Posts tagged with "malcolm x"

Sankofa Café Owner: You’re Not a Special N-Word In The Room

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Haile Gerima called me a “nigger” in front of a crowd of Black elders, Howard University students and professors. They clapped for him after the disinformation he spewed in anger about the history and story of Maroons. This happened at his establishment, Sankofa Café on Georgia Ave in DC during a talk on the book, I Am Maroon.

After sharing my views on the use of the term Maroon and that my tribal community does not use the term because of what it means, (run away slave) Haile Gerima made his way to the front of the room to speak on the issue and after a brief back and forth with me spewed angrily, “Don’t say you’re a special nigger in the middle of Negros. That’s brag language. You’re not special, you’re not special, you’re not special. What I’m trying to tell you is all Black people made history out of their circumstances.”

Haile Gerima during the Q&A: https://youtu.be/s5sHg_UQvmU

In spite of what I know, including the books I’ve read, as well as my lived experience, I was told to crawl back into my cave, slandered, dismissed and insulted when I spoke about the history, meaning and impact of the word Maroon on my Pamaka culture. I was speaking as a so-called Maroon from Suriname. During the Q&A session I applauded the two speakers, children of the late author, Russell Shoatz, a gang member who turned political activist after hearing Malcolm X speak. He was sentenced to life in prison “following a coordinated attack in Fairmont Park that left one park guard dead.” He was affectionately called Maroon for his attempts to break out of the prison walls that kept him away from his community, activism and the life he deserved to live if justice knew its way to him and all those marred in the ongoing freedom struggle for a just America.

My comment during the Q&A: https://youtu.be/WvQ4-bxQRpQ

Simply expressing my disgust, shock and dismay at being called “nigger” by the owner of Sankofa will not suffice this storytelling. Because something deeper, more meaningful, even eye-opening took place that Saturday evening at Sankofa, a place I had come to enjoy for its unique African celebrations and elevation of Black voices.

Haile Gerima, a stranger to me, was angry and hostile when he addressed me while speaking to the crowd that had gathered to listen to the book talk. He took issue with my earlier comment by covertly insulting me, followed by dismissing all I had shared,  even disregarding my lived experience and cultural knowledge and understanding of history and basic facts of Maroons. At one point he even unfurled a long list of supposed names used to describe Maroons. One of the words was Ifu Gadu Wani. I was shocked to see my tribal language on the list that seem to have been put together rather flimsily. I said “Ifu Gadu Wani” is my tribal language, Pamaka. I speak it, write it and know that it does not mean Maroon, nor has it ever been used as another word for Maroon. The phrase actually means God willing and literally, “If God wants.” I grew up in Suriname with my mother and elders saying this phrase all the time. Haile Gerima pumped with ego and adrenaline refused to listen. I even held up the book I brought along to offer as reference for this knowledge, The Maroons of Jamaica 1655-1796, A History of Resistance, Collaboration & Betrayal, by Mavis C. Cambell but it fell on deaf ears with a dismissive retort, “why do you think I don’t have that book!” Haile Gerima got so riled up he crouched like a wild beast readying to pounce its prey, leaned forward with hate-filled eyes and fire in his breath and said, “Don’t say you’re a special nigger in the middle of negros. That’s brag language. You’re not special, you’re not special, you’re not special!”

I never said I was a special “nigger” in the room. I simply said many of those who are called Maroons,  a name the British first called escaped enslaved Africans in Jamaica, do not refer to themselves as Maroons. Many of us come from different tribes and even speak different dialects and practice different tribal customs. We are Tribal African people, not Maroons.

I was shocked hearing “nigger” thrown at me so maliciously and flippantly. The word traveled in slow motion across this so-called sacred Black space called Sankofa.

Haile Gerima’s anger and toxic ego was on full display.  I don’t know Haile Gerima. Had never met or even heard of him before Saturday night at Sankofa. When I go to the Café it is usually for a topic I find interesting and meaningful to my own life and pursuit of storytelling and documenting.

