Don't Let Them Fool You. We are in this Fight Together!

Another noose was found in NYC. This recent incident marks number two for Queens, and number nine for the NYC area. (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/24/2007-10-24_noose_found_at_ozone_park_in_queens-1.html ) The count is increasing, and the tension in the city is reaching a boiling point. Malcolm Gladwell wrote a book titled The Tipping Point, the term tipping point refers to the moment when something unusual becomes common. The book seeks to explain "social epidemics" or sudden and often chaotic changes from one state to another. When the smoke clears and historians look back on this time period, I believe they will write that 2007 was a tipping point. 2007 will mark the tipping point for Black people, and other disenfranchised and oppressed people in America and around the world.
Jobs are few and far between, schools are under performing, housing prices are increasing, prison population rising, and there are nooses popping up all over the country. We have another Clinton running for president, a Black guy that has an imaginary shot at becoming president, a Mormon who is a top candidate for president, and a president whose brother is the governor of the state with the highest concentration of the ills mentioned above, who by the way is rumored to be running for president in 2012. The direction in which we tip will be determined by our actions. Tipping to the side of justice, equality, and self determination is essential to the future of Black people. Instead of letting the pendulum tip, the climate today can lead one to the conclusion that we will have to knock the whole apparatus over.
I’ve been going back and forth over the last couple days trying to find something interesting to write about. There has been plenty issues that pissed me off (Dog the Bounty Hunter, I'll get to that latter), but I don’t want to turn the blog into my personal diary. Periodically, I may go off on a tangent, but I’m going to TRY to keep the blog in an atmosphere where it gives analyses around issues that affect our community.
One issue I found interesting was a story I heard about the Black Cherokees. The relationship between Africans and Native Americans is as old as this continent. There is indisputable evidence that there where Africans in the America’s prior to the European infestation… of disease. Evidence of the African presence comes by way of the Olmecs (http://www.essaysbyekowa.com/olmecs.htm ) in Mexico and South America, and the Moors (http://members.tripod.com/pointingbird/lostfeatherintl/id64.htm , http://members.tripod.com/pointingbird/lostfeatherintl/id60.htm ) who traveled west to the America’s in search of trade. Another indisputable fact of history is that the overwhelming majority of Africans that became intertwined with the Native Americans came from run away slaves. The Marons of the Caribbean are but one example of Blacks that escaped from slavery and settled with the Native American that lived in the mountains of Jamaica. The examples of this phenomenon can be given in any area where Black people and Native Americans where found. The relationship between the two communities has historically been good, but not perfect. (http://youtube.com/watch?v=_txH0HJMIYU , http://youtube.com/watch?v=ry27Q_Nfzk8 , http://youtube.com/watch?v=jmoep-XtGfU )
Many Native American tribes, who where under constant attack by the Europeans, still found it necessary to help their Black brothers and sister who escaped from bondage. It was relatively easy for Blacks to blend in with the Native Americans because many in the Native population have blood of the Africans who traveled to the Americas hundreds of years early. Many Native Americans are also full of melanin, independent and subsequent to their African roots.
There were some Native American traitors that fell for the trap set by the Europeans, contributing to the carnage of the European in the Americas. I think it is important to make it clear that in no way is this sub section of Native Americans a reflection of the over all population of indigenous people. Some Native American fought in the Civil War, along side the Confederate Army. There where a number of Black soldiers that fought on the Confederate side of the Civil War as well, supporting the conclusion that they where manipulated into their traitor behavior, but that’s another topic. (http://www.civilwarhistory.com/slavetrade/blacksoldiersCSA.htm ) It is also important to note that the ending of slavery as an institution was a foot note to the Civil War, not the catalyst. The war was primarily about the new industrial standard versus the old agricultural standard, but that another topic also.
Another forgotten fact of history is the fact that the Native American tribes that sided with the white power structure owned slaves, both African and indigenous. The European use of Native Americans as slaves was a short lived Spanish system, called encomienda, which is another little known fact, this is where they learned the European version of slavery. (http://historicaltextarchive.com/sections.php/sections.php?artid=633&op=viewarticle ). The Buffalo Soldiers where a group of Black soldiers who for all intents and purposes assisted the white power structure, in moving the Native American population off their land. (http://www.nativeamericans.com/BuffaloSoldiers.htm ) Many Blacks praise the Buffalo Soldiers for being the first Negros to fight as American soldiers. But, among some Native American populations they are seen as traitors just like the other Native Americans who sided with "pale faces", and in my opinion rightly so. My intent in raising these points is to high light the fact that the African and Indigenous struggle against the white power structure is long, intertwined and complex. Some of our history is has lead to helping each other, and some has lead to the others demise. Regardless of our past, in the end we all have been victims of the white power structure. The European called Blacks niggers and Native Americans fools all in a attempt to take away our humanity. An organized front of resistance, and an eventual dismantling of the white power structure is necessary. This destruction of the white power structure will need support from all sectors that have been victims of its oppression.
