The time for excuses, justifications, cowardice, and the complete absence of integrity is over folks. This latest issue of National Football League players and the hypocritical song they call a national anthem is a side issue. This story doesn't even rate compared to much more important stories of neo-colonialism in Africa, mass incarceration, police terrorism, and the assault against our people in places like Flint, Michigan, but since this issue with football is here, we must use it for the greater good.
If you are reading this, and you make the decision to continue to watch football games. You continue to refuse to do anymore for the movement for justice beyond just running your mouth. You decide to just hunker down and focus only on your personal circumstances. If you continue to advance individualistic analysis about our people's situation that isn't grounded in anything beyond the bourgeois ideas trapped in your unimpressive cerebral capacity, than you are without question a strong element of the problem. And, if your children and/or grandchildren rise up and run straight over you, they would be making a quality contribution to all of humanity.
I'm going to make a very general statement here that I challenge anyone to refute. We have to stop talking about how appalled we are with this perpetual disrespect against our people. We have to stop sharing these reactionary videos of our people being terrorized and terrorizing each other. We have to stop engaging in fantasy conspiracy theories about who we are, what we are, where we came from, and what we should do. Play time is over people. Its time to get real. If you aren't engaged in some organizational capacity (two or more people is an organization, period) start engaging in one today. You cannot solve these problems by yourself by just talking endlessly about them. If that was possible, many people who are saying much, much, more than you ever could say would have done that by now. The only way we can turn this ship is by getting involved, learning to work together, and building capacity to move material circumstances in directions of justice. If you refuse to join and/or start organizations, than that very act reaffirms that you truly have no desire to solve these problems. You simply want to vent about them to make yourself feel better. Or, you desire to find some way to coexist with the problems in ways that cause you no personal anxiety, stress, or discomfort. That is a criminal act and those who take that cowardly path should hopefully receive the uncompromising struggle that their weak actions deserve.
Along with joining organizations its time we ensure those organizations have strong political education processes and equally strong praise/criticism processes that are developed and implemented. Many organizations already have successful processes that include those elements so there is no need for anyone to reinvent the wheel. These components are critically important because they are the tools that help us weather the constant obstacles that confront those of us who embark the path of resistance against our oppression.
There's really nothing else to say. If you are reading this and you aren't doing these things, you are a major problem for those of us seeking justice. Its time to pick a side and at this stage doing so is so much more than just opening and running your mouth. Its time for us to step up our work by refusing to continue to pretend that those people not doing these things are not major obstacles to our freedom.