Time for New Clarification on Blackness

Hetepu (Peace & Blessings) Family.
I hope you all are doing well. I was biding my time and waiting but I had to break Internet silence because everyone has been talking about this Jesse Williams speech that was delivered at the BET Award ceremony.  So, I had to say something because I see the energy going down the alley and it is about to get hijack. Let me explain.

Before I even talk about Williams’ speech, there are two things we need to understand. The first is that when has any message, speech, movement, etc. broadcasted over national airways actually benefited us? I have said it before, when Denzel Washington did not receive an award for his performance in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X film. It became obvious, “Of course he would not receive an award because this does not support the image that “they” want to portray around the world about Black people.” They want people to think that Black people are just good for sports, entertainment and are sex-prone violent drug addicted people, which is why Denzel got an award for Training Day.

This is the reason I stopped watching the BET (and every other award ceremony including the NAACP Image Awards, Oscars, Emmy, Music Award, etc.)  because I realized our liberation would never be promoted, supported and broadcast by any media outlet.  Simply put, it is not good business for our Enemy, so first thing first. Anything good for our enemy is always bad for us. Anything that is bad for our enemy is good for us, which is the reason “they” will never cease demonizing our traditional African culture, but will always tell us that this perverted form of Christianity practiced in this country is a perfect fit for us.
This brings me to the second point, which is the reason we keep getting suckered into watching these shows and taken advantage of mentally, physically and spiritually is because “they” realized what we refuse to accept, that ever since Africans were brought to North America. There has always been two groups of Black people: 1) the Nationalist African Americans, who for the most part support ideas about independence, Pan-Africanism, etc. and, 2) those who are pro-American inclusion.

In simple terms, we can say when the first Africans were brought to this country there were some who were like “I want to go back to Africa and die where my ancestors were buried” and a second group that said, “I want to stay here and make the best out of this new land we’re in.” For the record, this is how all of the Africans felt all over the Western hemisphere and it is illustrated in the Carlos Dieges’ movie Quilombo when the soon to be Maroon crowned king, Ganga Zuumba (played by Tony Tornado shown above) successfully revolted against the slave owners.  After doing so, he asked his recently escaped brothers and sisters what they wanted to do.  One of the African elders accompanying them says, “I want to go back home” and Ganga says, “I am going to stay here.”
Both groups have valid claims and points.
For instance, from a pro-American inclusion perspective the United States is very much our country because our ancestors’ blood, sweat and tears, deem it so, which means that next to the Native Americans, no other people besides us has claim to this country. From this perspective, even though we are discriminated against, we are owed every right and privilege this country has to offer. Yet, at the same time, from a Nationalist perspective because our ancestors were kidnapped, raped, murdered, persecuted, etc. this country owes us a substantial debt, which is why some want land or to be recognized as a sovereign nation. So, you see, both points are valid because we are like Puerto Ricans but the difference is that we have no territory to call our own. The Africans who wanted to go back to Africa when they first arrived decided to make this country their home but they wanted their own land to do so.  The other Africans who wanted to settle and make the best out of this country have been trying to prove their self-worth and be accepted as citizens.  Consequently, we are treated more like the Native Americans with the added difference that 1) most of us do not see ourselves as a nation as the indigenous people of this country do, and 2) “They” really don’t want us because they established this country as free society for them and only them, and not any people of color.
Stuck with a dilemma, “they” decided the only way to deal with it is to co-opt with the Africans who wanted to stay here because if they showed that we fought in every war this country has been in.The majority of us would get the idea like our maroon brothers and sisters had in the Caribbean and South America, to take what is owed and build their own free community or free state. This is the reason every war movie portrays them as being the only one who have fought for this country. Here’s a small list – Schindler’s List, Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Platoon, and so on.

In order for us and the world to see people of colors’ contribution, a special movie has to made like Red Tails, Glory, Windtalkers and even then if is not classified as an ethnic movie (e.g. a so-called Black movie because it has an all black cast, etc.), the movie is not about us. It is about “them” leading or saving us “people of color” again.

