The African American Story Part 7 (The Fourth Era)
2017 and Beyond for Black America
We live in a new decade of the 2010’s. During this decade, we see new changes in Black America. We see more diverse voices of black people in the movies, the arts, theater, and other aspects of our lives. We see the further growth of technology from Netflix, cloud gaming, Hulu, Twitch, Twitter, Vine, and to the more advanced cell phone technologies. America continues to be the most powerful nation in terms of GDP while China’s GDP’s growth has radically increased. There is more concern on environmental issues and populations globally have aged massively. Vegans and vegetarians have grown too during this decade with more innovative fashion trends. Music has evolved more and we see continued political polarization. This polarization deals with liberals and conservatives (plus others) debating the role of government and many other issues (from social issues to foreign policy issues). Black Americans have also talked about important issues like economics, the war on terrorism, the environment, health care, civil liberties, police brutality, civil rights, housing, education, job creation, etc.
During this time, these messages are true and relevant. There is no liberation without unity. Unity doesn't mean that we agree on every single issue. Unity does mean that we agree on the final goal, which is freedom and justice for our people. There is always a need to learn more from others. The reason is that other people have valuable insights too. Asking questions, researching, and getting great advice are great ways to develop yourself. I always love my melanin. I love my Blackness and I love Africa. We are in this together, which means that unity makes us stronger and loving our black African heritage is a prerequisite for spiritual, physical, and emotional liberation. Yes, BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL.
African Americans also have written books, created studies, and lived lives all around in order to achieve their own sense of happiness. During this age of Trump, we see many rollbacks of some of the progressive victories that we have established for generations. One example is how many environmental regulations are gutted, the GOP law has draconian cuts to social programs, and there is an authoritarian travel ban too. In other words, black people, refugees, immigrants, women, and other minorities deserve their rights to be protected and maintained too. 2018 is here and our mindset is to fight for justice. 2020 is not far away either. This is my last commentary of this African American history series. It has been fun to learn and to grow over the course of more than one year. I have gained great insights about my people and I'm glad to show what I know to the world. Now, it's time to show the following facts about what is going on from 2017 to the present (which is now in early 2018).
Many young people are standing up for what is right as well. A 10-year-old girl is adding her voice to those calling for some mercy for Haitian immigrants in America. Her name is Ronyde Christina Ponthieux of Florida. She has said the following words: “We are not criminals. Like my parents, like your parents, like you, they are hard working honest people who just want a safe place to raise their families,” the little girl said in her video to Trump. “They have deep roots in their communities; they pay taxes; they contribute to the social, economic and political fabric of this great nation.” Tonya Lewis Lee is an advocate for women’s health and infant mortality. Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, Phillip Agnew, Patrisse Cullors, and other young black people are on the front lines fighting for justice. Black America always sees this current reality as nothing new. We have experienced the Maafa and slavery and we survived. We experienced Jim Crow and we survived. We will survive the Age of Trump. The deal is that we have to continue to fight. Fighting revolves around forming institutions that build up the black community, organizing resistance against oppression, mentoring, and opposing any injustice. Trump is overt in his ending of the climate change agreement, pardoning Arpaio, sending provocative threats against North Korea, and his evil words in calling neo-Confederate marchers in Charlottesville “fine people.” Trump is obsessed with criticizing Barack Obama, but he refuses to clean up his own house. Therefore, the Trump regime deserves no coddling. They deserve our resistance and we will continue to stand up and speak up for our human rights as black people.
The Supporters of Trump
Most supporters of Donald Trump are conservatives. Many of them believe in his extremist nationalist views too. One sign of such of a supporter involve them wearing the contradictory hate “Make America Great Again.” My question is when was America this great Utopia? America has a long history of brutality, hypocrisy, slavery, racism, police brutality, sexism, and other injustices. Therefore, we want America to be great in the future as America has not lived up to the ideals of democratic freedom during the past. Also, many of Trump supporters unconditionally try to make rationalizations of his policies even when Trump is wrong. One example is when Trump falsely said that some fine people marched to defend the statue of a Confederate slave owner (whose name is Robert E. Lee) in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Confederacy was defeated and it was notorious to advocate for slavery and racism (as documented by its own documents). Some folks still try to defend Trump. Trump has shown the world his bigotry and his vulgarity. He is no role model and his Presidency is filled with disgrace. Also, there are many black people who support Trump. Many of Trump’s supporters include Kellyanne Conway, Mike Pence, Jeff Sessions, and other people.
Many black people support Trump since some of them believe in the evil of xenophobia (in that some want to blame immigrants instead of capitalism, racism, austerity, discrimination, or neoliberalism for economic issues in the black community. The xenophobes omit that undocumented immigration has decreased, eugenics are linked to radical anti-immigration, and the one percent use tactics to play immigrants and others against each other when the 1 percent is the entity involved in the oppression of us all regardless of immigration status. Undocumented immigrants and all people are created equal and are entitled to unalienable human rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness period). Some Trump supporters are plain conservatives who believe in the Horatio Alger myth that respectability politics and patriarchy can cause true freedom. Some believe that he can build urban centers in the black community, which is not the case as urban rebuilding requires public investment (not laissez-faire capitalism). Some of these supporters use spiritual or religious justifications, but Trump has publicly said that he doesn't ask God for forgiveness, he calls women out of their names on many occasions, he uses profanity on the regular, and he wants the NFL to fire players who refuse to stand for a racist national anthem. So, Trump is antithetical to true spiritual or moral principles. Some black supporters believe in the deception that de-emphasizing the real problem of racial oppression & any form of oppression (in advancing post racialism) is key in causing true reform. We know many of their names. They (or African American Trump supporters) include George Foreman, Paris Dennard, Burnlle Donald-Kyei, Ray Lewis, Jim Brown, Stacey Dash (who recently disrespected Maxine Waters. Dash is totally wrong for her reprehensible actions. Maxine Waters gave an excellent, inspirational speech at the Black Girl Rock celebration in 2017), Omarosa Manigault, Diamond and Silk, etc.
Today, Omarosa is about to leave the White House by 2018 in January. For a long time, she has made the serious mistake to support Trump (whose views and actions are antithetical to the interests of the black community and other Americans in general). First, Trump is clear that he wants the death penalty for the innocent Central Park Five. He has shown vulgar language against women, especially against black women. Trump has gone out of his way to support a bill that benefits multinational corporations and doesn't help the majority of the poor or middle class . Trump has threatened a war with North Korea and he believes that peaceful protesters should be fired from the NFL (as he doesn't like the social activism of so many heroic anti-police brutality activists). Omarosa (who recently denied being dragged out of the White House by Secret Service) has been disrespectful to not only journalist April Ryan, but to other women like Symone Sanders. Omarosa is incorrect to support Trump's campaign and we won't bow to Trump. Trump is not my God and he isn't my President. April Ryan is a woman is an incredibly compassionate woman to take the high road. Supporting black interests is clear. It is about promoting progressive education, health care, anti-police brutality measures, racial justice, economic justice, civil liberties, advancing freedom. She or Omarosa was paid $187,000 and Trump made a sick moral equivalency among white supremacists plus neo-Confederates and anti-hate protesters. Now, I don't believe that Omarosa should be disrespected in an inappropriate way, but I have every right to disagree with Omarosa on many issues. No one should ally with a racist, sexist bigot like Trump. So, Robin Roberts, Angela Rye, and others talked about this situation too.
There is no compromise about this issue of opposing injustice. Trump once again shows that he's a racist and a white supremacist by overtly showing disdain and racism against Haitians, Africans, and Central Americans (on January 2018. I send great credit to Joy Reid and others in exposing Trump's offensive bigotry as we have a total obligation to counteract evil). It is a historical fact that Haitians and Africans have made great contributions throughout world history. One man from Ghana rescued many people in saving lives during the NYC fire recently. His name was Private Emmanuel Mensah. Many Haitians are famous actors, actresses, musicians, authors, scientists, and other scholars. We know many people in Latin and Central America making great contributions in the arts, science, and other endeavors. Senator Durbin of Illinois has confirmed that Trump has said those despicable comments during a discussion about immigration issues. These discussions relate not only about DACA (which includes immigrants who deserve to stay in America), but other matters as well. Trump has some nerve to criticize Haiti when it was American forces who unjustly occupied Haiti brutally during the 20th century (from 1915 to 1934). It is no secret about what Donald Trump desires. He wants the militarization of the border, a border wall, drastic cuts to the visas for family members of legal immigrants, and he wants to gut the diversity visa lottery for immigrants from Africa, Central America and other regions of the world (whose populations are mostly people of color). Those aims are reactionary, wrong, and extremist. GOP members, who are silent on Trump's bigotry, should be ashamed of themselves.
The African Union had condemned Trump's racist comments. The European Union wants Trump to have an apology. The United Nations human rights office on Friday labeled President Donald Trump's words as racist. Trump's words threaten the lives of Americans overseas and his words are totally evil. We see how Homeland Security said that they are ending the legal status of about 250,000 Salvadorans who lived in America for decades. We also see many in Congress agreeing with a policy in the FISA law having surveillance against Americans without warrants in Section 702. I deplore that policy because I believe in human civil liberties. It doesn't matter if Democrats or Republicans believe in Section 702. It's still wrong. Sessions and Trump can use this policy to monitor us too. I agree with the ACLU on the FISA issue. Back to immigration, America is enriched by its immigrants (who pay taxes, are hard working, and believe in wisdom). Trump has disgusting views and it is important to make sure that progressive policies exist to protect immigrants (as ICE agents do go around to harass immigrants today). ICE agents are randomly asking people on citizenship status on buses, trains, and other locations in upstate NY and everywhere. That's wrong. There are camps that house Mexicans, Haitians, and other immigrants nationwide. We are not silent on this issue. We love our black people and I am an African American. Also, we stand in solidarity with immigrants too.
Trump has said racist, vile words for years. He demonized Mexicans, women, and wants the Central Park Five to be in jail (when they are innocent). Trump called racist neo-Confederates in Charlottesville "fine people" when they are bigoted extremists. He has been sued over housing discrimination back during the 1970's. This isn't new and any supporter of Trump (regardless of his or her race) is complicit in his racism period. That is why it is important to oppose xenophobia, racism, imperialism, and any injustice. The words of Ezra Lazarus ring true and the ideal of justice for all is what we hold dear forever.
They or the Trump supporters have made their choice. They have the First Amendment right to speak their minds. I have the First Amendment right to disagree with them.
