Black|Crisis  
R  e  v  i  s  i  t  e  d

   I remember once a White guy asked me if I was patriotic.   I responded, "That's an issue you didn't think all the way through." 

   He asked me, "What did I mean by that?" 

   I told him, "When your people came here the land belonged to the natives and  your kind of people were called "pilgrims" and "settlers" and they were considered colonists; because the land was not theirs—they were just occupying the land for the purpose of trading—or at least that's how it appeared. . . 

    A careful analysis of this era shows Europe (your homeland) was depleted during those times, and they were looking for new frontiers, enterprises, riches and resources to pull them out of their dire straights. . .  Fast forward the time-line, and those in charge of the colonies were building forts, securing the land the natives let them settled on; acquiring gold, fur, and other items to ship back to their European homelands.
    Fast forward even further still, and the natives which previously occupied these lands—were losing huge chunks of their homelands to your ancestors, who took advantage of their kindness and generosity.  Then my people, some of which were originally brought here as indentured servants, were brought to these territories.  Your folks turned on my people, enslaving and trafficking us as human cargo from Africa (Alkebulan/Central Asia) into this country—as your ancestors moved forwarded into a new generation, writing their own songs like—"This Land is Your Land," and narratives of their freedom in the New World. . ."

  Mind you, these things were done, because of a behavioral code written in their DNA like the Western ancestors did a similar thing in Europe; when the Scandinavian Vikings and Teutonic tribes took over France, England, and most of western Europe—not to mention Europe's period of knights and serfdom. . . But my concern about this code, is Western people and their reference to (and concerning) people of color; and that mindset—concerning pride and prejudice; along with xenophobia—which covers the Western-state of mind-like a blanket: All you have to do is summarize 90% of the criminal element seen in America's films or prisons to see that I am right. . . I can see the same behavior in many White people who live in the new world. . .
  When the civil war came between Western folks in the New World—my people fought alongside the Northern faction—hoping to be accepted as equal citizens—that is: if Abraham Lincoln could restore the Union. . .  
   But while Lincoln kept his end of the bargain (freeing us from chattel slavery) when the Union won—it was the Western people in the House and Senate—as well as the average Western American citizen—that did NOT accepted my people as equal citizens; devising all sorts of ways (Black code and Jim Crow Laws) to legislate my folks right back into slavery-type conditions by incarcerating them for violating their newly concocted biased and unconstitutional laws [not to mention Lincoln got assassinated]. . . 

   My older brother fought in the Vietnam war and he was NOT received warmly by White citizens, nor did he get equal measures for his sacrifice by the government when the GI Bill was applied to him.  I know you'll say he didn't use his Senate and Representatives properly, but it doesn't help if they already have an opinion concerning my kind when you talk to them; giving them a lesser deal. . .  As a matter of fact, it appears as if Blacks are constantly being judged for how loyal we are with your people's programs—yet we are discriminated against at your people's discretion.  I can't be truly a patriot, until I am a citizen of equal standing in the territories that your people control—if it is up to your people's discrimination, it doesn't matter how many wars I may have fought in to preserve your democracy and republic, if you play me to the outside when it comes down to social equal and justice. . ."

  This is precisely the point of my previous article: We can never be equals in a  society which holds equal citizenship at discretion of one group of people towards all other groups that are trying to be included.  That act itself, has all other groups vying for the same social acceptance from the people whose cultural behavior  represents.  Your people get the great deals—while other folks fighting for crumbs of opportunity; while being constantly being discriminated against, according to race and social status, by the same folks whose people started this colony-turned-country. And yet many jump to the possibility of moving up in social status, eliminating all the other competition, so that they can better survive within a hostile environment which constantly judges them as to how well they help the country protect the "citizen's" interests; yet your "Movers and Shakers" only offer second class citizenship to all other peoples.
   Any White person who questions these points, need to talk to some of their Black friends, concerning how difficult it is for Black people in this country to find birth certificates, death certificates, baptismal records , etc., when doing research to locate their dead ancestors.