Malcolm X’s speech The House Negro versus the Field Negro remains true to this very day, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znQe9nUKzvQ ) as it relates to Black, and the Native American populations. There is a sector of the Cherokee Nation that believe they are part of what they call the Five Civilized Tribes. These forces have adopted European customs and norms and are clearly operating in the interest of white power. The have turned their back on their members, and have specifically decided to ostracize the Black members of the tribe, also known as Freedmen. The Judicial Appeals Tribunal (JAT), the Cherokee Nation's highest court recently ruled that the law not allowing descendants of Freedmen joining the Cherokee Nation is unconstitutional, thus they should be allowed to join and vote as legit Cherokee citizens. This ruling has been challenged and during the challange period many Black Cherokees are being forced to re apply for Cherokee citizenship.
The only reason this vote was even raised comes as a result of the Cherokee Nation receiving federal gaming funds. The profits from these funds are then allocated to services that are provided to members of the nation. Certain sectors of the Cherokee Nation wish to create amendments barring Black Cherokees from their portion of these allocated funds.
The division in the Cherokee Nation has been evident from as early as the Civil War. The Cherokees had a civil war between different factions of the tribe in regard to the issue of slavery. The fact that there is a sector of Cherokees that believe calling themselves the “Civilized” tribes as acceptable speaks volumes about the mental assault that went on amongst their community. The white power structures assault did not end with Africans, but also played a major role in the demise of the indigenous population of America. This reality manifests itself in the insane and self hating behavior of both Indigenous and Black people.
The oppressive nature of the white power structure has resulted in the debate raging in the Cherokee community. Chad Smith, (an unusually European name, might I add) is the Principle Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Notwithstanding the fact the he looks like a white boy, and has more European blood than indeginous blood, by some accounts(http://www.chadsmith.com/SmithIntro.htm ), he and his cohorts have banned together to expel its Black members who have indigenous and non- indigenous blood (Some of the Black Cherokees come from the time of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, others are a result of the intermarriage between Black and indigenous people, and others come from the African presence in America prior to the introduction of Europeans.) There are Black members of the tribe that have more indigenous blood than the Chief Chad Smith, yet his membership is not being called into question. The motives of white power supporters in the tribe are clear and should be exposed for what they are, traitors and supporters of the white power structure.
The division that the white power structure is causing in the Cherokee Nation can be seen in a variety of different capacities. The white power structure plays us against each other constantly. They keep us poor, uneducated, and fighting over the crumbs that they throw at us. The economic interest is evident in the fact that the citizenship of the Black Cherokees was not called into question, on a grand scale, until the gaming money became an issue.
Black and Mexican, Puerto Rican and Dominican, Cuban and Haitian, the list can go on and on in the area of divisions created by the white power structure. (On a side note Latinos have also had battles in the past with Native American tribes about there citizenship, which is completely ridiculous because the link between Native Americans and the so called "Latino" population is extremely clear in most cases) The white power structure has effectively played each of us against each other, when we should be focusing on them. They get away with this practice because we don’t see each other as one people. One people affected by the same power structure that has lead to the oppression of all of us. We all have the house “negros” that side with the white power structure. Blacks got Condoleezza Rice, the Mexican had Vicente Fox, and the Cherokees got Chad Smith. (I could continue naming people, but that would be pointless) Independent of the traitors of their respective communities, we have to make an effort to create a mind state where we are clear who our enemies are, and that enemy is the white power structure and all that show it support. Not the Mexican, Dominican, West Indian, El Salvadorian, or African family that moved in next door, but the white power structure that put us all in a state of desperation.
The plan that the white power structure has put in place in order to ensure its survival has caused enough carnage over the last 400 years. The fact that the Blacks and the Native Americans are fighting over the scraps that the US government is throwing us is pathetic. Both groups are poor and desperate for a life line. The sad part is that we can’t see that we are our own life line. Blacks and Native Americans have been in this fight together since day one, and we will be in this fight together until the end. Folks like Chad Smith only represent a small portion of the masses of people. When the masses rise people like him will try to hide behind there white power rhetoric, but we as a community will be ready and the people’s justice will prevail. Tipping or knocking the pendulum of history BACK in our favor.

Marvo