12 YEARS of NOTHING - I remember watching ROOTS, Alex Haleys version of the slave experience. I think the piece of ROOTS that have dug a hole in my heart and have regurgitated the stripes in my back ... is the lashing of Kunta Kinte when he ran away and was caught and they wanted to change his name to TOBY. Its the not the fact that he was lashed almost to death that irked me then, it was the fact that he was lashed thoroughly by another BLACK man. That was 400 years ago and even today we are still be flogged mercilessly by our own Black people. I have worked in the Corporate Space where I have witnessed other Blacks (House Ngaz) play their part very well. Even when I have had the displeasure of being interviewed for jobs, the interview experience by a Black man have never gone well. It is as if he has to prove to his white managers that he his firm and deserves to be in the House. Today, if a Black cop and a white cop pull me over, I start to tremble when the Black cop approach. I know he will have to prove to his white counterpart that the billy bat works better on the black man. So, when I hear about movies such as 12 Years a Slave, I really wonder what kinds of memories they are wanting to stimulate or bring back. When I watch the Butler, I am wondering who told us that slavery ended. When I watch the Help ... I wonder what leaps and bounds have we made as Black people? I dont want to remember that, as real as it may be ... that is not what I want to remember. I want to remember GREEN DAYS BY THE RIVER, I want to remember HUCKLE BERRY FINN, I want to remember things that me smile at life. As ugly as the past was, we cannot and should not relive it. We need to learn what we can and appreciate the struggles of those who helped to get us to this common ground. But I think that reminding ourselves of Slavery, the Oppression, the Struggles of the past, does not necessarily empower us forward, it instead keeps us solidified in a realm of hate that have prevented some of us from moving forward. That kind of memory, is mental slavery. We need to EMANCIPATE ourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 12:54:03 +0000
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