I was assisted in this reposting and bringing in the New Year 2023 with a bottle of Barbier Louvet – Cuvee d’Ensemble Champagne Grand Cru N.V. 2021 – This is usually about $70.00 per bottle. In Chicago this was on sale for $40.00. Slight but balanced acidity. 12% alcohol. 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Chardonnay. Green apples, apricots, and pineapples is the predominance throughout its opening, sustain, and closing. Moderate effervescence. Dry – slightly sweet finish.
“We cannot allow the [reparations] Commission to be seated and wait until afterward to pressure it to do the right thing. We cannot leave the [reparations] Commission’s mandate for the content of its report open-ended. Too much is at stake. If such a Commission is created, it must be directed to produce the type of report that will lead to a comprehensive plan for reparations for Black American descendants of U.S. slavery. As HR40 currently stands, designed to give N’COBRA and NAARC a significant role in its deliberations, we face a grave risk of getting the wrong model for reparations.
As HR40 currently stands, it is the wrong legislation for this important moment. – While still wrapped in naivete, I assumed there would be a good faith effort to evaluate HR40 and revise it accordingly. I am beginning to believe it should be scrapped altogether. – The goal is Pure Reparations. The bill as currently constituted will not get us from here to there.”
Dr. William Darity Jr.
This post is for those that want me to reiterate my oughts regarding HR40 and The NAARC/N’COBRA Axis. This is it. Myself – Roslyn Mickens – and Angie Of Baltimore did a Twitter space on February 6, 2022. A second space was done on February 13, 2022 regarding: “Why We Say No To HR40?” This was sponsored by: “By The People Media.” We explained HR40 line by line with commentary and questions and answers from others in the room. Here they are:
Part I – What’s In The Bill?
Part II – Who Benefits From The Bill?
Part III – What Do Freedmen Think About This Bill?
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
I was assisted in writing this post by a bottle of Treana Cabernet Sauvignon 2020. An inexpensive Paso Robles California contender. Powerful entrance. Dry but faintly sweet. Moderate but balanced tannins. Quiet acidity. Leading in heavy with vanilla, oak, and chocolate. A sustain of blackberries, nutmeg, and black cherries. Ending in cocoa, honey, and tobacco. Long – elegant finish.
“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”
Aristotle
I will be periodically posting random – contained thoughts and observations centered generally on reparations in batches of seven. First Page.
I
The reason I am encouraging study circles with “From Here To Equality” (ISBN 978-1469671208) and “The Black Reparations Project” (ISBN 978-0520383814) is because I would like to see an organic but precise “reparations mentality” to grow within the Freedmen community. The Pan Africans have no materials for the people that serve this purpose. Correct reparations thought. The specificity reparationists have an advantage in this regard and that needs to be exploited.
For those that do Kwanzaa or Christmas, give these books as presents. This information and the subsequent mentality that these actions will generate must be spread as widely as possible within the Freedmen community. Like Now.
II
Observe Family. Eight Nigerian-Americans won congressional seats in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. Will this be good for American Freedmen? No. Nigerians are probably the most anti-Freedmen group of the Diaspora generally. They are solidly tribal and will readily side with white supremacy against us. You cannot expect these legislators to support reparations unless this issue is “Pan Africanized.” This is a troublesome development that we must be concerned with. It is possible to be entirely Black – but only do policy favorable for some Blacks.
III
I do appreciate Gilad Erdan – Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations for releasing this November 3, 2022 Tweet:
“The Nets are showing no tolerance for hate. We can’t pick and choose when we want to stand against injustice. Kyrie hopped on the trend of being anti-Semitic & was put in his place quickly. I hope he opens his eyes beyond the conspiracy theories he spreads & can educate himself.”
“Put in his place quickly?” That’s some high-handed shit ain’t it? But don’t get angry at the ambassador for speaking his truth. I’m not gonna wear my mind out with some “what’s his place?” type unspoken retorts. “Put in his place quickly” is a 400 year old attitude and practice that only applies to American Freedmen – and comes directly from the core of a racism-white supremacy mindset. It looks like things are changing and the Black community is starting to show some teeth in response to attitudes like this. That should serve as a warning. But! Certain groups are so supremacist-minded and arrogant that they will keep poking the bear. OK? It will not be until that bear fully awakens and things get dangerous (and possibly deadly) that folks will get respectful. Respect with teeth is where we want to be.
IV
Let’s take this further – the good thing (I hope) about the Kyrie Irving situation is that it could be (I hope) making us do a substantial reset as to how we move as a community in all respects. Politics – Economics – Business. Everything about this issue ties into those three areas. I want everybody to thank NIKE for showing its true mentality by showing its true hand. I will never buy another NIKE product.
Why? Because I have unapologetic self-respect and I’m not going to spend money with a company that openly spits on my people and on my people’s issues. We’ve had a long but lopsided marriage with NIKE. Our folks provided uncompensated marketing and devoted customership – while Phil Knight and his associates have enjoyed the collection of unlimited profits. Undeserved abuse and racial insult has occurred. Divorce is sometimes necessary when a relationship turns sour.
Time to research Black-owned athletic shoe companies, and spend our money with our own. If we moved correctly as a community – we would anathematize NIKE immediately and finally (the same way the Jewish community has anathematized Kyrie). And shift to developing our own shit. And shift to spending with our own. And shift to developing and raising our own power. OURS!!! #DontGoBack.
Do I have any faith in what I’m saying here? Absolutely Not. American Freedmen have a unique self-destructive, self-disrespecting psychology that’s hard to beat, understand, or explain. But I do understand this – it wouldn’t matter what NIKE does to Kyrie Irving. Black folks love to spend money with folks that disrespect and shit on us. Korean beauty supply stores? Vietnamese nail salons? Palestinian liquor stores? And now NIKE turning its ass up at us. I mean other communities can literally take a shit on us – and we’ll be right back at their doors (with a smile) to spend money with those motherfuckers after we clean the shit off. It’s weird. At the same time – I do hope I’m wrong on this. I would be totally gratified if my folks flipped the script on my ass and proved me wrong – changing this dynamic.
I now look at the NIKE swoosh the same way the Jews look at the Nazi swastika.
V
Family – please study this video carefully. The Hasidic Jews in practice move the way we should move on the local level. This is a living blueprint. A blueprint on the economic, community, educational, self-protection, networking, gates up, and On Code basis. Man – I hope we wake up to the point that we can move like this.
VI
I want all of us to notice that the same communities that are the most fixated on professional sports are also the most impoverished. Ninety-five percent of the owners of teams have never played sports themselves ever. They were fixated on BUSINESS – LAW – ACCOUNTING – MARKETING – MANAGEMENT. Adam Silver (The 5th Commissioner of the NBA) got his degree in political science from Duke University and his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School. While others were busy bouncing balls. Understand. We hardly ever give our children useful epiphanies. If some guy in a suit is able to pay a single guy in a jersey $40 million in a year – then what is the guy in the suit making? Right? OK? This, in addition to highly compensating the rest of the team and support staff?
And still making a profit?
That’s one thing. There are those that suggest that we ought to construct our own leagues. Totally understandable. But check this, in these times I think we need to divest from professional sports in all respects. In addition to politics – I think our new fixations should be the fixations that I cited above. Time to get serious.
“Government is the game and politics is how you play it” (Brother Logic). Politics is the only process by which you gain or lose protections, set-asides, community resources, and individual considerations. Goals are accomplished depending on how you participate, how much you participate, and how well you play.
VII
“The president of NIKE – John Donahoe said: ‘Without Black athletes and the Black culture, NIKE would not be where it is today.”
Athletic shoes alone generated $70 Billion last year. Black consumers accounted for $23 Billion of that (but see how they regard us?). And Black retailers saw extremely little of that. OK? There is nothing sexy about helping to build businesses that other groups own. Especially those group-owners that fundamentally are hostile to you and your group. But are just civil enough for a few minutes to get your money. To induce you to sign hyper-predatory contracts. To contain you and your children within new forms of slavery with multi-million dollar checks. OK? Consequences? Giving them the power to use, abuse, and disrespect you. We require a “revolution of the mind.” It is insanity to finance your own disrespect. Jewish folks, NIKE, and the NBA wouldn’t have that kind of power over us if we hadn’t given it to them.
Suggestion: BURN NIKE products and post those burnings on social media.
Another resetting thought: LABELS. I don’t know what started this trend. But this is another avenue by which the enemy extracts commercial value from us.
Think about it. Why are YOU paying for clothes that are actually billboards for clothing companies and sports teams without being compensated? NIKE – GUCCI – VERSACE – CHAMPION – ADIDAS – LOUIS VUITTON – PINK – PELLE PELLE – WHITE SOX – RAIDERS. Not me. Not that I am against it per se – but in my case, for me to be a walking billboard for any company, a check has to be attached.
The trick is that you have been marketed into thinking you are trendy and chic while actually being an uncompensated marketing mule for sports teams and clothing companies. Some folks have on so many labels simultaneously that they look like walking clearance racks. If the label that’s on the clothes is the only thing that “makes” the clothes (and you ain’t getting no check), that’s fucked up.
Family. Self-enslavement can come in many forms and be done in many ways.
END OF POST
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
I was assisted in writing this post by a nice bottle of Bodega Noemia A Lisa 2020. A Rio Negro Argentinian Malbec. Deep ruby ink. Mineralistic structure. Soft tannins. Balanced acidity. Leading in with Merlot-like cherry and blackberry notes. A sustain of oak, black pepper, vanilla, and ripe berries. Ending with ripe apricots and mineral notes. Long, beautiful finish with juicy fruits and cocoa.
“When you are dealing with an opponent who doesn’t value honor, there are no moral rules of engagement when defeating them.”
Makandal
The loud obviousness of the liars and fakers is finally becoming obvious to the average American Freedman on the street. Incredible. Those “Black and Brown” lies are so over the top, ahistorical, and fact-checkable that the streets are boiling.
The white paymaster commanded – history-bending propagandists against Freedmen ownership of Freedmen culture and politics are stuttering when the racially insulted and gerrymandered out are calling folks out. Now. Aggressive cultural appropriation and political takeover are the managed precursors to actual genocide. There are steps to this thing. Study the project management of the Holocaust in Germany. Death. Remember – there are steps to this thing.
Mental Reset: How many American Freedmen reading this post takes issue with the Felix Tijerina quote reiterated below? If you do – YOU have a problem.
“Let the Negro fight his own battles! His problems are not mine. I don’t want to ally with him.”
Felix Tijerina (Mexican-American president of LULAC from 1956 to 1960)
We will get back to this quote and go over why it is important to absorb this statement properly. Before I move further, burn this into your mind: The most important things to keep in mind are three interconnected areas. And they are these: Politics, Economics, and Business. They are as inseparable as the head, tail, and edge of a coin. Understand that every other discipline, practice, or field of study is a sub-category of one or more of these areas without exception.
Reparations is a sub-category of economics Family.
Dangerous Resilience
The other thing I need you to burn into your minds: American Freedmen and their descendants have proven themselves to be Dangerously Resilient in their own way, against, around, and through the white power structure. This, with no money or protection. Internally producing superlatives of innovation, skill, and creativity that are ethnocentrically out of the reach of others. A separate artistry, inventiveness, and logic that could not and cannot be captured or duplicated by other humans.
Never.
The African royals and professional traders that sold us to the Europeans did not expect us as a lineage to survive. Washed hands. A deep line was drawn as the slaver ships left that dark African shore. They did not expect us to pop-off over 300 (recorded) slave revolts. They did not expect the Deacons For Defense. They did not expect the open defiance of Emmett Till’s mother. They did not expect a Fannie Lou Hamer. They did not expect The Nation Of Islam. And from the way our Black immigrated “brothers and sisters” have behaved towards us in this country – it is not unreasonable to believe they still wish death upon us. I do not trust any kind of “Pan Africanism.” Trick bag. I absolutely refuse to be a “mule” for the Diaspora.
Please digest the fact that certain “Pan Africanist” organizations such as NAARC, N’COBRA, FirstRepair of Evanston Illinois, and now Kamm Howard’s Reparations United are anti-reparations contractors to the Democratic Party. Don’t be taken in by their false propaganda or their daishiki-stagecraft. No more taking us away from a purely American focus. I will always say “NO” to Africa.
Any kind of forced or feigned “reconnection” with Africa is no different than some pushy social institution trying to “reconnect” a now thirty-five year-old woman to a mother that sold her to a pimp. And that travelling pimp took her completely away from home when she was fourteen, for a total of twenty-one years(!!!). Put her on foreign streets to work eighteen hours a day. Forced her into pornography. The woman fortunately escaped, and is presently in a drug rehab facility. She is still suffering heavily and trying to recover from Battered Woman Syndrome. Any kind of “love connection” with that mother would be kinda hard to muster up. Right?
That’s our reconnection to Africa.
Dechattelization does not mean the end of slavery. We have been designated in perpetuity to be low human entities allowed to exist only for labor, entertainment, servitude, concubinage, and economic extraction. At one time, that allowance was only open for whites, Jews, and Native Americans (like the Cherokees) to exploit. Thirty years ago Asians were invited into the club. The Asians as of now are a grey area. They still need us to make money. And if things get too hot or barren here, they have places to escape to. A plane ticket away. Of late, the Hispanics and Black immigrants have been invited in to kick our asses as well. Understand the current “Black and Brown” conditions: The Hispanics want to flat out kill us. There it is: Just us Freedmen – surrounded for elimination by the Government, whites, Jews, Hispanics, and Black immigrants. Done. As soon as possible. And Done.
In this mix – the Black immigrants are special. They host a grand double-fuck party that American Freedmen are nicely invited to. Not only did theirantecedents profit first from selling us to the Europeans. But they as the descendants get to profit over again as Blacks from the policies and resources wefoughtfor – us being deprived for so long after we were released from the slavery their antecedents sold us into. Economically, Black immigrants don’t want to have a fucking thing to do with us.
Beautiful.
We have forty-plus millions of American Freedmen to mentally clean up and get On Code. There are new weapons being utilized against us. Unfortunately we are not On Code enough to utilize our power. Even without money. Constructive communication and getting On Code is free. This, we need to change.
The Final Solution
“On my last and final meeting with Bob Cohen – he told me: ‘If You keep up anti-Semitic rhetoric you’ll lose custody of your children.’ So let me get this straight. If I complain about Jewish business practices, it’s considered anti-Semitic. So my custody lawyer was basically telling me if I complain about getting done wrong in business – I will lose custody of my children. And this was the guy on my side.”
Kanye West – via Instagram
Let me make this clear: Every group has the right to do whatever it takes to get and or stay on top. The Jewish people are the best example of how we should operate as a minority. See? As an historically affected group, whatever they deem to be anti-Semitic should be understood to be anti-Semitic, and that understanding should be respected. And, whatever we deem to be anti-Black should be understood to be anti-Black, and that understanding should be respected as well. Everything that has happened to Kanye West is what is supposed to happen when a group believes it has been threatened or insulted at any level. That’s not like or dislike – that is one outcome of the game. Proxies (examples) are created all the time. Ya Dig?
When he spoke greasy about our liberational heroes, and about certain ugly historic chapters being “a choice” – we should have cancelled his ass ourselves then. OK? The same way we should have cancelled “gangsta rap” that promotes fratricide and community destruction. The same way we should have cancelled “bitch rap” that promotes whore culture for Black women only. The same way we should have cancelled some “fuckboy rap” that promotes extreme hedonism and profligacy. The same way we should have cancelled “drill rap” which promotes Black on Black animus and straight up murder as a virtue. We see what Jewish limits are. But what are our limits? Tangible contributions to white supremacist talking points? The game ultimately is about power, dominance, and control.
