As a young boy growing up in an extremely aggressive inner-city environment, whenever I was bullied and taken advantage of, my grandmother would always say “you know where you are. A dog is always going to bark. That’s how you know it’s a dog!”
The United States (U.S.) government is always going to be the United States government. The problem is that government has very successfully convinced billions of humans that the U.S. government automatically equals freedom, democracy, and everyone who goes to the U.S. will have a Disneyland fantasy life provided you are obedient to the capitalist/imperialist agenda that the U.S. government has spent decades perfecting.
This narrative that the U.S. has spent so much time and money perpetuating couldn’t be farther from the truth. The invasion of European settlers escaping repression in Europe to form the original settler colonies within the U.S. known as the 13 colonies, was an experiment in barbarism and terrorism against the original inhabitants of this hemisphere. Along with that, the wealth that propelled the U.S. and Europe as world leaders resulted directly from the transatlantic slave trade which brutally exploited free African labor so that the sugar, cotton, textile, and coffee industries would provide the initial seed money to finance the so-called industrial revolution, or the beginning stages of capitalist development.
With that level of criminal history and a resume of violence and terror that has few historical peers, no one who knows who the U.S. is could be surprised by their latest announcement of the indictment against Cuban revolution legend Raul Castro. Now 95 years old, Castro represents one of the few living participants in the armed struggle phase of the Cuban revolution which marched to victory in Havana, Cuba, on January 1, 1959. Raul Castro is of course the younger brother of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, but Raul is much more than Fidel’s relative. For decades he has been an instrumental figure in Cuba’s military apparatuses which every enemy force in the world, from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to Britain’s M16, to zionist Israel’s Mossad, has named one of the best organized and trained militaries in the world. Raul Castro was a central figure in helping defeat U.S. green berets who led a contingent of 1500 berets and Cuban reactionaries in the invasion of Playa del Giron (Bay of Pigs) in 1961. The next year, Raul Castro, along with Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, were the central brain trust in the “missiles in October” drama. The Soviet Union negotiated with Cuban leadership to place a number of nuclear missiles in Cuba, pointed towards the U.S. Despite the propaganda we learned in school growing up in the U.S., that American exceptionalism and having “God on our side” forced the Cubans to remove those missiles, the truth is that the U.S. had long had nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey, pointed at the Soviet Union. The removal of the Cuban missiles was negotiated in exchange for the missiles in Turkey being removed.
Raul Castro has been a major decision maker in every standoff with the U.S. From the ones previously mentioned up through the Marial Boat lift in 1980 where Cuba sent its most dangerous convicted persons to the U.S. (after U.S. President Jimmy Carter claimed that these persons, all very dangerous criminals, were political prisoners of the Cuban “dictatorship”). Raul, Fidel, etc., outthinking the U.S. in this instance was so dramatic that a popular culture movie resulted from this U.S. failure – “Scarface” starring Al Pacino.
There are many other examples, but the point is the U.S. has never forgiven Raul Castro for his role in these occurrences, as well as his role in helping facilitate Cuba’s major contribution towards preventing racist apartheid in Azania (South Africa) from spreading throughout Southern Africa by sending 500,000 troops to the region to help combat racist forces in the late 80s and early 90s. And for African people within the U.S., just like Assata Shakur being freed from U.S. prison, living in Cuba for four decades, Raul Castro, living today, represents another defeat for U.S. imperialism against the socialist revolution of the people of Cuba. It’s no accident that Raul Castro played a significant role in canceling out thoughts by Barack Obama in 2014 that he could use ending the crippling U.S. economic blockade against Cuba as a carrot to dangle over Castro’s head if Raul considered turning over Assata Shakur to the U.S. Consistent reports confirmed that Castro exact words to Obama when this proposal was made were “that subject is off the table.”
For African people in the U.S., who have a 500+ year history of being lied to every time for all forms of government in what is known today as the U.S., Raul Castro made a principled stand for one of our most respected freedom fighters in Assata Shakur. A stand that most people would not have made considering the continued damage the blockade makes against the Cuban people on the daily. Raul Castro is one of many people who have demonstrated that contrary to the beliefs many of us possess, we certainly do have allies and accomplices. In fact, the Cuban revolution and Raul Castro have demonstrated their commitment to justice, particularly towards Africa and African people, since their inception six plus decades ago.
Kwame Ture said the worse crime is to be ungrateful. If the U.S. government attempts to touch a single hair on Raul Castro’s head, we must be prepared to disrupt every fiber of this backward society, on all levels. We cannot expect anyone to support us if we don’t support anyone else. Cuba has always supported us.
If a dog barks, it’s a dog. Regarding Raul Castro, the U.S. is barking. We cannot be hypocrites and cowards. This is a clarion call that we must be ready to defend those who have defended us. So, be ready. From out and out disruptions of commerce in this society to slowing down work, and/or even showing up to work, we need to let this criminal government feel pain for any further actions they take against Raul Castro and the Cuban people. How many of us are ready to do this beyond just protesting? How many of us are willing to act in support of Raul and Cuba the way they have always acted in support of us?