The Resistance (in opposition to the Trump Regime)
The Resistance which continues to oppose the Trump regime is diverse and large. Black people have headed the resistance since the beginning. The 2017 Women’s March existed on January 21-22, 2017. It was the single largest protest in American history. The leaders of this march were Tamika D. Mallory (who is a black woman. She recently opposed the backlash against the courageous actions of Kaepernick), Linda Sarsour, Carmen Perez, and Bob Bland. About 500,000 people marched in Washington, D.C. About 4.6 million people protested in America and up to 5 million people protested worldwide. The marchers were about opposing an administration whose agenda is the suppression of the human rights of people worldwide. Many of these marchers protested in favor of women’s rights, racial equality, immigrant rights, healthcare solutions, environmental justice, the freedom of religion, LGBTQIA+ rights, workers’ rights, and an end to Islamophobia. They came out in the streets after the inauguration of Donald Trump. The Washington March was streamed live on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. Many people stood up in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Antarctica. Many people marched in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Seattle. Tamika D. Mallory was one black woman who was a leader of the march. She made it clear that the concerns of black people have the right to be heard. The march wanted to promote social justice and human rights. She is a political organizer and former executive director of the National Action Network.
Linda Sarsour is the executive director of the Arab American Association of New York and Carmen Perez is an executive director of the political action group The Gathering for Justice. Bob Bland is a fashion designer who focuses on ethical manufacturing. The march wanted to build bridges and not walls. Many speakers were there in Washington, D.C. to give their views. In July 2017, the Women's March official twitter feed celebrated the birthday of Assata Shakur, an African-American revolutionary, who was falsely accused of murder and she currently lives her life in Cuba. Also, many people have opposed the Trump regime in boycotts, protests, organizing, and other efforts after the Women’s March.
Praise for Black Women
We always celebrate the humanity of Black Women forever. The showing of the Black Girls Rock celebration (as found in BET) is historic and necessary too. Beverly Bond is the founder of the movement. First, the human family in general owes a debt of gratitude to black women. Black Women are the mothers of the human race. All people came from a Black Women period. Therefore, we always send great respect and honor to black women, who heroically fought oppression, raised families, and achieved magnificent accomplishments in education, STEM fields, athletics, theology, fashion, music, sociology, legal matters, and other aspects of human endeavors. In the final analysis, there is no liberty for all without the liberation of black women. These words are real Talk. We will continue to speak out and stand up for our rights also. So, we should always acknowledge the strength, the sacrifice, and the genius of Black Women.
Yes, Black Women Rock.
Trump Scandals
One of the most controversial political scandals in history is the Russian scandal. It involves the allegation that Russian actors interfered with the 2016 elections of the United States of America. There is another allegation that the Trump team colluded with Russians in order to promote an electoral victory. Time will tell the complete truth. In the meantime, it is important to chronologically show information about this scandal. By Spring of 2015, the U.S. intelligence community intercepted conversations of Russian government officials discussing associates of Donald Trump in a high volume. Trump announced his candidacy for President in June 15, 2015. Later, a hack occurred against at least one DNC computer system as exposed by a FBI special agent. On Hugh Hewitt’s radio program, Trump says, “The oligarchs are under [Putin’s] control, to a large extent. I mean, he can destroy them, and he has destroyed some of them… Two years ago, I was in Moscow . . . I was with the top-level people, both oligarchs and generals, and top-of-the-government people. I can’t go further than that, but I will tell you that I met the top people, and the relationship was extraordinary.” Trump wanted to build a Trump branded building in Moscow, but it doesn’t materialize.
On November of 2015, Trump associate Felix Sater emails Trump lawyer Michael Cohen: "Michael, I arranged for Ivanka to sit in Putin's private chair at his desk and office in the Kremlin [...] Our boy can become president of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putin's team to buy in on this.” Michael T. Flynn (who is a retired General) gave a paid speech on world affairs in Moscow. The dinner was created by RT News or an English language Russian network. Flynn was on RT as an analyst. By February 29, 2017, Paul Manafort submits a five-page proposal to Trump outlining his qualifications to help Trump secure enough convention delegates and win the Republican presidential nomination. Manafort describes how he had assisted rich and powerful business and political leaders, including oligarchs and dictators in Russia and Ukraine: “I have managed presidential campaigns around the world." Russian officials and the Trump team contact each other from April 2016 and beyond. Manafort becomes Trump’s campaign manager. Reports surface about his 2007 to 2012 ties to former President of Ukraine Victor Yanukovych, whom Manafort had helped to elect. On June 9, 2016, Jared Kushner, Manafort and Trump Jr. were in Trump Tower with Goldstone, Natalia Veselnitskaya, a Russian attorney, Rinat Akhmetshin, a Russian-American lobbyist, Ike Kaveladze, a representative of the Agalarovs' Crocus Group, and a translator.
Veselnitskaya is best known for lobbying against the Magnitsky Act, an American law that blacklists suspected Russian human rights abusers. Donald Trump Jr. gave conflicting accounts about the meeting to this day. On July 22, 2016, WikiLeaks publishes 20,000 emails from seven key officials of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). The emails show them disparaging Bernie Sanders and favoring Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential primaries. Trump wants Russia to find Clinton’s emails. James Comey of the FBI uses an investigation to find out the truth about allegations of Russian interference by July of 2016. Brennan calls his Russian counterpart Alexander Bortnikov, head of the Federal Security Service (FSB), to warn him against meddling in the presidential election. Sessions met with Russian official Kislyak at least 2 times.
By September 29, 2016, Comey testified before the House Judiciary Committee, confirming that federal investigators have detected suspicious activities in voter registration databases, as stated in the August 18 alert. Putin denied accusations of Russian interference in elections on October 27, 2016. Through the "red phone", President Obama tells President Putin to stop interfering or face consequences on October 31, 2016. Kislyak denies that Russia was involved in U.S. election hacking on November 2016. On that same day, in a private Oval Office meeting, Obama warns Trump against hiring Flynn. During early December 2016, in Russia, Sergei Mikhailov, FSB cyber chief, Ruslan Stoyanov, senior researcher with Kaspersky Lab, and Dmitry Dokuchayev, a hacker known as “Forb”, are arrested for treason. On December 26, 2016, Oleg Erovinkin, a former KGB official, is found dead in the back seat of his car in Moscow. He was suspected of assisting former MI-6 agent Christopher Steele in compiling a dossier alleging Trump ties to Russia as part of opposition research. The dossier accuses Trump of doing adultery.
Sanctions come against Russia by Obama by December 29, 2016. In a confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sessions denies communicating with the Russian government in the course of Trump's election campaign. Flynn was fired in less than a month in office. By March of 2017, Sessions comes under scrutiny after reports that he had contact with Russian government officials during the election campaign, even though he denied it during his confirmation hearings. So, Jeff Sessions is a liar. Democratic representatives ask Sessions to resign his post as United States Attorney General. Sessions announces that he will recuse himself from any investigations into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election. On May 8, 2017, in an Oval Office meeting, Trump informs Kushner, Pence and McGahn of his intention to remove Comey, and gives them copies of the Miller draft. McGahn objects to the angry tone of this letter and convenes a separate meeting later that day with Sessions and Rosenstein, who had previously considered removing Comey from office. Rosenstein is given a copy of Miller's draft and agrees to write a new memo that would support the dismissal, using Comey's handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation as the main rationale. Yet, Trump is angry over Comey’s investigation of the Russian scandal.
Comey is fired on May 9, 2017. Trump reportedly tells Lavrov and Kislyak that he fired Comey to relieve pressure caused by the investigation. On May 12, 2017, Trump threatens Comey with alleged secret recordings of their conversations. Rosenstein appoints former FBI Director Robert Mueller as special counsel to oversee the investigation into Russian election interference and related matters on that same day.
On July 26, 2017, The FBI conducts a pre-dawn raid on Paul Manafort's home, seizing documents and electronic devices. The raid was on the day Manafort was scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. Mueller investigates Trump’s business actions. House Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas to the FBI and the Department of Justice for documents relating to the Trump dossier. They were not complied with by the September 1 deadline; so the deadline was extended to September 14. The Washington Post and NBC report that Mueller has issued subpoenas to several lobbying firms connected to Flynn and Manafort, including Mercury Public Affairs and SGR LLC. Politico reports that Mueller has teamed up with New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to set up a separate method of charging people in the case, if Trump tries to use his pardon power to stymie the investigation. On September 7, 2017, in a five hour long questioning with the Senate Judiciary Committee's staff, Donald Trump Jr. states that he met with a group of Russians in Trump Tower in June 2016 in order to seek damaging information about Hillary Clinton, but that no such information was forthcoming. The Washington Post reported that Special Council Robert Mueller gave the White House the names of 6 aides he expects to question in Russia probe (Hope Hicks, Sean Spicer, Reince Priebus, Don McGahn, James Burnham and Josh Raffel). The investigation continues.
On October 28, 2017, there is historic and breaking news. Ex-Trump foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos has been charged with lying to the FBI. George has pleaded guilty of lying to the FBI. Papadopoulos tried to set up additional meetings or contacts between people in the Trump campaign and Russians. Manfaort and Rick Gates have been charged with conspiracy against the U.S. Both Manafort and Gates of course deny all charges of conspiracy. The Justice Department indictment on Manafort and Gates contains 12 counts: "conspiracy against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, unregistered agent of a foreign principal, false and misleading FARA statements, false statements, and seven counts of failure to file reports of foreign bank and financial accounts." Manafort's bond is set at 10 million dollars and Gates's bond set is set at 5 million dollars. Both of Gates and Manafort are ordered to have home confinement. They are monitored all of the time and they can't leave their homes unless for specialized reasons. Manafort's attorney Kevin Downing has called the indictments ridiculous. Manafort and Rick Gates has pleaded not guilty in federal court Monday to all the charges announced earlier Monday. Papadopoulous has cooperated with the FBI. The ultimate allegation is that some Russian hackers infiltrated election procedures during the 2016 election in an illegal fashion.
On December 1, 2017, Michael Flynn pleads guilty at federal court to giving false testimony to the FBI about his contacts with Kislyak. As part of Flynn’s negotiations, his son, Michael G. Flynn, is not expected to be charged. Bloomberg reporter Eli Lake speculates in an opinion piece that Jared Kushner is the individual mentioned in Flynn's plea documents who is said to have ordered Flynn to contact Russia. On December 2, 2017, CNN reports that Trump admitted knowing that Flynn lied to the FBI in his tweet that “I had to fire General Flynn because he lied to the Vice President and the FBI." On December 3, Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), the ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says on Meet the Press that her group is "putting together of a case of obstruction of justice" against the president. White House Communications Director Hope Hicks was interviewed by Mueller's team from, December 7-8, 2017 2 times.