About who ultimately wins. I don’t hate. I observe, I study, I learn.
What I am learning is that recent events should cause the Freedmen community to do a wholesale reassessment and reset of everything. This Is It. Fill in the blanks.
Right now – we are witnessing and experiencing a primary phase of a process that can potentially end in an American style “Final Solution” with Foundational Black Americans this time being the ones up for elimination. Facts. That potentiality is certainty coming to pass if we don’t change the way we move. The power structure fifty eight years ago as of this writing, decided that we have came to the end of our usefulness. We left their plantations. We demanded Civil Rights. We demanded full capitalistic access. They can’t get us to clean their houses anymore. No. We now consider serving them to be an insult. They beefed up our sports and entertainment utility. They believe they are paying us way more than we deserve. And Now? We have ginned up the temerity to demand reparations? “Some Niggers?”
“Oh Hell Naw!!! You motherfucking Niggers deserve no less than death!”
OK – so death it is. Ahh… But not so fast. Now, one must remember that during the Jewish Holocaust years (1933 to 1945) there was no social media or the here and now utility of smartphones to immediately inform the world of the atrocity. The Holocaust apparatus was loading people from their homes onto various transports. And then doing direct conveyance to gas chamber elimination. Horrible. At the same time, don’tever think that the Jewish experience willevertranslate into any kind of empathy towards American Freedmen from the Jewish community. They don’t even look at us as human beings. Why should they? To that community, at best – we are no more than “talented animals” only existing to be monetized.
You cannot intentionally display excellence to the dominant society. Black Excellence and expertise breeds jealousy and contempt from white men. Unless that excellence is captured and controlled by white or Jewish men via slavery or contract – they will find a way to destroy it by destroying you. That’s History.
But!!!
You know what? That’s OK. We are not them. And they are not us. The important thing is how we view ourselves. Listen and absorb this Family. How you view yourself and your community is the biggest factor in whether your community goes from busted to billions. There is a deep simultaneity between how you view yourself and how you view your community if you understand that our proactive interconnectivity is a reparational necessity. This is also a universal principle.
One Day we’ll become wise enough to stop playing in and supporting the NBA.
The Jewish community has a very high level of racial and group self-esteem. That’s a good thing. Listen to this Family: A hardened positive self-esteem breeds and incentivizes in-group inter-business networking, operational group economics, and tight community cohesion. That is not something to be hated. That is something to be emulated. Our hardened racial self-esteem and in-group operationality at some point must match or exceed theirs, if we are to survive and prosper as a tribe.
Our relationship with the Jewish community has always been fully extractive or one-sidedly transactional. That includes our enslavement under Jewish ownership. This relationship has always been a matter of our usefulness to their businesses and as bullet-absorbing buffers between them and the enthusiastically homicidal anti-Semitic white people. You know. The ones that shoot up synagogues. And the ones that want to shoot up synagogues, but as of yet haven’t because they don’t want to go to prison. If you can’t find a synagogue – a Black church will do. Same effect. Same high. That’s what both Jews and Black folks have to deal with out there.
Whenever some proactive racist produces a pre-mass murder “manifesto,” most of the time, infuriated rants specifically complaining on Blacks and Jews replacing them are carefully included in the same screed. So there is some degree of equality there. (Yay!!!) Some of those white folks are policemen. Protecting and Serving. But to be clear, white anti-Semitism and racial animus towards Blacks are two different things. Understand? Our racial trajectories from launch till now are two different things. OK? Ultimately going to two different places – with two different economic potentialities and manifesting in this very real here and now with two obviously different eventualities upon landing. At this point, I hope we understand that those trajectories arenot relatable in the least. We have not a motherfucking thing in common with any-goddamn-body else. Do you understand?
Our separate group positionalities and powers (or lack thereof) in this society and elsewhere is an obvious testament to the truths I’m stating here. Just look. And as far as our true relationship with the Jewish community, at the very least, we are not “brothers.” No more than a handshake. Freedmen are individually seen as either a potential asset or potential liability on their individual balance sheets. That’s It.
“Can ya’ dribble a ball Nigger? Can ya’ sing?”
But getting back to the point, even though the power structure would like to, they could not globally get away with direct conveyance to gas chamber elimination of forty plus million American Freedmen in five years. Like the Germans did with six million Jews between 1941 to 1945. Can’t happen that way. The white folks don’t need another George Floyd-level global backlash. (Oops!) Too many smartphones.
The Holocaust as we know it actually began from a propaganda and political reset standpoint between 1933 to 1939. There was some killing, but the mass killing did not happen right away. There was an actual project-managed preparation period of sorts. This inconceivably efficient persecution to grave process was done in stages.
Let’s look at those stages:
Concentration camps built in 1933.
Elimination of political opponents started in 1933.
Passing of the Enabling Act (A law that gave Hitler the power to make and enforce laws without the involvement of the Reichstag or lower legislative house of the Weimar government) that happened in 1933.
Government ordered isolation of the Jews from civil society started in 1933.
Government sponsored boycott of Jewish businesses began in 1933.
Enacting the Nuremberg Laws (A series of antisemitic and racist laws that were enacted in Nazi Germany on September of 1935).
Kristallnacht (the “Night of Broken Glass”) – in 1938, Jewish businesses and other buildings were ransacked and/or set on fire throughout Germany and Austria.
The setting up of ghettos to segregate Jews started in 1939.
Thousands of camps and other detention sites established across German-occupied Europe. Building started in 1939.
Paramilitary death squads called Einsatzgruppen murdered 1.3 million Jews in mass shootings and pogroms activated in 1941.
The policy of Jewish extermination the Nazis called “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question” was discussed and finalized at the Wannsee Conference in Berlin in 1942.
The segregation of Jews in ghettos culminated in the execution of the policy of extermination called “The Final Solution” done from 1942 to 1945.
History is repeating itself as we speak. But we are the “Finals” this time.
Check this out Family: The same minds that ran and occupied Nazi Germany are the same minds that run and occupy the United States. The only exception is that the Jewish community in the United States has always and up till now been a part of the American white power structure. Facts. Now, at the same time, just like the majority of white people in this country are anti-Black, those same people are also anti-Semitic. The only working difference is that, because the Jewish community is a vital component of the financial, political, scientific, intellectual, and propaganda infrastructure that helps to run the systems and complete the objectives of white supremacy, the foundational white elite will always protect this community from the open racists and anti-Semites that want to literally kill them. Just as long as they stay On Code and retain their particular functionality within the power structure.
Just to be clear Family – I am not anti-Semitic (Do I have to say that?).
But for us as Freedmen to fully come into our own, good, post-reparations standing (safely) – it is upon us to, and absolutely necessary to contractually, managerially, and commercially divest from other communities. That’s not violence. That’s not anti-Semitism. OK? That’s about leaving other folks alone (reread that Kanye West quote above to drive this point home firmly in your heads). And standing fully on our own two feet. We have to learn and seriously do for ourselves in all respects. Reparations is automatically implorative to self-improvement. Understand?
That self-improvement must include self-ownership – self-possession. Our own knowledge and expertise has to undergird our reparations. Period. We have our own beautiful financial, social, and political networks to build. Could a Freedmen’s Bureau actuate and sustain Black economic, financial, and political independence?
Would that be possible?
They have theirs. We require ours.
With reparations, it is absolutely essential that we do this. Think: How can a community that once participated in your enslavement – give YOU good advice? Or – how is it conceivable that they will look out for you? To even think this would be insanity on our part. They have an obligation to their community only. There is nothing wrong with them supporting THEIR team. And there is nothing wrong with you fully supporting YOUR team. That is no reason to hate anybody. But as a team, there are certain things that we should not do with certain people anymore. That’s all. Especially when it comes to political, commercial, and financial matters. At this point – agendas are definitely more important than money. The Lakers don’t hate the Warriors. But on the court – they just play the game. It’s about business.
We have a bad habit of feeding other communities over our own children. The Korean community is one of the communities fed by us. Tacos are easy to make – you can do those yourself. Coalition-created organizations like the NAACP, the Urban League, and Black Lives Matter are now quite detrimental to us, and must be anathematized. But this is not to say that you should not have a glass of wine and participate in good philosophical and political discussions with certain Jewish individuals. Some of them (of course) have shown themselves to be quite decent associates and civilized in certain intelligent face to face exchanges. But that does not mean that contracts have to be signed – or that you have to work at businesses that they own, or appear on their platforms, or buy certain products that are at this time popular with young American Freedmen (you know what they are).
And all of us should stay off Vlad TV.
At the same time – emulations can be useful. Yep. The wheel does not have to be reinvented just because the mechanical applications or the persons involved may be different. One of the things that I love about the Jewish community is their openly operative policy of non-forgiveness. Definitely a good and effective thing to do. Definitely a good and effective thing thatwe mustpractice on persons and groups outside of our own. Once another group or individual outside of their [Jewish] group insults, trespasses, or misstates anything about them – there is no forgiveness! No Jesus. None. They do not forgive. And we shouldn’t either.
I personally cannot forgive slavery, Jim Crow, redlining, lynching, nullification, and the partitioning of Freedmen from Social Security and GI Benefits. (Just pay my reparations) The Jewish community is at the top of the list of American groups that cannot be criticized no matter what they do or say. I love it. Understand that non-forgiveness as a policy is a political strategy – not an emotional thing. This is a damned good mindset Family. We need to practice this same hard policy. If you have messed with one Freedman – you have messed with all Freedmen. George Zimmerman would not be walking around in comfort if his victim were Jewish.
The late financial arch-criminal Bernie Madoff is Jewish. OK? No Black person can criticize even him without consequences. This is not criticism. This is just a fact.
The Jewish community provides a great blueprint (with great results) as to how a marginalized group should operate in a mostly hostile environment. A reality that is worth studying. They understand that existence, power, and prosperity are team sports that cannot be won unless you and your folks are On Code. Jews are unified tribally even when they are disunified interpersonally (that’s an essential tribal art that we must master to make and keep a community fully operational Family).
That blueprint ties into why reparations are sorely needed. Other groups hate us BECAUSE we’re American Freedmen. And that’s OK. But they are able to hurt us because we do not have our independent economic networks operationally in place. Racial animus from others becomes inconsequential if your enemies are not able to starve you into submission because you did or said something they didn’t like. Racism? Our independent economic strength can mitigate or eliminate that.
Racism is an economic weapon – no less than spectator sports is a political weapon. Control of one’s economics is a form of community defense (and strategic offense) in a capitalist country – even more so than the possession of rifles and swords. The Jewish and Korean communities are able to heap any kind of of abuse they want on us mainly because we are politically and economically disorganized; and because we consistently give them the resources through our patronage to brutalize us.
The next time your father is forced to fall to his knees and grovel for mercy at the financial feet of the untouchable community; the next time your mother is beaten to bloody at the Korean-owned beauty supply store; the next time your daughter has been impregnated at the Palestinian-owned liquor store, then support-abandoned;
don’t forget who paid for it.
Family! Any directly targeted anti-Semitism or anything that could be perceived as such, presently coming from us, is not only stupid, but also non-productive. These are times for us to observe, study, and learn. Even though they are white, there are many useful things from that community that we can absorb right now, modify to our usefulness, and implement. Remember: universal laws apply to everybody.
They did get their reparations – Didn’t They?
Oh Yeah!!! As an aside – pick up a copy of: Judah Benjamin – Counselor to the Confederacy by James Traub (ISBN 978-0-300-22926-4). Mr. Benjamin served in the Confederacy as Secretary of War and Secretary of State. An interesting individual.
Ugly And Beautiful Trajectories
From 1865 till 1965 our emancipation to Civil Rights trajectory per the elite power structure, was not that of elimination. Why not? Because we were still highly useful commercially, politically, sexually, and psychologically to the dominant society.
Hard racial circumscription is the rule. At the same time, that circumscription is disaggregated and intersectional. With many large and small intersections that are complex, but well understood by everybody. Obvious – but lots of grey areas. “But those Niggers are needed.” Why? Because for a white man to be fully secure in his white superiority – a Nigger “shoe shiner” has to be somewhere around.
A “Yass Suh” issuing from a Black face has to be heard daily. When I was a child, I remember seeing white men that would get their shoes shined, and not because their kicks needed it. Understand? It was because they needed that psychological boost of a “Nigger Fix” every day: “Yass Suh – how ‘ya feelin’ today Suh..?” They would tip generously, and leave those shoe shine chairs HAPPY. That shit’s over. But!!! The degenerate and fratricidal intensity of “Gangsta Rap” firing up a white guy’s earbuds, fulfills that same “Nigger Fix” purpose today.
Now, there were always periodic dust-ups between the races during this nasty timeframe. But the period of extreme keep-those-niggers-in-their-place-ism from my reckoning took place from the hot years 1868 to 1925, and that includes the infamous “Red Summer Of 1919.” That fifty seven year period was a continuous “Black Kristallnacht” for the American Freedmen. The tightly combined forces of the government and white citizens unleashed an orgy of lynchings, burndowns, mass murders, rapes, robberies, assassinations, benefit nullifications, forced labor, justice miscarriages, partitioning of constitutional rights, torture, and theft with no legal recourse. As an aside – the Nazis solicited suggestions on how to treat Jews from Southern racists. Nazis rejected some of their suggestions as “too racist.”
I wonder why.
“Black Ethnocide?” Remember, there are steps to this thing. The main thing that caused white people nationwide to regroup and get On Code after the Civil War was our extremely quick ramp-up in politics, business, economics, trades, and education. Done in a few months after emancipation and no money: “How’d Black Elijah learns ta reeed? Hah? How!? He’eez mah slave – I nevah teach em’ a thang but how’ta plow. He’eez a lawyah?” That scared the shit out of white people. The agreed upon ruleset of the dominant society is this: Black excellence cannot be fully expressed unless it is monetized under white or Jewish control. If that control isn’t there, it must be imposed or captured in some way – so that excellence canflourishin the way THEY want it to flourish. If not, that excellence must be destroyed.
White Society: “Nope. We’re done. Black people must be erased…”
This measured, diabolical erasure actually starts in 1964. American Freedmen were getting “too many” rights(?!). Making too many demands of substance. Too much political enlightenment. Rising up too fast. Here is the true “Great Replacement” – and just like the Jewish Holocaust, there is a methodicalness to this thing. Timing. The list below is purposely not put in order like the list above. Everything below occurred not as a progression – but as a slow, poisonous, evil, overlapping, quiet, aggregation. You see? Schedules. Deadlines. All components listed have effectively modified and adapted over white standard time and are at now, still operational:
The Great Society(Welfare)= A multi-level, multi-program strategy to destroy the most basic political and civil rights activism unit – the nuclear Black family. Replacing the father (head of household) with the government. Has caused some Black women to love the government over Black men. This was quite successful.
Redlining AndUrban Renewal = Redlining is another term for intentional ghetto planning and creation. Containment. “Urban Renewal” is a polite way to describe Black displacement and destabilization programs. Keep those Niggers moving!
Feminism = An ideology we had no business getting involved with. Basically a power struggle between white men and white women. That is their business. Feminist ideology was an additional factor in helping to disunify Black men from Black women, along with disrupting positive Black community dynamics. When power is taken away from fathers – a community can easily be destroyed.
