The System and Black Thought: Bridging the Gaps

Rube Goldberg Machine

The "system" that we live in as a people here in America, how it works, who the system was designed by and who it was designed for, who controls it, what needs to be done about it, and why, are usual points of debate. And there are about 64655465861567 different answers to those questions for every person that cares to put their two cents in. So as an introduction to the Political Education and Conspiracy Theory series that are coming up here at BMD, I'll put my two cents in and point out some of the bullshit that people add to black political thought, by accident or on purpose.

1) Giving white people so much credit

    As a computer scientist by trade and an independent student of politics, history, and philosophy, all of these fields basically built themselves around the study of systems and critical thinking. The basic way a system works is it takes input, does something with that input, and puts out a result, based on how the system was designed. Whether that system works for you or not depends on what you put into it and how you use what it returns, the same with life in general. If you let some people who claim to be "pro-black" tell the story of "the System" they make the "white man" out to look like an unstoppable force driven to destroy the world, and we're waiting on that unstoppable (enter figure, event, or group of  people here) to wake up and stop it - like something out of a comic book. It may SOUND pro-black, but it really gives white people credit where no credit is due. Quit while you're ahead(or behind) because that way of thinking hasn't worked, and it's probably not going to. If a system exists, it can be studied, controlled, changed, or taken apart. Black power is about controlling any system that affects the lives of black people and making it work for us.

2) Black Nationalism and its role in the system

   When you hear the term "pro-black" the meaning changes depending on who it is that's speaking. If you study the movements of Black people in America, you'll find that "Pro-Black" is a pretty broad name for a number of different philosophies, like the Liberal/Moderate/Conservative polarities in mainstream politics. On one end you have Black Nationalism and Black separatism on the other. They all have similar goals, but different views on how those goals should be reached, and who can(and can't) put in the work to make it happen. Instead of recognizing how deep the movement really is, people get fanatic to the point that anyone who disagrees with them is "part of the problem''. Black Nationalism can be broken down into subsets focusing on culture, politics, economics, etc. There are groups that focus on these specific fields, and others that address all of these fields at the same time. At the end of the day, Black Nationalism advocates the advancement of Black People and pursuing those opportunities however and whenever they are available. Advancing in any of these fields, both on the individual, and collective levels, is a step in the right direction towards power and self-determination.

3) By (almost) any means necessary

   The above quote by Malcolm X is probably one of the most popular and mis-represented quotes of this century. The full quote, which many people like to leave out is ''We declare our right on this earth to be a man, to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this Earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary." Taken on face value, it literally means to do whatever is necessary to make sure that Black people overcome oppression to become self-sufficient and respected as a people. But going back to point #2, that list of "anything" eventually gets cut to a predefined set of options that look and sound “pro-black”.

   This series is designed to bridge those gaps that prevent us from making progress as a people, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of the parts of the machine that we live in, and airing out the bullshit that ends up getting in our way.

Post Racial America and Indirect Racism

  Since the end of the Civil Rights and Black Power movement, many white people have tried to distance themselves from being labeled a "racist". Although there are many other methods, the internet has long served as a safe medium for many people to voice their true feelings of other races in this current era called "Post-Racial America". With the beginning of George Zimmerman's murder trial, the judicial diarrhea of the US Supreme Court on the Voting Rights Act of 1964, and Paula Deen's (past) diarrhea of the mouth, the events of this week have removed multiple layers from the "Race Relations" onion of American society.

  There are 2 types of racism, both of which are common in the US, as defined by Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael) in his book Black Power : The Politics of Liberation(1967): Individual Racism and Institutional Racism.

  Individual racism is a small scale event between individuals or a small group of people in which one group acts against another based on an ideal that is intentionally or neglectfully racist. Paula Deen's "n-word" jokes are little more than examples of individual racism. Which, for those who didn't know, the law suit against Paula Deen was filed by a white employee, and it is about more than simple "n-word" jokes as described in this article from Black Legal Issues. Another example would be a group of Black guys beating up a white guy, just because he's white. As offensive as it may be, incidents involving individual racism do not have a lasting impact on the target group as a whole. But since it is on a person to person basis, the impact may last for the individuals involved. This factor is what allows racist ideals to be passed from generation to generation.

  Institutional racism is far reaching in the number of people it affects and is usually carried out by a group of people, although individuals can carry out this form of racism as well. This usually occurs when groups of people with racist ideals and states of mind get together - a majority of the time having positions of power. Where, as the picture above states, company policies, law enforcement practices, and legislative practices are created with the intention of harming, or infringing on the rights or progression of a designated group of people. These policies are designed and promoted as resolving a problem, but either intentionally or inherently create disparities through disenfranchisement, harassment, and other abuses of the negatively affected race. Some other race or group of races naturally benefits from it. The support for these forms of institutional racism comes from individual racists who would not want to openly express those views, or would otherwise be powerless to act on those views. Therefore they invest in or vote for, companies and politicians who will be able to deliver policies and business practices that have a similar ring to their racist ideals(although not explicitly stating so). The students of Prairie View A & M University's struggle for voting rights is a prime example of institutional racism, inspired by individual racists. Sporadic incidents of individual racism then begin to occur as a result of the policies and attitudes behind institutional racism.

