Culture 202

                                                                    C O N T I N U E D

     There is a couple of things most Blacks in this country never consider when they view their conditions here in America: Number one—This area [North and South America] was called, The New World, by the settlers.  These settlers were Europeans on a mission that we refer to nowadays as Expansionism.  It is referred to as such because prior to such times, Europeans did not know that these areas existed; they thought the world was flat until Christopher Columbus must have rapped to a couple of Moorish sailors and then convinced Queen Isabella of Spain to finance his expedition.

     How can I make such an exertion?  Because the Moors are the inventors of an instrument called, The Astrolabe; an instrument used to plot out courses on the sea using the fixed stars in the sky as reference. Christopher Columbus employed Vasco DaGamma, a Blackamoor, as his navigator.  At this point, in the chronology of the two peoples, the astrolabe is an old instrument used amongst Moorish sailors and navigators; So obviously, their view of the planet earth was different from the Europeans (who thought the world was flat and that upon sailing the seas one could sail of the ends of the earth).  Christopher Columbus,  was an Italian or European himself; a sailor who must have been submerged in the beliefs of his day, among his own people.  His ideas, that the world was not flat, probably originated from being in the company of various seamen from different lands—discussing various things, when this knowledge was revealed amongst those who were more experienced at sailing the seas using such a device.  Personally, I subscribed to the idea that one of those knowledgeable persons must have been Vasco DaGamma; because he used him as his navigator.   And for those who don't know, the Moors are from the continent, they are part of what is known as the African-Asiatic group of peoples.

     Expansionism is defined as,  The policy of territorial or economic expansion practiced by the West; which includes the practice of colonialism—a policy or practice of acquiring full or partial control over another country and its' people, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically;  like the pilgrims from England and various other European countries did when they used the Native American's know-how to help them survive America's harsh winters—only to systematically kill off the natives over time and take the land—even those of their people living on lands reserved for the Natives in the California Gold Rush of 1849.  

    Only thing that is implied in the need for a policy like Expansionism that every one losses focus on, namely the vacuum of resources by the ones who practice it.  Personally, I would have considered the helping the pilgrims survive the winter—a noble act worthy of praise and an act of civility concerning the chieftains and people who perform it;  And yet, in most papers in the European colonies within America, the Natives are referred to as  savages; triggering a long standing policy of psychological warfare.  Once you label a human being an animal, beast or uncivilized—you can convince the reasonable people of your own group to accept the second-class treatment of such other human beings; simply because of this "proposed" difference—aka—Yellow Journalism.  

     In the David Milch movie, Deadwood, Mr. George Hearst, father of William Hearst—newspaper tycoon and author of Yellow Journalism,  is depicted as a powerful, persuasive person who used the press and other means to exploit the landscape whenever he could; paving the way for his son, William to monopolize on such an auspicious foundation.   

     By reading the above paragraph, one should not be under any illusion as to what the Europeans were in the New World for.  Nor should anyone believe that the European who were indentured servants, thought any differently about their soon to be slave neighbors; They may have been lowly, but not as low as. . .  

     Let us not forget, we are talking about the word culture; where we get words like cultures, cultured, cultivate, agriculture, horticulture. . .  The idea of growth surrounds them all.  Culture is what a people do, which includes everything for the people's growth and development; like music, art, dramas/plays, education, literature, media, sociology, religion—even propaganda.  We grow up and in culture: It can be a bastion of creative thinking or a putrid pool of stale ideas.  When Expansionism was cultivated in Europe (as with the Industrial Revolution), socially all of Europe knew they had depleted their resources: I don't care if you were a king or a peasant; you knew.  The word was out and the philosophy was clear: We need colonies, so that we can get fresh raw materials for our countries—we need new fresh sources of wealth; we need richer soil for food, etc, because we have depleted ours.  Their needs defined their outlook; their world view as a people became revolved around this outlook—so did their social juxtaposition: Simply, Let's travel and see what others have that we need  and the idea of colonization (the action of settling among and establishing control over indigenous people) meant let's incorporate into their political system, manipulate, sabotage and take it.

     And they came with plans.  When England choose to colonize North America, their settlers were composed of their prison populations of religious and political dissidents, peasants and persons looking for fresh start.  The result was they gained North America.  They did the same in Australia, and won that too.  The natives here were called savages; in Australia, they were called, Tasmanian Devils before the marsupial was.  The people who designed the this expedition to America were rich investors and nobles from Europe.  They owned companies like The Raleigh Company or The Plymouth Company; they were investors who invested on the prospect that this company would establish relations, trade, occupy land and eventually change the politics of the natives who owned the country which housed the colony.  