Mueller seems to take his time with the indictments and future indictments could take place in the future.
We can handle the truth. Regardless of where this leads into, we have the right to seek answers and anyone who has done wrong (even if the President Trump is involved); they must be held accountable for their actions.
Black Activism and Self-determination
Black people have always had a legacy of political activism and the promotion of self-determination. Self-determination is part of our history and culture. Regardless of whether our political views may exist as, we have promoted self-determination for decades and thousands of years. Self-determination precisely means that human beings can determine their destinies and their lives without unjust outside influence and without oppression basically. It is the means where black people can establish their way of life, culture, music, institutions, and other aspects of our lives in an independent, autonomous fashion. Therefore, we believe in self-determination. In Brazil, the Quilombo were people of African descent who formed settlements in their lands of Brazil (which were in opposition to slavery, racism, and oppression). The Maroons of Jamaica and the Caribbean formed their settlements too. Black leaders as diverse as Marcus Garvey, Dr. King, Malcolm X, Amy Jacques Garvey, Claudia Jones, Paul Robeson, and other human beings advanced the principle of self-determination. All of these people believed accurately that black people must gain economic and political power. We do so in our generation as well. It is always important to desire power. There is nothing wrong with power when it is used correctly to benefit the masses of the people. Part of this fight for self-determination is the call for economic justice. There are many who call out for “black capitalism” and we know of their names.
They are in the Internet, they are in YouTube, and they have many conferences nationwide. Many of them believe in the premise even that poor black people are to be blamed for the conditions of poverty and oppression today. Of course, I disagree with that lie, which is a promotion of the evil of social Darwinism. The problem with “black capitalism” is that it is simplistic and narrow-minded into assuming that forming businesses alone will liberate black people in the world. Businesses alone can never do it since black people not only need economic justice, but health care, environmental protections, civil liberties, educational opportunities, access to healthy foods, the strengthening of families, and other necessities that go beyond businesses. There is nothing wrong with forming legitimate enterprises, but that is not enough. We must also address poverty, economic inequality, and expose the stigma that many black poor and black working class people have been scapegoated with. Therefore, wealth must be redistributed in order for economic inequalities to be eliminated.
As the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has said in 1967, “…And one day we must ask the question, Why are there forty million poor people in America? And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society...”
That comes with an elimination of laissez faire capitalism and the establishment of progressive realities. This fight for justice is also a fight against imperialism for we don’t want the West to have a monopoly of the world’s resources in a neo-colonial fashion. We desire people to independently develop their own resources equitably and with concern for the rights of humanity. The problem with mainstream, free market capitalism is that it is by definition amoral. It neither seeks or promotes moral principles or advances social responsibility. Its major purpose is to establish profit by any means necessary among the owners of capital (regardless of who it is). Its function desires exploitation and its history has been linked to the Maafa and the Trans-Atlantic slave trade (as documented by authors and scholars for years and decades). That is why you need a value system in advancing any economic endeavor. Black capitalist proponents like Tony Brown fail to see that it is impossible to force every black adult to have a business when some black people don’t desire to create one voluntarily.
Many of the black capitalists refuse to advocate policies to rebuild poor communities, establish emergency programs to address poverty, or even advocate for cooperatives or collectives to give food and housing services to the poor. Many of the proposals of the black capitalists today include a pro-middle class alone approach which ignores the needs of other African Americans. That is why buying stock alone can never save us. When you think about it, some become black capitalists in order for them to replace white exploiters with themselves being black exploiters of the black community. There is nothing wrong with credit unions, someone forming small businesses, people learning about economics, and inspiring change. Yet, a comprehensive approach is needed that addresses police brutality, poverty, community issues, etc. Some demonizing the poor is no solution. We know that capitalism by its nature perpetrates economic inequality. Most black people aren’t rich. Many black families need resources for food, housing, clothing, rent or mortgage. While the conservatives are right that the federal government can’t solve every problem, the conservatives are wrong in saying that the federal government can’t be part of the solution making process. The Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act are progressive federal laws; therefore, since the people ought to be represented in the federal government, we have the right to call on the federal government to do its job of promoting the general welfare and send resources to humanity (while we promote plus advance self-determination in our communities at the same time).
Also, we have power within ourselves. That is why we have to fight for our freedom by standing up for our human rights (and develop our independent institutions). That is why being independent is always important.
The poor and the working class have every right to unite and find common cause in confronting economic exploitation. Also, the execution of political and social activism is important for freedom is never won without a struggle. Every victory of black people in general existed by struggle and courage. We reject socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. We want egalitarianism and true democratic policies that can help black people, irrespective of our background. Also, it is important to reject elitists. Many Hoteps (some are made up of the Black petty bourgeoisie) have a tendency to talk down on black people (like Umar Johnson saying that black people are "trifling" for not funding him enough, which is very evil) and claiming that they have the answers alone. Some are outright arrogant and many cultural nationalists have even demonized black people, which is wrong.
Elitism is wrong since it denies human freedom and it ignores the contributions of the masses of black people. Revolution deals with land too. We must deal with land and the poor and working class people must control the resources in the land in order for true liberation to come about. Our liberation isn’t just national. It’s international as black people live internationally. That is why Pan-African movements are correct to promote solidarity with Afro-Canadians, Afro-Latinos, Africans, Afro-French, Afro-British, Afro-Germans, Afro-Brazilians, and all black people of African descent globally (and oppose oppression against anyone period). That is why grassroots political organizing and social activism against racism plus against the capitalist system is very important to execute. Doing that causes real self-determination among people of black African descent for real.
21st Century Examples of Black Excellence (of the 2010's)
Black Excellence flourished continuously from 2010 to our time in early 2018. On February 14, 2010, The New Press published Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindess.” This book is historic as it exposes once again the disproportionate enforcement of harsh drug laws against black people (which causes economic dislocation and social problems in many families of the black community). It appeared on the NY Times bestseller list for 10 months. Sister Michelle Alexander exposes the current prison industrial complex as a New Jim Crow which disenfranchises minorities. America has only 5 percent of the world’s population, but about 25 percent of the world’s prisoners are Americans. Nearly 40 percent of U.S. prisoners are African Americans. Many felons can’t vote even after they have paid their debt to society and even if they have a nonviolent drug offense. The Movie Precious received many accolades and nominations. Mo'Nique wins best supporting actress for her role as Mary Lee Johnson (the mother of Precious played by Gabourey Sidibe). Mo’Nique congratulated Miss Hattie McDaniel for her sacrifice and courage. In March 14, 2010, Disney officially coronated its first African American Disney Princess named Tiana. On April 26, 2010 the revival of August Wilson’s Tony award winning play Fences opened at the Cort Theater on Broadway in New York City. African Americans Kenny Leon was the director and Denzel Washington was the lead role of Troy Maxon. Troy Maxon was a former Negro League player who is confronting his mortality as a worker in Pittsburgh. James Earl Jones had the role in 1987.
Both Denzel Washington and Viola Davis (who plays the wife of Troy name Rose) won Tonys for Leading Actor and Leading Actress in a Play. Kenny Leon continues to create plays and win awards. On February of 2011, the 53rd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles have Carolina Chocolate Drops win the Best Traditional Folk Album with their album. The group was based in Durham, North Carolina. Rhimain Giddens traveled into Gambia in 2006 to study West African music. He is the lead vocalist in the group. In 2011, the Oprah Winfrey Show aired its final episode after 25 years. She launched OWN or the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2011. Tyler Perry in 2011 increases his influence as the first African American to own his own major television and film studio (the Atlanta based Tyler Perry Studios). In January of 2012, the biracial duo of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele debut their show Key & Peele that deals with race, relationships, comedy, sex, and life in general. In February of 2012, Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress in an Oscar for the role of Minny Jackson in the film The Help (which deals with race, the civil rights movement, and workers). Shonda Rhimes’ created the network drama Scandal starring Kerry Washington. It was the first time in more than thirty years that a black woman has been cast as the lead in a drama. Rhimes’ production company of Shondaland ran Grey’s Anatomy, How to Get Away with Murder, etc.
This year of 2012 represented a new era of TV in which new shows not only show racial complexities, but more complex story lines including the group of web-based TV institutions like Netflix. Fred Luter Jr. on June 19, 2012 became the first African American president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC is the largest Protestant body in America. Luter helped to rebuild his church after the Katrina disaster. On July 2012, 49 year old Donald Thompson was the first black President of the McDonald Corporation. On August 2, 2012, then 16 year old Gabby Douglas was the first black teenager to win the individual all around gold medal in the women’s gymnastics at the Summer Games in London. The 2012 London Olympics featured record accomplishments from those of black African descent. On November 2012, Barack Obama became the first African American to be re-elected in American history. The last of the Scotsboro Boys were pardoned by the Board of Alabama Pardons and Paroles on April 4, 2013. Orange is the New Black premiered on the futuristic video steaming outlet Netflix in 2013. It has many African Americans are in the prison series.
By September 17, 2013, Glenn H. Hutchins donated $15 million to build the Hutchins Center for African & African American Research at Harvard University. Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. was its inaugural director. The movie Fruitvale Station, which is about the last hours of Oscar Grant’s life in 2013 won acclaim and awards. The historic film 12 Years a Slave shows graphic violence and the reality of slavery. It is a movie about the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northrup (who was a free black man from New York. He was kidnapped and sent into slavery in Louisiana before he finds freedom from bondage). The actor Chiwetel Ejiofo and actress Lupita Nyong’o achieve great awards (by 2014). In 2014, John W. Thompson is the chairman of Microsoft. In 2014, Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson (or the director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City) presented a 13 episode documentary series called Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey on the Fox network. Tyson met Carl Sagan (the creator of the original 1980 Cosmos) before. Lupita Nyong’o was named People as the Most Beautiful woman in the world. She has won the Oscar in 2014. Lupita represents the total refutation of colorism and she has a beautiful intellectual personality and spirit. Her dark skin complexion is not only beautiful, but glorious. Kara Walker released the phoenix structure of the “A Sutelty or the Marvelous Sugar Baby” which wants to expose how evil economic and sexual exploitation of black women is.
On April 5, 2014, Maya Angelou smiled at the unveiling of her portrait at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. On June of 2014, theater star and great vocalist Audra McDonald was the first performer to win 6 Tony Awards for acting. She played the legendary blues singer Billie Holiday in the play of “Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.”
