Indoctrination And Assimilation Ain't Progression

Part of my lifestyle and happiness is accepting people, particularly my friends and family, 4 exactly who they R. ALL of us have some effed up characteristics about us but outside of any type of deviant, insidious behaviors that harm others, I'm pretty cool with how others choose 2 live their lives. This does not mean I have 2 agree with other's lifestyles 4 us 2 B cool but sometimes, on rare occasions I may have something 2 say about certain parts of those lifestyles, in general. This is 1 of those times. 

My little cousin has decided 2 pledge 1 of the contradictory named Black Greek Letter Orgs. While I philosophically disagree with what these orgs stand 4, (& I ain't arguing with none of U zealot-ass acolytes about what that is no matter how cool we R) I have MANY friends and family who I love, cherish and respect, who R members. Again, people do what they want and I don't desire a say N it.

HOWEVER, as my cousin approaches the pledging process their mother tells me how much the organization is REQUIRING my 21 year old cousin 2 pay in order 2 do so. Foolishly thinking it was an excessive 2-500 dollars I was quickly corrected that it would B $21-2500! R U fu**ing kidding me???

So in addition 2 an exorbitant tuition, extreme school fees and living costs, these "progressive" organizations expect a family (cause who else is gonna run that doe) 2 put 2gether 21-2500 more dollars just 2 B N one of these "U-can't-sit-with-us ass, civic, bourgeoisie social clubs?!? Maaaaaaaaaaaan, FU** DAT! 

Almost all of these orgs R at least 100 years old. N those 100 years of fraternal and sisterly kinship I don’t know (& I’m open 2 being corrected) of 1 fortune 500 company that’s been opened and operated by any one or combination of those groups 2 ensure our people, or even just their members, post-graduate employment. Not 1 Alpha hotel chain. No Omega hospitals. No Nupe farms or food brands. Nary a Delta textiles or Sigma shipping line. Not even a simple National Pan-Hellenic Council political lobbyist group. N 100 years of bringing young educated Black minds 2gether, not a single org has created and dominated a single area of industry as a economic force 4 our people. 

I’m NOT discounting the far-reaching lengths European-Americans have gone 2 KILL Black economic progression N general. I’m NOT saying any other organization has achieved this basic achievement and been able 2 maintain its operation to this day either (recognition goes 2 Garvey’s notable attempts with the Black Star Line, Negro Factories Corporation, etc…). BUT what other organizations have been around as long and boast memberships as large as the BGLOs? If anyone touted unity as the answer 2 collective Black socioeconomic elevation or helping us counter Black oppression, BGLOs have glaringly helped 2 prove otherwise. 

And THESE R the organizations asking 4 upward of $2500 2 join their ranks? So an individual can dress alike, B N step shows and do some basic ass charity drives??? I’ve come 2 the aid of my brothers who I didn’t need 2 “take wood” with N ways that their organizations didn’t. Where was their return on that investment? Do we really need a handshake and goofy ass call 2 help and recognize each other other than a Black fist and a head nod? In my humble opinion I’m only Cing them sell “networking” as the reason 2 join the same way pulpit pimps sell “eternal damnation.” GTFOHWTBS. 

I know we can B a tribal people. Many of us love having secret handshakes, signs and calls 2 distinguish us from that infamous “everybody else.” I’m not knocking that. Some folks R naturally joiners and they need that. That’s their prerogative. GDs, Crips, Bloods, and Blackstones hook up 4 similar reasons and take similar ass whuppins 2 get N. Folks do what they do. But if said organization is supposedly about uplifting a member, Y would they B charging them $2100+ 2 B a part of them. Where the fu** does all that money go when these orgs literally OWN no businesses or political lobby groups? Most of them don’t even have formal “houses” 4 their members 2 live N like their pink counterparts. Naw, this is some bullsh** and I just needed my moment 2 talk about it. Rep yo set if U like but ain’t no rationale 4 taking that kinda bread from a college student. It’s 2 many Black degreed phenomenons out here looking 4 careers and the “Divine Nine” ain’t hiring 1 of them. 