  The further you go back into researching your ancestry, the more you come face to face with a time period in this country where Whites totally discriminated and lived in separate areas from Blacks; Where businesses and other services were segregated from the other races; Where Blacks lived in separate areas and couldn't go into a White hospital or eat in the same restaurants as Whites.  Many of our ancestors were born at home, and in many cases, the organization revolved around handling such records within the Black communities (as opposed to the Whites) left much to be desired—and even after the unification of Black and White communities within the North and South—the same care was not taken concerning Black records.  Many times, a mid-wife might have assisted in the delivery, but might not have delivered the news to such places until much later—if at all—after all these are "darkies" we are talking about!  

   The real issue is, this country suffered a period of segregation, known as the Segregation Era [1863-1965] and after our people gotten past that period, not many of our people ever brought up those times or issues again—and this creates much of the disparity and mystery surrounding those times.  Some Black millennials never knew this happened to their people. . .
  Civil Rights Activists like the Honorable Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr—grass roots activism—like ones spawned by the Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey and the Pan-Afrikan Movement; as well as the emergence of counter-culture groupsm in the form of the Islamic Religious icons of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and Malik El-Hajj Shabazz (Malcolm X), did a lot to put  Black social issues directly on the table of mainstream America.  But since the Civil Rights and Black power Movements area, no organization today has kept the impetus or momentum going to attempt right the pendulum.  Today's upbringings lacks the type of commitment to be that loyal to a cause.
   Today's society has fell into rugged individualism on the part of both Blacks and Whites alike:  In the past, it was the family for Blacks and moral introspection for conscientious Whites—but today it's, "Every man for himself."  This is the single  most reason why marches and protests are so ineffective today: lack of solidarity and group commitment.  Their hearts are just not in it, the way it needs to be.

    In order for this approach to be effective, all parties must be interested; and to my understanding—mainstream America holds most of the chips, while constantly printing propaganda to dissuade those who would be otherwise properly interested.  Back in the day, those grass-roots groups above, appeared at a time when they could make America embarrassed for its' hypocrisy of playing the "moral majority" and "police dog" of the world; while they housed 30 million Black folks which they treated so inferiorly.
  Chronologically, that paradigm between us and mainstream USA has long-since disappeared.  Within the New world, there are three elements: the mainstream group of people, then all other peoples, and finally the governmental body for the country we live in.  If all three are interdependent or inclusive of each other, then resolution is of mutual benefit; if not, then one is pleading to the other for some sense of fairness—this hardly ever gets those petitioners what he or she wants.

   It's not the gas attendant employment that irks the service worker the most; it's the treatment he or she gets for being the one that addresses the public needs.  It's bad enough that for whatever reason, you have to put three jobs together to make ends meet; It's quite another thing to be treated inferiorly by those who need your service—even if that service is a menial task.  
   People shouldn't look up or down on the stations in life; because in a "true community" all work which services the community is important; but in American society they do.  Many folks act as though their needs are more important than the next man or group of people, when it is "people who make the world go round."    In all cases, in my travels, "One man's ceiling is another man's floor" and "All life is interdependent upon each other"—but that is an elevated way of thinking. . . 

   But, back on earth where we live in America—and in these days and times—people often disrespect others; especially when those who can't defend themselves.  What I find ironic is, those in power will still depend on you to do the job for them, after they disrespect you. . .  Just think about South Africa and Apartheid. . .  How ridiculous!  
   
As Ma Dukes use to say, "You can get more flies with honey, than you can with vinegar. . ."  Everyone deserves a modicum of respect. 

    The mainstream group of people are really writing America's narratives.  What is happening in America today, is as a result of mainstream actions, philosophy and ideologies; versus time, circumstance, and other peoples' responses.  Even the writings and reporting done in America is mainly written from a mainstream perspective.  Anything considered of a reputable source, as far as Americans are concerned, will always be from taken this perspective.