Audra McDonald publicly acknowledge the excellence of those who came before her by saying, “I am standing on Lean Horne’s shoulders. I am standing on Maya Angelou’s shoulders. I am standing on Diahann Carroll and Ruby Dee, and most of all, Billie Holiday.”
Norm Lewis (a black man) was in Broadway;s Phantom of the Opera and Keke Palmer (a black woman) played in Hammerstein’s Cinderella. By August 25, 2014, then 13 year old Mo’Ne Davis was the first female pitcher to earn a win in the Little League World Series. She is shown on the Sports Illustrated magazine. She is the first girl to pitch a shutout a Little League postseason game.
By September 30, 2014, the African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross” was released. It is Henry Louis Gates’ six part, six hour documentary about the five hundred year history of African Americans. It won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Historical Program, Long Form. The documentary won the Peabody Award, the Alfred I. DuPont Columbia University Award, and an NAACP Image Award. By 2014, Mia Love was the first African American woman Republican in Congress from Utah. Tim Scott of South Carolina was the first African American senator to serve Congress from the South since Blanche K. Bruce left office in 1881. Bruce was from Mississippi. Proposition 47 was passed in California (by November of 2014) which reduced many felonies that was used to reduce mass incarceration among minority communities. On December 25, 2014, Selma the movie is released. It was directed by Ava DuVernay. Selma was a film about the voting rights campaign in Selma, Alabama which resulted in the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
The movie featured Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s and many unsung heroes’ actions. Many people at the film’s premier in New York City, the cast posed in “I Can’t Breathe” T-shirts on the steps of the New York Public Library. They wanted to show solidarity with the movement against police brutality and for racial justice. Selma won many awards. The soundtrack had the song “Glory” done by Common and John Legend, which becomes a soundtrack for the new generation of social activists and African Americans in general. Glory is an excellent song. By February and March of 2015, remembrances exist about the 50th year anniversary of the Selma movement including Bloody Sunday. This comes after the Ferguson rebellion and other events. John Lewis, President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and other people gather to commemorate the sacrifice of those who fought for human rights. On May of 2015, the musician Akon announced that his foundation Akon Lighting Africa will cause the first solar academy to Africa called the Solektra Solar Academy (which will help people develop solar technology skills).
On November 1, 2015, Michael Bruce Curry becomes the first African-American Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, having been elected by an overwhelming margin on the first ballot of the 78th General Convention the preceding June. In 2015, April Star (a then-10 year old girl) has promoted a positive body image and she has vitiligo. She is inspired by Winnie Harlow, who is a woman who has vitiligo too. The creators of the “School of Thought” line, Mars Five and Philadelphia Printworks feature shirts from fictional universities. The best part: The faux institutions are built on the philosophies of seminal black thinkers and leaders. Among the celebrated: Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, Marcus Garvey and Harriet Tubman. Haben Girma was the first deaf and blind graduate of the Harvard Law School. She is a lawyer and advocate of disability rights. On July 20, 2015, Girma met with US President Barack Obama at the White House to highlight the importance of accessible technology. She provided introductory remarks on the occasion, the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act. In 2015, at the age of 20, Jewell Jones was elected and sworn into the Inkster City Council.
In 2015, Loretta Lynch was sworn in as the first African American woman to be the U.S. Attorney General on April. In 2015, the biracial actress Amandla Stenberg wrote words defending black womanhood and refuting cultural appropriation in her work, “Don’t Cash Crop my Cornrows: A Crash Discourse on Black Culture.” In October of 2015, (during Breast Cancer Awareness Month), Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams announced that he was purchasing 53 mammogram tests for women in honor of his mother. Sandra Hill, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2014, was 53 years old when she died (hence his decision to provide said number of mammograms). Misty Copeland made many contributions in dance in 2015 and beyond. The 25-year-old Jasmine Twitty became the youngest person to be named a judge in Easley, S.C.
The 2016 Rio Olympics is another example of tons of Black Excellence. Simone Manuel at 20 was the first black woman swimmer to win an individual gold medal at an Olympic Games involving swimming ever. Simone Biles won gold in the women’s gymnastics team all around completion including 3 more medals (which shows her legacy as a great athlete). Gabby Douglas won a gold medal in the Rio Olympics too. Ibtihaj Muhammad was the first woman to compete for an U.S. Olympic team while wearing a hijab (she is a Muslim) and she helped the women’s fencing team to win bronze in the team saber competition. Jenny Arthur is a black woman who was involved in weightlifting during the Rio Olympics. She set an American record in lifting 252 kg or 535 pounds. Daryl Homer was the first American to win silver in the saber completion since 1904 and the first American medalist in the saber competition since Peter Westbrook (who is also a black man) won bronze in 1984.
I love my Black People Forever.
Michelle Carter also made history, but in her case, it was by becoming the first American woman — let alone black American woman — to ever win gold in the women's shot put competition. She now constitutes one-half of Team USA's first ever father-daughter Olympic medalist pair: Her father, Michael Carter, won silver in men's shot put in 1984. Sister Ashleigh Johnson was the first black athlete ever to make the U.S. Olympic women’s water polo team. She won gold as a team in Rio. This was the second consecutive Olympic victory for the team. Sister Claressa Shields won the gold medal for middleweight women boxing. She is from Flint, Michigan. Afro-Brazilian woman athlete Rafaela Silva won gold in judo. Nzingha Prescod is a great black woman fencer. Usain Bolt won many medals in the 2016 Rio Games. He is the greatest sprinter in human history. Brianna Rollins won gold, Nia Ali won silver, and Kristi Castlin won bronze in the 100m hurdles race. They praised God for their victory. Allyson Felix, English Gardner, Tianna Bartoletta, and Torie Bowie won the 4X100 relay race. Allyson Felix won many individual medals too including Torie Bowie and others. The women 4X4 00 relay was won by Courtney Okolo, Natasha Hastings, Phyllis Francis, and Allyson Felix. Arman Hall, Tony McQuay, Gil Roberts, and Shawn Merritt (from Portsmouth, VA) won the 4X400 m relay. The African American players in the men and women’s USA national basketball teams have shown excellence too.
On 2016, Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green is one of fewer than 100 black female physicists in the country, and the recent winner of $1.1 million grant to further develop a technology she’s pioneered that uses laser-activated nanoparticles to treat cancer. Director Ava DuVernay released the documentary 13th which exposes the cruelty of the prison industrial complex or mass incarceration. 13th is in reference to the 13th Amendment, which says that all people are free except under imprisonment. It talks about race, the War on Drugs, and the suppression of rights of citizens (even after they paid their debts to society). The film explores the role of ALEC, backed by corporations, that has provided Republican state and federal legislators with draft legislation to support the prison-industrial complex. Only after some of the relationships were revealed did corporations like Wal-Mart and others receive criticism and drop out of the organization. It criticized Republicans and Democrats for its role in the acceleration of the reactionary prison industrial complex policies. The documentary won many awards. Also, Ava Duvernay created Queen Sugar in September of 2016, which dealt with employment, social activism, family, sex, and black life (involving siblings) in the South.
On December 2016, Hidden Figures was released. It was an autobiographical film that gave respect to the contributions of African American women mathematicians who worked at NASA. They were key in making sure that space missions were run successfully with their advanced knowledge of mathematics. The film stars Taraji P. Henson as Katherine Johnson, a mathematician who calculated flight trajectories for Project Mercury and other missions. The film also features Octavia Spencer as NASA supervisor Vaughan and Janelle Monáe as NASA engineer Mary Jackson, with Kevin Costner, Kirsten Dunst, Jim Parsons, Glen Powell and Mahershala Ali in supporting roles. In 2017, many black people were involved in the historic Women’s March like Tamika Mallory. On April 27, 2017, the Jackie Robinson Foundation Breaks Ground on the Jackie Robinson Museum in NY. The 18,500-square foot space will honor the late sports legend Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball and played an active, pioneering role in the modern civil rights movement. “Jack lived his life with such great purpose,” said Rachel Robinson, JRF Founder and wife of Jackie Robinson. “I hope that visitors to the Museum will not only learn about his journey and experience his energy, but that they will be inspired to view each day as a chance to make a difference.” The Jackie Robinson Museum, when it is completed, will be found in Downtown Manhattan, just blocks north of the 9/11 Memorial.
On August of 2017, Briana Scurry became the 1st African-American Woman elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame. In August of 2017, when musician Darryl Chamberlain noticed that school music programs in his native Kansas City had been decimated by budget cuts, he decided to do something about it. Teaching lessons and buying instruments secondhand, he launched the A-Flat Orchestra, made up of children ages 10 to 17. Tianna Bartoletta won her bronze medal in the long jump during the final days of the 2017 IAAF world championships (in London). The College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, is commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the first Black residential students on campus by creating a mural that will be permanently displayed at the university’s Swen Library. In the fall of 1967, Lynn Briley, Karen Ely, and Janet Brown became the first African American students to live in residential housing. All three black women graduated four years later in 1971. In August 2017, the mural was released. The women used their faces in order for the bronze casts to exist. We will see more contributions in the future too. Black people have always had the entrepreneur spirit spanning centuries and thousands of years. So, this accomplishment of Rosalind Brewer represents the continued existence of Black Excellence. Black Excellence continues to be a reality during this year of 2017 and it will flourish during future generations. Congratulations to Sister Rosalind Brewer (for being Starbuck's first black woman COO) on September of 2017.
One of the most inspiring stories of our generation is of the story of Sister Ida Keeling. She is a runner and she is 102 years old. She lives in Harlem, NYC. She holds Masters records in 60 meter and 100 meter distances for women in the 95-99 and 100-plus age groups. Keeling's story was featured in a segment in the Carl Reiner-hosted documentary If You're Not in the Obit, Eat Breakfast, on aging over 90, which premiered on HBO in June 2017. She started to run at the age of 67. She also gives secrets on how she lived so long on this Earth too. These secrets are the following:
-Escape drama
-Ally with positive people
-Promote positivity.
-Sticking it out on accomplishing your goals.
So, she is a great role model and an inspirational human being.