     They knew that colonization was a risky business and that if their plans were revealed—the natives might try to kill the colonist, so they sent their "guinea pigs" as their "lab rats."  But one things for sure, they thought they were craftier than the people they were dealing with.  And the dissidents knew, knew they were coming here to help their employers exploit the native's resources: You can't put expansionism, colonialism and equality in the same sentence.  They perceived themselves as different and of a superior intellect—and any attempt at humanizing the folks was manipulated out of the colonist psyche by dehumanizing the natives through the press; so that their own folks could accept the ruthless acts their nobility where going to unleash upon the unsuspecting population.  The skillful manipulation of the colonial sentiment were done staged events, such as the Boston Tea Party (where the colonists dressed up as Natives) or the uprisings in Roanoke, Virginia and Deadwood, South Dakota and the press manipulated the opportunity by calling them savage (like today the PLO are called terrorists by the West).  Today, we have movies, television shows and tabloids to persuade public sentiment.    

     European presence in Africa, in the past, wasn't purely a coincidence, they were there to colonize it.  Kenya, Mozambique, Morocco, Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and the Gold and Ivory Coasts (named after the materials they exploited) are perfect examples.  We had it and they took it.  The people who designed the this expedition to America were rich investors and nobles from Europe.  They owned companies like The Raleigh Company or The Plymouth Company; they were investors who invested on the prospect that this company would establish relations, trade, occupy land and eventually change the politics of the natives who owned the country which housed the colonies in America.  The Irish migration into America in huge numbers, was as a result of Irish Potato Famine of 1845-49.  Every European who ever migrated or immigrated here, looked out for their self interests first.  Each European immigrant group that came into this country during the early 1900s, blocked the next groups from getting what their group achieved.  Don't believe me, study the history of Jack Kennedy—father of John F. and Robert Kennedy.  Our people are the only people I know—after spending 313 years in slavery being worked to death—could believe that through their own individual efforts they could secure a place in America (among the ancestors of those same colonial Americans) that other Blacks could not secure; and that these Whites who helped them, could protect them from the rest of their xenophobic crowd.

     There is nothing wrong with getting everything you can; but thinking someone else or another group of people are going to secure your self interest—is foolhardy at best.  If you can individually get this from mainstream society, you should be trying to bring this back to your own folks who are advocated for the same common cause; because it is only here that you can secure your own self-interest.  And it is only here that you can build a cultural future for people who look like you.  If you don't believe me, study the history of Pontiac, Sacagawea, Chief Joseph, W.E.B DuBois or anyone who thought they could be accepted by mainstream society—only to find out that those folks stick to their cultural codes for the most part.

Thank you for all your considerations,

(I truly do appreciate you all greatly). . .

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace   

Culture 202

     As I sit back in my room having Conversations with the Silent Speaker, I recognize that my book of life is a reflection upon things that I have gone through—and that my chronology or Qur’an (as the Muslims say), is based upon my experiences—which serve as confirmations that this speaker has with my persons.  By no means, am I saying that this conversation with the speaker is a conversation with two entities—for I realize the intimacies here; I am writing and reading this book, at the same time: And my recording of such, is as a result of these reflections I have.  Also, I recognize that I can navigate as a result of these conversations; which are based upon future tense knowledge which I haven't lived yet--places I haven't been yet--and things I haven't seen yet; although they seem all so familiar. . .   Maybe it's because we are timeless beings visiting this planet to experience our said qualities or abilities, and that our essence is not isolated beings with various fixed egos; But a conglomerate—a singularity—experienced through an infinitude of forms; Which are suspended in different places in time (expressing various awarenesses), to broaden the singularity's overall perspective of the conglomerate or its' own Self. . .  That perspective would definitely explain our need for culture and our motivation behind civilized behavior. . .  But what do you think about that?

     Culture is what a people do.  It is just as simple as that.  Each group of people have various behavioral traits, and each people have certain cultural contributions to make towards the world's cultural scene.  That's what all these groups were designed for: Understanding this, is the true meaning of humanity, and using this and conducting one's activities with this awareness, is the root meaning of civilization—even the missionaries are aware of this point. . .  Obliterating culture is not the name of game, understanding incorporating what we acquire about the culture of others leads to Godliness. 

     Within cultural traits, are the values of its' people; the interests of its' people.  Culture reflects the people's level of development.  In America, when mainstream society is interested in something (or interested in wanting to know something), you find the press present at such a gathering; if they are not, there will no press coverage for that event: It is as simple as that.  You might as well say that the media belongs to the very rich in mainstream society: Patty Hearst, daughter of Randolph Apperson and Millicent Hearst—granddaughter of  Newspaper Tycoon William Randolph Hearst (and whom later became involved with/or a member of/the Symbionese Liberation Army).  William Hearst built the nation's largest newspaper conglomerate and created a flamboyant style of Yellow Journalism, which influenced the nation's popular media by emphasizing sensationalism and human interest stories, for example.  Media can educate the people through knowledge, information and awareness—or deceive the people through propaganda. 

