Things must Change:

There’s No Limit To Our Range. . .

   I am in my car, and a red light comes on—in the light array overhead: So what do I do?  Stop, of course!  So why do I do this—and—how did you know that?  You knew that because that was what you were taught to do; We all were, in every state, in the United States.  I would suppose this would be the same, no matter where you go, in the Western world; no matter what country you go to.  And why is that?  Because these people regulate how people behave; they are the ones who establish a civil order. It is established in order to get things done in accordance to the way these people want things to be.  If you violate, you pay a penalty.  Just do as you’re told, and everything will be alright—everybody follows orders; and this is no exception.  Well, at least you know what to expect.

   With expectations like this, comes rules to regulate.  You can’t have most people stopping, while others believing they should go. . . That would produce chaos.  In order to distinguish reliability from chaos, there must be order; but who determines it, and for what purpose?  I am alright with someone determining something for the common good, or that simply through findings it is commonly seen or established to be right—but I am not down with a controlling group of people determining things on sentiments and deciding votes.  

   As a good brother once said to me, “Same person, same place, you get the same result.”  In this case, I guess, the attempt is to eliminate all the variables from the equation.  After all—you don’t want lose cannons to come popping up—and all things considered, anything could happen. . .  So in that sense, order keeps chaos from occurring.  I guess, the key factor, or idea in all these cases, is to know what to expect—and with that you have something to depend on—assurance; or something to rely on.  But in whose best interests are these things established on?  I wonder. . . 

  

   In America, what do we have to rely on?  As a Blackman in America, I could strive to speak to the vast audience about freedom—but some White person in this same country could possibly say to me, “What do you know about freedom?  You and your people have always been subjugated in America.  Your ancestors were slaves, and now you Blacks are  treated with second-class citizenship in this country.  You guys never appreciated the type of freedom I experienced.”  You see, years ago, an older Black man from Panama, by the name of R. A. Straughn said to me, “True freedom is not the ability to do whatever you want—regardless of who you offend or what rules you break. . . True freedom is your ability to do whatever you want within your cultural confines, as long as it doesn’t interfere with anyone else’s rights or freedom.”  Upon these such things, the words made perfect sense to me.  And yes, those Whites who think that way are right,  I may not know what true freedom is in this country—and the reason would be because your sense of entitlement and the type of freedom you seem enjoy is always superimposing and interfering with my rights and my freedoms—leaving me wanting and making the whole thing such a travesty.  

   Maybe the reason R. A. Straughn’s definition made sense to me—is because mentally we’re on the same page with that sort of issue: But then again—I never had that understanding of freedom before—so that can’t be exactly that. . .  Maybe the meaning  was one which matched with my upbringing, my moral values—but then again; I was raised under Christianity (within the Protestant Baptist faith); so I can’t expect all Christians with similar backgrounds to see it that way regardless of race.  I say that it makes sense  because, when I look at all that has happened to Black and Brown people in the wilderness of America, I see acts done by White colonist Americans who proclaimed they were “God fearing Christians.”  Hell, why even the ship Blacks were brought over here on was called, the “Good Ship Jesus”. . .  And when Columbus founded the Native Americans living here in 1492—he still proclaimed he founded the land under Europe and the cross—as though the Natives were less than humans and thus didn’t matter.  But I can say, R. A. and myself might have had enough similar journeys and experiences in the Western World; i.e., its’ subjugations, along with our comparative ethnic similarities, to reach the same or similar conclusions about freedom.

  

   Culture is basically what a people do.  When I say people, I mean group of people  according to things like a family; not just a nuclear family but an extended family—like a tribe—which, for the most part, would consists of the same race or ethnicity.  This group of people will have a certain way of doing things, and if they are doing anything with consistency, in the attempt to keep the family involved—eventually these things will becomes customary.  In turn, the custom becomes traditional or conventional; way of doing things; That is, the things that the group thinks are important—their values, morals; behavior they think works for the group becomes their ethics.  Now when you share a space or country, with another culture, who have controlling interests in the land in which we live—their opinions about things and other people and cultures can be most damaging—sometimes to the other groups careers and livelihood.  

   That being said, freedom cannot be taken outside its’ cultural context; meaning your freedom is guaranteed according to cultural parameters.  Meaning, you are free to do things within your cultural framework.  When you move outside of your cultural references, this is a journey into the unknown.  Sometimes these things are derived by camaraderie or societies within a group of people; other times they are clans and tribes, and even more so, it can be a matter of ethnicity.  Culture maybe for social reasons or it maybe past-time tendencies; it maybe religious or ritualistic—it maybe philosophical—but whatever it is, it is a group reality.  It is the things we feel most at home with.  The purpose is to galvanize a people into one cohesive group.  On a basic level, there’s strength in numbers—and that’s what social means; advocated for the same common cause.     

   True freedom is protected by the group.  The freedom of the United States is protected by the government and its’ military.    Freedom doesn’t mean you do what you want to do—because in doing something like that—your freedom will impinge upon someone else.  Many times, in the United States, our freedom is trampled upon by those who control the media, the sports, the television, the arts and culture.  Sometimes our ideas run contrary to theirs and they have the ability, with all these weapons, to put slander on our name—or kick a man when he is down.  This culture once had us down; because it had us in chains.  The chains are presently gone, but the scars remain.  We have been doing a lot of new things, but confidence level is effected by innuendo and attitude projected by mainstream America.  What you have in America, for better or worst, is what the dominant culture chose to do—when they faced life’s decisions; and since there’s been two Civil Rights protests to try to be included equally into the America’s dream; and we still haven’t because we are depending on another people’s sense of fairness.  Our survival, our livelihood, by far; has not been depended upon our own self-help efforts—but upon mainstream America—and America has played us to the outside.  All our efforts, for the longest time, has been trying to win social acceptance in every facet of American life.

   What I am here to say is, their decisions effect us all, because we are here; but just because we are here does not mean we have to agree.  And when we don’t, we become subject to their mainstream public opinion.  Like their issues on sexuality—Black people generally do not agree with attitudes and practices those Americans who are of European descent, and America’s Media Machine shuns us because we don’t.  But there’s a higher source we come from, which we all should have some sense of homage and allegiance, and that is our origin in this world and how that source fashioned existence: As well as, subsequently, our land of origin and our origin as a people.  Within these parameters, we are free.  Within these parameters, there is a lot of commonality of thought.  Within these aspects of reality, we feel the blood pumping through our veins, we feel part of the land as a place of belonging—as warm as the milk that drips from a child’s mouth from her mother’s teat and as familiar as the heartbeat that emanates from her chest.  

   But now, we the Black people who live in the wilderness have been taken away from our home, stripped from our language, our culture, our God or Gods—and have been molded and shaped in a servitude position (for another group of people), for well over 430 years.  Some who have taken the time to familiarize themselves with these facts, and there are some who are not aware of what has happened—or more succinctly, “Who and what is causing all these things to happen.”  Awareness means you know—you are conscious of the reality.  And just as children quite often do, many of us blame ourselves and perform self loathing on each other—displaying distrust with each other—while displaying acts of forgiveness for the system which “stole their minds.”  Everything’s upside-down.

