Many of them or the racists obviously
don't know who they are. The reactionaries don’t want to live in the past (or mention the past),
because they want to ignore the past (as a means to diminish the suffering,
pain, and interests of BLACK PEOPLE). It is the arrogance of white
reactionaries that is truly shameful. The Brother named John Henry, David
Jones, and others have proven scientifically the genetic ties between white
people and Neanderthals. It is the faux superiority complex of them (or white racists) that should
be opposed by any black person. They or white racists are definitely jealous of
our black melanin, our fighting spirit, and our heroes (like Martin Delaney,
Malcolm X, Sojourner Truth, John Henrik Clarke, Harriet Tubman, Ella Baker,
etc.). We know about our history from the Kingdoms of West Africa to the great
scientific scholars among our people in the 21st century. The Black Panthers
had weaknesses, but they were strong, dedicated, intelligent, and heroic Brothers and Sisters who fought
oppression. The original Black Panthers were a key part of the overall Black
Liberation Movement. They were created during the 1960’s. They instituted
legitimate programs like educational programs, health care services, community
patrols to watch and monitor the police (and avaricious dope dealers who wanted
to exploit those suffering drug addiction), and organizing tenants, etc. Their
10 Point programs have principles that are relevant in our time. Their programs
had popular support and dealt with community building. The BPP were heavily
opposed to fascism. We need community building a radical redistribution of
economic and political power as a means to see revolutionary, social change in
the word. The Black Panthers outlined a revolutionary analysis of the
happenings of the world. Their breakfast programs helped many children. In
parts of New York City, Black Panthers were successful in driving dope dealers
out of some neighborhoods. It was required to be educated on revolutionary
thinking as a prerequisite for someone to join the Black Panther Party. So, we
should be anti-oppression, anti-imperialism, and pro-freedom. There are
geniuses in all races including black people. The Afro-British Imafidon family is known as
the smartest family in the U.K. The youngest siblings, Peter and Paula, made
history by becoming the youngest students to enroll in secondary school. Their
older sister, Anne-Marie, was the youngest student to pass A-level computing at
the age of 13. That family is black. The Sister Autum Ashante was accepted into
the University of Connecticut at the age of 13. The FBI with their COINTELPRO
propaganda program slandered the Black Panthers collectively as a criminal
enterprise when they were opposed to capitalism and economic exploitation. One
article by one of the NY 21 Panthers was entitled, “Capitalism + Dope =
Genocide.” The Panthers were right that the CIA was involved in drug running in
a long time and that the FBI used abhorrent policies that violated the human
civil liberties of people across backgrounds. Also, it is great to study the
words and literature from Fanon, Malcolm X, Bobby Seale, Huey, Angela Davis
(who believed that prisons are obsolete now in our contemporary society), Kwame
Ture, Nkrumah, Jamal Joseph, Michelle Alexander, Marshall Eddy Conway, and
others. These human beings give insights into the psychology of an oppressive
system. The oppressive system deals with mass imprisonment of our Brothers and
our Sisters, the War on Drugs, economic exploitation, imperialism, and other
forms of bigotry common in the world. So, we are going to understand the past,
live in the present, and fight for a better future for our people.
Synagogues have been
destroyed, the rights of Russian speaking people have been violated, and other
abhorrent measures have occurred by the fascist, puppet regime in Kiev. It is a
positive update that at least President Obama and Vladimir Putin are at least
talking. Putin is not perfect, but he is neither Hitler nor Mussolini either.
Real folks want this crisis to be resolved in a peaceful fashion, but I will
never recognize that fascist state (that came about as a product of a slick putsch)
in Kiev at all. Only a hypocrite would claim to love democracy but back a
fascist influenced Kiev government. Many leaders of that puppet regime have
fascist and Neo-Nazi ties. John Brennan told a senior lawmaker on Feb. 28 that
a 1997 treaty between Russia and Ukraine allows up to 25,000 Russia troops in
the Crimea region, the Los Angeles Times reported on March 3. "The number
of Russian troops that have surged into Ukraine in recent days remains well
below that threshold, Brennan said, according to U.S. officials who declined to
be named...." Crimean independence is a welcomed development. Self-determination
is a human right and Crimean human beings voted for their independence via a peaceful referendum (They did not use violence against civilians or passed evil laws at
all unlike the fascists in Kiev did). Imperialism under any cloak is evil. I
wish for Ukraine & Crimea to be independent and free. Malcolm X gave
huge respect to Fannie Lou Hamer, Gloria Richardson, and other Sisters in the
struggle. Fannie Lou Hamer was courageous and worked diligently to oppose the
Vietnam War, she fought against poverty, and she worked to advance the concept
of cooperatives in American society. Ella Baker was the Mother of SNCC. Fannie
Lou Hamer allied with Malcolm X as a means to advance liberation for black
people. Malcolm X became more progressive on issues of women than even Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was as others have mentioned before. When Malcolm X
traveled in Africa and other locations, he transformed and expanded his
fundamental understanding of the world. Brother Malcolm posed with Shirley
Graham DuBois in Accra, Ghana. Both of them agreed with a pan-Africanist agenda
that desired women to achieve education and true human dignity. Therefore, we
have every right to advance anti-imperialism, anti-colonialism, and
anti-capitalism. As Malcolm X said: "...It is impossible for capitalism to
survive, primarily because the system of capitalism needs some blood to suck.
