If you are reading this blog, we can safely assume that at least on some level, you have an interest and respect for politics from a revolutionary Pan-Africanist perspective. Still, since the methodology of capitalist programming is to make all of us believe capitalist ideals are the end all, we have to say again that our perspective is outside of the bourgeoisie Democratic, Republican, Labor, Likud, Nationalist, and all capitalist political parties.
So, follow us when we say that most people, especially Africans, love to lament the tragedy of Donald Trump being president. Clearly, he represents the lowest level of human excrement, but truthfully, he is simply a reflection of the latest desperate state of capitalism. In other words, he's a varied version of the same thing. To us, he's just the alter ego of Barack Obama. In 2008, after this country was wary from the war years of the Bush administration and the stress of the sharp decline of this economy, Obama came along representing the "cool off" period. He was the calm voice. He was the vision of some perceived progress. He was hope for so many people. He was this alleged change he promised everyone. What that "change" actually looked like was never intentionally defined.
Unfortunately, politicians (for those who may have integrity) don't dictate capitalist politics. The political and economic interests of capitalism dictates the political direction of this country. The politicians are simply the vehicles established to get you and me to sign off on that direction. In 2008 and 2012, Obama was that sign off. In 2016, with continued unresolved anxiety gripping the majority of people, Trump represents the "enough is enough" period for the masses of European (white) workers who are tired of feeling disrespected. He also represents an opening for some colonized people who saw a way for them to possibly enter the mainstream. How else would complete idiots like Candace Owens, Ben Carson, Omarosa, etc., be able to become prosperous? In a healthy thinking society, no one would be listening to empty holes like these people.
Trump's tough talk and policies against colonized people, immigrants, women, LGBTQ people, and every segment of this society lacking power, makes the embattled whites feel hope because Lyndon Johnson's statement was true; "the best way to retain the support of the poorest white man is to keep telling him that he's better than the negro." These people are proving that they will accept Trump's racist message and policies above any quality changes in their own lives because capitalism has convinced them this is the best they can do.
All of this works because Trump's supporters cling to the lie that economic conditions have become more stable under his watch simply because that's what he keeps telling them. In this society, analytical analysis is completely absent meaning people wouldn't have the slightest clue how to evaluate economic strength. That's why most people go with his lame talk that the stock market is proof of his successes. Clearly, for any person out here breathing, working, and living, the only logical method to evaluate the economy would have to be how well you are doing today compared to any other period? Are you finding that you have more disposable income? The ability to take more and better vacations? You are able now to do things you just couldn't afford to do before like buy what you need and do what you want to do? Do you have adequate and affordable healthcare? A stable savings account? Without even the slightest doubt, for the overwhelming majority of us e.g. 99%, the answers to those questions is a resounding no. So, how is the economy better? The truth here is when these people say its better they aren't even talking about you and me. They are talking about it being better for the corporate sector because that's all that matters to them. And, they are very good at convincing us to view the world through corporate lenses. So that lie continues because when they say its better, the majority of white people desire to believe there is hope for them and they will continue to believe that as long as us colonized people are being subjugated.
Its the same backward logic that explains why African and other colonized people, so-called progressive people, give Barack, and Michelle, Obama such a pass. How so many of these people who supported Obama are so unwilling to criticize his administration when criticism is overwhelmingly due. Remember, we come at this from a revolutionary Pan-Africanist perspective. This means we are never handcuffed by the liberal need to protect this backward system by claiming it just needs to be reformed. We have no desire or interest in reforming this system. We work to destroy it and build a better system. For us, the pathway for that work travels through Pan-Africanism or one unified socialist Africa. Whether you understand, support, or respect our position is immaterial. The point here is we can come to the discussion with objective analysis for why Obama and his regime represented terrorism for the majority of African and other colonized people on the planet. We can start by reminding you that Obama pushed through that 873 trillion dollar bailout for the "too big to fail" banks in 2008 and 2009. Those same banks that were initiated with seed money from the transatlantic slave trade. And, 10 years later, you have seen no measurable improvements and stability in your life from that bailout because those banks unquestionably used that money to invest overseas, in industries exploitative towards humanity, to bolster their wealth. They didn't invest that money in quality jobs for you which is the lie the Obama administration told you. You cannot name one state in this country that has seen an increase in quality jobs e.g. healthcare, pension, livable wages, yet so many people continue to believe the economy is "better" because people can earn minimum wage at McDonalds and Starbucks. We can remind you that not only did Obama do nothing to stem the unfortunate and traumatic mass incarceration tide that was waged against our people, but it proliferated under his administration. We can tell you that despite how much you rail against Trump's racist immigration policies, Obama quietly deported more than a million people a year while he was president. Police shootings against Africans continued unabated while Obama was president and it was his administration that solidified the African Command program, or Afrocom. This is the program that built between 75 and 100 U.S. military installations in Africa. And, although they told you the purpose of those installations was to "protect" Africa we ask you when in history has the U.S. "protected" Africa or even the African people living within it