Reparations Means Fighting for our Human Rights

Today many bloggers are uniting for human rights. The idea is that bloggers would be ablet o use their platform to push for human rights. I agree wholeheartedly.

Reparations means fighting for human rights. And, there are myriad human rights crises faced by the Global Black Community. The growing - systemic - disparities between Black and White in America; the marginalization of Afro-Latinos in South America (yes, there are African people there...many more than are here in the US); and of course the problems in Caribbean nations like Haiti and African nations like Sudan.

We all could rattle off a list of numerous struggles for human dignity in the African World. But, let us rather discuss why reparations means fighting for human rights. We must know: no one really cares about the struggles of our people.

The powers that be allowed the Rwanda Genocide to happen. They aided the turmoil in Haiti. They assisted rancor in Latin America. They funded diamond wars on the Continent. When it becomes politically expedient, they become magnanimous and oust the tyrannical regimes they once sponsored...then the cycle continues, under new tyrants.

Reparations means fighting for human rights because we will be the only ones to push for the protection of our people. And, they may not be the glamorous issues of the day. But, we must be the ones who keep our issues on the agenda. We cannot allow Darfur to fall off the radar. We cannot allow Haiti to fall off the radar. We must be the ones to hold up our people before those powers that be and demand that something be done.

We are the ones who must begin to develop our own strategies for supporting the human rights struggles of our people. We do not need to wait for Western Powers to "gain religion." We have the tools and the means by which we can develop our own initiatives to end strife. We need to develop our own mediating bodies...to strengthen the African Union and CARICOM...to increase our participation at the Organization of American States.

These struggles drag on because we are not engaged. These struggles can be overcome only as we become more engaged. If we are to see our reparations, it will be for us to manifest. And, we can make it a reality if we are willing to do the work. Let's get organized!

Come and Get Your Reparations!

Reparations Means Combating Propaganda

That should be pretty clear.

When we speak to people about the recent Jeremiah Wright Saga, most will say they agree with Wright. However, that is not the sense you see in the "Mess Media." Black pundits have either been whitewashed into a seemingly Black person indoctrinated with the White perspective, or they are (justifiably) afraid of loosing their jobs.

In Message to the People: The Course of African Philosophy, Marcus Garvey says:

The press, cinema, pulpit, schoolroom are all propaganda agencies for one thing or the other...The white man is a great propagandist. he fully and completely realizes the value of propaganda. Therefore, you must organize your propaganda to undo the propaganda of other people; if their propaganda affects your interest...the school book is literary propaganda. The novels and books you read are also literary propaganda, all calculated to bring about certain results beneficial to the propagandist.

So, everything is designed to make us fearful of ourselves. With regards to the Jeremiah Wright saga, DC journalist William Reed says:

The acrimony corporate media created and manipulated regarding Rev. Wright started when their programmers saturated the airwaves with sound-bite clips of Wright sermonizing about the evils of America. When Rev. Wright started his defense, mainstream media’s provocateurs stoked the controversy by over-blowing statements with a stable of black commentators in tow - each professing Wright “didn’t represent their views and blaming him, for, as they saw it, continuing to be an albatross around Obama's neck.

Corporate Media’s endless faintings about “Obama’s pastor problem” illustrates consistent and colluded institutional racism thinly veiled as a defense of American civility and patriotism. Barack Obama does not have as much “a pastor problem" as Americans has a corrupt media problem. The airwaves are filled with "Obama's Pastor Problem" because an irresponsible media pretends that America does not have a race or a division of wealth problem. Black-oriented issues are rarely aired via corporate media.

Reparations means combating propaganda. And, to defend against the attacks of mainstream society we must control our own media...not so-called Black Press, but press which is controlled by Black people. Black Press is largely disrespected and mostly read by Black people - who, themselves, read it superficially. That serves no purpose. What we need is press that is controlled by Black people, which is respected and carries the weight needed to be taken seriously.

