Amy Jaques Garvey

Amy Jaques Garvey born December 31, 1895 is one of the most overlooked Pan-Africanist of her age. Many of us who adhere to Garveyism (or Neo-Garveyism as I do) have been singularly focused on Marcus. Sexism? I think so. While it is understandable that at the time the sexual politics of the day would put women in the background even if they were putting in massive amounts of work. Today we ought not perpetuate such actions. In terms of Garveyism this means that the role of Amy Garvey ought to be put in it's proper place.

Marcus Garvey and the seminal work that most people are familiar with: Garvey and Garveyism, is as much a product of Amy as it was of Marcus. We should recall that Mr. Garvey was in prison when that book was compiled. It was edited by Mrs. Garvey. No Amy. No Philosophies and Opinions collection. Furthermore the book Garvey and Garveyism, where I believe (but cannot confirm) the use of the term Global White Supremacy was first put to paper by a Pan-Africanist. This is pretty important as it underscores Garveyism as an intellectual framework concerned with confronting a system by systematic means rather than seeking accommodation with or favors from, that system.

In an era where persons such as Bill Cosby are excoriated for "harsh" critiques of black behavior. We would find a less comedic form of the same criticisms from Amy, who held black men to what some would call impossibly high standards of behavior and thought.

[He] is always out of a job because he is too lazy to go out and make a job for himself; he prefers to hang around the white man's factory doors begging for a job, and oftimes gets what he deserves -a kick.



...ill bred children are a menace to any country because they develop into individuals who take on vices that often wreck their homes and endanger the safety of their communities

Garveyite women were of the opinion as said by Ula Yvette Taylor's The Veiled Garvey That if black men did not step up they ought to "be prepared to be put down and led by those who were better equipped."

I think that Amy is not given her just due also because it may be believed that she was merely repeating that which she heard or learned from Marcus. I don't agree with this position. I look at it like a Jazz musician. Once has to learn from those who have laid down the foundations but then one develops one's own style and become a master in ones own right. While I do not believe that Amy Garvey had the "epiphany on the boat" as Mr. Garvey had, Mrs. Garvey continued to develop Garveyism after her husband's passing and helped to cultivate modern Pan-Africanists and perhaps even helped bring DuBois into the fold in his later years. I say this because though Mr. Garvey and DuBois were not on anything close to "good terms," Mrs. Garvey had managed to open the line of communication to DuBois along with others.

So today lets take time out to recognize one of the most important women, indeed one of the most important people in the development of Pan-Africanism.

Bhutto Assassination

So I've been thinking about this thing for a bit. I'm not surprised that there has been rioting, after all, it is sad to say, violence seems to be the way things are handled in far too many parts of the world. Since the assasination I have been revisiting the virtues of non-violence and thinking that Ghandi and King Jr. may have really had a point. I've long been of the opinion that organizations that claim to be "revolutionary" ought to run the places in which they have control in a manner that they wish to run things. In fact I think they ought to wage war in a manner that is consistent with the ideals they wish to be about. In this regard I tip my hat to the Kurds of Northern Iraq who apparently do just this, but back to Bhutto.

In many news reports we have seen supporters of Bhutto claim that they:

a) Think the government is responsible

b) Think the government is responsible because they didn't provide security.

c) Don't trust the government.

I thought about these responses and noticed that these sentiments are pretty much universal in developing/third world nations. Citizens are completely distrustful of the governments under which they live. Even in the recent elections in Kenya we have the same thing. There are many reasons for this which I may or may not go into, but staying the course with Bhutto, The problem I have here is that no one seems to be asking "why?"

For example, reports have been out for days now that Bhutto had been warned by the Pakistani security apparatus that Al Qaeda had a death warrant out for her. They warned her to not have so many open air rallies since they are inherently insecure. It is apparent that Bhutto did not listen to this advice. Why not? I would think that given that the security apparatus in Pakistan has managed to keep Musharraf alive that their advice ought to be given a great amount of weight. But that's just my life loving self.

On the issue of the government providing security for Bhutto, well I don't think so. As far as I know Bhutto was not a member of the government so the government wouldn't be on the hook for providing her protection.