   With knowledge comes confidence.  There is a certain comfortability that comes with that confidence—and even if you are denied—you have the confidence in knowing the truth.  Not a blind faith, but a faith that knows that which happened, could once again happen; under the right condition.  But those without roots can be toppled.  They have no sense of belonging, no sense of being—no chronology, no tradition; often with a great distrust of others of their kind.  As Malcolm said, “They always project Africa in a negative light: jungle savages, cannibals, nothing civilized.  Why then, naturally it was so negative that it was negative to you and me, and you and I began to hate it.  We didn’t want anybody telling us anything about Africa, much less calling us Africans.  In hating Africa and in hating the Africans, we ended up hating ourselves, without even realizing it.  Because you can’t hate the roots of a tree, and not hate the tree.  You can't hate your origin and not end up hating yourself.  You cannot hate Africa and not hate yourself.  You show me one of these people over here who has not been thoroughly brainwashed and has a negative attitude towards Africa, and I’ll show you one who has a negative attitude toward himself.  You can’t have a positive toward yourself and a negative attitude towards Africa at the same time.  To the same degree that your understanding of and your attitude toward Africa becomes positive, you’ll find that your understanding of and attitude towards yourself will also become positive.  And this is what the white man knows.  So they very skillfully make you and me hate our African identity, our African characteristics.  You know yourself that we have been a people who hated our African characteristics.  We hated our heads, we hated the shape of our nose, we wanted one of those doglike noses, you know; we hated the color of our skin, hated the blood of Africa that was in our veins.  And in hating our features and our skin and our blood, why end up hating ourselves.  It made us feel inferior; it made us feel inadequate; made us feel helpless.  And when we fell victim to this feeling of inadequacy or inferiority or helpless, we turned to somebody else to show us the way.  We didn’t have confidence in another Blackman to show us the way, or Black people to show us the way.  In those days we didn’t.  We didn’t think a Black man could do anything except play some horn—you know; make sounds and make you happy with some songs and in that way.  But in serious things, where our food, clothing, shelter, and education were concerned, we turned to the White man.  We never thought in terms of bring these things into existence for ourselves; we never thought in terms of doing for ourselves: Because we felt helpless.”  

  And with all this self-hatred, we can trace some of our demise, from self-sabotage; trying to dodge the unshakeable truth of your Blackness—because you’ve been Black all your life.  You’ve been Black, but you tried to escape it—not being Black that is—but the images associated and identified to Black people by American society: like Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, Step-and-Fetch-It, Butterfly McQueen, and Amos and Andy.  Who broadcasted these shows?  Who sponsored these shows?  Do Blacks own submarines?  Then how do the drugs come from overseas into Black neighborhoods?  That never makes the news. . .  Just the Black drug dealers and the hoochie girls. . . 

   And in today’s society, many of our people get money and disassociate with the community they came from, or the things they do:  Just look at P-Diddy’s Ciroc Vodka commercials: Like Sammy Davis, Jr., before him, Diddy is attempting to create a world where he could escape the association of being Black in America.  I didn’t say he is attempting not to be Black, just saying the culture in his commercials is an affluent Western multi-racial society; consisting of “wannabes” (those who carry no association with our normal ethnicity).  In other words, his image is those of a Mafia Don living, “La Dolce Vita.“  The problem is two-fold: While these people may play as though they are part of their elite society, but we can never be accepted as, simply because of the roles their society made for “people like us”. . .  The second part, is that our “victim” believes he or she is somewhat different from the rest of us; and feel they owe no allegiance to their own people what so-ever.  It may have started out with their schooling, it may have started with a philosophy of the parents, supported with a benevolent hand; but let us not forget that these descendants of America’s colonizers, are descendants of a people who are very rigid in class-structure [England] as the world well knows. . .  The other thing is, whether a time is difficult or kind towards your development; It is what you’re going through that makes you who you are.  And in this case, it is the community which forges and shapes you; therefore you do owe the community—as Will Smith, Jill Scott, and Kevin Hart illustrates for the Philadelphia communities from which they come. 

   It would seem to me that many of my ancestors were on to something, when they caution us not to follow behind the “White man.”  Not because they’re crazy or always wrong—or that Black people are always right: It’s just that by thinking this way, they were thinking for themselves; making their own determinations: They were determining what was right or wrong for themselves and not blindly imitating this society.  It is thinking like that which would help people like us be more “objective” about the Western world: Its’ assets and detriments; which is necessary in order for us to reconstruct or recapture the culture we lost during the 458 years of slavery.  I taught my child to approach living in America like a foreigner, rather than a citizen: This way they would not assume that the “values” we call American, were necessarily their own.  They would be studying humanity and evaluating it for themselves; much like an anthropologist studies social and cultural patterns for comparative analysis.  We can never be leaders or masters at someone else’s cultural system—much less live off of another man’s wisdom: But we can study our own people of the past, because in doing so—ethnically—we would know; “That which was done before, can be done again,” with guts and a lot of determination.  This would not be blind faith—this would fall under the category of belief in yourself.  Right now, many of us believe too much in them, and their ability to change (which time shows they are unwilling), rather than us and our willingness to change and become something better than what we have become.  These things must change, there's no limit to our range—accept the ones we place on ourselves. . .

And as so often as I do, I leave you with a song: Betty Carter--Something Big 

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace

  

What Is,

And What Should Never Be. . .

     I spent a lot of time thinking on this issue, imagining how it might be—living in a homeland where all the people look like me; instead of this place which proposes to be multi-cultural—yet exists with a dominant culture ruling over all other nationalities.  I thought about places like Madagascar, a small island off the coast of the so-called African continent, occupied by several Asian people—that is, besides the Central Asians or people from Alkebulan; they are a people who practice true multiculturalism, that is, before the White man came superimposing his colonization.  Often, I said to myself, “Is there any place where the White man hasn’t gone and re-labeled everything?”  They say that Christopher Columbus discovered America, but really, he founded the natives who were already here—people whom he called Indians (because he was looking for an alternate spice route); and once he learned of these people, he immediately began to assert European ways and politics upon these non-European people.  It is amazing to me that this country celebrates Thanksgiving; when they know full well, the following season these same “grateful” people would begin exterminating the Native Americans as soon as the winter was over. 

     We were not kidnapped from one single country in Alkebulan—we were abducted from several different countries from within the continent’s interior.  We were captured by traffickers of human cargo—abducted from our homeland—and in many cases, these ancestors were prisoners of war; in a system much different from European concepts of bondage.  Our people spoke several different languages from the neighboring tribes.  But part of the strategy of the traffickers of human cargo was to take a hodgepodge of single people from several different tribes, each time they loaded the slave ships; This way, communication between tribes was difficult, and the resultant alienation, accompanied by friction between these tribes could work in the slave master’s favor, concerning controlling the large masses.  Even today, you can see tribalism between Blacks; like neighborhoods, preferences by their oppressors, and geographical regions (north and south) interfere with our social acceptance of each other; making it easy for the colonial power to assert their politics over the whole group of us, by presenting themselves as the “more civilized one.” 

     As I said previously, “There has been several people, of various races and nationalities, who have been enslaved; many who have had most of their possessions taken from them—but only Black people have the distinction of having everything taken from them, including their language and forced to sojourn here for several hundreds of years.”  This effect came from the manner in which slavery was instituted in this country, forcing several generations of Blacks to be removed from any cultural influence, concerning their indigenous cultures, has for centuries; essentially making a new stock of people who are totally unaware of their language and their culture.  The only language we know how to speak in America, is the language of our captors.  During slavery, reading was not allowed, education was not allowed; only labor.  Whatever culture traits we were able to muster up or mimic, was not of our people in the diaspora, but that of the White man’s.  For example, if we knew just one word of our people from the homeland, then we could possibly recall an event or particular phenomena; and by having that one perception of home—we could possibly remember how that perception was derived at by our people—and eventually we could span the gaps of our cultural recollection: We could eventually start acting like the people we are.  Learning words in a language is one thing—but you don’t really know a language, or a culture, until you can conceptualize within that language:  In other words, “You don’t know a man’s language until you can gauge things from his cultural point of view.”

     We have never spoken our language here in America; slavery made that impossible—and in the case of your ancestors—that would have been punishable by death.  That methodology was produced by Mr. Willie Lynch.  The psyche was designed to keep Black people in line.  Their culture had designed a place for us, and people like Lynch were a way of making it possible.  The statement of Black people being three-fifths of a man is written into the United States Constitution.  To the people of this country, we were their servants.  They were not concerned about our ego or our will; that is—no more than one would be, for example, for a beast of burden.  And this attitude sets a precedence, not only for how Whites would think of us—but also how many Black people in this country would think of themselves.  After all, wasn’t it Harriet Tubman who said; “I freed a thousand slaves; I could have freed a thousand more, if only they knew they were slaves?”  That means our people have been under this condition so long, that many of us can’t conceive of any other place or any other condition.  And for some of us, have heard negative opinions for our people for so long, we began to think negatively about ourselves.  It has become engrained, indoctrinated, and inbred into Blacks—as well as White—that is, that negative, stereotypical view of Black people.  

