In hoods all across
America, there’s a war going on in tha streets, nowhere to run too. People are
standing up and willing to die for their colors.
Either you ride
wit the boyz in red or the boyz in blue. Being neutral is not an option unless
you want to get a beat down courtesy of both groups.
Contrary to what
some may believe, we aren’t talking about the Bloods and the Crips fighting
to rule a small city block, we are talking about the gangsta Republicans and
Democrats fighting to rule the country.
The late, great
full time THUG and part time REVOLUTIONARY, Tupac Shakur once made a brilliant
analogy of how the Republicans and Democrats are rival gangs. While this may
be written off by some of the elders as nothing but that ole Hippity Hoppity
mumbo jumbo, this analogy makes perfectly good sense when analyzed within a
discussion of the color wars that have been waged within the Black community.
Especially when
it comes to politics.
The division over
colors has long plagued the Black community from the infamous Willie Lynch light
skinned slave, versus the dark skinned slave diabolical divide and conquer plot,
to the (red) Bloods vs. (blue) Crips street battles, to the current battles
over political colors. The color thang has always divided the Black community.
One color argument
that is rarely examined is the conflict between Black folks who represent the
Red, White and Blue and the Black Nationalists (affectionately known as the
AFRIKANS) who represent the RED, BLACK and GREEN.
This beef started
back in tha day between WEB Dubois and his crew and Marcus Garvey’s RB-G Unit.
One representing an integrationist point of view (i.e. working within the system)
and the other reppin Universal Afrikan Nationalism. Unfortunately, this beef
was never squashed.
The integrationists
went on to become part of the American Dream and thusly, gained all the benefits
of that dream including the role of gatekeepers of the Black media able to create
a pseudo black nationalism and smooth talkin pseudo Black Power activists that
have as their strongest hold card, voting for the lesser of two evils.
We’ve been
used and abused Brothas and Sistas! (Yes!) We have no jobs! (Right On!) We have
been reduced to second class citizens! (Chuuuch!) We are on the verge of being
destroyed as a people! (Go head and tell it!) So the solution, my Black Brothas
and Sistas is to register to VOTE!!!! (Huh??) The Black Nationalist views voting
as just another chapter in the By Any Means Necessary Handbook.
For members of
the Black Nationalist community it is not a matter of voting or not voting,
as probably 90% of Black nationalists are not political atheists but political
agnostics. The issue is the emphasis that is put on voting as a solution to
the problems facing Afrikan people.
It must be noted
that according to the tenets of Afrikan spirituality, we cannot separate our
spirituality from our politics. So the question ‘would Jesus (YESHUA)
vote?’ is more than rhetorical. Also, the Black Nationalist idea does
not mean that all Black folks have to necessarily get on a big boat and go back
to Africa. But Black Nationalism is a state of mind that says that above all,
Race First! And this philosophy has survived for decades, even though many have
worked to turn the possibility of Black Nationalism into an improbability
The question must
be asked, if thousands of Black folks under Marcus Garvey with little money
and resources could have a vision of Black Nationalism in the early 1900s, how
is it that thousands of Black folks in 2004 with fat pockets have lost that
vision?
What if Marcus
Garvey had been rollin with Russell Simmons type money? How much closer would
he have been to his dream? So, I guess it’s better to have a vision but
no means, than to have the means but no vision.
It is much too
easy in a critical political year (When is it not critical for Black folks?)
to write those off who question the value of voting as being stupid, apathetic
or just plain lazy and the Vote or Die folks try to put us in the same box as
those folks who think that the Electoral College was the school that won the
Sugar Bowl last year. It’s not that simple.
While there are
often debates among Black folks during an election year over different political
strategies, those who represent the RED, BLACK and GREEN are never invited to
take a part in these discussions. We are treated like that crazy cousin who
you lock in the basement when company comes over at Christmas.
This year, even
the Hip Hop gangtas have been invited to the discussion and it is not unusual
to turn on the radio and hear your favorite THUG yelling ‘Yo n####, you
betta vote or I will come to your crib and personally, beat your @ss!’
Maybe if there
was some dialogue between the two ideologies some common ground could be found.
Could it be that with all the ill stuff that has happened to Afrikan people,
globally, over the last four years, even the most militant Black Power activist
could be persuaded to disguise himself in a pair of old Humpty Hump glasses
with the fake nose and a fisherman’s hat and sneak into the polls early
Nov 2 and vote before tha Brothas see him and charge him with selling out?
Or
could there be a compromise made by the Get Out to Vote folks that before they
bum rush the next Brotha coming out of the grocery store to register him to
vote, that they will take a solemn vow that what they do, they do in the name
of BLACKNESS and then break into a funkdafied version of ‘Say it Loud, I’m
Black and I’m Proud?’ The possibility is there.
We all must all
admit that these are crucial times for Black folks and if the Vote or Die folks
feel that voting will help give the masses of poor Black folks the basic needs
of food, clothing and shelter, more Power to them. But for the Black Nationalist,
no election can drown out the voices of our ancestor that can still be heard
saying FREEDOM or Death, Brothers and Sisters FREEDOM or Death!
Minister Paul Scott
represents the Messianic Afrikan Nation in Durham NC.
He can be reached at (919) 949-4352 email minpaulscott@yahoo.com
Web site: http://members.blackplanet.com/THE-MYD