Thirdly if the people don't trust the government, which I can understand, they who do they trust? Al Qaeda? NO one asked the question. Is everyone a arbiter of trustworthiness? There are reports that some people don't believe the Al Qaeda is responsible. Never mind the tapes. Never mind the numerous death threats. Never mind that Bhutto had been vigorously denouncing suicide bombings and the like. Sure Musharraf doesn't want to lose power and he was aligned with the US against Al Qaeda, but it appears that Bhutto would have been even harder on Al Qaeda. It would appear to me that Al Qaeda has a stronger motive to off Bhutto.

That brings us to the issue I opened with: Violence. After watching Kenya and Pakistan, it is pretty clear that the use of violence to force political change is a very dangerous proposition. Once that option is on the table, anyone can detonate anything and pin it on the group that first used violence. Furthermore, once that violence materializes political gain, then it is only a matter of time before another person, sufficiently motivated, makes use of it to force their own ends and so on and so forth until, as Ghandi put it, there are no more eyes.

Ultimately though, whether one believes that the Musharraf government is involved or not, the fact is that suicide bombers have been going at the government for years now. Al Qaeda is working in that country with the full knowledge of a significant portion of the country. So in reality it is the people who are tolerating and aiding the groups who wish to bomb themselves into power who are directly to blame. Does the PPP think that even if Bhutto had been elected that somehow bombings would magically stop? Do members of any other the other opposition parties think the same for their people?

In the end it will soon dawn on everyone involved that violence will undermine everything at some point. Once it becomes clear to all parties that suicide bombings will not gain anyone anything other than a lot of dead people for whom the supposedly religious person will have to answer for (and somehow I don't think " i did it for you" is going to wash).

Cartoons For The President

From CounterPunch. I can only hope it was written in jest.

When Reagan died a Pentagon official told me that when Ron became president in 1981, and thus "commander in chief" the Joint Chiefs of Staffs mounted their traditional show-and-tell briefings for him, replete with simple charts and a senior general explicating them in simple terms. Reagan found these briefings way too complicated and dozed off. The Joint Chiefs then set up a secret unit, staffed by cartoonists. The balance of forces were set forth in easily accessible caricature, with Soviet missiles the size of upended Zeppelins, pulsing on their launchpads, with the miniscule US ICBMs shrivelled in their bunkers. Little cartoon bubbles would contain the points the joint chiefs wanted to hammer into Reagan's brain, most of them to the effect that "we need more money". Reagan really enjoyed the shows and sometimes even asked for repeats.

Wow.

Blast from the Present

Spent Kujichagukia in Harlem yesterday. Elders rolled through. One of my favorites was in attendance: Elombe Brath who took a seat and went to historicizing. ;-)

Technorati Tags: Kwanzaa

Blast From Kwanzaa's Past 2

Today's Blast from 2004. Brother Amilcar Cabral:

History Teaches us that , in certain circumstances, it is very easy for the foreigner to impose his domination on a people. But it also teaches us that, whatever may be the material aspects of this domination, it can be maintained only by the permanent organized repression of the cultural life of the people concerned. Implantation of foreign domination can be assured difinitively only by physical liquidation of a significant part of the dominated population.



In fact, to take up arms to dominate people is, above all, to take up arms to destroy, or at least to neutralize, to paralyze, it's cultural life. For with a strong indeginous cultural life, foreign domination cannot be sure of it's perpetuation...

Condoleeza Rice Revealed: Hankerchief Head

We always knew Dr. Rice was a Hankerchief head but we never knew it went back so far. Thanks Good Morning America for letting us know and confirming it for us.

Blast from Kwanzaa's Past

Since I don't have much new to say this year I'm digging in the crates. Here's Umoja from the Blog's firt Kwanzaa in 2003.

http://garveys-ghost.blogspot.com/2003/12/kwanzaa-2003-umoja-today-is-first-day.html

Today is the first day of Kwanzaa the celebration, I won't say holiday given that holiday is really a reference to "holy" days as in religious observance. What is Kwanzaa? Well there are a lot of misinformation regearding Kwanzaa which has grown as it has become mainstreamed. Kwanzaa was strated by Dr. Ron Karenga previously of the US organization that had famous run-ins with the Black Panther Party care of the FBI's COINTELPRO. Kwanzaa came as an outgrowth of Dr. Karenga's belief in what is refered to as "Cultural Nationalism."

