Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Black History in Motion: It takes more than lip service, it takes work!
Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy; sweat will get you change. ---Jesse Jackson
Get free excerpt at: http://www.upfromtheunder.com/
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
It's Still Nation Building Time
Way too much has been written about the relevance or significance of celebrating, or even continuing to recognize, Black History Month by designating the coldest, shortest month of the year as the period devoted to its exploration.
While critics contend that Black History Month somehow demeans the majority U.S. population and slights other American ethnic groups, those who champion its utility insist that like the Israeli holocaust should never be forgotten, so too should the massive contribution and stoic endurance of African descended citizens always be remembered and passed on.
Which ever side of the argument you fall on consider this: the lessons taught by history’s book are only relevant to the present day if we use those lessons to solve the problems of our time. They’re significant only if we apply the insight gained through history’s lens to answer the questions posed by today’s dilemmas. And for those of us who realize that it is still Nation Building Time, Black History can be used as the blueprint to follow to re-construct the battered foundation supporting the African American community.
The truth we must use to light the flares, the spotlights and the beacons leading UP from UNDER, is that ignorance is NOT bliss, it is inertia; and that money is not the great equalizer, knowledge is… Before this country’s Civil War, if you were a slave owned like livestock you had better not be caught reading. If you were a slave you’d better not be caught doing much of anything that showed intelligence or independence.
Planning an insurrection or rebellion? Trying to escape? Talking back to the overseer? Look a white person directly in the eye? Refuse to work? Not likely but if you were property and tried any of those things, the whip was the least you could expect. At the owner’s whim anything might happen. Maybe they would castrate you, chop off your big toes or cut your hamstrings.
They didn’t hurt you too badly – not so you’d be of no value – but they wanted to send a message to everyone they could that you were theirs to do with as they pleased… Being caught reading was almost worse than anything else a slave might try. In many cases it was a death sentence for the slave and extreme woe, including ostracism, for any white person who risked teaching him…
They had to make sure the slaves didn’t know much of anything and couldn’t/wouldn’t learn anything because the slave masters knew then what the status quo knows now: ignorance is the great immobilizer. Fear will galvanize, anger can turn into action, brutality might bring retaliation, but ignorance leads to apathy and an apathetic person is one easily controlled.
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