During previous visits I spoke to several of the staff there who handled speaking events about having a talk on the word Maroon. I also wrote to them requesting the opportunity to speak about my I Am Not Your Maroon campaign to educate about the word that, similar to the word “nigger” also carries its own trauma and inhumanity for Tribal African people. They never took me up on the offer. However, when I saw that I Am Maroon was going to be a book talk, I didn’t hesitate to attend. I wanted to know more about the book and why the author called himself Maroon. I also wanted to engage them as an actual so-called Maroon.

I left Sankofa with a heavy heart and disappointed spirit. This so-called safe space for Black people and Black stories was not safe at all. That evening I experienced a café and book store that defended sharing misinformation and disinformation. And one led by a man who labelled me a bragger who sees herself as a “special nigger among negros” for not wanting to be called a Maroon… a run away slave.

After the event was over, I stayed seated for a few minutes gathering myself, my thoughts and my exit plan. As people made their way to the stage for signatures, an older gentleman came over to me and apologized for Haile Gerima’s behavior. He said it was uncalled for and told me briefly about his character and hot temper. It was the old excuse line, “this is who he is, he’s always like this and I’m sorry that happened to you.” As I made my way to the exit one of the HU professors came over to shake my hand and greet me because she had never met someone from Suriname before. In the small talks, I saw an opening. There, the moderator and a few other elders had circled around Haile Gerima. They were gleefully speaking and engaging, as if this man didn’t just call me a nigger in front of them. It was like the standing ovation Will Smith received at the Oscars after slapping Chris Rock for no good reason. During his tirade the old man threw an insincere and hallow apology my way, called me “sister” a few times and said we could speak further after the event because after all, he was happy to see a “sister” from Suriname at the event.

I quietly took my exit.

Sankofa on Georgia Ave in Washington, DC claims to hold sacred the stories and history of Black folks and their experience. Enter at your own risk though and never forget, “Don’t say you’re a special nigger in the middle of Negros. You’re not special.”

Campaigns to eliminate to use of the word Maroon to describe a People are not new. And neither is the hostility and push back against this long standing movement. And the pushback is not from white people, but from Black folks who are not called Maroons and burdened with the stigma it carries. This fight is no different than the one Malcolm X poignantly spoke of when he described the difference between the house Negro and the field Negro. And like Malcolm, I too am a field Negro. Just don’t call me Maroon. And if the great orator and writer James Baldwin can say to his American oppressors, I Am Not Your Negro, so too can Tribal Africans in the Americas say, I Am Not Your Maroon.

 

Jeanette Lenoir, Founder, ePluribusAmerica

Sonya Massey: A Life Cut Short by Standard Police Violence Against Black Folks

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“The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” – Malcolm X

The murder of Sonya Massey – a 36-year-old Black woman – a victim of yet another unjustified act of police violence, has sparked outrage and calls for justice across the nation. Massey’s life was tragically cut short on July 6, 2024 during an encounter with law enforcement, leaving her family, her community and many across the nation shaken and devastated.

The loss of Massey, a mother of two, has left a void that cannot be filled and yet the incident has taken its place alongside the many others who have met a similar fate by the hands of police in these United States of America. Land of the free, home of the brave, we falsely claim. The rebuked demon responsible for her murder is also a figure in line with the thriving business of racism in America: an unqualified and deeply flawed white man who can get fired from multiple police departments, even get kicked out of the Army, and STILL enjoy the white privilege he naturally inherits as part of the lineage of white supremacy, the unrelenting terrorism of Jim Crow and David Duke’s hateful Klan that is part of our American culture. They don’t have to hang Black folks from trees anymore. They can simply put on a uniform and carry on the Black holocaust in America like it 1619. 

