This is a very difficult pill for people to swallow, but we are not the originators of the thoughts we believe and promote. Whether we want to admit it or not, the process that determines what we believe is heavily influenced by external forces. The question of the anthem protests is a clear example of this. Professional football players, led by Colin Kaepernick, started sitting and/or knelling during the so-called U.S. national anthem before games in September 2016. Since that time, the dominant narrative circulating about the protests has been the players, by protesting the anthem, are disrespecting the U.S., particularly those within the U.S. military. And, some element of this angle is exactly how most of the people you know are understanding and processing this discussion. Let all of that sit for a moment and then let's unpack it.
What's important to remember is Colin Kaepernick may have started the National Football League protests, but he didn't start the movement protesting against police terrorism. That designation goes, as always, to the masses of African people. Kaepernick, to his absolute credit, merely fulfilled his responsibility by using his platform to advance awareness about his people's suffering. The point about the masses is crucial because with all this noise making all this effort to distort and discredit the legitimate messages from the people makes it easier for you to become deaf to the voices of those masses.
Those voices arose, and clearly represent, a challenge to every aspect of the capitalist system. Those voices are expressing that the institutions of this capitalist society are designed to oppress and repress African people. And what's most important about that last statement is at this stage, those voices are primarily concerned about informing and educating the public about this problem of police terrorism. That's what our people are doing. That's why its so absurd that all these other narratives have developed a life of their own the way they have. At this stage, despite ill-refutable evidence to support us if we did, in the U.S., the masses of African people who are protesting police terrorism are not doing so in a way designed to confront the contradictions of the flag, the military, etc. This is true despite the fact if aliens landed on Earth today and studied the most objective interpretation of U.S. history they could develop, they would have to conclude without a doubt that we would be insane to salute a U.S. flag and to support the U.S. military. They would understand the last statement because they would learn that at no time in our 500+ year relationship has the U.S. ever respected African people. They would learn that African people have "served" with great loyalty in the U.S. military in every conflict this country has ever faced, from the civil war up to Afghanistan, and while doing that, the masses of African people have absolutely nothing to show for that loyalty. Even the most decorated African war veteran of the U.S. military would face life threatening circumstances were they to be pulled over by U.S. police in any area of this country. Those aliens would have to acknowledge that and any sane thinking person with the slightest understanding of history would have to do the same. Clearly, all of our parents trained us that we should reserve our respect for those who respect us. Since we have never received respect from a country that doesn't even acknowledge its oppressive conditions against us, we are under absolutely no obligation to provide any respect towards any institutions within this country.
Within the dysfunctional logic of a backward society, the people who benefit most from the system that oppresses those who are oppressed oddly believe themselves to be the experts on that oppression. And, for most Europeans (whites), that means an individualistic perspective on everything and an inability to perceive the institutional nature of the oppression our people experience. All of this is why its important to learn how to hear the voices of those who are oppressed. And, all of us do need to learn how to hear those voices. Nothing you experience in this racist society is going to prepare you to hear those voices, regardless of how conscious you may think you are. Regardless of what nationality you are. Without training, you won't hear the people's voices. Instead, you will hear the voices the system wants you to hear. And when you are hearing the system produced voices, you will end up parroting the propaganda of this backward system.
In order to properly learn how to hear our voices, there is homework involved. You are required to develop a strong historical analysis of our conditions. No matter how "Black" you are, how liberal you are, how determined to be an ally you are, how revolutionary you think you are, there is absolutely no shortcut to this homework. You will need to study. And, you will need to engage in high level study, meaning an organized study process that involves people other than yourself. If you are not willing to do this, you will be defenseless against the onslaught of system propaganda to shape your voice the way they want you too. For examples, just look at the many dark faces, liberals, celebrities, etc., who are parroting the voice of the master when they talk about the anthem protests. When they talk about respecting the flag, etc. No, you have to engage in that high level collective study. When you do that, you will learn that again, at this stage, we are just crying out for justice. Nothing more. But, you will also learn to understand that since we are systemically oppressed, that protest will have ebbs and flows. It will have contradictions. Some days it will look like we just want to fit into this country. Other days it will look like we wish to destroy this country. If you do that homework, you will realize this isn't unusual. We, like all people, are engaging in our process of self development. We are maturing politically as a people. We, like all people, are a reflection of all our people's different levels of consciousness. So, although its true that at this stage, we are just wanting people to understand what is happening to us, human progress suggests that we will not stay in that place. Especially since capitalism, true to its playbook, continues to double down on justifying its oppression of us. The National Football League rules to punish players who protest while ignoring the reasons for the protests. The so-called president doing the same. All these things do is continue to help our processing. Do your homework and you will learn to understand this. That will help you learn to get out in front of what happens instead of reacting to it.
Once you do this homework and learn what you need to learn, maybe then you will be better positioned to understand why Kaepernick would wear pig socks. How the hell is he or any of us supposed to respect an institution that guns us down in the streets? With all the trauma this system causes us, the defenders of this backward system should be getting down on their hands and knees and thanking their God that all we are doing is wearing socks.
If you listen with a filtered ear, you will know we are not concerned about what the football owners do with their rules. Our voices also tell us we couldn't care less what some idiot tweets. We know that oppression breeds resistance. The more they come down on us, the more we stand up for ourselves. The more work you do to understand that, the more you will realize that although most of us aren't talking about the military and the flag, as we continue in our maturation process, we are growing and learning that police terrorism, the flag, the military, and everything symbolic of this system are all connected. And all of it is against us. As you do your homework and grow in your understanding of our voices, you realize that those of us who are in tune with our voices aren't concerned and upset. We are encouraged because we know all of this is handwriting on the wall that our victory is coming.