from anything? The purpose of these military installations is to engage in counter insurgency campaigns to crush rising dissent in Africa. Our people are waking up and recognizing that the primary problem we face is multi-national corporations dominating Africa. We know the key to our freedom is driving capitalist corporations out of Africa. The U.S. military is there to train African military to crush this resistance the same way police agencies crush dissent in this country. The U.S. is building drone attack factories in African countries like Niger and all of this madness was signed off on by the Obama administration. Besides the installations, the most prosperous country. The country that provided hope for all of the rest of Africa. The only self sufficient country in Africa, was destroyed by the Obama administration. Libya should be celebrating its 50th commemoration of its Jamahiriya revolution today - September 1st - but instead, Libya is a cauldron of instability and suffering. And, all of this is so because Obama unleashed his North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombing terrorism against Libya and the leadership of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 which murdered the Colonel while destroying Libya's society. And, I mean completely bombed it into submission. This included completely destroying the great "man made river" in the Sahara desert. Called the "8th wonder of the world" during its existence, this innovative dam boasted 1500 dams that pumped 65,500,000 gallons of fresh water into countries like Chad, Sudan, and other portions covered by the Sahara that previously had absolutely no access to clean potable water. This beautiful reality was created by socialist Libya, not Britain, France, the U.S. or any capitalist country. This project was benefiting millions of Africans and today its gone. This eco terrorism was carried out under the order of Barack Obama. Take that in for a moment. The most independent country in Africa was completely destroyed by the African president of the U.S. And, that's not even the real issue because all revolutionaries understand that to be president of the U.S. you have as your first job the maintenance of the capitalist system. This is true whether you are a representative of colonized people, LGBTG, a woman, a martian, it doesn't matter. The real issue is most of us won't utter a peep of criticism against Obama despite all of the ill-refutable evidence laid out above.
Instead, when confronted with any of these facts, the best Obama's supporters can come up with is he and Michelle represent a symbol of hope to our children. That he had to do those things because of pressure from the Republicans, blah, blah, blah. The logic of these arguments is surreal. Historic figures like Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas, and Nicky Barnes provided visions of wealth to our people. Daddy Grace and Father Divine did that. The common denominator for all of these people is their example was fueled through participating in the exploitation of our people. So without question, positive symbolism cannot be separated from our quest for justice.
After the issue of African girls being kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria became known to the general public, Michelle Obama appeared holding a sign that said "bring our girls back" or something to that effect. I don't know if that picture of her was authentic or not, but whether it was or not, the concept is insane when one considers that her husband's administration killed and severely injured hundreds of thousands of little African girls in his military operations in Libya and Somalia, not to mention Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Plus, the heightened aggressiveness and confrontational nature of these traumatized whites against colonized people requires us to organize to prepare ourselves how to successfully put these savages in their place. Instead, Michelle Obama tells our people "when they go low, we go high." Clearly, that approach has never worked for us and it never will because its an insult to our dignity as human beings. When has responding to a bully by "going high" ever gotten that bully to stop bullying you?
We recognize that African people and all oppressed people, beat down by the systemic attacks against us, feel the need to believe we have some victories coming our way. We know that most of us have no knowledge of our glorious history of fighting back against our oppression every step of the way. Its obvious that we see our existence as that of sitting around being pummeled by our enemies at their leisure. As a result, the bar for our dignity is so incredibly low that most of us will accept absolutely anything and call it progress, but this approach is harmful to us. We must learn to have more respect for ourselves than just being wowed because some individual sits in a position of power for the system that oppresses us. And, as Franz Fanon told us, it says a lot about how sick we are that we evaluate our worth based on how anything coming from the power structure responds to us. If the power structure acknowledges it. If that structure embraces one of us, then to us, that's progress. Meanwhile, if we struggle to build self-sufficiency outside of the power structure oppressing us. most of us find absolutely no value in that. Its as Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson once said; "the white man's water is always sweeter." You cannot gauge progress without including a component that evaluates justice. Any "upliftment" we experience, even on a symbolic level, that is based on the exploitation of the rest of our African family and/or anyone else, is not progress. African people in the U.S. talk often about how much other people in this country and around the world don't respect us and our struggle for justice here. What's so utterly confusing is why the people making this argument believe this to be an issue when they themselves support no other struggles outside of anything directly impacting them. They know absolutely nothing about what's happening to the rest of our African and human family around the world. Especially since the suffering of these people is directly linked to how this system operates. The system that Obama oversaw for eight years. There's no tangible argument that can call Obama anything except what he is; an operative for international capitalism who's interests are tied to that system and not the freedom and justice of African people and other oppressed communities. To pretend this is anything else is to discredit yourselves to the entire world along with cementing your legacy in history of that not much different than what you accuse Trump supporters of everyday.