Feminism was also a way of promoting the community-destructive idea of the “independent Black woman.” Individualism on the part of either men or women destroys community cohesiveness. One manifestation is the explosion of single motherhood in our community starting in 1965 till now. A near guarantee of producing thousands of dysfunctional children. Again, a strategy to destroy the most basic political and economic activism unit. The nuclear Black family.
Marginalization – Intimidation – Assassination = Marginalization (mostly financial) via government policy and white micro-aggressions. Intimidation by the police, white supremacists, and certain white sub-groups. Assassination of certain individuals that are deemed by the government to be “dangerous” or “radical” or “problematic.” When these assassinations happen, they hammer into the Black psyche their mortal vulnerability if they “get out of line.” Assassination is also a wholesale intimidation method to discourage others from trying to make the changes that’ll make our people truly competitive within this American system.
The War On Drugs = Racism-white supremacy needs to fill up those private prisons. Understand? There are international objectives to be accomplished. There are shareholders that must be satisfied. Though this is international in scope, the main domestic targets are Black people. Government brings in the drugs – then puts it in the right hands to sell – the drugs destroy the self-esteem, personhood, and intellects of the buyers – thus breeding more crime – thus breeding active citizen outrage – this requiring larger police budgets – which facilitates more arrests and convictions of Black people. To remove Black people from society.
Private prison shareholders required the construction of a preschool to prison pipeline because more efficiency and bodies are needed. Shareholder net worth is much more important than the preservation of Black lives. The “war on drugs” includes the partitioning of Black people from the legal cannabis industry. That’s the government establishing systems. See? And don’t forget the imprisonment to constitutional slavery speedbump originally put into the 13th Amendment.
Feminization And Emasculation = It has been a quiet and methodical progression. Media created propaganda pushing the emasculating myth of Black men deploying “toxic masculinity” in the course of just being ordinary men. Shaming Black men for being what they are. Men! Feminization – I want Black men to notice that the top guys that run empires do it in suits with no earrings. Those men do not appear in fashion magazines wearing skirts. The media is pushing this new psychology to our children that the ideal Black man wears lashes and lipstick. No shade towards the gay community. None. But Saucy Santana on politics? Ahh… No.
It’s sick out here: “Brother – you forty-seven years old and still saggin’ yo pants?” Sorry Family – to me saggin’ remarkably looks like you’re selling ass. Busted as fuck. Not for grown men Family. To a degree, one’s appearance both reflects and reinforces one’s state of mind. This psychology sets up how your environment initially interfaces with you. That understanding was part of the Nation Of Islam’s training consisting of the bow tie and business suit. Imaging oneself to the world. The enemy counts on the complete feminization and infantilization of Black men. Many hated Kevin Samuels – but his presentation is something worth emulating.
Benign Neglect = Is actually municipal disinvestment. It’s an active urban planning process in which a city or other municipal entity decides to abandon or neglect a particular Black community. This happens when a city chooses to allocate fewer resources to Black communities. Choking them to death. Those Black communities are then slated for demolition, relocation of present residents, and then eventual replacement. This nasty practice has been continuous throughout our history.
Benign Neglect also shows its ugly face in how our so-called representatives (Democrats) legislatively and policy-wise do nothing for us. We have bitch Black legislators at all levels that do more for Hispanics and illegal aliens than they would ever think to do for the folks that consistently put and keep them in office.
Abortion = I personally am pro-choice. But the only group this is being PUSHED on are American Freedmen. Hispanics and others are pretty much not going there. Don’t forget Margaret Sanger’s plan to use abortion as a means to get rid of us. That plan is still in place – just for us. In 1960 85% of the United states population was white and 11% was Black. Less than 4% was Latino. As of the 2020 Census 19% of our population is Latino. What percentage would ours be without abortion? The 2020 Census says that Freedmen are now at 12.4%. We going back to 11%?
Organization And Institution Weaponization = The NAACP, the Urban League, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, the National Council of Negro Women, the Congress of Racial Equality, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and the National Action Network. All of the aforementioned organizations are extensions of the Democratic Party. And operationally detrimental to our push for reparations. The fully weaponized Congressional Black Caucus represents Hispanics over us.
Cultural Commandeering = The ownership and other-shaping of Black music and domestically generated Black culture by other (possibly hostile) groups. Fill in the blanks. Understand the psychological power of music and warfare marketing. Fat Joe? Fill in the blanks. What are we instilling in our children? We must be honest about the death culture promoted in some forms of Hip Hop. This, which is mostly owned by a community other than our own that can’t be criticized. The anti-critical thinking music and media targeted to our community is a callous form of slick social engineering. A weapon of mass mental destruction. Fill in the blanks.
Blind Coalitionship = The blowup in Los Angeles tells you all you need to know.
Integration = Are you kidding?
Pan Africanism = One of the worst political ideologies to infect the community of American Freedmen. A diversional threat that is poisonous to the proper formation of an American Freedman political philosophy and ethic. A dead ideology that is globally impractical, solely because only American Freedmen embrace it, while the Diaspora to a man wholly rejects it. We all see this. Pan Africanism is operating nowhere in Africa(!?). A horrible waste of intellectual and advocational time. A needless distraction away from what we need to do and accomplish here. If you think about it – Pan Africanism is an arrogant form of Black on Black racism.
I will explain that arrogance in detail in a future post.
There are probably more components, but I think I covered the major parts. It is up to us to mentally reset and divest from the power of these ideas and actions.
The Latino Dynamic
“Fuck that Guy – He’s with the Blacks…”
Nury Martinez
I would like to thank Nury Martinez, Kevin de Leon, Gil Cedillo, and Ron Herrera for helping me explain that there is NO “Black and Brown Coalition” with receipts. And there never was. A Democratic Party generated political nonsensicality. A wonderful story worthy of Disney. Coalitionship. I have been speaking against this obvious political and economic lie for twenty years. Maybe more. Playing slick game on individuals and groups is part of the political process. For real. If you (or we) fall for the okie-doke – the banana – that’s on you (or us). That’s the way it is. This is why gainful political education and focused proactivity is so essential for us.
“Fairness” is for little girls playing tag Family. There is a substantive consequential difference between doing playtime games and doing serious games Family. The heavy consequence with the serious game is who walks away from the table with the money – and who doesn’t. You don’t coalition, ally, or sweetheart with your opponent(!). Opponents must exist – but only to vanquish, eliminate, or subsume. That’s it. Every time I hear someone speak that dreamy term “Black and Brown” – a rosy vision of the pompadoured majesty of Al Sharpton appears in my mind.
Wake-Up Shot: Fat Joe (a good Puerto Rican) – “Fuck You!!! Hip Hop was created by Latinos and Blacks (notice the order) FIFTY – FIFTY!!! Move over Niggers!”
Digest that yet? OK. Well let’s get to it:
After the 2020 election, President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. vomited on a group of “Black leaders:” Instructing them to (now I’m paraphrasing): “Understand that in order for ‘you people’ to get anything for yourselves – you have to learn to put your Black faces firmly between the butt cheeks of the Hispanics and deeply inhale the fragrance. I got your back – how far can I stick it in?” That’s what he said.
Now that the “Black and Brown” covers were blown off in Los Angeles, I hope that good Freedmen everywhere are realizing that we are the least in need of alliances, coalitions, mixed-ethnic caucuses, and partnerships. Especially when it comes to politically fraternizing with Latinos anywhere in this country. Nury Martinez, et al were saying nothing anecdotal or aberrational. Now we know they have plans.
Those common conversations have been going on as long as there have been Hispanic politicians in this country that must deal with Blacks. It’s just that this one got out. Those same conversations will continue. The Hispanics will just move those same profane chop ups to their home living rooms, or talk on the side of the soccer field – instead of speaking freely and secretly negotiating in (possibly hot) meeting rooms within government buildings. An expensive lesson learned.
Did you see Alexandria Ocasio Cortez’s fucked up attempt at damage control?
It was amusing and satisfying to watch Hispanic politicians in major cities with substantial Black populations do damage control. Incredible. First Wave: In Chicago, there was a press conference given by eight prominent Hispanics (a US Congressman, five City Councilmen, and two glib representatives from Hispanic community organizations), and four Freedmen (two City Councilmen and two pastors). Saying stupid crap – spitting the usual boilerplate bullshit – about “that does not represent all Latino politicians” – and “we must use this time for healing” – and “let us use this as a lesson for our communities to come closer together.”
Second Wave: Then you have the usual mush-mouthed Black politicians following Pelosi orders and speaking on how we all “should work together” – and “eat tacos together” – and “fuck Niggers together.” Third Wave – bringing up the rear, closing this shit out properly – you have Democrat Party bought and trained Black pastors offering palliative religious nonsense centered around “prayers and forgiveness.” Devotionally bringing us back into that dangerous “Black and Brown” delusion.
Fuck that. The Family at this point is growing into political maturity (I hope).
Didn’t Dr. John Henrik Clarke tell us that “we didn’t have any friends?” Didn’t Felix Tijerina firmly tell the world to “Let the Negro fight his own battles… I don’t want to ally with him?” Dr. Clarke and Mr. Tijerina both meant what they said Family. We NEVER had any friends. Nobody. Latino anti-Blackness cannot be blamed on Latinos absorbing racism-white supremacy from the dominant society. What we see is a racism that was internally generated and weaponized long before whites landed on American shores. A kind of Latino inner-racialism that is more virulent towards Blacks than the usual white racism we normally experience.
We must wake up Family. The presence of melanin in another community does not automatically translate into ally-ship. Never. If that was the case, our antecedents wouldn’t have been sold away from Africa in the first place. That’s the real deal. We were sold away by other heavily melanated people. (!) And I still find it hard to believe that all forty-plus millions of us have not operationally embedded this racial reality into the center of our racial consciousness. Family – if you can digest the graphic hypothetical laid out below. I want you to understand the situation.
The Situation:
Imagine being grabbed, handcuffed, ankle cuffed, gagged, and blindfolded at gunpoint. Shoved into the back of a van. You are then two-hours transported to the remote edge of a dark forest. You feel the van entering the forest. After a half-hour of rolling over rough terrain and rustling vegetation, the van finally stops near the hilled boundary of a deep – pre-dug grave. Remember Black person – this is YOU. They remove the blindfold. They yank you out of the van – then drop you into the grave face up. They want you to watch your fate. You watch in bottomless horror and gagged screams as you witness yourself being moved closer to eternity – with each heaping shovel being emptied upon your immovably tethered being. Death. When the job is done – your Hispanic captors take a few moments to relax from their labors at the gravesite. Leisurely consuming a twelve-pack of Coronas drawn from a cooler. Afterwards – they gather themselves. And finally drive away.
This, literally and figuratively is what the “Browns” want to do with and to us as a collective. Understand Family – to the Hispanics, we are in their way. There is no doubt that they want to literally sweep us off the face of the earth, or bury us deep within it. Whatever is most expedient. Dig? We are in their way living space wise – employment wise – resource wise – political power wise – culture wise – and person wise. Taking everything they can from us. Even our music (Fifty – Fifty!!!).
I don’t know how I can hammer this any harder. All of what we are presently seeing is about some motherfucking team sports. Not about who likes who. Not about no one-sided fellowshipping with slick motherfuckers from other groups. Latinos, as we speak are sabotaging Freedmen as far as jobs and resources. White folks numbers are diminishing and they are allowing South and Central America to stream their populations to here for backup. And now putting policies in place over us one by one. We are witnessing a kind of Twenty-First Century Homestead Act.
The Hispanics are operationally aware that there ain’t no “Black and Brown” no – nothing. Those sonofabitches are laughing at us over their beer and burritos. The “Browns” are power hooking up with the Asians as we speak. It’s called the “Asian & Latino Coalition PAC.” They are skillfully playing a hard and ugly political game economically for themselves and politically against us. Against Us. Facts. Unlike the fake, Democrat created “Black and Brown” coalition, this is a real fucking coalition people. Check out this honest voice that was posted on Reddit – 10/2022:
Latino-Asian Alliance in Future?
Long time lurker here. I’m Mexican-American and grew up with many East/Southeast Asians.
In light of LA City Council member Nury Martinez’s racial comments (this is an obvious ploy by white liberals to sack Latino political power in an already underrepresented demographic) – it seems like whites will use the sacredness of Blacks as a battering ram against all non-whites. This doesn’t just affect Hispanics, but obviously Asian too as they realized their ranking in the racial hierarchy during Harvard [University] admissions and anti-Asian crimes.
What I’m getting at is [that] we need a Brown coalition – [an] Hispanic/East Asian/South Asian/Middle Eastern [Coalition] to combat the tactics white liberals use to keep us in place. I know Mexicans and Asians don’t always get along, but this is often due to [the] more ghetto mentality [of] Mexicans who disparage Asians. However – a united Hispanic/Asian Front (with possibly other ethnicities) could easily withstand the Black/white power dynamic that seems so out of place in a city that is 49% Hispanic. We know that a certain demographic is always the common denominator in racial tensions (1991 Crown Heights Riots with Jews, 1992 LA Riots with Koreans, etc.), but for the most part we can get along.
Ultimately – I hope the gap between Hispanics, Asians, and other non-Blacks & whites can be bridged so we can see real progress for ourselves. I can’t say we’ll always see eye to eye, but if we stick to our blue collar roots and remain unfeminized, it would be a better outcome for everybody…”
Nice to hear from the ordinary Hispanic rank and file. The Asian – Latino Coalition is now operational as we speak. He knows that there is a racial pecking order here. And he plans to fully exploit it. Did ya notice that this guy is completely opposite – hostile even to any relationship with “the Blacks?” Motherfucker (excuse me). And what is his version of a “better outcome for everybody..?” (!) Y’all better question.
When it comes to me sounding the alarm (years ago) that there is NO “Black and Brown Coalition” – don’t listen to me anymore. Listen to them. Listen to the hostile Hispanics in Chicago that told us to our faces that they are GOING TO push us out of our neighborhoods. For Real. Listen to Felix Tijerina. Listen to the hostile post writer above. Listen to Nury Martinez and her cabal. Family, don’t only listen to Ms. Martinez’s direct words. Extrapolate on those words and consider everything else they could politically mean. With their potential ends. There it is.
Don’t focus on her racial offensiveness – focus on what she was politically doing.
Family, every strategic sit-down, every political meeting, every “friendly” rally with Hispanics, may seem “coalitional” to us. OK? In actuality, those meetings are nothing but sweet opportunities for Hispanic groups to gather political intelligence against us. Understand? It’s time to believe your eyes and ears Family. Now that we KNOW what goes on behind closed doors, we need to independently construct a new political strategy. We have a beautiful forty-plus millions of us to unify.
False allies are not needed. We must rescue ourselves for ourselves Family.
The Lakers versus The Golden State Warriors
“And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever; but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour…”
Leviticus 25:46
Let me get one thing clear before I commence with this closing section.
The issue of lineage-based, cash expended reparations is non-negotiable. And any motherfucker speaking otherwise can get the fuck out my face. No one outside of the American Freedmen community has the right to dictate nor even suggest to us what reparations should look like. It’s none of their business. What reparations should look like and be is exclusively a negotiation between our chosen Freedmen representatives and the motherfucking United States Government. That’s It.
