I've been ruminating for quite a while on how to write this post so that it doesn't come across as 1) a rant, 2) preachy 3) offensive. I don't know if I've found a way to do that, so I will just write from my heart.
Some days I feel as though I am hallucinating or hearing voices because things that are going on in society seem to create a stronger reaction within me than it does with other people. For example, public figures have felt free to call the president of the United States a monkey, a coon, a gangster, a nigger. Yet of the people I know, only my Caucasian associates seem to be up in arms and speaking out about it. Some of my African American associates are not pleased with the job President Obama has done so far. There's nothing wrong with that. But he is a BLACK man. If politicians and "news" personalities can get away with making racial slurs against the president of this country, publicly, how long do you think it will be before your co-workers or customer service employees, or teachers can get away with the same thing with you? There has been a rise in racial "incidents" around the country since Obama's election, but they are scarcely reported on, hardly talked about, and barely investigated.We're living in a time when people have been scared into giving up their civil liberties and brainwashed into believing the propaganda put out there by those in power aiming to control our every move. How is this different from slavery?
Everyone is so intent on pursuing "the American Dream" that they are unable to wake up and realize that this so-called dream is a nightmare for most. Even when Africans in Amerikkka do everything they are told they need to do to ensure success and happiness, even when they acquire money, material goods, power,and fame, they are still subject to the same treatment as the gang banger in the ghetto. However much you think "we've arrived," you need to look around and see just where you have landed. The man who holds the "top job" in this country is considered by many just another "ghetto fabulous thug," Just like the man who tried to liberate his country was imprisoned for 30 years. A man who sings of faith in a black God is considered a drug dealer. Another man who called on his people to have pride in their heritage and to reclaim it was locked up, then sold for rice. Nothing has changed, except the mindset and spirit of the African in Amerikkka. You have given up and acquiesced to the demands of your oppressors. We used to march, protest, fight. We weren't afraid to die in pursuit of freedom and equal rights. There may not be any chains around your feet, but you're not free.
You can ignore this, as I know most of my "friends" will do and usually do. You can chill with your glass of overpriced sedation juice and your genetically modified dinner, sit back and watch "Basketball Wives," or "Single Ladies" or somebullshit.com. Go on and feed yours and your children's brains with the pre-programmed messages of greed, sex, violence, and self deprecation you love to shake your rumps to. Just know that you are doing all of this in a time machine that is moving backwards. Please also know that I will not sit back and let you give away my rights and freedom. Whatever that battle will look like, only the Most High knows, but I am not going down without a fight.
I call on you to remember your worth. You have the knowledge and power to reclaim your throne, and I urge you to use it. Stop waiting for another Martin, Malcolm, or Marcus and be them. Stop this time machine and get off. I leave you with words from His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia from a speech He gave to the United Nations in 1963:
"The Charter of the United Nations expresses the noblest aspirations of man: abjuration of force in the settlement of disputes between states; the assurance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; the safeguarding of international peace and security.
But these, too, as were the phrases of the Covenant, are only words; their value depends wholly on our will to observe and honor them and give them content and meaning. The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man's basic freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance: courage to speak and act - and if necessary, to suffer and die - for truth and justice; eternal vigilance, that the least transgression of international morality shall not go undetected and unremedied. These lessons must be learned anew by each succeeding generation, and that generation is fortunate indeed which learns from other than its own bitter experience. "
Some days I feel as though I am hallucinating or hearing voices because things that are going on in society seem to create a stronger reaction within me than it does with other people. For example, public figures have felt free to call the president of the United States a monkey, a coon, a gangster, a nigger. Yet of the people I know, only my Caucasian associates seem to be up in arms and speaking out about it. Some of my African American associates are not pleased with the job President Obama has done so far. There's nothing wrong with that. But he is a BLACK man. If politicians and "news" personalities can get away with making racial slurs against the president of this country, publicly, how long do you think it will be before your co-workers or customer service employees, or teachers can get away with the same thing with you? There has been a rise in racial "incidents" around the country since Obama's election, but they are scarcely reported on, hardly talked about, and barely investigated.We're living in a time when people have been scared into giving up their civil liberties and brainwashed into believing the propaganda put out there by those in power aiming to control our every move. How is this different from slavery?
Everyone is so intent on pursuing "the American Dream" that they are unable to wake up and realize that this so-called dream is a nightmare for most. Even when Africans in Amerikkka do everything they are told they need to do to ensure success and happiness, even when they acquire money, material goods, power,and fame, they are still subject to the same treatment as the gang banger in the ghetto. However much you think "we've arrived," you need to look around and see just where you have landed. The man who holds the "top job" in this country is considered by many just another "ghetto fabulous thug," Just like the man who tried to liberate his country was imprisoned for 30 years. A man who sings of faith in a black God is considered a drug dealer. Another man who called on his people to have pride in their heritage and to reclaim it was locked up, then sold for rice. Nothing has changed, except the mindset and spirit of the African in Amerikkka. You have given up and acquiesced to the demands of your oppressors. We used to march, protest, fight. We weren't afraid to die in pursuit of freedom and equal rights. There may not be any chains around your feet, but you're not free.
You can ignore this, as I know most of my "friends" will do and usually do. You can chill with your glass of overpriced sedation juice and your genetically modified dinner, sit back and watch "Basketball Wives," or "Single Ladies" or somebullshit.com. Go on and feed yours and your children's brains with the pre-programmed messages of greed, sex, violence, and self deprecation you love to shake your rumps to. Just know that you are doing all of this in a time machine that is moving backwards. Please also know that I will not sit back and let you give away my rights and freedom. Whatever that battle will look like, only the Most High knows, but I am not going down without a fight.
I call on you to remember your worth. You have the knowledge and power to reclaim your throne, and I urge you to use it. Stop waiting for another Martin, Malcolm, or Marcus and be them. Stop this time machine and get off. I leave you with words from His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia from a speech He gave to the United Nations in 1963:
"The Charter of the United Nations expresses the noblest aspirations of man: abjuration of force in the settlement of disputes between states; the assurance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; the safeguarding of international peace and security.
But these, too, as were the phrases of the Covenant, are only words; their value depends wholly on our will to observe and honor them and give them content and meaning. The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man's basic freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance: courage to speak and act - and if necessary, to suffer and die - for truth and justice; eternal vigilance, that the least transgression of international morality shall not go undetected and unremedied. These lessons must be learned anew by each succeeding generation, and that generation is fortunate indeed which learns from other than its own bitter experience. "
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