Therefore, inclusion serves them (White Supremacy) so to create the illusion that we are accepted. “They” award us for supporting their cause. You see people are crying racism but you are not understanding how racism is played.
Think about it. Why were Black people boycotting the Academy last year? Answer. They did not have a lot of Black people in movies and receiving awards. Now, the Academy Awards just recently invited 41% people of color, to show that they can say they are diversified, and we can say they are making progress. I guarantee you that they have a lot of two-fers too. You know like a woman who is also a person of color. By the way 48% women were invited.

Are you seeing the game?
Now that we have that established, if you look at every revolt and every act of insurrection that African Americans have had in this country. Their start and their end can be traced back to the ideologies that exists in both of these groups.  For instance, look at the Nat Turner revolt. Turner was tired of the mistreatment and hypocrisy of the land, so he led an armed revolted and moved to establish his own free land, hence Nationalism.  Turner’s revolt was sabotaged by those closest to him. Why? Because they wanted to be included into the American fabric of society.

Let’s jump to the Civil Rights Era. As you already know, Malcolm (Malcolm X or El Hajj Malik Shabazz) was a known Nationalists and if you listen to any of his speeches when he was in the Nation of Islam and after he left.  You will hear that he never changed his tune. He wanted independence. Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. on the other hand, was all about inclusion.

As I mentioned earlier, so that you don’t get to thinking ill about King, both have valid points. A lot of people today rag on the Dr. King but as I stated earlier, besides the Native Americans, there is no other group that has bled and died for this country like us, so it belongs to us just as much.  OK. However, the problem with the inclusion strategy is that the enemy always uses it against us. This is the reason Malcolm initially did not want to include any other race in his organization. He changed his mind after he realized that racism was so deeply ingrained into Western culture that there were people who wanted to do good but unconsciously were being racist as well.
So you see, we have these two valid perspectives that are tearing us apart because the enemy is playing both against each other. As I mentioned before, we are like the people of Puerto Rico or the Native Americans with the difference being that we do not have any land (economic resources). We are on borrowed land (that is owed to us), paying an expensive rent, arguing among ourselves on if we should be a nation within a nation, and/or be included into this nation called the United States of America. Unfortunately, because no one has actually put a finger on it and identified that our problem is not about religion.  It is not about politics per se.  It is not about money but about Self-identity. The bad thing is that everyone knows that this is our problem except for us and they exploit it as much as they can, which is the reason we identify with each other and others on silly superficialities, namely religion and colorism.
Now, I am about to step on some toes. Everyone knows that it is cool to be black and this is the reason the enemy sides with the inclusion perspective.

So you want proof? When Bill Clinton was running for president and came into the Black Churches and wooed us. What were the policies he talked about? Do you remember? Let me change the question. What do you remember about Bill Clinton’s campaign? Answer. He smoked weed and can play a saxophone, which inspired our silly so-called leaders to repeat that same stupid mantra, “Clinton is the first Black president.” We should have been ashamed and cried foul when people repeated this stupid comment because what they were actually saying was that all black people do is smoke weed and play music.He did not woo us saying he was going to bring back industry that left Detroit, Cleveland, Philly, Chicago, L.A. etc.

He did not woo us by saying that he would not sign (or at least would table) the bill that made the 3 Strikes-You-Out bill law. The law that people today are seeing had racist undertones from the beginning because it only targeted Black and Latino communities. It is all in black-and-white in Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness.  No. I can still here the dumb jokes today, “Clinton is a brother. He smoke weed and he plays the saxophone.”