  America is a story about the destiny of the people who founded this New World; it is not about the people who came later on (after it successfully establishes itself), or about the peoples its constituents used on its way to becoming great country.  The US Constitution says, "America doesn't discriminate between Whites and other citizens of color"—but it does have a special place for what I call "its indigenous people."  But...as they say, "Everything looks good on paper."

  There is nothing wrong with putting your theories to the test.  At least you will find out what will come about as a result of such ideas. . . The story of America is a story of its people putting its theories and ideals to the test, and how the country goes is as a result of such thoughts.
  Malcolm X once said, "America has the seeds of its own destruction built right into it."  Simply put, "If you don't want the effects, don't produce the cause"—George Clinton.

  Our worst problem, as a people, is when pick up the paper and it says, "Americans," and Black folks begin to include ourselves in the narrative and description; when none of our intimacies and sensibilities or interests are even being discussed. . .  This behavior is somewhat similar to reading The Philadelphia Inquirer covering news for the New Jersey area, and the reader thinks it applies personally to him as a Philadelphian—when in fact the paper covers a larger metropolitan area which includes New Jersey as well.  I guess this behavior comes as a result of having our true culture obliterated during the slavery process:  Which means, Black culture in America is partially an amalgamation of regurgitated American values and cultural ideas; and our people are paying the cost for such ignorance.  Or in the words of the Last Poets, "Whitey is dying and his f—ing ghost is killing us."

   There are no vampires in Chinese culture; just tales of the nominal dragon. There are no werewolves in African culture. No Pixies, pans or other such forest creatures. There are no unicorns, leprechauns, etc. These are European folklore and concepts. The reason why we know about them is—just like the Chinese and Japanese males with their cowboy hats—cross-cultural contamination (of course these Asians don't about the disrespect cowboys to their Asian ancestors).

  All these symbols are folklores and myths; Mythologies are evidence of a cosmogony and cosmology—or an operating system that people once used—with some of the parts missing; like Khamitic science and philosophy, Nwah's (Noah's) wisdom or Hebrew teachings--or the Celtic Druids and their impact on Irish culture. If humans were computers--Central Asian culture would be Black people's operating system; for example.
   So why is this ancient wisdom not a part of our current curriculum or how Black folks operate in today's American society?  The answer is when the Europeans conquered other lands, they overrode the previous operating systems. And in the case of Black people in America—it was their separation from their ancestors that brought about our post traumatic slavery syndrome—by removing our culture and creating a cultural vacuum from it's absence. . . 
   What I mean by Post Traumatic Slavery Syndrome is during slavery system set up by Europeans and the colonial Americans, it was outlawed to practice any part of the culture your people had before becoming slaves; so over time, we began to manufacture a culture based upon the culture of the people who enslaved us.  But as this quote so eloquently states:  "Any leadership which teaches you to depend on another race, is leadership that will enslave you"—Marcus Mosiah Garvey.


   As you observed in the Abraham Lincoln incident, the leader can make a mandate, but it takes the citizens acceptance to make it a law that the people abide by.  Like discrimination, for example—technically it is illegal, but if the cops that are charged to enforce it, are prejudice; then that law won't be properly enforced when a "citizen" violates it.  Just as Donald Trump did, when the racist protests got out of hand, and the bystanders started to act against the racist postering and violence broke out. . .  And in the case of President Lincoln and his mandates during the slave's emancipation; he sent troops to protect their exodus from their slave masters—but soon those troops disappeared—for the risks they felt they were taking protecting these Blacks.  Just as worse, was the Black Code Laws enacted after our people were freed and Abraham Lincoln was assassinated—not to mention the Jim Crow Laws which came along—"By The People". . .

   I am not contradicting Blacks who feel that this is their country also, for the "Blood, Tear and Sweat equity we have invested to make America a reality: By all means, take everything you can acquire by legitimate means: This country owes us more than 40 acres and a mule, as well as repatriations. . .  But if we are looking for America to stand by us protect our interests as citizens against its own racist elements within American society; time has always told a different story. . .    

"Make your own help, you need it."—The Last Poets