As if an infectious fungus has started sprouting everywhere, these African (Black) petti-bourgeoisie voices are seen and active on all social media platforms at all times. From these African men making systemic and vicious attacks against African women to the chorus of cries that “we aren’t African because I’ve never been to Africa and know nothing about it.” Then there are the ones who really attempt to argue that African people are native to the Western Hemisphere. Also, the ones who openly and proudly articulate age old discredited racist tropes that Africans sold each other into slavery, colonialism was a choice, and African people commit all the crime, etc., etc.
Why are these people being labeled as petti-bourgeoisie? The answer is rooted in the class analysis provided to us by the great ideologues of the African revolution – Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Ture, and Amilcar Cabral – or, as we call it – Nkrumahism/Tureism/Cabralism. Within this analysis, the relation of human beings to the class they belong to goes beyond the Marxist/Leninist assertion that class is defined exclusively through a person’s material relationship to the means of production. Within Nkrumahist/Tureist/Cabralist thought, materialism is primary, but ideology is also a critical component in how class representation is determined and defined. In other words, these African clout chasers are adopting these clearly ahistorical stances, not likely because they have deep philosophical commitments to their ideas. We know this is not the case because not one of them can offer a single shred of material evidence to demonstrate their rantings. Nothing to prove from a historical, linguistic, anthropological, etc., perspective that we don’t come from Africa. They don’t even attempt to explain how our relationship to Africa can ever be defined by our ignorance about Africa. And, beyond their anecdotal railings, they cannot articulate anything worth discussing about African women being problematic. Their motivation is purely to gain clout with those who have power within the capitalist system in the hope that they will be recognized for their loyalty to capitalism and rewarded with positions of privilege inside of the capitalist system.
These acts of class betrayal reflect the commitment on behalf of these people to abandon any semblance of intellectual honesty in order to replace that principle with naked opportunism. This is the very definition of the petti-bourgeoisie class which exists to ensure the interests of capitalism are upheld and protected. And, it’s the Nkrumahist/Tureist/Cabralist ideology which provides room to make this definition based upon ideological commitment so that we can easily define these traitors this way, even if many of them possess none of the material characteristics that would define them as petti-bourgeoisie.
Malcolm X told us about these people 61 years ago. Being interviewed at the University of California Berkeley in 1962, Malcolm was told by the European interviewer that African celebrities like Jackie Robinson had been very critical of Malcolm and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm responded that nowhere in the white community are entertainers looked upon as leaders of the white community. He continued that these people are set up by the white power structure to say and do the things that endear them to the capitalist system so that they can position themselves to receive any potential rewards that may come their way for their work against our people’s advancement.
Today, with the proliferation of social media, this phenomenon has grown far beyond just celebrities to any piece of bottom shoe scum with an internet account who creates a vision of monetizing their social media presence. Everyone doesn’t know this, but the power of the capitalist classes continues to be their ability to control the masses of people, particularly the African masses since their capitalist system was built and is maintained based upon exploiting Africa’s human and material resources. Even with little understanding about the last sentence, most people do have some understanding that the quickest way to position yourself in the favor of the super rich is to adopt their anti-Africa, anti-African line and the pathway to do this is potentially more lucrative if you are African and willing to be that type of sell out mouthpiece.
And, its clear that this strategy is working for so many of these people. Take this Myron Gaines character. He has built a lucrative monetization on social media that extends to paid speaking engagements, podcasts, etc., based solely on spitting upon the legacy of African people, particularly African women. The more vulgar he gets about ridiculing African people/women, the higher his stock within the capitalist world. This is the model that so many of these clout chasers are pursuing, but justice loving people should see this as an opportunity.
Back in the early 1960s, one of the capitalist news outlets was at the house of Eljah Muhammad, interviewing him. The reporter asked Muhammad if he was afraid. Muhammad responded by simply saying “no.” The reporter asked him why not? Muhammad quickly answered “because I have the truth.” This is the premise under which justice seeking people must proceed. Sekou Ture told us that a thousand lies can be crushed with one truth and this is borne out by the fact that a single principled African who knows their proud African history, especially the outstanding contributions to that history by African women, can easily defeat one hundred of these jester clout chasers at the same time. Those of us who have these social media skills must see now as the time to use them. If you can create the optics, but don’t have the historical understanding, connect with those who do and feature them and vice versa. We must continue to write and stand on truth and justice. There are many of us who have weathered these storms many times so we know that Ture was also correct when he said “truth crushed to earth a thousand times will always rise again!”
