We must
destroy both racism and capitalism.
Usually I try
to stay out of current events because that usually divides people, and you
start to see the ugly side of everyone. But given the last two weeks, it's
time I break my silence. Last November I wrote a blog entitled
Justice Denied, and it was based off all of the shooting that were
taking place last year, fast forward now, I'm still writing about shootings
that are taking place. I'm going to speak as bluntly and frankly as I can,
and if I lose some readers after this post, then I respect your decision to
leave, but I'm going to get what I have to say off of my chest. Because at
the end of the day, I am an African American male, and it's my
responsibility to speak on the injustices that plague my fellow brothers,
sisters, aunts, uncles, mothers and fathers. Plus I'm at the point of no
return when it comes to acting calmly and peacefully, and it's sad that I'm
here.
There are churches burning, people getting murdered in those churches, children still are dying, and people are still struggling to take care of their family and the media is still not reporting what is really going on in this world. I've been asked numerous times as of late, seeing how I'm from South Carolina and all, how I feel about the flag flying above the state capital. Like I told one person, then the next person and the person after that, I do not care one bit about that stupid flag. I grew up with that flag and I know people who proudly wore shirts with that flag on it. I witness with my own two eyes a child being sent home for wearing a shirt with that flag on it and that flag was subsequently banned from our school for forever without so much as a fight. I equate that flag to those men and women who wear those white hoodies, they're both cowards either way. Granted if the flag comes down, then it comes down, and that's SMALL victory for the movement.
What Jon Stewart pointed out on the Daily Show is that we still live and drive on those streets named after those same men that wanted to keep slavery around. We go to school in buildings named after those men, there are museums dedicated to those men. Hell you can even say that there are kids that I grew up with that are named after those very men. So taking down a flag and then moving on to the next topic in some other state doesn't do anything for me. As I stated on a topic on Facebook is that we need to hit them where it hurts, we need to take them out of positions of power that continue to hinder us from growth and stability in this country. It's no secret that the "good ol' boy" system will always and forever be around, but just like any empire built on tyranny, it can be defeated.
And that's the thing that scares me the most about all of this, at what cost are we going to defeat a problem that has been around since it's inception of this country. Let's say that we start getting people up out of offices where they can't do us anymore harm, let's say that there is some semblance of reform in this country. But we all know how far that's going to go, because you're never going to get rid of racism by any means. Where do we go when we've created a country of equality? We have to take care of not only African Americans that were bought to this country illegally, we have to take care of the Native Americans for which this country was taken from, then we have to take care of the Asian Americans who's families were either mistreated upon the building of the transcontinental railroad, bombing of Hiroshima, and subsequent imprisonment.
I mean racial injustice isn't just an issue for one race, it's an issue for multiple races and that's what concerns me the most. I know a couple of people are asking what does this have to do with the African American community, and I say it has every single thing to do with our community. They say history always repeats itself, well looks at the whole history and lets fully understand how deep rooted that racism is in this country. It's a very dark and bloody history for this country and there are a lot of ethnicity's that have been burned to the ground so that this country could grow into the capitalistic state that it is now. And if you for one second think that you have a say so on how this country is truly ran, you better wake up now or you'll forever be living in that same hole they want you in.
To tear down the patriarchy that is the United States will ultimately mean it's destruction because this country will not know what to do when it topples the oppressive regime that has stood for 239 years. To end racism in this country will ultimately mean death for millions of people because when there is money and wealth involved, no man will be so willingly to give it up. So when I'm asked about my views of racism, I firmly believe that it's single handily the worse thing that has happened to this world, it's the one thing that keeps us from growing to unimaginable heights, and taking care of this planet. Racism in turn leads to wars, pollution, unemployment rates being sky rocketed high, and just an overall destruction of the race. Just like Huey said above, we have to fight capitalism and racism, and when you mix the two, there's no positive outcome where I see anyone making this out without a scratch.
As morbid as this all sounds, for some reason I still hope. I still put hope in this race that we can snap out of it and we can fix what is going on at the end of the day. My people literally just want a fair shake at life, that is as cut and dry as can be. We want the best education that doesn't cost us an arm and a leg, with that education we will support and provide for our family, then we can instill values and morals into our children to do great things and take care of other people along the way. I don't know what they think we want, but it's not to be the richest people in the world, we didn't create that way of thinking. We didn't even value the gold or other precious jewels before the came and robbed our country. We were entrenched in taking care of our people and evolving and learning new things.
The proof is in our history, there's tons of evidence to support that, just not in the American text books. At the end of the day, I want the church burning's to stop, I want the killings of unarmed women, children and the elderly to stop, and I most of all want the killings of my brothers who simply walk home from the store, to stop. I don't care about a stupid flag, I don't care about who marries who, I don't care about your money or power. I want all of the tears to stop, I want the stress of living day to day to stop, I want the fear of not being able to walk down the street to stop, I want to be able to feel like I belong in this country, the one that we built for you. At the end of the day, I care about my people, and I simply want us to having a fighting chance, and if you won't give that to us, we damn sure will take action to get it ourselves.
The time is now, and we want what is owed to us, at any cost.
Every day I am commit to learning more about our history. I too once felt that choosing to not speak will help me cope, however all it does is suppress what I truly feel. My heart aches for all that we've endured and continue to endure. Nina Simone once said something such as "how can one be an artist and not reflect on the times?" The reality is, this is our reality. This is our present truth. It is through the blessings of our work and artistry that we can convey such messages and share them with the world. You should know that It's not a shot in the dark thst you have hope and faith. My heart aches every day, but I still believe God will reign and change will come. I truly believe that without either hope not faith we don't have much to stand on. Keep inspiring others to open their hearts and minds to the race stricken disease America is contaminated with, but we as blacks suffer the most from it. I appreciated this post so much. I pray that we all learn that we are valuable assets to change in this country. Sharing our views is one step closer to awakening another one of our brothers or sisters minds.
ReplyDeleteThis as so well put that I do not need to elaborate on it beyond the fact that God will one day make a change for us, as long as we keep pushing for it. Thank you so much for this Amber!
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