MAKING KNOWLEDGE THE NEW SOUL

Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree

EXCELLENCE IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY

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MAKING KNOWLEDGE THE NEW SOUL

ALL KNOWLEDGE IS VALUABLE, BUT WHAT’S MOST IMPORTANT IS KNOWING WHERE YOU CURRENTLY ARE, AND WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.

Black people have a long and illustrious history of great kings, queens, and warriors, but in spite of that we still ended up enslaved. The reason for that is simple - instead of dwelling on the past we should have been focused on the future and developing gunpowder, cannons, and armadas to patrol the shores of African. Thus, we were enslaved due to a lack of knowledge, and we’ll only liberate ourselves through the pursuit of knowledge.
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But currently we’re suffering from the very same problem that led to our enslavement in the first place. Far too many of us are focused on partying, getting’ high, throwing our fists in the air when we’re abused, and watching status chase quo. Then we tend to look back on our past to try to gain a sense of self-worth. While it might be good to indulge in that activity during our leisure moments, if we want to move forward, we must spend our time on self-development so we can take pride in who we are NOW, as individuals. Ancestor worship is a feel-good activity, but it's absolutely worthless when it comes to improving our condition. If that weren't the case, we wouldn't currently be trying to dig ourselves out of a hole, because we'd already be on top. In fact, ancestor worship is what's holding us down, because it's causing us to waste time and energy looking in the wrong direction. We should be focusing our time and energy on worshiping the future, not the past. The past is gone.
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To get a clear understanding of our situation we only have to observe what we do in our daily lives. When you pull out of your driveway to go to work, you glance back over your shoulder before you backup to avoid any obstacles that may be in your way. But once you’re out of your driveway, you have to look FORWARD if you want to reach your destination.
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The very same thing is true in life in general. You can’t depend on Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, or Malcolm to gain the sense of self-worth that'll help you to move forward. You can only move forward and gain a true sense of pride by developing YOURSELF as an individual. Just because Malcolm was impressive doesn’t mean that extends to you. You have to make YOURSELF strong, knowledgeable and Black – and sitting around trying to rhyme ain’t gonna do that. How do you expect to spit any wisdom if you're so uneducated you don't know anything about life beyond your hood? All you end up doing is spewing vulgar nursery rhymes behind a drum machine - and all that does is pass on ignorance to the next generation.
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I'm sure a lot of people are going to angrily object to what I'm saying. I expect that, because unvarnished truth can be painful. But that's okay.  I'll take the slings and arrows, because I love my people, I know their potential, and it's killing me to watch them squander it.
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In that regard, I really appreciate the fact that I'm hearing from some of the people I respect most on this subject. We need to all speak up, because I'm hearing a lot of slogans that sound catchy and pro-Black but bare absolutely no relationship to reality. One of those sayings is, "You can't know where you're going if you don't know where you've been." That sounds cute, but it's pure bullshit. If you get lost, it doesn't matter where you've been. What matters is figuring out where you ARE, and how you can get from there to where you want to go. 

You can be the world's greatest authority on Black history (and I know a lot of them), yet, still be on your ass. The reason for that is they spend so much time looking backwards that they haven't prepared for the future. They're geniuses in Black history, but they don't know a damn thing about business, politics, or efficient thinking. They think the key to life is about quoting Malcolm, but Malcolm's been gone for over 50 years, yet, we're still fighting the same battles. So we must be doing something wrong - and what that something is, is running around saggin' and tryin' to be cool, or tryin' to become entertainers or sports stars, and then throwin' on a dashiki to represent our manhood.
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Now, don't get me wrong, sports can be a good thing if it can help you through college and achieve your goals. But the bottom line is, games are for kids, and it's the Toy Department of life. Donald Trump's a big sports fan, so I guess I can rest my case on that alone. I also like dashikis, but I've long since recognized that a dashiki can't coverup ignorance and a lack of knowledge.
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Our sisters - who have ALWAYS been the true backbone of our culture -

have seen the light, and if brothers don't wake up, we're even gonna lose them. Black women are now the most educated group in America, and no educated sister wants to be dealing with a 32-year-old teenager to help her raise her children - and beyond that, they're not going to be able to put up with our ignorance. Who wants to lay-up in bed with a clueless and illiterate child?
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If we don’t recognize these facts, we're gonna continue to be shot and killed by rogue cops for a broken tail light, or while watching television in our own homes. We need the knowledge and focus to gain political clout. That is the one and ONLY way to deal with White Supremacy, to become a formidable force in society - ask the Jews, they found out the hard way. So we need to pull up our pants and stop trying to play make-believe.
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The very same brilliance that went into the making of Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Marvin Gaye, and Aretha, can also be applied to science, politics, and engineering. So we need to get it together, and make knowledge the new “soul”.

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WE NEED TO GET RID OF THIS KIND OF STUPIDITY

Eric L. Wattree

Http://wattree.blogspot.com

Ewattree@Gmail.com
BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS
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Religion: It's not that I hate everyone who doesn't look, think, and act like me - it's just that God does.