Faith in Action

Well, according to the United States he was a terrorist, but now he is a highly respected international diplomat. Mandela was on the United State’s Terror Watch List which made sure he had to jump through extra hoops to gain entry into the U.S. I’m sure his name being on that list also authorized the CIA or FBI to take some “other” actions against him as well. [read: wiretapping and other surveillance activities. I'm sure we'll read about it in a book after Mandela has made his final earthly transition.]

While most world leaders applaud Baba Mandela today (some going so far as to suggest that he is nearly a saint), he wasn’t always so celebrated - of course most of us know about his being an anti-apartheid political prisoner for 27 years in Robben Island Prison, but I wonder if most people know that Mandela came to be a proponent of armed self-defense in South Africa. Consider this quote from his Opening Statement in his defense case before the Pretoria Supreme Court in April 1964 entitled, “I Am Prepared To Die.”

At the beginning of June 1961, after a long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I, and some colleagues, came to the conclusion that as violence in this country was inevitable, it would be unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the Government met our peaceful demands with force.

This conclusion was not easily arrived at. It was only when all else had failed, when all channels of peaceful protest had been barred to us, that the decision was made to embark on violent forms of political struggle, and to form Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). We did so not because we desired such a course, but solely because the Government had left us with no other choice. In the Manifesto of Umkhonto published on 16 December 1961, which is Exhibit AD, we said:

“The time comes in the life of any nation when there remain only two choices - submit or fight. That time has now come to South Africa. We shall not submit and we have no choice but to hit back by all means in our power in defence of our people, our future, and our freedom”.

They say that the conservatives of today were the radicals of yesterday. While I wouldn’t say that Mandela is a “conservative” it is interesting studying his development. I have serious doubts about whether or not he would support armed self-defense today. Or maybe he would. Who knows.

What I do know is that the revolutionary spirit is alive and well in the world, especially in Nigeria where members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), are engaged in guerilla warfare against Western oil companies (Shell, Chevron, and others) who are extracting the “liquid gold” from their land and leaving the indigenous people to live in extreme poverty. Being that the government of Nigeria is not advocating for the masses of poor in the nation and non-violent rallies and protests are not working, groups like MEND have begun a campaign of sabotage, kidnapping, and murder of Western oil workers in order to aggressively reconstitute the redistribution of resources in their nation.

Now who are the terrorists in Nigeria?

How does this apply to other conflicts in the world? (i.e. Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinians, the Israeli Government, FARC, the Columbian Government, etc.)

How does this apply to historical conflict and its traditional re-telling? (i.e. the Black Panthers, American Indian Movement, Pilgrims, Black Muslims, Puerto Rican Independence Movement, the Central Intelligence Agency, Bloods, Crips, Black Guerilla Family, Young Lords, the Weathermen, MOVE, etc.)

I am encouraged to see the revolutionary spirit alive and well in these young people from Cali who are Young Black Panthers dedicated to projecting the true image of The Panthers. They call themselves “The Riders” and they are all former Bloods and Crips who have evolved in their thinking to a higher, revolutionary consciousness. Their spokeswoman is extremely impressive. My favorite soundbyte from her was: “You can’t be a revolutionary if you don’t read!”

An excerpt from a 1963 speech by Bro. Malcolm X entitled “God’s Judgement of White America.”

In this deceitful American game of power politics, the Negroes (i.e., the race problem, the integration and civil rights issues) are nothing but tools, used by one group of whites called Liberals against another group of whites called Conservatives, either to get into power or to remain in power.

Among whites here in America, the political teams are no longer divided into Democrats and Republicans. The whites who are now struggling for control of the American political throne are divided into “liberal” and “conservative” camps. The white liberals from both parties cross party lines to work together toward the same goal, and white conservatives from both parties do likewise.

The white liberal differs from the white conservative only in one way: the liberal is more deceitful than the conservative. The liberal is more hypocritical than the conservative.

Both want power, but the white liberal is the one who has perfected the art of posing as the Negro’s friend and benefactor; and by winning the friendship, allegiance, and support of the Negro, the white liberal is able to use the Negro as a pawn or tool in this political “football game” that is constantly raging between the white liberals and white conservatives.

Politically the American Negro is nothing but a football and the white liberals control this mentally dead ball through tricks of tokenism: false promises of integration and civil rights. In this profitable game of deceiving and exploiting the politics of the American Negro, those white liberals have the willing cooperation of the Negro civil rights leaders. These “leaders” sell out our people for just a few crumbs of token recognition and token gains. These “leaders” are satisfied with token victories and token progress because they themselves are nothing but token leaders….