   After the Civil War, the North devastated the South, ravaging their land because the war was mainly fought on Southern soil.  Then the Union announced the Emancipation Proclamation—which Blacks responded to quickly, by evolving into a separate entity of their former ethos by seizing political control of heavily populated Black areas, evolving a school system, and raising up into formidable society.  Southern Whites began to feel disenfranchised and taken advantage of by Northern Whites and their carpetbagger tactics.  They were unable to force the Northern aggression after the Civil War to yield, and they were threatened by the development of Blacks on Southern soil.  So Southern Whites evolved a sort of terrorist posture against the newly freed Blacks; using fear and intimidation (similar to the Willie Lynch posture), to take coveted lands away from Blacks through a newly formed legal means down South called, the“Jim Crow Laws” and “Southern Black Code.”

   Most devastating of all is, White superiority was engrained into our psyches—through innuendo, posture, treatment—intimidation and suggestion; thus psychologically recreating Blacks within America into the White man’s own stereotypical image and likeness.  They were the ones who created the name, “Nigger,” and by and large set the foundation for what “Niggers” do.  After the Civil War, we depended on Northern Whites to protect us during Reconstruction; but we received nothing but disappointment and abandonment in return.  Yet most Blacks who live in America, still continue to visualize the world from the American cultural point of view; even though that point of view includes remnants of a two-tier apartheid society called , “Segregation”—that once existed right here within the United States (1849-1950 + Civil Rights Struggle era) for a long period of time!

    Blacks are still trying to escape this imagery and misery to this day; doing it in various ways, but what we are really trying to get away from is the negative public image Americans have given us.  We know about it, simply because it has been—and continues to be—acted out on us.  Many of us just want the persecution to stop.  Some of us act more like them, in the attempt to avoid the persecution by assuming another identity then say; “We’re not like the rest of them.”  Others join secret societies, so that they can become “free and accepted” by cause—but we can never be accepted as; because we are different people from them with different customs and destinies assigned to us.  And a lot of times, when one group of people have wronged another (or a race or nation wrongs another group of people), the one who did the wrong often gets angry at the people they wronged; subjecting them to the worst overall behavior and public opinion.  Just like during the 60s, when Britain had puppet rulers as head of Saudi Arabia and other Islamic countries.  Just consider today, as America is in a recession, Isis is rearing its head, and Americans are becoming angry, taking out their frustrations on all  the “Black Muslims” in America (which some don’t like to be called because of fear it might affiliate them with the Honorable Elijah Muhammad).

   Blacks in America generally communicate with each other through English, the language of their former oppressors or previous slave masters.  Our standards and values are mainly that of America and the rest of the West.  Some of our people even call ourselves by many of the derogatory terms that the oppressor referred to us as (like that, “N” word).  Bad enough, we are not speaking our own people’s languages; but we are visualizing life and reality according to how another culture or group of people sees things: This makes mainstream Black culture in America like a hodgepodge of public opinion and common trends.

   Nomenclature is, by definition, “A devising or choosing of names for things, especially in a science or other discipline; based upon the development of the people who speak it.”  It was the European and his Western descendants who went around the world renaming things.  He is the one who named Alkebulan, “Africa.”  It is the Western man who named Nippon, Japan and Hindi, India.  Westerners have a hard time accepting other people’s ways of looking at things, so they give the foreign reality other names—and in effect—redefine it [or change the way it is viewed]. The only time we escape this, is through the use of  Ebonics; because here, we tailor the language—through corruption, craft, and idiom—in order to suit our own world view.  I have always admired the Jamaicans choice to categorize Ebonics and Jamaican Patois as their national language; or using it to define their realities.  It is definitely a way of recapturing our culture and marking evolution.

   I know many of our people never leave the neighborhood, simply because they cannot visualize a world beyond what they accustomed to; but before anyone achieves any greatness or evolution, they have to picture themselves as they would be with it.  Currently we don’t have enough encouraging examples that we are familiar with.  This must change.  I want to see lands where everything is being governed by my own people; seeing things done in their own way.  Then we can evolve our own wisdom.  I want to know my people’s spin on things.

   Many of our people, due to negative Western indoctrination, simply don’t have too much belief in what other black people can do; even though today you find Black people in numerous fields where there used to be none.  Right now, many of our women don’t have much faith in Black male leadership.  We have Black people working in every walk of life, but the way our heads are situated, we don’t have enough faith in each other to pool our resources.

   Maybe if we saw what our people have done, or see what they have been doing; visit countries where we are getting along fairly well and are confident in their way—perhaps our healing process will to begin.  Musically, entertainment-wise, as well as sports, etc—we can see our talent; but as far as the world is concerned, our talent goes to the oppressor’s savvy.  At some point, these things will have to register towards our greatness and our own enterprise.  Then, maybe, some of us won’t have to self-medicate ourselves to feel good about ourselves.  But that will happen only when we change our views about ourselves. . .  In time; in time. . .

Now let's slide out with two tunes:             

"In Time"-- Sly and the Family Stone

"What is, And What Should Never Be"--Led Zeppelin

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace

State of Affairs

First State of Affairs

   It’s somewhat amazing to me to see us in such disarray.  Such vicious things are happening to our youth, who really believe that they no longer need to follow in the footsteps of our ancestors; they can make it up as they go along.  There is no way you can be strong, if you don’t know where the highway you’re going leads to; for this you need someone who is experienced in such things.  When you go to seek employment, the number one question asked is, “What is your work experience?”  That is to say, they want to know what skill or knowledge do you have and in what area.  If you are heading to a road in which another is coming back from, it is fundamentally flawed not to inquire of its contents from the one who has experienced it.  Strength comes from confidence and confidence can be gained from having experience or knowing something about it.  When you are familiar with something, there are things you get to know through experience.  You can separate the truth from a lie, by observation and experience.  But your desire to know must be sincere.  To know the truth, you must live it.

   They say experience is the best teacher, but someone else’s experience can work just as well; that is, with the right questions being asked and adhering to the right knowledge.  Otherwise, the things we do not learn at first, we’d learn through the pain of doing things twice.  The sad thing about this pain ritual, is that it tends to make one callus, fearful, intimidated and sometimes jaded.  When a person goes through a bad relationship, the experience can often leave a person with a certain “bad taste in their mouth.”  At that point, we’re hurt and probably want to assess what has happened; but the wound is too fresh, the surrounding tissue is too sore.  Oft-times when this happens, it is important for that person to get out of the house and go back out in the company of friends—particularly members of the opposite sex.  Why?  Because if you stay at home, you’ll probably be all emotional; throwing pity parties, licking your wounds and favoring one side—so to speak.  Its like when a cast is removed, after hopping on that leg for a number of months, you tend to favor one side.  Today, pride and arrogance plays a big part in the behavior of many.  So much so, that we can sit in our mess and stir in our own juices—believing that that pungent odor belongs to someone other than yourself.  Best to get out and see other people—develop a litmus test of sorts; not for a relationship, but to get a balanced perspective on things.  Not everybody is the same.  And when you learn through experience, there is always an emotional time period which follows; a period when you are rather sensitive.  It takes a little while before the pain subsides, and there’s usually more things damaged than just your pride.  Learning this way is a very emotional journey.  Mistakes and shyness can be costly.  These ways can often lead to polarized feelings; extreme behavior: Often leading to the maze of the subtraction game—a game where one vows to never have something happen again; often giving the undeserving short-change rewards for gallant behavior on the part of the significant other.

