Beneath the Spin*Eric L. Wattree
EXCELLENCE
IS THE KEY TO BLACK EQUALITY
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A NEW BLACK AGENDA
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A NEW BLACK AGENDA
I’M
NOT IMPRESSED BY BLACK WARRIORS -
THAT’S
A LOT OF MACHO BULLSHIT.
IT’S
BLACK THINKERS THAT GET MY ATTENTION.
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Far too many Black people give more priority to going
for bad than they do intellectual development. That's what's holding us down as
a people. Rather than taking the time to develop our minds many of us would rather indulge in the “Black warrior” myth – and it’s clearly a myth. The mere
fact that George Zimmerman and others can continue to walk around talking shit
with impunity after the atrocities they’ve committed against the Black
community stands as an undeniable testament to the fact that the concept of
“The Black warrior” bears about as much of a relationship to reality as a comic book
character. The reason for that is quite simple, while
Black people like to go for bad, war is not really our thing - showboating is,
and the White man has always used that fact against us.
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On the other hand, what we so casually refer to as "soul" is nothing short of intellectual brilliance straining to be unleashed, but instead of using it to our advantage, we use it to try to Twerk, talk shit, and sing ourselves to equality one person at a time. That keeps us divided, because it keeps each one of us constantly auditioning for the White man against one another. Thus, we constantly avoid developing our most valuable asset – our minds - in order to put on a minstrel show for the White man. Kanye West and Diamond and Silk are perfect examples of that at work. If they hadn't gotten attention by kissin' ass, they would have presented themselves as warriors to get attention. That's the way it works. It's all about getting the White man's attention, "by any means necessary".
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On the other hand, what we so casually refer to as "soul" is nothing short of intellectual brilliance straining to be unleashed, but instead of using it to our advantage, we use it to try to Twerk, talk shit, and sing ourselves to equality one person at a time. That keeps us divided, because it keeps each one of us constantly auditioning for the White man against one another. Thus, we constantly avoid developing our most valuable asset – our minds - in order to put on a minstrel show for the White man. Kanye West and Diamond and Silk are perfect examples of that at work. If they hadn't gotten attention by kissin' ass, they would have presented themselves as warriors to get attention. That's the way it works. It's all about getting the White man's attention, "by any means necessary".
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Our intellectual capabilities represent the difference
between Boots Randolph and John Coltrane. It’s what makes Black people the people of the
future, but instead of developing our intellect, we're wasting it trying to go for bad.
Whenever we see Black people online, 99% of the time they’re either singing,
dancing, talking shit, or trying to be cool in some way in order to get
attention. That’s what’s holding us back as a people. We were taught these behaviors
during slavery, and they serve two very important purposes in maintaining White supremacy - first, they keep us thinking on a frivolous level and marching
in place, and secondly, they keep us competing against
one another to gain the White man's attention instead of working together to move forward.
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The fact is, even being radical is designed to get the White man's attention, because he rewards radicals to keep them under his control. Look at how large Al Sharpton is living these days, and while we haven't heard a word from Jesse Jackson in awhile, I can assure you that, wherever he is, he's not living in poverty. So it’s long past time that we begin to wake up, and I've taken it upon myself to sound the alarm.
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The fact is, even being radical is designed to get the White man's attention, because he rewards radicals to keep them under his control. Look at how large Al Sharpton is living these days, and while we haven't heard a word from Jesse Jackson in awhile, I can assure you that, wherever he is, he's not living in poverty. So it’s long past time that we begin to wake up, and I've taken it upon myself to sound the alarm.
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Black people weren't enslaved because the White man
could beat us up; we were enslaved because he had a knowledge of gunpowder that
we didn't possess. So it was a lack of knowledge that led to our enslavement,
and it’s a lack of knowledge that’s keeping us enslaved. NOTHING is more
powerful than knowledge, and since Black people are only12% of the population,
if we ever expect to gain equality in this society, we'd better start focusing
our energies on learning to think.
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Promoting Hip-Hop, flooding the Black community with Crack cocaine, and mounting an assault on our educational system are all a part of the very same effort - the White establishment's desperate attempt to see to it that the Black community never produces another generation like the one that came out of the 60s.
