To the unsuspecting reader, first allow me to set the tone and assure you this is not a rant nor will it be filled with cynicism; but merely a conservation piece to take away with you to the dinner table amongst family and friends, or to a church meeting and even possibly a community meeting.
Consider for a moment, if the conventional suit and tie were worn for black liberation and we existed in a society where every decision made were to make strides in improving Black America by empowering our status quo (with)in this capitalistic country, we deem America. The first most prominent question that remains at my frontal lobe is, at what point will the paradigm shift; from working (with)in White America and empowering its status quo to black meccas across this country?
Forced assimilation is a reality, yes but how many black owned corporations employ American Africans that directly assist our economic standing in America? American African churches are filled to the brim with qualified persons whom each have a specific skill or knowledge to offer an organized collective stride. Think about this for a moment, with the skill base, we as African Americans have acquired since the physical chains have been removed, is it propaganda or our actions maybe lack thereof … it’s 150 years later and Black America remains submerged but intact to empower White America and this is what I want readers to think about.
What is Black America and how is it defined in social media? Marinate on that for a moment. Today, the majority of us are now free to choose what plantation to work on with restraints on our freedoms of expression and void of cultural acceptance. Most visionaries would see it feasible, to become a self-sufficient nation with(in) a capitalistic nation but understands our economic collectiveness must be achieved first. Now that you find yourself engaged, this conversation leads into another compelling chapter of “the black struggle”. Consider this conversation piece, our collective pursuit of Reparations. At times when conveying to the general public, participation and positive response has been stagnant. Avocation for pursuing Reparations simply caters to the sole purpose of creating a mass exodus of “collective forward thinking” in exercising an “collective action(s)” inciting many potential positive outcomes that can stem from such a movement. As a collective, Reparations benefits us all whether you had a hand in helping propel the demand forward or not. Whether we want to admit it or not, pursuit of our demand for retribution goes hand in hand with black empowerment.
Historically, The Republic of New Afrika (RNA), was a social movement that proposed three objectives. First, the creation of an independent African-American-majority country situated in the southeastern United States. A similar claim is made for all the black-majority counties and cities throughout the United States. Second, the payment of several billion dollars in reparations from the US government for the damages inflicted on Africans and their descendants by chattel enslavement, Jim Crow segregation, and persistent modern-day forms of racism. Third, a referendum of all African Americans in order to decide what should be done with regard to their citizenship. Regarding the latter, it was claimed that African Americans were not given a choice in this matter after emancipation.
Furthermore, Randall Robinson, author of “the Debt” alongside Professor Charles Ogletree and activist, Cornell West organized in 2000 with Johnny Cochran, the Trans Africa Forum organized Reparations Coordinating Committee, legal team, with an attempted aimed to "ascertain, document, and report comparative repair and restitution in the United States and abroad on behalf of the contemporary victims of slavery and the century-long practice of de jure racial discrimination which followed slavery". Then America was hit with 9/11 and all things came to a halt.
John James Conyers, Jr. is also the oldest and the longest serving current member of the United State Congress. Mr. Conyers tireless efforts to introduce Bill, H.R. 40, year after year is intended to demand Reparations for us the descendants of prisoners of war, known as our black Holocaust or our Maafa in America without question, Reparations and the right to self-determination is our human right. America has never repaired the damage she inflicted on our ancestors during centuries of brutal, dehumanizing slavery, the Jim Crow era and our current economic oppression and deprivation. The cruelty associated with slavery is a human rights issue, just as those whom received Reparations approached the situation. Japanese Reparations awarded in 1980 was paid out of our tax dollars for their captivity in American concentration camps during the war. The African American Farmers Association won a Civil Action Suit against the USDA in 1998 After a 20 year battle, the Native American Indian Reparations package was awarded in 2012 ~ the key component is to stand in solidarity under the provisions of a Civil Action Suit.
Recent progressive news shows during April 9 to April 12 of 2015, the International Reparations Summit will be held at various sites across New York City, Speakers at the conference include Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and Chair of CARICOM’s Reparations Commission; Civil Rights leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Professor Charles Ogletree of Harvard University; and Mireille Fanon Mendes France, President of the Frantz Fanon Foundation and chair of the U.N. Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and daughter of Frantz Fanon, the Black Liberation theoretician and psychiatrist from Martinique.
“It is an unparalleled crisis. The system is flawed and not serving the needs of the black male as it should. We are at a crossroads. We have to choose a path. One leads to more incarceration of black males and one leads to meaningful education and opportunity for them.”
~ Charles Ogletree
Until we fully grasp and embrace black empowerment...nothing will really change. Our contributions go far and beyond slavery. Why not be remembered in American history as the generation who spear headed the Reparations movement? Dispelling the stereotypical opinion from most, that blacks can’t work together. Collectively, we are more than qualified to lend our signature(s) and gain the attention of Congress with just a mere 25,000 signatures. Taking the defeated position and debate “it can’t be done” is an oxymoron response, how can one determine an outcome on something that has not yet happened. Black America is worth the investment.
Below are bookmarked readings and Jeff Savage’s Reparations online petition to lend your signature towards a grand cause. Pass it on.
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