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Bro. Malcolm X is one of the chief examples of Black Manhood for me. It was upon reading his Autobiography that I really learned about his life’s story and legacy beyond the state-endorsed soundbytes that present him unfavorably.

While flipping the pages of the book, I felt like I was in conversation with him. We have more in common than I initially thought - even down to small things like letting our beards grow while back in the Motherland.

He is as alive today as he was during his human experience. His ideas, speeches, and liberating activity inspire millions across the world. While it is unfortunate that the Baltimore City Public Conditioning System will not include the story of Bro. Malcolm as a standard component of the curriculum; all is not lost. It is our job as a community to reclaim ownership of our children’s education and prevent those who are ignorant or negatively biased to Ourstory from infecting the minds of the youth. (Toward that end, please Educators take a look at this exciting curriculum.)

For the parents and/or youth-serving adults out there today. I encourage you to take some moments today to talk to your children about the true legacy of Bro. Malcolm X.

Happy Birthday, Bro. Malcolm.

Shout out to Reality Speaks of the Solvivaz Nation. They are bringing Dr. Ray Hagins to Baltimore again TOMORROW, April 26, 2008 7PM. Check out their note below and please do all you can to support this valuable engagement.

Greetings Family,

Reality Speaks of Solvivaz Nation would like to invite the entire Afrikan family to join us as we feature Rev. Dr. Ray Hagins this Saturday @ the Sojourner Douglass College 200 N. Central Ave from 7pm-10pm doors open at 6pm. Tickets for this event are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.

America is Falling: How will the Black Man and Woman Survive???

This is a don’t miss event!!! Dr. Rev. Ray Hagins challenges the way we as Black people think about ourselves and our worldview. This will definitely be an informative event for Afrikans of all ages.

FMI call Reality Speaks Bookstore and Media Center 410-889-0477or visit us online at www.RealitySpeaksBookstore.com

We appreciate your support. Tubman Fried Fish Dinners will be sold!!!

I believe that it was Bro. Sitawi Jahi - a faithful “Faith in Actioner” (regular visitor/supporter of my blog) that first put me on to Pastor Ray Hagins out of St. Louis, Missouri.

After Jahi put the name out there in the comment section and forwarded me an email, I thought I’d check out this Hagins guy and see what he was all about. It turns out that Hagins isn’t just some guy - he’s a Master Teacher and Conscious Preacher who preaches a challenging message about engaging God, the Bible, and the Christian Faith with “new eyes.”

My seminary journey at Virginia Union and and self-imposed aggressive reading schedule since school has blessed me to be exposed to a healthy portion of what Hagins preaches. He proclaims a challenging and unsettling word that many “sunday morning church folk” would choke on rather quickly. Hagins speaks on the origins of the Bible, Constatine’s impact on the Faith, the Kemetic influence of the scriptures (especially the Old Testament), and many other intriguing topics.

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Last week, NBC Nightly News did a 5-part series on Black Women in America.  The first installment was broadcast last Monday night and focused on the career gains of Black Women.  I learned about it at one of the most provocative blogs on the net. I must say that the initial notification at that blog gave the series much more hype than the actual finished product warranted.  I’m sure that the sister at NBC that produced it pushed hard for the network to buy the idea, but they still played it during the last few minutes of the program and it really came off like it was an afterthought. (at least the first night anyway)

I was disturbed, however, by the aspect of the series that focused on interracial dating/marriages.  This feature talked about how more and more Black women are choosing White men as mates for various reasons.  Some of the featured women talked about the so-called “shortage” of quality Black men in this country.  Other women on the video talked about how as they aged they began to wonder if they’ll ever be married and so they broadened their horizons.  One woman talked about how she was married to a Black man and after their divorce she began dating White men in search of ”new perspectives” as she put it.  Here are the two clips from the NBC special on interracial dating/marriage. 

Love, in black and white

 Girl talk

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“Without the African connection we are a disjointed people…begging for entry into somebody else’s house”

The Institute for Urban Research will host scholar, Dr. Marimba Ani, author of Yurugu: An African-Centered Critique of European Thought and Behavior, on Saturday, December 1, 2007 6PM - 10PM at Morgan State University’s Engineering Building Auditorium.

The long anticipated 2nd Edition of Yurugu marks a milestone in the long career of Professor Ani’s contributions in the deconstruction of western thought and behavior.

Marimba Ani holds a BA degree in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, and the MA Ph.D. degrees in anthropology from the Graduate Faculty of the New School University.  Professor Ani has taught at Hunter College in the Department of Black and Puerto Rican Studies for the past 25 years and was a colleague of the eminent Black historian, Dr. John Henrik Clarke.

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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.]

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