Tag: race

Freedom – The Illusion

matrix rabbit hole

“Do you think that’s air you’re breathing?” – Morpheus, The Matrix

When I logged into my WordPress account a few months ago, back when the Silver back Gorilla was killed, my reader lit up. There were many posts concerning the outrage over, not the saving of a child’s life, but of the killing of this rare animal. I saw many people who were frustrated and devastated in regard to the shooting. Many of them blamed the parents and many people had little sympathy for the child who was saved. Today, things are a little different.

Not even a full stride out of the holiday that is the celebration of America’s freedom, two black men are dead; losing their lives in a way that is all too familiar to the black community. Just two and three days after you waved your flags and sang your songs and celebrated the freedom of a country you are reminded yet again of a question that still hangs suspended in the air. An annoying presence of a question that feels like the erection of tiny hairs on the skin. It is the question of freedom.

What would it have felt like if I was there? If on July 4, 1776 I served at the table of my masters as they swallowed celebratory liquor and sang songs; celebrating the freedom of a country as I served at the table? The interesting connection is that many African Americans celebrated this same freedom just three days ago and yet today we bury the remains of strange fruit we continue to pretend does not exist in this land. Pouring our drink offerings to founding fathers while we stand here in chains reaching out for a tree that, of all our boasting, has never produced anything of value for us. No one can deny that it’s been a long ride for our people in America, and after nearly 400 years and the first black president, we are still sojourners in a strange land that is not ours.

Frederick Douglas said, “Oppression makes a wise man mad.” There is only so many times that a man will lay down and allow someone to press their foot against his neck. There are only so many marches, so many protests, and there is only a certain amount of time that one will allow before they stand up to who and what they perceive to be the bully. I say to prepare yourselves. Before there is a false peace, understand that there must first be war and if it is not already evident today, the racial war is upon us. Do not be surprised when the pressure finally bursts the pipes, and prophecy tippy toes off the pages of scripture and seats itself in our front yards.

White Privilege in America #MayChallengeDay18

It just is what it is. White Privilege exist and is alive and well in our society. It means basically that a person feels like they are entitled to things because of who they are and where they come from. Even more, not only are they entitled, but society itself entitles them. In America, white privilege is not something that is exclusive to Jim Crow or something that existed a long time ago. White Privilege exists right here today in our society. Just look at Ethan Couch, better known as The Afluenza Teen. The young man who murdered four people and got away with it on the premise that he suffers from a condition called “Affluenza” or someone who has an alleged lack of motivation and isolation due to being affluent or wealthy. When they labeled Ethan with this supposed “psychological” condition, they were basically saying that he suffers from white privilege. That is, he was born white and wealthy. This is just one such story in which white people can get away with what other people cannot. And I really hate saying “white people” since I don’t really believe in identifying any group of people by colors. There are not white people and black people. There are nations of people. So anyway, for the sake of understanding, white privilege is real and its time for us to stop denying it exists. Just to use politics as an example, had Ben Carson said half of what Donald Trump said he would have been metaphorically lynched. Destroyed. Over with. Stick a fork in him, he’s done. Everybody can see the obvious racism of this “Trump Card” but what many have not said is why he’s winning. Trump in short, plays on the people’s emotions (and not just white racists, many black people are agreeing with him too). He’s simply appealing to the heart of what many Americans have felt for years but have not voiced in public. Donald Trump is not a politician, he’s a business man. So yes, he’s a racist. Yes, he’s a clown. Yes, he’s this and he’s that but the reality is what? Many Americans are supporting him and many will vote for him. Now, what does this say about America? Because this is not about voting or about Trump. What it says is that contrary to popular belief White Privilege still exists, and more so, many Europeans do wish to make America great again. Do we understand what this term means? Making America great again is a term used by racists who wish for things to go back to the way it was in the days of Jim Crow, you know, when niggas knew their place. “Make America Great Again” is for those who wish for America to go back to the way it used to be. Blonde hair, blue eyes, white privilege. America’s sweetheart.

Formation

I wasn’t going to comment on this, but I’m tired of hearing about it so I thought I’d weigh in. Hold your breaths. In fact, you may want to click that nice x button over in the top right corner of your screen. This is not something you want to hear.

