practical - Forum/Discussions - TheBlackList Pub2024-03-29T11:06:11Zhttps://www.theblacklist.net/forum/topics/feed/tag/practicalFoolishness In the Face of Genocide Part II: We Need To Be More Monolithichttps://www.theblacklist.net/forum/topics/foolishness-in-the-face-of-genocide-part-ii-we-need-to-be-more-mo2020-10-11T02:39:00.000Z2020-10-11T02:39:00.000ZSamuel Burnhamhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/SamuelBurnham<div><p>As I stated in part 1, I list the words “Black and African” in this commentary with a slash because I view these words to be interchangeable. I believe that all Black-skinned people are some type of African people, given the evidence, so I don’t debate it.</p><p>For the last several years, I have read, heard, and seen Black/African people in the media (usually political talking heads and celebrities) stating the obvious about the Black community here in America: that the Black community is not monolithic...even in our political ideologies. In general, these folks appear to celebrate how diverse the views of Black folks are, regardless of whether or not any of these views are detrimental to our very survival! Recently, I had a conversation with a self-described “Black conservative”. Most of what he told me are things that most conscious Black/African people here in the U.S. already know: the Democratic party is not really doing what it should for us, that plenty of Democrats were KKK members in the past, Edmund Pettus was a Democrat (reference to the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama), etc. The end goal was to get me to register for the Republican Party. When I refused to do so, he talked about White liberals being “anti-family” and that we are “not like that”, etc. I then explained to him that Black folks can’t afford to define ourselves by Euro-American-defined political ideologies, whether they are “liberal” or “conservative”. Both White-owned-and-controlled political ideologies have failed us! Furthermore, to become a republican in this post Lee Atwater/Southern Strategy day and age is to jump from the frying pan into the fire: showing loyalty to the ideology of another White-owned-and-controlled party that is just as blatantly and violently racists as the pre-Civil Rights era Democrats! It’s like choosing the worst of available slave masters…a slave master that tells you that those violent White racists in Charlottesville, Virginia…some of whom come from a 150-year legacy of anti-Black violence and murder… are “very fine people” who were “violently attacked” by left leaning political people! A Republican party that will “back the blue” line of terrorism and their version of “law and order” against unarmed opposition to racist demons with badges, while telling their “blue” line that “the blue” does NOT have to live a life of “law and order” themselves…as long as they break the law to harm and kill Black folks! “We need to be loyal to the NEEDS of the Black community, not to a political party”, I told him. When he asked me, with a haughty attitude, “What is your solution?”, then I stated we could convince at least some of our people…even just 2% of our voting population…to present a Black agenda to any and every politician…and if we, (the 2%) vote and/or give any campaign contributions, that such actions will depend upon the party/persons that promotes our agenda...he told me how “unrealistic” that was and continued to give reasons why Black Americans should place their hopes on a “conservative” political party that glorifies, promotes, and condones state sponsored terrorism against Black/African people and murder of Black/African people by self-deputized White citizens…and this time using Blackface to do much of it: as Angela Greene (Portsmouth, Virginia) , and Daniel Cameron (Louisville, Kentucky) prove to be the latest examples in the national spotlight!</p><p>I’ve seen Black folks applaud this foolish logic as having “diversity of thought” in the Black community. What a bunch of nonsense! In the last few years, certain Black talking heads have claimed that we should not regard the racist “Karens”, “Brads”, police brutality, and murder, but Black-on-Black crime only (the “only” part is never publicly stated, but implied). Why is it that these Black “conservatives” wait until a Black person…who receives excessive punishment for an alleged crime…or is NOT a criminal at all…is harmed or killed by anti-Black supremacists, to rail against Black-on-Black crime…keeping their mouths shut before and after such injustices? Additionally, honest studies of criminality in America show that criminals generally prey upon those within their own ethnic groups, economic standing, and their own communities! White-on-White crime…to include violent White-on-White crime, is usually above 80% and has been for decades! Consequently, these Black “conservative” talking heads should be quick to warn White “conservatives” about the epidemic of White-on-White crime…but they don’t! Instead these “knee-grows” support the FALSE narrative by the White supremacists “moral majority” brigade, that Black/African people are morally inferior to White folks, thus more prone to criminal behavior than Whites and other groups! Furthermore, as a collective, these Black/African folks do not question how the “alternative facts” about Black-on-Black crime is gathered, what environment the data is gathered from, nor the mathematical formulas and methods used to draw these “statistical” conclusions! Considering the 400 plus years we have been lied to in this society, why are these “knee-grows” so quick to believe lies and cleverly worded omissions??? Are these the type of “free thinking” Black/African people we should be proud of? Seriously??!!?