear weapons with one of his own.  No matter how imperialism continues to spin that one, we are convinced that Che's militant stance during that time, and the Soviet and U.S. decision maker's realization that Che's influence was as dominant as Fidel and anyone else's, contributed as much as anything else to the U.S. backing down and agreeing to remove the missiles in Turkey in order for the Soviets to take down the missiles in Cuba.

Just two short years later, Che, representing Cuba as its Minister of Interior, gave his historic "one, two, three Vietnams" speech to the United Nations.  His confident and confrontational demeanor in the midst of open intimidation by the U.S. delegation, is classic in itself, but the American efforts to discredit him there and the popular support he received at that UN session spoke volumes about the level of respect he enjoyed across the globe.

Che's military missions in Central Africa were further efforts to challenge imperialism and even at the point where he was captured in Bolivia on October 8th, 1967, demonstrated that the Bolivian government, puppets to U.S. economic interests, as well as the American Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. military, and the Johnson presidential administration, were as much offended that Guevara would even attempt to help lead a military excursion in Bolivia as they were elated that they had finally captured the mysterious and elusive military commandante.

Its our position that Che's courage, confidence, and strong sense of justice, even in the face of death, is the reason he is still so widely respected and why he has achieved even iconic status 50 years after his death.  In fact, his image is as memorable as those of the most well known celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali, or Elvis Presley.  Imperialism will never understand why he remains so popular because it continues to believe its own propaganda, but one thing they do know is they must do whatever they can to discredit him because he was the living, and dead, embodiment of resistance against its interests. 

Today, his daughter serves as one of Cuba's chief medical officers and his son is one of the country's most respected artists.  His son in fact was very eloquent in speaking up about the Cuban people's commitment to continuing to build socialism despite any efforts to normalize relationships with the U.S.  Aleida March, Che's widow, continues to advance the cause of socialism in Cuba.  And, 50 years later, people like me wake up everyday attempting to figure out how we can best emulate Che's shining example.  Kwame Nkrumah, writing a letter to Julia Wright in 1969 (the daughter of author Richard Wright) mentioned to her that Che spent two weeks in Ghana with Nkrumah before the latter's government was overthrown by imperialism.  Nkrumah wrote that he knew that Che would die in battle because of Guevara's intense commitment to justice and his absolute stubbornness about never asking his combatants to engage battle and danger before he did.  In today's language, Che Guevara had heart.  And, imperialism discredits him because they don't want you and me to be inspired to have his same level of heart against them.  On this 50th weekend since Che's death, I'm thinking how we can prove them wrong.  What are you doing?

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Las Vegas Massacre:  Questions & the Proper Tools of Analysis

10/6/2017

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I'm no conspiracy theorist.  Being reared and trained within the African liberation movement, I have no need or desire to spend my time creating concepts to explain the happenings in this world.  With knowing my history as an African, I am fully aware that our people's exploited labor is largely responsible for financing the development and maintenance of the dominant capitalist system today.  The subsequent oppression we experience as a result of this provides an endless supply of proven analysis about why things happen the way they do in this world.  We don't need to sit around speculating about any of this.  Our challenge is simply that of getting our people to want to understand existing phenomenon so that they can want to do something to change it e.g. fighting to create Pan-Africanism, which we know will be our contribution towards solving the world's problems.

So, we don't claim to know what happened last Sunday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., where almost 600 people attending a concert were shot with almost 60 of them being killed.  What we do know is that Parliament-Funkadelic was correct in 1978 with the refrain in their song "Lunchmeatophobia" of "Think, it ain't illegal yet!"  And, to be completely honest, we didn't think much about the details of this massacre until the point that the police agencies began providing their analysis of what happened.  Since we know that police agencies - all of them - are there to work against the interests of African people and all of humanity, we are well trained to pick apart, refute, and disbelieve everything these people tell us.  Kwame Ture was eternally correct when he taught us that "capitalism doesn't lie some of the time, it lies all the time."

In other words, there has been very little that the so-called authorities have said about this incident that makes very much sense.  We cannot understand how we are expected to believe that someone with no documented experience handling any level of firearms is supposed to have transported dozens of guns into a public venue like a hotel without the slightest hint of evidence e.g. video, questions, asked by staff, etc.  We have more than enough experience with handling weaponry to recognize just how difficult it is to transport any long weapons, not to mention dozens?  And to do so in public without one person noticing something?  That's not believable.  Then, for the police to suggest that the level of death and destruction meted out could be carried out by a person, or even persons, who have no experience?  

None of that makes much sense to us and again, we freely acknowledge that once the police say anything we are going to automatically believe the opposite because we know the police lie as policy.  They do this because when something like this happens, there is immediate pressure on them to provide answers.  Usually, they don't have any, nor do they have the intelligence and/or capacity to produce any, so they make things up.  No different than how you do the same when asked something by your boss at work when you don't know the answer and you know you are expected to know it.  Its a self preservation technique and if you want to see examples of it, just look at any number of reasons police give everywhere for why they have shot down unarmed people.  Their answers make about as much sense as their responses to this tragedy are making.  Zero.

So, we don't pretend to know who did this.  The so-called assailant is dead so his side of the story will never be told.  Consequently, all you are left with is whatever the police and the capitalist media outlets tell you along with the people who were fired upon (and many of their accounts are conflicting with the so-called "official" version of events).