The Election of 2017 is very history for black Americans and other Americans of many backgrounds. Sister Shelia Oliver as the new Lt. Governor of New Jersey. She is the first black woman to be the lieutenant Governor of New Jersey. Vi Lyles is the first African American woman mayor of Charlotte on 2017. Sudanese-American Mazahir Salih became the first Muslim and first immigrant to win a seat on the city council in Iowa City, Iowa. Andrea Jenkins is now the first openly trans black human being elected to the city council of a major U.S. city (in Minneapolis). Virginia's Lt. Gov-elect Justin Fairfax becomes just the second African American elected statewide since Civil War. Since I'm from Virginia, another important note of history is that Elizabeth Guzman and Hala Ayala both defeated Republican incumbents tonight to become the first-ever Latinas elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Kathy Tran came to the U.S. as a refugee from Vietnam when she was an infant. In 2017, she became the first Asian American woman elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. Sister Yvonne Spicer is 1st mayor of the new city of Framingham, Massachusetts. More African Americans won for the first time in the various locations like: Jonathan McCollar in Statesboro, Georgia, Brendan Barber in Georgetwon, South Carolina, Mary Parham Copelan in Milledgeville, Georgia, Wilmot Collins in Helena, Montana, Booker Gainor in Cairo, Georgia, and Melvin Carter in St. Paul, Minnesota.
One recent great news is that Tonya Boyd became FDNY’s 1st Black woman Deputy Chief. She has made history and it's glorious news. She has worked in emergency services for decades in order for her to save lives literally. “I’m so excited and I am so blessed,” the EMS officer told the Daily News. “After hearing about the promotion, I couldn’t believe it. I feel like I’ve knocked down a door and opened it for a lot of EMTs just starting on this job,” said Boyd. “African-American women will see someone who looks like them as a deputy chief and they will know more is possible — their careers won’t top out at paramedic or even lieutenant,” said the captain of Station 39 in Brooklyn. She has worked hard throughout her entire life and this news will inspire more human beings to follow their dreams and aspirations. Congratulations to Sister Tonya Boyd.
Sessions' Extremism
Jeff Sessions is the 84th Attorney General of America. He is a Trump supporter since the beginning of his campaign. He is from Alabama. By during the 1980’s, he failed to be nominated to a federal district court. The reason was that he was opposed by progressives and civil rights activists like from the NAACP, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and People for the American Way. Back then, Sessions slandered the NAACP and the ACLU as un-American and Communist inspired (and they forced civil rights down the throats of people, which is ludicrous and racist). Thomas Figures, a black Assistant U.S. Attorney, testified that Sessions said he thought the Ku Klux Klan was "OK until I found out they smoked pot.” Back then, Coretta Scott King, who was the widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee to oppose the nomination of Sessions. By 1986, he was not nominated. He became an Alabama Attorney General and an U.S. Senator. He was very conservative as a Senator. We know that he met and discussed information with Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Before, he was the U.S. Attorney General, many people opposed him. NAACP President Cornell William Brooks was arrested at a January 2017 sit in after he protested the nomination. As Attorney General, Session has shown blatant extremism. He wants to review consent decrees (that expose police terrorism in communities nationwide).
He has ordered federal prosecutors to seek the greatest criminal charges possible. Sessions endorses the War on Drugs. He opposes fights to end voting rights restrictions. He wants mandatory sentencing to exist. On July 19, 2017, Sessions signed an order reviving federally adopted civil asset forfeiture, which allows local law enforcement to bypass state limitations on seizing the property of those suspected but not charged of crimes. He opposes compassion shown to undocumented immigrants. He omits the epidemic of police terrorism. He supported the Trump travel ban. He wants to prosecute people who provide even medical marijuana. This is not unusual since he is one of the most reactionary politicians in America. He even opposed legislation (when he was a Senator in the U.S. Congress) banning the U.S. military from engaging in torture. The amendment passed. He is opposed to many environmental regulations. Sessions endorsed the Supreme Court decision to gut parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and he supports voter suppression Voter ID laws. Therefore, Jeff Sessions represents the extremism found also in the Trump regime.
The slander of the FBI of black activists of being labeled "Black Identity Extremism" is an old tactic of the FBI to monitor and demonize any black person who is opposed to racial injustice, police brutality, and any form of discrimination in general. This slander omits white supremacist extremism and the increase of hate crimes in America since Trump was selected as President. Right wing extremism has been in epidemic levels in America. Over 400 groups of white supremacist groups exist in America alone. The FBI tactic of monitoring black activism is truly disgraceful.
Jeff Sessions is a total enemy of black people.
Black Lives Matter.
Charlottesville, Virginia (A Turning Point in America)
The tragic events of Charlottesville once again represented a new era of America. It showed the world that the alt right movement is not only racist, but filled with criminals. It outlined how debased white supremacists are and it caused even some of Trump’s most virulent supporters to not support him anymore. The events even caused many lawmakers in a higher level to call for Trump’s impeachment. Black Americans have told the world about the viciousness of white racism for years, decades, and centuries, but many didn’t listen to us. Now, more people are listening and rejecting the hate speech from the previous “Unite the Right” rally. This isn’t about left vs. right. It is about right vs. wrong. Trump’s responses to the tragedy found in Charlottesville has been disgraceful, which is why he responded multiple times. If he was so comfortable in his original words (which didn’t go far enough), then he wouldn’t have responded again and again. Yet, he responded more times since he knows that he is wrong. Trump is a total disgrace and he isn’t my President.
First, it is time to show the background of these horrendous events. The Unite the Right rally dealt with a gathering of white supremacists, white nationalists, neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, some militias, etc. who wanted to intimidate the innocent people of Charlottesville, Virginia. Also, they wanted to oppose the planned removal of the statue of the slave owner Robert E. Lee from Emancipation Park (it was once called Lee Park months earlier). After the coward murdered nine people during the 2015 Charleston Church shooting, courageous people fought to get rid of Confederate monuments from public spaces and renamed streets named after Confederate traitors. Many of their efforts were successful. Also, many people, who wanted the statues up, were conservatives and neo-Confederates. The United the Right rally was created by Jason Kessler. In 2016, he hated Wes Bellamy (the vice mayor of Charlottesville) since he wanted to remove the statue in Emancipation Park. Another organizer of the hate rally was Nathan Damigo (who promotes white nationalism). As early as May 13, 2017, the white nationalist Richard Spencer protested the planned removal of the statue of Lee. Many of the white nationalists used torches near the statues. A candlelight counter protest took place. On July 8, 2017, the Klan had a rally in Charlottesville. 50 Klan people were there and 1,000 counter protesters existed. The Klan cowards left in about 45 minutes. Many counter protestors met in the First United Methodist Church used by over 600 people as a safe space.
The August hate rally included neo-Nazis and far right people from Neo-Nazis, David Duke, Matthew Heimback, Christopher Cantwell, and other evil people. The counter protesters were diverse. They were unified in opposing white supremacy and bigotry in general. They included religious people, Black Lives Matter, Antifa, the Industrial Workers of the World, The Workers World Party, Anti-Racist Action, the National Council of Churches, etc. Jason Kessler had a permit for the march, but they were taken from them when the march turned very violent. Prior to the rally, counter protesters obtained permit(s) to gather at McGuffey Park and Justice Park, both less than a quarter-mile distant from the Emancipation Park rally. Charlottesville City Council spokeswoman Miriam I. Dickler later stated that counter protesters did not need permits to protest the rally at Emancipation Park.
August 11, 2014 was the time when a group of white nationalists in about 100 marched throughout the University of Virginia’s campus. They chanted racist, white supremacist, and anti-Semitic slogans. Some of the hate speech that the crowd used were "you will not replace us" and "Jews will not replace us." These people were mostly middle class and rich not poor as Andrew Young has said on Meet the Press. They held onto tiki torches. Many of them chanted the Nazi slogan “Blood and Soil.” The white racists marched from Nameless Field to the Lawn. Counter protesters were at the Rotunda. The racists and the counter protesters met and a brawl happened. People were hit with pepper spray. The white nationalist racists were swinging and throwing their lit tiki torches. Virginia State Police came to break up the brawl. Meanwhile, clergy led a pre-planned ecumenical Christian and interfaith prayer service at St. Paul's Memorial Church on University Avenue in opposition to the Unite the Right rally. Rev. Traci Blackmon was in the church too and she opposed the alt right movement. The Cavalier Daily reported, "While waiting for rides at Nameless Field after the march, several of the 'alt-right' protesters hurled anti-Semitic, homophobic and misogynistic slurs at several reporters and community members asking them questions. One man asking questions was thrown to the ground and surrounded by marchers after a brief physical altercation." Mayor Michael Signer condemned the gathering, writing the following: "When I think of candlelight, I want to think of prayer vigils. Today, in 2017, we are instead seeing a cowardly parade of hatred, bigotry, racism, and intolerance march."
August 12, 2017 was the date of more conflict in another level. Protesters and counter protesters gathered at Emancipation Park in the start of another rally. White nationalist protesters again chanted white supremacist and Nazi slogans. Many of the racists waved Confederate flags. They held anti-Semitic posters which disrespected Jewish people. They also shouted racist slurs and called Charlottesville mayor Michael Signer anti-Semitic slurs. They waved Nazi flags and signs. Many of the racist signs read, “Jews are Satan’s children.” That is wrong as anti-Semitism is literally satanic and degenerate plus evil. Dozens of the alt right protesters wore Donald Trump’s red “Make America Great Again” campaign hats. The counter protesters started with an interfaith, interracial group of clergy who linked arms, prayed, and sang songs of peace. They sang songs like “This Little Light of Mine.” Harvard professor Cornel West, who organized some of the counter-demonstrators, said that a group "20 of us who were standing, many of them clergy, we would have been crushed like cockroaches if it were not for the anarchists and the anti-fascists who approached, over 300, 350 anti-fascists."
Cornell West stated, "The neofascists had their own ammunition. And this is very important to keep in mind, because the police, for the most part, pulled back.” On that day, the white supremacist assaulted clergymen and clergywomen. Rev. Traci Blackmon had to be sent away, so she wouldn't be assaulted by the racists. Virginia is an open carry state; so many demonstrators (who were white supremacists) had semi-automatic weapons with them. The police did a disgraceful job in protecting people. Many protesters and counter protesters had shields, sticks, and clubs plus body armor and helmets. DeAndre Harris was a black Charlottesville young man who was brutally beaten by white supremacists in a parking garage. The assault was captured by photographs and video footage. The attack is being investigated by the Charlottesville police with help from the Virginia State Police and FBI. By close to noon, protesters and counter protesters faced off. There was punching, kicking, bottles thrown, and chemical spraying occurring. Following the rally, four warrants for the arrest of white supremacist Christopher Cantwell were issued after Cantwell was charged by Virginia prosecutors with felonies related to "illegal use of gases, and injury by caustic agent or explosive." Separately, The Hill journalist Taylor Lorenz said that she was punched by counter protestors during the violence; a man was arrested the same day and charged with assault and battery. An estimated 500 protesters and more than a thousand counter protesters were on the site. At least 14 people were injured in street brawls. Virginia Governor, Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency in Virginia.