</p><p>Next, we have the Black/African naysayers club. It seems they live to tell Black folks what “they ain’t gonna let us” do! In general, the “they” are considered to be White people by the naysayers club. This club’s line of thought ascribes god-like powers to White people, in general, and invincibility to White supremacy, specifically. Any achievement of a Black individual or even a small Black group that is assumed to be impossible by the naysayers club is viewed with suspicion and disbelief at best, and assumed to be “operated by the man” at worst! For the last several years, and highlighted in the year 2019, several Black Americans (and African/Black people in other areas of the diaspora) have been moving to the African continent. The naysayers point out the modern forms of colonization and issues that exists on the motherland as a reason we Black Americans should not go there, half-truths and outright lies about the transatlantic slave trade, “they sold us” slogans, etc…but can offer no solution for how to even decolonize the communities we live in here in the America, nor to deal with the Black criminals who “sold us” to drugs, murder, thievery, street gangs, encouraging self-destructive behavior, self-destructive entertainment, etc., right here in the United States! Instead the naysayers offer us solutions that are not holistic enough, already proven failed strategies, or tell us NOT to do things that we allegedly already do not do: i.e. we’re already told we don’t like voting, investing in the stock market, engaging in large scale intra-racial business deals, etc! No matter the improvements to throw off economic & cultural colonization, no matter what olive branch is extended from the African continent, the naysayers’ answer is…”nay”! Even the mega producer & entrepreneur, Akon, encouraging those of our people who are able to “come home” to the African continent drew criticism from the naysayers. They will complain about how most “Black Americans can’t just pack up and move”, and “he’s rich so he doesn’t know what it’s like”, and any other excuse to criticize someone who is extending an olive branch to Black Americans who are ABLE to come…when few people offer anything to us but oppression, lip service, and Black traitors! These naysayers continue to say what we need to do…without doing it themselves. Recently, the naysayers club spent scores of hours on YouTube and other social media to criticize the 19 Black families that purchased land in Toomsboro, Georgia, in effort to create a safe space for Black Americans, during this time of increased violent anti-Black racism and state sponsored terrorism. The reasons were the same: “they ain’t gonna let us” foolishness! There is talk of “they” coming to stop these 19 Black families from building a Black community on the land. Meanwhile, these naysayers have not been able to do anything for any of the victims of the Karens, Brads, and gestapo police of our society, nor WILL these naysayers do anything! Their “we’re doomed” and/or rugged individualistic behavior ensures that these naysayers can’t organize to provide any measurable relief for the injured and bereaved families of Black/African folks who have fallen victim to violent anti-Black supremacists. The facts that these naysayers are not willing and able to do anything for our people won’t stop them from criticizing those of us who HAVE decided to do something about it, in general, and the 19 Black families I mentioned, specifically. This is the type of non-monolithic foolishness in the face of genocide that SANE Black people should NOT tolerate!