Whenever we don't have much information to work with, we rely upon our tools of analysis that give us the ability to break down what this system is doing, why its doing it, who its doing it to, and what we need to do to address it.  And, here's what those tools are telling us about this incident.  Rule number one is whenever something happens, the first question you always need to ask is who benefits?  Who is the beneficiary of 600 people at a Country music festival being shot?  Certainly, it cannot be argued that the power structure gains significant benefit because whenever things are not going the capitalist system's way, which is happening more and more often these days, anything like this that takes attention away  provides the system time to reboot and re-calibrate their mechanisms.  There are several critical events happening that the system has every reason to want to distract you from.  First, the capitalist system knows its crumbling.  One of its primary strategies to fend off its demise is to cripple its adversaries so that there is no opposition to its interests.  In a capitalist sense, this means making sure all of the approximately 200 nations of the planet are a part of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank capitalist conglomerate system.  If you notice, the only countries that are not a part of that system are the very same countries that this country - the leader of the capitalist world - is always warning you are a threat to you.  That would be North Korea, Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela.  The power structure has every intention of eliminating those countries in their present form because their very existence poses a threat to imperialism's image that there is no viable system on Earth outside of its purview.  If you understand this, you can understand how the idiot president of the U.S. empire was very explicit in naming all of the previously mentioned countries as threats during his rambling and incoherent speech at the United Nations a week or so ago.  The problem the imperialists have is their agenda for eradicating these countries isn't going as planned.  Assume that the United Nations speech was used as a gauge to determine world temperature towards U.S. aggression against North Korea for example.  Clearly, the majority of the world is not on board with the U.S. version of the conflict between these two countries.  In fact, very few countries agree with the U.S. as it relates to North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, or Iran.  And, you have to understand this is a new challenge for imperialism.  For many decades, during the heyday of capitalism and imperialism, specifically from the 1940s through the 80s, that cold war period provided imperialism with a strong supply of allies against the "evil empire" of the socialist world led by the former Soviet Union.  Of course, the Soviet Union was not the socialism most of us are fighting for (especially those of us who are Pan-Africanist socialists) so the Soviets fell and that changed the balance of the world.  With a new world with no enemies on par, imperialism was convinced its path of complete world domination would go unchallenged, but that is not the case.  Instead, smaller "rouge" nations everywhere are standing up against empire and now its shaping up that the majority of people everywhere are deciding the empire is the (correctly assumed) source of their problems.  As Kwame Ture educated us back in the 80s, if the left is mobilizing against the empire and then the right begins to do the same, despite the fact they are not fighting from the same vantage point, as Kwame Nkrumah taught us; this creates a plenum of forces in tension and this tension is the source that will eventually rupture.  In other words, the capitalist system has to desperately figure out a way to keep working people fighting against each other.  Keep people focused on fighting for crumbs under the capitalist system.  These capitalists are astute enough to realize that all of the strife in the world, whether its the fight over racist immigration with the UK exiting the European Community, racial conflict in the U.S., increased resistance against imperialism's control in Africa, the Philippines, occupied Palestine, etc., could easily change directions and morph into forces that could seriously challenge imperialism.  So, to deflect this, the imperialists create distractions.  I believe 9/11 was one.  And, using the formula of asking who benefits, there is little question about that.  Imperialism got everything it wanted in the emotional aftermath of 9/11 from increased abilities to spy on people through the Patriot Act, etc.

Now, after this latest tragedy, the ensuing debate about gun control will ultimately lead to wider discussions of even greater control over people which is what the system wants. There cannot be any serious talk about disarming people without talking about disarming the most violent regime in human history.  Look at the hypocrisy?  The only country in human history who has used nuclear weapons to kill hundreds of thousands of people is somehow the authorized police officer to determine who can and can't have them?  And, since they know they cannot control dissent, no matter how it looks to you today, you better believe they have concerns about doing something to challenge this belief within the U.S. that you can have as many guns as you can get your hands on.

Finally, for those who find it hard to believe the U.S. government on any level would cause harm to its people, remember that this is the same government that dropped napalm on its troops they want to convince you they support so much while those troops were on the ground in Vietnam.  And, the effects of the chemical agents they dropped on troops in Iraq and Afghanistan are still being determined today.  Again, we come at all of this from the perspective of the African liberation movement so we have no illusions about this government's complete willingness to kill to advance its interests.  They have been doing that to us as policy for centuries.  So, as they get more and more desperate, we have no question that they will begin carrying out their same destructive tactics against - yes - their most treasured commodity (at least in the eyes of those people) - its white population.  That's the only way it would work today anyway.  They have completely dehumanized white people against the lives of brown people.  So, such a tragedy at a hip/hop concert, for example, would not generate the outpouring of sadness and sympathy.  I mean, what better scenario?  White working people.  America loving white people.  Victimized by a brutal sociopath.  All the stories of heroism.  Not saying there wasn't heroism.  I'm sure there certainly was, but again, I know history.  There were equal, if not higher level of acts of heroism involving other communities that would never get the same play because it doesn't serve the same purpose.  For example, after the Northern California earthquake in 1989, freeway 880 collapsed in West Oakland.  An equivalent number of people were killed in that incident as were lives lost in Las Vegas last week.  At the time of that earthquake, West Oakland was a poor and African community.  And many of those poor and African folks climbed up on the wreckage of that freeway, which was extremely dangerous, and rescued a number of people, but you didn't hear about it because it didn't fit a narrative.  So, not taking away anyone's heroism in Vegas.  Just pointing out why you know about it.  Because it fits for you to know about it.  Just like all the information you are getting fits.  It fits a certain agenda.  For those who benefit from such actions.  Not a conspiracy theory.  Just an analysis by those who know this vicious system very well.

  
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    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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