"There shall be no solution to this race problem until you, yourselves, strike the blow for liberty." — Marcus Garvey

"Men search the pages of history for solutions, for precedents, but there are none. This, then, is the ultimate challenge. Where are we to look for our survival, for the answers to the questions which have never before been posed? We must look, first, to Almighty God, Who has raised man above the animals and endowed him with intelligence and reason. We must put our faith in Him, that He will not desert us or permit us to destroy humanity, which He created in His image. And we must look into ourselves, into the depth of our souls. We must become something we have never been and for which our education and experience and environment have ill-prepared us. We must become bigger than we have been, more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community."~His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I 1963 Speech to the UN

The quote above comes from the same speech as the more well known quote that Bob Marley made into the song "War." It is just as true and relevant today as it was over 50 years ago when Emperor Haile Selassie made the speech. I had to seek out His Majesty's words to try to quell the rage building inside of me due to the circumstances America finds itself in today. But let's face it, hatred and bigotry is swelling around the world.

I was thinking yesterday that if my grandmother, who marched with Dr. King, was alive today, her head and heart would be reeling with despair and disbelief from this deja vu, this flashback to a time long before I was born. She would probably feel like she failed her great grand baby by not making sure the job was complete. But I would have to tell her that she and her generation can't take on the blame because laws change circumstances not hearts and minds.

Today, this father's day, there are offspring mourning their fathers rather than celebrating them. There is a church in Charleston, SC who instead of celebrating and revering fatherhood, is praying for solace, comfort, peace, and protection because we as a race, the human race, have failed to "become bigger than we have been, more courageous, greater in spirit and larger in outlook." Because of our failure (not just our ancestors') racism is not only still alive, but regaining the strength of Dr. King's days. You disagree? Let me illustrate:

The Emanuel African American Episcopal Church Massacre

 Not a Gun Control Issue

President Obama and other gun control proponents would have you believe that this tragedy would have been averted had we had better gun control laws. Although I agree, we need better gun control laws,  this was not some "mentally unstable" individual with unknown motives who committed a mass shooting because he had access to a gun. This was a racially motivated attack on black people. The shooter himself said it. In 1963, the weapon of choice was fire bombs. But I believe that Mr. President didn't feel he could make this admission because after all, he's the president of the racists too.

Not an "Attack on Christianity"

So in this day, we are so familiar with the diversion tactics of those who push their own agendas and ideologies rather than stand for right. There are "news" agencies claiming that that youth was declaring war on Christianity. But he shot up a black church because black people were in it. The shooter himself said it.

Not a New Thing

In Birmingham, Alabama: It, too, was a racist attack that used a bomb on the 16th Street Baptist Church, killing four black girls on a Sunday in 1963. Protests have been flooding the streets in the last couple of years over police violence against blacks, yet, a senator, who is old enough to remember the 1963 bombing, has the gall to say it is "unfathomable" that someone would do this. He knows as well as I do that racists ideology is still being taught and upheld...the presence of the confederate flag at the capitol building in South Carolina should be evidence enough.

The Cause of My Rage

Many of you may have no real concept of what it is like to live as a black person in America...especially as a black woman. Let me give you a tiny glimpse:

• Trust: Bob Marley said, "Man to man is so unjust. Ya don't know who to trust." Imagine knowing that you are surrounded by at least 5 types of people but not always knowing which they are: 1. People who admit they don't like you because you're black 2. People who don't like you because you're black but don't admit it 3. People who don't realize they don't like you because you're black and thus keep their feet in their mouths 4. People who don't like certain aspects about your "blackness" 5. Those who sincerely like you as you are

• Abandonment : I have many friends and acquaintances whom I know are good, caring people who are all for equal rights and justice. Yet, when events like the Charleston Massacre happens (in fact, especially this event) they go silent. I see no posts, save for condolences, about the event and I hear no outrage from them. Mind you, there are those who are eternal warriors for justice and I am thankful for them. But to some of my non-black acquaintances, are you aware how something like this effects your black friends? Are you aware how one word of solidarity from you would comfort us? And please realize, some of the 5 types of people I mentioned above are black too. And some of you go silent as well. Do you really believe we have "overcome"? Do you think this is "the mountain top"? And no one steps up as a leader. I would, but I've only got 12 followers on this blog, I clearly can't garner support.

• Fear : I don't fear for my own life, but I have a bit of fear for these young people behind me who don't know their history nor do many of them have a true knowledge or understanding of what's going on today and the significance of it. Those who do, fight back, but they do so in a way that is unsafe for them because they have no guidance or leadership. Some of those 5 types of black people blame their "insolence" for their unfair treatment, when they should thank them for reminding them that they too should stand up for their rights.

• Pain: It pains me to see injustices and wickedness thrive unabated. There are good people in the world, many of them are white, and police officers. But when will they stand up for good? All who don't stand up are to blame as much as the oppressors. "our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community." I also have to endure the pain of rejection from all men because the black woman is treated like the wretches of society. I endure stereotypes perpetuated by media and my own people, I endure the curiosity of those who ask me questions like I'm a creature from outer space. But mostly, I endure the pain of having to watch atrocities occur knowing nothing will be done to change it.