That’s out the way. Now on to the subject: Above – that’s a lovely verse from the Old Testament. Isn’t it? A beautiful synthesis about how members of the other tribe(s) should be seized and enslaved forever, but when it’s time – that one’s children should inherit them for their own use. And conversely, how sweetly one should treat the members of one’s own tribe. Not with enslavement, but with kinship and fairness. This Family, is not only how other ethnic groups look at us in relation to themselves. But how all ethnic groups (except us) look at all other ethnic groups in relation to themselves. That is the pure political reality folks.
Ethnic groups other than our own seem to have a more visceral sense – a more active sense of advantage and survival than we do. I could be wrong. Our sense of competitiveness cannot only be displayed on the basketball court. If I am wrong please correct me in the comment section. As I write, every single ethnic group in this country, without exception has us slated for elimination. Just this morning on Black talk radio, I heard a Black union leader talking that irritating “Black and Brown” shit. After Los Angeles? Still talking “Black and Brown?” WOW. I don’t understand why a certain many of us are so slow on certain subjects. Note: There is nothing stopping the United States Government from declaring Freedmen to be a security threat – transported to death camps – transformed into fertilizer.
And the rest of the world wouldn’t lift a finger to stop our erasure.
Fat Joe knows this (“Rap’s still good – might as well lay claim to it now…”). We have to ramp-up quickly and get into the game Family. Some of us are already in – but at this point we need at least a few million. Us, getting On Code and sincerely working now to secure our survival AND reparations is the way that we can win.
That requires us to understand that politics is a team sport. Emotions are not involved. Hate is not involved. Anti-Semitism is not involved. What is involved is us getting to understanding the game – strengthening our team – getting on the court – and winning. “These Niggers can’t hold me back?” Those days have to be ended. We have to stop pulling on each other – and seriously get out of our own way. Become a united front, as a united front. And a united middle. And a united rear. Otherwise – the next stop will be the cemetery. See? We are at this time, an aggregation of individuals pretending to be a group. Could the recognition of our barely known but closely-tied kinship be the key to creating operational unity?
There is a book, titled: “Help Me to Find My People – The African American Search for Family Lost in Slavery” by Heather Andrea Williams (ISBN 978-0-8078-3554-8). This profound book is a wrenching account of slavery, force, loss, subjugation, trauma, longing, searching, and as Dr. Darity states it: “… one of the deepest prices paid by those subjected to enslavement.” After reading this book – I had to pause heavily. And reassess what my true connections might be to other Freedmen.
This book lays out history, situations, and narratives. When I opened that book, I was looking for a certain number. In the course of looking for a number, I learned a lot. Some of the things in that book are absolutely chilling. It’s hard to believe that some of the things that went down in that book were conceived out of real human minds. But then – white people are known for always pushing the envelope.
Back to the number. The book did not give me that number (that was not its purpose). The number I was looking for was: “What was the percentage of Freedmen that found their relatives after slavery?” That led me to a 2017 NPR article regarding the subject: “After Slavery, Searching For Loved Ones In Wanted Ads” by Ari Shapiro and Maureen Pao. Want ads in Black newspapers were the primary way that ex-slaves were looking for kinfolk that had been sold away during slavery. More than 900 of these “Information Wanted” notices have been digitized in a project called “Last Seen: Finding Family After Slavery.” The ads in this project date from 1863 to 1902. They were placed in six newspapers:
The Christian Recorder – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Black Republican – New Orleans, Louisiana
The Colored Tennessean – Nashville, Tennessee
The South Carolina Leader – Charleston, South Carolina
The Free Men’s Press – Galveston, Texas
The Colored Citizen – Cincinnati, Ohio
I still never got the exact success rate for finding family members from a bunch of other sources that I consulted either. But let’s use our imagination of probability and statistics based on what we have to work with. Because that’s all we have to work with. And the days – the years were ticking away. Let’s also include in this loose calculus that these tearful ads were placed long before the information and telecommunications era as an insurmountable handicap. The extreme poverty and mobility constraints suffered by those that placed the ads must be considered as well. But they still tried. The Chicago Defender was still publishing these ads well into the 1910’s – half a century after the Emancipation Proclamation.
The killer is this Family: Out of the 915 ads currently in the database, only two have been identified so far as resulting in found family. That is it. To extrapolate that result to a logical place – as we look across the forty-plus millions of us, we literally don’t know who we are kin to. And that kinship is buried in a group subconscious that spans over and ends within the borders of this country. So easy for us to call each other brother, sister, and cousin. Right? Because it’s there. So easy for your mother to have a strong connection to her best friend’s child and freely call her a “play daughter.” Right? – Your on the block “homies” are “like family.” Right?
I would like everyone to consider these possibilities and remind yourself of these unconsciously known ties of kinship as a legitimate basis to unify and get certain essential things done by and for us as a community. Quickly and Right Now! We must overcome what was legitimately expressed in a recent Instagram comment:
“It’s backwards to think a Black president should have a Black agenda when Black people [themselves] are too scattered to have their own agenda. The individual desires for external validation [and entree] ethers any collective desires for internal sustainment. With no collective unity amongst a community, that community cannot expect an external community to have it for them. Order matters. Without it there’s no [operational] lineage. Black people, namely [American Freedmen], are the only ones that struggle with the concept of closing ranks. Even amongst our differences, [American Freedmen] do not know when or how to close ranks to push an agenda. This is the crux of self-determination and we just can’t seem to get it.”
With the exception of certain activists within the Reparations movement – this is where we are. Understand? If you get that understanding, let us from this point forward in this post – we will use the words Family, Freedmen, and Community interchangeably. OK? Now get this: Your community in this American society is going to reflect what you arrive for. Look: If your establishment is apolitical-ness, partying, turning-up, bullshitting, hanging-out, getting lit, getting crunk, and not critically paying attention to the fundamental things you should be paying critical attention to – your results are going to show that every time.
In the meantime, we are up against a consortium of hungry groups. Some long established here. Some flying-in from Africa and the Caribbean. And some that are coming from South of the border. They are trying to get established substantially in business, in politics, and in living space. With those new groups – laying the foundations of an economic stranglehold within their communities is a primary priority. And even though these disaggregated groups also compete with each other – this strategically aggregated consortium itself agrees that getting rid of “the Blacks” should be a cooperative endeavor. So Family, while too many of us are bullshitting – this is what will be knocking at our doors sooner than we think.
Put this into your minds as a survivalist exercise: Jews recognized that no matter where they immigrate throughout the world, they would never have the numbers to control anything via majorities, or to protect them. So what they did was focus on developing their economic standing – then population numbers cannot be used against them in the same way. Especially in the United States. They understood that they needed to have something else. What they have are three things that are not impossible for us to emulate: 1. A rock-solid CODE of conduct. 2. A rock-solid economic and political agenda. And 3. A rock-solid tribal network. Got It?
They understood what the odds were. When they came out of World War II they realized that society really will kill them down to the last child (sound familiar?). They focused on the seven main disciplines that the Nazi’s used to hurt them and became entrenched in those disciplines – so they would not get hurt again:
Politics
Law
Business
Finance
Economics
Media & Entertainment
Education & Research
Sounds like the stuff we need to be overrepresented in – Doesn’t It?
At this important point Family, we had better get damned serious about getting ourselves into positions of power. Politically and socio-economically. We must be in certain industries, not only just to prosper in – but so they can’t be used against us. Understand? Government responds to business, organizations, educational entities, unions, PAC’s, and think tanks. Not to individuals. And with that being the case, they understood why they have to have that economic base. When you control your economy – you control your politics. That has absolutely nothing to do with whether someone or a group “likes you.” If we as a people have a strong economy in and of ourselves, we do not need to worry so much about our total numbers – or “likes.” Understand? Asians and Jews have proven that.
There is a reason that Jews and Asians don’t get harassed like Black people. We have the population numbers. We have the voting numbers. But they have the socio-economic numbers – Over Us. Ohhh! By the way – this we can change.
Yes we are at war. I know many of us are not aware because tanks are not rolling down our communities and bombs are not being exploded – but yes there is a war going on. That war happens to be economic. It’s the only kind of war that counts in a capitalist society. The winner is whomever walks away from the table with the most resources to enjoy and the most power to protect and control those resources. There is nothing stopping us from getting into the game and winning. The question at this point is: “When will we get serious about winning?”
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I was assisted in writing this post by a rich bottle of Masseria Li Veli ‘Askos’ Susumaniello – Salento 2020. A Southern Italy red blend. Opulent. Bold. Earthy. Moderately dry. Soft acidity. Medium tannins. Fluid structure. Leading in with smoke and sweet raisins. Sustaining hard with plums, blackberries, and black cherries. Ending with complex cocoa, wood, and tobacco notes. Long – dry finish.
“The ten million Negroes of America form a group that is more essentially proletarian than any other American group. In the first place, the ancestors of this group were brought here with the very definite understanding that they were to be ruthlessly exploited. And they were not allowed any choice in the matter. Since they were brought here as chattels their social status was fixed by that fact. In every case that we know of where a group has lived by exploiting another group, it has despised that group which it has put under subjection. And the degree of contempt has always been in direct proportion to the degree of exploitation.
Inasmuch then, as the Negro was at one period the most thoroughly exploited of the American proletariat, he was the most thoroughly despised. That group which exploited and despised him, being the most powerful section of the ruling class, was able to diffuse its own necessary contempt the Negro first among the other sections of the ruling class, and afterwards among all the other classes of Americans. For the ruling class has always determined what the social ideals and moral ideas of society should be; and this explains how race prejudice was disseminated until all Americans are supposed to be saturated with it.
Race prejudice, then, is the fruit of economic subjection and a fixed inferior economic status. It is the reflex of a social caste system. That caste system in America today is what we roughly refer to as the Race Problem, and it is thus seen that the Negro problem is essentially an economic problem with its roots in slavery past and present…”
Excerpt from: “The Negro And The Nation” by Hubert H. Harrison (1917)
As a people for over four hundred years we have functioned in the shadow of a dark and unpredictable hurricane of death. I don’t think it has to stay that way. Those forceful winds of domination, deprivation, and despair will not ever cease until we march squarely towards the source of the gale – and vanquish it through unity, understanding, and determination. No Choice. This we must do Family.
Conversation: At a downtown bar with an old friend sipping on Bulleit Bourbon on the rocks and chopping it up on my three favorite subjects. Reparations, politics, and stereo components. We’d go deep on one thing for awhile, then switch it up to the next thing. Back and forth. “Hey Bartender – we need another hit!!!” When we slid back into reparations, my dude asks a serious question: “I want reparations too Man – but where we are, in this country, these white folks. I don’t know. Man you sure you ain’t wasting your time on this? ‘Cause I don’t see it happening…”
A typical Chicago dialogue.
I get those kinds of questions and sentiments quite a bit from my Baby Boomer contemporaries. Wait a minute – I get this from Millennials and Generation Xers too. Damn. Nobody Believes! Will Generation Z provide a renaissance? I do facts – not hope. But getting back to the question. I’m never sure how to respond to that question. I look at fighting for the manifestation of group interests as something that should be natural for any member of any group. Especially when that interest involves something as fundamental as bodily and economic survival. Ya Think?
He might as well have asked me if playing with my grandchildren is a waste of time. Or – if listening to Jazz is a waste of time. I’m sure I could survive if I were somehow, for some good reason circumscribed from doing either. I’m not making any money when I do those things, but doing those things are definitely worth it. Right? An inability to predict outcomes is no excuse for inaction. Your child. Yeah – YOUR child, may grow up to be a mogul or a murderer. An absolute inability to know how your child will eventually turn out is no excuse for you not to do your absolute best as a parent. The same thing applies to me as an activist member of an oppressed and deprived group. The thing that definitely applies to the rest of us.
Does it not? You tell me…
I get really tired sometimes dealing with reparations. (Oops!) When my children were still growing up, I used to get tired of dealing with their asses too. But that didn’t stop me from parenting. My love for my children kept me going to keep parenting even when I didn’t want to. And fortunately – both of them turned out just fine. I could be wasting my time with this reparations issue. Could Be(?). None of us in this movement knows how our efforts will turn out. That’s irrelevant.
The same reasoning could be applied to those that want to start businesses. As you know, most businesses fail. But that is not an excuse to not at least try. Most of the people reading this post are probably working at a business that somebody took a risk to start and then eventually developed to success. Was that not worth it? The reparations movement is about a high-quality goal that is absolutely worth the time and attempt to accomplish. OK? Those American Freedmen that are actively in the trenches to get this done are the best examples of what it means to be a Freedman.
They are the vanguard of the corrective forces that will get us to full repair.
I still never satisfactorily answered my friend’s question. OK. Fine. But whenever I am presented with questions such as those – I will ask myself three concentrated questions. Questions that cause me to intelligently pause and stay strong in this correct purpose. Questions that force me to keep moving forward and challenging my political and social environment. And those questions are constant, running as if on a continuous tape loop. Through every dawn and sunset – I answer myself as well. I heard that you are not supposed to answer yourself. Self-responding could be an indicator for needing mental therapy of some kind. I’m supposed to be crazy anyway. Right? Below are the questions and the answers I apply to myself:
The need for justice is in my face every second of every day.
The entirety of American history attests to the justice of this reparations demand. To reiterate each word that attaches to every atrocity and deprivatory policy would be redundant to my audience. You all know very well what they are. Correct? What amplifies the justice of this demand is the preponderance of the continuousness of the wrongs. Uniquely aimed at us. By this government. Redlining never stopped. It’s just been modified and streamlined. Our deep and long-suffering losses were never addressed nor recompensed. Reparations and all accompanying Freedmen-centric legislation is what will get us to full American. This is our responsibility to make to happen – established in the here, the now, and the continuous future.
400 Years.
And no matter what you do – to attempt to escape that responsibility is impossible. The attempt can come in the distractive forms of indifference, nigger contrarianism, willful ignorance, Pan Africanism, philosophical excuse-ism, arrogance, blunts, the fucking NBA, various hedonisms, et cetera. As an American you have the freedom to do whatever the fuck you want to do. Or whatever you fucking don’t want to do. But your infantile wants really don’t matter Man. Fuck your wants. For our people and your children – the responsibility remains. For you to accept the challenge.
That last paragraph? That’s me talking to me.
IS IT WORTHY?
“Closing the wealth gap?” Is that worthy? Making our foundational-ness to this country mean what it is supposed to mean. Is that worthy? Securing the prosperity of our children and grandchildren. Creating a historic legacy for oneself. Is that worthy? Being an activist for this issue is so correct – so noble that I don’t stress about when, or how, or if reparations will happen. Is that worthy? Come On!!! How is “worthiness” even a question when it comes to this? This is for my people and your children. Even though I am a true Atheist – at this age (67) I feel especially close to my extended interpretation of this prophetic Martin Luther King Jr. quote:
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I am not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the promised land…”
This was the most beautiful and encompassing rendering of immovable purpose and mission uttered during my lifetime. Impenetrable and unimpeachable. This.
At the same time – I am not a believer in God. So, every time I read this. As the streamed disaggregation of each word-meaning this paragraph comprises travels through my mind space – there happens a metaphysical (if I can use that word) expansion. A re-application of what he means within my own mind-context.
Thus:
“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead.” Correct. We don’t know what will happen now. That is the Reparationist life. That will always be the Reparationist life. And I love every second of it. “Difficult days?” We can’t afford weakness. What is the game without challenges? How does one grow without worthy opponents? The “worthiness” of this goal in itself is enough of a reason to continue. One’s racial self-esteem is a factor here as well.