Capitalism used to be like an eagle, but now it’s more like a vulture and can
only suck the blood of the helpless. As the nations of the world free
themselves, then capitalism has less and less victims, less to suck, and it
becomes weaker and weaker. It’s only a matter of time in my opinion before it
will collapse completely.”(Malcolm X, January 18, 1965 in the Young Socialist
Magazine). Fannie Lou Hamer passed away in 1977. RIP to her.
I listened to the Sister
Yandy Smith’s speech about health care as a means to witness her words. I am a
fair man, so I listened to her views. Bless her and her family. The ACA was a
compromise between those who loved the status quo and those who wanted
supremely universal health care. The current ACA law was heavily influenced by
corporate lobbyists (as the Heritage Foundation originated a lot of the ACA’s
compositions) and by the leaders of the health insurance industries. Many
people will benefit from the law while others will struggle still. The ACA is
not the smoking gun. It is the beginning and a step. Every industrialized
nation in the world has universal health care but America. Margaret Flowers, MD
has great research on this issue and she advocates a single payer system, which
I have no issues with. Health care is a human right since improving our health
is a key part of living life in the highest potential possible. So, we should
continue to fight for the final goal, which is universal health care. There is one study (from a a new Wallet Hub report) alone documents the hypocrisy, deception, and extremist nature of the
leadership of the GOP. The numerous statistics are not misleading since it
documents how many Red States rely heavily on federal government funding. These
states can reject federal government funding and use policies to not pay more
in federal taxes, but they don’t. The Tea Party/GOP clique always lecture human
beings on federal government sending, but their greatest supporters rely on
potent federal government aid (including social programs like Social Security,
Medicaid, Medicare, etc.) heavily. They talk about the poor receiving welfare,
but ignore welfare given to the super wealthy in the form of tax breaks,
bailouts, and other giveaways (in a record level). Wall Street has received
record profits. They ignore how corporate corruption & lax regulation
not the government alone caused the BP and West Virginia environmental
disasters. They regularly and continually ignore solutions that can decrease
the poverty rate in America from instituting an increase of the minimum wage
(that most Americans support), the establishment of a guaranteed annual income,
ending imperialism, and a comprehensive, jobs program that can create jobs via
public investment. The social safety net has every right to be maintained since
many parts of it from Social Security to Medicare has benefited the lives of
millions of America for decades (we have the stats to prove it). So, I will
never be a Republican at all. I believe in workers’ rights, I believe in
establishing a clean environment, and I believe in protecting human civil
liberties.
Kobe Bryant's
commentaries were interesting to say the least. When the Heat players and
others were wearing hoodies and supporting Trayvon Martin’s family, they were
not rejecting the right of political diversity among the black community. They
were not demonizing black people who embraced alternative points of view. They
were allying with a grieving mother, a grieving father, and a grieving family.
Even vicious racists disrespected Trayvon Martin’s family before. Yet, Kobe
says nothing about that and he said nothing about other ethnic groups too. If
he said similar words about Hispanics, Jewish people, and others among other
backgrounds, he would be heavily criticized by those human beings. So, human
beings have every right to support the human dignity of Trayvon Martin. His
life had value. Kobe never said those words about his own legal plight years
ago either, which is very ironic. Those of goodwill use the tragic death of
Trayvon Martin as a means to strongly oppose extrajudicial murder of black
humanity, to oppose police brutality, and to build more in our own communities.
That is the essential point of the matter. We have the right to help each
other, to respect each other, and to ally with each other as black people.