Again in Message to the People, Garvey instructs us:

Watch the newspapers, magazines and journals (now TV and Internet) daily for propaganda against your race or your institutions...rush into print immediately a defense of your race institutions and organizations from any attack. Never allow an insult propagated to go unanswered by you. Be ever vigilant to down anything by way of propaganda that dishonors or discredits you.

Reparations means combating propaganda. So, we need to be in a position to defend our independence. That is why I am hopeful to see the launch of the Black Television News Channel. Again from William Reed:

The Black Television News Channel (BTNC) will launch in early 2009 with the nation’s first all-news cable network dedicated to the African American community. Based in Washington, D.C., BTNC is the creation of J.C. Watts, the former Republican congressman from Oklahoma. The network is part of a multi-year carriage agreement with Comcast Cable. Initial distribution will be limited to Philadelphia, Chicago, Detroit, Washington, Atlanta, and Baltimore.

A black cable news network will be a welcome addition to the media world. But, BTNC’s 24-hour news format will be a costly proposition. To satisfy a bourgeois black clientele addicted to mainstream media, BTNC will especially need to put forth a state-of-the-art product. BTNC’s difference, of course, will all be in the perspective it brings to screens. As BTNC brings blacks news from their own points of view, it will stem growth and maturation of black people who will not only be on-air talent but the ones making editorial decisions on what stories actually get covered. Many of those blacks currently forced to prostrate themselves at corporate media altars could become “shot callers” under the Watts paradigm.

Here's a message from JC Watts:


Reparations means combating propaganda. And, to wage a strong battle we need community support. So, I hope you support the Black Television News Channel and other means by which we can control (or at least shift) the image portrayed of our people. Maybe if we can inject our perspective in the debate, people may find black empowerment easier to embrace!

Come and Get Your Reparations!

Reparations Means Embracing Reparations!

Ok, many will wonder: "what's with this title?"

Allow me to explain. In numerous conversations, here is the dialogue: "You know, I agree with what you're saying. " To which I respond, "great! We need you...would you get involved?" And, the answer is usually, "I would but..." You fill in the blank.

Reparations means embracing reparations! We cannot be afraid to take a stand as free men and women. Why should we be afraid of supporting our people? What is fearsome of empowering the Global African Community?

But, many of us are hesitant to put our names on anything pro-Black.

Reparations means embracing reparations! And, pro-Black does not mean anti anyone.

This says a great deal about the need for reparations. The fact - realism - that we as Black people must fear supporting Black people is testimony to the difficult dynamics of race. Many of you have said you do not want to loose your jobs...the very real fact that someone could loose his/her job because of concern for the wellbeing of the Black Community is a testimony to the need for reparations. How can we live free if these are the realities we face?

Reparations means embracing reparations. We can never be a free and independent people if we cannot embrace reparations. Radical Reconstruction was about reparations. The goal of Radical Reconstruction was political, social and economic empowerment of Black people. Yet, that goal was overthrown only to be followed by policies of Black Codes, segregation and integration, neither of which have enabled us to embrace our freedom.

In his best-selling novel, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey speak about the process by which one goes from a state of dependence to one of interdependence. Few will argue that as slaves, we were in a state of dependence...relying on massa for everything: food, clothing and shelter (no matter how meager). Few will argue that the stated goal of integration is an interdependent society. Few will argue against Stephen Covey's theory.

Mr. Covey theory states that to make the choice to become interdependent, one must first be independent, since dependent people have not yet developed the character to be interdependent. So, the first three habits focus on self-mastery...

Now, what is self-mastery if not knowledge of self? And, if it is fearsome to know ourselves...if it threatens society when we as Black people strive to empower ourselves...how free are we? How independent are we? And, according to Stephen Covey, if we are not yet independent we cannot be interdependent. If we are not interdependent, we will never have a mutually beneficial and integrated society.

So, you want to "get along" on your job? You want to provide for your family? Get Yours! Reparations means embracing reparations! And, until we get our reparations we will remain dependent upon White society for our sustenance. And, if we are still dependent we will never be interdependent.

Break free!!! As Bob Marley said, "Emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." So, feel free to assert your independence. The world will be a much better place when we do...

Come and Get Your Reparations!