</p><p>Entire books can be written on the identify crisis of descendants of enslaved Africans in the Western hemisphere…especially the identity crisis in Black America. Generally, many of our people believe they are any and everything under the sun except…African! While, I avoid addressing most of the foolishness listed above, I will mention what the people described above do not like. The evidence: oral, written, archeological, DNA evidence…overwhelmingly prove that Black Americans came from the African continent! When this evidence is mentioned, denial and name calling against the one bringing the proof is the general behavior of these “I’m not African” Black folks. Some will twist the scriptures in the Bible all out of context to prove we came from somewhere else, and discount anything in the Bible that appears to contradict their views as being “tampered with”. The surgical precision at which they cut and paste this “gospel” of Black Americans not originating from Africa is amazing. They will take every piece of information from the Olmec culture of Mexico to the Koran, twist it to their own liking, and claim we are not Africans. Even when some of us Black Americans have an oral history (and written history) that agrees with the scientific evidence…the answers will not satisfy these naysayers. Sadly, social media has given anyone with the ability to make time and videos, a platform to spew any “knowledge” they want to, regardless of how false, misleading, or incomplete that knowledge is. At least a couple YouTubers (perhaps more), whos’ purpose is to convince us Black Americans that we are the “indigenous Native Americans”, took pictures of Black-skinned people, taken from ANOTHER WEBSITE… Africans known to have migrated from Africa to MELANESIA and nearby places in the pacific to become the first human settlers in THAT region…and passed them off as “indigenous Native Americans”! What?!?! They hate their African heritage so much that they post stolen photos about Africans in the Pacific Islands on their social media pages…passing them off as “native Americans”??? This type of non-monolithic thinking is not what we need…a form of thinking that is designed to deceive us and distract us from unifying! I know a couple continental Africans that can look at the facial features of some of these “I’m not African” Black folks here in the U.S.…and can tell these African DNA deniers what ethnic group or “tribe” of the African continent some of their facial features actually come from! When this concept is mentioned during a debate, then such African DNA deniers resort to the “all humanity came from Africa” theory. Since many of these “all humanity” ethnic groups never have and never will consider themselves Africans since time immemorial...and their current DNA, behavior toward Black folks world-wide, and cultural world views are not African…then they are NOT African now, regardless of whether or not they truly were way back in so-called prehistoric times! For this Black group that wants to identify with any and every people except African people, but want to be “leaders” among us, they should get out of the way! We should ignore them, focusing on our business of survival and Black/African liberation! We should adopt ancestor Chancellor Williams’s policy on such foolishness in the face of genocide, as quoted from page 338 of his book, <strong>The Destruction of Black Civilization:</strong></p><p><strong><em>And We have said, “let them go”! The only thing we object to, and will fight to the end, is the attempt to program the whole race again on a march away from itself or allow them to remain as leaders of the same people from which they wish to flee.</em></strong></p><p>We don’t have time for this foolishness of celebrating how non-monolithic Black/African people are. As stated before, in part 1 of this <strong>Foolishness in The Face of Genocide</strong> article, anti-Black supremacy is GLOBAL and we are suffering globally because of it! We are dying globally because of it! Diversity of thought born of ignorance, self-hate, and traumatized Black minds is nothing to celebrate! Obviously, the Black/African community needs to be MORE monolithic! However, our community must become more monolithic in a way that supports our survival thrust and uplift as a people. We won’t find the proper way to be monolithic in having a high degree of loyalty to non-Black-owned-and-controlled political parties. We won’t find this…functional unity…ascribing god-like powers to White supremacy, being too fearful to implement solutions to our plight. Functional unity won’t be found by denying the obvious about being an African people: both the good and bad aspects of being an African people.</p><p>Solutions?<strong> The Black community should strive to become MORE MONOLITHIC, “on code”, “in the know”, etc., and agree to the basics of several principles:</strong></p><ol><li><strong>We Black-skinned people have a common goal, common history (at some point in the passage of time), and a common enemy, relative to all other peoples on earth…global anti-Black supremacy.</strong></li><li>Effectively defeating our common enemy requires us to adopt a <strong>zero-tolerance mentality</strong> toward any politician, “leader”, or “influencer” who puts White-owned-and-controlled political parties (and other non-Black-owned entities), corporations, and/or institutions in a priority position above the needs of Black people.</li><li>We must move over, around, under, and through the Black naysayers among us who spend more time saying…”nay”…than doing anything of tangible, measurable benefit to African/Black people. This should especially be our policy toward Black/African folks who concede god-like powers to non-African/non-Black folks!