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And a Black Prince shall lead them?
MARK WIGNALL
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica in 1887, and following his global exploits, died in near obscurity in England in 1940, and was Jamaica's first national hero. Eighteen eighty-seven and 1940 and the years in-between, before, immediately after (and at present) were very bad years for black-skinned peoples of the world. Although it could not be said that Garvey was killed by his own people, so badly was he betrayed by them and a system that was truly stacked against his ultra-progressive ideas and business ventures, that it could be said that Garvey's broken heart and faded spirit were the demons carting him off in that slow, agonising march to the dead house.
It seems that every year in Jamaica since the 1940 death of Garvey, we have been killing him over and over again. In 2008 not only is Garvey's relevance misunderstood by Jamaica's men, women and children. I have found that most of us, especially our more educated and socially "secure" black-skinned ones are the people most uncomfortable with any suggestions of a resurgence of Garveyism, that is, if some of us can move beyond "Marcus who?"
To me, the relevance is simple. Garvey lived, acted out on the world stage and articulated more than a vision of a proud, powerful black race. An embracing of black pride beyond its fleeting period as a convenient slogan worn across the chest must lead to an increase in black self-esteem. An increase in self-esteem must lead to that belief that the self can attain what was not thought possible generations, years before.
And, if we are sufficiently moved to believe in ourselves, we will position ourselves to accept the certain knowledge that we CAN build rockets, CAN work wonders in Petri dishes and CAN create and maintain political systems to empower and develop the wretched and the ruined of our race. As the final part of that process, we will in time begin to realise what is now only the memory of a faded dream.
It is my belief that pound for pound, the black race is athletically superior to the white race. As the world is made up now, brawn is only good to the extent that there is a good brain behind it. So far, no credible research has surfaced to show that white people are inherently smarter than black people. As tragically sick as it may sound to a black woman in Darfur tearfully clutching her child as it dies of starvation in her bony arms, and the young black boy in Port au Prince eating cakes made of dried, sweetened mud, for the sake of defining a starting point, we are forced to accept the proposition that all humans are created equal.
Equal in terms of the brain's capacity and ability to comprehend and express complex processes. If we accept this, we must also accept that in terms of the brain's ability to utilise those very complex processes, the white world has collectively and significantly outdistanced the black world and has long been its master.
Applied brain power has brought about in the white world the following: political systems/structures that, even when shaken and violently stirred by ideological upheaval, still retain their white power base while being certain that there will NEVER be any military or cultural incursions from any black race. Not since the Haitian revolution anyway. Long-term economic strength, military power and the ability to manipulate culturally the political and economic system of the economically subjugated black people of the world.
The evolution of the white man's socio-economic power cannot be discussed outside of an appreciation for the horrors of the Atlantic Slave trade. As heinous as that murderous trade was, and as painfully embarrassing as was the direct assistance of African tribal chiefs in the perpetuation of that stolen 400 years, the tough fact is, slavery as expressed then is now water under the bridge.
The white man's brawn is best expressed by his ultimate possession of the gun in all forms. From .22-calibre pistols to aircraft carriers to death rays in the skies. So much technologically is tied up in weapons production that long before an upgrade of a Stealth Fighter or Bomber is built, the non-black races will have produced washing machines, plasma TVs, microchips, motor cars, chocolate bars and Ipods. In the front of the line to buy these products will be white consumers in white countries, but the possession zeal will be no less among the mendicant black countries.
The white man has long recognised the need to reach out to the cultural docility of the black, Christianised races by stressing that the meek shall inherit the earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. The earth that we know will likely be around for another few million years or so, and as it is structured now, all the meek are inheriting are dried dirt cakes because the meek cannot afford the rice priced by the economically strong white and, increasingly, Asian world.
Steeped in texts written for ancient times, the black races of the world have eagerly lapped up most of the force-fed religion that they now hold dear to their hearts and will kill for.