     Today we are surrounded by damaged egos.  The Sexual Revolution of the sixties had all but destroyed the nuclear family in the nineties—giving birth to a hodgepodge of pseudo-relationships of sorts, stemming from a lot of sexual ambiguity and experimentation.  This gets compounded by the fact that after the baby boomers, there came an influx of people who did not want to look backwards.  People who created walls called, “Old School” and “New School.”  Rather crude people who threw away tack, poise and reason for the sake of keeping it “100.”  I often wondered about these “Brillo Pad people.”  Sometimes, you can scrub so hard to remove the dirt, that you can wear out your welcome in the process—as you keep it one-hundred.  Chess is not a one-sided strategy game, it requires that you figure out the possible options and attitudes of your opponent.   We see that circumspection has been replaced with bold approaches without the benefit of the ageless wisdom that has been floating around amongst Black folks for millennia.  What our youth have loss track of, is that we are subjected by White people in America.  Subject because we were part of the underclass in America for 308 years, and traumatized under the post-traumatic stress of the ruling class of this so-called multi-cultural society, who claims itself as the majority, while labelling all others minorities—Blacks being casted at the bottom: Similar to the Sudeans of the Indus Kush Valley in India when they came in contact with the Hyksos/Hittites, Dravidians, Aryans and extended Europeans.  Therefore, it comes as no surprise to see an uprise in police brutality within the United States, while our youth remain ignorant to the causes, simply because they won’t look back into their own chronology—based upon their new philosophy.

    Civilization is built upon the lifestyles of the ones who lived before, giving their experiences in rhythms and sounds, words and deeds, performances and parenting.  The intent is to give those whom they care about, the benefit of their wisdom.  And  for those who don’t know, wisdom is to see the inner-relationship between all things.  The purpose is to give young folks a “heads up,” based upon knowing what happened before, and telling the participant before it happens; but what good is it, if the person doesn’t listen?  All around us, we see a collapse in civilization.  The new attitude is to “make it up as we go along.”  But from the above example on sexual ambiguity, Feminism, and the Sexual Revolution: Things that were conceived in the 60s, did not become fully realized until the 1990’s.  Based upon this analysis, the effects of an eighteen year old mother upon her daughter will not be fully realized until the daughter is thirty-two and the mother is in her 50s!   By that time, it’s too late—the child is grown and the dream is gone.  Advice from the grandparents splits every thing by about a third; making the child about twelve when the materialization occurs—giving you time to straighten things out before they are grown.

     Right now, we are living in a “Lord of The Flies” condition, wherein tradition and ageless wisdom takes a back seat to making it up as we go along.  I don’t know what directly caused it, but all “sacred cows” are dead.  Maybe it happened as a result of President Reagan relaxing FCC rules and regulations, because in the past, the social content of what we watched was much more stringent than it is today.  Writers and directors seem to be less concerned about what the overall product will be for the type of viewing they have been providing; but here it is—whether you like it or not.  My concern is, following this pattern, they won’t see the “fruits of their own labor,” until they are adults themselves, and by then their arrogance will kick in; getting them to defend something which is in essence, poor choices.  

     A more amoral society is rapidly being produced, and as Generation X becomes “forty/fifty-ish,” they will not have any children to watch out for them in their old age.  Right now, what I see is the millennials feel that they can talk and treat their young parents any-old-kind-of-way, and their parents must keep providing, food, clothing and shelter: In the past generations, children had their chores and obligations as a reciprocal part of their living arrangements—at least, that’s the way it was amongst most Black youth.  Millennials no longer feel that life has to be reciprocal—they feel the world owes them something; and for the first time in the chronology of Blacks who live in America, Black children are worshipping the same rugged individualism that White society has worshipped for centuries.  They are popping up all over the place, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tiger Woods, JayZ, Beyonce, etc; most rocking their “Blacknuss” as if it is coincidental: That is, until their interests interferes with the interests of the “Moral Majority” of American society; then they find themselves isolated like Bill Cosby, looking for a Black friend and hoping the NAACP will butt in.  But they are free and accepted “Brown” people, who criticize our rough Black ways—publicly; that is, until the American media makes a spectacle of them.  Tiger Woods, still hasn’t gotten over it; nor has RG3—Cam Newton is cut from an older cloth. . .

Its high time, for us to stop looking at these police brutality cases as anomalies, and recognize that America never had our best interests at heart; and it will take Black Unity and not the efforts of Black individuals to change our social condition by safeguarding our interests as a people.  Regardless of what the world is doing, we must rewrite our own destiny.  We need to stop following behind these people.  We will never become number one, playing the game their way.  Time to set new standards.  Freak this X and Y philosophy: We are Black people, time to make our own freedom.  “I am Because We are. .  . “

 

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace

Synopsis Two

 Working on What Has Been Spoiled  

  

Many of you are looking at these images, and the pictures are conjuring up a lot of memories, while some people have no idea of what these images are whatsoever—and yet we're all are Black people who lived in America all our lives!  This is a fascinating point, on several accounts: First, all of these things are an American phenomena, meaning, they happened on American soil; it involved Central Asian people or Original people—on American soil, and it involved the Native American as well.  Secondly, they are cultural reactions to conditions which exist within America; responses to conditions that arose within a multi-cultural society—like the United States; over a period of generations.  These are images which are part of our cultural chronology—and yet, in many cases, our children nor our children’s children have any idea as to what these things really mean [go ahead and quiz your children—feel the ignorance].  This is because in America, all non-White people's culture is secondary and not as important to America as American way of life.  Knowing American ways and customs is essential to survival within American; whereas being aware of who you are is not!  In fact, if you go to school in America, your culture will only be a brief sub-note in American history class—it is simply relegated to minor significance—as the rest of the country goes.  This is because America preaches, "Forget where you came from, you are Americans now!"  This is known as the domineering effects of a dominant culture on its subservient sub-cultures.

     That's right, brother and sisters—Black culture is merely a sub-culture in American History; despite all the things Blacks have done to make America look and be great.  We gave America a pile of black gold, from the sweat of our labor which they stole;  Despite the unparalleled heroics Tuskegee Airmen, which help to free England from the grips of Hitler and gave America its place in the sun during World War II.  Our athletic and entertainment prowess still continues to make America premier around the world.   But within our chronology as Black people, there is  460 years where we were enslaved to White people within the American colony; i.e., directly subjugated to the White dominant structure for 308 of those  460 years—setting up scenarios while others reap the benefits for our labor; Ironic, isn't it?  

     America has just celebrated its' bicentennial representing its independence from England—just 39 years ago, while we've been here without proper freedoms and civil rights for almost 500 years!  In other words, this country was freed from the colonization of its' English motherland for 239 years, while we were still in chattel slavery, working for a select group of White people (and American culture in general) for another 69 years—which impacts on how Blacks are viewed to this day.  Christopher Columbus, an Italian sailor (that sailed on behalf of the Spanish government), whose ship was guided to America by Vasco DeGamma, a "Blackamoor" navigator (as they called him)—who sailed the seven seas using a brilliant and far superior navigation tool of the Moorish people (Black people) called the "Astro-lab."  The Spanish people had plans to colonize America for themselves, but soon all of Europe knew about the new world with its' treasures in North and South America; and soon many European countries came here to carve up the two continents, by robbing the Americas of all its' nature resources to make up for Europe's dwindling resources.  At first, there were several European countries colonizing America, but eventually the English emerged as the dominate culture of the wilderness of North America—only to have the working class Masons of England wrestle the country away from King George and his noble Masons.

      As previously said, when a country is colonized, the invading culture seized political control over the indigenous population (meaning political control over the people who were living the before the arrival of the settlers).  In the case of North America, it was the "Brown" man or Native American that was indigenous to this land.  Notice that I did not call them, "The Red Man."  That is a misnomer perpetuated by the European [although I have not discovered the reason for this deception, yet].  The Red man is actually the so-called Aborigine of Australia.  The Black and Brown people are indicative of the Black and Brown gene within the Original people; which makes the Brown man's chronology in America our chronology too.  It was the Brown man who took us in when we ran away from our White slave masters in both of the Americas (maybe they knew something that we didn't).  In the Macumba religion of South America, there are shrines or "stations" set up to acknowledge this part of our chronology as Black people.

     Now I know some of you have heard of some of the above facts as separate points of interest, but most of you have never heard these things coming from this perspective.  This is because you learned American HIStory, as opposed to learning the Chronology of Blacks who live on these North American shores.  American history is his story or version of what happen when the European invaded this country; often depicting their treachery and deceit in a more palatable light.  A chronology is a time line of events, which present the facts which occurred along the passing of time; leaving you to extrapolate or draw your own conclusions by what these sequence of events mean.  I also know that many of you do not know that these events ever happened at all! For you Black people who did not know these events ever occurred, my question is: "Why is that?"