At about 11:40 a.m., shortly before the rally was scheduled to begin, Virginia State Police declared the gathering an unlawful assembly via megaphones, and riot police cleared the scene. Following this, "a hard core of about 100 far-right protesters" moved to McIntire Park about 2 miles (3 km) away, where they gathered to hear speakers who had been scheduled for the "Unite the Right" event.
At 1:45 pm, a man drove his car toward a crowd of counter protesters. It hit several people and stopped by a sedan. It later hit a stopped minivan that was in front of it. One person was murdered who was a 32 year old paralegal from Charlottesville named Heather D. Heyer. Heyer was involved in social justice causes. 19 other people were injured. One injured person was Bill Burke from the ISO. He is from Athens, Ohio. This was a deliberate terrorist attack done by a criminal. The murderer is named James Alex Fields Jr. He is a 20 year old white supremacist from Ohio who expressed sympathy for Nazi Germany when he was a student at Cooper High School in Union, Kentucky. He was charged with second degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failure to stop following an accident resulting in death, and held without bail. On August 18, Fields was charged with three counts of aggravated malicious wounding and two additional counts of malicious wounding. Fields was at the rally holding a shield with the logo of the white supremacist organization Vanguard America (who denied that Fields was a member). Many people immediately called this attack an act of domestic terrorism. That was an act of domestic terrorism period. Heyer's mother said she wanted Heather's name to become "a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion."
Heyer's memorial service was held at Charlottesville's Paramount Theater on August 16. A helicopter crash happened in the area which killed two Virginia state troopers named Lieutenant H. Jay Cullen (of Midlothian, Virginia who was 48) and Trooper Pilot Berke M. M. Bates (who was 40 of Quinton, Virginia). Many people criticized the police handling of the rally in the beginning. Some cited the lack of any physical barriers between the protesters and counter protesters. When people were attacked, the police at first allowed it to go on. A. C. Thompson wrote that in "one of countless such confrontations," police watched passively as "an angry mob of white supremacists formed a battle line across from a group of counter protesters, many of them older and gray-haired, who had gathered near a church parking lot. On command from their leader, the young men charged and pummeled their ideological foes with abandon. One woman was hurled to the pavement, and the blood from her bruised head was instantly visible." Many people made the mistake of defending the police actions in in its initial actions. The Unite the Right participants failed to follow the previously agreed upon plan for entering Emancipation Park. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas wrote that, “They also chose to leave the park on a number of occasions, entering the area designated for counter protesters, walking along the street and confronting counter-protestors."
On August 13, 2017, good people nationwide and worldwide used vigils to support racial tolerance and oppose white supremacy. They wanted Confederate monuments to end. There were vigils in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., and Berlin. In Brooklyn, NYC, demonstrators at the "Peace and Sanity" rally heard addresses by Public Advocate Letitia James and City Comptroller Scott Stringer. In Los Angeles, hundreds gathered on the steps of City Hall to condemn white-nationalist violence and honor those who are fighting for justice. In NYC, protesters opposed Trump and said shame. Pro-Trump people waved American flags yelled the racist words of “"Make America White Again" at protesters. One man gave a Nazi salute to the passing presidential motorcade. White supremacists David Duke and Robert Spencer praised Trump. Protests existed in Virginia on Tuesday on August 15. The white supremacist site The Daily Stormer had its editor Andrew Anglin made derogatory comments about the victim of the car ramming. So, Google canceled the site’s registration for violations of its terms of service. GoDadday wanted The Daily Stormer to move its website’s domain into another provider. PayPal suspended accounts of the right-wing extremist groups run by several of the rally organizers for violating the website's terms of service, which forbid raising money for "activities that promote hate, violence or racial intolerance.” Anonymous shut down many websites associated with racist Klan and Neo-Nazi groups. Many people rightfully identify white nationalist and white supremacist people on Twitter, so the public can know about their identities.
Many people from Terry McAuffle and others condemned the white supremacists. Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer said that the person Donald Trump inflamed racial tensions by his racist rhetoric during his 2016 campaign. University of Virginia for Politics director Larry J. Sabato (who lives on the university grounds) said that the white supremacist march was part of pure evil. German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned the violence and the racist far right violence. German Justice Minister Heiko Maas condemned the violence, antisemitism, and racism of the Neo-Nazis in the rally.
Donald Trump is a disgrace. His first statement was on August 12, 2017. He said that the following, “…we condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides… What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order…” That statement didn’t condemn white supremacy and white nationalism by name. It used a moral equivalency between Neo-Nazis and racists and counter protesters who oppose bigotry and racism. He was rounded criticized by Democrats, Republicans, and other Americans. The Congressional Black Caucus condemned Trump for using dog whistle politics. White supremacy is to be blamed for the violence since the Unite the Right rally wanted to intimidate people and promote the mythology of neo-Confederate lies. Later, Republican U.S. Representative Justin Amash and Senators Cory Gardner, Jeff Flake, Orrin Hatch, and Marco Rubio all called upon Trump to specifically condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis; in a tweet that was retweeted by Flake, Gardner said: "Mr. President – we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism." Senator Orrin Hatch said that his brother was killed in action during World War II, and he tweeted that his brother dying fighting Hitler should be motivation to condemn Nazi ideas in home. When reporters told him to condemn white nationalism by name during his first statement, Trump walked out of the room. Nancy Pelosi, Larry Sabato, David A. French, and others called for Bannon to be fired. Bannon was fired on August 18.
On August 14, 2017, Trump responded again. This was his second statement and he was reluctant to do it. He said the following words: “…To anyone who acted criminally in this weekend's racist violence, you will be held fully accountable. Justice will be delivered. [...] Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the K.K.K., neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans.” Many people condemned his statement as hollow. Senator Tim Scott said that the second one came too late. His third statement was worst. He said these words on August 15, 2017. He said that blame is on both sides and many people marching to preserve the monument of Lee were fine people. He supported the existence of Confederate monuments on public lands. This is his motivation all along. Eliminating racist monuments is not about erasing history, but condemning racism and bigotry. Trump lied and said that counter demonstrators lacked permits. A municipal spokeswoman noted that the counter-protestors did have a permit for two other nearby parks and "counter protesters did not need permits to protest that rally" in Emancipation Park.
More than 60 Democratic and Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the United States Senate condemned Trump's remarks. Among those were Senators Bernie Sanders, John McCain, Tim Scott, Susan Collins, Chuck Schumer, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Jeff Flake, Orrin Hatch, Heidi Heitkamp, Claire McCaskill, Dean Heller and Tammy Duckworth, and House members Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Don Beyer, Barbara Comstock, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Will Hurd and Gerry Connolly, as well as Ohio Governor John Kasich and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said, "The president's continued talk of blame 'on many sides' ignores the abhorrent evil of white supremacism..." Speaker of the House Paul Ryan stated, "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity."
Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush stated that, "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." On August 16, Representatives Jerrold Nadler of New York, Pramila Jayapal of Washington State and Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey unveiled a resolution that the three House Democrats co-authored, which would censure Trump for his "inadequate response to the violence", his "failure to immediately and specifically name and condemn the white supremacist groups responsible for actions of domestic terrorism," and for employing chief strategist Steve Bannon and national security aide Sebastian Gorka despite their “ties to white supremacist movements.” Barack Obama tweet a quote from Nelson Mandela about how people are not born to hate, but taught (in advancing racial equality and human tolerance). 21st century Fox CEO James Murdoch criticized Trump’s remarks too.
Some people have called for Trump's impeachment. Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee said that he will introduce articles of impeachment against President Trump in a press conference. Mike Pence defended Trump. Heather Heyer’s mother refuses to meet with Trump. Trump’s fourth statement was on the reactionary Phoenix, Arizona rally on August 22, 2017. He then accused people of "trying to take away our culture" in reference to the removal of the Confederate statues. This means that Trump is defending racist Confederate statues and defending the history of slavery and the Confederacy overtly. Many people by this time have reigned from Presidential advisory council like Kenneth Frazier (the CEO of Merck) and others for Trump’s evil statements. Yet, Trump has a long history of making racist and sexist remarks for years. They should have never ally with the Trump regime in the first place. A Washington Post/ABC News national poll of American adults taken in the aftermath of the rally showed that 56% disapproved of Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville, while only 28% approved. The same survey showed that 83% of Americans said that holding neo-Nazi views is unacceptable, while 9% said such views were acceptable. At least 9 percent of Americans are traitorous Nazis or Nazi supporters. Many religious groups condemned the evil at Charlottesville. The false equivalency lie isn’t new. Princeton University historian Kevin M. Kruse said that segregationist politicians often equated white supremacists with the civil rights movement, condemning both the KKK and the NAACP. Also, the Confederacy’s goal was to destroy America, promote slavery, and advance racism as documented in Confederate documents.
Confederate statues have been removed in Baltimore. Mayor Catherine Pugh did the right thing in Baltimore. In Durham, North Carolina, a statue of a Confederate was taken down. Four activists were arrested. 3 Confederate statues were moved from the University of Texas in Austin. One statue in Montreal was removed. The statue was of Jefferson Davis. Statues are planned to be relocated in Lexington, Kentucky, Memphis, and Jacksonville, Florida.
The Boston Free Speech rally was held on August 19, 2017 in Boston common. It was made up of the alt right movement. Only 50 people attended the rally. One positive sign was that about 40,000 counter protesters existed to promote tolerance and human equality. The police was out in force and 33 people were arrested. The counter protesters were inspired to fight racism and to stand up for love. They marched throughout Boston.
The events of Charlottesville represent a call to action to defeat fascism. The far right extremists will never win. Many people, in favor of progressive freedom not hate, have been galvanized. When counterdemonstrators heard that the fascists wanted to harass the low income residents of Charlottesville, the counterdemonstrators came to defend the community. The far right crowd has always wanted to terrorize, intimidate, and destroy progressive change. We see their lies. We know that Confederates have said that that the Confederacy was based on slavery and racial oppression. Alexander Stephens, the vice president of the Confederacy, who declared in his famous "Corner Stone" speech: “Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea [from the "equality of races"]; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth.” We believe in racial equality.
