Wanting More For Ourselves

As I said, earlier, culture is what a people do.  And sometimes when you are socialized with another group of people—in a community, neighborhood or whatever—you sort of take on some of the other group’s behavior; that is, in the attempt to have social harmony or become socially accepted. Its sort of like—when you look for job and dress up a certain way to gain employment: We put on the clothes that businessmen from the other society wear, just to be accepted within the marketplace of their business.  The reason is quite clear: We need a job that pays well; We believe it to be a matter of survival; We do it because of their own people’s entrepreneurship status in the world market—or our general disbelief in or distrust we have for own people’s ability.  At any rate, their jobs pay better.  

if we get that job—we’ll probably feel prone to attend some of the same functions and past-times events that those of the other people hold for their own (like their weddings, funerals, promotional “get togethers,” after weekend drinking “Get Togethers,” and retirement parties)—whether its part of his or her own people’s past-times rituals, customs or not.  We will do these things—not necessarily because we like to mimicking these other people’s behavior (or that we want to be part of their gang), many of us will do it because we want to keep the job, promote our future with the company and/or we’re just trying to fit in; Just striving to get along (or prosper) within the social environment which we currently live in.  And as my parents often said, “If you dance to the music—you’ll have to pay to the piper,” aka; “You’ll have to put up with it,” you’ll have to “pay your dues.”

Now everybody’s a critic—second guessing other people on a daily; often telling you what they would do if they were in leading position and running things.  But you’re not running things!  You are asking others to do things and soliciting to others for position—and as they say about beggars; you can’t be but so choosey, when asking for help.  However, the other day, I did see a guy begging for money, attempting to get something to eat from another guy, who was dinning at an outdoor portion of a restaurant.  The diner responded by handing the beggar the other half of his delicious sandwich; but when the beggar received the other half of this vegan sandwich, he snobbishly looked over the contents and threw the sandwich (and all its contents) on the ground!  Mainstream society also has to be concerned and prudent about how well their constituents fair out as well, when they mete out supplies and resources to the less fortunate; because things will definitely happen if they don’t. . . 

So in this job scenario, the picture is very clear: You need money, therefore you need to do things to keep this job: It pays well, so you do what it takes, in order to keep your job.  If you want to move up, you’ll have to be accepted—and someone in management will offer you a higher paying job; and some others will get jealous, and maybe even sabotage your promotion and career. . .  But one things for sure, you don’t own the job that your work at: It belongs to people who are other than the people you belong to; And when you get appointed, some people from that camp will think they should have that job instead of that Black person, that minority.  They may get angry that there are, “Affirmative Action Laws.”  They’ll probably feel American Blacks should go find a job with your own kind—then they could be able to have the job that you have. . .  “Go back to your own!”  “Go back to Africa.” 

Sometimes, it’s about nationality; other times it’s about race—but all the time its about getting it, having it, or how to obtain it (and/or possibly taking it from someone else you feel shouldn’t have it).  But there is a third option (although much harder), you could make your own venue; you need it.  Although, there’s the bandwagon (but it’s pay to play on this one). . .

That’s way it is, here in America.  Black people are vehemently trying to fit into the America theme, in a vain effort to be accepted into the American dream—by breaking into corporate, mainstream society, or living in a house in part of their world; But from the acts we see today (Travon Martin, Ferguson, rise in inner-racial police brutality), there are many factions within this same society, who are not willing to let that happen.  Some of these people feel Blacks should create their own venues, and employ our own people: Why should Blacks take White jobs from other Whites?  Then there are others would cannot tolerate different ethnicities other than their own race or stock of people: xenophobes are what they’re called.  In America, we are not called minorities because of our numbers: All women (White/Black or any other ethnicity) in America is considered minorities. . .  In America, we are minorities, because of the majority rule: Which is “majority takes priority,” all others get in line according to their significance.  In America, there are major issues and minor issues—and we know which comes first. . . “We’ll handle the rest later!” 

We can recognize by this that there are many, many people who are positions of power (and enjoying full American citizenship) who act, believe, and create different scenarios that all other ethnicities have to live through everyday (particularly our people) based upon discriminate notions and ideologies.  Take Donald Trump for example.  And in this respect, our sentiments and ideologies become invisible and unheard to these type of people.  We have police officers who pull young Black males over for routine examinations and wind up taking them to jail for something undetectable. . . Illegal vendors of socks and loose cigarettes who wind up dead, at the hands of a White officers who felt it necessary to use a choker holds on a defenseless subject.  A Black female (who vocally stated she knew her rights) gets pulled over for a driving violation, gets arrested—and while arrested, is said to have committed “suicide”. . .  And the list goes on. . .   

Just because a police officer finds your people in violation of some law or code, doesn’t mean these types of officers have the right to violate your dignity,and/or take your life as well.  In many, many cases, our people are treated by large portions of American society as though we have no right to breathe the same air as they do; and this attitude often places us at the mercy of how other members of the same race sees it.  The way the media reports it, can further influence how the rest of American society judges it.  It short, it places our people in a precarious situation.  I’m not saying all aspects of society acts adverse, I’m saying large enough portions of it so that you can see it—and when you come in contact with those elements—you are subject to it; with very little hope of reprieve.  And once you are discriminated against, you will have to rely on the justness and bravery of someone other than your race to do the right thing: And you can add this onto the pile of all the things the Blackman has been through in America!  As a matter of fact, while I’m mentioning this, a few of you are going, “Ohh no, not this again!” 