In 2004 I decided on choice quotes from our esteemed scholars and leaders.

http://garveys-ghost.blogspot.com/2003/12/kwanzaa-2003-umoja-today-is-first-day.html

As far as Negroes are concerned, in America we have the problem of lynching, peonage and dis-franchisement.



In the West Indies, South and Central America we have the problem on peonage, serfdom, industrial and political government inequality.



In Africa, we have, not only peonage and serfdom, but out-right slavery, racial exploitation and alien political monopoly.



We cannot allow a continuation of these crimes agins our race. As four hundred million men, women and children, worthy of existance given us by the Divine Creator, we are determined to solve our own problem, by redeeming out Motherland Africa from the hands of alien exploiters and found there a government, a nation of our own, strong enough to lend protection to the members of our race scattered all over the world, and to compel the respect of the nations and races of the earth.

in 2005 we went back to studying the principles.

http://garveys-ghost.blogspot.com/2003/12/kwanzaa-2003-umoja-today-is-first-day.html

Today's principle is Umoja, or unity. Dr. Karenga wrote in 1965 that he meant for Umoja to stand for:



Unity for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation and race.



I have no doubt that with the expanded attention given to Kwanzaa that the last portion will no doubt be de-emphasized if not dropped all together. Today I want to emphasis a little remembered portion of Dr. Maulana's purpose for Kwanzaa and the cultural revitalization of black people:. Kawaida Theory. One of the central questions asked in this line of thought are:





Who am I?

Am I all that I could be?



My history teacher at Tuskegee, Prof. Fluker would pose the question:



what is the identity? (yourself, your subject)

What is thiere purpose?

What is thier direction?



He referred to this as the IPD: If you could could identify the person. If you could identify thier purpose and direction, most everything else about the subject (including oneself) can be determined.

Technorati Tags: Kwanzaa

RIP Oscar Peterson

I play the piano and have enjoyed the work of Oscar Peterson. He will me missed but his music will carry on.

Happy Solstice

Ahhhh the reason for the season began at 1:08 AM Eastern Standard Time today. Today is the shortest daylight hours day of the year for the northern hemisphere and marks the years end and the new year for nature. It is the source of all the Christmas hoopla, whether "secular" or Christian.

Happy Solstice to everyone!

More Religious Bullshit

It is a common theme among many African Americans though less known in the general public, African-Americans don't like Africans all that much. In some quarters it goes to the extent of not wanting to be called "black." In some cases calling a clearly African person "African" is enough to get into a fight. Among many African-American children one will find that they will use disparaging remarks to "recent" Africans. Comments about Jungles and the like, which I had previously only heard come out of mouths of white people, can flow freely from the mouth of America's African descendants.

Anyone with a decent knowledge of history can understand where this self hate comes from. After all Africans in America who are descended from the Maafa had gone through a rather brutal disengagement from their mother countries and culture. With such a disruption such antipathy can be expected, if not excused. However; there is a further problem that affects a great deal of Africans from the continent. Many of these individuals are more hostile to African culture than others. Often I will find that Africans from various areas of Africa are a great deal more defensive of the imported religions than the importers of said religions. The latest evidence of this situation was shown in the NY Times yesterday.In that piece I found this statement

The Spiritual Warfare congregants here said that because their ancestors were not Christians, they were cursed, Africa is cursed and the sins of their fathers are now visited upon all the children.

It is unfortunate, but par for the course, that the NY Times would allow it's pages to be used to promote such a completely illogical as well as insulting statement to be published in it's paper without so much as a challenge. Since the Republicans took office, various news outlets have been extending themselves to so-called religious conservatives. I would actually call it pandering. This particular piece is simply another example of the self hating attitude that unfortunately infects a great deal of African people. The above is also the reasons why I could not in good conscience remain a Christian, attend a Christian church or even give money to Christian outreach organizations. These ideas didn't just materialize out of thin air. These thoughts are the direct results of missionaries who have gone into Africa and disrupted the natural culture there. It is not just a matter of a so-called "curse" either.

There are also widespread reports from all over Africa of Christian congregations who use this "witchcraft" fear mongering in order to extort "exorcism" fees from parents of children who are deemed "witches" by either other family members, their own parents or total strangers. In many cases these children who are accused of being "witches" are actually the victims of economic circumstances and the parents are seeking a means of getting rid of the child without having to take any blame for putting out a child.