“But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop…….” The vision of a fully accomplished and implemented reparations program unfolded within me five years ago. Reparations is all that occupies my consciousness from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM. The vision is too right to be left behind. Too beautiful to stop the work. Our children. Our grandchildren. Your legacy. The history books.
“Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I am not concerned about that now.” As of this writing I am sixty seven years old and over. So I am definitely not concerned about any “longevity.” I am only concerned with doing as much as I can for this mission as far as my time and health allow.
“I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land…” Understand. I won’t do any other’s will but my own. My will alone is sufficient. But I do in an expanded sense understand what he means globally. “The Promised Land” in my mind concretely translates into “The Noble Accomplishment.” And I’ve seen through my own eyes “the accomplishment” through communing with my fellow Reparationist activists. Every face to face encounter with them IS ascending that great mountain.
To the American Freedmen: I am grateful you have allowed me to climb up.
“I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the promised land…” Above me. The crescent moon has fixed itself bright as a blue dominator of a cloudless night. Yes: “I may not get there with you.” A statement so stark and individually inevitable – yet so evanescently contextual. And for me personally – I may not get there with you. So What. It is the “we as a people” getting to where we need to be that is my driver. “We as a people?” Each of us, working on the “promise” that we have established for ourselves as a noble goal. Each one of us, no matter what – the Mission Continues. Understand Family. That even though I personally am not doing this for nothing, whether or not I personally seeanything is not important. It really is not important Family – nor should it be. This work must carry on to its necessary and recompensitive end.
No matter “who” is with us – or not.
IS IT CONSTITUTIONAL?
The first three words of the Constitution: “We the People” does solidly affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens. Point Blank.
The American Freedmen are not only the actual co-owners of this country, along with Foundational White Americans (Europeans that came and settled on this land from between 1619 to 1865 and their white descendants – white immigrants that came after 1865 don’t count. They don’t.). But we are also the sole owners of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. Know. We actually do own the original meanings of all Civil Rights Acts: 1866, 1871, 1875, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1990, and 1991. They have as of late been passed out to others. We must re-legislate them again back into our exclusive favor. To pointedly restore to ours alone, the all-important Civil Rights Act of 1866. We have a lot to reclaim and repossess Family.
We also have a lot to kick-start into operationality.
Like petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. So! Let us see Family: Among The Civil War Amendments, we have The Thirteenth Amendment of 1865 that abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, and authorized Congress to enforce abolition. The Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 established citizenship to the Freedmen and to all persons “subject to United States jurisdiction.” It prohibits states from violating a citizen’s privileges and immunities. This Amendment also provides due process and a full guarantee of equal protection of the laws. The Fifteenth Amendment of 1870 prohibits the use of race, color, or previous condition of servitude in determining which citizens may vote. Nothing reparational there.
Just a creation and securing of special constitutional rights.
So we have to run right back to The First Amendment, where the “right to petition” is enumerated. And this specifically prohibits Congress from abridging “the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and the unrestricted right of the people to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” That includes a demand for reparations. Now we are getting somewhere. Starting at the beginning is usually a good idea. Since the Constitution was written, the Congressional Research Service (a public policy research institute of the United States Congress – working directly and primarily for members of Congress and their committees and staff) wrote this:
“… the right of petition has expanded. It is no longer confined to demands for ‘a redress of grievances,’ in any accurate meaning of these words, but comprehends demands for an exercise by the Government of its powers in furtherance of the interest and prosperity of the petitioners and of their views on politically contentious matters. The right extends to the ‘approach of citizens or groups of them to administrative agencies (which are both creatures of the legislature, and arms of the executive) and to courts, the third branch of Government. Certainly the right to petition extends [and applies] to all departments of the Government. The right of access to the courts is indeed but one aspect of the right of petition.”
Quite an excerpt. Those are the words generated by the Government. And this line: “…but comprehends demands for an exercise by the Government of its powers in furtherance of the interest and prosperity of the petitioners and of their views on politically contentious matters.” Furthering interest and prosperity sounds exactly like what we are trying to get the Government to “comprehend.” Doesn’t it? I think we would all agree that reparations is a “politically contentious matter.” Correct? So. This movement is on the right track. Since all the constitutional, legislative, and legal infrastructure has already been laid, that assures me that I am not “wasting my time.” To myself, all three questions have been comprehensively answered.
The only thing that I need to do is continue the work…
Just and Constitutional? OK. Remember Family, this entire country is tricky. Nothing played in this motherfucker is “fair.” The terms “justice” and “fairness” have a tendency to be used interchangeably. Understand. “Fairness” is a bitch concept. “Justice,” when used within the context of a recompensive claim only gives you a legitimate ticket to enter the game. Yes. Just to ENTER the game. Entry in itself is no guarantee of the desired outcome(s). But the deal is to WIN. That’s it motherfucker. The game? Whatever it takes politically. Not a place to be “sweet” and “fair.” The Challenge? MMA is the appropriate analogy here.
Only merciless pressure and ass-kicking is respected in this political space.
This latter-day Reparations movement is the latest entry on the great American political chessboard that has important global implications. Reparations being accomplished in America will be the hot epicenter of a worldwide economic shift. Our game heads need to be fully on. All synapses need to be firing heavy. We have to politically ramp-up fast and hard. I plan on seeing this shit through.
It’s about to get real. Where the fuck are You?
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
I was assisted in writing this post by a bottle of Wapisa Malbec 2017. A rich 95 Point, high-altitude Argentinian from Patagonia. Complex and flavorful. Inky and dry. Full body structure. Leading with ripe cherries, jasmine, black currants, and oak. A sustain of plums, apple, vanilla, and toast. Light tannins, moderate acidity. Closing with smoke, vanilla, and walnuts. Long – plush finish.
“One of the greatest handicaps among the so-called Negroes is that there is no love for self, nor love for his or her kind. This not having love for self is the root cause of hate (dislike), disunity, disagreement, quarreling, betraying, stool pigeons and fighting and killing one another. How can you be loved, if you have not love for self? And [with you being in] your own nation and [you in] dislike [of] being a member of your own, then what nation will trust your love and membership? – You say of yourself, “I love everybody.” This cannot be true. Love for self comes first. The Bible, the book that you claim to believe says; “Love the brotherhood” (I Peter 2:17). “Love one another” (John 15:17). Love of self comes first. “The one who loves everybody [other than his own] is the one who does not love anyone…”
Elijah Muhammad (“Message To The Blackman”)
Some people speak in inappropriateness to the detriment of their own goals.
I am not sure if I understand this. Maybe not this. OK? But, the way I was raised, I do understand, that depending on the potential positive or negative impact to one’s household – some home conversations can be spoken about with others outside of the household; and some conversations should stay in the house. Understand?
It would seem to me at this point in the reparations movement that the total focus should be getting our hands on the bag – policies – set-asides. What happened to that? Look, I am no geneticist. But every single person that can neatly fit under the broad terminology of “Foundational Black American” is either bi – tri – or quad-racial. Both old and new mixes. Just to keep things real fucking simple. And some of us do indeed have some Native American genetics, some of us have pre-slavery period Black indigenous genetics, and only some of us have Black never-enslaved Freeman genetics. True. Yep! This is great stuff to know. And!!! Possibly undeniable history? OK. This is also great stuff to keep between and to yourselves AT HOME.
Think Strategy Family.
At this point – I have to ask: “What is the ultimate goal in publicly discussing this?”
Because I have to bottom-line ask: “Is this ‘Indian’ talk getting us closer to the bag or not?” I am sure that a good number of the people reading this post have at one time or another; lied on various applications; dressed up resumes; intentionally omitted certain aspects about oneself in interviews to make it past certain barriers. Right? So why in this instance are certain groups within the reparations movement digging up and broadcasting information that can possibly mitigate or extinguish our reparations demand? Is this talk about some “high” in declaring yourself as “Indian” – OR securing the bag? What can you take to the bank? “Indian-ness?”
In this Freedmen’s Reparations Era – what do you think will spend Family?
When reparations does happen – those conversations could have thousands of us self-eliminating ourselves from eligibility. Ammunition. I think you forget that white reparations oppositionists are absorbing every word and possibly developing a shutdown strategy based upon these public conversations. At many times in our racial history we have been denied rights and benefits through racist strategies of legally added complexity. This time, WE are handing over workable complexities that can be weaponized against us by our enemies(!?). We must overcome strategic blindness (ours). One of our historic downfalls as a people is us talking too much.
YES – talking too damned much. Scenario: Just like The Bureau of Indian Affairs has white people working there, The Bureau of Freedmen Affairs will have some white people working there as well. Just a reality of federal administration. You are standing in line, this >I< close to getting that $350,000 or more wealth gap closure check cut, drawn from the United States Treasury, and placed in your hand. The white intake clerk requests a sworn establishment of lineage. You answer: “Indian!” The clerk then directs you to the line that will be escorted to The Bureau of Indian Affairs. You can make your demands there. How will that conversation go?
Ahh…
So LOOK: If you believe you are an Indian – Cool. But I would suggest you lose Dane Calloway for a minute before he fucks up your money. OK? I support your “Indian-ness” or “Indiginous-ness.” OK? But if your official paperwork as of now says – Black, Negro, Colored, African American, AND if anybody ever at any point in your life has ever called you a “Nigger” – that right there should temporarily be your eligibility standard. Let’s focus on the money Man!!! Do you understand?
If you want to be an Indian – be an Indian. But at this time, I would say: “Keep your mouth shut.” And make sense for yourself. Let us work in unity with the specificity Reparationists that are trying to get the bag for all of us. AND LET’S GET THAT FUCKING CHECK. Once you get that check – you can buy all the feathers you want. Get a peace pipe. Yes! You got some fucking money! Then you can get that peace pipe poppin’ with some realgood shit. Got a backyard?
Amazon sells all kinds of teepees – some are fireproof…
I can’t tell anyone what to do. Just consider what I’m saying here. That’s All.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
I was assisted in putting together this suggestion by a bottle of The Prisoner Wine Company – Unshackled Cabernet Sauvignon 2019 – St. Helena California. Dark. Dry. Sharp structure. Moderate tannins and acidity. Leading in with cocoa, vanilla, and ripe blackberries. A sustain of plums, tobacco, and oak. Ending boldly with cherries, apples, and raspberries. Long – moderately heavy finish.
“I am for the acquiring of knowledge or the accumulating of knowledge – as we now call it; education. First, my people must be taught knowledge of self. Then and only then will they be able to understand others and that which surrounds them. Anyone who does not have a knowledge of self is considered a victim of either amnesia or unconsciousness and is not very competent. The lack of knowledge of self is a prevailing condition among my people here in America. Gaining the knowledge of self makes us unite into a great unity. Knowledge of self makes you take on the great virtue of learning.”
Elijah Muhammad (“Message To The Blackman”)
The picture above is of the State Flower of Texas – the Texas Bluebonnet (Lupinus Texenis). Beautiful? It is a species of lupine – a genus of flowering plants in the legume family Fabaceae. The genus includes over 199 species, with centers of diversity in North and South America. Lupinus Texenis is found in Texas, and the Mexican states of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, and Tamaulipas.
At the time of this writing – it is the first week of June 2022. Juneteenth became a federal holiday on June 19, 2021. That was a good thing – actually. Lately, I have been listening to various Twitter spaces, and reading a few articles online. There have been legitimate complaints from Freedmen, Foundational Black Americans, B1’s, ADOS, and others regarding the commercialization of, the co-opting of, and the perceived mishandling of Juneteenth. The flash point that ignited the Freedmen community was Walmart selling – then recalling “Juneteenth Ice Cream.” The recall came as a result of a backlash primarily done on social media. Wonderful. We get what we want when we unify and focus. Now, the complaints are valid to a point.
But!!! I think that some of the culpability is misplaced.
Why? Well Family – we cannot expect other groups to do the proper thing in this Juneteenth space because of two reasons. Reason One: The United States is an unabashedly capitalist country in fact and practice. We cannot legitimately allow anger to lace up our thoughts and words if WE have not established control and ownership of this Juneteenth issue, which is clearly being mishandled. Let us also understand that serious consequences have their place when interlopers interlope. We must be ruthless and uncompromising in that respect. Understand? People are going to commercialize and transactionize anything that is potentially or currently profitable and has no circumscriptions, taboos, or restrictions. Just the way it is.
A law of the universe.
Reason Two: Because WE as a Freedmen community HAVE NOT established hard standards, unimpeachable protocols, and responsible ownership. Full Stop.
Family – no line has been drawn. No prohibition has been enforced.
So. What should we do about this? What is it that we need to know? Well, what is going to be discussed here are suggested attitudes and actions to get control of this very important day. Just American Freedmen type Suggestions! OK Family?
What Is Juneteenth
This Juneteenth, which is now a federal holiday, commemorates the secondary emancipation or complete enfranchisement of Foundational Black American slaves. It is also observed for celebrating American Freedmen culture. The final landing of a 900 day legal manumission trajectory starting from January 1, 1863 until its ending on June 19, 1865. Juneteenth originated in Galveston, Texas. It has been celebrated annually on June 19 in various parts of the United States since 1865. The day was recognized and established as a federal holiday on June 17, 2021. President Joseph Biden signed the “Juneteenth National Independence Day Act” into law.
Juneteenth’s commemoration is on the anniversary date of the June 19, 1865 announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger, proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas. This was the last state of the Confederacy to operate with legal institutional slavery.
The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, freed enslaved people in Texas and all the other Southern secessionist states of the Confederacy except for the parts of states not in rebellion. Although the Emancipation Proclamation ended slavery in the Confederate States – it did not end slavery in states that remained in the Union. The last enslaved people present in the continental United States were freed when the enslaved people held in the Indian Territories that had sided with the Confederacy were released, namely the Choctaw in 1866.
Celebrations date to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. They spread across the South and became more commercialized in the 1920’s and 1930’s, often centering on a food festival. The participants in the Great Migration out of the South carried their celebrations to other parts of the country. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, these celebrations were eclipsed by the nonviolent determination to achieve civil rights, but grew in popularity again in the 1970’s with a focus on African American freedom and economics.
Beginning with Texas by proclamation in 1938, and by legislation in 1979, each state and the District Of Columbia have formally recognized the holiday in some way. With its adoption in certain parts of Mexico, the holiday became an international holiday. Juneteenth is celebrated by the Mascogos, descendants of Black Seminoles who escaped from slavery in 1852 and then settled in Coahuila, Mexico. But that Seminole-Mexican celebration has a different meaning and substance than our American Juneteenth. And that difference is exclusive to American Freedmen.
Why It Should Be Recognized
One “Why:” Juneteenth is not only a time to commemorate, remember, and reflect to be sure. It can also be regarded as a practice run – a political test to see if we can responsibly handle one of the responsibilities of reparations (taking it back from others). Many of the same challenges and requirements are held here. Exclusivity, specificity, pulling the gate up, ownership of the issue, drawing Tribal lines, and ultimately shaping the narrative. The Other “Why:” Follow me here: For those that are religious, you have religious holidays and observances. Many people on those days do, let’s say “spiritual resets” and recommitments. For those that are married, you have wedding anniversaries. And some couples use that day to renew their vows and “reset” their commitments to each other. Understand?
