Faith in Action

This past Friday, I attended the MICA Black Panther Rank & File Symposium featuring Sherry Brown, Connie Felder, Dr. Judson Jeffries, Marshall “Eddie” Conway, and Kathleen Cleaver.  The panel discussion was hosted by Marc Steiner.

I was a member of the planning committee for this symposium and was a bit concerned at first that the exhibit would be too academic.  While the acquisition of knowledge is still a primary interest of mine; I am no longer interested in gaining knowledge just for the sake of saying I know something.  Knowing without Doing is irrelevant.  Thus the planning committee was initially a concern, but I was glad to see other activists invited to the planning table - that helped assure me that radical and revolutionary aims would not be isolated and sanitized out of the symposium altogether. 

There were a few highlights of course.  First, having Kathleen Cleaver, former wife of Eldridge Cleaver, on the panel was exciting.  Ms. Cleaver has a certain “fieryness” about her after all these years that provided some insight into the vigor of the innerworkings of the Black Panther Party. 

[NOTE: This picture is a powerful one.  I am standing in between two of the most revolutionary women on the planet.  On the left, Sista Yaa from Solvivaz Nation and on the right Kathleen Cleaver.]

Also, Eddie Conway, Black Panther and victim of COINTELPRO called in from the Jessup Correctional Institution as well where he still remains incarcerated after 37 years.  (When Steiner asked if there were any questions from the audience for Conway, I jumped to the mic and asked him what we - the 500 some people in the room could do to help get him out.  I’ve been working with the committee to Free Eddie and will be asking for your help soon related to his case. Yes You!) 

The whole night was great and I have pictures and 6 sheets of FREE EDDIE CONWAY petitions to prove it.

Dr. Judson Jeffries was really engaging as well.  In speaking of the decline of the revolutionary spirit in Black America, he described one factor as “careerism.”  He said that these days people of African descent are more concerned about advancing in their careers than they are interested in organizing for Black Liberation.  Michael Porter expounds upon this in his book Kill Them Before They Grow: Misdiagnosis of African American Boys in American Classrooms.  In chapter 3, “Paycheck Slavery and the African American Professional”, Porter says the following:

The high (sometimes not so high) digit paycheck has replaced the assassin’s bullet that was meant to suppress and eliminate African American leaders and potential leaders.  Too many Brothers and Sisters simply sell out.  The wholesale buying into of Caucasian and Western values has deadened the revolutionary perceptive ability of too many African Americans.  Instead of seeing White Supremacy, they see White dollars.  This is really hurting us…After becoming accustomed to or enslaved by the paycheck, the Brother or Sister becomes fearful of losing it.  The Mercedes Benz, two hundred thousand dollar mortgage, charge cards, and all the trappings of The American Dream becomes their very reason for living.  Because they become owned by what they own, they end up with two masters: the Caucasian master with his paycheck and their material “possessions.”

This sheds light on the path that I see many young professionals aspiring to and where many baby boomers have already dropped their anchors.  The paycheck, it seems, is more dangerous than the assassin’s bullet because it comes with the illusion of “mainstream” legitimacy.  In other words, mainstream America stamps the pursuit of the paycheck with a satisfactory label which gives some Blacks “permission” to chase it.  The powerful paycheck places strings on Africans’ tongues, cuffs on Africans’ hands, and attempts to back us into a corner of compromise exploiting our position in a capitalistic society held up by the beams of the White Power Structure.  Those who acquiesce get invited into the house to serve the oppressor.  Those who resist remain in the field struggling to support themselves and their families while feasting heartily on their dignity.