HANDS OFF HAITI CHERIE! - US still disrespects Haiti After More than 200 Years

 

By Gloria DULAN-Wilson

 

Hello All!

 

HANDS OFF HAITI CHERIE!  - After More than 200 years the US still disrespects Haiti - 

 

 

I am highly concerned about anything the US purports to do to "assist" Haiti!  That's like setting the fox to guard the hen house!!   America is not to  be trusted with the well being of Haitians!  They are still trying to get revenge for their self-liberation.  No other Black country has ever done that.  

It would better for them to work with Traore' who is dedicated to empowering the people.

 

 

Since 1804, when Haitians defeated the French,  and kicked them off their island by walking through fire, under the brave leadership of Toussaint L'Overture and Dessalines, there has been a not so subtle vendetta against this country of Brave Black People by the racist US government - starting with Andrew Jackson to the current incumbent. 

 

The French were so spooked, they "sold" Haiti and its holdings in the US under the Louisiana Purchase in order to get Haiti off their hands.  Not wanting to admit that those Black people kicked their butts and let them know what time it was, they retreated to France and never returned - well, not until later in the 19th century.

In 2004, when we were prepared to make a symbolic cruise from New York City to Haiti - called RAISING THE BLACK STAR LINE (coordinated by Susan Taylor - then Editor In Chief of ESSENCE MAGAZINE) - BUSH, the former CIA chief and current ersatz president at the time, had Aristede -  the current president of Haiti - kidnapped from his office allegedly "to protect him."   He also put an embargo on any cruise ships leaving New York Harbor to go to Haiti.

 

I am sharing this link with you - in reference to the negative impact of France and America have on Haiti Cherie:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZkmWf7XG4I

For more than 200 years, there has been an ongoing concerted effort to demonize Haiti, with the French trying to charge them heavily for liberating themselves. 

Capt. Ibrahim Traore' of Burkina Faso, which is a French speaking country, has become a shining example of what happens when African countries exercise Self Determination, Autonomy, Unity and Creativity - in place of the corru has become an icon in the eyes of Haitians - hence the US trying to distract them with bogus promises of assistance. 

DON'T FALL FOR IT HAITI!

You, who are self liberated and self sustaining must not put your lives or your future in the hands of the caucasoids.  You have a history of being self-sufficient, and self sustaining.  Teach your children about your illustrious history, and put those qualities back into practice that I witnessed when I stayed in your beautiful country 50 years ago.

 

To the rest of you on this mailing list - I hope you will not urge Haiti Cherie to drink the US poison kool aid and relegate them to a life of second class citizenship in their own homeland.

Our Haitian Brothers deserve to be free and to have the assistance to develop the autonomy that will make their country trule THE PERLE DES ANTILLES!

NOW THAT YOU KNOW

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

 

STAY BLESSED &

ECLECTICALLY BLACK

Gloria DULAN-Wilson

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCUS GARVEY

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

We are living in some strange times.  Times that make you wonder what the heck is going on - it feels as if the entire world has lost its mind - we feel as though we're under siege by the forces of evil, and that God is likewise putting us through our paces for being so lazy, greedy, ignorant, unfaithful, and  just plain blind.  And when I we - I'm primarily talking about Black people - even though the entire world is in an uproar with the plandemic spreading throughout the world.

Today, August 17, is Marcus Garvey's birthday.  I wonder what he would do - what he would say - how he would lead- especially after over 100 years when he tried to get us out of a country that treated us like trash - like dirt under their boots - not like secondclass citizens - but like unwanted interlopers - even though they were the ones who kidnapped us from our homeland in the first place.

I've known about Garvey at least since I was 5 years old.  I heard about back to Africa.  I knew in my family he was sort of a legend.  I also knew that somehow or other we ended up not going back to Africa.  In our history classes, especially during Negro History Week, there was always some one in our class who made Garvey's speech UP YOU MIGHTY RACE - YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU WILL.  Of course, at the time I had no idea that Garvey had a Jamaican accent.  I never thought that he was that attractive, as a kid, but I knew that he was powerful - because they were still talking about him decades after his death.  They talked about the parades, about the classes, about the businesses that were started from his teachings on independence; and about his flamboyant dress.  


The Honorable Marcus Garvey Founder of the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA)

However, it wasn't until I was in college that I truly began to have a deep appreciation for Garvey.  After having participated in civil rights activities as a child in Oklahoma since the age of 10, and having the push back by rednecks who didn't want us to eat, shop, entertain, or be educated with them, by the time I was 18, I had had enough and had decided that I was no longer participating in marches to integrate with whites.  It was then that I totally understood why he was trying to get us to move back to Africa and be in our own country, with our own people, our own government, and our own wealth and economy. 

As a student at Lincoln University (Black in the day), all seniors were required to submit a senior thesis and defend it in order to graduate. Mine happened to have been about W.E.B. DuBois and Marcus Garvey. I read their philosophies, biographies, writings, and news articles about them.  It was such a wonderful revelation because of so many things I learned through Garvey's own voice.

 

To my dismay, however,  I learned that W.E.B. DuBois was against Marcus Garvey, and was used as a tool by whites to try to paint Garvey as a charlatan. They even had front page articles in white news papers with DuBois putting Garvey's concepts and ideas down. This is deeply disturbing because of all the wonderful things he had written that I was required to read in High School in OKC. The irony of the whole thing was that Garvey was sabotaged by his white detractors who were hell bent on keeping Africans and African Americans form reuniting. He was falsely accused of mail fraud because Black people sent him money in the mail to purchase the ships that would transport them back to Africa. He purchased the ships - however, due to sabotage, they were unseaworthy. The rest is travesty and white hidstory. 

