Whether its that Carolyn Bryant lying on Emmet Till and causing his brutal murder in 1955 or this Melody Cooper using the same white damsel in distress call on an African in Central Park, New York, U.S. in May of 2020, the reality is the same. And, the contradictions are overwhelming. The same Europeans who shamelessly brandish weapons at so-called public buildings during these sham protests are the same Europeans who would be calling the police on Africans who showed up in public with weapons the way they are doing. Its the same Europeans who are telling us halting a crumbling capitalist economy is much more important than saving the majority African and poor lives who are being lost through this pandemic. The very same white people who continue to shame Africans for not wanted to support a liberal racist like Biden with the ridiculous argument that Biden is “better” than the current empire president. African people suffer regardless of who the empire president is. To present us with the lessor evil argument makes as much sense as trying to convince a chicken that choosing a fox as their assassin is a better choice than a wolf because the fox will kill them slower.
And, that’s just the everyday, liberal, or so-called right wing Europeans. Probably worse, are the Europeans who claim to be progressive and revolutionary. Who claim to be allies and accomplices to the daily challenges of white supremacy. These are the people who stand with us only up to the point where our agency doesn’t center and/or present something palatable to their world view. At the point of that divide, it can suddenly become almost impossible to tell the difference between “progressive” and “revolutionary” white people and those from the far right. To illustrate this point, if you lined up any so-called revolutionary and/or progressive white people i.e. communists, anarchists, liberals, etc., next to neo-nazis and other right wing scum. If you asked all of them to tell you the history of African movements for dignity like the Pan-Africanist movement, the Afrocentricity movement, Black nationalist movements, very, very few of these white people could tell you much of anything of any value. That tells us that these people, none of them, are serious about respecting us as complete human beings because if they were, they would have to make a legitimate effort to understand our journey. We can make this claim because we can talk to you intelligently about the struggle against colonialism waged by the Irish people in Ireland. We can discuss the history and struggles of the Indigenous people’s of the Western Hemisphere in a qualified manner. We can discuss the history and critical points of the Palestinian struggle for justice and dignity. We can do these things because we love our African people. And, that love provides us the space and desire to understand the struggles of other peoples on earth. So, we make an informed choice to study their movements with the same commitment that we study our own. The fact so few white people know anything about African people besides viewing us as caricatures and victims indicates how dysfunctional these white people are and how impossible it is for them to actually be any type of accomplices to us on anything.
Its not a question of us needing white people for anything anyway. Those of us engaging in revolutionary Pan-African organizing work are focused on that which doesn’t involve or require any participation, validation, acceptance or existence of any Europeans. So, please be clear that the focus of this piece isn’t to plead with white people to change. White people can change. They can go on being what they mostly are today, selfish and focused only on what matters to them. Either way makes no difference. We are going to build our work and we are going to win, regardless of what white people do. The purpose of this piece is directed specifically at African people. Those Africans who continue to focus their entire existence around what white people do. Those who continue to place their allegiance with the institutions controlled by capitalism and white supremacy. The people who wish to reform police and other institutions within this system. Those approaches on some level rely on white people being better. Our inquiry to those people is that we recognize that power concedes nothing without a demand. We cannot expect anyone to do the right thing just because it’s the right thing. Instead, we know that people do the right thing when they are forced to do the right thing. Bullies began to leave you alone and find other victims when they are forced to suffer consequences for messing with you. And, the other victims they find after you are going to be people who beg and plead with them to demonstrate their humanity. After 500+ years, we should know by now that this approach is useless with these people in this society.
None of this is to say that there are no Europeans/white people who are just. Of course there are. Just like there are Africans who are against the masses of Africans and humanity. We do not lack a clear class analysis here. What we are saying is those legit white people do not have the influence over the masses of their people and they have not demonstrated yet that they have a mechanism to achieve that influence. So, we cannot base any element of our work on them. Instead, we have to focus on building our own independence and strength. We have to understand, believe, and accept that once we establish that independence, the respect you are attempting to achieve by appealing to their institutions you will see overnight.
