When people ask, "what is the biggest mistake made in the Black Panther Party?" I tell them very clearly that what we did wrong was to take God out of the movement. -Afeni Shakur (Former Black Panther and Mother of slain rapper,Tupac Shakur)
The death of a 19-year-old found slumped in his cell a day after he was jailed on charges of running over and killing a police officer has been ruled a homicide, authorities said Monday.
The Maryland Medical Examiner ruled Monday that Ronnie White’s death in Prince George’s County Correctional Center the previous day was from asphyxiation and strangulation.
Maryland State Police and the FBI are investigating the death. The FBI is focusing on possible civil rights violations.
Prince George’s County Executive Jack Johnson said at a news conference Monday, “If we have vigilante justice, our society will fall apart.”
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!”
A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a reporter for The Dallas Observer Newspaper. He wanted my take on the then recent news regarding the new president of the NAACP. He had read the piece I did about this issue and wanted me to elaborate and provide some quotes for his article.
Unfortunately, he called me on a late Friday afternoon and needed my input before a Monday afternoon deadline. Well, I’m extremely suspicious of mainstream press these days because of recent mischaracterizations so I wouldn’t be rushed into an interview on the spot. Also, I’m quickly learning that weekends are extremely busy for Pastors so long story short we weren’t able to conduct a full interview before his deadline, however, he did pull some quotes from my blog.
His focus was on Dr. Freddy Haynes - one of the frontrunners for the position of President of the NAACP. The piece is entitled, “The Man Who Would be King” with the byline: “Freddy Haynes seemed a shoo-in to lead the NAACP. Then Obama’s Ex-Pastor came to town.”
Here is the reporter’s reference to me and the Faith in Action blog:
Not long after [the election of Benjamin Jealous as President], on blogs across the country, supporters of Haynes expressed their disappointment with the decision. Some wondered if NAACP chairman Julian Bond’s alleged support of Hillary Clinton had been a factor. Others wondered if Haynes was too polarizing a figure for the organization at a time in which it seemed a great possibility the United States would elect its first black president. Heber Brown III, a black liberation preacher in Baltimore, wondered on his blog, Faith in Action, if Haynes’ ties with Wright had been a problem for the board.
“It’s no secret that Haynes is a protégé of Wright and is doing a fantastic job continuing in the Black Liberation Theology tradition,” Brown wrote.
Click here to read the full Dallas Observer article with Faith in Action quote included. (Who knew that eventually this blog would bubble up to “mainstream” press?)
Without a doubt she is the principled freedom fighter that society usually celebrates only after they leave the scene.
However, I opt to give her her flowers while she can yet smell them so HAPPY BIRTHDAY Del. Carter and please continue to honor the legacy of your father and so many others who fought for positive social change for those on the margins of society.
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….
To all the Dad’s out there, a special note of appreciation to you for the many ways in which you show love, support, and caring for you children and broader community.
And for the old school hip hop heads out there like me, here’s a flashback to Ed O.G. and the Bulldogs with their classic message, “Be a Father to Your Child.”
I have been discoursing with purported members of Senator Obama’s political inner-circle. These individuals cannot see any conflict between Tavis Smiley’s outrage given that Senator Obama attended and spoke so gallantly (to defend Israel) at this Jewish conference, when on the other hand he snubbed the State of the Black Union Conference.
Many black Americans do not see a conflict between Obama’s politics as usual and his pledge to continue America’s venal and unbalanced support of Israel in deference to balancing the scales between Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah…! Some Americans have been duped into believing that Obama is simply playing possum, but once he gets elected Superman with his unfurled cape streaming in the wind is going to spring into action.
Folks, in my opinion, the reason that the USA is having so much turmoil and trouble with respect to Middle-Eastern and Near-Eastern nations, among other things, is its unfair and unbalanced support towards Israel against not only Hamas and Hezbollah but against other nations within close proximity like Syria, Iran…, and other nations that are at a greater distance!
America has pledged to destroy itself and its standing in the world right along with its 51st state, Israel. And even though American Christians have biblically inspired and romantic feelings toward the Israel of antiquity, the Israel of today was formulated, created and populated as a result of actions that took place in the UN in 1947/48. Much like it is within American leadership circles, many within Israel’s leadership ranks are nothing more than ungod-like natural born killers.