Although the police officer that should have never been one has been arrested and charged with murder, the investigation into the shooting continues. And despite Sean Grayson, the Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy who gunned down Massey in her own home after she called 9-11 for help, did not turn on his body camera during his callous act of violence, his partner did, which captured the horror that continues to send shock waves across the country. And the vicious white supremacist audacity of the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office in Illinois is clearly stated on their website, “No individual or small group hires or fires the Sheriff, or has the authority to interfere with the operations of the office.” Sheriff Jack Campbell is who hired this unqualified goon to terrorize the public he claims to serve and protect. If there is any justice, Campbell will be forced out of the office he wants to rule like an 1800s Klansman. 

The circumstances surrounding Massey’s untimely death is par for the course of American history. It is par for the course of the Black experience in America. And so, it is important that we, as a society, confront the issue of police violence, especially against Black people, and work towards a future where such tragedies are not just  prevented but severely punished. 

Grayson had a HISTORY of disciplinary issues. And yet, he was given a badge and a gun to terrorize the public. It is crystal clear that the “good old boys club” in America is alive and well ever since the birth of this nation built under the brutality of chattel slavery … Massey’s ancestors.  Audio recordings — obtained by CBS News — reveal concerns from superiors about Grayson’s integrity and misconduct. And yet, keeping in line with white privilege, Grayson kept his job. He was protected behind the blue wall of shame, racism and evil. How profoundly spiritual that Massey rebuked the demon standing before her in a police uniform before he shot her in the face. 

Our leaders are failing us in unimaginable ways.  From never-ending wars with standing ovations for a war criminal on the House floor, a compromised Congress ruled by a foreign lobby (AIPAC), including corporations, to the steady corroding of the values we supposedly espouse. We, the People are left to fend for ourselves as we tread these shark invested waters of our so-called democracy.

And so, a rally calling for #JusticeForSonyaMassey is taking place July 30th at 6 p.m. in Chicago. This is a call to action for all American communities to stand together and demand accountability. If you can, join to ensure that truth and justice prevail. Not just for Massey, but for all Americans. It’s time to end police brutality. It’s time to end the weaponizing of protecting and serving. It’s time to stop the unjust killings of Black people in America. 

 

The Cyclical Nature of Political Assassinations in America

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Political assassinations have been a recurring feature in American history, often shaping the course of the nation. From presidents to civil rights leaders, these targeted killings have left a lasting impact.

In 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer. This event shocked the nation and had far-reaching consequences for Reconstruction and the future of race relations in America. Decades later, in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. The assassination led to widespread grief and conspiracy theories that persist to this day.

Civil rights leaders were also targets of political assassinations. In 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated by members of the Nation of Islam, and in 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by James Earl Ray. These killings were a major setback for the civil rights movement and highlighted the deep racial divisions in American society.

What were the motives behind the assassination of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr.?

The motives behind the assassinations of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were complex and multifaceted.

In the case of Malcolm X, his assassination, with alleged covert government assistance, was carried out by members of the Nation of Islam, a group he had once been a prominent member of. However, he had become increasingly critical of the Nation and its leader, Elijah Muhammad, in the years leading up to his death. His criticisms and his formation of a rival organization, the Organization of Afro-American Unity, are believed to have been key factors in the decision to assassinate him.

The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. was carried out by James Earl Ray, a white supremacist. Ray had a history of racism and criminal activity. While his exact motives remain somewhat unclear, it is widely believed that his hatred of King and the civil rights movement played a significant role in his decision to commit the assassination.

In both cases, the assassinations were driven by a combination of political, ideological, and personal factors. They were acts of violence that had a profound impact on the civil rights movement and American society as a whole.

More recently, there have been attempts on the lives of other political figures. In 2011, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords was shot in the head during a constituent event in Tucson, Arizona. She survived but was left with severe injuries. And in 2024, former President Donald Trump was reportedly shot at by a sniper during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. He was not injured, but the incident underscored the ongoing threat of political violence.

