The Millions More Movement
So today was the Millions More Movement. I didn't go. I thought about it, but based on my experience last time, I simply did not feel like driving 3 hours to stand on wet grass and listen to speeches for the day and then drive 3 hours back to NY. SO I watched the speeches on C-SPAN.
What I saw on C-SPAN was much like what I experienced 10 years ago at the MMM. So I don't feel that I missed much, except the drive and the stand. I won't get into how many people may or may not have shown up because ultimately I don't think it's very important. What is important is what happens after tomorrow (This was a 3 day event). I just wanted to make some observations though:
1) Religion: While I "rested my eyes" I heard a speaker say that the only basis for black people to unify is around spirituality because we don't have a culture with which to rally around. While I think that the point about shared culture is valid to an extent, I must disagree with "spirituality" being the basis of unity. Firstly, if we are discussing a Pan-African government and society in which multiple types of people are involved, we have to realize that as small a minority as they may be, there are those who do not believe in God. Furthermore it is not the place of a movement for empowering black people to dictate that they must believe in God.
The second problem with the "spirituality" arguement is the insistance by many to define God in masculine terms. There are many of us who simply do not agree with this and we are slowly but surely voicing our position that we will not sit by and be silent while assumptions about "God" are made by those who claim to represent us.
This brings me to the second isssue. I watched a Reverend, whos name I don't recall start preaching about Jesus. Again, in the wish for unity, I don't see why that was relevant (though I'm sure he thought so) or neccessary. He should have gotten a clue when his calls for "Amen" went largely unanswered. If Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton could refrain from "preaching" (and I didn't catch all of thier presentations) then this particular individual should have refrained as well. Of course if Jesse Jackson did preach, then this last comment is out the window ain't it?
It appears that we have forgotten the lesson that Brother Malcolm X taught us: Leave your religion in the closet because it can become a point of friction and fractionalization when dealing with unity issues.
The second issue deals with a portion of Farahkhan's speech were he discussed the slowness of African unity. He was very brief on the subject, but I think that the issue should be looked at in more detail. There is quite a bit of "tribalism" that will prevent the unification of Africa. There is not only ethnic "tribalism" but also growing religious "tribalism" that will tear apart coutries like Nigeria and Sudan much like we saw in Rwanda. This post is not going to venture to discuss a solution for this problem especially since much of these issues are ingrained for hundreds of years.
What I liked very much about the MMM was that the speakers spoke on many issues that have been co-opted by so called Black Conservatives. This made patent liars out of those so called "Black conservatives" who make their living attempting to smear us, us being the radicals, of being anti-family, anti-marriage, anti- self responsibility, anti-business. They were exposed for being that which we have always known them to be: white racists in black skins. can they honestly say that they had no clue that we were pro-family? and pro-Self-Responsibility? If they say that then they are exposed for not being in touch with the black radical community. That would also mean that they, like their white counterparts, base thier opinions on the grossly distorted information fed by the media.
I hope that the parishoners of those Reverends that spoke out against this event see their preachers and leaders for what they are.
Lastly I hope that those people who didn't go because they were not inclined to "black radicalism" have the chance to see the breadth of us and decide to join in.
(17 years of informed commentary)
2 comments:
kstreetfriend.blogspot.com posted the following on Oct. 12:
As I prepare for a civil service exam scheduled for October 18, 2005, I struggle with a desire to travel to Washington, D.C. for the Millions More Movement activities, rather than voyaging half way across Pennsylvania to take another test.
Do I really want to take this exam and attempt to get on another civil service list?
Since 2003, I have participated and completed the State Civil Service process more than a dozen times. In fact, I have tested within the “Rule of Three” mandate (State must hire from within the top three), but they have yet to call me for an interview.
The Civil Service Commission has tactically explained their hiring practice, i.e., Pennsylvania agencies often “opt out” and instead use a little known exception to the process (management directive that grants an unfettered discretion) that allows them to ignore the employment list and promote almost any available lower classification (a current employee).
The Commonwealth’s excuse for not hiring me is no different than the excuse a local temporary employment agency (Robert Half International) recently provided. That is, despite the fact that I scored a perfect 100 percent on their required testing (the average score for everyone else is only 85 percent), and was given an almost perfect score for my interview, the employment agency has insisted since August 2004 that it can’t place me. And, the Pittsburgh EEOC district office, a federal regulatory agency with authority to enforce Title VII has suggested that there appears to be nothing wrong with the company’s reason for not placing me: Robert Half claims its clients continue to select (whites) other candidates who have tested well below my scores and have inferior work experience and there is nothing they can do about it.
Nonetheless, the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan (Nation of Islam) has challenged all of us to rise above the things that have kept us divided in the past. The agenda of his Millions More Movement is to see how all of us, with all our varied differences, can come together and direct our energy, not at each other, but at the condition of the reality of the suffering of our people. He has directed us to use all of our skills, gifts and talents to create a better world for ourselves, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, and the like. True That (word is bond)!
