Independence

American troops are leaving Iraq and new issues are arising. We should celebrate any soldier coming home from a foreign country, but we have a long way to go to promote real peace in the globe. The Arab Spring have had legitimate grievance against evil governments used as an excuse for the West to control nations. In 2011, multiple nations have been changed forever. Yet, still some want to attack Iran. Some of the opposition groups in the Arab Spring have been backed by NATO forces, weapons, training, and special operations. NATO has worked in Libya and support has been sent to Syrian militants. The West certainly wants to contain Russia and China in the coming decades. They think that conquering the Middle East will be a political and economic buffer against Russia plus China. Some neo cons want to topple Iran one way or the other way. The U.S. is backing opposition groups in Syria now to topple the regime. The Fortune 500 funded Brooking Institution’s “Which Parth to Persia” admitted that America could use an Iranian provocation as an excuse for the U.S. to have airstrikes in Iran. The reports wanted covert regime change efforts to provoke Iran to have a war with America. There has been the 2009 Green Revolution that was an attempt to use covert regime change in order to goad Iran into such a provocation. It failed. The West even funded, armed, and harbors the terrorist MEK group. MEK stands for Mujahedin-e Khalq. Some fabricated attempted provocations have occurred by Americans as well. The DEA-Saudi bomb plot is tenuous at best. That is why Iran said that the Quds Forces member the U.S. implicated is a member of the US backed MEK terrorist organization. The Brooking report admitted in 2009 that the U.S. wants Saudi Arabia to be coax or manipulated into taking a harder line against Tehran. U.S. troops are still occupying Iraq and Afghanistan. Syria is the next target of regime change after the fall of Muammar Qaddafi.  John McCain, the Brooking Institution, the Foreign policy Institute, and of course the AEI supports regime change in Iran. Kenneth Pollack, one of the co-authors of the “Which Path to Persia?” report, recently expressed dismay in his article titled, “With a Whimper, Not a Bang.” Frederick Kagan, the corporate-funded AEI architect behind the Iraq “troop surge” also lamented in a piece titled, “Obama abandons Iraq.” Kagan explicitly claims that the withdrawal would be “giving Tehran the single most important demand it has pursued for years—the complete withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq.” It’s certain that any Iranian error no matter how small is used as an excuse for airstrikes and an invasion of Iran.

Gaddafi is dead. People know my feelings about this occurrence. He was killed most probably by his captors. Some folks claimed that he was killed in the boras of crossfire. Kaddafi wasn’t a saint or a perfect leader. Yet, I do find it amazingly ionic that the faux “liberators” didn’t take him in custody to have a trial before any justice was serviced. He was just killed excluding a trial. Gaddafi is a representation of corrupt leadership on numerous levels. Likewise, the Libyan war is the representation of neo-imperialism done by the power elite. The Western & NATO forces supported the raping/lynching rebels in order to turn a nation (previously being one of the highest standard of living nations in Africa) to be nothing more than a client state of the Western oligarchy. NATO bombed civilian targets and killed innocent men, women, and children. The rebels have committed war crimes against black Libyans including other human beings. Tyhis war on terror has promoted the U.S. Empire for a long time (for over a decade). Now, the U.S. military intervention policy is done in Uganda, while Iraqi troops are coming home.

It doesn’t take a genius to see the fascist policies that realm in America. This fascism affects all Americans, especially minorities plus people of color. Fascism is simply when corporate power rules government. It is the merger of state and corporate power. Corporate power funds both the Democratic and Republican parties. For example, Marian Currinder reveals in her book, “Money For the House,” the Democratic congressional campaign following the 2008 cycle asked members to contribute $125,000 in dues and to raise an additional $75,000 for the Party. So, corporate money is abundant. Now, we have an empire with over 1,000 military bases in over 85 countries. This is similar to the new Rome. Now, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security are threatened to be radically cut by reactionaries. Yet, polls show a majority of Americans desiring cuts to military spending and at least a single payer health care system. This proves that the voice of the few wealthy elite is more powerful in America than the common people. Fascists want common interests to be centralized into a few hands, they appear to prejudice and fears, and they have a lust for power. There are other definitions of fascism as explained by Dr. Lawrence Britt’s “Defining Characteristics of Fascism” as found in his article as written in May 28, 2003 (like anti-labor, hating the arts, obsessing with crime and punishment, etc.). These fascists have suppressed movement for change among immigrations and other minorities (even poor whites). This fascism leads into racial discrimination and racial oppression against black people as well. We all know this. Professor Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” uses all of the statistics of how the prison industrial complex oppresses black populations nationwide in America. Far too often, many Americans don’t want to talk about racism, because they don’t want to change the status quo. Yet, real people will talk about every issue under the sun in order for all peoples to experience freedom, equality, and justice. That’s real.