And these are just a few examples of the many political assassinations that have taken place in America. These events have had a profound impact on the nation, shaping its history and its politics. It is important to remember these events and to learn from them, so that we can work to prevent future acts of political violence, like the recent assassination attempt of Republican nominee for president, well known for his own incitement of political violence, former president Donald Trump who survived a snipers bullets that nearly ending his life. The shooting at Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania took the life of one rally attendee and wounded several others.  

Here are a few other attempted assassinations and assassinations of U.S. presidents in American history:

  • James Garfield: Wounded July 2, 1881, he died 79 days later
  • William McKinley: Wounded September 6, 1901, he died 8 days later
  • Theodore Roosevelt: Attempted assassination on Oct 14, 1912
  • Andrew Jackson: Attempted assassination Jan. 30, 1835 outside the Capitol Building
  • William Howard Taft: Attempted assassination alleged in 1909 and 1910
  • Herbert Hoover: Attempted assassination alleged in 1928
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt: Attempted assassination Feb 15, 1933
  • Harry S. Truman: Attempted assassination in 1947 during the Jewish insurgency in Palestine before the formation of the State of Israel, and November 1, 1950, Puerto Rican pro-independence activists
  • Richard Nixon: Attempted assassination on April 13, 1972 and on February 22, 1974
  • Gerald Ford: Attempted assassination August 1974; September 5, 1975; September 22, 1975
  • Jimmy Carter: Alleged attempted assassination May 5, 1979

Serenading The Consciousness And Condition of Black People In America

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Jason Aldeen’s song is missing the chorus his ancestors played

 

BY JEANETTE LENOIR

“The prejudice against us is not because of our color, it is because of our condition. If we must have justice, we must be strong. If we must be strong, we must come together. If we must come together we can only do so in the system of organization.” – Marcus Garvey

Country singer, Jason Aldeen took his anti-Black Klansmen spirit to the airwaves, and just like Trump’s call to “Make America Great Again,” majority of the nation is standing up to salute his dog whistle. Sadly, he lacks even the most basic knowledge of American history responsible for the sociological patterns, symptoms, Black condition and “inappropriate behavior patterns” or “the Rodney King syndrome” as described by Dr. Claud Anderson in full manifestation. Instead, he has chosen to express the privilege it is to be White in America, as those who were forced to build this nation under the brutality of chattel slavery are now “free” to enjoy some of its bounty … or flip the table like a scene from reality television. Let’s break down his small town views and ignorance feigning expression reminiscent of the Key & Peele skit titled, Country Music.

Try That In A Small Town

Sucker punch somebody on a sidewalk
Carjack an old lady at a red light
Pull a gun on the owner of a liquor store
Ya think it’s cool, well, act a fool if ya like

It’s true, we’ve seen numerous incidents of criminals wreaking havoc across the country. Our society is on full HD display thanks to our powerful media industry. Many of these images we see and read about show mostly Black people committing these types of crimes. And this strategic maneuver has been done deliberately by the media since the birth of this nation. What they won’t show or talk about? The sucker punches thrown at Black people trying to get an education, cast their vote, look for work, or the hounds they released to tare the flesh off of women and children, the poisoning of livestock, the swindling of their hard-earned pay, and the bombing of their little girls in a church.

Mourners outside funeral services for Carol Robertson, one of four girls killed in the 1963 bombing.

“By the time I was 10 or 12, I just wished to God I was white, you know, because they had food to eat, they didn’t work, they had money, they had nice homes. And we would nearly freeze, we never did have any food, we worked all the time and didn’t have nothing.” – Fannie Lou Hamer

Mainstream media also fails to highlight the numerous incidents of carjacking of innocent Black people, even old ladies, who had managed to scrunch up enough money to pay-off a car they desperately needed to rebuild their families’ lives after emancipation and during the great depression. And there are numerous historic accounts of guns being pulled on Black store owners who’s perceived “success” was so deeply offensive to their White countrymen, academics have coined this phenomenon as “white rage” to describe their outright refusal to tolerate any Black person doing better than their former enslaved status.