     When the influential within mainstream society are not interested, you may invite the media to come to your affair, but they won't come.  The reason is, "Mainstream society is simply not interested."  Maybe those who own or run the press already know what they want to know about it, maybe they don't want to give your cause free press, or it clashes with their interests and their agenda. . .   Mainstream society interests and values are implied in American "TV programs," shows, plays and on the movie screen.  It is seen in social media—Facebook, talk-shows, newspapers, books and magazines.  It is heard on the radio and over the airways.  It is seen over celebrity shows, and lifestyles of the rich and famous.  What can or cannot be seen in America society, is regulated by the Federal Communication Committee—the FCC—for short.  The FCC regulates what is seen on TV, which reflect the value of this society and the American people: But who are the American people?  That's a question we forget to ask—most people assume and include themselves within that constituency, but you might find the answer shocking; But we'll discuss that later. . .  

     People often get the guarantees of the constitution mixed-up: They confuse freedom of speech mixed up with the ability to say what you want to say: If that were true, then why would anyone need to be "politically correct."  There is always a consequence of speaking out of turn in this country: Those of wealth, power, and influence over the media will simply label you, sue you for slander, investigate you, or their 'hip-pocket' critics will simply give you bad reviews.  So unless you belong to a group of people who don't care what the critics think, or don't believe in the press and media in this country, you won't survive the onslaught of the hounding and harsh criticism.  

   When you drive down the street, there are traffic lights and various signs with various shapes and colors, or color combinations and pattern—which signal to you procedures that you've already been taught respond to.  No matter where you are—in the United States or Germany—these traffic geometric shapes patterns and colors are understood.  This is a product of kindred societies and their influences.   This is a product of conditioning and training.  This is a product of books and education—and oft-times—indoctrination.  But essentially it is a product of culture.

     Just recently, America had an election for president.  In the constitution it says that the president will be elected by "the people."  The president to be, of the United States, will be Donald Trump.  Hillary Clinton was said to have led the popular vote, but Donald Trump will be president.  Shouldn't the popular vote of American people be enough to elect the president who will rule the people?  The answer is no, the Electoral College chooses the president.  Who are the Electoral College?  The Electoral College is a group of highly intelligent wealthy "people" of substantially power and influence that receives the votes of the popular people for each candidate.  It is said that these persons who represent the votes for each candidate, but when they vote they do not necessarily have to vote for the candidate in which they represent.  The justification of creating such a committee of "people" was that it was during a time in America when the average person was not politically informed enough to make such a political decision as electing a president; so the Electoral College was born.  So, obviously these "people," behind closed curtains—since Hillary won the popular vote, many in the Electoral College chose to vote for Donald.  And so, the "true people" have spoken—and they are not the popular people.  And don't forget, the Senate is composed of many rich people—and the rich with their corporations hold sway over the house, the Senate and the President himself. . .

.

     One last thing; America is known as a multi-cultural society, with a dominant culture theme—representing freedom of choice; but the dominant culture is forged from the people whose ancestry is European [remember America was forged as an English colony].  Which means, although it is composed of several cultures and religions—aka, you have the right to choose your practice—that is, as long as it does not interfere with the precepts (laws) of America's dominant culture (a culture derived from the rich constituency of Western or European ancestry).  This practice extends back to the days of European Expansionism and Western colonization.  This is what gave us the domination of the Greeks, the Roman Empire, the British Empire—and the domination of the United States, the Allied Powers and the Soviet Union over the League of Nations.  Colonialism is defined as, "The policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country [and its' people], occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically."


       I've been up in Niagara, New York; I've seen the reservations up there for the Native Americans: To see the wealth in this country—to watch the brisk financial transactions on Madison Avenue—while experiencing the destitution of these reservations is deplorable; Not to say we are much better—none of us have our repatriation checks. . .  But to believe that the sons and daughters of colonists would make plans for the country and include and protect the best interests of its' former slave population—is like sitting at the breakfast table drinking a big glass of  Jim Jones Kool-aid.

     The Civil Rights Movement's, March on Washington, included a multi-cultural group of religious and various other types of supporters to the Black cause, looking for social Justice, empowerment, and economic advancement.  Instead, they got Affirmative Action legislation, promises (like the treaties with the Natives), and jobs.  Fast forward these things, and fifty years later, the historical March on Washington includes various other people and cultures, in an amalgamated plethora of conflictual political agendas; which includes alternative lifestyles, support for various ethnic causes besides their own, and asking for more jobs from mainstream society, instead of seeking assistance in order to create our own jobs through self-help: The ancestors of the European immigrants teach their children to create or eventually take over a company, while we raise our children to go solicit or fetch a job and wonder why we continue to be treated like mongrels (dogs).  Reminds me of the scene in the movie, Miller's Crossing, when the mob leader, Leo O'Bannion said to Johnny Casper: Johnny, you're exactly as big as I let you be, and no bigger, and don't forget it, ever.  Two instrumental things my beloved old-heads once said to me: If you are going to work or follow someone, then follow to learn how to lead—and—I'm not begging and crying, I'm betting and buying.  Words I have lived by ever since Word to my folks who are striving to change things; "Make your own help, you need it" [ The Last Poets].

 Do for Self—don't wait for (or on) others. . .


Thank you for all your considerations,

(I truly do appreciate you all greatly). . .

C. Be'er la Hai-roi Myers 

Peace