Let’s jump to the present president.Our first “so-called Black” president.  What was Obama’s campaign focus? Oh, that’s right…Change. But what type of change? What did Obama say that he was going to change? If you go back and look at his campaign, it was all nostalgic rhetoric that was interpreted as a black man in the white house. Why did we vote for him? Because we said that he was black. We identified that here is a man of color who smoked weed, walked with a swagger, gave speeches a little bit like our preachers (rhymes and poetry), plays basketball and sing and he can Al Green song. All of the superficial things that people identify with being black culture. I mean people crying and talking about how history is going to be made because a man of color would finally sit in the oval office.  Now, even our people who supported him are like they cannot believe Obama got in the white house and did not do a damn thing for our communities. Of course, part of this was our fault because we did not take him an agenda but Obama like a lot of entertainers played us like Elvis. Then, we he got what he wanted, he decided to do whatever he pleased.
Do you see that they are “Black” only when it is convenient because to them it is an act, a play, a show. It has nothing to do with our STRUGGLE. 
So, now we come to Williams’ speech but before we go there, let’s talk about your girl Beyoncé. She does this whole must see video and claims to pay homage to the Black Panthers, who 10-20 years ago were not even mentioned on national television. Now, after most of the original members have been killed and countless black men and black women have been murdered, it is cool to talk about the Black Panthers and pay homage to them? I mean do you think if Huey (P. Newton) and Eldridge (Cleaver) were alive today that they would be support what she is doing? Of course not because she is playing Black.  You see it is popular and convenient. Everyone knows that a lot of Black people are fed up, so now you have all of these performers claiming that they are down with the Cause. I mean come on. Have you ever seen Malcolm smiling in any of the photos taken back in the day? There are not many because he was angry about the whole situation we were in. The only time you see Malcolm smiling is when he is taking a picture with his family or a picture with other people who were trying to make change.

Now, let’s deal with Williams’ speech. I refuse to give him or the movements he represents a lot of power so I am not going to break it down stanza per stanza. But, he begins by saying the award was for the countless women leading the movements, as if the available men in our community are sitting around on their loins. I mean seriously, Brothers got weblogs and other things on the Internet to create jobs within the community.  One Brother has made four movies documenting our struggle and to bring awareness of our plight to the younger generation, but no recognition for that. There are Black men all around this country who know that the reason kids are getting in the gangs is because of lack of guidance and other social ills, who have created programs and doing everything they can to stop the violence affecting our community. Then, ever since the late Bro. Amos Wilson and Dr. Claude Anderson brought to our awareness we need economic power, we (Black men and Black women) have been building businesses left and right.
So what the hell is Williams’ talking about that Black men need to do better?
This is the same stupid crap Obama said a year ago and the reason he said  when the racism started rising in this country.  Why did he say something like that? It is because he does not live in our community. He does not know what we are doing and what we are not doing.  Most of these individuals who make statements like this only know what a Black Man is doing based upon their warped definition and understanding of manhood. And, this is usually because these individuals got “Daddy issues.” Yeah. Remember Obama had daddy issues?
People who live in our community know our struggles. We know what our problems are because we live with them on a day-to-day basis.  We know that both Black Men and Black Women are the doing their damnest to change things. To say that only Black Women are making an effort to change things is an attack to divide our ancestral concept of what a Family is. So, don’t be fooled.

Next, people applauded Williams and said that his speech stole the show.  People were claiming that his speech was very motivating but if you read it carefully it is scripted. There are rhymes and it resembles a street preacher’s words. It almost sounds like Jesse Jackson.
“We’ve been floating this country on credit for centuries, and we’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil – black gold! – ghettoizing and demeaning our creations and stealing them, gentrifying our genius and then trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies like rinds of strange fruit.”
When you take a minute and read Williams’ speech you see that just like Obama’s campaign, Beyonce’s video, etc. his speech moved the crowd. He dropped words and codes that triggered memories about slavery, discrimination and even Billy Holiday’s Strange Fruit. He did not say anything new that has not been said before. It was another speech about Hope…Faith…and Change. The same crap, just a different orator. Let me spell it out. Williams just got promoted to be the NEW FACE TO REPRESENT US.
Williams speech was all a PERFORMANCE.
Now, I am not saying that he does not have good intentions because I do not know this man’s heart but it was an act.  Plain and simple. Sidebar: It would have been more credible if he had read his speech from a paper but there was no paper. That would have showed a little bit more that he was genuine.
The question is, why did he say all of that? There was nothing mentioned in his speech on what we should do to stop the attacks on Black men and women.  There was no strategy laid out. There was no agenda. Just like Obama’s campaign and Bill Clinton before.  Just like Beyonce claimed to be honoring the Black Panthers but did not say anything about what the Black Panthers did for their communities and how the government shut them down to inspire people to follow the Panther’s lead.  Williams speech revved people up like a preacher giving a sermon from the pulpit.   Why?