Cuss out a cop, spit in his face
Stomp on the flag and light it up
Yeah, ya think you’re tough

Well, try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town

This part of the song should remind of the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, today a National Historic Landmark that was the site of the brutal Bloody Sunday beatings of civil rights marchers, including the late Congressman John Lewis. They were cussed out by cops who spat in their faces; symbolically stomping and burning the flag America says stands for freedom and democracy, and a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. John Lewis was marching for voting rights for Black people, a fundamental right denied to them, not just by Congressional action and inaction, but by state sponsored terrorism from unformed officers, White mobs and Klansmen. This took place in a small town, Selma, Alabama, and Aldeen is absolutely right, they didn’t make it down the road. They didn’t even make it across the bridge to meet the other side of the road. The cops took care of their own White people that day by beating down Black folks who dared to cross their racial line. And it didn’t take long for Black Americans to find out what truly goes down in small towns across America.

Even the Green Book became necessary to allow safe passage for Black folks in small towns. It became “the bible of black travel” during the era of Jim Crow laws, when open and legal discrimination against Black people was the American way, duly noted in Aldeen’s country howl. The south may have lost the Civil War but history and Aldeen’s crass tune makes clear that the country is still controlled by White racialists who voted for our last president who ran to, “Make America Great Again” for them.

Got a gun that my granddad gave me
They say one day they’re gonna round up
Well, that shit might fly in the city, good luck

Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town

The Second Amendment continues to be a contentious national debate. We’ve seen numerous incidents where race was a factor—Philando Castille, Alton Sterling, Breonna Taylor, Tamir Rice, Walter Scott—of the law being applied, and the loud inaction or response to these cases from the powerful NRA makes this also clear. This isn’t a new line drawn in the sand, as race has always been a factor in the application of the gun law. Case in point; Cliven D. Bundy and his militiamen took up arms against the federal government and were backed by the NRA who called the confrontation, “a proper, legitimate, lawful response to illegitimate, unlawful exercise of government power.”

And here’s another reminder of our divided America: The Branch Davidians and the siege at Ruby Ridge, had Wayne LaPierre, longtime NRA head honcho whaling in defense of those he sees as true Americans, “If you have a badge, you have the government’s go-ahead to harass and intimidate, even murder, law-abiding citizens.” Miraculously LaPierre lost his voice when Philando Castille was gunned down by a cop despite being a licensed gun owner. The only difference is that he was Black and the law was never considered with him in mind. “The National Rifle Association is America’s longest-standing civil rights organization. Together with our more than five million members, we’re proud defenders of history’s patriots and diligent protectors of the Second Amendment,” reads the official NRA statement. Imagine the audacity of that assertion.

Since the inception of the right to bear arms, the law was never intended to include Black people; it was intended to keep guns out of their hands. And White mobs have a long documented history of using guns “granddad gave” them to stop Black people from crossing racial lines in their fight for justice, freedom, access and equality.

In her book, The Second; Race and Guns In A Fatally Unequal America, Carol Anderson writes, “Even for the NRA, Black people did not have Second Amendment rights. A broken treacherous rights landscape, of course, has always been the reality for African Americans. We know that the 15th Amendment, the right to vote, was undercut by poll taxes, literacy tests, violence and understanding clauses for nearly 100 years and unfortunately, since 2013 has come under assault again. Similarly, the amendments covering the justice system, the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 8th, have offered little to no protection for African Americans because of numerous Supreme Court decisions that have imbedded racism and racial profiling into policing, trial procedures and sentencing. But the Second Amendment charge for a well regulated militia and the right of the people to keep and bear arms offers a particularly maddening set of standards where race is concerned.”