The Democratic mayor of Charlottesville Mike Signer (who is Jewish) was slandered by white racists in Twitter via anti-Semitic attacks. We know that America was founded on the backs of black slaves and Native Americans. We know that black people (and others) have said that Trump is an extremist, a racist, and a sexist. Now, more people know this truth.
Monuments that glorify traitors and Confederates represent a bad heritage not a righteous one. Those monuments should come down period. The Klan is a terrorist organization that has murdered, raped, harmed, and slandered black people (and other human beings). Trump has appealed to the racists and even considered pardoning former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, convicted of contempt of court for refusing to obey an order to stop illegally arresting Hispanic people on suspicion of being undocumented immigrants. To defeat racism and injustice is to never ignore it. It is to confront it and defeat it with public policies, activism, building institutions of community development, etc. Black people want justice. We desire freedom and our rights. We want liberation.
The 2017 Alabama Senate race
I only have one response: I had faith. It is ordained that the South can redeem this nation. First, it was Virginia. Then, it is Alabama. This election involving the Alabama Senate seat proved that tons of people in Alabama have took a step forward for decency, for humanity, and against bigotry. My Birthday came about on December 12, 2017 and this is one event that I will cherish as a gift. The people of Alabama have rejected Roy Moore (who believes that pre-Civil War America was great, which is ludicrous and wrong). Voters (of every color and of every background) have came together in unison to not only vote, but to come about together to make history. Doug Jones even admitted that the work is not over. He wants to make common ground and he wants to rejoice. Doug Jones has certainly expressed a powerful speech which outlines the truth clearly that the people of Alabama have moved a little closer among the moral arc of the Universe into justice. ALSO, AFRICAN AMERICANS WERE KEY TO GIVING THIS VICTORY FOR DOUG JONES IN A MASSIVE TURNOUT AS WE (WHO ARE BLACK PEOPLE) HAVE GREAT POWER. OVER 90 PERCENT OF BLACK PEOPLE VOTED FOR DOUG JONES. Black media matters too. Grassroots political campaigning is key in victories. This victory for change happened on my Birthday, so I will remember this forever. My state of Virginia has done the right thing and Alabama has made history too.
The people of Alabama rejected the agendas of Trump (recently Trump expressed a disgusting, sexist Tweet about Congresswoman Kirsten Gillibrand), Bannon, and Moore at the same time. This was Alabama's moment and from Jim Crow to near 2020, Alabama has grown into a better state with this victory. When people gave up on Doug Jones, Jones continued forth in his campaign with passion and zeal. I had faith, because I knew that the people of Alabama would do the right thing. You can be respectful of human dignity and still be from Alabama. This is a victory for us since real Americans love diversity and human rights. This era is a change. It signifies that the South has something to say and the South has many progressive voices who will change the world greatly.
Moore is so extreme that he believes that the Constitution should stop after the 10th Amendment. That means that there would be no voting rights for women, no end to slavery, no Civil Rights Act, no15th Amendment, no Voting Rights Act, and no other laws legally. Therefore, Moore is an extremist. Today is the time of an important issue. Today, the election of a Senate seat among Alabama candidates is over. Doug Jones has won. The stakes are high. Also, it is important to reiterate about Moore's bad character. Many women have heroically came out and said that Moore abused him and that he's a pedophile. These women have suffered slander, disrespect, and lies from extremists. So, the victims deserve respect. Roy Moore is so extreme that many Republicans have publicly repudiated him and refused to vote for him. Moore was a prosecutor and former judge on the Alabama Supreme Court. His supporters include white nationalist and right wing extremist Steve Bannon and extremist Donald Trump (who has been caught disrespecting women for years. People want him to resign, because women have come forward to give their stories about Trump's sexual misconduct against them). Roy Moore is a stone cold bigot.
Moore called Asian people and Native Americans slurs. He said that Islam is responsible for 9/11, which is a lie. He wants military troops on the U.S./Mexico border, which is ludicrous. He claims that 1965 was when new rights were created, which is a lie. The 1965 Voting Rights Act wasn't about forming new rights. It was about rights that are inalienable being enforced on the federal level. The right to vote is a human right. Moore certainly doesn't want expansion of health care rights, civil liberties, economic justice, social justice, and environmental justice. Therefore, we know the truth and hopefully the people of Alabama did the right thing and rejected Moore's bigotry, intolerance, and extremism. Also, it is antithetical to spiritual principles to deprive human rights, to abuse women, to be xenophobic (as the Good Samaritan story pretty much promotes compassion to the immigrant or the refugee), and to embrace bigotry. We, who are from Virginia, did the right thing to reject Gillespie. Now, Alabama has done the right thing. There are some people who are in the wrong side of history from pro-segregationists to others. The good people of Alabama are what we support. People have voted and rejected Roy Moore. We reject Moore's views 100%.
Also, as Angela Rye, April Ryan, Joy Reid, and Symone Sanders have mentioned eloquently, we all need to praise Black Women. Black Women came out to vote against Moore and against Trump in the highest numbers of any demographic in America. We owe black women our lives, because the human race came from a black woman. My mother is black. Therefore, every single day of our lives, we should always give respect and praise to black women (who have done so much in the black freedom movement and the human rights movement in general). About 98% of black women voted against Moore and for Doug Jones. 93% of black men voted for Doug Jones. The majority of white men and white women voted for Roy Moore in Alabama. Black women should receive all of the credit in the world for helping society in enumerable ways. This reality refuted the lie that black people won't vote. We will vote. The last week of the Alabama election campaign coincided with the visit to that state by the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, who went to rural areas of the state where conditions are so abominable, in terms of water and other infrastructure, dilapidated housing, and poverty, that he said he had never seen as bad in any industrialized country. Also, Doug Jones has the responsibility to address our issues like economic inequality (Alabama has no state minimum wage), huge poverty in Alabama, health care, education, the environment, human rights, and other important issues. That is why voter suppression laws must end and black people must always be respected period.
Political Independence
Political Independence means that we are black people who are aware that our allegiance isn’t to any political party. It is an allegiance to the black community and to black people internationally. We know about the imperfections of the Republicans and the Democrats. That is why we believe that our ideologies and our intellectual power are based on free thinking, human autonomy, and independence. Many white and black conservatives have promoted numerous political lies recently. One lie is that liberalism is responsible for poverty, police brutality, educational issues, and other problems in the black community. The truth is that the reforms from the New Deal, the New Frontier, and the Great Society caused some positive results. Poverty was cut in half from 1960 to 1970. There was the growth of black people in college and many occupations during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. The problem was that the problems in the black community weren’t caused by liberalism, but by neoliberalism, capitalist exploitation, and reactionary policies executed by both Democratic and Republican politicians. During the 1970's, corporate elites used deregulation and massive cutbacks on social programs which caused an increase of income inequality and poverty in many communities of America. One example is that during the Reagan years, many Democratic mayors allowed austerity policies upon urban communities. Many communities in America suffer not because of old school liberalism or progressive policies. Communities suffer because of austerity, neglect, poverty, discrimination, racism, economic oppression, and a lack of investments.
These austerity policies have harmed many lives. Austerity deals with investment cuts and that is antithetical of progressive policies. Also, many Republicans harmed the black community with the War on Drugs, mandatory minimum sentences, and other massive social program cuts in many black communities. Supply side economics obviously doesn’t work. That form of economics has crippled many families and many people for years and decades. Supply side economics is not part of a liberal economic philosophy at all. Another lie is that far right wing people claim that black people must be Republicans in order to escape a “Democratic plantation.” That is false for many reasons. One is that to compare one’s political choice to a plantation (where people were raped, murdered, abused, and whipped) makes a mockery of slavery and the experiences of our black ancestors. Classifying people as part of a Democratic "plantation" is disrespectful and it's racist. Many Democratic politicians from Clinton to Obama have spoken to middle of the road concepts of discipline and respectability politics (of bootstrapping) in their speeches.
Also, black people have the right to believe in what we want. We will not be intimidated to join a far right movement that seeks to strip rights instead of giving people their rightful human rights. Also, we have the right to reject imperialism and war mongering which many Republicans and many Democrats advance. So, we (as black people) should always think for ourselves.
The African American National Museum of History and Culture
In terms of architecture and its breadth of history plus culture, it is a location filled with excellence and beauty. It has been visited by thousands and millions of people worldwide. It has been the dream of our ancestors. It has been planned since the early 20th century and now the National Museum of African American History and Culture has been opened to the general public on September 24, 2016. A history of African Americans can never be complete without a mentioning of this historic, magnificient museum. This museum is not just an extraordinary museum. It is a museum that is a tribute to the courage, strength, beauty, excellence, and perseverance of African Americans. The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is part of a Smithsonian Institution, but black people have led the way in creating it. It was designed by many people in a collaborative effort like Freelon Group, Adjaye Associates, and Davis Brody Bond. It is located very close to the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It has over 30,000 objects that relates to black history and black culture (from the arts, family, civil rights, slavery, segregation, Black Power, community, and the modern age). Today, the Director of the museum is Lonnie Bunch and the Curator is Jacquelyn Serwer. In order to get an understanding about the historic museum, we have to comprehend information about how the National Museum of African American History and Culture was created in its history. As early as 1915, African American veterans of the Union Army met at the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. These human beings suffered discrimination. They formed a committee to build a memorial to various African American achievements.
By 1929, President Herbert Hoover appointed Mary Church Terrell, Mary McLeod Bethune, and 10 other human beings to a commission charged with building a "National Memorial Building" showcasing African-American achievements in the arts and sciences. Yet, back then, Congress didn’t support the project. Private fundraising wasn’t enough. By the 1970’s, a movement started to promote a national museum again. In 1981, Congress approved a federal charter for a National African-American Museum in Wilberforce, Ohio. It was built and funded by private money. It was opened in 1987. Tom Mack promoted economic development and education in the black community. He was the chairman of the tourist bus company named Tourmobile. He created the NCEED or the National Council of Education and Economic Development. Mack used the NCEED as a way to promote a national African American museum in Washington, D.C. in 1985. He won federal support. He worked with Representative Mickey Leland to sponsor a non-binding resolution (H.R. 666) advocating an African-American museum on the National Mall, which passed the House of Representatives in 1986. The congressional attention motivated the Smithsonian to improve its presentation of African-American history. In 1987, the National Museum of American History sponsored a major exhibit, "Field to Factory," which focused on the Black Diaspora out of the Deep South in the 1950's. Mack spent his life to promote such a museum. This plan wasn’t without opposition. Some from the African American Museum Association (AAMA) felt that the museum would strip money from local black museums and end jobs that were went for those in local and state black museums. Kinard and the AAMA wanted money from Congress to fund local black history museums in solving problems. Some questioned whether the Smithsonian should be part of an effort of a national African American museum in the first place. Some wanted total independence.