 

Ironically still, DuBois ended up expatriating to Africa - Ghana to be exact - when he began to be persecuted by the same whites who played on his ego and got him to denounce Garvey in the first place. He ended up apologizing for having been involved in the destruction of the BACK TO AFRICA MOVEMENT. Too little too late - and here we are - the descendants of 12 million Black Americans who were all ready to go home and reunite with their families - undermined by whites who had vested interests in the rape of Africa, and who wanted to retain us as their cheap labor force.

 

TODAY, AUGUST 17, 2020 IS MARCUS GARVEY'S 133rd BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY. 

 

My Grandmom was a Garveyite, as were many Oklahomans - there were many who were ready to pull up stakes, get out of this racist redneck environment and regroup in a country where their origins lie. There were many who were not. The bottom line is that we might have become the Wakanda depicted in the movie BLACK PANTHER, had we not been undermined. 

 

So,  we are still here!!   And how many can say that we have it any better  today than we did when Garvey first came here and tried to wake Black people up Black then? 

 

As you celebrate GARVEY'S BIRTHDAY ANNIVERSARY PLEASE MEDITATE ON WHAT WE WHO APPEAR TO BE STUCK HERE CAN DO TO MAKE OUR LIVES BETTER TOGETHER; AND HOW WE CAN ALSO JOIN WITH OUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS IN THE MOTHERLAND IN MAKING THEIR LIVES BETTER AS WELL. 

BLACK LIVES MATTER - 

AFRICA FOR THE AFRICANS, AT HOME AND ABROAD; 

WE ARE FAMILY! 

UP YOU MIGHTY RACE, YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH WHAT YOU WILL!!

 

There have been several pieces written about Garvey - much of them really don't do this wonderful brother justice. There is a filmstrip from History.com that is pure hogwash!! 

 

If you don't take the time to do your own homework, you will get the distorted version of this wonderful charismatic, genius who galvanized 12 MILLION BLACK PEOPLE without Instagram, FaceBook, TV - just his intelligence, love, fervor, and the courage to stand for what he believed. 

 

The link below is the closest i've come to contemporary information about all Marcus Garvey - the JAMAICAN BROTHER WHO WOKE AFRICAN AMERICANS UP!

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/garvey.htm

Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association
David Van Leeuwen ©National Humanities Center	Links to online resources Related info in   "Getting Back to You" Works cited

Marcus Garvey presiding at the 1922 UNIA convention, Liberty Hall, New York City Courtesy The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project, UCLA

Marcus Garvey and his organization, the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), represent the largest mass movement in African-American history. Proclaiming a black nationalist "Back to Africa" message, Garvey and the UNIA established 700 branches in thirty-eight states by the early 1920s. While chapters existed in the larger urban areas such as New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, Garvey's message reached into small towns across the country as well. Later groups such as Father Divine's Universal Peace Mission Movement and the Nation of Islam drew members and philosophy from Garvey's organization, and the UNIA's appeal and influence were felt not only in America but in Canada, the Caribbean, and throughout Africa.

Garvey's philosophy and organization had a rich religious component that he blended with the political and economic aspects.

Considering the strong political and economic black nationalism of Garvey's movement, it may seem odd to include an essay on him in a Web site on religion in America. However, his philosophy and organization had a rich religious component that he blended with the political and economic aspects. Garvey himself claimed that his "Declaration of Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World," along with the Bible, served as "the Holy Writ for our Negro Race." He stated very clearly that "as we pray to Almighty God to save us through his Holy Words so shall we with confidence in ourselves follow the sentiment of the Declaration of Rights and carve our way to liberty." For Garvey, it was no less than the will of God for black people to be free to determine their own destiny. His organization took as its motto "One God! One Aim! One Destiny!" and looked to the literal fulfillment of Psalm 68:31: "Princes shall come out of Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God." 

Garvey was born in 1887 in St. Anne's Bay, Jamaica. Due to the economic hardship of his family, he left school at age fourteen and learned the printing and newspaper business. He became interested in politics and soon got involved in projects aimed at helping those on the bottom of society. Unsatisfied with his work, he travelled to London in 1912 and stayed in England for two years. During this time he paid close attention to the controversy between Ireland and England concerning Ireland's independence. He was also exposed to the ideas and writings of a group of black colonial writers that came together in London around the African Times and Orient Review. Nationalism in both Ireland and Africa along with ideas such as race conservation undoubtedly had an impact on Garvey.

However, he later remembered that the most influential experience of his stay in London was reading Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up From Slavery. Washington believed African Americans needed to improve themselves first, showing whites in America that they deserved equal rights. Although politically involved behind the scenes, Washington repeatedly claimed that African Americans would not benefit from political activism and started an industrial training school in Alabama that embodied his own philosophy of self-help. Garvey embraced Washington's ideas and returned to Jamaica in 1914 to found the UNIA with the motto "One God! One Aim! One Destiny!"

Initially he kept very much in line with Washington by encouraging his fellow Jamaicans of African descent to work hard, demonstrate good morals and a strong character, and not worry about politics as a tool to advance their cause. Garvey did not make much headway in Jamaica and decided to visit America in order to meet Booker T. Washington and learn more about the situation of African Americans. By the time Garvey arrived in America in 1916, Washington had died, but Garvey decided to travel around the country and observe African Americans and their struggle for equal rights.

