It ain’t just one strategy. We need to use every single one of them. It’s not one or the other.
I agree. There needs to be a comprehensive strategy which attacks this issue from the roots to the fruits and even to the seeds.
I am no strategist but someone told me a few years ago that nothing is wasted in God's economy. It means that anything can be used for any purpose; it just takes the person knowing how to wield that thing in the way s/he needs.
As it pertains to this, it means that everything we have at our disposal - peaceful protests, violent protests, covert missions, gun ownership, rioting, voting, codified ways of handling racism (i.e. Neely Fuller)...you name it - can all work effectively so long as all methods are wielded properly as tools to achieve a clear and unified purpose.
The question is, what is it we want as black people in America, in one clear sentence. To expand that, what do we as black people want for the entire diaspora?
If someone asked you right now what you want for black people in the US and worldwide, what might your answer be?
It is hard even for me to answer this question because my initial response is usually that alludes to something outside of me. For example, I might say, I want white supremacists to stop being demonic and leave us the hell alone, to stop killing and to disappear.
This answer implies, though, the onus is still on WS to change and I know they won't; at present, they have no incentive. Plus, I don't like this answer because it takes the power outside myself and puts it on someone else...and I HATE having to rely on others, but that is another story altogether. Here, I think the key is to focus specifically only on what we do want and not what we do not. Worrying about both splits our focus, and we cannot afford that.
My point is, what is a clear cut assertion we can all make about what we want for our people which affirms first our desires and the actions we are willing to take.
This could be a thread in itself - in one to two sentences, what do you want for black people? Formulating the answer without even mentioning WS is hard because it impacts every aspect of our lives, but here is a challenge to try to articulate that vision concisely.
Someone might even say his wish is to kill all WS, and, as this is life, it is certainly his prerogative to say so. I would then simply ask what steps this person would take to make this possible. The only problem I can see with a goal like this is if he is successful, he still has not addressed what our community would need after the culling is complete. There is no mention of the long-term or the aftermath strategy to ensure black people the world over can maintain their safety and sovereignty and that WS never again comes to be in any form; in his goal, there is only the urgency of handling the WS vermin which exist in the now.
Living in America, we have an interminable amount of rage, frustration and disgust towards white supremacists and the system they have created, all more than ample fuel we can use productively if we can find ways to channel it into some sort of logical practices. Again, I am no strategist, but when I give thought to this entity known as white supremacy, I see a nucleus which looks sort of like this:
****Also, I want to say I am loath to using the word "white supremacist/supremacy", but I will for the purposes of this conversation to ensure we stay on the same page. I hesitate to use it because I hypothesize, from an esoteric point of view, we feed it - this idea/system with this particular name and vibration - and give it power each time we say it and think it or feel it.
There are some posters on here I believe who study some aspects of the occult and can attest to this. At this point, "white supremacy" seems, to me, an actual
entity - living, breathing and thriving. In order to create a "life", we must first have an intention for that life and then the life takes on forms which function to manifest those intentions. Whatever this entity known as white supremacy is, it surely feeds on hate, tears, rage, selfishness, fear and a bunch of other emotions born out of human creators who are totally out of balance with the Creator.
In the spirit realm, the entities which survive are those who are fed a constant stream of energy. Those who are starved, ignored, and go unacknowledged perish. I wonder if WS survives because of its ability to create its own system which feeds and supports its existence.
That would mean in order to kill it, we must rob it of its energy and that energy needs to be directed into creating a new entity/system whose function is to restore balance or everything WS has managed to destabilize.****
I digress.
So, in the nucleus of our system, I see a basic framework of
head, heart, and
hands - where everyone fits into a community - the youth, the parents and the elders.
The hands - these are the youth. I mean adult youth...unmarried and childless, if that makes sense. Materially, these people would just be starting out. They are unlikely to have the obligations of spouses and children. Physically, they are likely strong and energetic and have capacity for physical endurance. These are the foot soldiers, the ones who are doing the physical work of fighting or farming...whatever requires their action. They can tend to the immediate physical needs of the community. They are the "hands" of the collective, guided by the head and heart. The provide us with flexibility of physical movement.
The head - middle- aged adults, likely married and/or parents. These people have a level of fresh experience and are still embrace adaptability. Because they have families to care for, it is unlikely most of them are out there like the hands. The head contributes by providing monetary support. These are the people constantly brainstorming ways to make money or create sustenance support for the community. They put their education and experience to the direct purpose of funding the hands and ensuring the needs of the heart class are met. In this group are also those with passports. These are the people we send out into other parts of the world where our diasporic brethren are. These are the people sowing seeds on the ground throughout Sub-Saharan African, in the Caribbean, in Brazil, in some of the islands in the Pacific...wherever black folks are being hurt. We need to learn. We need to start growing our seeds elsewhere so those sprout into the new system we will use to neutralize and replace WS. We need folks who are willing to learn different languages, tolerate being in unfamiliar places and learning about new cultures (no matter how uncomfortable) but who are dedicated to unifying our folks the world over. Former military servicemen and just curious and willing students of life are perfect for this purpose. The head community is full of ideas and setting up the networks we will need outside of the US. The support us with their flexibility of the mind.
The heart - these are our elders and our children. These two groups needs to be kept together, I think, because they are both the most vulnerable but, even better than that, they both offer the greatest perspectives in life - innocence/open-mindedness and wisdom. They can teach one another and, thus, enrich the hands and head. The hand protects them; the head provides for them. And in turn, we reap from the heart all the lessons there are to bring up the children with proper character and principles. Within the heart group, we find our teachers - again, the kids and the elders. They are there to infuse with in our community the MOST ESSENTIAL parts of maintaining our survival - good character!!!!! The heart group supports us with the flexibility of its heart, it's love and compassion - treasures to be preserved and built upon.
While the hand will then teach them the heart (children) basics of manifesting/creating/supporting our community with our physical works and the head will teach them how to create/support it with more complex ideas, the heart is the foundation of it all because our character/motives/ideals are flawed from the jump, all this other stuff for naught.
So....I personally have no idea how to implement any of this is a centralized way...at least not yet.
This is my contribution though. I'm sure we all have something to contribute though and we have to realize that - we ALL must share because only we will get ourselves to the place we want to be as a people. The solutions and leaders we are looking for are already here in some form, I'd bet, but we must know what we are looking for and what to do with it once we find it/them.