Garvey's Ghost: Black Talk

Our Shining Prince

Today Black folks around the world, who care about black folks around the world are remembering Malcolm X, as described by the Egun Ossie Davis, our Black Shining Prince. We live today in a world where black self-hate and lack of cooperation has become the norm. Many black youth are enamoured with Hip Hop artists and consider them hero's though that have done squat to build anything other than their personal bank accounts. We have witnessed unspeakable horrors of black on black hate in the form of the Genocide in Rwanda and today in the Sudan. We have watched as Haiti was overrun and a democratically elected president ousted while black so called "power brokers" could do nothing but complain, wring their hands and make speeches that resulted in squat. We have witnessed the rise of the sellout class with the aid of white corporate money/. The same types that put us on ships in order to have the latest gun, pot, pan, bathtub and cloth. We are witnessing the Government's continued slap in our face as they tell us that Assata Shakur is a terrorist, and those telling us these things are now black and brown.
We are witnessing an increased gap in wealth between blacks and whites due both to institutional practices as well as or own unwillingness to put off self serving "wants." for our future.
We are witnessing black men increasingly going to jail while decreasing their presence in University commencement lines. There is no doubt that things have changed since Malcolm's time, but other than sitting in front of busses and sitting in Denny's the things that matter in America: economic and political power are worse than during Reconstruction. Internationally we constinue to see war and coups in various parts of Africa. AIDS is ravaging the population and we are thouroughly unprepared for the 21st century.

We should take time out today and reflect on the legacy of Malcolm X. We should reflect on those ideologies that preceeded and informed him. We should then decide where and what we can do to make the changes that need to be made in our own space and time that is consistent with the overall goals of Malcolm. Malcolm sacrificed all for his passion, his people. Most of us are either unwilling and unable to do so. We should not be ashamed of this! Every person has thier limits. What we should do is determine how much we can sacrifice we can make. Can we give a student, not related to us money for school? A computer? books? Can we give someone a ride that we pass every day? Can we put a book in our kids school libraries? Can we start a little business and put aside a portion of the profits? There are many many ways we can make sacrifices for our people. In fact these small, "invisible" sacrifices are what make mass movements. We do not hear of these things but they are the foundation of any movement.

Peace
Ase -O!

GG