I rarely do this, but every now and then I read a comment on the web that I have to share with other readers in the fields. The following comment comes from by good brother Asabagna,by way of a comment he dropped on the free slave blog. (Sorry Max, looks like I beat you to it). Now for the record, I don't agree with everything Asa says, I actually think that black folks brown folks, and forward thinking white folks, can all work together to make this revolution thing work. Asa seems to be coming from a more black only perspective, which is fine, but I don't quite think like that. As someone who views the revolution from a more world wide and not just American perspective, I don't see the problem only in terms of black and white. So I search for a more viable and inclusive strategy. Remember, without our Jewish brother s and sisters during the civil rights struggle, plenty of the sh** we got accomplished could not have been done. Still, I agree with the overall tone and tenor of Asa's comments, and I think this brother is not only deep, but his heart is in the right place as well.
So here are my man's comments; unedited, and just like he laid it down over at the free slave.
"Great topic Lubangakene, once again you got me going deep. When I first read you post, the first thing that popped into my head was the Beatles song ‘Revolution’: 'ou say you want a revolution… Well you know… We all want to change the world'. Now I am sure this is not what you want to hear… lol… but that is the jingle that came into my head as I thought… well what would this revolution look like? … and how would we get there?
Then, Malcolm’s speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” popped into my consciousness (hopefully this redeems by involuntary Beatles “faux pas”..lol…). You are right on with your comments on the futility of utilizing the “Ballot” to bring about real change. I always refer to this statement by a relatively well known but unappreciated political philosopher when it comes to voting: “If voting could change anything, they would outlaw it”: Ice-T. Since I don’t live in America, as an outside observer, I am shake my head time and time again on how African-Americans put so much faith and energy into the voting process. I understand the overwhelming responsibility which they feel that they must exercise their vote, because of the romanticized historical relevance of the civil/voting rights movement…. especially in honour of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in this struggle. But from my perch in Canada, I see how easily those who want to exercise their right to vote for the candidate or party of their choice, are quickly “demonized” if they don’t conform to the groupthink. Then of course there is the choice between those who will “rape” you with vaseline and those who will “rape” you without vaseline. Insert whichever party, Democrats-Republicans, as the former or latter “perpet-raper”.
So here are my man's comments; unedited, and just like he laid it down over at the free slave.
"Great topic Lubangakene, once again you got me going deep. When I first read you post, the first thing that popped into my head was the Beatles song ‘Revolution’: 'ou say you want a revolution… Well you know… We all want to change the world'. Now I am sure this is not what you want to hear… lol… but that is the jingle that came into my head as I thought… well what would this revolution look like? … and how would we get there?
Then, Malcolm’s speech “The Ballot or the Bullet” popped into my consciousness (hopefully this redeems by involuntary Beatles “faux pas”..lol…). You are right on with your comments on the futility of utilizing the “Ballot” to bring about real change. I always refer to this statement by a relatively well known but unappreciated political philosopher when it comes to voting: “If voting could change anything, they would outlaw it”: Ice-T. Since I don’t live in America, as an outside observer, I am shake my head time and time again on how African-Americans put so much faith and energy into the voting process. I understand the overwhelming responsibility which they feel that they must exercise their vote, because of the romanticized historical relevance of the civil/voting rights movement…. especially in honour of those who gave the ultimate sacrifice in this struggle. But from my perch in Canada, I see how easily those who want to exercise their right to vote for the candidate or party of their choice, are quickly “demonized” if they don’t conform to the groupthink. Then of course there is the choice between those who will “rape” you with vaseline and those who will “rape” you without vaseline. Insert whichever party, Democrats-Republicans, as the former or latter “perpet-raper”.
Therefore will the revolution be brought about by the “Bullet”. Back to the Beatles: “But when you talk about destruction… Don’t you know you can count me out…. ” The reality is that for Black people to engage in widespread violent revolution to break the chains of their oppression…. well let just say… the reality is that one of the basic requirements needed in an armed struggle is communication… and most of us either have revolving issues with paying bills on time or we are on a pay as you go plan for our “cellies”…. which just won’t cut it…. especially when you are about to forward intelligence on your enemies movements or attack formations! A “puff”.. the phone gets cut off! lol!
So what are we left with… well let me suggest that we employ the mindset of the Spartans…. as seen in the movie “300” (Tafari—quit drooling!). Let’s have a real revolution of thought and practice. Let us create a community of Black/African men and women who from birth are trained to be warriors, and by this I mean have a warrior mentality where their only… I repeat and emphasize, ONLY commitment is to this community. Two very difficult choices will have to be made for this to work. First, those who can’t or don’t measure up physically, emotionally, spiritually and/or make a real contribution to the community… we cut them loose. So those who are chronic substance abusers, societal and moral deviants (i.e murderers, abusers of women and children, etc.), those who are unteachable, those who cannot/will not develop a community first attitude, those who are weak willed and/or weak minded, and anything else that is an anchor to our progress…. we turn them out. Second, we don’t get hooked into other peoples/groups struggles. Let white women (feminists) fend for themselves. Let the homosexuals fight their own battles for their civil rights. Let the Native Indians (who owned slaves and are more than willing to disentangle themselves from that history) engage the white man in their own struggle. Let the poor white trailer trash agitate for their own political/economic empowerment. F*CK THE RAINBOW COALITION! It’s a burden on our advancement! It should be all about us and ONLY us. I contend that ONLY by this type of revolution, can even START to develop a strong and progressive Black/African community. Purification of community values. Single-mindedness of community purpose. Revolution of community focus.
The alternative…. well we may as well sing along with the Beatles: 'on’t you know it’s gonna be alright, alright, alright' as we are led as sheep to the slaughter. "
~Asabagna~
Thanks for dropping knowledge yawdie. This is why I blog, and this is why I read other people's blogs; so that I can get inspiration and knowledge from cats like you.
