Monday, December 07, 2015

History and Culture in early December 2015

We remember the 150th year anniversary of the 13th Amendment, which overtly ended legalized slavery. We fought to end the Confederacy, which was righteous and good. We still have a long way to go. One part of the movement for liberation is for us to defend our history and our culture as black people. Certainly, the CCC and other evil groups are rather overt in their nefarious agendas. They want to eliminate their guilt of the criminal actions of their ancestors as others have eloquently mentioned. It is a historical fact that black people were slaves at the hands of white racists and even other non-blacks. These evil people (who are white racists) desire to rewrite history (by denying the real history of slavery), because they want to deny the right of black people to talk about slavery, racism, and white supremacy courageously and without compromise. White racists organized the ships, the routes, the kidnapping, the land thefts, and the genocide plus the rapes during the Maafa. European colonialism stole the resources of the Motherland of Africa. The Maafa was created by European imperialist forces. Their actions prove that our enemies didn’t stop their malicious agenda during the 1960’s. They are continuing in their actions today. Our youth should know that we must defeat the system of white supremacy once and for all, so a system of justice can come about. It is very obvious that white racists want black people to deny slavery and deny that slavery existed. The truth is that slavery existed and the Maafa was the worst international war crime in human history. Black people were in enslaved in Africa, in the Americas, in India, in Saudi Arabia, in Iran, in Turkey, in Europe, etc. by whites and other non-blacks during the Maafa. These white racists certainly have done the same with Jewish people with their advocacy of Holocaust denial (which is a lie and an evil agenda). The Holocaust or the Shoah was evil. Also, many black people died during the Holocaust. So, if these white racists deny the Holocaust, they also deny the black people (which included Afro-Germans, Black American soldiers, and other black people) who died in the concentration camps too. For the sake of our black ancestors, I will never forget. Nazi Germany was influenced by American white eugenicists (as Hitler was influenced by the evil forced sterilization laws of America) and they were funded by large Western multinational corporations too. This is deep. Real black scholars abound in the world and we respect their work totally. The heroic actions of the resisters to Nazi oppression will be honored wholeheartedly. We won't stop, because we can't stop. We own our black history and we will defend it. They or the racists are certainly trying to test us. We should never take their bait and speak truth to power. The more that we unify, the more love that we show to our people, and the more constructive action that we execute, the better off that we will be as Black Brothers and as Black Sisters.

Many Black Lives protesters are legitimately opposed to the corruption found in many universities nationwide. They also disagree with Woodrow Wilson’s negative legacy. Many BLM members have talked about class issues, poverty, the environment, and other important issues that we all hold dear. It is important to end the system where the top 1 percent generates so much wealth at the expense of workers’ exploitation. We are against police violence war, refugee scapegoating, poverty, and ecocide. We believe in political independence too. That means that we don't worship the Democrats or the Republicans. Wilson spoke of not supporting WWI, but later he did. Wilson represented the interests of the American capitalist class. He lived through the events of the stalemate of WWI, the threat of a German imperial system, the Mexican Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the growth of socialism in America, and the anti-communist, anti-civil liberty reaction caused by the establishment. Wilson oversaw the arrest of the socialist leader Eugene V. Debs and hundreds of radicals through the Palmer Raids of 1919-1920. Debs would leave prison in 1921 after Wilson left office. Woodrow Wilson believed in imperialism. He led the U.S. to war, invaded Mexico, and the Soviet Russia too. Wilson’s father was a leader of the Confederate Presbyterian church. Wilson was a Democratic President. Wilson instituted segregation policies in Washington, D.C. He was elected in a four-way race with only 42 percent of the vote, defeating Republican incumbent William Howard Taft, former president and Progressive Party candidate Theodore Roosevelt, and the revolutionary socialist Eugene Debs, who polled a significant 6 percent of the vote—the highest of any socialist in American history.

Once, the Democratic platform of 1912 included attacks on high costs of living and a statement opposing “a policy of imperialism and colonial exploitation in the Philippines or elsewhere.” In 1916, Wilson nominated social reformer Louis Brandeis as Supreme Court Justice and defended him in the face of widespread conservative and anti-Semitic opposition. Wilson by April 1917 repudiated the pacifism of the Baltimore platform by requesting a declaration of war on the Central Powers. He tried to make the “humanitarian” appeal to justify imperialism. Humanitarian appeals would continue today. After American expansionism in the West Coast, America sought to develop an imperial system overseas from Asia to other places of the world. Working class oppression to war was suppressed. In the words of historian William Leuchtenburg, “imperialism and militarism had replaced the old forms of liberal protest” during the Wilson years. Richard Hofstadter also writes that the war machinations “destroyed the popular impulse that had sustained progressive politics for the decade before 1914.” The Third Battle of Ypres was brutal. The Russian Revolution involved the working class to end the 300 Romanov dynasty over the course of five days in February of 1917. The passage of the anti-democratic Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 followed suit. These laws violated human rights. The League of Nations failed. Wilson lost the 1920 election to Warren Harding. He was ill and soon passed always years later. No Democratic President would replace him until Franklin D. Franklin would be President in 1933.  Roosevelt was himself a former Wilsonian, appointed as Assistant Secretary of the Navy in 1913 when he was a relatively little known state senator from New York. Roosevelt’s presidency and the course of the latter half of the 20th century included many things (which include social reforms and imperialist war overseas). So, the lesson of Woodrow Wilson (who died in the age of 67) is that we must promote the rights of the working class, we are opposed to imperialism, we reject racism including legalized apartheid (which was segregation in America) and we want liberation.