Juneteenth is a serious political day. Being released from slavery is a political act. Identifying who are members of our Tribe is a political act. Got It? Strengthening, expanding, reuniting with, and operationizing the family unit is a political act. Doing research on your Tribal history and learning the details of your lineage is a political act. Working on improving our Tribal interpersonal relations with each other as American Freedmen – and becoming more acceptable to each other is a political act (HEY! Something that MUST be accomplished for our survival).
Our unity is a political act (to nail the importance of that – in the 1960’s the late FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover stated: “The greatest threat to the United States is Negro unity.”). You See? Juneteenth is a time of political education and reset for American Freedmen. That is why it should be recognized. Everything about our existence is political. From birth to death. Even where you will be buried is a political act.
Juneteenth is our political reset day.
How Should It Be Recognized
The “How” in this instance starts with the “Where.” And that should be AT HOME.
Yes – AT HOME. Or, at “Big Momma’s house.” Right? You know how we do. Starting with preparing a menu. With meals consisting of a healthy “soul food” (hopefully vegan) layout with dishes traditional to Black culture and Juneteenth (like red velvet cake and red-hued drinks). A commemoration can also take the form of a family reunion style outing at a city or state park. Some cases may be done at a banquet or party hall. Depends on the participant situation.
This should be a memory and reset day regarding the emancipation of our people and the struggle we have and continue to endure as we fight for our full liberation. We must reestablish this as a day of reflection and strengthening the awareness of the labor and pain Freedmen sacrificed to build America. This is important Family: There should be no parades or festivals. This is serious Family, not playtime.
The colors of Juneteenth are Red, White, and Blue. Flags? The meaning-filled Juneteenth Heritage flag, the American flag, the Black American flag (created in 1967), and the American Freedmen (“F1”) flag would be proper. Anything purchased to perform the holiday should be purchased as intentionally as possible from American Freedman owned businesses or community members. American Freedmen that possess craft skills can assist in making items to not only personalize their family’s commemoration – but that move also helps to protect against the wholesale co-opting of Juneteenth by non-Freedmen individuals and businesses.
Those Freedmen with appropriate skills should dedicate time to offering paid services and goods to the Freedmen community for Juneteenth. Goods can be specially made once a year for the Juneteenth holiday. A national Freedmen Juneteenth merchant registry should be developed if one does not already exist.
AJuneteenth To Do List:
Add to the family lineage notebook or tree with new entries or new information regarding ancestors. Also – making sure that family members have information on genealogy services, databases, and DNA testing facilities.
Making sure that all eligible family members are registered (as independent and able to vote in any primary if possible in one’s state) voters. And to implore all members of the family to participate in the national Census.
Promote firearms acquisition, licensing, and training. Along with discussing survivalist knowledge and crisis handling (remember Buffalo Family).
Promote and implement family business start-ups, pooled family investments, and proficiency in the realms of finance and money. Make Plans! June 2022 can be the foundational year of the idea and inaugural execution of “Economic Parallelism” (details to be explained in a future post).
Promote the finding of and making the connections with as of yet unknown members of one’s extended family. Connecting with family members that are militarily deployed, hospitalized, out of town, or incarcerated. Reverse migration to the South is something that should also be discussed.
Discuss the latest developments regarding the reparations issue – and encourage active participation in getting reparations accomplished. Make clear in these discussions why NAARC, N’COBRA, Reparations United, The Taifa Group, Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, NAACP, and FirstRepair are the enemies of Pure Reparations and full political equity for American Freedmen.
Discuss politics, pending bills, candidates, and equity issues – and encourage active participation in Freedmen politics. Discuss (and implement) working on better interpersonal relations with your American Freedmen neighbors and establishing strong Freedmen community networks locally and nationally.
Juneteenth is a get-together to get it together day Family. The reunions. The hugs. The kisses. An Aside: Let me make a wild but doable suggestion which also makes an internal reset and external economic statement: Stop doing – Valentine’s Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Keep your money from the Enemy for a change. Do everything you would have done on these holidays on Juneteenth.
And don’t forget to have a minute of silence for the Ancestors.
What Juneteenth Is Not
What Juneteenth is not? Well – for starters, it is not in any way ever about Pan Africanism. Stop It. The Red, Black, and Green colors of Pan Africanism should not be anywhere near Juneteenth. Anathema. Disrespectful. This day absolutely has nothing to do with the Caribbean or Caribbeans. There are attempts now being made from ignorance and/or intent to “Africanize” Juneteenth. This we cannot allow. And this is within our power to stop. Juneteenth is a Native Black AmericanDomestic Affair. Wholly contained within the context of American history. This holiday – exclusively to be shaped and executed by Black American Freedmen.
Full Stop.
A quote from Sister Soldier Morgan Malachi:
“Juneteenth is not a holiday for all people. It is a day for Freedmen in Texas [and Freedmen nationwide]. No individual or company [outside of the Freedmen community] should be able to co-opt the message and history of this historic American Freedmen event. We cannot allow grifters to corporatize Juneteenth or change its meaning to the Freedmen community. Many examples of how American Freedmen throughout history honored the holiday point to the use of Red, White, and Blue at these Emancipation Day celebrations by formerly enslaved people. We cannot allow those outside of our community to dictate how we will practice our sacred traditions. All Black people are not American Freedmen. All People of Color are not American Freedmen. This is a notice to all non-Freedmen. You will stop the blatant disrespect of the history and sacrifice of our community.”
As you can see from this quote, I am not the only one that is peeved about this situation. Morgan Malachi encapsulates the proper attitude and goals in the above quote. Is this attitude something that the Freedmen community can adopt?
Even though friends and family gathering is part of what Juneteenth is about – it is not a “party” or “celebratory” type of thing. It is, or should be, an upright formal commemoration and reset. Rendered with the same solemnity and dignity that the Jewish community performs and respects Passover. Here is another Morgan quote:
“Juneteenth needs to return to its roots. Juneteenth should not be commemorated by a parade or festival until ALL American Freedmen get their justice claim which is lineage based reparations [Full Stop]. There is nothing to celebrate at this point in our history. We owe it to the Freedmen community to be clear and intentional about winning the battle for reparations. We must be [openly] unapologetic and [unreservedly] confrontational about our ethnic boundaries. This starts now.”
And that takes an attitude of OWNERSHIP. Do we own our commemoration or not Family? This is what we have to decide on – and move on. Let’s lock it up.
Gates Up
Since the days of Booker T. Washington – American Freedmen have always been passive Pan Africans. We never cared where you were from. If you’re Black, you are MY Brother – If you’re Black, you are MY Sister: “Are We?” We established a Flat BLACK and projected that powerful idea across the world. The center of world Blackness is America – Not Africa. The American crucible fired by the combustibles of slavery and racism-white supremacy burned away any lined notions of operative tribalism within us. And an honest Black trans-tribalist network operates nowhere in this world. That burning was and is now – to our mental, political, and economic detriment. We are at this late – but not too late date, now waking up to that fact.
Now, to me – I mean, if you want to sub-categorize American Freedmen, I think there are three kinds of “mixes” in this country that were born amongst us. I have my own terminology. There are: 1. Early Mixes (born from 1619 to 1867 – the slave rape period), 2. Middle Mixes (born from 1868 to 1960 – the miscegenation period), and 3. Late Mixes (born from 1961 to the present – the mostly consensual, but-be-sure-to-check-anyway period). Hey – there you go, we’re all mixed. That “mix” is one of the main markers of “American Freedmen-ness.” Rape – You Know?
And to hell with “Biracial.” I roll with the “one drop rule.” Where’d that come from? I roll that way because yes, there may be several genetic categories to identify and classify, but there was and is in this country – AMERICA, depending on where one is on a perceptual, phenotypical, and/or self-identification scale – only two kinds of treatment: White Treatment, and Nigger Treatment.
Nigger Treatment is the basis for Reparations.
And notice that Caribbeans and Africans are not a significant part of that Middle and Late Mix calculus. That is because Black Diasporian residency in this country was to the right of the decimal point before 1965. The bulk of Black immigrants did not arrive here until after 1980. Got Here Good – after the racial smoke cleared. White friends and lovers. Able to attend university in peace. Coffee at Starbucks. Only a few recent genetic connections to us. The Diasporans – strategically hostile to us. Socially partitioned from us. Economically separated away from us.
Either you are an American Freedman or not.
One must also consider, from 1619, till now, the racial mozaic that we now call “Black” comes from the genetic “early and middle period folding in” of European and multi-tribal African DNA. And the “late period re-folding-in” of genetic traits from different African ethnic groups, American Indian, Hispanic, Asian, and the further addition of occasional (consensual) European-American infusions. And that still expanding mozaic is as it is, from just us having relations with each other.
We are a new and exceptional people.
Because of the unique racial deconstruction and reformulation that we have gone through – this was contained only in this country. We must establish certain rights, delineate certain distinctions, and make certain demands based on our completely American lineage. Not only did we provide the basis for the economic and cultural richness of this country – but our DNA is inextricably enmeshed to the soil of this land. Some Nazi said: “Blood And Soil?” NO! That tribal phrase is an appropriate descriptor of us and OUR Holocaust. A Holocaust that started the first minute of the year 1619. Going nonstop through every second of every day of every year.
Right Now.
I use “Blood And Soil” without apology. That we cannot escape, nor can anyone replace that fact. We – along with the foundational whites (the ones that arrived and stayed and enslaved AND – between 1619 to 1865) are the true “Paid In Blood – Invested In Full” co-owners of this country. American Freedmen are the other co-owners. Just KNOW – it is only the American Freedmen that are exclusively owed.
And the Diaspora knows this deal as well. But the 400 year ferociousness of racism-white supremacy created a flat-Blackness in our Freedmen consciousness out of a sheer but presumed racial necessity. Brothers and Sisters. Protection. Economics. Racial Militancy. Global Black Unity. Out of that Black racial consciousness and sweetness of heart came Pan Africanism. Freedmen created Pan Africanism.
OK? Felt Good. Sounded Good.
But there’s a problem: The promotion of Pan Africanism has always been one-sided. The American side. Of course, there have been a few non-American Pan Africans like George Padmore, Julius Nyerere, Kwame Nkrumah, Jomo Kenyatta, and the controversial Marcus Garvey. But they were anecdotal outliers. With the exception of Marcus Garvey, Pan Africanism was not a part of the consciousness of the people they led and/or associated with. Pan African philosophy was ninety-nine percent a part of the generous and embracing consciousness of American Freedmen only. Not Good. Pan Africanism is a guaranteed political wreck.
Tribalism is the Diasporic norm outside the community of American Freedmen. Pan Africanism at best means fake cooperation and reciprocity in name only. In clear truth – the Diasporans see the Freedmen as another tribe. As a “Them” – not as an “Us.” Economically seen as A Lick. Suckers – to be tribally screwed over.
Aren’t we “Brothers?” Ahh NO… We have no brothers nor sisters Anywhere.
Pan Africanism has never been good or operational for American Freedmen. And with certain exceptions – the Diaspora both domestically and internationally have shown themselves to be an undermining collective. Happily joining with the forces and systems of racism-white supremacy to derail the access to and enjoyment of our birthright. The NAARC/N’COBRA Axis of today is primarily responsible for opening that dirty door and facilitating this ugly mess. It is our first responsibility to understand what we are politically, culturally, and economically dealing with.
The NAARC/N’COBRA Axis feels that our reparations should rightfully belong to all Three Billion Six Hundred Million members of the Diaspora – with American Freedmen being hung-up at the back of the line. Forcing us to release OUR justified recompense – a due allottment from centuries of pain and deprivation here to fulfill some kind of Wakandan – Pan African fantasy that has NOTHING to do with us.
Making Freedmen the “mules” of the Diaspora. That is what we are faced with.
We as a people are far too civil with other-colored “strangers,” and friendly-presenting but strategically-minded white oppressors. We must develop hard self-esteem and Tribal pride about ourselves. Work with each other, and put up a stratospherically high, fully encompassing, uncompromising, and impenetrably hard tool steel gate Family. Understand – we must do the basic work of raising the consciousness and political viability of the 40 Millions of our American Freedmen Tribe. Right Here. Within, upon, and throughout OUR American Homeland.
Complacency Equals Death.
No Commercialization
Commercialization without permission or guidance is point-blank disrespect. We’ve been commercialized and commodified for over 400 years. Aren’t we a little tired of this? Whenever commercialization happens – whether the commercializer is Caribbean, African, or white. The hive should come out of every woodwork and sting, call, email, and confront offending commercializers into submission. We need to seriously get super nasty with disrespecters. Because nastiness and confrontation in many cases are the only thing folks like this understand. Lawsuits, cease and desist orders, and circumscribing legislation should also be a part of our toolbox.
Commercializers only respect legal power and the possibility of getting fists.
Don’t be ashamed, embarrassed, or feel that you have to be restrained in your disapproval. Take a lesson from the Jews. Commercialize their stuff without permission – and see what happens. Insult them – and see what happens. One wrong or misplaced word (Whoopi Goldberg) even in support of their community – and they will unrelentingly injure you financially and socially. No Discussion. No Compromise. No Nothing. The Jewish community as a tribal collective will get On Code and stomp you six feet into the ground with no hesitation, reserve, or mercy.
On Coded-ness gives them the power to slap you around whenever they feel like it, humiliate you whenever they feel like it, force you to your nigger knees in tears, and can break your personhood from speaking to your own mother. Yep. A single phone call can enthusiastically erase you from all of your Black earthly existence.
I respect the fact that they can do this.
The Jewish community shows what can be done when you are 2.4% of the United States population and unreservedly On Code – as opposed to what can’t be done when you are 13% of the population in this country, and mostly Off Code. They respect themselves – and will not allow others to run over them without substantial and permanent consequences. That’s the right way Family. We should be the same.
NO Forgiveness, Reconciliation, or Compromise. None. Leave that for Jesus.
The Responsibility Of Freedmen
Family!!! We must get On Code and TAKE BACK our stuff. We as a Tribe are way too Loose – Casual – and Distracted Family. We are at a racial tipping point.
We must respect the Laws of Survival.
Because we have failed to exercise an operational respect for each other specifically and our Tribe generally – we have lost out on us and everything on so many levels including control of our commemorative representations. Never forget that the way we handle the things that represent us and the milestones in our history as a people is just as political an act as securing voting rights and demanding specific policies for American Freedmen. Yes Family – commemorations and observances ARE POLITICAL. Your political attitude reflects your degree of self-respect. We must handle all politics with enlightened selfishness and uncompromising ownership. Gates need to be up Family. By our hand – Juneteenth needs to be disaggregated from the mis-colored Pan African Diaspora, and reset to its proper ownership.
END OF POST
I would like to thank Sister Soldiers Morgan Malachi of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Rose Cannon of Evanston, Illinois for their timely and intelligent contributions to this post.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
I was assisted in this reposting by a bottle of Frisson – Falcon Ranch Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2019. Dry Creek Valley. Young but excellent vintage for this wine. Strong – bold structure. Dry. Moderate tannins and acidity. Leading in with notes of oak, toasty vanilla, and chocolate. Earthy sustain, with rich fruits. Ending in tobacco, plum, vanilla, and chocolate. Long – silky finish.