Answer: Well, Samuel Jackson, who received a lifetime achievement award, put the final nail in the coffin.  Jackson ended the award ceremony by saying basically that if we want to change what is going on to go out and vote.
That’s right! This was a low-key ritual to get Black people to take your anger on this whole mess going on in the country and vote for Hillary Clinton.  You see, Hillary has been riding Bill’s coattail and can’t act Black. They know, you are not voting for Trump but they also know you are so pissed with the whole democratic process that you are liable to not vote at all and instead move to build your world. If you go back and listen to Williams’ speech he mentioned this because more and more of us are leaning towards the Nationalist perspective. If we moved to build our own world, we would connect with those African countries and those in the Caribbean like Marcus Garvey and Elijah Muhammad had done.
But, most of us fell for the same silly trick because we identified with Williams being part black or we got lost on the whole idea that his mother is Caucasian. Again, the same superficial factors because what does this have to do with anything? By the way, what does a person’s attire, their hairstyle, their friends, where they grew up, the organizations they are associated with, etc. have to do with them being Black or not? What does claiming that you marched with King have to do with you being Black? Not a damn thing.
Sidebar: Have you ever noticed that politicians always claim to have marched with Dr. King? Meanwhile, have you ever met any Black person who marched with Dr. King to Washington yet there were thousands in D.C.  Interesting isn’t it? I mean I have yet to meet anyone (outside of politicians) who marched on Washington. It won’t be long that you will hear people saying, they marched in the Million Man March or something.

Anyway, the point that I am making is that we keep letting these people divide us based upon what they claim they identify with because we refuse to identify with our African culture and use it.
Let me make it plain.
We all have admixtures within our blood line. So unless you have recently immigrated straight from Africa, you are not a pure, 100% African.  You got blood from some other nationality.  For instance, I did the DNA genetic testing to find out where my African ancestors came from and if I had Native American ancestry.  I learned that my ancestors came from the present Kongo, Sengalese, Cameroon, Sierra Leone and Yoruba regions. But I also found to my surprise that I have a small percentage that comes from Europe.  You heard right, I have European genetics within my blood so by definition I am technically a mulatto because as K. Lamar (Kendrick Lamar) stated (and I paraphrase), “One of my Mommas did not get away fast enough.” By the way, I like all types of music including every now and then heavy metal. Oh, also I wear a shirt and tie to work on a daily basis but I have heard some people say about me, “He ain’t black” because I do not engage in the same stereotypical things that supposedly black people do like the Afros in Robert Townsends’ Hollywood Shuffle.

Do you see how ridiculous and stupid this sounds?

This is what is meant in the Kamitic tradition as relying upon one eye or the Right Eye of Ra. In other words, basing your decisions only upon what you physically see.
We need to recognize that Blackness has nothing to do with the color or hue of an individual’s skin. The color of an individual’s skin does not determine what is inside an individual’s heart nor does it reveal their true intentions. It is our culture that is supposed to determine if we are Black or not. Malcolm X was a light-skinned Black but does that mean that all light-skinned Blacks are going to be like him? Does this mean that dark-skinned Blacks are more “Black”?  Let me go a little further with this. Does that mean that because a person has a natural or dreadlocks, or that they wear African attire that they are down with our struggle?  Does that mean that everyone that comes from Africa is down with us? The answer to all of these questions is the same “Hell, no!”
Why? Because, Western idealism did not just affect those of us in the Americas. Like a cancer if affected those in Africa as well.  This is the reason, we can’t depend upon the old ways of association.  In other words, “Every brother (sister), ain’t a brother (sister).”