What Garvey saw was a shifting population and a diminishing hope in Jim Crow's demise. African Americans were moving in large numbers out of the rural South and into the urban areas of both North and South. As World War One came to an end, disillusionment was beginning to take hold. Not only was the optimism in the continuing improvement of humanity and society broken apart, but so was any hope on the part of African Americans that they would gain the rights enjoyed by every white American citizen. African Americans had served in large numbers in the war, and many expected some kind of respect and acknowledgment that they too were equal citizens. Indeed, World War One was the perfect opportunity for African Americans to fulfill Booker T. Washington's requirement for equality and freedom. Through dedicated service in the armed forces, they could prove their worth and show they deserved the same rights as whites. However, as black soldiers returned from the war, and more and more African Americans moved into the urban areas, racial tensions grew. Between 1917 and 1919 race riots erupted in East St. Louis, Chicago, Tulsa, and other cities, demonstrating that whites did not intend to treat African Americans any differently than they had before the war.

After surveying the racial situation in America, Garvey was convinced that integration would never happen and that only economic, political, and cultural success on the part of African Americans would bring about equality and respect. With this goal he established the headquarters of the UNIA in New York in 1917 and began to spread a message of black nationalism and the eventual return to Africa of all people of African descent. His brand of black nationalism had three components—unity, pride in the African cultural heritage, and complete autonomy. Garvey believed people of African descent could establish a great independent nation in their ancient homeland of Africa. He took the self-help message of Washington and adapted it to the situation he saw in America, taking a somewhat individualistic, integrationist philosophy and turning it into a more corporate, politically-minded, nation-building message.

In 1919 Garvey purchased an auditorium in Harlem and named it Liberty Hall. There he held nightly meetings to get his message out, sometimes to an audience of six thousand. In 1918 he began a newspaper, Negro World, which by 1920 had a circulation somewhere between 50,000 and 200,000. Membership in the UNIA is difficult to assess. At one point, Garvey claimed to have six million members. That figure is most likely inflated. However, it is beyond dispute that millions were involved and directly affected by Garvey and his message.

To promote unity, Garvey encouraged African Americans to be concerned with themselves first. He stated after World War One that "[t]he first dying that is to be done by the black man in the future will be done to make himself free. And then when we are finished, if we have any charity to bestow, we may die for the white man. But as for me, I think I have stopped dying for him." Black people had to do the work that success and independence demanded, and, most important, they had to do that work for themselves. "If you want liberty," claimed Garvey to a meeting held in 1921, "you yourselves must strike the blow. If you must be free, you must become so through your own effort."

But Garvey knew African Americans would not take action if they did not change their perceptions of themselves. He hammered home the idea of racial pride by celebrating the African past and encouraging African Americans to be proud of their heritage and proud of the way they looked. Garvey proclaimed "black is beautiful" long before it became popular in the 1960s. He wanted African Americans to see themselves as members of a mighty race. "We must canonize our own saints, create our own martyrs, and elevate to positions of fame and honor black men and women who have made their distinct contributions to our racial history." He encouraged parents to give their children "dolls that look like them to play with and cuddle," and he did not want black people thinking of themselves in a defeatist way. "I am the equal of any white man; I want you to feel the same way."

Garvey organized his group in a way that made those sentiments visible. He created an African Legion that dressed in military garb, uniformed marching bands, and other auxiliary groups such as the Black Cross Nurses.

Marcus Garvey with Potentate Gabriel M. Johnson of Liberia, Supreme Deputy G.O. Marke of Sierra Leone, and other UNIA leaders review the parade opening the 1922 UNIA convention, New York City Courtesy The Marcus Garvey and UNIA Papers Project, UCLA

He was elected in 1920 as provisional President of Africa by the members of the UNIA and dressed in a military uniform with a plumed hat. At the UNIA's First International Convention in 1920, people lined the streets of Harlem to watch Garvey and his followers, dressed in their military outfits, march to their meeting under banners that read "We Want a Black Civilization" and "Africa Must Be Free." All the pomp brought Garvey ridicule from mainstream African-American leaders, but it also served to inspire many African Americans who had never seen black people so bold and daring.

While racial pride and unity played important roles in Garvey's black nationalism, he touted capitalism as the tool that would establish African Americans as an independent group. His message has been called the evangel of black success, for he believed economic success was the quickest and most effective way to independence. Interestingly enough, it was white America that served as a prime example of what blacks could accomplish. "Until you produce what the white man has produced," he claimed, "you will not be his equal." In 1919 he established the Negro Factories Corporation and offered stock for African Americans to buy. He wanted to produce everything that a nation needed so that African Americans could completely rely on their own efforts. At one point the corporation operated three grocery stores, two restaurants, a printing plant, a steam laundry, and owned several buildings and trucks in New York City alone. His most famous economic venture was a shipping company known as the Black Star Line, a counterpart to a white-owned company called the White Star Line. Garvey started the shipping company in 1919 as a way to promote trade but also to transport passengers to Africa. He believed it could also serve as an important and tangible sign of black success. However the shipping company eventually failed due to expensive repairs, mismanagement, and corruption.

With all his talk of a mighty race that would one day rule Africa, it would have been foolish for Garvey to underestimate the power of religion, particularly Christianity, within the African-American community. The churches served as the only arena in which African Americans exercised full control. Not only did they serve as houses of worship but also as meeting places that dealt with social, economic, and political issues. Pastors were the most powerful people in the community for they influenced and controlled the community's most important institution. Garvey knew the important place religion held, and he worked hard to recruit pastors into his organization. He enjoyed tremendous success at winning over leaders from almost every denomination. One of those clergymen, George Alexander McGuire, an Episcopalian, was elected chaplain-general of the UNIA in 1920. McGuire wrote the UNIA's official liturgy, the "Universal Negro Ritual" and the "Universal Negro Catechism" that set forth the teachings of the UNIA. He attempted to shape the UNIA into a Christian black-nationalist organization. Garvey, however, did not want the organization to take on the trappings of one particular denomination, for he did not want to offend any of its members. McGuire left UNIA in 1921 to begin his own church, the African Orthodox Church, a black-nationalist neo-Anglican denomination that kept close ties with the UNIA.