      Well, if you are examining this subject from an American point of view, Black people are just one of several social groups encountered and somewhat incorporated* in the process of America establishing itself as a colony-made-nation.  Black people are but a footnote in American history, as it relates to creating America; so the country would not concern itself with the complete re-education of just one of its' subcultures (especially since she is the reason why the majority of Blacks don't know they are—in part—due to its laws forbidding Blacks in America to read).  It wouldn't be in America's best interest to open up that chapter.  In a multi-cultural society, its sub-cultures that must align itself with the main stream society, if it wants to reap the benefits of being a part of that society.  Slavery provided America with the free labor which made America the superpower that it is today—but so has so many other sub-cultures as well.  Blacks are mentioned in the American history books, aren't they?  Many think that should be enough.  It would not be prudent or politically correct to bring up the subject—then decide to give laborious details—or give empowerment classes to Blacks to make up for the displacement of more than 30 million of its people.  Blacks are but one of several sub-cultural groups which comprise the US population, and this philanthropic act would have nothing to do with maintaining the themes mainstream America.  This is the most simplest answer to that question—but it is not necessarily the most truthful one.  

     The most truthful answer involves politics which would not put America in very a positive light.  The New Americans are Europeans, who bullied the Native Americans out of their land, by political moves they knew the indigenous people didn't understand, by colonizing the continent as they went along; exterminating many of the Natives through germ warfare, battles, and performing near genocide of the entire indigenous species within the North American continent.  The United States government or its people violated every treaty established between the two peoples (and it went unpunished), and systematically destroyed the Natives cultural way of life.  New Americans are the single most cause of oppression, depression and alcoholism amongst the indigenous communities.  The American colonist totally shunned the Native American from ever being a part of American society—in return for helping the Europeans survive America's harsh winters.  So, I do not expect this type of story to appear in American history books this way—nor do I expect the American public to openly say that Blacks were enslaved on the basis of the color of our skin; Or that after the country moved from the Articles of Confederation to the US Constitution in 1789, that the government ratified a series of laws, not only legalizing slavery in several states within the United States; but actually set the laws regulating the ownership, treatment, and purchase of slaves.  And it was this behavior which actually set up the relationship between the dominant culture and the Black sub-culture for centuries to come; as well as put together a series of politics towards Black people in America, which would cause revolt in the 1960s.

      But of course, the most devastating effect to Black consciousness in America, was air of disrespect and customs of Whites within the United States, during the Emancipation/Reconstruction period in American history; up until the end of the 1950s.  This time period was called Segregation—aka second class citizenship, under the guise of "separate but equal."  Here is where the undertone of ill-conceived contempt for Black people takes its' fullest expression: Southerners were salty for losing the Civil War, the South land was decimated and in need of government aide, and opportunistic carpetbaggers (businessmen from the North) swooped in from the North to profit from their misfortune; not to mention—the many Southerns who lost their slaves or "free labor" in the after-war settlement.  This last part concerns Black people the most, because if Blacks were forced back into slavery, the South could recover more quickly: So ways and means were devised to do precisely that; After the Emancipation Proclamation Union troops were needed to protect the newly freed slaves.  Reconstruction gave many Blacks local political positions within Southern areas where Blacks were populated [and believe it or not, the Republican party actually helped Blacks get these positions].  This enraged the Southern Whites, many of whom lashed out at Blacks within those areas [like Ferguson in current times] despite the Northern troops presence.

       Southern Whites began to show anger towards the Union troops, which were viewed by Southerns as an invasion force and intimidation tactics on the part of the Union Government.  Instead of continuing with the protection of Blacks, the Federal Government backed down and removed the union troops.  After the troops left, clandestine activity from the  Klu Klux Klan or KKK, began influencing  Jim Crow Laws, and Black Code Laws (in a manner which appeared somewhat orchestrated).
Just recently in the news,  a judge was indicted for "railroading" young Blacks into prison, then selling the inmates into prison system; where slavery [prison is the only place where slavery is still legal in the US].  The Black Code Laws in the past were essentially the same thing: Laws used to railroad Blacks back into slave-like conditions; only during those times—the act was backed by the local government.   The Klu Klux Klan or citizens counsel, raided Black lands and intimidated the Black populace on a consistent basis—oft-times the hooded members were local law enforcement in disguise (yet today in the North they don't even hide).  Lynchings were common place during those times; with many being done by the so-called "citizen's counsel."  Even today, very little is done concerning Black murders within Black parts of town (these areas are areas where Black murders can indefinitely go unsolved).  Areas in every town  (both North and South) were segregated up until the 60s.  There were "colored" and "White" signs all over the place; letting Blacks know where they should and could not be—and several Whites making sure Blacks "stayed in their place."  There were places, buildings, and entrances designated for Black and White people—offices and institutions labeled that way as well; and if Blacks were to enter such places, then Whites would take matters into their own hands. They would not wait for the local authorities to approach the Black violator, they would do it themselves.  And if the so-called, "Local gentry," felt a Blackman was being too "uppity," the Klan would come by to either teach him some manners, or hang the poor unfortunate soul.

    This type of atmosphere of hatred permeated the South—you can still see signs of it today—in the attitudes of the people and their attitudes towards us.  Many of our people fled from the South to the North, seeking refuge from the attitudes and intimidation experienced in the South, but there's undertones of degradation, denigration and contempt up north as well; just disguised behind what some might call "social graces" and politeness; political correctness.  But neither group of Whites (ones in the North or South) treat Blacks with proper respect, its just the North weren't as openly belligerent in their contempt for Black folks.  

     Then the sixties came in, with all types of social change, both Black and White.  There was the Hippie Movement, Flower Children, drug experimentation, Free Love and the Sexual Revolution, Women's Liberation, and the Black power movement.  Within the Black Power Movement, there were separatists and integrationists, empowerment seekers and job seekers, civil rights activist and human right seekers.  Key amongst the grass roots movements for Blacks were; the Honorable Rev., Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad,  and the Black Panther Party.  There were Pan-African groups as well [started by the Hon., Marcus M. Garvey], but their focus was aimed at the repairing of relationships between our people and their original place of origin.  Many Whites try to call Garvey's thrust the "Back To Africa Movement," but nothing could be further from the truth.  Garvey wanted Blacks to be connected to their people all over the world.  He stressed our place of origin and a sense of brotherhood, solidarity and a sense of connectedness or diaspora.  Whites had a lot to contend with, and King's tactics put the whole world on notice of what Whites were doing to Blacks in the US.  This put a "black-eye in the game."  The country known as the "Policeman of the World," had to seek a better image; A more strategic diplomacy.   The essential part of this outcome is that Whites have learned to be more "politically correct" and Blacks—happy to have that horrific, nightmarish, aggressive, terroristic behavior over with—have for the most part opted to say very little about it; or nothing at all. 

     And it is precisely this, "Saying very little about it or saying nothing that all," which is the culprit concerning our dilemma as Black people.  We took the road of integration, getting handouts, and vying for position for "crumbs at the table."  Many of us choose to "play the game" and get rewarded; while the remaining went unsatisfied.  Only a few have chosen to do for Self and make our own.  Why gain the world, only to lose your soul?  Plenty of Whites are quick to tell Blacks that things have gotten better (because of the tokenism and cronyism America offers); but not one have "walked one mile in our moccasins."  They don't know a damn thing about oppression and suppression; but not talking about it, does not make the issues go away!  I know this solution probably arose from the desire to just get along, but White America has never "took shorts,"  nor choose the low road just to get along.  Do you know the story behind, "The Shores of Tripoli"  in the Marine's maritime song?  America just waited to "get its' weight up" [we could learn a lot from these tactics].   America just continues to hoodwink Black people by repackaging its sentiments, while continuing to do what it does: Making small concessions while continuing to "having it their way."  Meanwhile, most Blacks go on hurting and taking their frustrations out on one another—while contributing to an overall feeling of oppression and depression; which hovers over our heads like a cloud—waiting to strike at every turn (like the Natives and "firewater" consumption).  Its like working at a "whistle-stop job," where they treat you like manure—then you come home to your children's ordinarily exuberant behavior, only to "pop" one of them upside the head—because of the way you're feeling.  America is stressing Black folks out: And it doesn't help, when License & Inspections approve of having bars on every corner; Or law enforcement  doesn't crack down on drug selling; or liquor stores get strategically placed within walking distance from each other within the "black lands."  These things are allowed by the powers that be, and no one will come to educate you on how to address these issue; because it's not plaguing THEM (they'll just supply the patty-wagons and the hearses): However, I've NOTICED you don't see wide open drug-selling on the streets of exclusively White neighborhoods, whether rich or poor (at least not in Philadelphia & its vicinity). . .  THEY DON'T ALLOW IT!

