PROUD FLESH: A New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics & Consciousness (2003)
ISSN: 1094-2254
“What We Want, What We Believe”: Black Consciousness Now!
| PROUD FLESH: A New Afrikan Journal of Culture, Politics & Consciousness (2003) ISSN: 1094-2254 “What We Want, What We Believe”: Black Consciousness Now! |
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Ajua Kouadio
We have been compelled to submit this platform, based on our reading of Elaine Brown’s The Condemnation of Little B, as a declaration of what we want and what we believe with respect to certain issues of Neo-Slavery and New Age Racism. We find it necessary at this time to establish such a platform on which a full-fledged movement towards Black cultural consciousness might be grounded. Like the program and declaration of our Black Panther predecessors, this platform cannot be ignored by those of us who today stand for progress. “We” is simply defined as those who are not aligned with “them.” The ideas, thoughts, opinions, and philosophies hereby expressed are uniquely ours. We are not concerned with any offense that may be taken to them, as they are facts; and often the truth hurts. The following items are not necessarily arranged in order of importance, for we feel these oppressions need not be hierarchized.
We speak in particular of Hip-Hop, an art form that in its truest form has and always will speak to the Black experience. In 1981, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five released their timeless classic, “The Message,” which spoke directly to the unbearable social conditions of Blacks in “America” at that time. What’s key here is that this piece remains relevant in both historical and contemporary contexts. In 1998, Jermaine Dupri and Jay-Z released their “Money Ain’t A Thing” single, which spoke to their personal riches and squandering of wealth. It could easily be compared to “The Message” and seen as a sign of progress. After all, these are two young, “successful” Black men rhyming about how money is of no concern to them. This song, along with the thousands of other rap singles that deal with easy living and extensive materialism, may be fine as “pure entertainment,” if such a thing exists. But it becomes extremely problematic when used to represent the general condition of Black people. There is no such thing as financial security for Blacks in “America.” Making this obvious is Jermaine Dupri’s own recent run-in with “Uncle Sam.” The IRS repossessed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of his material possessions due to back taxes owed by Dupri. This, to say the least, is predictable. Blacks in “America” are descendants of enslaved Africans; we cannot ever be fooled into believing “money ain’t a thing.” Money is in fact “just the thing.”
Now, as far as the robbery of our music is concerned, Eminem has taken it to a new plateau. To the dominant culture, he is the poster child for “Hip-Hop” (alongside the “successful” Jay-Z). His life and career are thought to exemplify Hip-Hop in a major motion picture made about himself. This is Hip-Hop’s reduction, uninformed and unjustified. If white boys can do Hip-Hop, then it can’t possibly be a Black mode of Black expression about Black life. This thievery of our music must stop!
The NAACP’s honoring of William Jefferson Clinton, a man who has not advanced “colored people,” but has hindered, handcuffed, and harassed the continuous movement of Black Liberation to the “best of his abilities,” is outrageous. Starving, criminalizing, and imprisoning Black men, women, and children via his “Three Strikes” crime bill and his anti-welfare “reform,” Clinton was one of the worst “leaders” of our time. We demand that this NAACP take back its misguided award and misinformed statements, join “us,” and live up to its name (not the National Association for the Advancement of Certain People). They must cease the distribution of “Image Awards” until their movement towards consciousness reaches revolutionary heights. As Malcolm X said, “nobody who’s looking for a good image will ever be free.” The NAACP must really stand for the “advancement” of us, not them, rather than be concerned with an “image” that is obviously not ours. They should support or change their name and join the ranks of “them.”
The Black 5% Muslim “sniper” is far too convenient. Three birds with one stone. We want a total re-evaluation of this situation and that 17-year old “accomplice’s” face removed from public view. Only in a country plagued with New Age Racism and its technologies of “tricknology” would we allow ourselves to be bamboozled into thinking that some “domestic terrorist,” who is covertly murdering what appear to be ordinary individuals, would actually be Black. The same goes for a 20-something year old male in Atlanta said to have randomly killed poor Black youth. The dominant culture would have us point the finger at individuals and not systems. But we do not buy it. We align both “snipers,” Wayne Williams, and all others fitting their profile with the mythological “Black male suspect” who killed the children of Susan Smith. Even if any of the men in question were “guilty,” who should we view as the ultimate aggressor: “Muhammad” or the institution of government-sponsored murder units, what they call the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines, which by all accounts trained him? There is only one group of terrorists here, so we will point our finger at them and the systems they’ve created.