She continues, “There’s almost an eerie silence on this particular amendment, which its advocates call central to citizenship. That silence is not accidental. The 18th century origins of the right to bear arms explicitly excluded Black people. South Carolina encoded into law that the enslaved could not carry or make use of firearms or any offensive weapons whatsoever, unless in the presence of some White person. Moreover, the states various militias had the power to search and examine all Negro houses for offensive weapons and ammunition. In Delaware there could be no valid earthly reason that any bought servant or Negro or mulatto slave be allowed to bear arms. Georgia was even more direct, not only were Blacks forbidden from owning or carrying firearms but White men were required to own a good gun or pistol to give them the means to search and examine all Negro houses for offensive weapons and ammunition. The distinction was clear; citizens had the right to keep arms, the slave did not.”

“Revolution is never based on begging somebody for an integrated cup of coffee. Revolutions are never fought by turning the other cheek. Revolutions are never fought on love your enemies and pray for those who spitefully or despitefully use you. And revolutions are never a wave playing we shall overcome. Revolutions are based on bloodshed. Revolutions are never a compromise. Revolutions are never based upon negotiations. Revolutions are never based upon any kind of tokenism whatsoever. Revolutions are never even based upon that which is begging a corrupt society or a corrupt system to accept us into it. Revolutions overturn systems.”– Malcolm X

Full of good ol’ boys, raised up right
If you’re looking for a fight
Try that in a small town
Try that in a small town

Try that in a small town
See how far ya make it down the road
Around here, we take care of our own
You cross that line, it won’t take long
For you to find out, I recommend you don’t
Try that in a small town

Try that in a small town
Ooh-ooh
Try that in a small town

Don’t kid yourself; Aldeen is right, small towns are “Full of good ol’ boys” who are always looking for an unfair fight with those they’ve been too comfortable terrorizing with each new generation learning the tricks to tie their lynching ropes. This is how they take care of their own. Ahmaud Arbery lost his life to these same “good ol’ boys” in a small town in Georgia where the likes of, Gregory McMichael, Travis McMichael, William Bryan Jr. and even Jason Aldeen howl to burning crosses at night to feel supreme human.

“The white man prefers to keep the black man at a certain human remove because it is easier for him thus to preserve his simplicity and avoid being called to account for crimes committed by his forefathers, or his neighbors.” – James Bladwin

Nonetheless, Black people must also take account of their part in the global enslavement of Africans, the racial struggle and dominance by Whites. From Africa, throughout the middle passage and into the New World, Black people have consistently taken part in their peoples own misfortunes and subjugation. Africans were instrumental in the slave trade, even trading manila currency with Europeans and Arabs in exchange for sending captured Africans to their enslavement across the globe. There’s even an account of a 19-year-old African male stopping a slave ship revolt on a slave vessel called The Eagle, and taking a machete blow to protect his White captures. Upon arrival, “he was rewarded and recognized for it and he personally benefitted at the expense of his own people,” said Dr. Claud Anderson in his lecture, A Road Block to Empowerment. And believe it or not, the first person to own a slave named John Casor for life in America was a free Black man from Angola named Anthony Johnson who came to the colonies in 1621 aboard the slave ship James after his capture by Portuguese slave traders. He even acquired land under the Headrights system.

After the assassination of Malcolm X ordered by the man he once worshipped, Elijah Muhammad, who led the Nation of Islam (NOI) from 1934 until his death in 1975 said, “The way I see it, Malcolm is the victim of his own preaching. He preached violence and so he become the victim of it. So Malcolm met with just what he preached. This death of Malcolm, god himself had something to do with that. And I think the people will learn that this was some work of god himself.”

Evidently, the god Muhammad prayed to didn’t see fit to plague Whites for their crimes against humanity, but somehow this so-called god is responsible for the killing of one of the greatest Black leaders America has ever known. Malcolm X sought to lead his people to freedom like Moses led his people from the Pharaoh, and true to Black conditioning, the NOI made sure he didn’t succeed.

