The midterms should not cause us to have despair. It should represent a real opportunity for the growth of independent political movements that can progressively address the needs of the people. We know that the corporate two party system in Washington doesn’t need to be worshiped. We should reject the system of white supremacy and realize that both parties have expressed contempt for Black America and all freedom loving peoples. We need revolutionary changes. Imperialism is still a serious threat in the world. Both parties in their leaderships want to privatize education, gentrify neighborhoods, privatize public resources in general, continue with the low wage economy, fund trillions in imperial war and bank bailouts, and continue with the prison industrial complex (including fund militarized and racist police forces). The working class and the poor are oppressed in the same system of oppression. There has been a low voter turnout in the Midterm election. Yet, the consciousness of the people can rise even more with the promotion of the rights of black people, immigrant rights, and the rights of all oppressed people of the world. The lesser of two evils mantra is refuted, because even some Democrats want to be like Republicans on numerous issues. We will confront educational and environmental problems too. With the Obama administration, we see the ruling class still promoting the same reactionary agenda in terms of foreign policy including other matters too. We need real collective leadership by increasing the power of oppressed people. There must be the politics of liberation. The oppressed need self-determination and the building of their own institutions without laissez faire capitalism. We are not only fighting racism and discrimination. We are fighting poverty too. We don’t need to return to business as usual. We need justice now.
There is no massive rioting in the streets and the Governor is obviously going into the extreme route by establishing a state of emergency. It is fact that the Governor should listen to the community’s concerns more thoroughly and understand the social conditions in the St. Louis/Ferguson area. He should publicly not only condemn police brutality, but he should advocate a radical change in the area. He still has not apologized to the people of Ferguson for the police using tear gas, rubber bullets, etc. against innocent protesters. He has not apologized to the public for the police indiscriminately ARRESTING protesters and journalists. The “potential" of something bad happening is being used by the Governor as a means to justify his extreme order. He is assuming someone bad will happen, and that declaration only agitates tensions. This problem involving police brutality, extrajudicial killings of black people, etc. has been occurring nationwide. Many people of many colors are protesters and expressing a need for revolutionary change. People should not worship law enforcement as infallible deities. The establishment wants the status quo and we don’t. People need justice and true respect, understanding, including compassion. Art is one of the greatest ways to express ideals. The images made by many old school Black Panthers were important in sending the message out (about how police terrorism is evil and how the power of the people can create real social change). Today, we also deal with oppression. The movement in Ferguson and in other places represents the new generation's call for freedom and justice. I have no issue with being called African American or Black. The study confirms what Brothers and Sisters have said for decades. The word Black is a powerful word. Many white people have fear when black people classify themselves as black in a strong fashion. Black is a strong word and its meaning is not only potent, but it is inspirational too. Therefore, we can’t forget about the Dream and the prize. We know about the dream. The dream is about living in a world where we are not stopped and frisked all of the time. It is about living in a society where discrimination and racism are things of the past. It is about where injustice is obliterated and justice is firmly established in the globe. There is nothing wrong with being Black either as Black is BEAUTIFUL.
The racists certainly don’t know about the wonderful, excellent sub-Saharan civilizations of Africa. I learned about it when I was young, but like many black people, I learned about it in a higher level when I was in college. John Henrik Clarke, John Hope Franklin, and other people were great black historians and scholars too. They lived their lives to not only express love for African culture, but they wanted black people to have social consciousness too. In other words, it is great to learn about our real history, but we should also create legitimate social and political change which can improve the lives of black people collectively. We should learn about these things back in elementary school as well. Many are right on that point. Numerous people was correct to refute the Horatio Alger myth. Obviously, no one is an island. No human being is without influences, connections, and experiences during their lifetimes. Also, many European immigrants received the Homestead Act and other government subsidies which caused many of them to get an incredible amount of opportunities. Our ancestors were brought into the Americas in chains and they worked in the Americas for centuries without pay, without unions, and without any form of true equality. Yet, our ancestors courageously fought back in rebellions and defended our honor and our dignity. Many black people back then became doctors, authors, scientists, engineers, politicians, activists, etc. That is an amazing achievement in it of itself. Also, many European immigrants, who came into America, had extensive networks among their people. Some of these networks (involving apprenticeships, economic powerbases, etc.) already have been established in America. Many European immigrants changed their names constantly as a means to assimilate into white mainstream society more readily. That is true. Some immigrants were discriminated against, but they never experienced the brutality that black Americans have suffered. White European immigrants still had white privilege. Other excellent points are to be mentioned too. Plentiful resources in Africa along with other factors caused many West Africans centuries ago to not massively travel into Europe or Asia. Just because a West African centuries ago may not trade to countries in Europe doesn’t mean that West Africans were inferior. They were very intelligent. Africa itself has great resources from iron to cobalt. This caused many Europeans and others to come into Africa not vice versa. King Leopold was definitely similar to Hitler in his genocidal actions. The truth about the greatness of black history and black culture ought to be known and respected.