The United States (U.S.) government is always going to be the United States government. The problem is that government has very successfully convinced billions of humans that the U.S. government automatically equals freedom, democracy, and everyone who goes to the U.S. will have a Disneyland fantasy life provided you are obedient to the capitalist/imperialist agenda that the U.S. government has spent decades perfecting.
This narrative that the U.S. has spent so much time and money perpetuating couldn’t be farther from the truth. The invasion of European settlers escaping repression in Europe to form the original settler colonies within the U.S. known as the 13 colonies, was an experiment in barbarism and terrorism against the original inhabitants of this hemisphere. Along with that, the wealth that propelled the U.S. and Europe as world leaders resulted directly from the transatlantic slave trade which brutally exploited free African labor so that the sugar, cotton, textile, and coffee industries would provide the initial seed money to finance the so-called industrial revolution, or the beginning stages of capitalist development.
With that level of criminal history and a resume of violence and terror that has few historical peers, no one who knows who the U.S. is could be surprised by their latest announcement of the indictment against Cuban revolution legend Raul Castro. Now 95 years old, Castro represents one of the few living participants in the armed struggle phase of the Cuban revolution which marched to victory in Havana, Cuba, on January 1, 1959. Raul Castro is of course the younger brother of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, but Raul is much more than Fidel’s relative. For decades he has been an instrumental figure in Cuba’s military apparatuses which every enemy force in the world, from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency to Britain’s M16, to zionist Israel’s Mossad, has named one of the best organized and trained militaries in the world. Raul Castro was a central figure in helping defeat U.S. green berets who led a contingent of 1500 berets and Cuban reactionaries in the invasion of Playa del Giron (Bay of Pigs) in 1961. The next year, Raul Castro, along with Fidel Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, were the central brain trust in the “missiles in October” drama. The Soviet Union negotiated with Cuban leadership to place a number of nuclear missiles in Cuba, pointed towards the U.S. Despite the propaganda we learned in school growing up in the U.S., that American exceptionalism and having “God on our side” forced the Cubans to remove those missiles, the truth is that the U.S. had long had nuclear missiles stationed in Turkey, pointed at the Soviet Union. The removal of the Cuban missiles was negotiated in exchange for the missiles in Turkey being removed.
Raul Castro has been a major decision maker in every standoff with the U.S. From the ones previously mentioned up through the Marial Boat lift in 1980 where Cuba sent its most dangerous convicted persons to the U.S. (after U.S. President Jimmy Carter claimed that these persons, all very dangerous criminals, were political prisoners of the Cuban “dictatorship”). Raul, Fidel, etc., outthinking the U.S. in this instance was so dramatic that a popular culture movie resulted from this U.S. failure – “Scarface” starring Al Pacino.
There are many other examples, but the point is the U.S. has never forgiven Raul Castro for his role in these occurrences, as well as his role in helping facilitate Cuba’s major contribution towards preventing racist apartheid in Azania (South Africa) from spreading throughout Southern Africa by sending 500,000 troops to the region to help combat racist forces in the late 80s and early 90s. And for African people within the U.S., just like Assata Shakur being freed from U.S. prison, living in Cuba for four decades, Raul Castro, living today, represents another defeat for U.S. imperialism against the socialist revolution of the people of Cuba. It’s no accident that Raul Castro played a significant role in canceling out thoughts by Barack Obama in 2014 that he could use ending the crippling U.S. economic blockade against Cuba as a carrot to dangle over Castro’s head if Raul considered turning over Assata Shakur to the U.S. Consistent reports confirmed that Castro exact words to Obama when this proposal was made were “that subject is off the table.”
For African people in the U.S., who have a 500+ year history of being lied to every time for all forms of government in what is known today as the U.S., Raul Castro made a principled stand for one of our most respected freedom fighters in Assata Shakur. A stand that most people would not have made considering the continued damage the blockade makes against the Cuban people on the daily. Raul Castro is one of many people who have demonstrated that contrary to the beliefs many of us possess, we certainly do have allies and accomplices. In fact, the Cuban revolution and Raul Castro have demonstrated their commitment to justice, particularly towards Africa and African people, since their inception six plus decades ago.
Kwame Ture said the worse crime is to be ungrateful. If the U.S. government attempts to touch a single hair on Raul Castro’s head, we must be prepared to disrupt every fiber of this backward society, on all levels. We cannot expect anyone to support us if we don’t support anyone else. Cuba has always supported us.
If a dog barks, it’s a dog. Regarding Raul Castro, the U.S. is barking. We cannot be hypocrites and cowards. This is a clarion call that we must be ready to defend those who have defended us. So, be ready. From out and out disruptions of commerce in this society to slowing down work, and/or even showing up to work, we need to let this criminal government feel pain for any further actions they take against Raul Castro and the Cuban people. How many of us are ready to do this beyond just protesting? How many of us are willing to act in support of Raul and Cuba the way they have always acted in support of us?
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