The image to the left shows Rep. Mickey Leland, D-Texas, Carmen Delgado Votaw, AA to Rep. Fuster, and Patrice Johnson, LD to Leland. This took place on May 3, 1988. The former Rep. Mickey Leland was one early supporter of the forming of an African American National Museum.
By 1988, Rep. John R. Lewis and Rep. Leland (both are African Americans) introduced legislation for a stand-alone national African American history museum within the Smithsonian Institution. It faced opposition. It was opposed because of its cost. Some wanted a compromise, but it failed during that time. Lewis and Leland introduced another bill in 1989. It failed again, but the Smithsonian institution supported such a museum. Leland died in 1989. By 1991, after debate, the Smithsonian support a national museum dedicated to African American history and culture (via a vote from its Board of Regents). There are funding issues and disputes of a location during the 1990’s. Some Smithsonian members backtracked. This was criticized by Mary Campbell Schmidt, saw this as a step backward, a characterization Smithsonian officials strongly disputed. During the 1990's, other cities had new African American great museums. The city of Detroit opened a $38.4 million, 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m2) Museum of African-American History in 1997, and the city of Cincinnati was raising funds for a $90 million, 157,000-square-foot (14,600 m2) National Underground Railroad Freedom Center (which broke ground in 2002).
By 2001, John Lewis and Representative J. C. Watts re-introduced legislation for a museum in the House. There was a new leader and Secretary Lawrence Small of the Smithsonian Board of Regents. Small wanted a stand-alone national museum detailing African American history. The Smithsonian asked Congress for a study which was federally funded. Congress agreed. President George W. Bush was one of the leading supporters of this project. On December 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed legislation establishing a 23-member commission to study the need for a museum, how to raise the funds to build and support it, and where it should be located. At the signing ceremony, the president expressed his opinion that the museum should be located on the National Mall. The study concluded that the museum was a necessity and it must be constructed. The National Museum of African American History and Culture Council (the museum's board of trustees) sponsored a competition in 2008 to design a 350,000-square-foot (33,000 m2) building with three stories below-ground and five stories above-ground. The building was limited to the 5-acre (20,000 m2) site chosen by the site selection committee, had to be LEED Gold certified, and had to meet stringent federal security standards.
The cost of construction was limited to $500 million ($556,182,380 in 2016 dollars). The design submitted by the Freelon Group/Adjaye Associates/Davis Brody Bond won the design competition. The above-ground floors featured an inverted step pyramid surrounded by a bronze architectural scrim, which reflected a crown used in Yoruban culture. The government approved the plan. Added to the entrance on Constitution Avenue were a pond, garden, and bridge, so that visitors would have to "cross over the water" like slaves did when they came to America against their wills. Oprah Winfrey on June 10, 2013 donated $12 million to the NMAAHC. She donated $1 million to the museum in 2007. The Smithsonian said it would name the NMAAHC's 350-seat theater after her. The GM Foundation announced a $1 million donation to the museum on January 22, 2014, to fund construction of the building and design and install permanent exhibits.
The groundbreaking took place on February 22, 2012. President Barack Obama and museum director Bunch were among the speakers at the ceremony. Actress Phylicia Rashad was the Master of Ceremonies for the event. Poetry and music was performed by Denyce Graves, Thomas Hampson, and the Heritage Signature Chorale. Clark Construction Group, Smoot Construction, and H.J. Russell & Company won the contract to build the museum. The architectural firm of McKissack & McKissack (which was the first African American-owned architectural firm in the United States) provided project management services on behalf of the Smithsonian, and acted as liaison between the Smithsonian and public utilities and D.C. government agencies. A worker was severely injured at the construction site on June 3, 2015, when scaffolding on the roof collapsed on top of him. 35-year-old Ivan Smyntyna was rushed to a local hospital, where he later died. The 350,000 square feet (33,000 m2) building has a total of 10 stories (five above and five below ground). The construction was done in a serious fashion. Commemorative copies of the 13th Amendment and the Emancipation Proclamation were sent to the museum.
The image on the bottom right shows Sister Ruth Odom Bonner with a shovel.
The grand opening of the National Museum of African American history and Culture existed on September 24, 2016. President Barack Obama opened the new museum along with four generations of the Bonner family (from 99 year old Ruth Bonner, who is the daughter of Elijah B. Odom of Mississippi, an escaped slave down to Ruth’s great granddaughter Christine). I saw the opening ceremony on television too. The Obamas and Ruth Bonner along with her family rang the historic bell to officially open the museum. The bell was from the first Baptist church organized by and for African Americans (which was founded in Williamsburg, Virginia. Back then, laws made it unlawful for black people to congregate or preach. Now, things are different). The museum is extremely popular today. In its first three months alone, more than 600,000 people visited the museum. In November 2016, NBA player LeBron James donated $2.5 million to support the museum's exhibit on the accomplishments of boxer Muhammad Ali. All visitors must have a ticket to enter. After six months, about 1.2 million people visited the NMAAHC. It is now one of the four most visited Smithsonian museums. Patrons spend an average of six hours at the museum, which was twice as long as had been estimated before the museum’s opening. In 2007, the NMAAHC became the first major museum to open on the Web before completing a physical structure.
The web site included the museum's first exhibit, mounted in New York City. The site was also designed to encourage collaboration between scholars and the public. The main feature of the web-based initiative was the Memory Book application, which allowed individuals to contribute to the web site pictures, a story, or an audio application to spotlight unique experiences in African-American culture. Collections number in the thousands. Renée Anderson, the NMAAHC's head of collections, oversaw the effort. The museum has items owned by Harriet Tubman, the sunken slave ship from the Sao Jose Paquete Africa (it was evacuated from the coast of South Africa), the jacket and skirt worn by Marian Anderson at her 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert, a Tuskegee Airman flight jacket, and photographs from hip hop artists are found in the museum too. There is also a letter by Toussaint L'Ouverture, leader of the Haitian Revolution slave revolt in 1791. There is the Sweet home Café, which is a 400 seat luncheon only restaurant. Jerome Grant is the executive chef, and the restaurant is managed by Restaurant Associates in association with Thompson Hospitality. Joanne Hyppolite, NMAAHC curator for cultural expressions, oversees the restaurant as well as the museum's exhibits on food ways and cuisine. The cafeteria opened on September 24, 2016. It was named a 2017 semifinalist by the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant. People from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal have praised the museum. The National Museum of African American History and Culture outlines the representation of black life in concrete, great terms. It inspires us, speaks to us, and motivates us in this long journey for human justice. We, as black people, still rise.
"...My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style..."
-Sister Maya Angelou
Conclusion
Today, the African American journey has lasted over 500 years in the Americas. We have experienced pain, brutality, victories, joys, and happiness. We have shown the world the light of perseverance and courage. We have inspired every social movement for change imaginable by our power, by our love of justice, and by our strength. On this time and on this occasion, we recognize our bonds among family and friends. This time also tell us to be reminded that the audacious journey for human liberty continues. We have seen those whose lives were harmed startlingly by poverty, massive fires, and other natural disasters. Also, we know of the compassionate spirit found among many people (in tons of backgrounds) who have enacted charities, shown genuine love, and given their lives via sacrifice to enrich the human lives of men, women, and children. Therefore, I will always have glorious faith in the future. We know of the extremism of a person who calls himself President in the White House, but we witness protesters who legitimately oppose his reactionary agenda. That is why we are obligated to believe fully in the democratic principles of the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, and the right to petition the government. These precepts advance scrutiny along with alerting the people on truth plus candor. An illumination of inspiration of truth is our responsibility to share. We are more than atoms and biochemical functions. We have a mind and a soul. In essence, out duty is to inform and to fight for change, which outlines a true, indispensable prescript.
Transparency is important for anyone to embrace, so we reject secret plans by some to manipulate society that can benefit the oligarchy alone. Society ought to function in an egalitarian fashion. I forever respect my African American heritage, which is filled with beauty, grace, honor, strength, intellectual greatness, and excellence in general. From the literature of Toni Morrison to the heroism of Harriet Tubman (who rescued so many people and she was born in the Eastern Shore of Maryland), black Americans have made huge, lasting contributions throughout human history. While, we know that we have a long way to go in our black community, we realize that good news does exist our community too. The myth is that there are no good news. There are plenty of good news. Tons of black people have made magnificent accomplishments in the world, helped humanity in great ways, and live life greatly. The murder rate in the black community has declined since 1980 nationwide in America. There is a lower teen pregnancy rate in the black community since 1992. Black people having new HIV/AIDS diagnoses have declined recently. There is a higher life expectancy in the black community since the year 2000. The death rate for African American adults declined by 25 percent between 1999 and 2015, with the largest declines in those older than 63. Since 2000, the imprisonment rate among African-American women has dropped 47 percent, and the rate of imprisonment of African American men has tumbled 22 percent since 2000. There are new firsts among African Americans too in STEM fields, academics, athletics, and other aspects of human life. The unemployment rate in the black community is lower than years back. A solution is not only economic empowerment (which we must have), but to eliminate the racial, gender, and economic discrimination in our world too. Therefore, we are renewed in our commitment to justice and liberation.
We, who are African Americans, have a long legacy of culture, of music, of the arts, of legal affairs, of education, of agriculture, of STEM field contributions, of politics, of spirituality, and of so many aspects of human living. We are taught about nonviolence from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We are taught about black strength from Malcolm X. We are taught about resiliency from Harriet Tubman. We learn about grace from Marian Anderson. We learned so much of our history from John Hope Franklin and John Henrik Clarke. Our history is filled with unsung heroes too. Ella Baker, Robert F. Williams, Denmark Vesey, Assata Shakur, Eddie Conway, etc. have shown revolutionary power in their lives. This struggle for black liberation is an international affair as we desire all black people globally to be free. Blackness is more than a way of life. It is a gift that we cherish and we inspired to do right and to acknowledge the courageousness of our black ancestors. The fight for justice continues. We won’t back down too. We will speak up, inspire, educate, and be blessings for the human family.
Yes, we still rise.
Peace and Blessings Y'all. This is the final chapter of this great, historic series on the African American story.
The drum of our creative spirits remain and our cause for black liberation is righteous.
'Ase
By Timothy
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