Welcome back 2 the past. It’s a place that we haven’t quite
figured out (or don’t want 2) here in
the 21st century. The 2 have
folded N on 1 another and not enough of us R paying attention. As the saying by
Jorge Santayana goes, “Those
who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it," mirrored by the
honorable Marcus Garvey, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and
culture is like a tree without roots.” With this entry I hope that I will
stimulate some memories 2 strengthen some roots.
As I
write this there R people attempting 2 peacefully negotiate the discontinuation
of “progress and expansion” that threatens the land and water of our people.
In many, if not most, urban areas populated by us, Europeans R popping up,
having heard of these fertile grounds, snatching the land, extoling Christian
values without a care 4 the displaced people who R sent to concentrated areas
of those cities that the thieves didn’t want & arguably has or will have
less resources when they get there. Roving bands of Caucasians, some
commissioned by their government, others simply organized 4 that purpose, R
killing melanated men, women and children across the country in collusion with
mass media that denigrates the image of those melanated people so that their
murders somehow seem justified. In fact the propaganda machine is so strong
and omnipresent that many of the melanated people R confused as 2 who they R
and fail 2 recognize 1 another from region 2 region. Whether U R only focused on the present or
solely knowledgeable of the past, all of these things should ring a bell with
U.
Our parents, worse than our grandparents, gave birth to us who are worse than they, and we shall in our turn bear offspring still more evil. ~Horace (Roman poet)
Whether we’re talking about the Dakota Access Pipeline
project or the transcontinental railroad expansion between 1863 & 1869;
whether, from the above description U pictured the Homestead Act of 1862 or
modern day gentrification pacts in urban cities; whether U thought I was
referencing the Seminole Wars of the early 19th century, the Trail
of Tears of 1838 or the 2day’s levels of police brutality and murder; whether U
felt the parallel between the slave trade undertaken by pirates and privateers
on the water or the system of mass incarceration undertaken by modern day slave
catchers on the land, U WOULD B CORRECT. This is the same sh**, remixed and
done over just enough that an unwary mind may not recognize it. But recognize
we must. We cannot let this loop N history continue.
N that, I’m watching a lot of my people post, “Dear Racism, I am not my grandparents.
Sincerely, These Hands,” 2 note how overt racism will not B tolerated N
this day & age as their apparently more passive ancestors did. Though
humorous and cute at 1st, it’s bothered the sh** outta me. It says
that my people still 2 this day do
not know their long tradition of resistance and there4 have not proper context,
image or inspiration on the battle we’re facing and the war we’re fighting.
Yo people ain’t never been no punks
I get it. We’re not widely taught about the Africans who fought against the kidnapping of their people on the grounds of Africa, long B4 honored ancestors like Yaa Asantewaa and Mama N’zinga in the 1800’s. We don’t know that our ancient Mexican ancestors, the Aztecs successfully resisted Cortes’ onslaught until a smallpox infection, brought by the Spanish, decimated their numbers, NOR do we know our connection 2 them as African descendants (despite them depicting themselves in shades of brown, building pyramids and practicing similar traditions as the Mande and others). Successful Black towns R ignored. We don’t talk about John Horse and the Seminole Wars and the freeing of hundreds of enslaved people around Florida 25 years B4 Lincoln’s “Emancipation Proclamation.”
We’re instead given briefs on our warriors that were
stopped, from Babas Nat Turner and Gabriel 2 Chairman Fred Hampton and the
esteemed Brother Malcolm. We’re taught defeat and that it was through the
efforts of non-violent protestors that concessions have been won in the U.S.
but it’s just not true. Not fully. It is and always has been the threat
&/or examples of our physical prowess, courage, organization and action
that has forced the U.S. government 2 relent N those spaces that they have.
That goes 4 our participation in the Civil War to the self-help programs of the
Black Panther Party for Self Defense.
And that is what we must teach. Extol our triumphs everyday
so that we will know them as well as we know our defeats. The Haitian Revolution, from both a physical and spiritual angle, should be common
knowledge and daily inspiration 2 us all as we move 4ward. The very public
assassinations of our shining leaders like Brother Malcolm, Chairman Fred and
Ken Bridges R no different than what is outlined in the Willie Lynch letter on
how 2 control a slave plantation. The murders and brutality of brown-skinned
women and men across social network sites damn near daily R the same as the
1000’s of lynchings recorded on postcards in the early 1900s. Compare the
division that propagandized labeling had on our ancestors (Indian, slave,
negro, freedman) 2 how it works 2day (African-American, Latino, lightskin,
darkskin, feminist, rich, poor etc…). Look at the effect that these things have
on the spirit of the people and then recognize WHY many of us falsely believe
that our forefathers and mothers were a passive people.
We have fought, often successfully, against the infection of
pink pathology/European domination/racism intellectually, spiritually and
physically since they 1st came out of Europe spreading that disease.
We made many mistakes along the way. We underestimated the savagery of our
enemy constantly. We falsely believed in their humanity but left enough of our
story 4 us 2 learn from those mistakes and 2 correct our trajectory
accordingly. We ARE our ancestors in every way. Energy cannot B created or
destroyed. We R everything that ever was & will B and our ancestors ain’t
never been no punks.
Thanks 4 reading. Keep fighting.
Sincerely,
These Hands
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