America, a white-controlled country has landed men on the moon seven times, has its force of protection/destruction in every corner of the world geared for the quickest of responses. As a man of colour, I congratulate the Americans for this because, were I white, I would be proud to say, "That is my army, my navy, my force of protection, my symbol of power. I am proud and I am not meek." But I am a man of colour with no army, navy, or nationally sound socio-economic base from which I can bellow. I am angry because I am forced to accept that globally, if the European nations and America decided that the black races should be decimated, it could easily be done with bombs, or slowly through an agency such as the World Health Organisation (for example).
Barack Obama has been an inspiration to the black world so much so that it has become a global phenomenon in black countries - this need to see him become president of the United States. Too many black radicals have been climbing over each other in their crab-in-a-barrel approach, eager to force his hand on a declaration of key racial issues. It is my view that Obama is not being given credit for the con job he is playing on white America.
He is not the second coming of a white JFK or Jesus Christ. He is an articulate, bright politician ideally suited for the times, who has accepted all of the evolutionary antecedents of Garvey, Booker T, King, Malcolm X, et al and has fused them into a near-perfect approach to doing business in an environment that is naturally hostile to the reflection he casts in the mirror. To the black world, Obama is now its greatest symbol of global "black possibility".
At home our black children (95 per cent of the population) look for role models and all they can see are foul-mouthed DJs, gun-toting druggists and politicians who have used "serving" to serve away the patrimony of our people. If they were taught the tenets inherent in Garveyism, they would begin to believe that black people can be acclaimed scientists, painters, mathematicians, civil engineers, writers, architects, doctors, teachers, inventors and truly great political leaders.
Meanwhile, on the website for the Filmore Street Brewery in the USA, the following is stated. "For the second year in a row, Hip Hop star Nelly and the Filmore Street Brewery, the maker of Pimp Juice and PJ Tight, are offering a scholarship to the most Positive. Intellectual. Motivated. Person (PIMP). This year, however, that person must be a producer."
Yeah, right. Producing what? Hos?
observemark@gmail.com
MARK WIGNALL
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Marcus Garvey was born in Jamaica in 1887, and following his global exploits, died in near obscurity in England in 1940, and was Jamaica's first national hero. Eighteen eighty-seven and 1940 and the years in-between, before, immediately after (and at present) were very bad years for black-skinned peoples of the world. Although it could not be said that Garvey was killed by his own people, so badly was he betrayed by them and a system that was truly stacked against his ultra-progressive ideas and business ventures, that it could be said that Garvey's broken heart and faded spirit were the demons carting him off in that slow, agonising march to the dead house.
It seems that every year in Jamaica since the 1940 death of Garvey, we have been killing him over and over again. In 2008 not only is Garvey's relevance misunderstood by Jamaica's men, women and children. I have found that most of us, especially our more educated and socially "secure" black-skinned ones are the people most uncomfortable with any suggestions of a resurgence of Garveyism, that is, if some of us can move beyond "Marcus who?"
To me, the relevance is simple. Garvey lived, acted out on the world stage and articulated more than a vision of a proud, powerful black race. An embracing of black pride beyond its fleeting period as a convenient slogan worn across the chest must lead to an increase in black self-esteem. An increase in self-esteem must lead to that belief that the self can attain what was not thought possible generations, years before.
And, if we are sufficiently moved to believe in ourselves, we will position ourselves to accept the certain knowledge that we CAN build rockets, CAN work wonders in Petri dishes and CAN create and maintain political systems to empower and develop the wretched and the ruined of our race. As the final part of that process, we will in time begin to realise what is now only the memory of a faded dream.
It is my belief that pound for pound, the black race is athletically superior to the white race. As the world is made up now, brawn is only good to the extent that there is a good brain behind it. So far, no credible research has surfaced to show that white people are inherently smarter than black people. As tragically sick as it may sound to a black woman in Darfur tearfully clutching her child as it dies of starvation in her bony arms, and the young black boy in Port au Prince eating cakes made of dried, sweetened mud, for the sake of defining a starting point, we are forced to accept the proposition that all humans are created equal.