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When I was in college it cost me $6.50 a term to get an education – and that included parking. Now a young person has to go into debt for life just to afford a degree. There’s two reasons for that. The first involves class. The White establishment is maintaining a class system that keeps the “Haves” on top by ensuring that the “Have Nots” won't be able to get an education, because with an education, the White “Have Nots” began to realize that Black people weren’t the only ones being oppressed, so they became a part of the struggle. But now, due to a lack of education, the ignorance of many lower-class Whites keep Donald Trump in office and help to maintain the viability of the Republican Party.
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Secondly, when the White establishment began bringing Black people here in 1619, they thought they were merely importing dumb beasts of burden. But as the Africans began to adapt to the White culture, our intellectual brilliance began to reveal itself and the White establishment began to recognize that the very same intellectual creativity that led to what today is commonly referred to as Black “soul”, could very easily be applied to other areas of intellectual pursuit, like math, science, engineering and politics. That made us a clear and present threat to the White man's stature in society.
When I was in college it cost me $6.50 a term to get an education – and that included parking. Now a young person has to go into debt for life just to afford a degree. There’s two reasons for that. The first involves class. The White establishment is maintaining a class system that keeps the “Haves” on top by ensuring that the “Have Nots” won't be able to get an education, because with an education, the White “Have Nots” began to realize that Black people weren’t the only ones being oppressed, so they became a part of the struggle. But now, due to a lack of education, the ignorance of many lower-class Whites keep Donald Trump in office and help to maintain the viability of the Republican Party.
.
Secondly, when the White establishment began bringing Black people here in 1619, they thought they were merely importing dumb beasts of burden. But as the Africans began to adapt to the White culture, our intellectual brilliance began to reveal itself and the White establishment began to recognize that the very same intellectual creativity that led to what today is commonly referred to as Black “soul”, could very easily be applied to other areas of intellectual pursuit, like math, science, engineering and politics. That made us a clear and present threat to the White man's stature in society.
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So, for generations the White establishment has made
it their top priority to keep Black people dumbed-down and prevent us from
unleashing our powerful and creative intellect – they even made it illegal to
teach us to read. But in spite of their most valiant efforts, after the Civil
War former slaves walked right out of the fields into the halls of congress,
and Frederick Douglass, a self-educated escaped slave, became a confidant of
President Lincoln, and one of the most celebrated and sought-after intellectuals of the 19th Century. He was way ahead of his
time, and was one of the first prominent intellectuals to address the issue of
women's rights.
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But in spite of that, the White establishment wasn’t about to give up on their efforts to convince the Black man that he was inferior, so they instituted “Jim Crow” laws and traditions, and promoted anti-intellectual schemes that continue to this day, and the promotion of Hip-Hop is a part of that effort. But they're fighting a losing battle, because what we call "soul" is nothing less than Black intellectual brilliance straining to be unleashed. So the Black community should dedicate all of our efforts towards demolishing all of their efforts to dumb-down our people - and this Black warrior shit is one of them. We're never gonna be able to outfight the White man in this country as long as he controls the military establishment, and he not only knows that, but he passionately hope we try. So the one, and only way Black people are going to move forward in this country is with our minds, so we might as well accommodate ourselves to that fact, and start to build on it.
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But in spite of that, the White establishment wasn’t about to give up on their efforts to convince the Black man that he was inferior, so they instituted “Jim Crow” laws and traditions, and promoted anti-intellectual schemes that continue to this day, and the promotion of Hip-Hop is a part of that effort. But they're fighting a losing battle, because what we call "soul" is nothing less than Black intellectual brilliance straining to be unleashed. So the Black community should dedicate all of our efforts towards demolishing all of their efforts to dumb-down our people - and this Black warrior shit is one of them. We're never gonna be able to outfight the White man in this country as long as he controls the military establishment, and he not only knows that, but he passionately hope we try. So the one, and only way Black people are going to move forward in this country is with our minds, so we might as well accommodate ourselves to that fact, and start to build on it.
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KEEP IT GANGSTA, DAWG
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As Black people we must educate ourselves and learn to
stop shooting off our mouths and telling the White man everything that's on our
minds. We must also stop trying to go for bad, and focus on developing our
minds in order to outthink the White establishment instead. And most
importantly, Black people must always remember that God made birds to fly, fish
to swim, and man to think. That’s why, even though man’s not as ferocious as a
lion, he has dominion over the Earth, nevertheless.