And these stories and historical accounts aren’t unique to America. Africa has its own sins to atone for, including the murder of Patrice Lumumba, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was killed by his own people by order of the Belgium’s, and even America and Great Britain played a role in his assassination. His crime? He spoke out about the suffering of African people at the hands of their European oppressors. In other words, the truth he spoke to power made him a threat, even to his own fellow Africans desperate for personal power and a seat next to their oppressors, or a place in the master’s home. In 2022, Belgium returned Lumumba’s tooth after holding it as a trophy for 61 years, similar to a serial killer keeping items from their victims to mark and reminisce of their evil.

“Dead, living, free, or in prison on the order of the colonialists, it is not I who counts. It is the Congo, it is our people for whom independence has been transformed into a cage where we are regarded from the outside… History will one day have its say, but it will not be the history that Brussels, Paris, Washington, or the United Nations will teach, but that which they will teach in the countries emancipated from colonialism and its puppets…a history of glory and dignity,” – Patrice Lumumba

The dignity Lumumba talks about has yet to arrive. Just look around you and take in the state of our American culture. Last week, two White males, 38-year-old Daniel Walls and a 17-year-old, were arrested and charged with Civil Rights intimidation for posting Ku Klux Klan recruitment flyers outside of three Black churches in Columbia, Tennessee. A Black “influencer” who goes by the name Sassy Trucker is being held in Dubai for the ratchet behavior she’s known for on social media. And the other latest embarrassment is called Carlee Russell, a Black woman who created a kidnapping hoax for attention. Not only did she lie, she made sure to ask for thoughts and prayers from real victims of this particular crime. And to further stick her finger in the nation’s eye and worsening the stigma for Black folks, she made sure to crack a smile in her mug shot. Making matters even worse, a dozen Black teens have just been arrested for a unprovoked brutal and horrific attack on a Black man at a gas station, followed by indiscriminate shooting with automatic weapons. This is our America today, despite the blueprint left by Black giants like the Black Panther Party who started the school lunch program and fought against police brutality.

Jason Aldeen’s melodic words certainly sting, but he’s serenading the consciousness and condition of Black people in America. The only missing chorus is the role his White ancestors played in the shaping of our divided nation. Similar to Florida under Ron DeSantis who is feverishly working to rewrite history to make slavery look like a benefit to Black people, Aldeen’s country tune separates itself from truth too, like oil refuses water.

“You can’t do anything by legislation, it takes education. The White men in this country need to be reeducated so that his behavior patterns towards non-whites will change. And the Black men in this country also need to be reeducated so our behavior pattern and attitude toward ourselves will change.” – Malcolm X

 

The naked truth about the state of America.

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I Am Not Your Negro Challenges White Americans To Confront An Ugly Truth: Racism

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BY JEANETTE LENOIR

 

James Baldwin spoke from the grave in this searing and poignant piece of storytelling of our American culture and shameful racist history.

This film is not merely an entertainment piece to add to our collection of artful imagery to fill our heads and occupy empty and bored pockets of the mind. No, this piece is to wake our collective conscience that is rooted in a basic understanding of humanity. The difference this time is that the “our” Baldwin and the creators of this powerful piece of historical and cultural storytelling is directly aimed at is white people; American white people to be exact.

I Am Not Your Negro is a soul shaking and profound message. It forces viewers, especially American whites, to face the ugly truth of race relations in our country. It forces them to address the largest elephant in the middle of the cultural room we call our United States. Keep in mind, there are other elephants to content with, like immigration, women’s rights, disability rights, LGBTQ rights and indigenous people’s rights; however, the biggest one—institutionalized racism—is threatening to release a level of aggression like musth across the country. The film’s aim seems to push white Americans, yet again, through more modern and powerful means, to face the truth of life in America for black people, or “Negros” as this film appoints as another searing and thought-provoking label of brown-skinned Americans.