</li><li>Stop wasting time in the public arena (social media, radio, tv, etc.) searching for Black/African folks to “expose” as being frauds or “agents”. <strong>Too many people engaging this activity have an ego and/or agenda that they place above the needs of Black folks</strong>, thus creating an endless cycle of exposing and counter-exposing Black folks they don’t like! Let the actions of our Black/African traitors EXPOSE themselves, instead.</li><li>Stop treating Black/African liberation like a social media pep rally and a hobby! While it’s true that most folks fighting for us are volunteers, <strong>while we strive toward the goal being organized enough to pay each other to WORK in the field of Black liberation, we STILL have to treat Black liberation as a matter of life and death! </strong> This means we must BUILD the economic engines to drive our efforts…and spend less time on social media talking about them. Much less time.</li></ol><p>So, what are SOME practical things Black/African people <strong>can </strong>do to actually UPLIFT and PROTECT the Black/African family? Well, in the legal and political arena, we can support TRUE police reform with the Equality in Policing Act (<a href="http://www.changeisonus.org">www.changeisonus.org</a>). This strategy in and of itself is not holistic in dealing with our issues, but is PART of a holistic strategy. In too many areas Where Black/African folks live, we have two types of criminals to deal with, those not protected by the criminal justice system, and racist law enforcement who are more of a hostile occupying force than a friendly “to protect and to serve” organization. The end result: when members of the community take an effective stance against thugs with badges, out of retaliation, many of these racist cops withdraw from the pretense of protecting and serving, allowing the criminal element to have their way with our law-abiding citizens! Therefore, we should become familiar with and trained in diverse manners of community-based self-defense. This concept undoubtedly includes the use of firearms, as necessary. Well, there are a few Black-owned-and-controlled organizations that can and will help us. One such organization is Lone Wolf Firearms Training, LLC (<a href="https://www.facebook.com/lonewolffirearmstraining/?ref=py_c">https://www.facebook.com/lonewolffirearmstraining/?ref=py_c</a>). </p><p>Whether it’s’ Toomsboro, Georgia, “Akon City”, or wherever the opportunity presents itself for Black/African people to throw of the yokes of oppression, we must strive to become self-reliant, police our neighborhoods, and educate our children. We must get with Black farmers and they must get with us, so we can establish methods for food security. Many more practical solutions can be presented and put into practice. A movement exist that considers a holistic approach to our problems, and partners with movements & organizations that handle various issues, as well. This movement is THE One Million Conscious & Conscientious Black Contributors & Voters. Known as “THE One Million” for short (<a href="http://www.iamoneofthemillion.com">www.iamoneofthemillion.com</a>). One of the movement’s goals is to <strong>recruit, at a minimum, 1 million practical, action-oriented Black people of like mind to take part in the holistic uplift of our people</strong>. This concept is summed up in a “Black agenda” consisting of 22 planks that are practical and “tangible<strong>” if we (Black/African folks) work them</strong>. THE One Million and its sister organizations/movements have not fallen prey to the foolishness of rugged individuality, phony “free thinking” traitors, and misguided Black folks. They understand that we African/Black folks need to be more monolithic in our survival thrust and everything related to it. Some folks will examine the movement and organizations I mentioned above and steer clear of them for various reasons. That’s fine. The concept of THE One Million, for example, is roughly based upon only 2% of the Black population here in the U.S. My suggestion is to join some movement and/or organization that truly places the lives and needs of Black folks above all other priorities. The extent that any unapologetically pro-Black/pro-African DNA entity succeeds will depend upon the remnant of Black folks that haven’t fallen prey to the foolishness in the face of genocide that too many of their peers have fallen prey to. The people with African-dominant DNA in their veins… BLACK PEOPLE…NEED TO BE MORE MONOLITHIC in our cooperative thoughts, deeds, and direction toward real liberation. Now let’s get to work! </p><p>SB </p><p> </p></div>Fwd Post from LIB: Not Being Thorough Cost Us Opportunities!https://www.theblacklist.net/forum/topics/2055350-Topic-83842008-07-12T00:37:38.000Z2008-07-12T00:37:38.000ZSamuel Burnhamhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/SamuelBurnham<div>Hotep.As