So, follow us when we say that most people, especially Africans, love to lament the tragedy of Donald Trump being president. Clearly, he represents the lowest level of human excrement, but truthfully, he is simply a reflection of the latest desperate state of capitalism. In other words, he's a varied version of the same thing. To us, he's just the alter ego of Barack Obama. In 2008, after this country was wary from the war years of the Bush administration and the stress of the sharp decline of this economy, Obama came along representing the "cool off" period. He was the calm voice. He was the vision of some perceived progress. He was hope for so many people. He was this alleged change he promised everyone. What that "change" actually looked like was never intentionally defined.
Unfortunately, politicians (for those who may have integrity) don't dictate capitalist politics. The political and economic interests of capitalism dictates the political direction of this country. The politicians are simply the vehicles established to get you and me to sign off on that direction. In 2008 and 2012, Obama was that sign off. In 2016, with continued unresolved anxiety gripping the majority of people, Trump represents the "enough is enough" period for the masses of European (white) workers who are tired of feeling disrespected. He also represents an opening for some colonized people who saw a way for them to possibly enter the mainstream. How else would complete idiots like Candace Owens, Ben Carson, Omarosa, etc., be able to become prosperous? In a healthy thinking society, no one would be listening to empty holes like these people.
Trump's tough talk and policies against colonized people, immigrants, women, LGBTQ people, and every segment of this society lacking power, makes the embattled whites feel hope because Lyndon Johnson's statement was true; "the best way to retain the support of the poorest white man is to keep telling him that he's better than the negro." These people are proving that they will accept Trump's racist message and policies above any quality changes in their own lives because capitalism has convinced them this is the best they can do.
All of this works because Trump's supporters cling to the lie that economic conditions have become more stable under his watch simply because that's what he keeps telling them. In this society, analytical analysis is completely absent meaning people wouldn't have the slightest clue how to evaluate economic strength. That's why most people go with his lame talk that the stock market is proof of his successes. Clearly, for any person out here breathing, working, and living, the only logical method to evaluate the economy would have to be how well you are doing today compared to any other period? Are you finding that you have more disposable income? The ability to take more and better vacations? You are able now to do things you just couldn't afford to do before like buy what you need and do what you want to do? Do you have adequate and affordable healthcare? A stable savings account? Without even the slightest doubt, for the overwhelming majority of us e.g. 99%, the answers to those questions is a resounding no. So, how is the economy better? The truth here is when these people say its better they aren't even talking about you and me. They are talking about it being better for the corporate sector because that's all that matters to them. And, they are very good at convincing us to view the world through corporate lenses. So that lie continues because when they say its better, the majority of white people desire to believe there is hope for them and they will continue to believe that as long as us colonized people are being subjugated.
Its the same backward logic that explains why African and other colonized people, so-called progressive people, give Barack, and Michelle, Obama such a pass. How so many of these people who supported Obama are so unwilling to criticize his administration when criticism is overwhelmingly due. Remember, we come at this from a revolutionary Pan-Africanist perspective. This means we are never handcuffed by the liberal need to protect this backward system by claiming it just needs to be reformed. We have no desire or interest in reforming this system. We work to destroy it and build a better system. For us, the pathway for that work travels through Pan-Africanism or one unified socialist Africa. Whether you understand, support, or respect our position is immaterial. The point here is we can come to the discussion with objective analysis for why Obama and his regime represented terrorism for the majority of African and other colonized people on the planet. We can start by reminding you that Obama pushed through that 873 trillion dollar bailout for the "too big to fail" banks in 2008 and 2009. Those same banks that were initiated with seed money from the transatlantic slave trade. And, 10 years later, you have seen no measurable improvements and stability in your life from that bailout because those banks unquestionably used that money to invest overseas, in industries exploitative towards humanity, to bolster their wealth. They didn't invest that money in quality jobs for you which is the lie the Obama administration told you. You cannot name one state in this country that has seen an increase in quality jobs e.g. healthcare, pension, livable wages, yet so many people continue to believe the economy is "better" because people can earn minimum wage at McDonalds and Starbucks. We can remind you that not only did Obama do nothing to stem the unfortunate and traumatic mass incarceration tide that was waged against our people, but it proliferated under his administration. We can tell you that despite how much you rail against Trump's racist immigration policies, Obama quietly deported more than a million people a year while he was president. Police shootings against Africans continued unabated while Obama was president and it was his administration that solidified the African Command program, or Afrocom. This is the program that built between 75 and 100 U.S. military installations in Africa. And, although they told you the purpose of those installations was to "protect" Africa we ask you when in history has the U.S. "protected" Africa or even the African people living within it from anything? The purpose of these military installations is to engage in counter insurgency campaigns to crush rising dissent in Africa. Our people are waking up and recognizing that the primary