  The Civil Rights and Black Power movements marked the end of the then commonplace overt racism. The passing of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, overt racism was outlawed. At that point, racial slurs took a back seat in the public eye, and made way for neutral terms like "criminals" and "illegals"(immigrants) to refer to a broad spectrum of people who will be affected by these policies. So we can ultimately define "Post-Racial America" as the period where it's OK to be racist(individually or institutionally) as long as you don't actually say that that is what you are doing. A period of time where race shouldn't matter, but it does, and unless there is a large enough group of people affected by it, there is no sure fire way to identify it.

  With a better understanding of what racism is and the different forms it can take, we can better prepare ourselves to develop and act on solutions to these problems. The problems of racism cannot be eliminated, but, similar to computer security, the threats or affect of those threats of institutional and individual racism can be transferred, delayed, or prevented from reaching fruition. By having a healthy and practical understanding of how racism works and the forms that it can take will help us to educate ourselves and others outside of the race in our continuing struggle is to secure economic, political, and social freedom and self-determination.

Peace

The African Renaissance: The Greatest Story Never Told Part 1

Aya - symbol of endurance and resourcefulness

  

In Destruction of Black Civilization the author,  Chancellor Williams, discusses the economic, social, political, and environmental factors leading up to the destruction of the ancient civilizations that our African ancestors had established. In short, environmental and political issues (ie. soil becoming  unfavorable for farming, Arab, Asian, and European invasions, etc.) caused the inhabitants of these established societies to migrate.

  As the people became further engulfed in the nomadic life these large groups of people began to splinter off into smaller groups to the point that each group had its own spoken language, customs, and territory. After some time, few of them realized they had once come from the same civilizations. Over the generations the old written languages were forgotten; they had little time to develop written languages as they were always on the move. Eventually, some groups would begin to conquer another, or they would willfully combine to form larger groups. Some of these large groups would often settled to establish new civilized societies, while others continued their nomadic lifestyle (and began to splinter again as a result).

  Once nation in particular was Kuba. Kuba was a nation located in central Africa, southeast of the Congo. The nation was founded as the result of alliances between the Bushoong tribe and 17 other smaller tribes. Between 1475 and 1630, Kuba developed a democratic republic state, and  which included a king(comparable to the president) and councils of Elders and chiefs representing their respective tribes and clans(families). The tribes within themselves were also democratic. The idea of Kuba being a melting pot of cultures would put the US to shame. Individual tribes were praised if their group excelled in a particular area with techniques or customs that were unique to that tribe. These customs would become adopted as part of the mainstream Kuban culture. Although the Bushoong tribe made up roughly 80% of the population each group was also equally represented under the government. There were a type of checks and balances that prevented any tribe from having the advantage of a "tyranny of the majority". 

  One of the greatest achievements of Kuba was its economic revolution. This revolution was started by Shyaam the Great who became king of Kuba around 1630. Before Shyaam Kuba's Economy was on the level of subsistence, the nation only produced what it needed in terms of goods. Whereas previous kings(and queens) had focused on conquering land, Shyaam turned the national focus inward to improve the economy. Shyaam set the momentum that led to the success of his successors in establishing Kuba as the most advanced African nation of the time.

  The people of Kuba began to experiment with a larger variety of crops. Many of these crops had been grown in the territories of respective tribes and were now being grown on a national level, being grown in different areas of the nation. New and more efficient methods of production for crafts and tools were developed. Better yields of crops and higher production and new styles for the arts and crafts led to surplus production, which opened the door for national and foreign trade. Caravans began to form. Except for agriculture, masters of every trade began to form guilds. Farming was common, everyone farmed the land in addition to their own professional trade. Although agriculture was important, more emphasis was placed jon the professional trades since they were what strengthened the national economy.

  One of the most interesting, and maybe the most important, fact about this renaissance is that it occurred exclusively in Africa. For Africans, by Africans. Although the Europeans and Arabs had gradually conquered the coastline surrounding Kuba and the rest of central Africa, the people of Kuba had never had any contact with any other races. Their nomadic ancestors who had adopted the nomadic lifestyle before settling in the 1470s were the last to come in contact with Arabs or Europeans. The whites would not come in contact with Kuba until the 1800s. By then, Kuba had since been on a gradual decline from its revolutionary spurt of political, cultural, and economic development of the1630s.

A history lesson for those who think the Africans were better off being conquered and enslaved... Part 2 will discuss the problems the Kubans faced that eventually led to the downfall of the civilization.

Surviving by ANY MEANS NECESSARY

This marks the official launch of Black Minds Devleopment. Come back to stay updated on current events in the Black community, politics affecting us and other minorities, local and national Black owned and operated businesses, and events.
The focus is on expanding ideas relating to 7 basic principles:

1) Education: Gaining information needed to make money and decisions.
2) Economics: Managing and developing money.
3) Empowerment: Having resources and power to determine your future.
4) Environment: Know your phisical and natural envirionment.
5) Equality: Continuing the fight for equality and freedom.
6) Ethics: Morals that guide decisions and actions.
7) Excellence: Mastery of the skills needed to ensure survival in one's environment.



I am currently working on getting an independent site together, with more blogs and features. In the mean time, I'm going to do what I can with what I have.


Disclaimer: While BMD supports the ideals of Black Nationalism, it does not support bigotry, racism, or any forms of oppression on behalf of any group. Don't like it? Find another blog.

Peace