What's important to remember is Colin Kaepernick may have started the National Football League protests, but he didn't start the movement protesting against police terrorism. That designation goes, as always, to the masses of African people. Kaepernick, to his absolute credit, merely fulfilled his responsibility by using his platform to advance awareness about his people's suffering. The point about the masses is crucial because with all this noise making all this effort to distort and discredit the legitimate messages from the people makes it easier for you to become deaf to the voices of those masses.
Those voices arose, and clearly represent, a challenge to every aspect of the capitalist system. Those voices are expressing that the institutions of this capitalist society are designed to oppress and repress African people. And what's most important about that last statement is at this stage, those voices are primarily concerned about informing and educating the public about this problem of police terrorism. That's what our people are doing. That's why its so absurd that all these other narratives have developed a life of their own the way they have. At this stage, despite ill-refutable evidence to support us if we did, in the U.S., the masses of African people who are protesting police terrorism are not doing so in a way designed to confront the contradictions of the flag, the military, etc. This is true despite the fact if aliens landed on Earth today and studied the most objective interpretation of U.S. history they could develop, they would have to conclude without a doubt that we would be insane to salute a U.S. flag and to support the U.S. military. They would understand the last statement because they would learn that at no time in our 500+ year relationship has the U.S. ever respected African people. They would learn that African people have "served" with great loyalty in the U.S. military in every conflict this country has ever faced, from the civil war up to Afghanistan, and while doing that, the masses of African people have absolutely nothing to show for that loyalty. Even the most decorated African war veteran of the U.S. military would face life threatening circumstances were they to be pulled over by U.S. police in any area of this country. Those aliens would have to acknowledge that and any sane thinking person with the slightest understanding of history would have to do the same. Clearly, all of our parents trained us that we should reserve our respect for those who respect us. Since we have never received respect from a country that doesn't even acknowledge its oppressive conditions against us, we are under absolutely no obligation to provide any respect towards any institutions within this country.
Within the dysfunctional logic of a backward society, the people who benefit most from the system that oppresses those who are oppressed oddly believe themselves to be the experts on that oppression. And, for most Europeans (whites), that means an individualistic perspective on everything and an inability to perceive the institutional nature of the oppression our people experience. All of this is why its important to learn how to hear the voices of those who are oppressed. And, all of us do need to learn how to hear those voices. Nothing you experience in this racist society is going to prepare you to hear those voices, regardless of how conscious you may think you are. Regardless of what nationality you are. Without training, you won't hear the people's voices. Instead, you will hear the voices the system wants you to hear. And when you are hearing the system produced voices, you will end up parroting the propaganda of this backward system.
In order to properly learn how to hear our voices, there is homework involved. You are required to develop a strong historical analysis of our conditions. No matter how "Black" you are, how liberal you are, how determined to be an ally you are, how revolutionary you think you are, there is absolutely no shortcut to this homework. You will need to study. And, you will need to engage in high level study, meaning an organized study process that involves people other than yourself. If you are not willing to do this, you will be defenseless against the onslaught of system propaganda to shape your voice the way they want you too. For examples, just look at the many dark faces, liberals, celebrities, etc., who are parroting the voice of the master when they talk about the anthem protests. When they talk about respecting the flag, etc. No, you have to engage in that high level collective study. When you do that, you will learn that again, at this stage, we are just crying out for justice. Nothing more. But, you will also learn to understand that since we are systemically oppressed, that protest will have ebbs and flows. It will have contradictions. Some days it will look like we just want to fit into this country. Other days it will look like we wish to destroy this country. If you do that homework, you will realize this isn't unusual. We, like all people, are engaging in our process of self development. We are maturing politically as a people. We, like all people, are a reflection of all our people's different levels of consciousness. So, although its true that at this stage, we are just wanting people to understand what is happening to us, human progress suggests that we will not stay in that place. Especially since capitalism, true to its playbook, continues to double down on justifying its oppression of us. The National Football League rules to punish players who protest while ignoring the reasons for the protests. The so-called president doing the same. All these things do is continue to help our processing. Do your homework and you will learn to understand this. That will help you learn to get out in front of what happens instead of reacting to it.
Once you do this homework and learn what you need to learn, maybe then you will be better positioned to understand why Kaepernick would wear pig socks. How the hell is he or any of us supposed to respect an institution that guns us down in the streets? With all the trauma this system causes us, the defenders of this backward system should be getting down on their hands and knees and thanking their God that all we are doing is wearing socks.
If you listen with a filtered ear, you will know we are not concerned about what the football owners do with their rules. Our voices also tell us we couldn't care less what some idiot tweets. We know that oppression breeds resistance. The more they come down on us, the more we stand up for ourselves. The more work you do to understand that, the more you will realize that although most of us aren't talking about the military and the flag, as we continue in our maturation process, we are growing and learning that police terrorism, the flag, the military, and everything symbolic of this system are all connected. And all of it is against us. As you do your homework and grow in your understanding of our voices, you realize that those of us who are in tune with our voices aren't concerned and upset. We are encouraged because we know all of this is handwriting on the wall that our victory is coming.
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