BLACK LIBERATION MUST BEGIN WITH BLACK EXCELLENCE

Beneath The Spin*Eric L. Wattree

BLACK LIBERATION MUST BEGIN WITH BLACK EXCELLENCE
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Black liberation will only exist as Martin's dream until we seize control of our own destiny, and the only way we can accomplish that is by educating ourselves and modifying the cultural mores we were taught during slavery, and later, during the Jim Crow era. We can get out and shout, scream and demonstrate until the cows come home, but all that’s going to do is possibly gain redress on atrocities that’s been committed against us one incident at a time - and even then, only after the atrocities have already been committed. Clear evidence of that is the fact we’re still demonstrating over the very same issues that Martin and Malcolm were fighting to correct over 50 years ago. 
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The root of the problem is that we’re being “managed” by others, and we’re stuck in the attitudes and behaviors that our “handlers”ingrained in us over generations.  That places us in the exact same position as a pet, and no pet has any control over its owner, or how it’s treated by that owner. He’s completely at the owner’s mercy.  But Black people are not pets. We have options, but in order to avail ourselves of those options we must free ourselves of our  “training” by re-educating ourselves and gaining intellectual independence.
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In a previous article, “The Grits and Gravy Debate,” I pointed out the following:
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“Many Black people contracted a serious mental disorder during slavery, and it's been passed down through the generations over the years. It entails an innate distrust and disdain of our own people, the lack of focus and a seeming inability to prioritize, and the tendency to be disagreeable and hostile toward anyone who challenges the status quo. That attitude makes it next to impossible for Black people to come together and organize to improve our condition - and it also serves to insure the stability of the White supremacist system.
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“Even Martin Luther King was initially criticized by the Black church for causing an unnecessary disturbance to the status quo. They told him to stop rockin' the boat and just pray on it, and eventually racism and bigotry would work itself out. That mindset is so pronounced within the Black community that Malcolm was even killed by his own people. The White man has done his job well, so if we want to move forward in a society that has the odds stacked against us, we must learn to stick together, organize, focus, and make knowledge and a dedication to serious pursuits what it means to have “soul.”  We must seek to own the racetrack, instead of just being the horse.
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So we must learn to stop just blindly accepting the statu quo.  When the cops shoot and kill an unarmed Black man in his own backyard, what do we do?  We go crying to White politicians for justice. We do that because we just blindly accept what we’ve been taught - that politicians are our leaders.  But the fact is, that politician that we go crying to is not our leader, he’s our employee. So we’re, literally, living our lives by allowing the tail to wag the dog, but that’s only the case because we allow it to be.
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We must learn to take control of our lives and place ourselves in a position where we don’t have to beg and cry for justice, but demand it.  But of course, we can’t out-scream the White man, because he controls the media, and we can’t out-fight him because we're only 13.3% of the population and he controls the military and police. But while those things might be true, we can out-think him, and Black people have both the intellect, and the proven creativity to do just that; we simply have to refocus it, and that’s exactly why the Black community must make the pursuit of knowledge our number one priority. Again, we must make knowledge the new “soul.” Instead of Black people being world renown for how much rhythm we have, we must refocus our intellect and creativity on becoming world renown for how much knowledge we possess, and with just a little effort we can do just that.
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The Republican Party has been mounting a brutal assault on our educational system for nearly forty years now, and there’s a reason for that - they know that it’s incumbent upon them to keep America ignorant and uninformed, because people who are informed and highly educated tend not to vote Republican. Highly educated people have both the intellect to see through conservative propaganda, and the knowledge to know their history and agenda. Once we begin to recognize that fact, we’ll also recognize the opportunity that it provides the Black community. Since the GOP is leaving no stone unturned to keep America ignorant and uninformed, we should leave no stone unturned to obtain as much education and knowledge as we can. Thereafter, we can use our exceptional knowledge to level the playing field against White supremacy. Black people could quite easily use their innate intellect and creativity to become the most educated group in America - Black women are already accomplishing that goal; now all we have to do is get the brothers onboard:
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BLACK WOMEN ARE NOW THE MOST EDUCATED GROUP IN AMERICA

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“Black women are now the most educated group in US, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
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“Between 2009 and 2010, black women earned 68 per cent of associate's degrees, 66 per cent of bachelor's degrees, 71 per cent of master's degrees and 65 per cent of all doctorate degrees awarded to black students.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/black-women-become-most-educated-group-in-us-a7063361.html
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But many Black men have an aversion to the active pursuit of knowledge. They tend to focus their considerable intellect on trying to be cool and other macho pursuits, like trying to be perceived as ladies men and players.  There's a reason for that.  During slavery, the only Blacks that field slaves knew who spoke anything that even resembled "proper English" were the house slaves, and they were looked upon with disdain, because the house slaves tended to look down their noses at the slaves who worked the fields. As a result, even though many Blacks fail to realize it on a conscious level, a negative attitude has been passed down through the years towards anything that reminds us of the house slave (or "house nigga")–and that includes articulate speech, and the desire for academic excellence.
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That explains why we hear obviously intelligent young Black people going around saying things like "What it is?" or "What it be like?"  Many of these young people can speak better English than White people, but they tend to believe that they have a moral obligation to sound ignorant in order to demonstrate that they take pride in their Black culture. So what does that say about their underlying mindset?  It says that they equate the Black culture with ignorance, and that's a toxic mindset, because you are what you think.
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That also accounts for why we hear so many Black Ph.Ds on national television quoting Tupac instead of Langston Hughes or James Baldwin. Essentially, it's a public apology for being a seeker of knowledge. The message is, "Yeah, I've got an education, but don't worry about it - I'm still one of you." This attitude also accounts for the question that arose regarding whether Barack Obama was "Black enough", and why there was so much pressure on Obama to attend functions like Tavis Smiley's "State of Black America" talkfest - they wanted him to prove that he hadn't been "tainted" by his pursuit of excellence.