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And finally, we must remember that the rich, powerful, and educated are never the warriors; only the poor, dumb, and manipulated die in battle. When was the last time you heard of a president's child dying in an American war? And Donald Trump is a perfect example of that - he ran like hell during Vietnam, bone spur and all. So it’s always the people at the bottom who die trying to be heroic and cool, while people with money, brains, or both, sit on the sidelines and cheer the dumb ass heroes on. So the White man has brainwashed Black people into believing that Black people are bad, but there's one thing he didn't teach us - that nothing is as bad as a powerful mind.
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And finally, we must remember that the rich, powerful, and educated are never the warriors; only the poor, dumb, and manipulated die in battle. When was the last time you heard of a president's child dying in an American war? And Donald Trump is a perfect example of that - he ran like hell during Vietnam, bone spur and all. So it’s always the people at the bottom who die trying to be heroic and cool, while people with money, brains, or both, sit on the sidelines and cheer the dumb ass heroes on. So the White man has brainwashed Black people into believing that Black people are bad, but there's one thing he didn't teach us - that nothing is as bad as a powerful mind.
And I’m not spewing a conspiracy theory here. The evidence is clear. Look at the video below of Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Look at how different old school music was from the Pablum we listen to today. And notice how dead serious every member of this band was in representing their culture. There’s no struttin’ around, bouncin’ their heads, or acting like damn fools for the benefit of the television audience. They simply put on, without any fanfare, an incredible display of pure artistic genius - and without bustin' one sweat bubble. These brothers portrayed an entirely different mindset than we see today, and it's perfect for showing just how far Black people have slipped down that slippery slope.
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Unlike today, Miles and Coltrane simply represented the dignity of their people. They didn’t try to tell the White man who we were, they showed ‘em what Black people represent, and in a very matter-of-fact way. This video was recorded in 1959 when you rarely even saw Black people on television, yet, they weren't fazed a bit. None of them even bothered to look into the camera - in fact, at one point you can see Coltrane even turn away from it. They were so solemn, dedicated, and dead-serious about what they were doing, in fact, that Robert Herridge, the White man who introduces them, whispers their introduction in complete awe, and the White musicians who were fortunate enough to be on stage with them obviously considered it a great honor - and check out their effortless groove! They were laid-back and completely in their zone - their Black zone.
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So young people, don’t buy into the bullshit. In the introduction Robert Herridge points out that "There are many ways of telling a story." Well, Miles is telling you yours. He's telling you who you really are, so listen and take heed. You’re not the product of idiots and clowns who have to tap dance, denigrate your culture, and put on a minstrel show for the White man. You’re the product of masters, and true intellectual giants.
Unlike today, Miles and Coltrane simply represented the dignity of their people. They didn’t try to tell the White man who we were, they showed ‘em what Black people represent, and in a very matter-of-fact way. This video was recorded in 1959 when you rarely even saw Black people on television, yet, they weren't fazed a bit. None of them even bothered to look into the camera - in fact, at one point you can see Coltrane even turn away from it. They were so solemn, dedicated, and dead-serious about what they were doing, in fact, that Robert Herridge, the White man who introduces them, whispers their introduction in complete awe, and the White musicians who were fortunate enough to be on stage with them obviously considered it a great honor - and check out their effortless groove! They were laid-back and completely in their zone - their Black zone.
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So young people, don’t buy into the bullshit. In the introduction Robert Herridge points out that "There are many ways of telling a story." Well, Miles is telling you yours. He's telling you who you really are, so listen and take heed. You’re not the product of idiots and clowns who have to tap dance, denigrate your culture, and put on a minstrel show for the White man. You’re the product of masters, and true intellectual giants.
THIS IS WHO YOU ARE:
MILES DAVIS
(SO WHAT)
MILES
We knew him as Miles,
the Black Prince of style;
His nature fit jazz to a tee.
Laid back and cool,
a low threshold for fools,
he set the tone
of what a jazzman
should be.
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Short on words,
and unperturbed, about
what the people thought;
frozen in time, drenched
in the sublime,
of the passion
his sweet horn
had wrought.
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Solemn to the bone,
distant and torn,
even Trane could
scarcely get in;
I can still hear the tone
of that genius who mourned,
that precious note
that he couldn't
quite bend.
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Eric L. Wattree
BLACK WRITERS, INTELLECTUALS, AND INDEPENDENT THINKERS
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