Overall this whole "witchcraft" industry is just that, an industry made up of unscrupulous Africans seeking a means of employment and riches at the expense of their followers. After all, if there was no business to be made of "fighting curses and witchcraft" these churches would be empty and the collection plates as well.

I don't expect the NY Times to do it, but if they had any integrity at all they would first and foremost post a counter article on those Africans (both continental and diaspora) who practice their traditional faiths and let them challenge the quoted statement. Furthermore, if they are going to continue to write such articles then they ought to at least balance out such outrageous claims by finding other alternative sources.

Technorati Tags: Africa, Christianity, Coonin', Pan-Africanism, Religion

On The Saudi Rape Case

In response to this:

The BBC, which noted in November that the sentences handed down in the Qatif case had wide support in Saudi Arabia, reported Monday that conservatives in the country were lashing out today against the pardon, saying that leniency to the woman would undermine public morality.

I will only say that it is a particularly twisted sense of morality in which a woman who is seen sitting with a man to whom she is not related to is more repugnant than the abduction and rape of said woman (and apparently the man as well).

What Your Preacher Won't Tell You

I've been saying it for years, but it falls on dead ears, but Christmas has nothing to do with Christ. But since some people think that because I'm not a Christian, I'm therefore unqualified to make such assertions, then why not let a Christian tell it:

Christmas was adopted by Christianity late, by some three hundred years. It was incorporated into Christianity in the 4th century, the same way Friday fish-eating was incorporated and during the same time. (Imperial Romans ate fish on Fridays to honor Venus, the goddess of love, fish being the food of love and sex.) The venerial fish-eating was simply co-opted by Christianity and given a revised rationale, namely that Jesus died on Friday, so one should abstain from eating meat on Friday.



In imperial Rome, the December 25 feast in honor of the Invincible Sun, Sol Invictus, was accompanied by the exchange of gifts, cutting of greens, lighting of candles, and public festivals commemorating new life. The sun, after all, had turned in the sky and was rising earlier and setting later, after the winter solstice. Rome on December 25, before Christianity, looked very much like New York on December 25 after Christianity.



In the 4th century, the Christian Church, having been adopted by the Emperor Constantine, was rather suddenly transformed from a persecuted minority into the official imperial religion of Rome. The Church responded by importing the Jesus' birth narratives of Matthew and Luke into the feast of Sol Invictus and erased every reference to the pagan gods. It could be argued that Christians, with the authority of the Roman emperors behind them, stole Christmas from pagan society. Now perhaps it is time to give it back.

I''m a full Solstice convert now. In fact it is interesting that Kwanzaa is during the solstice time (roughly a week) and follows the traditions in some African cultures who had feasts to begin the new planting season.

In any case don't expect to hear the above in the average black church this season. Do expect the usual nonsense though.

Technorati Tags: Christianity, critique, Solstice

NIgerian Times on Crack

The Nigerian Times blog has a post in which they posit:

When Oprah Winfrey was name dropping Martin Luther King, Jr., in South Carolina, I laughed at her ignorance of the life history of Hillary Clinton, because Hillary Clinton is more qualified to speak on the Civil Rights Movement than both Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.

While I am certainly a critic of both Winfrey and Obama, the above is some serious bullshit. While Hillary may know a bit about Affirmative Action given that white women benefit immensely from that program, no way she is "more qualified" to speak on the Civil Rights Movement than Oprah or Obama.

I realize the Nigerian Times piece is really about Hillary's political acumen, but the above statement nearly gutters the entire piece.

Offshoring

Paul Craig Roberts strikes again

Last June a revealing marketing video from the law firm, Cohen & Grigsby appeared on the Internet. The video demonstrated the law firm's techniques for getting around US law governing work visas in order to enable corporate clients to replace their American employees with foreigners who work for less. The law firm's marketing manager, Lawrence Lebowitz, is upfront with interested clients: "our goal is clearly not to find a qualified and interested US worker."



If an American somehow survives the weeding out process, "have the manager of that specific position step in and go through the whole process to find a legal basis to disqualify them for this position--in most cases there doesn't seem to be a problem."



...Integrity is so lacking in America that the shortage myth serves the interests of universities, funding agencies, employers, and immigration attorneys at the expense of American students who naively pursue professions in which their prospects are dim. Initially it was blue-collar factory workers who were abandoned by US corporations and politicians. Now it is white-collar employees and Americans trained in science and technology. Princeton University economist Alan Blinder estimates that there are 30 to 40 million American high end service jobs that ultimately face offshoring.



