Ahjamu Umi's: "The Truth Challenge"
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Christmas, Sandra Bland, and Everything that's Crazy Seeming Normal

12/24/2015

2 Comments

 
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It's all around us at all times because it's a way of life here.  Things that make absolutely no sense are such a normal part of this society that people have unconsciously accepted these occurrences as the norm.  On the flip side, things that are completely logical are disregarded with such regularity by the institutions of this system that they are viewed as strange.  This is the tricknology of the capitalist system and we are all impacted and influenced by it all the time.  For example, today, many young and courageous demonstrators are taking to the streets to challenge the status quo.  They are filling up the retail malls across the land attempting to inspire people to stop spending money on "things" to hear a message of justice.  These activists want these people to stop and think about the fact that police agencies routinely murder African people - women and men - as policy with no consequences and/or accountability.  If an out of space alien landed here today and observed this phenomenon, that alien would have to conclude that the actions of the activists are sound logically.  People wanting to place the value of innocent life over that of rampant illogical consumerism.  Yet, the national narrative about the demonstrators is that they are disrupting commerce.  They are committing criminal acts because they are trespassing on private property (the malls) although they have been advised their presence is not wanted.  This is beyond ill logical.  Clearly, the purpose of any demonstration or protest is to disrupt the status quo.  To make people uncomfortable.  The idea is that you exert your power as a collective mass by disrupting the commerce which is the driving modem in this society.  This forces the power structure to acknowledge you and that's when discussions regarding true justice will take place because the power structure knows if they don't, you will hit them where it hurts them.  Kwame Nkrumah called it positive action.  So, any protest or demonstration worth its weight has to break rules.  It cannot be based on following the rules and permits of the institutions its protesting against because if it does that, it becomes no different than a child protesting a parent when that parent controls everything in that child's life.  In other words, the child's protest is empty once the parent decides to exert any control over the situation.  If we follow the laws/rules of the society oppressing us, we are no different than the protesting child.  Everyone knows this because everyone who has made any collective advancements has had to break laws and rules.  In fact, the only reason I can sit here and write this is because my people before me broke laws and rules so that I could have rights today.  I'd have no higher education if they hadn't done that.  I'd have no decent place to live.  I'd certainly not work where I work.  This is true for women, LGBTQ folks, disabled folks, and everyone in society.  So what type of fool would I look like today talking about it's wrong for protesters to break laws, yet you can hear people who benefited from collective struggle the same way I did saying just that everywhere today.  How is that possible?  

Why do we continue to play this holiday charade every year?  Why do Christian ministers, who if they attended seminary school - they know Jesus wasn't born in December - why do they play along with the charade?  Why do we pretend for one month in December that there is peace on Earth and goodwill towards humanity?  Why do we lie to children and tell them a European man gives presents to all children on the planet?  Why do people stop only on this day to smile at people, be nice to people, think about the houseless, and all of suffering humanity?  People will be suffering after December 25th and more people will be suffering once they get the credit card statements in January, yet we continue to play this game every year when we all know it makes no sense and only benefits the rich who owns the products we are buying.  

Why do we act like people who have experience and analysis doing organizational work are the same as those who just have individual opinions?  Why are so many people pretending its all the same?  We would never suggest that a qualified brain surgeon who went to medical school, has no further knowledge about brain surgery than anyone who has an opinion about it, yet we continue to act like that as it relates to the struggle for justice.  Why?  Does that make any sense?

Yesterday, I sat and watched an episode of "Sanford and Son" and then "Good Times."  The rampant anti-African behavior (us constantly putting each other down) was overshadowed only by the insane patriarchal anti-women behavior.  Watching these shows, I was immediately aware of the contradictions, but then I realized I spent my youth watching each of these shows like clockwork.  I wasn't even acutely aware of these issues then and so that led me to start thinking; How did that negative propaganda influence me growing up?  Influence others?  Why didn't my family or friends or anyone ever talk about it?  

And that last point leads us into the next question which is why intellectualism is a bad word in this world today?  You notice how you hardly see anyone reading comprehensive material?  If it's not a magazine or a social media post, it's not getting read and why are people acting like that doesn't matter?  The way we know that it matters plenty is because people's minds and their ability to have strong active cerebral capacities has been impacted in an extremely adverse way.  People are losing the ability to understand and process information in a reasonable fashion.  That's why you can provide people with facts, history, and an airtight analysis and they will still continue to deny everything you are saying because what matters most in this anti-intellectual era is how I feel, not what I know.  Clearly this is a cancer that is eating away at our souls, but why are more of us not doing anything to correct this?  Those people who don't read (or read much) know who we are.  Why aren't we doing anything to change since we know we need to?

Why do we keep looking to celebrities, clowns, and people who are rich only because they entertain the system that exploits us for answers for our liberation?  We have plenty of qualified activists who have the answers, yet we refuse to read what they had to say about it because we want to instead get Bill Cosby or Raven Simone's take on our people's liberation?  Let me see...Bill Cosby?  Malcolm X...The struggle of African people against capitalism and white supremacy.  I think I'll go with what Bill has to say about it.  And, then, I guess the logic is I'll study Malcolm X when I want to learn how to be a stand up comic?  Is that crazy or what?

Why do African people keep attempting to integrate into America when it's clear that after 500+ years of trying, we don't/won't fit?  Why do we keep acting like this next effort, next candidate, next job, will get us in?  Why do Africans in Africa look for anything with the U.S. flag, zionist israeli flag, even the confederate flag, as a sign of progress?  Why do we live on the richest continent in the world (Africa), yet accept living as the poorest people on the planet while our enemies steal our resources in plain view of us everyday?  Yet, whenever someone speaks against this and tries to organize us to do something about it, they label them as crazy and many of us go right along with it.  Think about it.  Anna, Amy, Kwame, Malcolm, Marcus, Martin, Assata, Kwame, Sekou, Patrice, Angela, all of them are heralded as extreme and crazy during their times and even still today.  Why don't more of us question this?  Why does all this happen and there is no comprehensive discussion about why we aren't doing anything collectively to change this confusion?

These are all examples for you on December 24th of what's wrong today.  We have more degreed people than humanity has ever had.  We have more technology to communicate, organize, and prepare than we've ever had.  Yet, we cannot do  anything sustainable to stop white supremacy, patriarchy, and the destruction of the planet.  We do not even have the capacity to understand ideas because our minds have been so polluted with nonsense.  Still, we act like all is basically well with what's going on now and people who raise questions are the crazy ones.  We better stop acting like we don't have good sense because if we don't, we are going to burn this planet completely into the ground.  We don't need more money to win.  We don't need more technology.  We don't need more military or technical training.  We actually have all of that right now.  What we don't have is the right mindset.  What we don't have is the right ideological focus.  That's what we need.  And people keep asking us why we promote the need for political education above all else.  Think about it  seriously  Please.  Then tell a friend.
2 Comments
Nabeeh Mustafa
12/24/2015 07:02:32 pm

Thank you Ahjamu. Somebody has to do the job. Stay down for your crown (as my late brother, Frelimo, used to say).

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adam sherburne
12/25/2015 11:00:08 am

what the last comment said! and, Kringle vs. Karenga vs. society vs. humanatee vs. idealism vs. materialism vs. time/space vs. earth + reconcilability vs. irreconcilability = ..........? great challenges for everyday! write on commandante

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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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