Ancient Chinese has one of the most interesting parts of human history in general. I’ve known numerous people of Chinese descent in real life that are sweet, nice, understanding, and tolerant. In ancient China during the Neolithic age (or the new stone age), the Xia civilization existed. The Xia dynasty isn’t discussed a lot, because even now, not much is known about it. The first civilization in China that gets a lot of attention is called the Shang Dynasty that lasted from 1766 B.C. to 1122 B.C. The Zhou, Qin, and Han Dynasty comes after the Shang Dynasty. Zhou lasted from 1122 B.C.to 256 B.C., the Qin Dynasty lasted from 221 B.C. to 206 B.C., and the Han Dynasty lasted from 202 B.C. to 220 A.D. The Shang Dynasty was located in the northeastern part of China in the Yellow River. The Yellow River and the Yangtze River were key places where crops grow, cities were organized, and trade flourished. Turtle shells show bears glyphs which bear the first recorded Chinese characters. Shang capitals have been called the ruins of Yin. It is said in Chinese tradition that Shang was created after the rebel King Tang of Shange overthrew the last Xia ruler in the Battle of Mingtiao. The royal palace of Yinxu had tombs of royals. Also, Shang is marked by ancestor worship or the worship of your dead ancestors (according to them can give people inspiration or strength to move forward in life). The Shang people fought nomadic herdsmen and other tribes trying to come into their territory. Shang rulers ruled in religious ceremonies. Their high god Di was responsible for the rain, wind, and thunder. Bronze and jail objects plus pottery is found in the Shang civilization. Horse drawn chariots were found in the Shang dynasty as well. In astronomy, the Shang Dynasty produced the calendar on the cycle of the moon. The calendar of the Shang Dynasty was differentiated into big and small months, and it regulated that 366 days formed a cycle. Besides, in the 'inscriptions on oracle bones' of the Shang Dynasty, there are many records about solar eclipse, lunar eclipse and nova. In mathematics, there are big numbers up to thirty thousand and specific conceptions about decimal system, odd numbers, even numbers and multiple numbers, according to the 'inscriptions on oracle bones'. It indicates that people of that time had preliminary capability of calculating. Additionally, optics knowledge was also used then. The excavated convex mirror of the Shang Dynasty can mirror the whole face of a person completely. Shang was a bronze age advanced civilization. Zhou came after Shang of course. Zhou saw the introduction of iron in China. According to Chinese tradition, Wen’s son (named King Wu of Zhou) led an army of 45,000 men and 300 chariots across the Yellow River in 1046 B.C. King Wu then conquered the Shang Dynasty’s King Di Zin in the Battle of Muye. This was the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty. Zhou saw the Mandate of Heaven (which runs in contrast to Shang’s divine rule of the kings). The Zhou leaders used a feudal system in order to maintain Zhou authority over a large area of territory. Now, the Mandate of Heaven is a philosophy. It teaches that rule is from divine power, but it is predicated on the conduct of the ruler in heaven. In other words, Heaven (or Tian) would bless the rule of a just ruler, but will be angry with despotic (or tyrannical) ruler and would withdraw its mandate (that will lead into the overthrow of that ruler). So, the Mandate of Heaven wants the best ruler to rule an area. This concept is a part of Chinese culture. It’s used to curtail incompetent or corrupt ruler. It abhors the abuse of power.

As for black people in the Diaspora, there are places like D.C,, Oakland, New York, Miami, Baltimore, tons of rural areas, Atlanta, Houston, Detroit, and other places were black liberation movements are strong. Atlanta and other cities in the Western Hemisphere have Pan African workshops, activities, conferences, and strategies to promote global liberation for African peoples. Accra is a strong place of black consciousness as well. There are the WEB DuBois Center and the Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum found there as well with Nkrumah’s remains there. Cultural building among black Africans have existed then and now in the Western and Eastern Hemisphere in Cape Coast, Elmina, etc. Yet, we should be careful to never support the military industrial complex or the anti-Nature, materialistic culture as found in Western society. Also, strategies should be made to deal with cultural development now and in the future. It will take long years to see the real pan African movement to take massive flight, but we can start the journey now in 2011. People like Dr. Claud Anderson, Dr. Amos Wilson, the late John Henrik Clarke (1915-1998), and others have shown many policies and blueprints in the way in favor of black liberation. So, social skills (or street smarts) & intellectual growth (i.e. libraries, bookstores, books, etc.) are a necessity in the 21^st century especially. True independence is self sufficiency. That means we have infrastructure, community building, food, owning land, owning power, health care promotion, social development, and we make up our own cultural boundaries without any assistance or interference from outsiders. True liberation is true independence. Many of the old soldiers are getting old and passing away. So, it’s our turn among brothers and sisters (found in Generation X, Y, and Z) to use pass words of wisdom & unique insights in continuing the efforts of growing Black Power. Regardless if we live in the rural or urban areas, we should build, unite, and organize in those regions. There are great benefits in living in rural and urban locations, but we can’t be naïve. Also, rural areas historically have been one of the greatest origins of black rebellions against oppressions. Whether we live in Norfolk, Brazil, NYC, Africa, London, we are still Africans. We should unite irrespective of geography and have a connection globally for brothers and sisters live all over the world (in the concept of community).

By Timothy