The RNC has never lied about their reactionary agenda. Many of them are proto-fascists. We live in a society where there is class and racial oppression. The RNC outright supports imperial foreign policy and neoliberal economic policies as well. Many Democrats have supported this agenda too, so this is not a one party deal. Fundamentally, we need a society where human rights and the communal essence of society are superior to the deification of property and the deification of money. The mostly GOP-led Supreme Court has gutted parts of the Voting Rights Act. If the poor can’t have economic justice, then that is cruel and unusual punishment. No government should be respected if it is a government of the rich, and for the rich. The War on Drugs should be abolished, sentencing disparities ought to be addressed (as the prison industrial complex is disgraceful as explained by George Jackson, Angela Davis, etc.), and corporate welfare should be gone. Also, I am reading the book entitled, “All Labor Has Dignity” with an introduction written by Michael K. Honey. That book reminds me that labor rights is key in the liberation of humanity. That book has shown how the Montgomery bus boycott, the Memphis sanitation strike, the Scirpto strikes, etc. involved brave workers. Workers’ rights must be respected (a living wage is important, unfair tax loopholes must be gone, and corporate corruption must end) and bourgeois policies won’t cut it. There must be a radical redistribution of political and economic power as Dr. King has said. There is nothing wrong with growing enterprises (who treat workers fairly), but that is not enough. Unjust laws must be banned. The poor deserve justice. The environment must be better and record economic inequality must be combated. Not to mention that our CRIMINAL justice system must be radically changed. So, a comprehensive approach is needed.
Superficial ego means nothing. They get really scared when we use our minds and escape the traps of the system. They hate it when we know not only know their game plan, but when we use steps to create our own solutions with our own minds. We know how vicious the system is. We know about the racial disparities found in the judicial system and we know how black people have suffered oppression. We should CONTINUE to be wise. Those who disrespect their own people in an offensive way, those who slander, those who believe in lies about the community, etc. are easily refuted.
That is why we should never give up. Our ancestors suffered a whole lot worse than what we deal with today. We blame the orchestrators of the evil system (people from across backgrounds including our black people have exposed the evil system of white supremacy for a long time) in the first place and we don't blame the victims of the system for everything under the sun. Yes, there can be more positive actions enacted. People can do better and we have a long way to go. The extremists just ignore any black person making a difference, helping the oppressed or just providing services to people in an inspirational fashion. That is why the racists have a cognitive dissonance as it relates to them to understanding reality. They want to hear what they want to hear and reject anything that refutes their retrograde ideas. The denial of truth (including the embrace of vicious bigotry) is representative of insecurity, but the embrace of wisdom is the beginning of enlightenment.
That is why it is important to not judge someone unfairly. People don’t know exactly what people are going through all of the time and gracious people exist across socioeconomic backgrounds. We have to see people as people. We should appreciate people’s humanity. That action is the quantum leap, which some need to accept. Many will not highlight the great contributions done by black people daily. We know how the news is in obfuscating information or outright using deception. LOL. Operation Mockingbird shows the deceptiveness of many in the corporate media system. When we not only respect and appreciate our humanity, but respect the humanity of others (along with helping society in general), then we witness the fullness of the Universe. Accurate data from white people, etc. is important. There can be no wise assessment of any community without understanding both individual and collective parts of society. Also, the youth must be taught to reject false stereotypes too. We know that Italians are not all mobsters and the majority of black people are not CRIMINALS. We must live by example too. We should reject their traps and not fall for distractions. We have to enact compassion in society and allow altruism to be a real principle to live by. Doing these things not only will refute stereotypes, but it can guide our human souls.
By Timothy
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