“Money in its proper place is a worthwhile and necessary instrument for a well-rounded life, but when it is projected to the status of a god – it becomes a power that corrupts and an instrument of exploitation.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
This May 30, 2022 post – written by concerned citizen Meleika Gardner, is part of the continuing saga of the Evanston “reparations” program. Written by an actual resident of Evanston, Illinois. This repost is taken from the nicely done Meleika Communications Blog (www.meleikacommunications.com) “The Voice of the People.” The right questions to the right people are being asked here. Hopefully, properly aware Evanston Freedmen will flex the power of their constituency and shut this travesty down. This mess has gone on long enough.
Here It Is:
Evanston Reparations: Unanswered questions continue to grow…
No one can answer after three years; how much money is in the Reparations Fund? And why would the Reparations Committee be entertaining getting anything that resembles a loan for Evanston Reparations? Because so many questions have been left unanswered regarding Evanston Reparations, which is leading more residents to further not trust the Reparations system, I wrote yet another email on May 23, 2022 to Evanston City Council:
Dear City Council:
CPAH* made clear they were working for free. At the last Reparations meetings, a Committee member asked if the $269K from the City’s general fund be transferred to the Reparations Fund. It was explained that people might have to get paid for their work in Reparations with the 16 recipients. Who are these people getting paid and how much? Are they already on City salary as an employee? Is CPAH changing their terms and want to get paid now?
It was also asked if the public can finally get the amount from the cannabis taxes. The response was that it was still against the law to reveal that amount to the public. The public is not asking for monthly updates. A Committee member said it’s been three years now with expenditures… the public has a right to know at this point.
The public in Evanston and cities around the country are still waiting on a response from Evanston City Council on what happens when a recipient does not use all of their $25K on home improvements? Who pockets the remaining? The language was changed to “up to $25K”, but the promotion in the media and what was promised in the commitment was an allotment of $25K to each individual.
And, as much as you all are excited about the Tribeca Film release coming in June on the Big Payback, we know it’s about money and career advancement for Erika Alexander, Whitney Dow, Joy Reid, and the rest of the production. I worked in Los Angeles for many years. The industry will sell out Black people for a dollar all day everyday. This is just another example of selling a lie for the almighty dollar in Hollywood. The documentary is not going to tell the truth of Evanston Reparations.
Mayor Biss, Black people would much prefer cash payments like your grandmother received until the day she died over receiving new windows as a form of Reparations. I know you and others on the Council like Melissa Wynne believe we should be celebrating new windows as a start when your grandmother received payments until her passing to help her family/community. You say those payments were nothing. But did your grandmother refuse any of them? Did any Jewish person refuse their cash payments? A white man just destroyed a Black family… take these new windows as a start. Sounds fair.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Meleika Gardner
END OF POST
*CPAH – Community Partners for Affordable Housing.
About The Author: Meleika Gardner is a Community Engagement Specialist, the owner of Evanston Live TV, and a board member of Art Encounter and WE WILL, an organization dedicated to involving women and children in the legislative process. Meleika is also the co-host and producer of the Chicago Heal with State Representative La Shawn K. Ford, addressing Chicago violence, trauma, and mental/emotional health services on iHeart Radio WVON, WCPT Progressive Talk Radio, and CAN TV.Support Her Project Space:
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
I was assisted in the transcription and commentary of thisarticle by a bottle of Chateau La Tour Carnet Haut-Medoc (Grand Cru Classe) 2018. Yes – this baby is $65.00. And worth every penny. This is a superfine Bordeaux Medoc blend. Solid and tight structure – crisp tannins, moderate acidity. Strong lead-in with notes of blackberries, plums, and elderberries. A sustain of oak, vanilla, and tobacco. Closing with leather, earth, and toasted vanilla. A clean but moderate finish.
“I get tired of others, including our Black elected representatives always pushing hard to make the descendants of American slaves the “MULES” for all other groups. Including Black immigrants. This is ridiculous. My lineage does all the work – absorbs all the pain – suffers through all the deprivation. But when it comes to some kind of justice – some kind of recompense. We are supposed to step to the back of the line and allow Caribbeans and Africans to be prioritized? Taking this long to decide on something that should not be a question in the first place is an insult. I see how Pan Africanism works – I am against Pan Africanism.”
Arthur Ward
This strong and positive piece was written by my darling Cynthia McDonald.
Freedmen First!!!
You Know? I am sick and tired of Pan African and Diasporan impositions and intrusions on this purely domestic issue and grievance. Unlike my lady, Ms. McDonald (the author of this article) – I do claim to be a xenophobe and nativist (she’s more “fair-minded” than I am). I also can’t get the fact out of my head that some Africans SOLD US into this racial crucible now called America. There is also that confusing “Akata” issue. You See? Right? For myself – I’d really like to see an active xenophobia and nativism growing amongst our people – especially when it comes to our reparations. This is a much more balanced and thoughtful article on the subject than I could ever write regarding Pan Africanism and reparations.
Read, learn, and think:
Would Reparations Fare Better With An International Movement?
By Cynthia McDonald
Recently Dr. Ray Winbush, a professor of Morgan State University and author of several books on reparations, was on Black Power Media being interviewed by Dr. Jared Ball, professor and author of the Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power. Here, Dr. Winbush stated that Reparations needs to have an international push or movement instead of a single-minded focus only on the United States. This particular statement made me reflect on his words and ponder on it possibly being something that is proper or even practical. As American reparationists continue to fight to achieve the justice claim for the Descendants of Freedmen, it would be proper to start exploring different strategies to make a 155 year old topic a reality.
Is one of those ways to productively unite with the Diaspora is to make reparations an international movement? Should Freedmen internationalize? Well – let’s see…
Lately there has been much talk about reparations for chattel slavery in many mediums. We have seen reparations talks being organized on several Zoom platforms by organizations who support such a measure. We’ve seen the subject explored on TED Talks, the DNC debate stage, and even had two hearings in June of 2019 and February 17, 2021 in the House Judiciary Subcommittee of Congress. HR40 – the bill to study reparations was first introduced in the late 1980’s.
As of this writing, this HR40 bill has 173 co-sponsors in the House and has a companion bill in the Senate. With the onset of the American Freedmen reparations movement and the highlight of extreme actions of vigilantes and police that led to the deaths of, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd – there has been a powerful outpouring from various voices that reparations can wait no longer.
Reparations for Slavery is not a new topic.
There have been discussions of reparations since before the Emancipation Proclamation. The first affirmative action for reparations was Special Field Order No. 15. This was a military order issued during the American Civil War, on January 16, 1865, by General William Tecumseh Sherman, commander of the Military Division of the Mississippi United States Army. This provided for the confiscation of 400,000 acres (1,600 km2) of land along the Atlantic coast of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida and the dividing of it into parcels of not more than 40 acres (0.16 km2), on which were to be settled approximately 18,000 formerly enslaved families and other Black people then living in the area.
General Sherman issued his orders four days after meeting with twenty local Black ministers and lay leaders, and with the U.S. Secretary of War Edwin M. Stanton in Savannah, Georgia. Brigadier General Rufus Saxton, a strong abolitionist from Massachusetts who had previously organized the recruitment of Black soldiers for the Union Army, was put in charge of implementing the orders.
After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, the order had little concrete effect. President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation that returned the lands to southern owners who took a loyalty oath. Johnson granted amnesty to most former Confederates and allowed the rebel states to elect new governments.
These governments, which often included ex-Confederate officials, soon enacted what are called Black Codes. Measures designed to control and repress the recently freed slave population. General Saxton and his staff at the Charleston South Carolina’s Freedman’s Bureau’s office refused to carry out President Johnson’s wishes and denied all applications to have lands returned. In the end, Johnson and his allies removed General Saxton and his staff. But not before Congress was able to provide legislation to assist some families in keeping their lands.
Since the rescinding of Special Field Order 15, there were other reparations activists that emerged. Examples are Callie House and Isaiah Dickerson, who chartered the National Ex-Slave Mutual Relief, Bounty and Pension Association in 1898, to Queen Mother Moore who was a civil rights leader, Black Nationalist, Pan African activist, and founder of the Republic of New Afrika. Mother Moore was also the founder and president of the “Universal Association of Ethiopian Women,” as well as the founder of the “Committee for Reparations for Descendants of U.S. Slaves.” Moore actively promoted U.S. Freedmen reparations from 1950 until her death in 1997.
Other organizations have also emerged to help continue the work of achieving reparations(!?) such as “The National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N’COBRA),” “National African-American Reparations Commission (NAARC),” and ”The Caribbean Community (CARICOM).” The aforementioned organizations share a Pan African (a global cultural and political movement aiming at strengthening bonds of solidarity between all indigenous and Diasporic ethnic groups of African origin) ideology and objective. I can accept those goals.
But!!! Let’s look at the “international” aspect:
These organizations also coalition in some respects with one another. However, CARICOM is uniquely specific within the Pan African space concerning the community they are advocating for when it comes to reparations. There are fifteen countries that are included in the advocacy pool within CARICOM’s community. But the United States is clearly not one of them. CARICOM states on their website that they promote and support a unified Caribbean Community that is inclusive, resilient, and competitive; sharing in economic, social, and cultural prosperity.
As of late the issue of SPECIFICITY when it comes to reparations in the United States has been a source of some contention between those who garner a Pan African philosophy versus those who are considered “Freedmen First.” Starting from the emergence of the ADOS Movement, with the criteria established by Duke Professor Dr. William “Sandy” Darity and co-author of “From Here to Equality.” The specificity faction advocates his criteria. Dr. Darity’s work properly lays out whom should be the group that qualifies for reparations in the United States.
His criteria is a person who has identified as “Black” or “African-American” or “Negro” on government documents for at least twelve years before a reparations legislation has been enacted and can trace their lineage through at least one parent to United States Chattel Slavery. Simple? Fair? Proper? Right?
Apparently there are those of the Pan African sensibility that have tried to conflate the criteria to a blood quantum rule or the possibility of DNA tests. None of these claims are factual. The claims, however, seem to raise a larger argument that because those who are of an ADOS or Foundational Black American or Freedmen First sensibility, that locks out others from the African Diaspora who happen to be in the United States. Arguments such as “White Supremacy is global” or “racism affects all Black people” are often raised, sustained, and even conflated with the aforementioned statements that Dr. Darity’s criteria is xenophobic because it excludes Black people whom are not American Descendants of Chattel Slavery.
This Is Nonsense.
The facts are that every reparations program be it by legislation or lawsuit has always been specific. Some examples include:
● The Pueblo Lands Act of 1924: Congress authorized the establishment of the Pueblo Lands Board to adjudicate land title disputes, along with a payment of $1,300,000 to the Pueblo for the land they lost. ● The Shoshones: Were paid over $6 million for land illegally seized from them. ● The Indian Reorganization Act: This ordinance authorized $2 million a year in appropriations for the acquisition of land for Indians (except for the state of Oklahoma and the territory of Alaska until 1936). Congress made appropriations until 1941. In total $5.5 million was appropriated for 400,000 acres of land, and further legislation added 875,000 acres to reservations. One million acres of grazing land and one million acres intended for homesteading were returned to the tribes. ● The Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation Act: This was passed – authorizing an appropriation of $88,570,000 over 10 years for a program benefiting the Navajo and Hopi, including soil conservation, education, business and industry development on reservation, and assistance in finding employment off-reservation. ● Civil Liberties Act of 1988: President Ronald Reagan signed a bill providing $1.2 billion ($20,000 a person) and an apology to each of the approximately 60,000 living Japanese-Americans who had been interned during World War II. Additionally, $12,000 and an apology were given to 450 Unangans (Aleuts) for internment during WWII, and a $6.4 million trust fund was created for their communities. ● In the United States Court of Claims case Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska v. United States: The plaintiff tribes won a judgment of $7.5 million as just compensation for land taken by the U.S. Government between 1891 and 1925. ● The Tuskegee Experiment: A $10 million out-of-court settlement was reached between the U.S. government and Tuskegee victims, Black men who had been unwitting subjects of an evil and heinous study of untreated syphilis, and whom did not receive available treatments.
All of these claims have in common the naming of a specific group for a specific injury. There has been no precedent made in the United States (or elsewhere) where reparations was non-specifically paid to a blanketed group of people. I as a descendant of American Freedmen cannot stake claim to the Civil Liberties Act that paid Japanese Internment Camp victims from WWII. I would not qualify to receive redress from the Navajo-Hopi Rehabilitation Act, since I am not of that lineage, nor a member of those tribes. Makes sense, does it not? The injured party from a specific injury is the one who should receive the appropriate redress and repair.
So let us revisit Dr. Winbush’s strong statement of reparations needing to be an international movement. The other claim that is often made by Pan Africans is that being “specific” concerning U.S. reparations immediately means that advocacy from and to the Diaspora is immediately cut off. I personally push back on this claim, because Freedmen have always advocated for justice for the Diaspora.
American Freedmen leaders like W.E.B DuBois advocated against exclusionary tactics by the United States Government to keep Africans and African Diasporans out of the country. Also it has to be mentioned how American Freedmen seriously advocated to end Apartheid in South Africa, calling for American Companies to divest from doing business in that country. That and other demonstrations in the United States and in South Africa led to the collapse of the Apartheid system.
Specificity does not have to be an enemy to international advocacy.
In South Africa, The South African government was to pay reparations to thousands of people identified as victims of Apartheid by the country’s truth and reconciliation commission. At the time, South African President Thabo Mbeki has said that his government will make a payment of 30,000 South African Rand ($3,890) each to more than 19,000 people identified by the commission as victims of gross human rights violations. Should I be a part of that claim? Or not?
Those of us in the United States support and applaud that effort. But I would not expect to receive any of that payment, because even though I am Black – I was not a victim of apartheid. That does not mean as a member of the Diaspora that I can’t support South Africa to do right by its citizens that were harmed by the Apartheid policy. The same can be said for the Descendants of American Chattel Slavery.
Although all Black people living in the United States would not and should not qualify for reparations if not a descendant of United States Chattel Slavery, the international community (within and without the United States) can and should enable and supply support for the Freedmen’s descendants to get the full measure of their justice claim. This – only the right and proper Diasporan thing to do.
I agree with Dr. Winbush’s statement that reparations can and should be an international movement. It is quite apparent that members of the African Diaspora have been harmed by white supremacy on many levels and deserve justice from oppressive government policies all over the world. Even though this is the case, redress and repair is going to look different based on whom and where the injury exacted. I cannot expect reparations to look the same in Brazil as it would in Jamaica. Although slavery was practiced in both countries, the governments that enacted those institutions are different. Brazil’s claim would be from Portugal and Jamaica’s would come from Great Britain. We can and should implore all from the Diaspora to support one another in our justice claims, but keep in mind that our claims are specific to the countries we are in. Reparations can be supported globally but should without exception be an issue respectfully handled domestically.
See? No venom. Just reason, logic, data, and good sense.
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976: Allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair Use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS.
I was assisted in the transcription and commentary of this call to action by a bottle of Weed Cellars Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon 2017. Got this $21.00 masterpiece on sale for $10.00 at a 7-Eleven. Opened this shit up time I got to my computer. Yes. One sip leads in with strong ripe blackberries. Bold structure – moderate tannins and acidity. A solid sustain of vanilla, oak, plums, and tobacco. Smooth finish of robust vanilla, silky cherry, and muted oak. A great Cabernet.