One can’t deny the uncomfortable truth staring, screaming, whaling, hanging, running, begging, pleading, fighting, marching and confronting them…right in front of their eyes. Closing your eyelids, seeking refuge in indifference, won’t change this stark truth. Black people, since the beginning of our country, have suffered tremendously at the hands of white people. Thankfully, not all white people. There are examples in this film of whites entrenched in the struggle for racial justice and equality too. This truth can’t be separated from the black American struggle. Even so, time has yet to heal these wounds as this film so justly brings to the forefront of a national dialogue. The images on the big screen aren’t new. Most of us have seen them before; either in a class room, a movie theater, books, pictures and essentially through all forms of media and communication. Bob Dylan singing of the callous murder of Medgar Evers stings, and moves a compassionate soul to tears. It seems that each new generation requires a different and more impactful way of forcing much needed societal change. That’s what this film represents in many ways too.

I Am Not Your Negro is the incomplete work of the most dynamic, clear, passionate and unapologetic orator of our young culture and democracy; James Baldwin. Baldwin expresses himself in ways that are still stirring in our current society. If America is to sustain its good fortune—if one can call it that—of not having to experience what has been laid out in Baldwin’s other writings in The Fire Next Time, a populous movement coming to a bloody and tragic head, underway even before the days of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., which this powerful film draws upon, than the time for real change is upon us. Baldwin lays it at our feet. His words, and those of Samuel L. Jackson further tattoos it on our conscience, reminding us all of our responsibility and role in creating a new nation that honors its people, regardless of creed, color, or sex. What we do with this forewarning depends on each and every American that yearns for all that this country pretends to be. But first, we must face the ugly truth that despite the “perfect” images of American lives that has shaped our thinking and understanding of ourselves and fellow countrymen, the reality on the ground is completely detached from the true lives and experiences of black Americans.

Baldwin expresses this as clearly as any man can or could, especially when he states that the image of America we grown up with looks ideal in movies and pictures…for white people. Unfortunately, the portrayal of black Americans is not only false, but morally damaging and despicably demeaning to the people that helped built this country through the brutal practice of slave labor. He makes it expressively clear that black people are not the big lipped, lazy sub-human buffoons as consistently portrayed in the old footage shown as a historical reference in I Am Not Your Negro.

This film diverts our attention back to the reality on the ground. And just when you think that the racial narrative of our country placed in front of us in this powerful film is unrepresentative of our current state of being, you’re hit with images of Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, Eric Garner, Walter Scott, Alton Sterling, Sandra Bland, Philando Castille, Terence Crutcher… the list goes on and on, just like the struggle for equality and basic human rights for all Americans… not just for those who have benefited from oppression, slavery and brutality, to maintain a grasp on the heavy crown called power. Undoubtedly, as it comes across in this film, power equates to might but real power embraces the responsibility of humanity.

America, throughout its short history, has failed to reconcile its racist past adequately enough to settle these burning issues that keep us bound in a discombobulated ball of spaghetti. It’s not a coincidence that the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture only came to fruition in September of 2016. That was 6-months ago… after years of black civil rights leaders and other activists working to persuade mostly white politicians that it’s the right thing to do. There are numerous examples of unjust treatment of blacks, and stark examples of our evolving police state in this film that has primarily impacted black people in America. For this to change, America must change. Specifically white Americans, according to Baldwin and many others like him who have paid the ultimate price pushing for this change to occur.

Throughout the film, this sentiment is expressed eloquently by Baldwin in this uncomfortable but crucial piece of cultural and racial perspective. Baldwin, from the grave, is targeting our collective conscience as Americans. “We’re in this together,” he seems to shout from an impenetrable divide. America is not a white country. America is a multicultural phenomenon brought about by all who built, fought for and shaped her. Black Americans have an equal stake and root in this land and its identity. If white Americans—especially those in powerful positions to shape and govern us as one nation—accept this unyielding truth, we will come together as one people. In our relatively short history, this has yet to happen, making I Am Not Your Negro a reflective piece of art that imitates our real lives. This film is a must see. But, prepare to be confronted with an uncomfortable truth.