These are just a few sources of the rage building inside of me. The mental anguish of knowing I can't stop these things on my own is exhausting. I'm a rasta woman, and yes, we are about peace and love, but we are also about equal rights and justice. So, I'll leave you with the most famous quote from His Imperial Majesty's speech as food for thought:

"On the question of racial discrimination, the Addis Ababa Conference taught, to those who will learn, this further lesson: That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained; And until the ignoble and unhappy regimes that hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambique and in South Africa in subhuman bondage have been toppled and destroyed; Until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and good-will; Until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men, as they are in the eyes of Heaven; Until that day, the African continent will not know peace. We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil."

~His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I 1963 Speech to the UN

Cause and Effect...Make the Connections

It's puzzling to me how many people fail to see that everything is connected.  Causality, or cause and effect, alone connects people, actions, events. If someone at your job is fired, it will no doubt effect the way you work if new policy and procedure need to be put in place; how much you work if the terminated employee's work needs to be covered; or maybe just your lunch companion changes.

In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is a term used to describe how small changes to a seemingly unrelated thing or condition (also known as an initial condition) can affect large, complex systems.*  These connections are also recognized outside science, in an area many think is oppositional, spirituality. In Hindu philosophy, the law of cause and effect is integral. it's called Karma.

So it frustrates me when some people fail to see the connections between two or more events. I realize that many people compartmentalize their lives. They find ways to continue to be entertained, to consume, and to enjoy the "pleasures" of life, all the while separating them from the ugly, unjust, inhumane, and uncomfortable people or events to which they are bound. Somehow, people rationalize this separation saying that what a person/organization/institution said or did (or didn't) has nothing to do with the product they are selling. (I'm sure Indiana hopes more people would think this way...I know some food companies who support gmos do.)

Another example, Duke just won the NCAA championship and many people were rooting for them and cheering them on. No one on my social media feed even mentioned that four days ago, a noose was found hanging from a tree on Duke's campus. Sure, the student who hung the noose was identified and expelled, but this is not the first racist incident on an American university campus in recent weeks.

So, what does this have to do with people cheering on Duke in the championship? Of course you should root for the young people who worked hard for that achievement. You should also remember that those same youth, some of whom are African American, are students on that campus. Usually, where there is one roach, there are others. So, these students have to return to a campus to study with other students who may be harboring the same racist ideologies. But, people have rationalized that the problem is solved with the expulsion of the student. Why is no one calling for ,manditory racial sensitivity (at the very least) courses to be taught at universities across the country? I mean, those places are set up for education, how hard could it be to make it happen? Doing nothing can have as large an effect as doing something.

It occurred to me that when some people compartmentalize life in this way, it is easy for them because they have never experienced the pain or humiliation, of racism, sexism, or homophobia. There are those who, although they recognize these things are wrong and they would never condon or participate in them, it is difficult for them to empathize and have enough compassion to stand up and speak up against them because they have never experienced these things, and probably never will.

But Haile Selassie said, "Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph." Failing to make the connections keeps you silent. Silence condons the acts. Evil triumphs in the absence of condemnation.

*http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-butterfly-effect.htm

Stand up for your Rights

Sometimes I get angry at the injustice going on in the world, but other times I just get sad. I get sad because of the inaction that goes on despite the injustices. I can't even say that people only care if it effects them because many people don't even care then. Whatever happened to the days of Dr. Martin Luther King when people marched, protested, staged sit ins, were willing to get hosed and arrested for equal rights and justice?

 

Have we overcome? There's no reason, and I mean no reason there should be a homeless or hungry individual in America. Yet there are, and in numbers that could rival so-called developing countries. This country has the capability to help feed and house people in other countries, and we should, but we can't even take care of our own. Yes, I say we, because I have yet to give my very best effort. People in this country tend to be greedy and stingy. But we sit back and do nothing, even as we feed our children our helping of rice and beans so their bellies will stop growling. Where is your fight?

And what about our littlest victims? What of the children? Will no one stand up and speak for them? Facebook right now has people posting their favorite cartoon pictures as a "protest" against violence against children. And how will that stop violence against children? So many people just popped their favorite cartoons up and all they were talking about was how much they loved to watch them. Some people didn't even know why they put it up there. But when I created a petition aimed at getting stronger punishment for child abusers, only one person signed. One day I got an email for a petition to bring back the old Myspace. I immediately went to the site as soon as I got the email to see how many people had signed and there were over a million. My petition for children has four. None from Myspace members. Will you not fight for the children?

I hear people complain about security checks at the airport, well no one said anything when they were first implemented, where did you think relinquishing your rights to privacy and against illegal search and seizure would lead? Now, you may have to watch your wife or daughter get violated just to go on vacation.

I know some people don't believe changing a law, or a law at all will help. Their solution is to talk about how society must change in order for injustice to stop. Well, we are society and perhaps the change we need is from inaction to action. If you don't think my idea will work, that's fine, I'm not married to it, but give me an alternate solution. Let's not just sit and reason on it with no solution. Talk is cheap, you'd better get up and stand up for your rights. My Father the Mighty King told me, "Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.”(H.I.M. Haile Selassie I). "He who stands for nothing will fall for anything." (Malcolm X)