Colors have always been strong symbols. Today, almost everything can be recognized or interpreted by its color. When you see red you think stop. When you see green you think go, nature, life, wealth. When you see yellow you think sunshine, light, happiness, peace. When you see pink you think girly. And then there’s black.

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Since the Black Panthers, the color Black has been resurrected to be a symbol of power, strength, and rebellion. Rebellion against a system that has defined Black people as something dark and animalistic since the institution of chattel slavery. Today, black people who wear Black are seen as people who embrace black pride and become symbols for the African American rebellion against unjust systems.

However, everything that glitters is not gold and everyone wearing an Afro is not “revolutionary”. In witchcraft, the color black was used to indicate authority and power. It also symbolizes death, fear, and (wait for it) ignorance. Like any other symbol, when you see the color black it causes a trigger in your mind. For African Americans, it causes us to think about The Black Panther Party or Blackness in its relation to Black pride in general.

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Why is Beyonce’s Formation being compared to The Black Panthers? What you saw in the half-time of the Superbowl was not a showcase of racial pride. It was not an image of strength and courage it was a coven of witches casting spells. This same thing happened back in 2014 when Solange rocked an Afro at her wedding. A group of people who are collectively worth billions of dollars held a wedding in an old crumbly building in New Orleans with chipping paint and stood like statues with blank stares. The whole thing made no sense and was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen but because they wore Afros y’all praised it like it was something profound.

Am I a hater? Yes. I hate when people jump on bandwagons because of the appearance of something that looks positive but that they have no knowledge of. You weren’t shown Black Power, you were shown Black Cat Power and any Wiccan can tell you there’s a difference. Back in the day people worshipped the Sun and Moon and considered them Gods. Later, these worshippers associated specific animals with them. Concerning the cat, they believed certain Goddesses took the form of cats (cats are very sensitive to spirits), specifically, the Egyptian Goddesses Bast. Not only are cats sensitive to spirits, but black cats were symbolic of magic and darkness after the Goddess Diana (Known as Queen of the Witches) cult was said to have went underground.

By wearing all black, rocking Afros, and throwing clenched fist into the air you were made to believe something profound happened, just the same as when Solange threw an all white wedding. White, a symbol of purification and light. Thus this wedding gave you the perception of purity.

Race and Rights

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When did race and rights become separate entities? Since when has the black problem in America not have to do with both race and rights? Dare you to walk the streets of the 1920s and 40s and 50s with your prophet scented blood and expect to transgress the law of separatist signage. That “Whites Only” sign ain’t there by mistake. The one that says Negroes like you must order from the back door. Yo money may be colored like your skin but green has always been worth more than brown. I don’t like to have to go back to slavery. After all, it ain’t like I lived it and yet I can never forget what it feels like. But since we on the subject of feeling, I’m feeling like the same blood pulsing underneath my ancestor’s skin now pulses through mine so what they felt I feel it too. Perhaps I too was a slave long ago and its just taken me this long to find my voice. So, therefore, let me tell you something about what it means to be a slave. A slave is never granted the same rights as a free man, not a physical slave or a psychological one. An inferior race is never granted the same rights as a superior one. Thus anything that’s got to do with rights has also got to do with race. For the Black problem in America has always been centered around identity and always will be. Rights would have never been a problem if the problem wasn’t race. If the hierarchy of the superior and the less superior didn’t exist. If black people never walked around with bywords and proverbs tattooed on their skins there wouldn’t have been a need for them to watch movies in the Nigger Heaven1 of southern movie theaters. Would have been no need of me taking my seat alongside Miss Parks or Miss Morgan all them years ago. A Black Man’s rights and his race are always connected here, like the careful structure of his bones before he emerges from his mother’s womb. It’s the yearning for freedom written in his DNA. Black America’s rights have always and always will be centered around their identity because their problem is not physical it is spiritual. And because a spiritual problem has been long fought with physical weapons the condition of black people in America continues. And so their fight has always been and always will be centered around their freedom.

1. Nigger heaven, n. a designated place, usually the balcony, where blacks were forced to sit, for example, in an integrated movie theater or church as part of Jim Crow Laws.

:Random 11:

Ja’da posed a great question. I think this is an excellent conversation starter. With her permission I would love to use it as a catalyst for a separate post in which to give my thoughts on the answer to this question. My comment would just be too long.