You are subject to it, until either someone who is part of their society is brave enough to stand up for what’s right or you’ll have to fight back yourself (but then you face the danger of how you’re going to look for doing so—i.e. violent, hostile, radical or crazy), and get labeled as a dissident.  It seems as though there’s a different standard for Blacks (and people of color), than there are for Whites in America—and there will always be certain consequences as a result of that perspective. . .   

There the things we go through—that are of no consequence of the act itself—but are indicative of how the person who is making the call, “feels” about the person to whom he is going to apply the penalty;  and this makes the circumstance in which the victim has to redress the situation expensive, fraught with danger, and often hard to prove otherwise.  Many people wind up being incarcerated—not because they are guilty—but simply because they couldn’t afford proper legal representation or couldn’t afford to take it any further after a crooked judge tainted its appearance.  Look at what happen to the so-called, “Spook who sat by the door” (the Black gentlemen who blew the whistle on the Watergate scandal): that so-called, “spook,” has had a very tough time receiving employment for several years of his life; after he made the world aware of the crookedness of the Nixon administration.  Look at the legal battles of George Clinton concerning his publishing rights of many of the Parliament Funkadelic hits.  My view is that this paradigm extends all the way back to when the first indentured Black servant became the first enslaved Black (while the White indentured servants received much lesser sentences); and those tainted Whites attempted to justify their devishment (often accusing us of the committing the crimes they perpetrated upon us) by telling us how wicked those Blacks were! 

  

You may find yourself a victim of racism and afraid to call it such, because the people you have to report it to, are of the same ethnicity as the one who committed the act; and therefore you might feel that not only will they dismiss your claims—but they might stigmatize you for even suggesting that it was racism. As a matter of fact, nearly all Whites hate anyone bring up the so-called race card.  In other words, you are going to the fox to tell him about what the dog did to you, and wondering why you didn’t get proper redress:  They are both members of the canine family; they only think of things in a dogmatic way!  Therefore you have to be so careful of what you say, because of who you are talking to; because you are subject to the opinion of another and the other has a sympathetic relationship to the violator.  It is a vicarious situation at best!   

There are elements within mainstream American society who want to continue treating us as though we are slaves for their race, while we continue to enter this game in the role of a solicitor or subject to such a precarious situation.  We have been fighting for freedom and social equality in this country, and we have been denied of it by those who have the power and position to do so: Point blank.  The Last Poets once said, “Make your own help; you need it.”  I, for one, take this view of situation.  No doubt, part of the problem is the position that we assume: James Brown was not born rich, but anyone who seen the film put out by Mick Jagger, would recognize his “swag” and for those who can’t, they only need to listen to the words of this tune; “I Don’t Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing—Open Up The Door And I’ll Get It Myself.”  

Yes, there has been some social change—but not nearly enough and only at the expense of the innocent lives who request it; Those men and women who were out-spoken and gave their most precious blood on behalf of us.  Amongst these, are the names of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, The Honorable Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Nat Turner and Denmark Vesey, Fred Hampton, Huey Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, Bobby Seale, Angela Davis, The Honorable Elijah Muhammad, and Clarence 13X (the man they call Allah).  They spoke of the injustice in the land, some looked for the European descendants to make changes in their behavior, others sought changes in ourselves.  They continued to address the issue and made their views vocal; through the “mainstream” media—the point is—you might as well “telegraph your punches,” for all the good it would do; it made our thoughts available to the public: It made our thoughts and ideas available to both sides.  

As the legendary Jim Brown said, ‘Our vanguards during the 60s were immature.’  This was true, most of the time and during that time: Most of the Civil Rights/Black Power leaders in their early twenties during that time, and they were angry at the injustice and the oppression; but unsure of how to end it through the political process of the United States.  This was the first time any of our issues in America were being addressed in this way.  We were inexperienced at these issues impacting upon us; and most of all—negotiating with the leader or “victor of all the colonial powers,” the United States.

We are all still dealing with the residuals of Post Traumatic Stress from the slave trade.  It is an effect of being under the dominion of another group of people who previously used you and your kind as slaves.  A lot of our people have self-hatred of their own group—which is really a rejection of a role given to us by mainstream society aimed towards our own:  In psychological terms, it is called, “I’m not okay, and nor is anyone else (who looks like me).”  It is oppressive.  We have the tendency to think the worst, concerning our integrity.  Our women today, largely don’t believe in our leadership skills as men.  We have the tendency to run away from the issue.  Our drug taking is not recreational, it is an attempt to drown our sorrows.  It’s been around so long, that Stevie Wonder dubbed it, “Ordinary Pain.”  Why, even today, we have trouble seeing ourselves as a people who produce genius, despite the myriads of examples, like Patrice Rushen or Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire.  

It was hard to figure out a strategy of how to shake off this “cloud over our heads”—much less, how to identify who or what was causing it to happen and how to take action against it.  Sure we struck back, and yes the non-violent and violent approaches got attention; but once we got it, and it was time for representatives to negotiate our terms; they had trouble “drawing up the contracts.”  We needed time to think about what these things meant to us, and what it meant to those who made this available to public—those who are sympathetic—and those who perpetrated the oppressive act to begin with.  And though broadcasting it over the airways gave everyone an idea of what the issues are, it gave our enemies ammunition for deception and subterfuge.  The “powers that be” didn’t want to negotiate with the more militant factions, so they negotiated with the non-violent factions; and the non-violent factions just wanted the violence America was allowing to happen to stop.  This in and of itself was a simplification: We needed and still need empowerment, equal opportunity; we need our own area to regulate and we needed to heal: And we need a committee to ensure what we got would not disintegrate into what we formerly had.  What we got was the appearance of “Integration.” What we got was “Affirmative action.”  What we got was, “Political correctness.”  It was a fifty-two fake out; A farce.

[End of Part One]