a GNP/NBLC member, the response I often get while seeking out like-minded conscious African/Black people is that they are aproached by "so many organizations" requesting that they "join this or join that", or "donate this or donate that".Hey, I understand. it happens to all of us! However, since we (the NBLC and GNP respectively) are in a war with our enemies and running out of time, we give eveyone the benefit of the doubt that they will do as follows:1. action-oriented (aka PRACTICAL nationalists, Pan-Africanists, self-determanists, etc.)2. Can read ALL the summary information....NOT skim over the summary information... we give them so they can have a WELL INFORMED SUMMARY of who we are, what we stand for, and what may appeal to them from our organizations (GNP & NBLC).3. can prioritize their involvement with individuals, organizations, and/or task4 has the ability to stay focused & CONSISTENT on what they agree/promiss to commit to.Unforunately, few conscious folk fit category number 1. I hate to say this, but I think the majority may fall into this category, which I also nick-named "academic nationalism only". Those who do fit number 1 (action-oriented), but are bombared with the many individuals and organizations hitting them often fail to understand concepts 2-4. Especially concepts 2 and 4! We African/Black folk have had our hopes up and down for so long, that when approached by members of the African/Black family who say they are making a difference....they are automatically placed in the "run-of-the-mill" category, while we make INACURATE assumptions about some organizations/individuals who ARE beneficial to our/your cause!While this is undserstandable, given our history, we can no longer use this as an excuse. Especially when we consider that this discourages us from partaking in ANY worth-while group action. For example, I have often seen arguments errupt amongst conscious people who actually AGREED on the same thing...all because they did not COMPLETELY read each others posts and/or LISTEN COMPLETELY to what the other said!This fault-finding mentality has KILLED a lot of good group efforts (both mentally and physically). this mentality is often manifest in searching for the thing that "I don't like" about someones wording and/or opinion, instead of getting the ENTIRE words and/or opinions. As a result, solutions to problems are often overlooked and drowned out in a sea of confusion, pointless debates, and speaking for the sake of speaking. Again, the result is confusion and a lack of critical mass for group efforts.As for those who don't understand concept number 4, I know we all have to multi-task. After all, it's so few action-oriented sisters and brothers out their, that we often over-work and over-extend ourselves. However, some of these burndens we place upon our selves. the result is that we are TOO BUSY to be CONSISTENT in group efforts. And since our enemy uses a SYSTEM...which is created and maintain by GROUPS of anti-African/Black racists, we can not hope to defeat such a giant by our indidviual efforts.So in conclusion, only you can determine if the GNP & NBLC are good fits for you. Only you know what responsibilities rest on your plate. However, we urge all to take heed to the 4 categories above, so that the enemy can not easily destroy us with his warfare.The NBLC Quarterly Leadership Meeting will take place in Detroit at the Black-owned Hotel St. Regis on Saturday, July 26, 2008 starting promptly at 9:00 AM. AFTER the PRIVATE, members-only buisness meeting, a "public" meeting of the same type will take place for those interested in supporting our cause collectively! For moreinformation, contact the following people:Anthony Kojo DardenMobile Office:(313) 850-3793Hotel St. RegisSales & Marketing313-481-8407mperkins@hotelstregisdetroit.comRespectfully,Samuel Burnham Chair: NBLC Science & Technology Task force; Member: Ghana Nkwanta Project<a href="http://www.bringbackblack.org">www.bringbackblack.org</a><a href="http://nkwanta.tripod.com">http://nkwanta.tripod.com</a><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828787566,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank">Consciousness and Capital.doc</a></p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828787518,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank">WE ALL HAVE DAY JOBS.doc</a></p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828787436,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank">Black Paper On Practical Politics.doc</a></p></div>Practical Nationalism Part I: What Are You Going To Do About It?https://www.theblacklist.net/forum/topics/2055350-Topic-75912008-07-04T14:04:27.000Z2008-07-04T14:04:27.000ZSamuel Burnhamhttps://www.theblacklist.net/members/SamuelBurnham<div>Hotep all.First of all, those who do not read all of this post...but "skim" over it as too many African/Black folk do here, will miss the point and find cause for pointless debate. I also