Thanks 4 reading,
K.

Who U Calling Soft?

Welcome back 2 the past. It’s a place that we haven’t quite figured out (or don’t want 2) here in the 21^st 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 19^th 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 1^st, 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 1^st 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. Honor that.

Thanks 4 reading. Keep fighting.

Sincerely,

These Hands

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The Heat part 1 of 4: "It's Hot"

The heatwave seems 2 B passing. My hometown of Chicago was hit pretty hard. I’ve heard word after word about how hot it was.  Complaints about sweating and choking and not being able 2 move or go out and this, after so many complaints about the long cold winter.  It’s laughable but par 4 the course.  Legitimately, it was hot; very hot. 

With the surge in temperature came also the surge in criminally-related deaths mainly from being shot. I will not say “by guns” because I 2 am a believer that guns don’t kill people. People with guns kill people. The big headline was that there were more people being killed in Chicago than there were in Afghanistan; sensationalized but largely true. The regular people, due 2 the transitory legalities in Illinois/Chicago have largely been disarmed which has given way 4 motivated individuals 2 procure guns in unlawful ways and at the same time opening up a huge industry on the blackmarket. Capitalism.

 According 2 the Chicago Tribune the latest number of people shot N this frenzy near the end of June 2012 was 319, an annual rise of nearly 22%. Comments by well-meaning racists on another site, trained like the sheeple they R, they, like a lot of America, believe that the shooters and those shot R all thugs & other assorted criminal scum negating that at least 24 of the victims were mere school children from 7 on up. They didn’t account 4 the innocents, elderly and uninvolved who were out walking or sitting on their porches and caught a stray. Nor the record numbers of people shot, largely of so-called “minority” heritage, by police under questionable circumstances. But this entry isn’t about that. There’s a level of ignorance N this country that I am, at this time, disinterested in addressing. This is geared at solutions.

and most of them are uninvolved in any criminal activity

 The hood isn’t the way it is because of some innate desire to harm one another or predilection toward self destruction.  It’s the lack of devoted resources and the poor educational system that gives the students no purpose on Y they’re there. It’s the poor, substanceless, nutrient-deficient foods dumped upon and made available 2 the people living there, the lack of jobs and the inability 2 provide one’s self and one’s family with basic needs and finally, the saturation of repetitive, irresponsible, mind-numbing entertainment that eggs on these conditions. These things build up 2 frustration, anger, hunger, lack of self-worth and other diseases whose symptoms become visible as the widely reported violence.

 The “West,” European colonized industrial lands, R treatment based societies. They don’t practice prevention. They treat symptoms. They move without regard 2 consequences then attempt to “treat” the damage done. There R those who think that’s what makes this country great, despite the staggering numbers in health and environmental issues, despite the substandard education of the masses; despite that many who think that R the same ones suffering from those afflictions inflicted upon them by the very few.  This country “treats” the symptoms of its cancer and AIDS victims despite the fact that many scientists & health practitioners have proven cures 4 those deadly ailments 4 decades. They’d rather spend millions on “research” 2 better circulate money 2 the privileged. This country “treats” symptomatic environmental issues, allowing a few hybrid vehicles on the street 2 reduce pollution while trucks and factories blow billows of harmful smoke N2 the air despite having access 2 yet denying effective, cleaner energy sources because of their financial commitment 2 oil. They’d rather damage the livability of our land 4 profits than change things 4 the better 4 the people.  Chicago hires more police while reducing effective social programs. Am I wrong? Is this just hippie-talk? I’m open 2 criticism.

I might have an answer. This is not an original idea. It’s rooted in offerings set forth by Garvey, Drew-Ali and Elijah Muhammad and it was inspired by a post from a wonderful sista that I saw the other day.  It’s an idea I contemplated years ago but wasn’t N a position 2 implement.  Its viability is local and global. It’s simple, realistic, long-term and not far-reaching. It’s directed 2 whoever can and will read this. 

Many candles can B lit from a single flame without diminishing its light

Part 2 of 4: "A Suggested Solution" in 2 days...