I really want to participate and get my swerve on (enter the conflict of eliminating poverty and injustice in American society). But, this year, I have to tend to my family’s needs. That is, they have cut off all of my utilities, placed tax liens on my property, and have us struggling on food stamps. But, I am a proud “functionally unemployed” black man, flexed, and bout it (real, not fake and true to the game).
No! I’m not going to make it to Washington, D.C. for the Millions More Movement Activities. I have to take the civil service exam. . . . I have to score within the top three to force the white man to get creative again.
The Honorable Minister hopes to help poor people learn how to help themselves, beginning with the knowledge that there is strength in numbers. I may not be there on October 16, 2005, in person, but as a black man tight (straight, legitimate and feeling really good at the moment) and on his hustle (taking care of my family), I’m already there in sprit.
If I could go to the Millions More Movement activities, I would hope to hear about the marked change of October 2005, from the last two political cycles when President George Bush (Karl Rove) used the power of the White house to coax first-tier candidates into important congressional races. In these crucial few months when candidates are entering races, raising money and recruiting staffs, republican hopefuls are quietly stepping off. There’s one obvious reason why republican hopefuls aren’t listening to the White House: Bush is an unpopular president.
Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, Bush won the admiration of most Americans (even some blacks) for resolute leadership in the face of a foreign threat. But, after the recent simpleton response to hurricane Katrina and his tone-deaf reaction to the needs of America’s poor, the GOP and the world now well understand that Bush has slipped into a hole and unfortunately it appears the HNIC won’t be climbing back out. That is, his message remains essentially hopeless worries and hopeful faith. He’s back again portraying the world as too treacherous, too dangerous, and too risky for anyone but the GOP. Karl Rove wants to keep America focused on terror and national security. And, then they went public with wacked (crazy stupid) information suggesting possible subway attacks in New York (a city on orange alert the second-highest-level-indicating a high risk of terror attack since the color-coded warning system was established after the September 11, 2002 attacks). Bush backed the decision to announce the threat publicly despite questions by most federal officials about its credibility. They even claimed the source of the threat had passed a polygraph test. In short, like always, the GOP knew America can’t second-guess the motive behind a terror alert.
If I could go to the Millions More Movement activities, I would hope to hear about black GOP conservatives who have gone out their way in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina to play the race and irresponsibility card hoping to cultivate the most reactionary forms of Christian fundamentalism alongside the extreme right for whom racism is an essential ideological component. Just yesterday black GOP conservatives gathered to discuss race and irresponsibility. BOND (The Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny) and the Heritage Foundation cosponsored the event: The New Black Vanguard Conference II. It was moderated by Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, Founder and President of BOND. Dr. Shelby Steele (Hoover Institution Senior Fellow), Joseph Phillips (Actor & Columnist), Linda Porter (Founder Jochbed Education Project), and La Shawn Barber (lashawnbarber.com) attempted to reflect upon policy questions they claimed of major significance to black communities.
In the course of a denunciation of current black leadership they enumerated some of the standard racist conceptions often voiced by the right wing: The view that welfare programs had created among blacks a culture of irresponsibility; there is an enormous cost for risky behavior within the black family (promiscuous women and fatherless households); and, one generation of blacks has followed another into poverty.
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson has suggested in the past that America shouldn’t blame racism or President Bush and the GOP for what happened to thousands of poor blacks during and after hurricane Katrina. He said “The truth is black people died, not because of President Bush or racism, they died because of their unhealthy dependence on the government and the incompetence of Mayor Ray Nagin (a black man) and Governor Kathleen Blanco.” The black GOP conservative singled out Rev. Jesse Jackson, members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Rapper Kanye West, all of whom he says blamed President Bush for not doing enough to help black people.
Yes! Rev. Jesse Jackson is on the record calling the president’s response “incompetent.”
Yes! During NBC’s celebrity telethon for hurricane Katrine victims on September 2, 2005, the scripted program took an unexpected turn, when Rapper Kanye West went off the script during the live broadcast, declaring “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.”
But, black GOP conservatives are nothing but house slaves. They blindly follow simple-minded people. In slavery days we had house slaves and field slaves. The house slaves were “well behaved” and “rewarded” by being allowed to work in the “big house” close to the master. The field slaves were “rough” and “functionally unemployed.” Thus the people were divided and pitted against themselves, instead the common enemy (extreme right forces and Christian fundamentalists).
If I could go to the Millions More Movement activities, I would hope to hear about how da fam in the Burgh (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) can get rid of some punk ass black politicians that are indifferent to the plight of "functionally unemployed" individuals and their families. The last time da fam in the Burgh had oportunity to "break bread" with a bout it black leader was August 19, 1997. On that particular day the Honorable Minister accepted my question (from the audience) related to how black males can be a better father to their children. Among other things, he eloquently advised the group of black politicians on how we can come together and direct our energy, not at each other, but at the condition of the reality of the suffering or our people. But it's October 2005, conditions for blacks in the Burgh have become more precarious. The city is now controled by (in the closet) black GOP conservative house slaves.
No Diggety!
kstreetfriend.blogspot.com
Thanks for the comment. I notice it is a cut and paste from your own blog. In the future please post a link to your own site. I'd appreciate it.
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