Accept that white people, particularly plenty of white women who continue to try and pose as something better, are going to call the police on us for passing gas in public. Accept that the majority of white men are cowards who will always refuse to push themselves in ways colonized people have to do as a daily practice to hold themselves accountable. Its not going to happen. Accept that the majority of white people and the institutions they dominate are going to continue to center themselves and deny your humanity. And, accept the fact that those few and are in between white people who are making sincere efforts are not going to have influence over the majority of their people anytime soon. They don’t even have a plan to accomplish this. Most of them are in fact trying to get farther away from white people than most of us. So, we cannot wait on fantasies. What African Liberation Day told us if you took time to pay attention is that the masses of African people everywhere on earth are ready to move forward towards unity and empowerment. You want to hold white people accountable? Build our movements to the place where its clear we no longer need them, and I can guarantee you they will learn how to become accountable overnight.
And, that’s just the everyday, liberal, or so-called right wing Europeans. Probably worse, are the Europeans who claim to be progressive and revolutionary. Who claim to be allies and accomplices to the daily challenges of white supremacy. These are the people who stand with us only up to the point where our agency doesn’t center and/or present something palatable to their world view. At the point of that divide, it can suddenly become almost impossible to tell the difference between “progressive” and “revolutionary” white people and those from the far right. To illustrate this point, if you lined up any so-called revolutionary and/or progressive white people i.e. communists, anarchists, liberals, etc., next to neo-nazis and other right wing scum. If you asked all of them to tell you the history of African movements for dignity like the Pan-Africanist movement, the Afrocentricity movement, Black nationalist movements, very, very few of these white people could tell you much of anything of any value. That tells us that these people, none of them, are serious about respecting us as complete human beings because if they were, they would have to make a legitimate effort to understand our journey. We can make this claim because we can talk to you intelligently about the struggle against colonialism waged by the Irish people in Ireland. We can discuss the history and struggles of the Indigenous people’s of the Western Hemisphere in a qualified manner. We can discuss the history and critical points of the Palestinian struggle for justice and dignity. We can do these things because we love our African people. And, that love provides us the space and desire to understand the struggles of other peoples on earth. So, we make an informed choice to study their movements with the same commitment that we study our own. The fact so few white people know anything about African people besides viewing us as caricatures and victims indicates how dysfunctional these white people are and how impossible it is for them to actually be any type of accomplices to us on anything.
Its not a question of us needing white people for anything anyway. Those of us engaging in revolutionary Pan-African organizing work are focused on that which doesn’t involve or require any participation, validation, acceptance or existence of any Europeans. So, please be clear that the focus of this piece isn’t to plead with white people to change. White people can change. They can go on being what they mostly are today, selfish and focused only on what matters to them. Either way makes no difference. We are going to build our work and we are going to win, regardless of what white people do. The purpose of this piece is directed specifically at African people. Those Africans who continue to focus their entire existence around what white people do. Those who continue to place their allegiance with the institutions controlled by capitalism and white supremacy. The people who wish to reform police and other institutions within this system. Those approaches on some level rely on white people being better. Our inquiry to those people is that we recognize that power concedes nothing without a demand. We cannot expect anyone to do the right thing just because it’s the right thing. Instead, we know that people do the right thing when they are forced to do the right thing. Bullies began to leave you alone and find other victims when they are forced to suffer consequences for messing with you. And, the other victims they find after you are going to be people who beg and plead with them to demonstrate their humanity. After 500+ years, we should know by now that this approach is useless with these people in this society.
None of this is to say that there are no Europeans/white people who are just. Of course there are. Just like there are Africans who are against the masses of Africans and humanity. We do not lack a clear class analysis here. What we are saying is those legit white people do not have the influence over the masses of their people and they have not demonstrated yet that they have a mechanism to achieve that influence. So, we cannot base any element of our work on them. Instead, we have to focus on building our own independence and strength. We have to understand, believe, and accept that once we establish that independence, the respect you are attempting to achieve by appealing to their institutions you will see overnight.
Accept that white people, particularly plenty of white women who continue to try and pose as something better, are going to call the police on us for passing gas in public. Accept that the majority of white men are cowards who will always refuse to push themselves in ways colonized people have to do as a daily practice to hold themselves accountable. Its not going to happen. Accept that the majority of white people and the institutions they dominate are going to continue to center themselves and deny your humanity. And, accept the fact that those few and are in between white people who are making sincere efforts are not going to have influence over the majority of their people anytime soon. They don’t even have a plan to accomplish this. Most of them are in fact trying to get farther away from white people than most of us. So, we cannot wait on fantasies. What African Liberation Day told us if you took time to pay attention is that the masses of African people everywhere on earth are ready to move forward towards unity and empowerment. You want to hold white people accountable? Build our movements to the place where its clear we no longer need them, and I can guarantee you they will learn how to become accountable overnight.
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