The Palestinian (Arab and Muslim Semitic people) were summarily evicted from their homelands and their homes, neighborhoods…., their homelands were turned over to the mixed European Jewish Diaspora who returned to Israel from European nations following WWII. When you hear Arabs and Muslims say that Israel does not have a right to exist, they base their opinions on the actions that were decided in the U.N. in 1947/48, having been pushed particularly by Great Britain, the USA and a few other nations. A nearly equal amount of nations abstained from the western backed insouciant injustice that took place in the United Nations in 1947/48.
Pretty interesting piece on Baltimore from Aljazeera English. They do a pretty good job of presenting news from a different perspective and I’m heartened by their Code of Ethics.
Internet surfing on Saturday revealed that the NAACP had elected its new leader - Benjamin Todd Jealous, a Rhodes Scholar and Human Rights Activist. Jealous at age 35 is the youngest President and CEO in the 99 year history of the organization.
Not knowing Mr. Jealous, there are two things that struck me at first glance when I read the news. First, his age. I thought it was a bold and encouraging move by the organization to elect a young man to lead the organization forward. It sends a signal that the NAACP is serious about recruiting more youth to the organization to be true partners in determining future steps. It’s no secret that the NAACP - like other “old guard” civil rights organizations/figureheads- has struggled to remain relevant in quickly changing times. Hopefully, Jealous will help.
The second thing that struck me was his image. To be quite honest, when I first saw his picture I thought that he was caucasian. I was shocked to think that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People had elected a White man to lead the organization into the future! Now I know that this wouldn’t have been a first for the NAACP (White people have always been involved with the leadership and funding of the organization), but let’s just say I would have considered it a very surprising move. I can hear Jasmyne Cannick already saying that White people are not stealing our cultural distinctives - WE’RE GIVING THEM AWAY!
Thank goodness I kept reading the article.
Jealous’ mother is Black and his father is White. Jean Marbella from the Baltimore Sun calls him “very Obama” - with the parallels of ivy league credentials, biracial parentage, lawyer spouses, and contentious battles to win versus older, established candidates.
One of the other candidates for the presidency - Dr. Freddy Haynes, pastor of Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, was my choice. Knowing him personally and his rootage in the Black Church experience would have poised the organization to continue blowing the trumpet for justice no matter how unpopular it would be. (I would be curious to learn how Haynes connection to Dr. Jeremiah Wright impacted the Board’s decision. It’s no secret that Haynes is a protege of Wright and is doing a fantastic job continuing in the Black Liberation Theology tradition.)
Well apparently, the “social justice” trumpet won’t be the bugle nearest Benjamin Jealous’ hand - his top priority is fundraising. According to a Baltimore Sun article:
Jealous said he will make financial stability a priority for the organization and plans to use his personal relationships with top foundations around the country to build fund-raising.
This is of great concern to me because I do not believe that the nation’s foundations are going to make contributions without strings attached. My boy “E Double” shared a Haki Madhubuti quote with me sometime ago that went something like, “It is generally understood that he who butters your bread dictates your appetite.”
Toward that end, I recently finished reading a fascinating book entitled, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond The Non-Profit Industrial Complex edited by Incite! Women of Color Against Violence. The book demands your eyes to be opened to the fact that Foundations and other Grantmaking Institutions have historically been used to indirectly control the activities of organizations that claim social change as their goal. Nonprofit organizations are, by and large, used to dissiminate crumbs to the poor, oppressed masses and manage their dissent as opposed to nourishing the seeds of revolution that are present in their souls. It is the blossoming of those seeds that is needed to bring this system of government which is unjust at its core to an end. According to this must-read book, the Non-profit Industrial Complex (NPIC) is used to:
monitor and control social justice movements
divert public monies into private hands through foundations
manage and control dissent in order to make the world safe for capitalism
redirect activist energies into career-based modes of organizing instead of mass-based organizing capable of actually transforming society
allow corporations to mask their exploitative and colonial work practices through “philanthropic” work
encourage social movements to model themselves after capitalist structures rather than to challenge them
If these concepts hold to be true, and I suspect they will, we can look forward to a NAACP that becomes further “americanized” and absorbed into the corporate realm rendering it unable to truly challenge an unjust power structure that it will rely so heavily on for financial support. They won’t bark too loud - lest the hand that feeds them gets offended.
Not only will the revolution not be televised, but I agree with argument of the book, the revolution will not be funded either!
Toward that end, I recently finished reading a fascinating book entitled,