“I’ve come upon something that disturbs me deeply. We have fought hard and long for integration, as I believe we should have, and I know we will win, but I have come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house. I’m afraid that America has lost the moral vision she may have had, and I’m afraid that even as we integrate, we are walking into a place that does not understand that this nation needs to be deeply concerned with the plight of the poor and disenfranchised. Until we commit ourselves to ensuring that the underclass is given justice and opportunity, we will continue to perpetuate the anger and violence that tears the soul of this nation. I fear I am integrating my people into a burning house.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Another beautiful paper by Sister Soldier Morgan Malachi. A Freedman activist (and intellectual) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Even though this work is specifically focused on the Freedmen situation in Philadelphia – in a wholesale sense, the points discussed here can be applied to and in any city, hamlet, or rural area where Freedmen reside. Which is why I am reproducing this Call here.
A call to action is an exhortation to take responsibility. A main problem in our community is political and economic complacency. At this point in our history Family – complacency equals death. This is not hyperbole. This is where we are. Time to get educated. Time to decide what part in this movement that you are going to play. And to decide to execute that decision. That decision is not one that is only for yourself – this is equally about your children and grandchildren.
The only political issue that is most important for our people – the American Freedmen – at this point going forward is lineage-based reparations. That’s It…
Read and learn. Here it is:
Philadelphian Freedmen Must Have Reparations: A Call to Action
By Morgan Malachi – Tubman House Center for Reparative Justice
The Problem
Philadelphia is one of the poorest big cities [01] in the United States. In 2019, Philadelphia’s population was 1,535,277 of which 24.3% were living in poverty. The majority of Freedmen [02] Philadelphians live in communities that experienced decades of neglect and disinvestment and now are targets of unrelenting gentrification. Our state’s minimum wage [03] has been $7.25 since 2009. According to the Living Wage [04], a single person with no children in Philadelphia must make at least $18.14 an hour and $29.81 an hour is needed for one person with three children to live comfortably in our city. This is the irrefutable reality.
Philadelphia is just one portrait of the larger problem.
The racial wealth gap [05] of American Freedmen nationally is staggering. In 2016, the net worth of an average white family was $171,000, a figure almost ten times greater than an American Freedmen family at $17,150. Since 1865, American Freedmen have maneuvered through a system of oppressive tactics like redlining laws which kept Freedmen out of equity and wealth. If Freedmen cannot build (and recover) generational wealth they will never be able to close the racial wealth gap. Once the data is parsed, we can clearly see American Freedmen are specifically the “Black people” [06] suffering at the highest rates. This is why lineage based reparations for Philadelphian Freedmen are long overdue.
Middle class Philadelphian Freedmen are living paycheck to paycheck, and are much poorer than their white middle class counterparts. The Freedmen middle class identity is largely a facade. Despite their many degrees and seemingly well-paying jobs, middle class Philadelphia Freedmen are saddled with massive student loan debt, which is compounded by the lack of generational wealth. They are working jobs with precarious retirement plans and have very little savings. The economic position of the masses of Freedmen Philadelphians [07] is dire.
There is no Black Middle Class
The need for lineage-based reparations highlight the classist delusions in the Philadelphia Freedmen community. A college education doesn’t matter when a community has no wealth. Upper and middle class Freedmen often feel no need to focus on reparations advocacy. The middle class Freedmen community might make decent salaries, but they don’t have any real capital. Many do not own their homes. They don’t own businesses in Black neighborhoods let alone city-wide. This is true for not just Philadelphians, but for the Freedmen community as a whole.
Too frequently a specific person or family will point to their personal success and reject these truths. It can’t be just some of us, it needs to be all of us on an equal financial footing. Individualist ideals have not and will never save American Freedmen from systemic oppression. The Northwest section of Philadelphia is remarkably divided by wealth. Even upper middle class Freedmen don’t have the same wealth, financial access, and asset safeguards their white neighbors enjoy. Pennsylvania State Representative Chris Rabb [08] was quoted saying:
“We rarely see people west of Stenton [Avenue] crossing into east of Stenton,” he said, referring to a line that divides wealthier and poorer parts of the area, “and that’s largely a racial dynamic.”
Historical Background
The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company [09] was signed into law as: “An Act to Incorporate the Freedmen’s Trust Company.” This was signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln on March 3, 1865. Branches were opened in seventeen states with thirty-seven locations between 1865-1871. Seventy thousand American Freedmen deposited money into the Freedman’s Saving and Trust Company. Those deposits, made in trust by the formerly enslaved, accumulated to fifty-seven million dollars. By 1870, amendments to the charter impacted the bank’s loan policies. In 1873 mismanagement and fraud ran rampant and the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company never recovered.
Frederick Douglass was appointed as the bank’s President, he also invested ten thousand dollars of his own money. Douglass, not realizing the depths of the larceny to American Freedmen wealth, sent Congress a recommendation to close the bank. The Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company closed on June 29, 1874 – leaving the formerly enslaved American Freedmen community in financial ruin. Our ancestors’ hard earned money was gone. We ask how many times do we have to continuously start over? Gentrification is ushering in a new forced migration for Philadelphia Freedmen that we have yet to see the outcomes of.
Octavius V. Catto was a Philadelphia Freedman lynched by a violent white mob on October 10, 1871. Catto went to a Freedman’s Bank branch at 919 Lombard Street. He withdrew twenty dollars to purchase a gun. This was an election day in Philadelphia. Leaving the Freedman Bank branch, he had to dodge violent white mobs. This was one year after the Fifteenth Amendment [10] restored voting rights protections to Philadelphia Freedmen. Later in the day, Catto was confronted by two white men, Edward Reddy Denver and Frank Kelly. Catto, with no warning, was shot by Frank Kelly multiple times in broad daylight in front of numerous eyewitnesses. This incident was a solid warning to the Freedmen community.
Mayor James Kenney dedicated a statue [11] to Octavius V. Catto which sits outside Philadelphia’s City Hall. This statue cost two million dollars. Mayor James Kenney apparently forgot to ask the Freedmen community if they wanted a statue to commemorate Catto, a victim of white rage, or a commitment to real justice and repair through lineage based reparations for Catto’s community. Kenney needs to stop the symbolism – stop the pandering, and do his job. We will no longer stand for the displacement [12] and neglect of Philadelphia Freedmen.
Freedmen Philadelphians have a specific claim in the modern day reparations discussion. Philadelphia’s Freedmen population is impacted by wealth disparities at a devastating rate. The history of redlining in Philadelphia can be traced to the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation [13] rating Philadelphia neighborhoods with high Freedmen populations in the 1930’s as “hazardous/high risk” – signifying a possible risk of defaulting on mortgage loans. Banks denying loans for Freedmen purchasing homes in Freedmen neighborhoods ensured segregation by another name. Even with the passing of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 [14], the redlining tactics were so pervasive the act did little to change the disparities within Freedmen Philadelphian communities [15]. Housing segregation also impacts income, wealth accumulation, education funding, healthcare access, and poverty rates.
No More Pandering White Progressives or Complacent Black Democrats
The Philadelphian Freedmen population [16] in gentrifying areas of West and South Philadelphia decreased by 29% from 2000-2012 according to US census records. In North Philadelphia, the Freedmen population declined by 22%. West Philadelphians’ median home sale price increased 98%. South Philadelphia’s median sale price increased 184%, more than three times the citywide rate; North Philadelphia’s median home sale price increased 200%, nearly four times the citywide average. This is not an anomaly Philadelphian Freedmen can ignore. It is time for Freedmen to become fully aware of the disparities that persist in their lives and the history of being locked out of asset equity at the foundation.
White gentrifiers take full advantage of our equity inequality. Gentrifiers such as Alexandra Hunt [17] are pandering to American Freedmen [18] with stolen talking points and no tangible history of advocacy on behalf of Freedmen beyond a series of tweets where she called for “Reparations for the American Freedmen.” Hunt also talks about every other so-called oppressed group [19] in America. Lineage-based reparations is not a talking point. It is an ancestral justice claim. Tubman House is here to ensure every aspect of lineage-based reparations discussions are guarded, and approached with nothing but respect and tangible political advocacy.
Hunt [20] clearly does not respect reparations or knows the history behind it as she continues to GENTRIFY [21] a Freedmen neighborhood. No one who willingly participates in our oppression will ever help to liberate Freedmen. We must demonstrate disciplined steadfastness in every aspect of our justice claim as Philadelphia Freedmen. We can not afford to be corrupted and misled any longer.
The incumbent Dwight Evans, Congressman of Philadelphia’s 3rd Congressional District, is no stranger to Philadelphia Freedmen. Understand? Dwight Evans has been a staple of the Philadelphia Black political class [22]. He represents the 3rd Congressional District of Philadelphia [23], a population of 752,057, breaking down to 46.6% Male and 53.4% Female. The median income is $47,425; the high school graduation rate is 88.8%; the college graduation rate is 39.6%. The 3rd District of Philadelphia has 418,050 Freedmen, a combined total of 140,959 are Asian, Latino, Native American, and Pacific Islanders. 246,857 are White; 16,462 have Caribbean Ancestry; and 17,880 have Sub-Saharan African Ancestry.
Evans has been in politics for over twenty years, with eighteen terms in the Pennsylvania House, and a gubernatorial run in 1994. Evans [24] then ran for mayor in 1999 and again in 2007. Evans then moved on to the United States Congress with a special election victory after Native Freedman son Chaka Fattah [25] resigned upon being convicted [26] of racketeering in federal court. Evans [27] then found himself in a perfect position to build equity and wealth for the Freedmen community which is the majority population in his district.
Following his victory Evans is quoted as saying [28]:
“I’m excited about it” […] “I thank people for the opportunity. I served in the House for 36 years and I’m going to take that skill set of what I’ve learned to work toward the future. I’ll work with Democrats, Republicans, whoever necessary to make a difference.”
It’s time to ask Mr. Dwight Evans if he is done working for everyone except the Philadelphia Freedmen community of his district? Evans must do more than schmooze the Black political class in the Northwest section of his district. His district is struggling financially and his lack of attention is unacceptable. Immigration policies are not an issue of concern for the Freedmen community in Philadelphia. Evans ran under a platform called – “A Plan for America’s Cities” [29]. Understand that Freedmen Philadelphians need a specific “Plan For American Freedmen” [30] which would perfect Evans’ previous plan. After winning his congressional seat Dwight Evans was quoted [31] saying:
“I want to talk about cities, neighborhoods and block-by-block building,” […] “People ask questions about how you’re going to do things, but I think you only have to look at my record.”
The Freedmen community has given Dwight Evans more than enough time. We have also conducted a thorough look at his record. Dwight Evans has failed tremendously in repairing the harms suffered by our community. His egregious underperformance in delivering policies to improve conditions for the masses of Philadelphian Freedman is unacceptable. Mr. Evans and the Democratic Party rely on the historical injustices inflicted on our people to rally the voter base. Freedmen have come out to the polls for twenty years to support Dwight Evans. Mr. Evans has not demonstrated the same support for Philadelphia Freedmen.
The liberal agenda of fraudulent advocacy with no equity for Freedmen must be called out and effectively dealt with. We also recognize the vague promises and sense of entitlement rife within the Congressional Black Caucus [32]. Maxine Waters’ ugly exchange with a majority Freedmen homeless [33] population in Los Angeles displayed the dismissive behavior the Black political class has developed.
Congressional Black Caucus [34] members are being deliberately obtuse regarding the state of the American Freedmen population. They have sold their community out and will continue to do so until we empower ourselves. Their role has been to keep Freedmen disempowered. We can no longer allow this abusive relationship.
A political awakening of our people will remind all politicians that they are accountable to Freedmen until we are fully repaired. Dwight Evans is not a God. He is an unproductive and ineffective politician. Evans advocates for Philadelphia being a sanctuary city. He wastes time on immigration issues when the 3rd District is not a majority immigrant population. Evans is quoted [35] saying:
“As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, ‘We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.’ We have an obligation to build a stronger tomorrow for all members of our communities.”
The 3rd District of Philadelphia alone has 418,050 Freedmen, while there’s a total of 120,000 Black immigrants in the city as a whole according to the US Census. The fact is that Dwight Evans is totally off course with his immigration focus and this is a main reason why our community is suffering. We demand accountability. He represents the 3rd District with an overwhelming majority Philadelphia Freedmen population. This can no longer be tolerated by his Freedmen constituents. Mr. Evans should be reminded of these words [36] by Dr. Martin Luther King:
“One hundred years later the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.”
And –
“In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of The Constitution and The Declaration of Independence (Yeah), they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir… It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.”
Dwight Evans is cherry picking Dr. King’s words. Cherry picking is in the play book of the Democratic establishment. Dr. King was assassinated and politicians have twisted his legacy to fit their abysmal advocacy for King’s people. This reflects an inherent disrespect of the Freedmen community (for political expediency and personal enrichment). Dwight Evans can no longer continue to retain his political seat by browbeating Freedmen with nonreciprocal identity politics.
Call To Action
The lineage based reparations [37] demand is for a comprehensive package to address the fundamental needs of the Freedmen community. Dwight Evans needs to remember his history and the history of Freedmen in Philadelphia.
● We demand that Evans produce a full lineage-based reparations package. ● We demand Evans ensure that any new variation of the Freedmen’s Bureau be designated specifically for the descendants of American Freedmen only. ● We demand Evans protect Freedmen Philadelphians against oppression on all fronts. That includes equity and wealth oppression. He has yet to address these issues with any sense of urgency or resolve. ● We demand Evans produce legislation designating American Freedmen as a protected class and designated ethnicity [38]. ● We demand Evans produce an Anti-Freedmen Hate Bill with protections/funding as given to the Anti-Asian Hate Bill [39] for Asian Americans. ● Freedmen must hold Dwight Evans accountable for his inaction. All neighborhoods in the 3rd District must organize to ensure this happens. ● If Mr. Evans refuses to work towards all demands listed and all future demands, we replace him with a candidate willing to do their job for the majority of the 3rd District. ● Any Philadelphia politician that is not focused on lineage-based reparations as their main priority has to be replaced in as well; this is our call to action.
The message to the Philadelphia Freedmen community is that leftist white gentrifiers like Alexandra Hunt will never truly confront white supremacy. On the contrary, women such as Hunt, are always elevated within it. Hunt’s use of the term “American Freedmen” does not move us. We demand written legislation addressing the racial wealth gap specifically for American Freedmen – which is lineage-based reparations. Hunt’s Philadelphia Freedmen neighbors are locked out of equity and directly impacted by her very presence. Gentrifiers are tired of the Black political class stifling plans for the well-monied “New York-ifying” of the city and its politics. Freedmen politicians are perfectly comfortable leaving their communities alone to figure out how to recover from generations of stolen wealth. Lineage-based reparations will ensure our future in the city that our ancestors built.
● We must prioritize being politically and community engaged. ● We must build our people power in this city as American Freedmen by word of mouth and staying committed to the extended struggle for reparations. ● We must let our families know that lineage-based reparations is a debt that is owed. Survival is not enough anymore. ● We deserve to benefit from all of the Freedmen labor that contributed to the building of this country. ● We have to educate ourselves about the harmful conditions we are experiencing in Philadelphia.
We call on the Philadelphia Freedmen to take up the struggle for reparative justice. In this political moment, Freedmen must be uncompromising and unrelenting. We were all born and raised here. Our family members are buried here. We will not – and must not allow the Philadelphia political machine get away with our erasure. It’s the “Return of the Loud” [40].
“Return of the Loud” – this is the time: “Justice is for the living ’cause Nobody gets out of this Life alive.”Follow Morgan Malachi on Twitter @Moreaga1865.
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FREEDMEN ABSOLUTE 