As I predict, and as BLS payroll jobs data indicate, in 20 years the US will have a third world work force engaged in domestic nontradable services.

Counterpunch

Where Are The White Trainers?

From the Naijablog:

Imagine his dismay at the workshop, with his all-Nigerian team (many of whom are almost as accomplished), when the (public sector) client asked/commented: "where are the white trainers? We need white trainers."

I believe Carter G. had a few words on this.

Tariq Ali on Venezuela

I wrote it first but since I don't get CounterPunch love, Tariq Ali, restates the position

Anyone who saw Chavez' speech accepting defeat last night (as I did here in Guadalajara with Mexican friends) will not be in any doubt regarding his commitment to a democratically embedded social process. That much is clear. One of the weaknesses of the movement in Venezuela has been the over-dependence on one person. It is dangerous for the person (one bullet can be enough) and it is unhealthy for the Bolivarian process. There will be a great deal of soul-searching taking place in Caracas, but the key now is an open debate analysing the causes of the setback and a move towards a collective leadership to decide on the next candidate. It's a long time ahead but the discussions should start now.

The Continued Downward Spiral

Coming fast on the heels of the "Christian Leader" advertisement by Mike Huckabee, we find that the Texas top expert on science education, Christine Comer was fired for apparently promoting a speech by an anti-Intelligent Design supporter Barbara Forrest.:

Ms. Comer forwarded to a local online community an e-mail message from a pro-evolution group announcing a talk by Barbara Forrest, a professor of philosophy at Southeastern Louisiana University. Professor Forrest testified as an expert witness in a 2005 Dover, Pa., case that found intelligent design supernatural and theological and definitely not part of a scientific education.



An hour later, Ms. Comer was called in by superiors, pressured to send out a retraction and ultimately forced to resign. Her departure was instigated by a new deputy commissioner who had served as an adviser to George Bush when he was governor of Texas and more recently worked in the federal Department of Education.



It was especially disturbing that the agency accused Ms. Comer — by forwarding the e-mail message — of taking a position on “a subject on which the agency must remain neutral.” Surely the agency should not remain neutral on the central struggle between science and religion in the public schools. It should take a stand in favor of evolution as a central theory in modern biology. Texas’s own education standards require the teaching of evolution.

It is of little wonder why the US is fast dropping behind the rest of the world in regards to science education and technology.

Jena 6 update

Mychal Bell ...

pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge of second-degree battery in return for an 18-month sentence, with credit for 10 months he already has served. Bell had faced being placed in a juvenile facility until his 21st birthday.



Bell also must pay court costs plus $935 to Barker's family, testify should his co-defendants in the Barker attack stand trial, undergo counseling and be reintegrated into the school system, his lawyers said.



''We were prepared to go forward with the trial, but you have to do what's best for the client,'' said Carol Powell Lexing, one of Bell's attorneys. A juvenile court trial was to begin later this week.

Technorati Tags: Jena 6

Hugo Chavez Lost. Hugo Chavez Won.

I have been watching the events in Venezuela carefully because I feared that the Chavez machine would manage to push through it's constitutional "reforms" and that would not have been good. No matter how much I like Chavez or approve of his policies only a fool in this day and age, with a full appreciation of history would approve of abolishing term limits.

I cannot imagine if US president George Bush were to be able to run for office again. Constitutional changes ought not happen based on popularity but rather should happen because there is a pressing need that the current constitution does not address. It is of my opinion that the term limit change is a solution looking for a problem. Furthermore such a proposal, even if approved by popular vote only succeeds in making the world think that Chavez is only out for power. Like any good leader, he needed this setback and I'm glad it happened.

This is also a great opportunity for Chavez and his supporters. Now that they know that the people are not having it, the administration and the party is going to have to go about grooming the next generation of leaders that can carry out the party's plans within the current framework. If Chavez and his supporters truly believe that he is needed in order to run the country right, then they have bigger problems than the opposition. A country cannot be effectively lead by a single person. Nor can a country effectively develop if it does not have a framework and leaders able to carry on the business of the state in the best way for the people. Therefore it is encumbent on the current leadership to disentangle the ship of state from the Chavez persona. Hopefully Chavez sees this.

Technorati Tags: critique, Hugo Chavez