African Americans have a strong legacy. African Americans are made up of human
beings that fought for civil rights, that instituted massive technological and
scientific achievements, and believed in true dignity. Anybody that denigrates
AAs is an ignorant person point blank period. Many of the youth face real,
significant challenges. We are not naive about the shadiness of individuals who
desire to exploit the youth for nefarious purposes. Materialism and selfishness
are common evils present among the youth and others in the human race. Some fail
to witness that legitimate investments in your community (that can improve the
community) will yield much greater long term benefit than immediate, selfish
social gratification. You are right that we should never aid any person that
looks down or has irrational, bigoted hatred of black people. Some of the youth
should not be naive about the actions of the oppressor. The oppressor can
change stripes, but their goal is still the same (which is the exploitation,
control, harm, etc. of black people). Many of the youth are doing the right
thing and those who are doing what is right ought to be acknowledged and
respected. You are again correct to call for the need to build in our black
community and to advocate economic justice too. No man can be free unless all
women are free. No woman is free unless all men are free too. Both genders in
our people must experience justice as a means for the black community to
experience liberation.
There are Detroit
water cutoffs and the social counterrevolution in America. Detroit is situated
alongside the largest surface freshwater system in the world. The authorities
have begun a shutoff of water services. This will target 3,000 households every
week for the next several months. If these plans are fully implemented, then it
could cause tens of thousands of families will no longer have access to one of
the most fundamental necessities of life (that being water). This expresses the cruelty and
irrationality of capitalism. This is a blatant social crime and those responsible
are criminals. The DWSD or the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department is setting
its sights on those who are delinquent on their bills. Nearly 50 percent of all
accounts (or 150,000 out of 324,000) fall into this category. This is a city
where more than a third of the population lives below the poverty line. The
consequences of this policy will be harmful. It will increase the hardship of
disease, death, etc. Families will be forced to live without basic sanitation
or choose between running water (and other necessities like food, clothing, and
health care). A lack of access to running means an inability to shower, use the
toilet, cook, or take medications. It can lead to buildings or homes to be
condemned, which will force residents into the streets. Breakup of families can
come. Children are shifted to relatives or removed by the state on charges of
neglect. Like the cutoff of gas or electricity—a mass phenomenon in Detroit—a
water shutoff is a destabilizing, debilitating and psychologically devastating experience.
Detroit once boasted the highest per capita income in the country as a former
center of manufacturing in America. Historically, access to water was seen as a
benchmark of social progress. It was considered a national disgrace that, in
1950, a quarter of the population (and half of the rural population) did not
have access to plumbing. This act in Detroit is a damning indictment of
American capitalism and the corporate and financial elite that runs the
country. There have been government programs along with a general increase in
living standards that have established plumbing for the vast majority of
Americans. Still, there are about 2 million Americans who have insufficient or
no running water. The cost of water for consumers was kept low as a matter of
policy. Most water companies were set up as public utilities, subsidized by
local and federal government spending. There were gains of the working class in
the post-World War II period. There advances came directly or indirectly by
social struggle. For more than three decades, there has been a systematic
effort by the ruling class to turn back the clock. This massive retrogression
since the financial crisis of 2008 has turned into a social counterrevolution.
This counterrevolution targets the jobs and wages of the working class. The financial and political elite has slashed spending on social infrastructure. A recent report by the
Georgetown Law Human Rights Institute noted: “Historically, federal and state
governments would cover some long-term costs in the form of infrastructure
grants. Since the 1980s, however, these grants have given way to infrastructure
loans, pushing water systems to charge their customers full-cost, or near
full-cost, rates.” (“Tapped Out: Threats to the Human Right to Water in the
Urban United States”). Between 2000 and 2012, water rates in Detroit increased
a shocking 119 percent. Over the same period, median household income in the
city declined by about 15 percent. Today, the average monthly water bill in the
city is $75 ($900 a year)—or about 3.5 percent of the median income. Regressive
changes have caused this reality in Detroit. Water rates have surged nationwide
in the past 10 years, more than doubling in a quarter of the 100 cities
surveyed. Corporate interests want to exploit water resources. Big investors and
bondholders finance public utilities. Many who can’t pay for services will see
their rates increase. Privatization is growing in Detroit. After undermining
the finances of the city through the shutdown of auto production, predatory
bank loans, tax abatements and other corporate handouts, and massive cuts in
state and federal financial aid, the ruling class wants more real estate
speculators to handle its infrastructure (while the working class are forced to
leave the city). The privatization of resources and restructuring of the world
is one big goal of the elite. The evil of capitalism is that it is based on
private profit and the subordination of every social right to the rapacious
dictates of the corporate and financial aristocracy. Water shutoffs should be
opposed in Detroit. The water system in Detroit should be controlled by real
public ownership.
By Timothy