The UNIA meetings at Liberty Hall in Harlem were rich with religious ritual and language, as Randall Burkett points out in his book Black Redemption: Churchmen Speak for the Garvey Movement. For even though Garvey rejected McGuire's effort to transform the UNIA into a black-nationalist Christian denomination, he blended these two traditions in his message and in the form of his UNIA meetings. A typical meeting followed this order:

• The hymn "Shine On, Eternal Light," written specifically for the UNIA by its music director
• A reading of Psalm 68:31: "Princes shall come out of Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon stretch forth her hands unto God."
• The official opening hymn "From Greenland's Icy Mountains," stating a commitment to the Christianization of Africa
• Recitation of the official motto, "One God! One Aim! One Destiny!"
• "The Lord's Prayer" and other prayers spoken by the chaplain
• A sermon or some brief remarks
• The business meeting
• The closing hymn, either "Onward Christian Soldiers" or the UNIA's national anthem, the "Universal Negro Anthem."

Garvey's black nationalism blended with his Christian outlook rather dramatically when he claimed that African Americans should view God "through our own spectacles." If whites could view God as white, then blacks could view God as black. In 1924 the convention canonized Jesus Christ as a "Black Man of Sorrows" and the Virgin Mary as a "Black Madonna." Garvey used that image as an inspiration to succeed in this life, for African Americans needed to worship a God that understood their plight, understood their suffering, and would help them overcome their present state. Garvey was not interested in promoting hope in the afterlife. Success in this life was the key. Achieving economic, cultural, social, and political success would free African Americans in this life. The afterlife would take care of itself. Perhaps Garvey's greatest genius was taking that message of material, social, and political success and transforming it into a religious message, one that could lead to "conversion," one that did not challenge the basic doctrines of his followers but incorporated them into the whole of his vision. One of Garvey's top ministers gave witness to the powerful effect of that message when he claimed in 1920, "I feel that I am a full-fledged minister of the African gospel."

Garvey's message of black nationalism and a free black Africa met considerable resistance from other African-American leaders. W.E.B. DuBois and James Weldon Johnson of the NAACP, and Chandler Owen and A. Philip Randolph of the publication Messenger, had their doubts about Garvey. By 1922 his rhetoric shifted away from a confrontational stance against white America to a position of separatism mixed with just enough cooperation. He applauded whites who promoted the idea of sending African Americans back to Africa. He even met with a prominent leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Atlanta in 1922 to discuss their views on miscegenation and social equality. That meeting only gave more fuel to his critics. In 1924 DuBois claimed that "Marcus Garvey is the most dangerous enemy of the Negro race in America and in the world." Owen and Randolph, whose paper saw the race issue as one of class more than skin color, called Garvey the "messenger boy of the Klan" and a "Supreme Negro Jamaican jackass" while labeling his organization the "Uninformed Negroes Infamous Association." The federal government also took an interest in Garvey and in 1922 indicted him for mail fraud. He was eventually sentenced to prison and began serving his sentence in 1925. When his sentence was commuted two years later, Garvey was deported to Jamaica. With his imprisonment and deportation, his organization in the United States lost much of its momentum. Garvey spent the last years of his life in London and died in 1940.

Guiding Student Discussion

In my experience with undergraduates, I find that students know little if anything about Marcus Garvey. The simplest way to get their attention is to tell them that Garvey's UNIA was bigger than the Civil Rights Movement, which most of them do know something about. Telling them that Garvey's influence extended well beyond the borders of the United States to the Caribbean, Canada, and Africa may also pique their interest. Pointing out that Garvey's message had a tremendous influence on later groups such as the Rastafarians and the Nation of Islam is also important. Much of what he said concerning racial pride and the potential for great racial success can be heard in later figures such as Malcolm X and even Stokely Carmichael, leader of SNCC (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee). Garvey, Malcolm, and Carmichael are all considered more radical than the mainstream civil rights protesters, yet it was Booker T. Washington, someone considered quite conservative by most scholars, who had a profound influence on Garvey. Exploring that connection between the accommodationist philosophy of Washington and the black nationalism of Garvey and the other leaders might generate the most interest and help the students see the important place that Garvey holds in American history.

You might also bring up Garvey's insistence that African Americans should see God, Jesus, and Mary as black. What is Garvey trying to do here? Why not throw out the religion of Christianity, which was used as a rationale for keeping slaves and viewing blacks as inferior people, and form a new religion that could communicate the hopes and desires of people of African descent? Why not do as the later group, the Nation of Islam, and remove all white influence? You might talk about Christianity itself, how blacks identified with so many of the stories of the Bible, the people of Israel, the suffering of Jesus, and how African American's understanding of Christianity in many ways may already have been "black." You might also talk about the role religion plays in a group such as Garvey's. Why is religion so important here; why does it play any role at all? Why couldn't Garvey simply preach black nationalism in economic, political, and social terms? What does religious expression do for people in an organization like the UNIA?

