Your Black Power: June 2011

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

And now a moment on the subject of symmetry. An issue this country has been fixated on for over 400 years.

By definition, any shape that is divided symmetrically is divided equally. If you were to take this shape and view it from the top it would indeed appear to be divided equally. However, when viewed from the side, each of the heretofore equally divided sections becomes disproportionate and it appears to be divided unequally...In essence, each new angle from which you view this shape presents a new reality.

And now a moment on the line itself. By definition, a line is the barrier that separates each of the early divided sections.

As I contemplate this shape that I live in I must ask myself:

"Who is it that controls the social, political and economic ink that is the line which divides this shape?"....Moreover, "Who is it that tells me that my people make up one of the evenly divided sections of that shape?"...

.....SURELY IT IS THEY WHO VIEW IT FROM THE TOP...

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I've been afforded this opportunity to blog on this forum and as it may be my only chance to do so, I'd like to discuss what is most important to me, that being culture. In a world ruled by commercial interests, political maneuverings and religious zealotry (or apathy), the importance of culture is often overlooked. Culture is simply defined as one's way of life...as such it is within this field of study that the secrets of life are revealed.

As Afro-Americans, we find ourselves in a perpetual struggle. In whatever field of human endeavor you choose to select you will find that the Afro-American diaspora trails behind nearly every other. In education, it has been revealed that Afro-American males are the least educated and by proxy make the least amount of money. You will see that Afro-American women are at the highest risk of contracting some form of STD. You will see that black men seemingly sell themselves into the modern day slavery that is the United States Penal System.

This struggle begins for us in the public school system. Understand, that if one were to take a random Afro-American off the street and ask that they provide a brief discourse on the history of their race that summation will almost invariably begin with slavery. Understand, that brothers and sisters sell themselves into slavery because it is taught in our schools that slavery is our way of life.

Unfortunately for us, every contribution Afro and Afro-American peoples have made to the advance of humanity have been stolen from us. We are taught that Hippocrates is the father of modern medicine yet this is patently untrue, insofar as Ancient Egyptians were known to have very specialized system of medicine, even to the extent of performing successful brain surgery. Hippocrates did establish the profession of medicine and as such should be known as the "Father of the BUSINESS of healing others"

As a people we must do a true investigation of culture, not from the perspective of "look how far we've come since slavery" but, " look, our throne is still outside our grasp". What this includes is an elimination of black history month because human history is black history. We need to stop highlighting the "first black person" to do this and that because while the intention is good, the cultural influence it carries sends the message that we are playing catch up. Schools need to teach about the Moors because it was their influence that acted as the catalyst for the renaissance.

Much akin to the above example is the relationship shared with the Greeks and the Persians, the Romans and the Carthaginians, the British and the Zulu wherein it is revealed that that traditionally black societies as a matter of necessity have historically been dealt with as equals by other cultures.

We should be approaching the realization that heretofore, what we have attempted has not worked. Government invariably results in class warfare ( Monarchy and the peasants revolts, Czarism and the Bolshevik revolutions...Democracy and trickle down economics). Religion undoubtedly results in zealotry for anyone who feels they have a corner on the market of truth is indeed a dangerous force.

In closing I'd like to state emphatically, that as long as we as a people continue to fascinated by symbols and illusions of power we will continue to be powerless...and that as long as we allow the education system to indoctrinate our children with all the things that DON'T matter we will remain, Deaf, Dumb and Blind to the world around us...

I go as I came...
with respect for my ancestry and love for my people