problem we face is multi-national corporations dominating Africa. We know the key to our freedom is driving capitalist corporations out of Africa. The U.S. military is there to train African military to crush this resistance the same way police agencies crush dissent in this country. The U.S. is building drone attack factories in African countries like Niger and all of this madness was signed off on by the Obama administration. Besides the installations, the most prosperous country. The country that provided hope for all of the rest of Africa. The only self sufficient country in Africa, was destroyed by the Obama administration. Libya should be celebrating its 50th commemoration of its Jamahiriya revolution today - September 1st - but instead, Libya is a cauldron of instability and suffering. And, all of this is so because Obama unleashed his North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombing terrorism against Libya and the leadership of Muammar Qaddafi in 2011 which murdered the Colonel while destroying Libya's society. And, I mean completely bombed it into submission. This included completely destroying the great "man made river" in the Sahara desert. Called the "8th wonder of the world" during its existence, this innovative dam boasted 1500 dams that pumped 65,500,000 gallons of fresh water into countries like Chad, Sudan, and other portions covered by the Sahara that previously had absolutely no access to clean potable water. This beautiful reality was created by socialist Libya, not Britain, France, the U.S. or any capitalist country. This project was benefiting millions of Africans and today its gone. This eco terrorism was carried out under the order of Barack Obama. Take that in for a moment. The most independent country in Africa was completely destroyed by the African president of the U.S. And, that's not even the real issue because all revolutionaries understand that to be president of the U.S. you have as your first job the maintenance of the capitalist system. This is true whether you are a representative of colonized people, LGBTG, a woman, a martian, it doesn't matter. The real issue is most of us won't utter a peep of criticism against Obama despite all of the ill-refutable evidence laid out above.
Instead, when confronted with any of these facts, the best Obama's supporters can come up with is he and Michelle represent a symbol of hope to our children. That he had to do those things because of pressure from the Republicans, blah, blah, blah. The logic of these arguments is surreal. Historic figures like Bumpy Johnson, Frank Lucas, and Nicky Barnes provided visions of wealth to our people. Daddy Grace and Father Divine did that. The common denominator for all of these people is their example was fueled through participating in the exploitation of our people. So without question, positive symbolism cannot be separated from our quest for justice.
After the issue of African girls being kidnapped by Boko Haram in Nigeria became known to the general public, Michelle Obama appeared holding a sign that said "bring our girls back" or something to that effect. I don't know if that picture of her was authentic or not, but whether it was or not, the concept is insane when one considers that her husband's administration killed and severely injured hundreds of thousands of little African girls in his military operations in Libya and Somalia, not to mention Afghanistan, Iraq, etc. Plus, the heightened aggressiveness and confrontational nature of these traumatized whites against colonized people requires us to organize to prepare ourselves how to successfully put these savages in their place. Instead, Michelle Obama tells our people "when they go low, we go high." Clearly, that approach has never worked for us and it never will because its an insult to our dignity as human beings. When has responding to a bully by "going high" ever gotten that bully to stop bullying you?
We recognize that African people and all oppressed people, beat down by the systemic attacks against us, feel the need to believe we have some victories coming our way. We know that most of us have no knowledge of our glorious history of fighting back against our oppression every step of the way. Its obvious that we see our existence as that of sitting around being pummeled by our enemies at their leisure. As a result, the bar for our dignity is so incredibly low that most of us will accept absolutely anything and call it progress, but this approach is harmful to us. We must learn to have more respect for ourselves than just being wowed because some individual sits in a position of power for the system that oppresses us. And, as Franz Fanon told us, it says a lot about how sick we are that we evaluate our worth based on how anything coming from the power structure responds to us. If the power structure acknowledges it. If that structure embraces one of us, then to us, that's progress. Meanwhile, if we struggle to build self-sufficiency outside of the power structure oppressing us. most of us find absolutely no value in that. Its as Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson once said; "the white man's water is always sweeter." You cannot gauge progress without including a component that evaluates justice. Any "upliftment" we experience, even on a symbolic level, that is based on the exploitation of the rest of our African family and/or anyone else, is not progress. African people in the U.S. talk often about how much other people in this country and around the world don't respect us and our struggle for justice here. What's so utterly confusing is why the people making this argument believe this to be an issue when they themselves support no other struggles outside of anything directly impacting them. They know absolutely nothing about what's happening to the rest of our African and human family around the world. Especially since the suffering of these people is directly linked to how this system operates. The system that Obama oversaw for eight years. There's no tangible argument that can call Obama anything except what he is; an operative for international capitalism who's interests are tied to that system and not the freedom and justice of African people and other oppressed communities. To pretend this is anything else is to discredit yourselves to the entire world along with cementing your legacy in history of that not much different than what you accuse Trump supporters of everyday.
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