Historians Debate

Scholars have debated the influence and relevance of Garvey, with assessments ranging from Garvey as little more than a demagogue whose uniqueness points to his irrelevance, to Garvey and his organization as earlier embodiments of the political battles of the 1960s. This debate is partly due to the fact that, until quite recently, sources for any study of the Garvey movement were difficult to obtain. Many were destroyed when the government deported Garvey, and some were lost in the air raids in London where Garvey spent the last years of his life.

E. David Cronon's Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1969) is an example of a more negative assessment of Garvey. Tony Martin's Marcus Garvey, Hero: A First Biography (1983) and Race First: The Ideological and Organizational Struggle of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (1976), along with Theodore Vincent's Black Power and the Garvey Movement (1971) are much more positive about Garvey and his influence. Vincent provides some valuable information about later groups that were influenced by Garvey. For example, Elijah Poole, later known as Elijah Muhammed, was a Garveyite in Chicago and later became leader of the Nation of Islam. Judith Stein in The World of Marcus Garvey: Race and Class in Modern Society (1986) attempts to occupy some middle ground in the debate, not seeing Garvey and the UNIA as a precursor to the politics of the 1960s but also not dismissing Garvey as irrelevant. 

An article that present a good summary of Garvey and his movement is Lawrence Levin's "Marcus Garvey and the Politics of Revitalization" in Black Leaders of the Twentieth Century, edited by John Hope Franklin and August Meier (1982). For the religious aspects of the Garvey movement in the United States, look to Randall K. Burkett's Black Redemption: Churchmen Speak for the Garvey Movement (1978) and Garveyism as a Religious Movement: The Institutionalization of a Black Civil Religion (1978).

The most important contribution to studies on Garvey is Robert A. Hill's The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers (1983). Hill essentially brought the Garvey archive together by traveling the world and collecting every piece of paper he could find that had something to do with Garvey. He covers the UNIA's activity in the United States, the Caribbean, and Africa. He explores the influence of Ireland and its struggle for independence on Garvey's thinking and suggests that New Thought may have had some influence on Garvey as well. His general introduction and his more specific introduction, which are available online (see links) are outstanding and provide a concise summary of Garvey and the UNIA.

Just so you'll know, I deliberately reprinted the entire article on Garvey - it's well written but still much too abbreviated to give a true sense of what he really stands for.  

If you read this much, you'll be much farther ahead than most.  I urge you to get hold of his book and really study this wonderful, charismatic genius and Black activist.   

It's amazing to me still how he was able to galvanize millions of Black people when in today's world we're hard pressed to get 3 Black people to stick together.  It appears to me that we need to stop being so smug about our contemporary world and give credit to this great Black man.  More importantly, we would do well to study and inculcate his philosophies and methodologies.  We might just begin to develop the unity and autonomy we need to move our people forward.

Again HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARCUS GARVEY - THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DID FOR BLACK PEOPLE.

NOW THAT YOU KNOW
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

Stay Blessed & 
ECLECTICALLY BLACK 

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President Obama to deliver eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney and Rev. Al Sharpton speaks on forgiving the unforgiveable

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

I just received Rev. Al Sharpton's Blog and thought you might be interested in his thoughts and guidance vis a vis the massacre in South Carolina.  

Rev. Al Sharpton

I realize that I haven't posted anything on my blog about this - but I've definitely spewed enough vitriol on Facebook to fill an entire column.  So perhaps it's just as well that my first posting on this heinous, horrific crime is one of forgiveness and calm; and even better that it come from Rev. Al Sharpton, who is known for his coolness, clarity and calm demeanor in the face of insanity and injustice.  I do so admire him for those wonderful qualities.

Even though I pride myself in being more spiritual than religious; more metaphysically based, where I do understand that forgiveness is more for my own good and blessing, than that of the perpetrator - I also admit that in circumstances like this, where innocent, decent, faithful Black people are gunned down mercilessly, I'm more of the Malcolm X line of thinking: "if somebody (white) puts their hands on you, do your best to send them to the cemetery.  

So I confess that I was hoping there were some South Carolina brothers packing Oklahoms-style heat, or at least able to perform a serious behind whipping before the perpetrator, Roof, was turned over to the cops.  I truly wanted him to know that Black folks don't play that.  I knew it was a negative line of thinking - so I stopped it; and stopped watching for a while the unfolding scenario on TV because all it was doing was making me angrier by the second.  So, while forgiving is important in terms of the perpetrator, I found that it is also important to forgive one's self when you step out of line.  So I've done so.

President Obama will deliver Eulogy for Rev. Pinckney on Friday, June 26

 

Vice President Joe Biden

With President Barack Obama delivering the eulogy for Rev. Clementa Pinckney,  it serves notice to all that we are all solidly one people; hate crimes will not prevail, nor will they deter us from taking our rightful place in this nation. This is an unprecedented move on the part of President Obama,  who will be accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at Friday's services.  

Rev. Clementa Pinckney Emanual AME Church - PBUH

 A man of action and vision, Rev. Pinckney was both a state senator and pastor of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church - one of the oldest and most influential African-American churches in the U.S.  He was a pillar in the community and in the nation.

As we now know, Pinckney and eight other people were shot to death last week at a Wednesday night Bible study session by a deranged individual who actually sat through the entire service before opening fire.  

Nine Murder Victims gunned down while  worshipping at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, SC

According to sources, increased calls to remove the  Confederate rag from the grounds of the state Capitol because of its inherent racist symbology - recently republicans Gov. Nikki Haley and Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott are now calling for the flag's complete removal (called for the flag's complete removal).

 Rev. Sharpton, along with the Charleston branch of the National Action Network have been working with the victims' families as well as community throughout this tragic period, and has been successful in bringing together both sides of the community in solidarity and sympathy in the wake of innocence being preyed upon while they prayed in what should have been a place of sanctity and peace.