realize that there are some among the Black list whose sole purpous is to be "fault-finders". You will find something big, and if not big, trivial to disagree with somone, so as to cause pointless arguments. The latter group, will unfortuantely, perish with our enemies. The capital words are not shouts, but emphasis...that we should NOT skim over.I've seen a bunch of arguments over the presidential election, particularly, against Obama. While I prefer Cynthia McKinney, and Obama is not my favorite, I would think that some of you would be happier to see Bush or another obviously anti-Black/anti-African enemy of Africans/Blacks in the White House! The problem is NOT that I have a problem with those who are against Obama's bid to be president. My problem is that most of these critisizers act as if ANY African/Black person in this country that will look after OUR needs unapolgetically could EVER be elected president of the U.S. without a COMPROMISE that is UNACCEPTABLE to CONSCIOUS African/Black folk! We should know this by now.As a result, we critisize and find fault with any and every Black person that runs for political office in the country, accusing them of being pupets, tratiors, sellouts, etc. While MOST of these comments are TRUE, the problem is that the few Black folk who ARE on OUR side are WRONGLY accused of being like the ones above. As a result, we discourage EACH AND EVERY ONE of them from doing ANYTHING on our behalf.I hate to say this, but If I had to rely upon "conscious" Black forums to encourage me to be the Pan-African PRACTICAL Nationalist that I am today, or to do ANYTHING POSITIVE on behalf of African-Black people, I would have given up and cast my lot with the assimilationist and integrationist! After all, there is so much argument and disrespectfulness among us that I dare say we are WORSE than the integrationst and assimilationists! This is be so shameful to ous that we are motivated to some form of action that will bring back intra-group respect and cooperation, so as not to prove the White supremacist and Black naysayers (which have already lost faith in their own people) right.MOSTS...Others who critisize the rest for not looking at repatriation forget several key points:1. MOST of these fault-finders DON'T have masses-oriented plan that will be STRATEGIC enough and ORGANIZED WITH ENOUGH STRATEGICALLY PLACED PEOPLE to make repatriation MUTUALLY benefitial to the Africans on the continent and those migrating from the diaspora. As a result, a hand-full of "African-Americans" might be lucky enough to live in Africa...and if they are EXTRA lucky...their sons and daugthers may avoid the poverty that the continental Africans are already enduring.2. Because MOST don't have SUFFICIENT organization here in the diaspora (i.e. U.S., South America, France, etc), both in numbers of INCOME-PRODCING PEOPLE and SKILLS to make repatriation viable for THOUSANDS of people. And we NEED thousands of the type of people above in order to have any SIGNIFCANT change in Africa...if we want to make repatriation VIABLE to all but wealthy, exploitive, "African-Americans".SOLUTION:Since no African/Black person in this anti-Black/anti-African U.S. can hope to get elected to the office of the president without compromising TOO MUCH of what we need, then we must choose...through cooperative action...a "lobby" to act in our best interest. This lobby, as Baba Amefika Geuka calls it, is the the POBA. The POBA concept is dependant upon the conscious African/Black folk in this country acting SIMULTANEOUSLY through an ELECTED Black person whose ONLY political loyalty will be to Black folk!Now I don't have time to "teach a class" on why this would work. Those who are not fault-finders will take the time to read ALL of the material that is attached to this message before they do what MOST of us conscious Black folk do...claim that it "will never work". Attached is a solution to pointless energy being spent arguing for and against Obama...and any other Black person running for office in this country.This is PRACTICAL NATIOANLISM, PART 1:Since we conscious folk are already know for our OVERABUNDANCE of theory, conjecture, and arguments...what are we going to DO about It? Take heed to ALL the attachments before forming an opinion.respectfully,Samuel Burnham: NBLC Science & Technology Task Force, Ghana Nkwanta Project Members<a href="http://www.bringbackblack.org">www.bringbackblack.org</a><a href="http://nkwanta.tripod.com">http://nkwanta.tripod.com</a><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828787436,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank">Black Paper On Practical Politics.doc</a></p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828787445,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank">Understanding Where We Are.doc</a></p><p class="attachment"><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}3828787450,original{{/staticFileLink}}" target="_blank">The Rationale for a POBA.doc</a></p></div>