Equal in terms of the brain's capacity and ability to comprehend and express complex processes. If we accept this, we must also accept that in terms of the brain's ability to utilise those very complex processes, the white world has collectively and significantly outdistanced the black world and has long been its master.
Applied brain power has brought about in the white world the following: political systems/structures that, even when shaken and violently stirred by ideological upheaval, still retain their white power base while being certain that there will NEVER be any military or cultural incursions from any black race. Not since the Haitian revolution anyway. Long-term economic strength, military power and the ability to manipulate culturally the political and economic system of the economically subjugated black people of the world.
The evolution of the white man's socio-economic power cannot be discussed outside of an appreciation for the horrors of the Atlantic Slave trade. As heinous as that murderous trade was, and as painfully embarrassing as was the direct assistance of African tribal chiefs in the perpetuation of that stolen 400 years, the tough fact is, slavery as expressed then is now water under the bridge.
The white man's brawn is best expressed by his ultimate possession of the gun in all forms. From .22-calibre pistols to aircraft carriers to death rays in the skies. So much technologically is tied up in weapons production that long before an upgrade of a Stealth Fighter or Bomber is built, the non-black races will have produced washing machines, plasma TVs, microchips, motor cars, chocolate bars and Ipods. In the front of the line to buy these products will be white consumers in white countries, but the possession zeal will be no less among the mendicant black countries.
The white man has long recognised the need to reach out to the cultural docility of the black, Christianised races by stressing that the meek shall inherit the earth. Nothing could be further from the truth. The earth that we know will likely be around for another few million years or so, and as it is structured now, all the meek are inheriting are dried dirt cakes because the meek cannot afford the rice priced by the economically strong white and, increasingly, Asian world.
Steeped in texts written for ancient times, the black races of the world have eagerly lapped up most of the force-fed religion that they now hold dear to their hearts and will kill for.
America, a white-controlled country has landed men on the moon seven times, has its force of protection/destruction in every corner of the world geared for the quickest of responses. As a man of colour, I congratulate the Americans for this because, were I white, I would be proud to say, "That is my army, my navy, my force of protection, my symbol of power. I am proud and I am not meek." But I am a man of colour with no army, navy, or nationally sound socio-economic base from which I can bellow. I am angry because I am forced to accept that globally, if the European nations and America decided that the black races should be decimated, it could easily be done with bombs, or slowly through an agency such as the World Health Organisation (for example).
Barack Obama has been an inspiration to the black world so much so that it has become a global phenomenon in black countries - this need to see him become president of the United States. Too many black radicals have been climbing over each other in their crab-in-a-barrel approach, eager to force his hand on a declaration of key racial issues. It is my view that Obama is not being given credit for the con job he is playing on white America.
He is not the second coming of a white JFK or Jesus Christ. He is an articulate, bright politician ideally suited for the times, who has accepted all of the evolutionary antecedents of Garvey, Booker T, King, Malcolm X, et al and has fused them into a near-perfect approach to doing business in an environment that is naturally hostile to the reflection he casts in the mirror. To the black world, Obama is now its greatest symbol of global "black possibility".
At home our black children (95 per cent of the population) look for role models and all they can see are foul-mouthed DJs, gun-toting druggists and politicians who have used "serving" to serve away the patrimony of our people. If they were taught the tenets inherent in Garveyism, they would begin to believe that black people can be acclaimed scientists, painters, mathematicians, civil engineers, writers, architects, doctors, teachers, inventors and truly great political leaders.
Meanwhile, on the website for the Filmore Street Brewery in the USA, the following is stated. "For the second year in a row, Hip Hop star Nelly and the Filmore Street Brewery, the maker of Pimp Juice and PJ Tight, are offering a scholarship to the most Positive. Intellectual. Motivated. Person (PIMP). This year, however, that person must be a producer."
Yeah, right. Producing what? Hos?
observemark@gmail.com
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