This is how we should determine if an individual is Black or not.
You see, I am Black because the culture I identify with the most is Black African. If you put me in the room with other people of African descent from all over the globe. We may not speak the same language. We may be of different shades and hue. We may have different hair textures, etc. because all of this is superficial. But, I guarantee you that most of us in that room will admit to believing in the existence of God and we will also express the belief in the existence of ancestors, even if we do not publicly venerate them the same. It is this cultural perspective that will make us family because we have an ancestral bond that I cannot see with my eyes, but my ancestors recognize. In other words, I got my Left Eye of Ra repaired 1.

The Left Eye of Ra refers to spiritual insight and ancestral knowledge. See people can “act Black” all they want. They can sing, dance, walk and act cool all they want. They can “Elvis” us all they want but they can’t perpetrate when it comes to the dealing with our ancestors.

Now, if you asked me if I think that Obama (and for that matter, many of our so-called leaders) were black or not. I would say, based upon our cultural practices, “No” because he doesn’t venerate his ancestors or his ancestral past. You see, many of the policies that Obama has made are contradictory to our ancestral legacy. There is no way, I would have went over to Africa and told them that they have to accept the American way or else. That is just blatant disrespectful but you can understand why he did that when you understand that he identifies more with Western culture, which historically and arrogantly dictates to others what “they” think is best. This is why he took this same Westernize arrogance to Cuba and told these people what they should and should not do. This is not true African behavior or cultural etiquette. Everyone who grew up “Black” knows you do not go to someone else’s house and disrespect them. This is not proper “Black culture” but it is Western culture. Westerners have historically demonstrated this behavior all over the globe. Do you see the difference between categorizing someone as being black based upon culture versus their skin tone, performance, etc.?

Of course, you are probably saying, “But how could we know if Obama (or anyone else for that matter) is down with us ancestrally?” Well, that’s when the oracle comes into the picture, which is also part of Black culture. If we really practiced our culture, when a politician came in trying to woo us.  If we had a godmother like Celia Cruz in the Mambo Kings, who went into trance and came out saying, “The Spirits say, you are no good for us.”

Or an Auntie that performed biblical divination by randomly opening the bible and the first thing they read said something about a plague, so they said, “You sir are going to bring destruction. You are no good.” Our situation would drastically change. It would change so quick because if every time someone tried to woo us we went into trance, did bibliomancy, threw some shells, shook some yarrow sticks, did an i-ching reading (something) to see what the ancestors had to say about the matter. People would know that they better step to us correctly or don’t step at all, instead of getting a pass because of their superficialities of our culture.

You see, I did a reading on Williams’ speech and the oracle said, “It is a PERFORMANCE.” No, guesswork, so I don’t care how moving his speech may have been. My ancestors told me, that his heart is not aligned with mine at this time. Meaning, it may change, then again, it may not but presently, his views does not represent my ancestry or reflect our struggle.

We keep getting in a bind and blindsided because our enemy knows how to entertain us in order to move us to do something.  We cry conspiracy and illumati but the way out of this madness is to consult a higher source like our ancestors.  We need to stop taking everyone’s words at face value and assuming that they will deliver on their promise because of the color of their skin or the religion they are in.

We need to make a change and do something different by invoking the wisdom of our ancestral past. There are too many color variations, admixtures and other variations for us to determine if someone’s intentions are aligned with our cultural values. Besides, people lie all of the time and you can’t always tell a book by its’ cover. We should only trust those whom our oracles tell us to trust. Instead of going through all of the guesswork.
We need to stop being afraid of our true culture and embrace it.  We need to let our ancestors be our guide and ask them for insight in determining if someone is on our side. Instead of trying to figure it all out with just one eye. It is only when we use our spiritual eye and our physical eye that we get a holistic view of an individual (and group) and know if it is in our best interest.

Hope that helps.

1. According to the Kamitic Story of Osar, the hero of the story Hru has his eye (believed to be the intuitive eye or Left Eye of Ra) gouged out by the enemy symbolizing that he only sees one perspective and lives an imbalance life, which is the reason he can never defeat his enemy. It is only after the hero of the story meets the shaman-sage Djahuti (Thoth) and repairs Hru’s eye, that Hru is able to invoke his ancestor Osar and finally defeat Set, thus reclaiming his birthright (what was owed).