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We've got to get away from this kind of thinking - first, because it sends our young people the message that they have a moral obligation to remain ignorant and on the bottom rung of society in order to prove their worthiness as truly Black,  and secondly, because it leaves us unprepared to face the new realities of the world around us.  The Black community has both the intellect and the resources to move to the very top of this society, and we must begin to utilize them both. Thereafter, we won't have to tell others that Black lives matter, we can show them.  So, "What it is?" - it's stupid not to get on our job.

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BLACK RESOURCES

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The African American community controls as much spending power than the Gross National Product of Germany - $1.1 TRILLION - the third richest industrial nation in the world, so why are we whining to the White man to provide for our needs?
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Dr. James P. Neelankavil, a professor of marketing and international business at Hofstra University, says in his book, International Business Research, that "Since the output of a country is an indicator of its economic activity, the GNP [Gross National Product] is often used as key factor in evaluating a country’s economic strength. The five largest countries in the world based on their GNP are the United States, $7 trillion; Japan, $2.5 trillion; Germany, $1.1 Trillion; France, $873 billion; and China, $393 billion."
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So based on Professor Neelankavil’s data, the African American community’s buying power of $1.1 trillion is equal to the economy of Germany, the third largest industrial economy in the world. We control $127 billion more than France, and $607 billion more than the gross national product of China. So why was it that in the 2014 midterm election people like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West were running around suggesting that due to high unemployment in the Black community, Black people would be justified in sitting at home, not voting, and thereby, letting the Republican Party win governorships around the country, and take over the House and Senate? There’s something wrong there. Either they, and their ilk, are grossly uninformed - in which case, they need to keep their mouths shut and educate themselves - or they’re in active collusion with the GOP the Black community’s worst enemy, and the domestic enemy of the United States as a whole.  And with respect to Smiley, that's not as speculative as one might think. Tavis Smiley was given national exposure by Walmart, the most conservative and worker-hostile corporation in the United States.
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So the Black community has got to educate itself, and stop listening to political demagogues, Black or White. Before we can do that, however, we're going to have to get the people’s attention and get everybody on the same page in order to mount a collective effort. How are we going to do that?  That’s easy. We’re going to have to start with our churches.
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The Black community is going to have to put pressure on our Black churches to form a consortium and remain open 7 days a week to provide community services instead of having preachers just give spoken-word concerts every Sunday and then taking Black wealth out of the community. We must insist that they begin to perform community services instead of just running their mouths. They should be hiring unemployed mothers to provide low-cost childcare for working mothers, and enlisting their retired congregants to provide professional tutoring in music and the arts after school. These professionals could teach our young people to play musical instruments, write poetry and prose, perform modern dance, and even instruct them in dress design and computer programming. The churches could also organize sports teams, and put on fashion shows, and concerts. They could also serve as political action and education centers where the people can meet, organize, get to know one another, and learn the value of patronizing the businesses in our own community instead of just driving past on their way to Walmart.  After all, the Bible says, "IF YE WERE ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN, YE WOULD DO THE WORKS OF ABRAHAM" - John 8:39.  Thus, according to the Bible, talk is cheap.
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If we would just learn that, we wouldn’t have to say a word to politicians, because as our local Black businesses began to prosper, and Walmart and the other White businesses began to feel the pinch of losing their cut of our $1.1 trillion, it would say it all - that it’s a new day in the Black community. Then, instead of shunning us and telling us to go sit in the corner, they’d start catering to us; and if a cop shot a Black child, or upset the Black community in any way, all hell would break loose, because the politicians would know that we were gonna come after them in force, and in solidarity, on election day. And the White business community would be up-in-arms because they wouldn’t want to loose any more of the trillion dollars they’re competing for in the community due to our anger.
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Then once we've gotten everybody on the same page and established our community's clout, we could begin to encourage Black entertainers and athletes to invest in the community, and get awards shows like the Soul Train, and B.E.T. Awards to use their platforms to honor our young Black scholars and the people of outstanding achievement in the community.  The entertainers would still play a role, but their role would be to entertain and pass out awards, instead of strutin' up on stage to receive them.  If we did that, it would send the message to Black youth that the pursuit of Black excellence is cool, and it could bring them national notoriety.
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Another thing it would do is offset the White establishment attempt to portray the excellence of Barack Obama as a once in a generation aberration. By organizing to do the things pointed out above, we would not only motivate and refocus the mindset of our young people and the community, but demonstrate to the world that the Black community is filled with thousands of Barack Obamas. In addition, when our community leaders spoke to the various politicians, they’d speak with the clout of an employer to an employee, as it should be. 

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WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT THIS

YOUNG BLACK MAN WOULD BECOME

ONE OF THE GREATEST PRESIDENTS IN

AMERICAN HISTORY? 
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PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA JUDGED 8TH GREATEST PRESIDENT
IN AMERICAN HISTORY.
DONALD TRUMP CAME IN LAST AT 44TH
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President Barack Hussein Obama came in as the 8th greatest president in American history after Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, Harry S. Truman and Dwight Eisenhower in the 2018 Presidents and Executive Politics Presidential Greatness Survey. Donald Trump came in dead last in 44th place.  The Survey was based on 170 responses from current and former members of the American Political Science Association's Presidents and Executive Politics Section.
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https://www.cnn.com/2018/02/19/politics/trump-lincoln-presidential-greatness-survey/index.html
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THAT'S WHO YOU REALLY ARE

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Eric L. Wattree
wattree.blogspot.com
Ewattree@Gmail.com
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Religious bigotry: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.