      One of the residuals of this "saying very little about it or nothing at all," is that it doesn't educate the young Black male to the impending danger of not knowing there's danger!  As a matter of fact, an act like this, doesn't give others the impression that there's a problem at all, or it only happens in ghettoes!  Notice, I deliberately didn't mention Black women, because women—in general, often get treated differently than men—but it does effect them as well; however, Black men usually don't get second chances very often when it comes down to White police and White judges.  Because it, like family court and offering more opportunities to our women, are means of habitually suppressing us as a people; reflected in prison populations!   And saying very little about it, is like acting like an issue doesn't exist or relegating it to a minor significance—when in reality; IT'S A MAJOR PROBLEM!  And if we handled America's treatment of Blacks like it is a major problem, we could possibly come up with some solutions. . .  Maybe you don't understand; we are a sub-culture that is being neglected by the dominant main stream culture.  Their intent was to work the slaves to death and replace them with new ones; but we survived the ordeal.  Maybe you don't understand that we desperately need to make our own help: As Black people living within America, we can't expect anyone else to rescue us, and there's nobody else that is really concerned of how we come out of this.  Besides all this acting like it doesn't exist makes your children naive to dangers they will have to face when they grow up (which are the same as when we grew up)!  Even the fact that little is commented upon such discussions, is evidence of a fear and intimidation that runs through the hearts and minds of most Black people!  . . . Otherwise known as, "You shouldn't say that, you might get into trouble."

     My mother said to me when I found out: "I didn't want to tell you all these things—because I didn't want you to get angry and get in trouble—then find you hanging by the end of a rope or something."  Well, that could have been one possible scenario: But I did find out, and I didn't get emotional about it; I didn't join a militant group or become a terrorist (although I do respect those who will fight back when being bullied); I did not go marching down to the WHITE HOUSE asking for my civil rights that I should have gotten; as soon as my people changed from slave status to "so-called citizen."  I learned to be smart and use that knowledge to navigate around the dumb stuff!  I learnt to work in conjunction with those of my kind that get it, but most of all, I learned WHO and WHAT is causing all this to happen. . .  And that's the Best Part!  Now, I don't blame myself for the racism covertly aimed at my 

ego. . .

     Most of our people would rather forget about those chapters in our chronology, so many of us don't teach our youth of what came before.  This gets compounded by the fact that our people keep trying to be accepted by main stream culture which has a negative view of us; which causes many of us and our cultural icons psychological problems.  Some of us are so bombarded by so many angles of dislike, that they can't figure out where a lot of this is coming from; and who and what is causing all of this to happen (this is why I am breaking it down).  And because of all the disguised animosity hidden behind political correctness, many times we think it's our fault that White America doesn't like us.  Michael Jackson certainly is no exception.  Pushed to perfection by his father, he certainly became a talent that the world could not deny, but when the American media started digging into him—it wounded him so greatly that the NAACP had to be called in.  It wounded him so deeply that he wrote a song about it: "LEAVE ME ALONE!"  Were the powers that be are jealous of his social status and started poking at his imperfections?  Was the media just a little psychologically insensitive to point out his surgery and oxygen tank quirks; since it was public knowledge about all he had been through previously?  Just a thought.  However, I have witnessed a person do another person wrong, then watch the perpetrator get angry because he said something about it or "called him on it."  Can you imagine that?  You see it in America every day. . .  

      Blacks keep packaging and repackaging ourselves; hoping to be liked or accepted by the American mainstream or the White American way—but it just makes us susceptible to dancing to another man's tune.  We tend to put our best forward for this society, only to be judged under super critical eyes; never realizing that it is a game we can never win at.  It is an elaborate game with many chambers; one in the slot and none in the remainder.  We keep searching for approval—but this behavior is like "heaping up diamonds looking for glass"—instead of building legacy for ourselves; one that lasts.  Our music mediums, such as R&B music, gets treated so contemporary by the mainstream, that a hit only has a duration of only 6 months—while other music genres are at least one year.  And unlike Prince, most of our artists are afraid to strike out on their own; because we have fears about how their society is going to view our actions.  We can't even do anything for ourselves as a people, without concerning ourselves with how White people are going to feel about those moves: Our 50th Anniversary on the Civil Rights Struggle, looked like that,'circus' the Million Man March wound up becoming—incorporating all types of people that hadn't anything to do with our struggles;  like sexual preference issues.
   The Afro, like the one depicted in the pictures above, represent a cultural statement concerning our appearance.  For the first time in American history, we were less concerned about what others thought.  We were actually defining our beauty, based upon what we were naturally born with.  In the past, Black men and women used to straighten their hair, in the attempt to be acceptable, in the eyes of White people.  Even today, Black women still straighten theirs. . .  Many thought by straightening their hair, it looked better or it would be more manageable—when in actuality, we were doing it because we were imitating the appearance of Whites.  We have been doing it so long, that until the Afro came along, many could not conceive of having their hair anyway else (unless it didn't grow long enough).  Truth be told; I think many Whites got a chuckle out of it [either that or it made them feel superior].  Blacks often bought cars—not because they were hip to the engineering—but because it is a status symbol in the Western society.

   We wanted to fit in—be just as important as our White counterparts—we wanted to be "like Mike" [not Michael Jordan but Mikey from the old Life cereal commercials].  We had no idea of the psychological issues these so-called "superior people" had themselves.  We knew nothing about how some get "discipline from pills" or "develop courage from the bottle." Anything American public opinion is against, we used to generally be against it too.  If America was xenophobic, we had something like that.  If America was against the Vietcong—without knowing anything about the people—we were against the Vietcong too.  We used to believe in them (sometimes more than they believed in themselves).   We wanted what they had.  We wanted them to accept us as one of their own—and we gave them the power to decide that.  We wanted to be part of their world (instead of being part of our own people around the world).  Black men used to sport a hairstyle called a "process," and it involved using lye on their hair (and scalp) to create that appearance—that's how far we'd go to have what they got!  Crazy!   

     But then, in came, the "Natural" and "The Afro" (the "Little Bush" and the "Big Bush"—lol)!  Out went all that hair-straightening (at least for a huge part of the  population).   This movement was the tail end of a large number of things initiated by the Harlem Renaissance.  There were many poets, writers, and singers like Langston Hughes,  James Baldwin, Richard Wright, Nina Simone and the Last Poets, redefining what it means to be "Black," and defining what it means to be "Black in America."  We were wearing our hair as it naturally was again!  It was part of a "pleasing ourselves movement."  Being hip to ourselves was what-it-was-all-about; Hip to being Black.  We even started rejecting their terms for us:  White people originally called us "Negroes."  When Whites got mad at so-called Negroes, they called us Niggers.  If a White person was being diplomatic, he'd call you "colored."  Back in the day, if you called a Black person "Black," he'd fight you.  He wanted to be called "colored," and I think Whites even created that.  "Black" was associated with being ugly.  Now who did that?  As Grand Puba said, "Why does the black licorice and black jelly beans taste the worst?"  James Brown taught us to love our natural color of our skin with a song, "Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud."  And Brown gave us a song about the proper do for Self attitude;

I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door, I'll Get It Myself). . .

Black people started wearing dashikis to express their African/Central Asian heritage.  That impetus was the product of the efforts of the Honorable Marcus Garvey and the UNIA within the Black communities—like the headquarters between 16th and 17th Street on Cecil B. Moore Avenue. 