What follows is Rev. Al's Blog.  It is so full of insight and wisdom, you might want to read it twice like I did.  Enjoy!  Stay Blessed & ECLECTICALLY BLACK - Gloria

STAY BLESSED

On Mon, Jun 22, 2015 at 7:08 PM, National Action Network <Membership@nationalactionnetwork.net> wrote:

The Power of Forgiveness Should Not Be Confused

Link here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-al-sharpton/the-power-of-forgiveness_b_7638004.html (By Rev. Al Sharpton)

Many Americans, including myself, sat transfixed on Friday watching the bond hearing of Dylann Roof, the accused shooter of last week's massacre at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. As family members of the victims stood up and said they forgave Roof, who appeared via video-conference from jail, they emphasized that hate would not win. The immediate reaction from the public to this act of mercy has been one of universal acclaim for the strength that these family members displayed. But while many have stated that they did the right thing and averted potential divisiveness, some are saying that they are tired of us having to forgive and take the higher moral position when such evil occurs. I received both reactions from my listeners on my syndicated radio talk show, Keepin' It Real, as well as in emails and tweets from folks around the country. Well, let me set the record straight today: forgiveness and a high moral tone does not avert the need of a movement; rather, it raises it to the level where it out to be.
The movement against racism, and the movement against easy access to guns must be fought by those that take a high moral ground and therefore a high moral tone. A movement should never be based on being threatening physically, or violently. The strength and courage that these brave family members showed at that bond hearing and every other day since this horrific tragedy should not be used to somehow dismiss their determination and will to seek justice and fight on behalf of their loved ones and for the betterment of society. It takes more power to be forgiving in the face of direct wickedness and evil than it does to easily react and match who could be more destructive.
As I visited Charleston last week and assisted members of National Action Network's Charleston chapter who have worked with the now late Rev. (and Senator) Clementa Pinckney and others killed, I sensed not only a high moral tone but a determination among both Blacks and Whites to bring down the confederate flag and continue to fight for stronger gun control measures and increased attention to mental health issues. No one is more vested in seeking justice than the courageous family members of those nine innocent victims who were slaughtered in a place that was their sanctuary. Anyone who thinks that forgiving Dylann Roof is an act of weakness has no clue what forgiveness is all about, nor what kind of inner strength it takes to do such a thing.
In 1989, a 16-year-old teenager named Yusuf Hawkins was shot dead in the neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn after being surrounded by a mob of bat-wielding White youth. That ethnically White community in Bensonhurst protected the killers and hid information. We began marches to protest the killing and to put pressure on the neighborhood to give information (which they ultimately did that led to convictions and long sentences). On the 23rd week of protest in 1991, a young White male stuck his arm out and stabbed a knife right into my chest. As I lay in the hospital not knowing how serious my wound was, I remembered my growth as a student of Dr. King, mentored by those that were senior staff members of his, and I knew that this would be a defining moment in my own self-image, not withstanding what the public image of me was, should or could be. And I decided to forgive my assailant.
When Michael Riccardi was being sentenced for stabbing me, I asked the judge to give him leniency. He was given five to 15 years, and did nine. I visited him in jail -- and that was no easy task. The hardest thing I've done in my life is walk into jail and look into the eyes of the man who not only wanted to kill me, but actually tried to do so. He told me he could not understand how I could visit him and forgive him; I said I did it for myself. If I wanted to be the man, that advocate, that leader that I aspired to be, I couldn't take hatred or revenge with me on my journey.
Yes, racism is real and vile, and many of us are castigated for reminding Americans of this reality, but to forgive proponents of racism while you fight their behavior is not only praiseworthy -- it is necessary. What those family members did in Charleston not only showed their bravery, but it showed an understanding that we must be as Gandhi said: the change we seek.
Forgiveness and a higher moral tone should not suspend a movement, but instead energize it. And these family members should not be considered weak, old school, holy rollers or anything else except what they are: strong, steadfast and heroic. They should be extolled as visionary people that understand that we must rise above storms so you can help those who have been rattled and devastated by the storms.
That is the true power of forgiveness.

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JUSTICE??? NOT GUILTY BY REASON OF WHITENESS: The Travesty and Tragedy of the Trayvon Martin - uh, Zimmerman - Trial

--> By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Trayvon Martin

Hello All: 

I'm soooo sorry brothers and sisters, to inform you that there was a trial held in florida and they had the wrong person as the defendant.  I thought the trial was about a guy who had a gun and deliberately stalked a young innocent unarmed kid, and shot him for no specific reason other than he was Black.  But, somehow they seemed to be prosecuting (persecuting) the kid who was killed, instead of the maniac who killed him.  Is that right? Did you get that same indication? Or was I misinterpreting this whole thing?

Young Trayvon Martin

Anyway, I was down in DC celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., when I heard this collective gasp from almost all 40,000 of us at the same time:  the "jury" had found Zimmerman "not guilty" - he was free to go home.  It was like the shot heard round the convention center, response ranged from shock and disbelief to outrage.   No one apparently was prepared for florida's all white female, miss ann jury to be exactly who they are - the female versions of their male counterparts - racists to the core.

So the verdict is in folks.  Zimmerman, the murderer of young Trayvon Martin found "not guilty" by reason of whiteness (a/k/a insanity).

Did you really expect otherwise?  Really!
Did you expect justice in florida - Really!!!