4everQuixotic's avatarquixoticmuses

As a writer, I have come to understand that in every capacity the term “urban” is synonymous with “Black people.” I don’t want to be an urban fiction writer; I want to be a writer. But I’m Black writing about Black people and not exclusively Black people drama. So I feel like I’m automatically fitted into the urban fiction slot when really, I just want to write fictional stories. Period.

How do I get there?

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Its Not Just Because Your Black

You were pulled over because your taillight is out, your license is suspended, and you were speeding.

The reason you’re in the condition that you’re in is not because of the white man and its not just because your black. We are in these conditions as a people largely because of our own  lack of accountability for our actions.

A nine year old boy is murdered on the south side of Chicago because of his father’s dealings. Where are the marches at Jesse Jackson? Where is the protest Al Sharpton? Where’s the movement against black people killing black people?

John Singleton said that he will never put another movie out like Rosewood again because black people don’t support it. Rosewood for those who don’t already know is a movie based on a true story, a dramatization of the 1923 horrific lynch mob attack on an African American community.

The Tragedy of Rosewood

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In an article written in The Baltimore Sun, Stephen Hunter lists some reasons why the movie Rosewood did not excel calling it “a fundamentally immature, undisciplined work.” He goes on to say “Singleton probably over-romanticizes Rosewood.” Another major criticism was the cowboy theme, something we also see in Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained but if you understand history you would know that blacks were the first cow-boys. The term comes from the plantation where black boys were in charge of tending to the cattle. They were quite literally “cow boys”. So not only do I disagree with Hunter, but critics are missing a key element that contributed to why the movie did not do well.

The conversation always comes back to the Rosewood-Booty Call debate. Rosewood came out a week before Booty-Call and almost destroyed Singleton’s career. Booty-Call on the other hand did extremely well, putting leverage to Jamie Foxx’s career.

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The truth is that the black community must start taking responsibility for its actions. You are not pulled over just because your black, sometimes its because your illegal. If you know the system is biased, why would you behave recklessly? Even the bible says to give unto Caesar what is Caesars. So if I know its against the law to speed why would I risk getting caught? Likewise, a lack of black identity in film is not just because Hollywood does not want to see conscious movies about black people, but black people don’t even wanna see conscious movies about black people! As strangers in a foreign land we have been taught to hate ourselves and we tend to operate accordingly. If I hate myself I’m going to hate everything about myself. Yes, some of you hate yourselves but you can’t even take responsibility for that simple truth. Your afraid of your own people and you think dark skin a big nose, thick lips and kinky hair is the ugliest thing in the world.

Part of Rosewood’s failure is the fact that many blacks would much rather watch Tyler Perry’s, Medea Goes to Jail. You go to bed wearing a wig and you wake up with a wig. You go to bed with make-up on and you wake up with it on both literally and figuratively speaking. You put on elaborate personas because you hate who you are.

Cypher Matrix Quote

When you hate yourself but you don’t know that you hate yourself, this is a dangerous position to be in because a lack of love turns you into a monster. The stories of Jason and Michael Myers are not horror stories about supernatural beings. They were stories of children who were teased and abused and have consequently learned to hate themselves and it turned them into monsters. Michael Jackson is a real life example of childhood abuse turned horrific. This man was talented and has made great music but he also turned himself into a monster because he hated himself. He hated himself so much that he changed his physical appearance. That’s because when you hate your inside you hate everything outside and millions of dollars ain’t gonna solve it. Money can’t solve hatred only love can. The only way you can conquer self-hate is love, starting with self-love but to love yourself you have to first know yourself and knowing yourself begins with admitting your faults. Take some responsibility for the part you play in how you are treated. It doesn’t exempt anyone for their wrong but it helps you to move forward in yours.

When you know yourself only then can you love yourself and only then can you be yourself.

“This week marks the anniversary of the Rosewood massacre. Hundreds of black people were murdered and lynched and run off their own land and homes. We must never forget the domestic terrorism survived by our people. In 1997 I released a movie on the incident. It wasn’t one of my more successful pictures box office wise but I think it one of the best I’ve done. The same weekend it was released Booty Call came out. I think more black folks were comfortable watching Booty Call that weekend than Rosewood… Which is a shame…. I feel the more we embrace our history the better we can defend against being oppressed in our present. Just my thoughts this morning.”

– John Singleton