     As mentioned earlier, during the Segregation Era, Blacks up north were kept in their separate areas.  In Philadelphia, during the 50s and early 60s—Jews owned a lot of stores in the Black communities—but the money earned enriches their neighborhoods since their dollars circulate more in their community than the black dollar circulates within the Black community  .  This effect caused the economics of the Black communities to be shifted to the Jewish communities; which meant less goods and services for the Black areas from local government.  Banks had a practice of not making loans to Blacks in certain areas; so there were little Black businesses in our own community.   So many stores in our areas were owned by Jews and Whites.  Jews were often a "go-between" in Black and White matters.   Many Jewish people represented Black in legal matters, and many Jews owned rent-a-centers in Black communities.  With just a modicum more respect for Black people (than their White counterparts), Blacks gave Jewish people a mound of "Black gold."  White stores often made us feel like they were doing us a special favor by having these things for us to purchase at their store.  But even as I am bringing this up, I know some of you younger people are accusing ME, the person who had racism projected at me—as "hating on them"—i.e, of being racist.  I guess, that's the way it goes, when you don't know.  I guess you'd had to be there, in the same skin I'm in, during that time—to know first hand. . .

     Anyway, the sixties came in like an explosion with, "The Empire Striking Back!"  Racism, in the form of police brutality [much like what is happening today], came in full force.  There were riots in Watts, California, over a policeman killing a child.  Racists cops were brought over to California from the South, to show the West how to control the Black population.  The Black Panthers, a group which started out as self-help for before and after school care in Black schools, suddenly found themselves in the community self-defense business, to protect itself and Black communities against White police.  And while I am telling you of the factors facing the Black community during that time, I do not want to give you the impression that everyone in the Black community, during that time, was down with that; or participating in that reaction.  There were many who didn't want to get involved; for fear of reprisal.  There were plenty who were unaware of what was happening, or why it was happening.  We just knew that day after day, on the tube, some Black people were angry—some White official was clubbing him or her down, arresting or hosing them—and some White newscaster explaining why.  We also knew, if you didn't want to be involved, you'd stay out of it [but that would not change the condition, however].  

     I estimate that less than one-third of the Black population were involved in any such activity directly, making the power in the numbers of such groups even more dynamically significant.  Most Black families in the community (like mine) were fearful of getting involved or arrested, we couldn't afford to; we had families to feed.  We just wanted the White violence, evil treatment, and racism to stop.  So when the insurance companies got tired of paying out settlement to Jewish businesses in the Black community for the destruction and vandalism; when the neighboring White communities got tired of the fear and threat of fires; when the government and our people came to some way of settling it; Most of the Black communities were all too happy to turn away or turn the page on anything associated or affiliated with those hellish years.  So much so, that many of us were never efficiently taught, nor taught our children about the undercurrent of racism, White superiority, or the exclusion they would have to face,  just living in American society.  But, unfortunately, those who don't know the truth of such things, are doomed to repeat them. . .

    If a Black family just happened to get a good paying job from the government or some philanthropic White folks; if they happened to move into an area where his family would be accepted by Whites—this naive or brainwashed pseudo-Black would start to believe he was better than the rest of his folks; especially if he or she were light-skinned.  These types would even call themselves something other than Black (like Brown), and even blame Black people for their demise in White society; often refusing to mix or marry into families of lesser privileged Blacks.  This is racism and self-hatred at its finest!  But because of the, "Saying very little about it or saying nothing that all" attitude that resulted from White terrorism, many Black children just never knew why or what was causing this to happening, and like most naive children do—many of us blame it on ourselves and the color of our skin.  Truly, the beatings and atmosphere might have changed, but the White superiority/"Separate but Equal" ideology was not gone from the minds of the mainstream population and the psychologically damaging effects still continue to plague the Black community. . .  Not to mention the prejudices, social ills and negative effects of hob-nobbing. . .  And all of this is the result of desiring "Integration" or wanting to be like the "Jones's." 

     So as a result of this, "Saying very little about it or saying nothing that all,"  or general "lack of discussion" in the attempt of trying to get along—the meaning of the Afro was somewhat obscure to our people.  That knowledge is obscure today for obvious reasons; but it was obscure during the time too.  Many of us were not involved in our own liberation, because we didn't want anything to do with "those discontent folks"—because we didn't want to get in trouble with the powers that be.  Many of us would not rap with those, because they were viewed as "trouble makers" (even though they did make sense).  We didn't want any trouble with the man.  So most of our people don't know what the Afro stood for, most of us thought of it as something cool to do; a fad of some sort; we even let them relabel us "Afro-Americans" for a while.  The Afro would not be remembered as a symbol of social protest to most Black people [even though it was].  It would not be viewed as a statement of refusing to be what many Whites wanted us to be.  It would not be identified or associated with the liberation from oppression of this society, or affiliated with the abolishment of the former segregated society by attempting to establish our own solidarity—the Afro would just be a known as a  "cool hairdo."

   And the pick, used to pick out or fluff our hair—a unique cultural expression—must look like a foreign object to most youth today; as a result of this "lack of discussion" and non-involvement.  The Black fist on top of that pick, symbolic to Black solidarity, camaraderie, and liberation, has become a fossil; a relic.  The red, black, and green colors on collapsable pick (as shown above), which  sport the colors of our Black liberation/Pan-African flag, started by Marcus Garvey—or the dashikis (the above family have on); is a generally unknown phenomena to most of my viewers under 40 (and to all of my viewers who were not taught/or took the time to educate themselves based, upon the artifacts and facts left behind).  And groups like Public Enemy (depicted above), an enlightened eighties group which spoke about Black struggles in White America, or the Wu Tang Clan—despite their previous Rockstar status popularity across the Americas and around the world—are barely even known by my fourteen year old daughter; yet.  EPMD, Eric B and Rakim, Jungle Brothers, etc., are all lost relics to the younger generation: Ultimately American society defines what its subcultures are and its place within mainstream society; "And we 'co-sign it' with our lack of discussion—in our effort to get incorporated into mainstream society."  For us not to mention the struggles of sixties, and our struggles as Black people within America—or the sixties period: Is to act as though those things never really happened!!!

     What the so-called era of Integration has given us is; "The Grand Illusion through Political Correctness."  The truth of the matter is, America is not integrated; but separatist: Only now you can live in the same areas, if you can afford to: But the rich are still not talking to you.  You can now live among them and still be a minority; a footnote in their society.  You can now live among them, and still have no one protecting YOUR best interests in THEIR society; and occasionally, you'll get pulled over by an officer that doesn't know you're the neighborhood "darkie."  Older Whites (over 50) will still go on despising Blacks and being xenophobic—like they've always been.  It's just that laws are now created to stifle the freedom of speech; so that no-one says what they are really feeling; concerning the things that really matter.  The oppressed go on feeling that way; suffering and tolerating in silence.  No one talks about those types of things—they only say politically correct things; while completely lacking tact where manners and social graces are involved.   But that's what happens when you combine," Political Correctness" with "Saying very little or not saying anything that all"—you manufacture a world that looks like there's no problems at all: You're not hearing any criticisms because everyone is being politically correct, but being politically correct does not mean that you're part of.  People may not comment on sexual subjects (because there is such a thing as sexual harassment); however, that doesn't mean they approve of your actions or you lifestyle, for example.  Don't get it twisted, I am a firm advocate of having tact and poise [there's no need to be vulgar]—but stifling the public so that the rich can let their "freak flag fly"—isn't cool either.  I'd much rather have 'tactlessness' in expressing the way you feel, than to leave me in the dark; so I don't know what I'm up against.  I'd much rather have that behavior, than for you to smile and act as though everything is okay; when you and I know it is not.  We can't sweep everything under the rug and pretend everything is fine—otherwise, you'll have a lumpy rug. . .  Eventually, if you don't handle your problems, things will only get ugly (like Ferguson).  I don't want to be ambushed by believing in a deception or falsehood, when the truth is all around; if you read the signs.  America is conveniently not handling its' issues, and hunting us down in secluded areas.  All American citizens should have the same civil rights—but if I have a separate treatment for one group and different policies for another group; then we are not equal (or we're not citizens of the same country).  The fact that Blacks are still fighting for freedom, justice, and equality in this country—shows that Blacks are not being treated fair in America: Yet not talking about it or saying very little at all, will never resolve Black people's issues—nor identify WHO and WHAT is causing all this to happen.   