We don't need celebrities to validate our existence. We have the power. We have the power to teach the youth especially about the great legacy of black feminists and black womanists from Bell Hooks to Rosa Parks including other Sisters who are standing up for what is right. Amber Rose has contradictions in the sense that she shouldn't be mistreated, but she glamorizes the same misogynistic slur that is so commonly used in our society. Therefore, Amber Rose is not representative of every black woman. Amber Rose is not a black woman. She is a multi ethnic woman. Her father is white. His mother is Scottish and Cape Vardean. I don't believe in whitewashing the accomplishments of black women scholars. Oppression is heavily intersectional. For example, a poor black person suffers classism, racism, and discrimination. Black women have experienced racism, sexism, and other injustices too. In order for solutions to come, we have to study the past and the present. We have to sacrifice and stand up for our human rights. This is sad. It is sad for 2 beautiful women to act in this fashion. Also, the 2 women forget the code words that Trump used for them when he said to them: "do a little routine." That phrase means that he wanted them to entertain him as tokens (and it is also code for Trump to want these 2 women to tap dance for him). I don't believe in jingoistic nationalism as America is not God. Donald Trump was heckled multiple times, because many people oppose his views adamantly. The vast majority of the mass shooters in the past 15 years in America are white men not undocumented workers. We have seen a rise in xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia in the States being orchestrated by extremists and white supremacists. Fascism didn't end in 1945. 70 years have passed since the end of WWII. Many of our relatives (like our grandparents or our great-grandparents) fought in that war. People can support Trump if they want to just like people have the right to disagree with him. Dissent is a human right. Today, a fascist GOP candidate is running for President. We will oppose fascism today and forever. Instead of playing on people's fears, we believe in a living wage. Instead of ignoring racism, we believe in total racial justice for black people. Instead of abhorring science, we believe in cleaning up the environment. We believe in equality and justice like our black ancestors fought for day in and day out.


Houston and culture go hand in hand. The black culture in Houston is strong. Many black people live in Houston and are working and living their lives as any other human being. There are almost 500,000 black people living in Houston, Texas. Houston has a huge number of African Americans. By 2010, African Americans have greater federal representation. One black man served as Mayor Houston one time. His name was Lee P. Brown and he was elected in 1997. As of 2005, Sheila Jackson Lee, a Houstonian, is one of two black Texan U.S. House of Representatives members. From the 1870s to the 1890s, black people were almost 40% of Houston's population. Today, most black people live in areas where they were raised. Traditional African American neighborhoods are the MacGregor area, Settegast, Sunnyside, and the Third Ward. Today, more black people are living in Southwest Houston areas like Alief, Fondren Southwest, Sharpstown, and Westwood by 2005. We have the New Great Migration of black people. This is about the time of 1965 to the present. Deindustrialization of Northern and Midwestern cities have caused more black people to go back into the South, with lower costs of living, family, kinship ties. So, many black people from New York, New Jersey, etc. are traveling into Houston because of the New Great Migration. Much of the states where black people are going into include Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Florida, Texas, Maryland, etc. I have seen many black people from New York and New Jersey living in my region of Hampton Roads, Virginia myself. There is the Ensemble Theatre, which is an African American theater company. It has its studio in Midtown. The theater was founded in 1976 by George Hawkins. It is the largest African American theater company in America Juneteenth is the annual celebration recognizing the emancipation of black slaves in Texas. There are many events throughout Houston commemorating this occasion. Historically Black colleges in Houston include Texas Southern University and Prairie View A&M University. Cultural networking organizing connects African Americans in Houston, eastern Texas, and Louisiana. Studies and scholars document that Houston is one of the greatest cities for African Americans to live, ti work, and to start a business at. There is a strong Black media network of radio stations and newspapers that keep the black community in Houston informed. There are African immigrants, Nigerians, and Ethiopians who live in Houston as well. There is the Black Expo, the Houston International Jazz Festival, and other cultural institutions in Houston. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum is very historic in showing information about African American soldiers. It was created by Vietnam War veteran and African American military historian Mr. Paul J. Matthews. The Houston Museum of African American Culture shows great art, exhibits, and films for all people. It is found in 4807 Caroline Street. It proposes is to teach and inspire people about history and culture of black Americans including all people of black African descent. They have preserved a lot of historical culture from African Americans, Africans, and people of the African Diaspora. Years ago, Sister Saro Wiva did an exhibit about romantic love in Africa and black self-love. Therefore, it is very important to know about black history.



By Timothy

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