Why are these people being labeled as petti-bourgeoisie? The answer is rooted in the class analysis provided to us by the great ideologues of the African revolution – Kwame Nkrumah, Sekou Ture, and Amilcar Cabral – or, as we call it – Nkrumahism/Tureism/Cabralism. Within this analysis, the relation of human beings to the class they belong to goes beyond the Marxist/Leninist assertion that class is defined exclusively through a person’s material relationship to the means of production. Within Nkrumahist/Tureist/Cabralist thought, materialism is primary, but ideology is also a critical component in how class representation is determined and defined. In other words, these African clout chasers are adopting these clearly ahistorical stances, not likely because they have deep philosophical commitments to their ideas. We know this is not the case because not one of them can offer a single shred of material evidence to demonstrate their rantings. Nothing to prove from a historical, linguistic, anthropological, etc., perspective that we don’t come from Africa. They don’t even attempt to explain how our relationship to Africa can ever be defined by our ignorance about Africa. And, beyond their anecdotal railings, they cannot articulate anything worth discussing about African women being problematic. Their motivation is purely to gain clout with those who have power within the capitalist system in the hope that they will be recognized for their loyalty to capitalism and rewarded with positions of privilege inside of the capitalist system.
These acts of class betrayal reflect the commitment on behalf of these people to abandon any semblance of intellectual honesty in order to replace that principle with naked opportunism. This is the very definition of the petti-bourgeoisie class which exists to ensure the interests of capitalism are upheld and protected. And, it’s the Nkrumahist/Tureist/Cabralist ideology which provides room to make this definition based upon ideological commitment so that we can easily define these traitors this way, even if many of them possess none of the material characteristics that would define them as petti-bourgeoisie.
Malcolm X told us about these people 61 years ago. Being interviewed at the University of California Berkeley in 1962, Malcolm was told by the European interviewer that African celebrities like Jackie Robinson had been very critical of Malcolm and the Nation of Islam. Malcolm responded that nowhere in the white community are entertainers looked upon as leaders of the white community. He continued that these people are set up by the white power structure to say and do the things that endear them to the capitalist system so that they can position themselves to receive any potential rewards that may come their way for their work against our people’s advancement.
Today, with the proliferation of social media, this phenomenon has grown far beyond just celebrities to any piece of bottom shoe scum with an internet account who creates a vision of monetizing their social media presence. Everyone doesn’t know this, but the power of the capitalist classes continues to be their ability to control the masses of people, particularly the African masses since their capitalist system was built and is maintained based upon exploiting Africa’s human and material resources. Even with little understanding about the last sentence, most people do have some understanding that the quickest way to position yourself in the favor of the super rich is to adopt their anti-Africa, anti-African line and the pathway to do this is potentially more lucrative if you are African and willing to be that type of sell out mouthpiece.
And, its clear that this strategy is working for so many of these people. Take this Myron Gaines character. He has built a lucrative monetization on social media that extends to paid speaking engagements, podcasts, etc., based solely on spitting upon the legacy of African people, particularly African women. The more vulgar he gets about ridiculing African people/women, the higher his stock within the capitalist world. This is the model that so many of these clout chasers are pursuing, but justice loving people should see this as an opportunity.
Back in the early 1960s, one of the capitalist news outlets was at the house of Eljah Muhammad, interviewing him. The reporter asked Muhammad if he was afraid. Muhammad responded by simply saying “no.” The reporter asked him why not? Muhammad quickly answered “because I have the truth.” This is the premise under which justice seeking people must proceed. Sekou Ture told us that a thousand lies can be crushed with one truth and this is borne out by the fact that a single principled African who knows their proud African history, especially the outstanding contributions to that history by African women, can easily defeat one hundred of these jester clout chasers at the same time. Those of us who have these social media skills must see now as the time to use them. If you can create the optics, but don’t have the historical understanding, connect with those who do and feature them and vice versa. We must continue to write and stand on truth and justice. There are many of us who have weathered these storms many times so we know that Ture was also correct when he said “truth crushed to earth a thousand times will always rise again!”
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