     And by making things appear "like there aren't any problems at all," it has given our children the illusion that things are equal and just—and they expect it; they look for things to be fair in what elder Blacks recognize as "no win" situations.  I know we all are human beings and should be treated as such, but when you are dealing with a system which never treated us the same way as they do their own people; and when you have Whites who believe America is their country; created for their own comfort and convenience—and they meet up with Blacks and other ethnicities that believe that everything should be fair and that the mainstream should be more accommodating, there will be issues.  As Malcolm X [Malik El Hajj Shabazz] once said, "When you take your case to Washington, D.C., you're taking it to the criminal who's responsible; it's like running from the wolf to the fox: They're all in cahoots together.  A fox and a wolf are both canine, both belong to the dog family.  Now you take your choice:  [Are] you going to choose a Northern dog or a Southern dog?  Because either dog you choose, I guarantee you'll still be in the dog house.  The government has failed us; you can't deny that.  Anytime you're like in the twentieth century, 1964, and you're walking around here singing "We Shall Overcome," the government has failed us."

   Now that was the climate of 1964.  And beneath the "mascara" of political correctness, is an attitude not much different in 2015 but appears to be: What do we teach our children?  And if we all continue to say nothing, will this bring more blood shed?  We wish it wasn't always about what color you are, but indirectly it is; and we as Black people in America are not the ones who control that.  So those who don't teach their about race and the inequities of America society—create one of the reasons why their children "don't see color."  But doing this, only leaves them vulnerable to racism, discrimination and domestic terrorism; which, like everything else, grows in time.  Just take a look around you at all the police killings which are happening at the hands of White police under ridiculous circumstances.  Just take a look at all the open and shut cases, where the judicial system finds the police not guilty of murder?  So we must come up with another strategy—otherwise they will be depending on help from the government than never will arrive.  We have to seek strategies—other than silence—otherwise, we are creating a condition like leading lambs to slaughter; with us in the role as sheep.

     Now in the past, many of our parents (maybe your grandparents or great grandparents) spoke about two worlds: One for Blacks and One for Whites; but for a while, we haven't been speaking about the situation at all—even though the underlined current hasn't changed.   In the past, we were warned by some of our parents not to follow behind mainstream culture, because in the end the law will treat Blacks different from Whites.  In the past, many of us were taught not to blindly imitate Whites, because they have a lot of "social and psychological diseases," that we as Black people, would rather not have: And I will not go into detail on this topic, because the outcome will only illuminate that we have plenty of cultural differences that will never be reconciled.  We have cultural outlooks which will never be agreed upon.  Just take traditional African societies for example: For thousands of years, religion and roles within the society has been defined according to gender; their understanding of nature and dynamic cosmic forces controlling the universe originate from their understanding of gender.  You cannot push polarized perspectives such as feminism, chauvinism, narcissism, rugged individualism, as well as the current push towards a genderless society like the West is currently experiencing on that type of indigenous society: These traditional Africans would find these ways of the European quite mad!  Yet we Blacks in America know European cultures such as France, England, Germany and others have develop these elements within their societies as a natural outgrowth of their activities and values.  We cannot expect these people to understand or even come to some agreement about how both societies should conduct themselves, any more than you can expect oil to mix with water:  It will never happen.  Both of these societies think of themselves as "civilized" and believe their way to be right.  I guess it's a matter of opinion or perspective and/or consequence; aka, "If you don't want the effect, don't produce the cause"—to quote George Clinton.  My only issue is when you try to nail "shoes on the native's feet". . .

     Today, "Saying very little about it/or saying nothing at all" combined with "Political Correctness" has given the illusion that nothing's happening at all—accept where there's run-ins with the law; then White men with guns in their hands and badges on their chest can make judgment calls and take your life; and their judges or their cronies can find nothing wrong with that decision.  That's the problem—we're listening to the same types of music: Their music, their society rules. . .  But that's pop culture is, we still have the same "Powers that Be" running the country; and they don't like what Hip-hop has done, they don't like this recession, they don't like what's happening in this country, other groups are demanding freedom—the result: THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK.  In the past, Blacks raised their children one way, Whites raised them another.  Now that we can live amongst them, under the illusion of equality, they are trying to conform us.  Better paying jobs and the internet, has changed a lot of things, but it hasn't changed the society.  Easy access and cable television shows expose our children to things that make them believe anything is possible here; which makes it damn near impossible to warn them of the "danger that's out there in the water."  First of all, you have to have 'mad' computer savvy, then you have to be 'mad' hip to the new happenings; then you have to be able to brake it down—and that's only if they want to hear it.  Otherwise, you can't speak the truth without being or sounding like a "Hitler" or  "fascist" or "racist" yourself.  It looks calm out there now—or at least it appears to be; but in reality, it is a CLASH OF CULTURES going on: American culture vs. Black subculture.  

   Now, DHS (Department of Human Services) regulates how Blacks raise their children.  Media indirectly and directly criticizes Blacks about their views concerning the LBGT community.  Since many of us now live in many of their areas; many of us going to many of the same schools—and the social climate among are youth appears to be more relax; our children are beginning to share the same ideas and same sexual ambiguities.  Our children are confused and befuddled by the glamor and attractiveness of the mainstream.  Because of the illusion of integration, which many of us never warned our children about; our children say, "They don't see color."  And since they were never adequately taught about American chronology,  or their heritage and origin in world, they can't be but so proud of who they are or knowledgeable about the struggles or dangers of being Black in America.  And in a weird way, I can agree: In a multi-cultural society, where the mainstream culture is not Black, it seems easier (and in some ways more advantageous)—even mandatory to forsake your indigenous culture: This way we can ignore the disparity, if we find the right bunch to fit in; with their heads mixed up in the same way:  THIRD EYE BLIND, with the Blind Leading the Blind.  Unfortunately, the old "Powers That Be," still run and rule the country in the same old fashion way—and "they ain't sharing shit fairly."  So when the run-ins with the law happen (and they will)—our children get blind-sided, arrested, or wind up being killed by some trigger-happy policeman that the government never finds guilty.

     We wanted to be free of all this, but we kept depending on Whites to see the light and treat us right—protect our interests, etc; we didn't develop the attitude to make our own help as an entity, a group of people, a nation or what have you.  We never evolved the overall view to do for Self—we just stopped talking about it.  Our liberation and self determination has become "like a dinosaur" and THOSE THAT KNOW THAT THE STRUGGLE IS NOT OVER are like "anthropologists" slowly digging ourselves, unearthing the fossils of our people who know the time; striving to figure out heritage, legacy, and navigate our future directions—apart from the direction that mainstream society is headed.  Why?  Because mainstream society is going in a direction which spells chaos for Black people; and yet many of our children will follow the current trends of day—not only terribly naive, but unreceptive to want older, more experienced people are telling them.  Our youth are following mainstream society, in a want and belief of a freedom, we have never had equal access to.   Mainstream society in America is an extension of Western/European colonial ideology; Black sub-culture in America is more subject to that culture—than being a living part OF that culture.  In other words, Blacks are doing more "follow the leader" because its popular (or from political pressure)—than receiving benefits, needs, and/or services (not to mention our interests being taken care of) by following mainstream America.

     Another part of this demise is, to some degree we have forsaken the culture as well.  Many women refuse to be how their grandmothers were—because their mothers have refused to be how their mothers were.  Belief in Black male leadership by Black women is at an all-time low; due to these things—along with single parent household mentality and mega-egos; otherwise know as, "I can do bad by myself."  With families are not sought after, situationships are the common bind today; after all, "You ain't running anything over here anyway."  Our survival as a group of people is not even being looked at; simply because rugged individualism is now not only a White thing.  So in the midsts of having no one in the dominant culture looking out in the interests of Black causes, many of us have sought the "every man for himself" mentality.  So unless more us see these things and get serious about repairing our self-hatred; developing businesses for ourselves and taking care of our own self interests and self development; we will be destroyed by behemoth that parades as our nation—still looking for civil rights and repatriations—instead of economic stability and a sense of self-government.

 

Thank you for your consideration,

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers