We have to learn about such events. Freedom Summer was about
the collaboration among many groups to end legal apartheid and voting rights
discrimination in America, especially in the Deep South (in states like
Mississippi). It was a movement that opposed the agenda of white supremacy. It
wanted revolutionary democratic power to be in the hands of the people. One
great lesson from Freedom Summer dealt with the actions from SNCC and MFDP. The
MFDP was created, because the Democratic Party in Mississippi was racist and
denied black people the right to vote or to have basic human rights. SNCC and
MFDP stood up the Democratic establishment when that establishment offered them
a token compromise during the 1964 National Democratic Convention. The
compromise was about the Democrats offering MFDP two at-large seats and the
entire Dixiecrat delegation would be seated too. SNCC and MFDP rejected the
deal outright. They were right to do that. SNCC wanted liberation, they soon
believed in self-defense, and they became even more militant than the SCLC.
SNCC’s great value was that it broke away the psychological shackles that many
black people had in relations to the vicious power structure. SNCC gave
confidence to many black people. SNCC encouraged independent thinking in our
people. SNCC courageously opposed the Vietnam War and they allied with Malcolm
X as well. SNCC was the bridge between old school civil rights leaders and the
Black Power Movement (with groups like the Black Panthers, etc.). During
Freedom Summer, a lot of courageous human beings died for the cause of freedom
and justice. We have to acknowledge the fact that people shed blood in order
for us to be blessed to live during this age. Another lesson that we can learn
from Freedom Summer was that it used grassroots educational programs to help
the people. Many of the tactics that they used back then are some of the same
tactics that we can utilize today. The reason is that we still face economic
injustice, educational complications, and other issues. Yes, we still have to
fight laws that restrict the voting rights of human beings today. The Voting
Rights Act ought to be totally defended as Sister Angela Rye has accurately
said. We have a lot of work to do. *Yes, Fannie Lou Hamer was a great organizer
of Freedom Summer too. Ella Baker, James Forman, Kwame Ture, John Lewis, and
Robert Moses are some of the many heroes of SNCC. We want social justice and we
want black people to be fully free. There have been many who have not heard of
the words or actions of SNCC. Kwame Ture (who loved Africa. One of his gifts
was that he wanted us to have solidarity with Africans globally. We love Africa
too. Kwame Ture's mentor was Dr. King) and Brown opposed imperialism. They were
right to disagree with the Vietnam War. Also, the value of SNCC was that they
advocated courageousness and a revolutionary spirit. I have heard many of Kwame
Ture’s speeches before. It is rare for people in this generation to say the
words that he has said in public. Dr. King admired the strength of Kwame Ture
and Brown, even though Dr. King was in favor of nonviolent resistance. So, Dr.
King and Kwame Ture were great friends. SNCC did the positive thing of
inspiring Dr. King to be more militant and he became more militant overtly by
1967. More Brothers and Sisters need to know this information about our real
history. All people are entitled to justice. Our people never stood down in the
midst of oppression. In every era of American history, black people fought for
their rights that should have been ours by birthright.
I am glad that more stories about Afro-Brazilian people
exist. The issues in Brazil deal with both race and class. There is racism and
class oppression there, which has caused many Afro-Brazilian peoples to suffer injustices.
"Black in Latin America" DVD have documented how many black
Brazilians have been stigmatized in an evil fashion by the corporate elite
including societal structures in Brazil. There are many Black Brazilians
producers (including filmmakers like Eliciana Nascimento and Viviane Ferreira),
business people, and civil rights activists existing now in Brazil. Benedita da
Silva has fought for the rights of black people in Brazil for decades. I do
find that many black Americans are treated with a certain level of token
"respect" in Brazil including other foreign nations (because of
economic reasons not because these authorities actually respect black Americans
as equal human beings) while other black people living in those countries
experience massive oppression. I have no problem with the growth of black
institutions in Brazil, but Afro-Brazilians have the right to fight indignities
(plus call for social, political, and economic revolutionary changes in Brazil.
Many Brazil leaders are wrong to aid the UN/Western occupation of Haiti). The
deal is that we are still fighting the system of oppression (self-hatred in
Latin America ought to be combated too) plaguing throughout the Americas. There
should be structural changes in Brazil as a means to address not only economic
inequality, but police brutality including access to services too. There is
still a strong MNU movement in Brazil. "Race, Class and the World Cup in
Brazil" is a great article written by Mike LaSusa that talks about this
issue and more too. Forever, I am in solidarity with the Afro-Brazilian
peoples. RIP Abdias do Nascimento.
If black people have said some of the comments the Tea Party
members and white reactionary extremists say in public, then black people would
be investigated by intelligence agencies, jailed, imprisoned, fired from their
jobs, etc. That is just being real. Scholars have documented white privilege in
society. The video is interesting and should cause discussion and debate. The
truth is that many white people have conversations like this all of the time.
So, this is not surprising. Also, we ought to know another lesson. Black people
have diverse interests. Just because a black person have diverse interests or
have eclectic tastes doesn't mean that this black person is acting
"white" or wants to be "white." People should be judged on
the content of their character not on their accent or their legitimate
interests. A black person can still love black people, defend black people,
work with black people, and still have a myriad of interests at the same time
(black people have every right to hike, to camp, to listen to music, to build,
to engineer, to discuss about shows, etc.). Not to mention that black people
have the right to express natural hair, to honor our heroes, to respect black
culture, to express our creativity without apology, and to love Africa. We as a
people should learn diverse topics, so we can further grow our social potential
as human beings. People should discuss about these matters, so we can make solutions.
It is very important for us to not only defend voting rights, to defend human
rights, and to fight for civil liberties. We must continue to oppose U.S.
military interventions in Africa. We see how imperialism from the West has
harmed Iraq, Libya, and Syria. Since 9/11, Western forces have continued to
expand their economic and political power. For over 522 years, the Western
powers have used mass slaughter, rape, torture, pillage, perpetual war,
cultural degradation, social divisions, psychological manipulation, etc.
against humanity. That is a historical fact. We see that the war crimes, the
cluster bombs, etc. never represent true egalitarian democracy. These actions
represent the need of the oligarchy to dominate human beings based on economic,
energy, and political reason. Millions of lives have been killed by the war on
terror alone. Even drone attacks killing civilians have occurred under the
current administration. We know that NATO aided terrorists, who killed innocent
black Libyans. We know that the West has aided some al-Qaeda affiliated
terrorists in Syria when these terrorists have killed many innocents. We know
that white supremacist capitalist power has aided reactionary regimes in the
four corners of the Earth including Africa. Even the U.S. aided Portuguese
forces via NATO fight against the courageous African freedom fighters in Angola
and Mozambique. Many faux liberals have even collaborated with imperialists and
their agenda under the guise of “humanitarianism.” We should talk about these
issues and ally with independent political movements that are anti-imperialists
as well. We have to be in solidarity with the African peoples desiring
liberation.
I did my research. Rangel has praised the Dominican
Republic's apartheid anti-Haitian court decision. That is very disappointing.
In the final analysis, the voters must decide who will represent their
district. I see that Espaillat has opposed the decision (yet, he has supported
the new 2014 Dominican immigration policy law). Sometimes, you have to allow
new blood to represent the people. Regardless, I hope the best for the district
and for all NYers in general. Black people in the Americas have experienced the
worst human rights atrocities in world history, which were the Maafa &
slavery in the Americas (including colonialism in the Motherland). He is right
to make that point. He is right to mention that the Maafa, slavery, Jim Crow,
etc. have harmed a lot of black people psychologically, emotionally, and socially
(even in our time emotionally). Now, we are not genetically predisposed to
degeneracy collectively, but our ancestors have suffered a lot. Many of the
struggles of our ancestors are struggles that we still suffer today. There are
many legacies of slavery that still exist today from unwarranted &
abusive spanking, disrespect to black people, the soul food, the divide
& conquer strategies, and other evils. Our DNA is from Africa, so our
original DNA has nothing to do totally with the Maafa. The legacy of the Maafa
and slavery just harms us to this day though. Many illnesses and troubling
behaviors are passed down from generation to generation (still, these things
exist from the context of white supremacist oppression not our original state).
Not to mention that true black culture is not equated to savagery. Black
culture in human history has been related to governmental growth, honor, family
development, communal organization, etc. It is just that the white supremacist
culture has brainwashed some black people to act in contrary to their natural
essence. Our natural essence is about civilization building, love of family,
and a fight for justice. That is why when our people established Black Wall
Street, white racists attacked it unjustly. So, we need not only to wake up,
but we need to protect ourselves and to grow our Power. Sister Trojan Pam has
written a lot about this issue in her books. Scandal and other shows stereotype
black people in sexualized terms. Many black women are objectified in society as
shown by the Olivia Pope character (which is a throwback to how our Sisters
were raped, mistreated, and exploited by white racists. Scandal is about the
events of a black female victim who suffers at the hands of a powerful white
President). Also, black men have been objectified too in sexual terms by white
racists too. I read about how black men are sexually exploited in the Caribbean
and in Africa by numerous white women. This oppression occurs among both
genders of black people. The stereotypes among both genders ought to be fought
against.
Fundamentally, we can’t be liberated unless we have the
KNOWLEDGE OF SELF. We have to know who we are if we want to be fully free.
Also, many of our people need therapy as a means to experience healing and
renewal. The truth is that black women collectively should not be scapegoated
for all ills in the black community. Black women are not responsible for the
War on Drugs, for the Maafa, for massive discrimination, for imperialism, for
high black unemployment, for many other issues in our community. The reason for
these things deals with the racist white supremacist power structure including
economic oppression. It is better for a person to advocate building up black
women, encouraging black women, and giving real advice to black women instead
of denigrating black women. No one is perfect. We can honestly talk about our
issues without harming each other. Males and females have similarities and
differences. The more we respect our similarities and differences, the better
off we will be as members of the human family. A black man has to respect a
black woman and a black woman has to respect a black man. Not to mention that
society has bashed black men and a black man’s dignity should be honored. A black
man should never be ashamed of his masculine essence. Some in our community do
have issues and that can be solved via programs, therapy, and other solutions
not scapegoating. Numerous people are correct to expose people like Tommy Sotomayor
(he is a reactionary and he is allied with the white racist talk show entities)
who disrespect black women. He exposed the hypocrisy of the anti-black women
bashers. The bashers claim to adhere to the vanguard of revolutionary thinking,
but they readily refuse to criticize the white racist power structure in a real
way (while bashing black women in a vulgar fashion). A Black woman is the first
woman on Earth. In African culture, women are heavily praised and respected. It
is found in white supremacist culture that bashes women in general or relegates
them into a second class status. Religious and spiritual traditions (from black
people and humans of color) have always respected the feminine archetype. Any
black man disrespecting black women in an offensive way is wrong period. That is
like disrespecting a person’s mother. Black women should be respected. So, many people have connected many dots on why things are in the first place. Even through all of
the turmoil our people suffered, there are still strong, upright black men and
black women fighting the good fight. A man has every right to express strength
and to follow the truth. A woman has every right to show strength and to follow
the truth as well. So, we should learn about our culture, our history, and
continue to build in society.
By Timothy
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