Saturday, January 31, 2015

The virtues of segregation (Part 2) The movie 'Selma' and the cult of Black masochism...


Originally, I wasn't going to write about the movie 'Selma'; 'cause I basically knew, this movie would serve as another trigger to get Black folks to hate themselves via more imagery of us being brutalized trying to get the right to sit or stand next to a white person. Then I had a change of heart, behind a gathering I was within earshot of at my local library.

A middle-aged Black woman led five young Black girls, the oldest appeared to be about seven or eight, into the library's lounge; which I happened to be seated next to. She began waxing philosophic about Black women heroines of the past, and I thought that sounded pretty positive. The girls took a vote on which biography they wanted read to them; the choice was between Coretta Scott King or Rosa Parks. Being that we've all been force-fed the iconography of Dr. King, the girls voted on Coretta. But somehow, the Black woman mentor gave up talking about Coretta and began speaking about Rosa.

The woman mentor went through the usual paces of talking about Rosa Parks not giving up her seat to a white man, before the lecture took a strange turn. This woman began asking the girls whether or not Rosa was brave for not giving up her seat to the white man on the bus, so she could start the initiative to integrate the bus system and this country. The girls all agreed Rosa was indeed brave. Then the Black woman began talking about Rosa having to go to jail to start the integration initiative, i.e. the 'Civil Rights' movement. A second later, this woman asked the girls, would they be willing to go to jail in support of the integration movement? Then I turned around and shot this woman a perplexed look. She didn't see me 'cause her back was turned to me. The woman continued asking the girls in different ways, if they'd be brave enough to go to prison in support of integration. I was thinking about saying something to this woman, when another Black woman working for the library, came and told her that the room they usually use was now free; so the small class moved out of the lounge and into this room.

After the small group of girls went in this room, a sign was put on the door saying, 'Meeting in session, do not disturb'. My head couldn't stop shaking.

Now, this would be insidious enough if it were a group of young Black boys being asked this, but this woman was asking this of young Black GIRLS! What this woman was imparting to these Black girls was the notion that they should be ready to literally lay their lives on the line for the privilege of standing or sitting next to a white person.

And this again, ultimately, is the message of the movie 'Selma'.

Now, I'm not gonna' lie and say I saw this movie, 'cause I haven't...and I won't. To me, this is one in a long line of cavalcade of stars coon show flicks, in the spirit of: '12 years a slave', 'The Help', 'The Butler', 'Django Unchained', etc. And when I watched the trailer of this flick, what I saw repulsed me. There's one moment in the trailer I'll include at the end of this post, where a state trooper at the march on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, puts razor wire around a bat, for the up-coming slaughter of our people. There's another moment where the actor playing Martin King introduces himself to a white man, who punches him in the face a second after. A moment later, you see Martin with an ice-pack on his face, uttering the words, “Man, that white boy sure can hit.” Now this is doing two things, one, it's quelling the white man's inferiority complex around his being physically weaker than a Black man; and two, it's telling Black adults, like the woman mentor in the library was doing with those children, that we as Black people, should be masochists when it comes to trying to gain, or keep, a close proximity to white people...who are killing us!

And that's the main tenet of this film folks, to tell the Black Diaspora how we should continue to love these inbreds, literally, TO DEATH!

And, at the base layer of this crap flick, again, is the good 'ole psychological trigger of Black people watching themselves being brutalized, so as to make sure our minds stay anchored in the self-hatred these people have bred into us. Good night at the pictures, huh?

Now, as of late, I've begun talking on this Blog about the virtues of segregation, hence, the title of this post. And what I always want to make perfectly clear is, if you're a Black man or woman reading this, I'm not telling you to pack a bag and get on the next thing smokin' to Africa. But if you have the financial wherewithal to do so and that's the choice you've made, more power to you. For myself and the overwhelming majority of Black folks in america, it's not that simple. Not only have we built lives here, but it takes an organized infrastructure to make this transition on a massive scale. And we all need food, clothing and shelter in the meantime. But, I say our 'long-term' goal should be building a nation, or nation state where ethnic homogeneity, on our terms, would mean we could work for an economy that is literally, for us, by us. But before we can achieve any of this, we have to rid our selves of the self-hatred that movies like 'Selma' are hell-bent on reinforcing. And, whether we, the Black Diaspora, like it or not, we're going to face another period of segregation in this country. What's coming behind this massive wave of gentrification in america, is our people being put into areas where we have less access to resources, especially the resource of public transportation. Whitey feels we have too much access to stores, trains, buses, and other vital goods in the areas he's sequestered us into. So, white fascists are hell-bent on putting poor Black folks in rural areas, where you have to get pretty much of everything, and where you have to get everywhere, by car. And if you don't have one, then they can more easily restrict your access to damn near everything.

But again, before building any kind of sovereign nation, our diaspora has to get back to square one, which is, how do we recondition ourselves out of our self-hatred?

Now, my answer will always be, by accessing the subconscious through a means of meditation. And, beyond the fact that I'm working on a technique allowing anyone to access the subconscious in under five minutes, which I'll share with the family soon; I understand, the majority of our diaspora are really not gonna' take to this. So I say to those who really want to rid themselves of this self-loathing, that you should find what works best for you. Whether it be positive visualization, self-hypnosis, or some sort of chanting ritual. But whatever you do, don't think you're gonna' pray this away, 'cause you won't. Like I said in a previous post, prayer changes things, but one thing it doesn't change is behavior. Find a way to get into your subconscious, so you'll see some tangible results. 'Cause again, ten 'hail marys' and five renditions of the 'lord's prayer' ain't gonna' cut it.

And, it could be that my generation is too far gone to be saved from this self-hatred, but we should do all we can to help our youth rid themselves of this. 'Cause if we do this seriously and diligently, we could see a change in our people in a matter of two or three decades.

Now, will we do all this before it's too late? Ultimately, that's the greatest question of all. So let's get to work...and the sooner, the better.

Later...

MontUHURU Mimia

P.S.

Here's the 'Selma' trailer I spoke about earlier, this footage let me know that this was a movie I needed to miss.

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