We are sick and tired of viewing this White Male-Black Female drama as if it’s truly “romantic.” There are far too many historical implications for films like Monster’s Ball to function as a “love story.” The abject emotional and economic condition of the Black woman, her overall wretchedness on the silver screen, is disgusting indeed; along with the criminal Black male husband who’s executed before you even sat down in the theatre. Not to mention the way that even a poor white man with a deeply disturbing home life can still act as her savior; he still possesses the power to save her from her biggest enemy, as the script would have it: herself. This is ridiculous, as are the “Academy Awards.” We are not pitiful. Nor do we exist solely for the entertainment and pleasure of white people. We reject these ideas, these images, and these conceptions of ourselves. We demand that they stop being forced onto our communities. We not only want an end to the popularity of such charades, we want an end to the charades themselves.
Black patriotism in “America” is first of all an oxymoron. There is no such thing. We believe that there is, however, such a thing as Black disorientation and confusion. There is no way someone can genuinely, sincerely take pride in and support a country that oppresses them and then denies their oppression, their cultural significance, and essentially their entire existence. It makes no sense. Black “American” patriotism is, in the last instance too, an oxymoron.
We cannot and will not tolerate the mockery of our culture by our “own” for white mass consumption. We believe that television shows such as “Doggy Fizzle Televizzle” have got to go. These are New Age Minstrel Shows. We ask all Black entertainers to prioritize their integrity and the liberation of their people over the two episodes of airtime they receive before getting dismissed to make room for the next clown.
We believe that Black Entertainment Television is supposed to serve our community, not assist in its destruction. The constant parades of Black stereotypes are degrading and counter-productive to the development of our adolescents, who make up the largest consumer market within the Black community. Something has got to give. What goes for the NAACP, goes for BET. These institutions cannot continue to disgrace us in our own name. Though the mission of moneymaking, we understand, is the motivation behind any corporate network, these financial stakes don’t necessarily have to lead to programming and advertising that serve the agenda of our oppressors.
We must talk not simply about the typical House Slave/Field Slave division, but a form of division that has come about more recently. We believe through personal and group interaction that there is an inferiority/superiority complex which has developed among what we like to call Africans of the Old School and Africans of the New School; or among those here who are descendants of enslaved Africans in North America, those who are descendants of enslaved Africans outside of North America (i.e., the Caribbean), and those oppressed immigrant or non-immigrant Africans who descend more immediately from our colonized continent. This situation is ludicrous. We all share common roots, and are commonly oppressed, although the specifics of our oppression and exploitation may differ (they take diamonds and gold from some; they take labor from others, etc.). We believe this is just another divide-and-conquer strategy, of course, and we will not tolerate the demeaning of our own, within our own.
“Condi” Rice and Colin Powell, and all others whom Malcolm X referred to as “handpicked Uncle Toms,” do not speak for us; nor do they act on our behalf. We speak and do for ourselves. Enough said.
Elaine Brown chronicles in The Condemnation of Little B the life of Michael Lewis, a Black man-child from Atlanta, GA, who was charged with murder and found guilty at the age of 13. Substance abuse, crime and poverty surrounded Little B in his everyday struggle. In other words, he is proof of the current significance of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five’s “The Message.” It speaks directly to his living condition where, contrary to JD and Jay-Z, money is in fact a thing. Typically, it takes desperate measures to obtain the basic necessities for life in Little B’s environment. Michael “Little B” Lewis represents millions, for Elaine Brown and the rest of us. We want an end to the victimization of Black youth. We want an end to the murder of Black youth. We want an end to the identity-theft effected against Black youth, our future.
We believe that this nation, under its god, is undeniably guilty of this and more. This is our declaration.
Towards Black Consciousness, Now!
© 2003 Africa Resource Center, Inc.