The old saying that a leopard cannot change its spots - a proverb straight out of Africa - is as true now as when our wise ancestors first coined it.  Trayvon Martin was killed for walking while Black, eating Skittles while Black, wearing a hoodie while Black - for just being Black - PERIOD.

Face it, Black people:  We are living in a racist country.  It was designed FWO (for whites only) - If you find that hard to believe, just ask our Indian ("native" Americans) brothers and sisters.  By the way, where are they now - oh, yes, still trying to get at least one treaty to work, "as long as the grass is green and the waters flow..." They are all too aware of the escape clauses used by whites against people of color.

The "redneck Miss Annes" were no more going to find Zimmerman guilty than Paula Deen being able to prove she didn't say what she said about Black people.  They're both guilty; both culpable, and both racist.  

"Not guilty by reason of whiteness." The Trayvon Martin trial - oops there I go again - the Zimmerman trial made for some good TV, didn't it?  It probably had the highest ratings ever - almost as bit as the OJ Simpson Trial.  Only this time you didn't have Johnnie Cochrane who could really take care of business.  I couldn't and didn't watch any of it.  It would have been even angrier than I am now, had I done so.  You see, the fix was already in.  After all, the trial did take place in florida - land of the hanging chads, Jeb Bush, alligators, crocodiles, swamps, and all that murky stuff.  (No aspersions on my Sorors from florida; if you were running things, it would be infinitely different).   

I doubt seriously that Zimmerman would have walked had we had a Cochrane in the courtroom.  So my brothers and sisters, where are they now - those lawyers, legal minds, legal eagles that we need to make sure that we get a "fair shake" if that even exists in this day and age in the US (guess we'd better start grooming them, because we are certainly going to need them; not just to chase ambulances, but to chase justice and wrestle it to the ground, from the cold hands of the whites who have it by the throat).

As a kid from Oklahoma, I used to watch a fair amount of cowboy movies.  There was always some point where the white guys had killed an innocent Indian, and they were outraged, and prepared to dispense justice swiftly in accordance with their cultural imperatives (and rightly so).  And some "hero" in the white hat would come and negotiate with the chief, promising that the "white man's justice" was even swifter and much more severe; and that they would handle it to make an example to the rest of white folks about what happens when you do something heinous.  The "good guy" usually ended up conning the Indian brother out of righteously meting out justice and exercising their right to punish the guilty; usurping their power.  Justice was not served then - turkey usually got a slap on the wrist, and was assigned elsewhere to terrorize other Indian nations.  

The same scenario was repeated every where whites have set foot - Japan, China, Africa, South America, the Caribbean, India - the "white man's justice" was more "powerful" than that of the "indigenous" people.  So here we are today - July 2013 - and it's the sos (same old shit) different day.  Floridians - the white ones - think they have gotten Zimmerman off.  They think they have thumbed their noses at Black people; put us in our "places".  Interesting isn't it how things devolve because people never learned to read the handwriting on the wall.

Listen up, white folks, because you always seem to get this wrong:  When God gives you a chance to redeem yourselves, and you don't take it, there's a reckoning - and it's coming for florida, the jury, Zimmerman, the lawyer and his wife; the so-called prosecution; the defense - the whole lot.  You guys just keep piling it on,  and, because you have no soul, you can't sense (or feel) when you've taken one step too far into the land of iniquity.  You've just stepped in the afundisi (ah-fun-dee-see/ = shit), up to your knee caps, and you're sinking fast.  You think you can continue to come up with different angles and you'll escape the consequences. 

You may be saying at this moment that you have no fear of Black boycotts, marches, investigations, or other means by which we make you understand our displeasure - but what you failed to realize is that we do really really really have a God who sits high and looks low and observes everything that transpires - and a leveling of the playing field, part II, is about to jump off.  This is not just about florida - it's any and all places in the US of A where repression, jimcrowism, discrimination and outright racism has re-reared its ugly head, and is looking to re-establish yet another strangle hold on our lives.  I.e.  stuff like evisceration of the voting rights acts; gerrymandering Black neighborhoods; taking peoples homes thru bogus foreclosures; closing down schools in Black communities under the guise of low performance; sterilizing Black women; etc., etc., etc. You get my drift?

Emmett Till was an innocent who was murdered by white racists in Mississippi.  His mother made sure the entire nation saw what they had done to her son.  I remember, I was 9 and it was on the cover of Jet and Ebony magazines on our coffee table.  I met Ms. Maymie Till Irving years later, when she was doing a speaking engagement at the Schomberg Library in Harlem.  She spoke of how people, seeing his picture, were catalyzed into action who would never have taken a stand before. 

There is a reckoning when the guilty are set free and the innocent continue to suffer.  "Not guilty by reason of whiteness" has long been your escape clause, but it's about to be eviscerated as well.  Many have called the recent events a white backlash -  Be that as it may, backlashes have been known to backfire.  Look for a conflagration.  By the way, the reckoning works both ways - for those of deeper melanin who walk lock step with these miscreants, you can't escape the consequences of your action - or inaction - as the case may be.  

I don't know what the Almighty has planned.  I'm not privy to that information; but I do know that 2007-2008 was a prelude to something even bigger; you had  an opportunity to get it right; make a midcourse correction.  You got part of the way when President Obama was elected.  Too bad you shot yourselves in the foot by letting your racism override the possibility of transforming this into a country for all the people.  

So look out for part II.  And remember you started it; you had a chance to redeem yourselves and you didn't.  "Not guilty by reason of whiteness," the means by which Zimmerman was able to walk free for premeditated, cold blooded murder - will haunt you in the world arena for the rest of your existence.  

For the rest of my Black family, I've included an article by Terrie M. Williams, the Diva of PR and author of "Black Pain" that may help many of you get through this, because we have a lot of work to do TOGETHER.  Enjoy!

STAY BLESSED &
ECLECTICALLY BLACK
Gloria Dulan-Wilson

The Terrie Williams Agency <tmwms@terriewilliams.com> wrote:

By Terrie M. Williams Author/Mental Health Advocate BLACK PAIN: 10 Ways to Heal Your Broken Heart

The death of Trayvon-and the acquittal of his killer-has devastated many of us. Terrie M. Williams offers ways to cope With the senseless killing of Trayvon Martin, we once again find ourselves mourning a young Black spirit taken from us far too soon. As survivors, we are charged with honoring Martin and the countless others we've lost by standing strong, supporting one another and taking time to consider both our individual well-being and the collective well-being of our community.   At every turn in our lives, we learn that no matter our credentials, we are often treated as "less than" our White counterparts. Taught that we have to be twice as good to get comparable compensation. Treated as if we are at once both invisible and highly conspicuous-ignored when we are in need and profiled when we are simply proceeding. That a self-appointed neighborhood patrolman targeted Martin because he looked "suspicious" speaks volumes about the experiences we have in communities across the country each and every day. The trauma of racism is accompanied by post-traumatic stress disorder for many and a great, hidden sense of pain for most. For those who have been following the events that occurred after the killing of Trayvon Martin last year, this weekend's not guilty verdict has been particularly soul crushing-bringing all that pain, that Black pain, to the surface.So how do we address our heartbreak? Here are some practices/steps we can all take in the service of our individual and collective healing. 1) Look Away: You may need to take a break from the TV/radio/Internet/newspaper in order to protect yourself. The Zimmerman verdict will undoubtedly dominate the airwaves for the foreseeable future; taking a pause from the 24-hour-news cycle does not mean that you are less vested in justice for Trayvon-but it may be critical for your self-care.    2) Write About It:  Start to keep a journal-pour your heart, feelings, emotions into it. Include powerful quotes, clippings from magazines and even pictures that help you express the range of your feelings, including anger. Read a blog post that summed up your feelings about Trayvon better than you can? Print out a copy and include it in your journal.    3) Let Your Feelings Out:  Unspoken grief and pain are toxic to our bodies and minds. They keep us from being our best selves. Men, women and children should all feel safe shedding tears when they come-and the senseless murder of a teen is certainly worth crying over.    4) Seek Help: Consider reaching out to a professional counselor or therapist to help you process what you feel. There is no shame in getting help. I find that therapy is the gift that keeps on giving. It helps me to clarify my thoughts and process heartbreaking situations like this. Counseling can be a necessary lifeline. We cannot be or breathe properly if we don't release the unresolved pain, wounds, scars and trauma of our childhoods. We cannot be all that God has called us to be. The trauma of racism is accompanied by post-traumatic stress disorder for many and a great, hidden sense of pain for most. 5) Redefine "Strength": We often confuse being "strong" with being silent. True strength lies in knowing when to ask for help, when to let the tears flow, when you are overwhelmed. The death of Trayvon Martin is one that has taken a great toll on our collective psyches... no time for silence. Be strong enough to be proactive in healing your heart as you work to seek justice.    6) Get Moving:  Go to the gym or for a run/walk. Exercise releases tension and helps turn frustration into feeling constructive. A friend of mine just walked 10 miles to process her emotions about Trayvon. She left her house feeling angry and returned feeling renewed and resolved.    7) Shake a Hand, Make a Friend:  Make eye contact with someone passing by, smile and say "hello"... you may be the first person who made such a gesture towards them today. Many of us are walking around in need of love, support and communion with our fellow man and tragedies make that even more critical.  8) Give Back: Honor Trayvon's memory by committing a few hours a week to volunteer with teens in your neighborhood. Affirm the worth of the young people in your community and let them know that they are valuable, loved and supported.  9) Fight the Power: Channel your rage and anguish over the verdict effectively and get involved with local/national efforts to fight for justice for Trayvon Martin. Participating in rallies/protests will allow you to connect with others who are feeling the same way as you, but don't stop there. If you aren't already, get politically engaged! Hold politicians accountable and help your friends/family do the same.  10) Say "I Love You": Tomorrow is never promised and there are two grieving parents in the spotlight who will never have the chance to put their arms around their beloved son again. In the midst of our anguish over the loss of a child most of us never met, we must remember to show love to the people in our lives right now, while we can.  Terrie M. Williams Read more at EBONY http://www.ebony.com/wellness-empowerment/black-pain-10-ways-to-heal-your-broken-heart-304#ixzz2Z8yjTZ00 P.S. Check out Terrie speaking about The Personal Touch to 500 college graduates at Metropolitan College of New York's  College Commencement in June 2013.  You Will Be Inspired! Terrie M Williams, 2013 Commencement Keynote Speaker Author Bio Terrie M. Williams is a mental health activist and  the author of "Black Pain: It Just Looks Like We're Not Hurting" . You can follow her on Facebook and  Twitter @terriewilliams Quick Links www.terriewilliams.com www.storiesthatheal.samhsa.gov To book Terrie for speaking engagements, please email your comments/requests to tmwms@terriewilliams.com The Terrie Williams Agency   382 Central Park West, Suite 17U New York, New York 10025

 

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Black, BOYCOTT, Delta Sigma Theta, Emmett Till, Eric Holder, FBI, Florida, jury stacking, prosecution, Racism, Terrie Williams, Trayvon Martin, white, Zimmerman, Johnnie Cochrane

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